http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/oct2008/ca20081024_293040.htm?chan=careers_managing+your+company+page_top+stories
There are many aspects that define one in a leadership position. Some would say that leaders are born into the position and others are molded to fit the position. At any rate, the leader must make an effort to actively listen their followers for the company to be successful. There are certain CEO's that have received the term "Imperial" CEO for their leadership style. These leaders distance themselves from the ones that they lead. This makes it difficult for their followers to input their ideas and aid in the decision making process of those in the driver’s seat.
What types of competencies do these leaders possess?
We can look at the three competencies that a leader should possess. Problem-Solving Skills are those that require the leader to come up with a solution for problems that are out of the ordinary and unusual in nature. Leaders with the "imperial" way of leading would have to be pretty good with their problem-solving skills. They are not going to want anyone else to help them with their decision, especially their followers. Social Judgment Skills are the capacity to understand people and social systems that would enable the leader to solve difficult problems within the organization. A CEO with this "imperial" mindset might have a strong set of problem-solving skills, but they would not receive any help from the ones they lead because they make it increasingly difficult for the followers to have an input. Knowledge is the competency that relates to the application and implementation of problem-solving skills in organizations. This skill would be lacking in a leader of this type. They would have difficulty in implementing their problem-solving skills because they would not actively communicate with their followers who would most likely oversee the implementation process.
What would this leader's style be?
Most of these leaders are concerned for the financial assets of the company. This makes it hard for the followers to address these leaders when the leader's main concern is for the bottom line. I would categorize these leaders into the Authority-Compliance Management section of the leadership grid. This styles approach is focused on a concern for results and has minimal human element interference. Communication to the followers is usually for the purpose of instructions about the task at hand.
-Brandon Leitschuh
I would have to agree with you that these leaders are concerned about results. In order to be a leader of anything results will have a huge impact on how you are perceived by anyone judging the company. Also, to have gotten this far in an organization the person would have had to have exibited some human skills in their past experiences. However, like you said, at this level the ability is rarely necessary and you should only be delegating work to employees.
ReplyDelete-Ty Wiesemeyer