LEADERSHIP

Leadership… is the Central Nervous System of the Enterprise.

It provides the neural network for purpose, coordination, resourcing, and boundaries of the enterprise’s capabilities as well as the heartbeat, breathing and responses to thrive.

Managerial leadership is about the relationship between a leader and their team, at any level of an organization. A Managerial leader is a person in a role or roles, in which they are held accountable for their own effectiveness and outputs, plus that of their team. That is a double set of accountabilities i.e. for themselves and their own unique value, plus that of their team’s unique value add.

At its most generic, effective managerial leadership is about delivering outcomes from teams.
Leaders are accountable for building and developing their team and ensuring the team is clear on why work is necessary, its priorities; that they are committed and capable of delivering what is agreed by when. The Leader is also accountable for the continuous improvement of methods and agility of work and decision taking.

So all leaders at a generic sense must be accountable for tasking (work, authority / accountability / role clarity), trusting (decision making with understanding) and tending (coaching, feedback, development, flow) to ensure empowerment, transparency and experimentation and continuous improvement.

To support these generic functions of leadership, RE has a proven set of managerial leadership competencies all leaders need to understand and practice as basic skills.

Leadership of a work system requires continual focus on building trust, context, and clarity of purpose, as well as an understanding of no harm and compliance with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Leadership requires understanding how to design, operate and lead effective enterprises. The CEO is the key integrator.

At the macro scale of systems, leadership requires a different set of skills. The ability to seek and create shared understanding and tolerance necessary for international and regional cooperation (think COVID19 responses, peacekeeping, global governance, UN SDGs) is essential. Leadership is required to create the conditions for trust and a shared understanding of the work involved and how to deliver the optimal outcomes, even where animosity and intolerance exist.

Andrew Olivier's Blog The thoughts and writings of Andrew Olivier

The Purpose of Life is deceptively simple…
by Andrew Olivier on January 24, 2022 at 1:20 pm
Most struggle to answer the question what is the purpose of our life. The answer is actually simple – it’s to actualise ourselves. Fully. That is it. Deceptively simple. Our work with capability and that of the writings of many others, substantiate the view we are all born with a desire to fulfill our highest…Read more The Purpose of Life is deceptively simple… The post The Purpose of Life is deceptively simple… first appeared on Andrew Olivier's Blog.
Scaled Systems Leadership
by Andrew Olivier on September 20, 2020 at 9:50 pm
Network and Ecosystem Leadership Is it possible to organise complex ecosystems to achieve a shared purpose? Indeed is it possible to organise something which by nature is emergent, uncertain and comprised up of autonomous and semi-autonomous parts? Often with powerful agents? Are there clear guidelines that might help? Before addressing the two case studies of…Read more Scaled Systems Leadership The post Scaled Systems Leadership first appeared on Andrew Olivier's Blog.
Doing Good is Good Business
by Andrew Olivier on May 25, 2019 at 6:33 am
Doing Good is good business How often do you hear these words? I had an interesting meeting with the sustainability team at Pick n Pay in Rondebosch, Cape Town. I listened intently to what they were doing across a broad range of fronts; from making the company compliant with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs),…Read more Doing Good is Good Business The post Doing Good is Good Business first appeared on Andrew Olivier's Blog.