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LISA GILLESPIE Head of Learning and Development Make UK


Lisa has been in the HR industry for 25 years in a number of roles. She holds qualifications in law, a post-graduate diploma in HRM, philosophy, psychology and creative writing. In addition she qualified as a practitioner in PRINCE 2 and neurolinguistic programming.


www.MakeUK.org | lgillespie@makeuk.org HR & RECRUITMENT A lesson in leadership?


SURELY there can be nothing which better demonstrates the importance of leadership in any organisation than the epic and painful Brexit journey we are all enduring?


As a UK citizen, as well as an HR and Leadership Development professional, I have watched the story unfold with interest and a fair amount of frustration. Political leaders are as vulnerable to criticism from those they lead as anyone in a supervisory, management or leadership role in any organisation and, as we find particularly in unionised environments, no misjudgement, dithering or incompetence goes unchallenged.


“ 26


Having a goal, developing a clear plan, understanding the consequences, gaining consensus and then executing it takes solid and strong leadership.


Personally, I have to admire Theresa May having a bash at captaining the ship after David Cameron decided to bail out. However, almost three years in and several mutinies later, she is now subject to accusations of poor leadership to the extent that, months ago, she had to concede this will be her last voyage at the helm.


However, she is not alone in facing mutineers; she and Jeremy Corbyn have made so many of their crew walk the plank that neither has emerged as a strong enough leader to bring us safely into port.


So, what has gone wrong?


Firstly, I think we should not forget that Mrs May is trying to pick up the pieces of Mr Cameron’s decision to call a referendum which he thought would deliver the opposite result to what we got. As a new leader taking the reins of an unsteady organisation, Mrs May probably should have invested more time listening and responding to ‘the many’ rather than planning and ploughing ahead with ‘the few’. Some will argue that strong leadership means rolling your sleeves up and getting on with the job, which is what Mrs May seems to have done. However, if you lose those you lead on the way, then one has to question the point in ploughing on regardless, particularly if you have no clear idea of what you are aiming for.


Mr Corbyn likewise has fallen into a common trap that besets leaders; relying too much on his popularity and core beliefs. He has not been able to position himself as a credible opponent and saviour of the sinking Brexit ship by presenting a clear and well-defined map to navigate us out of the choppy seas.


Having a goal, developing a clear plan,


understanding the consequences, gaining consensus and then executing it takes solid and strong leadership. However, leaders are only as good as the team they build around them and they need to be challenged and accountable. So frequently in organisations I have seen chaos on a smaller scale than the Brexit crisis but for the very same reasons.


This is why organisations need to develop a blend of strong leadership types and create cultures which can positively challenge the decision-makers. We live in times in which we have seen the demise of countless high street names because of weak leadership, poor decision-making and lack of agility.





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