Sharing leadership lessons for the next generation – part 1

Reflections from Charles Style CBE, our Guest Speaker on ‘Leadership’ following his Guest Speaker session on ‘Leading in Challenging Global Environment.’

Charles came to our Business School to speak to a joint guest lecture between MSc International Business Management and CIPD HR Diploma students in March 2022. Sharing his 33-year-experiences of leadership in the Royal Navy both at sea (including six commands) and in the Ministry of Defence in London where his last role was Deputy Chief of Defence Staff responsible for UK operations worldwide, he highlighted insights into the most effective leadership strategies in this dynamic VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) world.  He shared many leadership lessons on the day and he will also share some of his reflections on questions from students on ‘how do you recognise a real leader’, ‘how do you make a strategy real’ and ‘what is the implication of the current global situation to strategy and leadership’ through a series of blogs.

About the Speaker:

Charles has various experience across defence, leadership of the Royal College of Defence Studies in London and two post-defence roles (security, maritime safety). His experiences include his leadership in the post-9/11 operations into Afghanistan, the Armilla patrol in the Gulf at the end of the Iran/Iraq war, embargo operations in the Adriatic, and the Sierra Leone crisis.

We were delighted that Charles was able to share his experiences with us.

He now works as a consultancy partner: focussing on leadership in a global environment. He also supports two charities (Trustee and advisor), and retains an active position at the Manchester Business School (Executive-in-Residence), and honorary ones with the Royal Swedish Society of Naval Sciences and King's College London. 

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When people meet people, they instantly start forming impressions. It’s instinct.  What are impressions based on?  Appearance, language, tone of voice, dress, apparent professionalism? All of these, and many others, make an impact certainly. 

When people meet people by whom they are to be led, they are also conditioned to notice some specifics.  These are fundamentally to do with trust.  In other words, the relationship between the leader and the led is a human one.  Of course, we want to know if our leader is competent in the business field in which we are engaged, knows the law, understands supply chains and so on.  However, where our livelihoods, safety and sense of self-worth are concerned, we must have instinctive confidence – trust – in the boss.

Quite a tall order. What is it – in human terms - about a leader that instils trust?  Here is a selection of elements.  They are not in any particular order, nor comprehensive; it can be an interesting exercise to debate their priority within teams.

First, team members must know that the leader has their back, and that he or she will protect their interests to the maximum extent possible within the prevailing environment.  They will only feel that if it’s genuine; that’s where instinct is fundamental.

Second, the team should know they have a voice in the priorities and direction of motion of the organisation.  How this is achieved depends on the nature and scale of the business.  It may in a small organisation be done by face-to-face debate of policy and priorities.  Or it may need to be structured in larger enterprises. 

Third, the leader needs to embrace his team; by this I mean know, be known and be trusted by them. If manner is genuine, he or she will be; if the ‘voice’ is manufactured (as in “oh send out something to keep people happy – doesn’t matter what” - to the PA as the boss walks out of the office) it will unfailingly be recognised for exactly what it is.

There is – fourthly - a need for the leader to be – and be seen to be – firmly in charge.  No one wants to work in a team which senses a vacuum or vacillation at the top.  In such a circumstance, the organisation will always be hobbled. In my own Naval experience I have encountered very rare cases in which a ship starts to fail, and one in particular where the removal of the boss transformed the ship overnight. The vessel sailed the next morning under new command; it was as if a cloud had been lifted. 

This raises the question of whether leadership is inherent or can be learnt.  There are some lucky people who are given a full hand of cards; most of us must try to work round the shortcomings we have, and to offset them.  One particular aspect of this is the handling of advice.  If the boss is uncertain, there is no minus in seeking counsel from his or her own team members. This will engender respect, provided – a key proviso – that when the discussion is had, and the best solution arrived at, the leader makes a decision, promulgates and explains it, and has the authority to carry it through.

Lastly, it is the leader’s responsibility to establish an organisation’s culture.  Here example is crucial.  If the boss is careless, rude, inconsistent, unclear in his direction, a vacillator, a seeker of bureaucracy without clear reason, so will the organisation be – as night follows day – and vice versa.

Leadership is many things; it requires us to look inside ourselves and our organisations, in order to assure ourselves of the health of both.  It also requires us to look up and out; this is often the more difficult of the two, because the tyranny of the inbox and in-tray can drag us down and in.  In such a scenario, the requirement is to find a technique which suits the individual and enables her or him to horizon scan: to spot the next opportunity or looming threat.

The heart of it is that leadership is a human activity, not a technical or procedural, or bureaucratic one.  The General sets the direction of march, yes. However, his or her army will eventually fail, if he or she hasn’t earned trust, respect and therefore loyalty; the will to go the extra mile from both the troops and the leader, for the success of the team.

End

Any queries on the blog, the guest speaker or the session, please contact Dr Eun Sun Godwin (e.godwin@wlv.ac.uk) and Dr Jenni Jones (jenni.jones@wlv.ac.uk)