JONATHAN COOK: Finding and building new leaders is a national priority

Effective managers and leaders are key to vibrant economies across the continent, so I am delighted to be hosting a webinar with Thornhill Associates on finding and building new leaders. It has reminded me how important this is. 

How do we build leaders? To begin with, potential leaders need to know themselves. Most of us have difficulty assessing our abilities accurately. Usually estimates of ability go in the direction of overestimating our abilities.

In 1999 psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger showed that the least competent in specific skills overestimate their abilities considerably. On average those in the 12th percentile of objective performance (well below average) thought they were in the 62nd percentile (above average).

None of us believes we are below average. Dunning and Kruger hypothesised that the very incompetence of the low performers in that skill prevents them from making informed judgments. This Dunning-Kruger effect is quite robust across different abilities.

But of greater interest for identifying hidden talent is that those with the highest levels of competence tend to underestimate their abilities. This is of course on average — individuals vary considerably in their self-confidence. 

You might think a very modest person is unlikely leadership material, but I have seen quiet people hidden in an organisation flourish and become highly competent leaders when given the chance. And humility is absolutely not a disqualification for leadership.

Most feedback comes from more senior managers, which is critically important for a person’s development. What is less common is knowing what those who report to you think of you. Managers who receive upward feedback about their supervisory behaviour do improve their performance according to subordinate ratings.

The improvement is apparently greatest for those scoring lowest, and for those whose self-ratings were higher than ratings by others. This may be a statistical artefact called regression to the mean, but if true it would suggest that upward feedback works particularly well for those who need it most. 

Research I was involved in found that when leaders do improve, it is their subordinates who notice it first, even before the leaders themselves. So leaders can really benefit from feedback during leadership development programmes, both to identify their strengths and weaknesses and to track their growth. 

Richard Boyatzis at the Weatherhead School of Management in Cleveland suggests that self-directed learning is how leaders learn best, and that self-directed learning requires five “discoveries”.

Leaders who learn need first to discover their ideal self (who they aspire to be); and second their “real self” (how they actually come across to others). Third, they need to create a learning agenda; and fourth discover ways to develop mastery in these new behaviours, thoughts and feelings. Fifth, they need to find supportive and trusting relationships of the kind that make change possible. 

Different methods facilitate these discoveries. Guided self-reflection helps to identify their ideal self. Feedback such as from a 360-degree feedback questionnaire reveals how they come across to others. A coach can help make sense of this, and support the leader in setting learning objectives and identifying different ways to achieve them. What about the supportive and trusting relationships in which they can then learn?

The first four of Boyatzis’ discoveries are the realm of professional psychologists, coaches and human resource practitioners, supporting the initiative of the leaders themselves. But a company culture of trust and support is the job of the company’s top leadership. And it is unfortunately rare. 

Finding and growing leaders is a national priority in which professional service providers play an important role. They need support and resources. Just as important is creating the conditions under which new leaders can emerge and express their talents. That is the role of the company’s top leadership.

• Cook, a psychologist, cofounded and chairs the African Management Institute and Thornhill Associates.