What we really need to teach our leaders (not taught in MBA classes!)

At an event held by the London Metropolitan University and the Chartered Management Institute, a key question was discussed between leadership experts and those holding leadership roles in organisations.

The question was:

‘What do you want to see in your leaders that you are not seeing now?’

The answer, almost across the board, was ‘the soft skills of management’, for instance:

• Ethical behaviour
• Good communication
• Building trust
• Developing strong relationshipsThe feedback from leaders of industry helps both London Metropolitan University and CMI craft more tailored training for the leaders of the next generation.

We need to ensure that those delivering the training aren’t just perpetuating the problems.

In my opinion, it’s essential that we as coaches/consultants and change agents, ensure that we are not delivering
change from the same level of consciousness as our client organisations.
As Einstein said:

‘We cannot solve our problems from the same thinking as we used to create them’

So much training is about a new model, a new process or a new personality/leadership profiling tool – there will
always be new tools that are useful, but these tools alone will not help our leaders of the future to think and behave in
a way that will create successful and sustainable organisations.

Instead of training for soft skills etc. I think we should be supporting our leaders to connect to their highest wisdom,
give them tools to do this. We should be supporting them to accept who they truly are and listen to the wisdom of their hearts and souls, not just their analytical mind.

We need to be supporting leaders to feel safer, freer to be and say what they really think – then to have the courage to call for honest feedback.

This leader would be fit for the future – whatever their personality profile, whatever their background, their race,
their gender. This type of leader would unconsciously have ‘soft skills’ and ‘good communication’.

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Discover more of Rebecca Watson’s ideas on how we can improve Leadership Skills.