What comes spontaneously to your mind when you see or hear the word 'leadership'?" This is the question I usually ask when I am invited to conduct a training seminar for managers or executives in a leadership position. The reactions I get from them in the form of words, symbols, names, drawings, etc., are quite interesting to analyse in terms of unconscious associations. This has prompted me to study how in Malta the concept of leading an organisation has developed, where we are now, and what are our prospects for the future.
But first, a word on the concept of leadership itself, which also has evolved throughout the centuries and across the world. Take, for instance, the old and perpetuated myth that leaders are born, not made. This leadership myth has inflicted much harm to the development of people and slowed the growth of organisations. Leadership can be learned and developed. It is an ongoing developmental process and as such goes through various stages of growth.
Leading an organisation requires certain qualities in the person of the leader but it also involves adapting key competencies to the specific characteristics of the organisation. There exist many good leaders around us who have the potential to run companies, schools, communities, political parties and government. That potential, however, needs to be tapped, encouraged and sustained.
The past
How was leadership perceived by the Maltese in the past? First of all, partly due to our colonial history, our experience of leading has been quite limited. More than leadership styles we had to develop followership styles! The exercise of leadership at high levels - be it in governmental, parastatal, private or foreign companies - was mostly restricted to our colonial rulers.
Until recently, Maltese employees who were offered highly responsible positions refused them either because they did not feel competent enough or, because of the "us-them" mentality; they did not like to be identified with "them" - the management.
Being deprived of exercising their leadership abilities at high level, the Maltese displaced their repressed need for power onto their family, clubs, trade unions, etc. As happens often in similar situations, those same people who criticised auto-cratic leadership styles in others, showed a dictatorial style themselves within the smaller domain where they could exercise some form of power.
I would identify the typical Maltese leadership style of the past as being paternalistic, where the leader acts like a father towards the members. This style is depicted in the "godfather" image, the attitude being "I know what's best for you and I'm doing it for your own good". Maybe it was the one needed at the time!
The present
I would characterise the present situation as one in transition. On one hand we are still reacting to our past and contrasting our present state of affairs with the way it was before. On the other hand we are seeking to establish our own identity and independence in this regard.
At the same time we still look for models to imitate as our reference points, often from abroad. All these signs are typical of adolescent psychology. We are now moving towards early adulthood as we gradually begin to mature towards assuming full responsibility and relative autonomy.
More specifically, I would like to mention some characteristics of Maltese contemporary trends in leadership attitudes.
The first one concerns the exercise of authority. I have heard several complaints from high level executives in Malta that while they are given lot of responsibility, this is not accompanied by a corresponding amount of authority. Now that is the best guarantee to create frustration among our budding leaders.
My favourite formula "Responsibility minus Authority = Frustration" reflects their daily experience. Authority is linked to responsibility because a leader responsible for accomplishing certain results must have the authority to take certain decisions and to use resources to achieve results.
Secondly, we must admit that at present most of our local organisations - industrial, business, educational, religious - are still adhering to traditional, conservative models of leadership. We prefer to play it safe and adopt non-risky positions rather than be proactive in bringing about radical changes and encouraging creativity among our employees.
Thirdly, we have learned to appreciate the value of participation. This shows a positive and important development in our leadership style, even if this idea is not widespread enough. In Malta, unfortunately, we may have harboured some false notions of participation. For some leaders or managers, participation implies not leading or not managing. Some still believe that participation is a luxury rather than an exigency, a reward rather than a right, a concession rather than an effective organisational principle.
The fourth characteristic refers to gender equality. Women today are rightly taking up more and more leadership responsibilities. Yet, these positions are still being considered as requiring "masculine" traits, such as assertiveness, competitiveness, and "tough-mindedness". Thus, "female" attributes are perceived as being less congruent with the role prescriptions of "successful" leaders than are the "male" attributes described.
Unless we change our mentality, discouraging the selection and promotion of women to leadership positions, we may end up reducing the effective channelling of a high potential.
Finally, another positive development has been the greater awareness of the need for leadership training. Unfortunately, most leaders used to find themselves in leadership positions without being trained or prepared beforehand. The training and development of local leaders guarantee more professional competence in our organisations.
More and more companies are today offering regular training courses, seminars, and workshops for their leaders. New local training institutes - governmental, parastatal and private - are proliferating. At the same time, more competent trainers are available to provide professional development.
The future
How do we envisage leadership to be in Malta in the next decade or so? What is the type of leadership emerging locally? Who will be the new leaders to lead us into the future? We can express our projections in the form of a list of desiderata. We want to see leadership being:
More pro-active: Rather than remaining reactive, responding to emerging situations or crises (management by crisis), leaders are to become agents of change. Instead of spending time and energy trying to solve problems, they create new systems and structures that would prevent those problems from arising in the first place. If our local companies want to keep abreast with the fast pace of change taking place, they need to become more innovative and entrepreneurial both in developing new systems and in updating their people skills.
More leadership than management: These two roles have often been assumed to be synonymous when in fact they are two distinct executive functions. Not all leaders are managers and not all managers are leaders. The famous expert on leadership, Stephen Covey, states that leadership deals with vision, with keeping the mission in sight, and with effectiveness (doing the right things). Management deals with establishing structures and systems to get results, focusing on efficiency (doing things right).
More collegial: Moving from an individualistic type of leadership centralised on one person to shared leadership in a team where planning, decisions and actions are taken together in a collegial manner. Leadership cannot remain the prerogative of one single person. It has to become plural, team-based, collegial. Leaders of the future will have to involve others and elicit their participation because tasks will be too complex and information too widely distributed for leaders to solve problems on their own.
Empowerment: This may be defined as the process of enabling people to set their own goals, make decisions, and solve problems within their sphere of responsibility and authority. As such, it includes previous leadership practices, like motivation, participation, delegation, and autonomous decision-making. Serving and supporting, rather than commanding and controlling, are the watchwords for the future. For ultimately, the long-term role of a good leader is to empower people.
Transformational: This concept of transformational leadership consists of the set of abilities that allow the leader to recognise the need for change, to create a vision to guide that change, and to execute that change effectively. It is based on the principle of leader-follower "mutual stimulation and elevation" and includes four interrelated components: charisma, inspiration, intellectual stimulation and individual consideration.
Globalised: The phenomenon of globalisation is changing profoundly the way today's organisations are perceived and operate. Leaders are responsible today to determine how their companies fit into a global context. The global perspective of today's organisations is forcing leaders to adapt their authority structures, decision-making processes and operating procedures. Perhaps the adage "think globally, act locally" should rather become "think and act both globally and locally".
Creative: Finally, we need more creative leaders, capable of inventing new and original ways of seeing reality, creating new energy and life into the organisations, real "animators". Effective leaders have the vision required to see things differently from others. They collect and arrange the same data we all see in ways that allow them to conceive of new and unseen phenomena. All this will demand a new and different way of dealing with issues and problems which go against the traditional, stereotype ways.
To conclude, leadership is an ongoing process. To be truly effective, leadership in Maltese organisations must evaluate its past, remain aware of its present and project onto its future. This task is both an invitation and a challenge.
Fr Darmanin is a clinical psychologist who specialised in the psychology of leadership and conducted several training workshops for leaders both locally and abroad.