The Tribune

By IAN FERGUSON AS we prepare ourselves as a nation to select our political leaders for another term in office, the Chamber Voice begins a series on Leadership. Leadership is probably best defined as the ability a person has to build relationships and nurture talent in an effort to accomplish goals and objectives. If we ponder this definition of leadership for a moment, we will certainly agree that many in our religious, political and corporate communities fall short. While they may carry the title Bishop, Cabinet Minister, or vice-president, it does not dilute the fact that there exists a void in their critical leadership competencies. Our definition indicates that leaders must be capable of developing and maintaining healthy trust-centred relationships with those they lead. This simply means that true leaders care enough about people to establish some comfortable and appropriate levels of rapport. Many employees who have resigned from companies, or walked off their jobs, will admit that their reason for leaving was the leader. People don't leave their jobs; they leave their managers. Leaders must then take special interest in those persons on their team, getting to know them as individuals - their strengths, weaknesses, passions and goals. Employees will support and remain loyal to leaders who care. Time to Reflect: How well do you know each member of your team? Our definition further indicates to us that the person called, or appointed, to lead must be fully engaged in developing and nurturing the talents of team members. The leader must focus attention on determining with some degree of accuracy and objectivity, the skills gaps that exist among employees and do everything in their power to meet those deficiencies. The leader must be apt to teach and see each employee as having potential that requires significant investment. The leader is called to be trainer, mentor, coach and performance assessor. The more the leader invests in the employee, the more productivity the leader can expect. Additionally, leaders must pay attention to consistent high performance in employees, and be sure to reward and celebrate this excellence. Any behaviour the leader expects to be repeated must be reinforced through rewards and incentives. Time to Reflect: How much are you pouring into and recognising those you lead? Finally, leaders must be focused and committed to accomplishing goals. This means that the leader must be visionary, setting goals and targets, and employing strategies to realise them. Any leader who cannot clearly articulate a list of undertakings that have been successfully executed on their watch has failed. Leaders must ensure that the goals they set are clear, measurable, realistic and time framed, providing the platform for employees to experience success. Further to this, the leader must delegate effectively to the team, empowering them to engage in meeting the targets set. Time to Reflect: Have you established clear 2012 goals that you are tracking and measuring? Leaders need to hold themselves to a higher degree of accountability. Often in our corporate world we promote incompetence, and select leaders for reasons outside of their ability to build relationships, nurture talent and accomplish tasks. Perhaps for this reason our businesses have not experienced the kind of success that they ought. Our challenging economic times require businesses, both public and private, to identify, train and promote individuals who exemplify true leadership skills. Time out for social promotion and nepotism. The Bahamas needs intelligent, capable leaders. To whom much is given, much is required. NB: About the author Ian R. Ferguson has a Master's Degree in Education from the University of Miami. During the course of his nearly 20 years in education, talent management and human resources, he has served both the public and private sector. He currently serves as manager of the Chamber Institute.