On Leadership: Paul Nash

Leadership--The Clue is in the Title
Paul Nash

Whether you have aspired to greatness or have had greatness thrust upon you – and it’s sitting a little uneasily on the shoulders – you have to get used to the idea that you’re responsible and that’s not quite the same as just being in charge and telling people what to do.

Know yourself; understand your strengths and weaknesses. Embrace diversity; engage people who are a counterpoint to you, having a shared vision is not the same as being of like minds. An organisation of like minds is less likely to challenge, less open to innovation and is more risk averse.

There should be no such thing as “need to know”. Avoid mushroom management; communicate, communicate, communicate and then communicate some more. Remember that communication is a two way process and control requires feedback. Don’t shoot the messenger; rumours about dead messengers soon get around and before you know it, there are no messengers willing to sacrifice themselves. Information belongs to the organisation, not the individual so think long and hard about how information is managed. Information is the business intelligence and how you capture and use that intelligence should inform decision making and underpin management of risk.

Take risks; risk aversion is not risk management and avoiding all risk will slow your progress. There will always be risks, manage them rather than bleed energy by avoiding them. Managing risk is what will open the doors to innovation and will enable you to take advantage of the talents around you.

Lead from the rear and be quite clear about where it is you’re going. What’s the end game? What will success look like? How will the benefits be realised? Knowing where you’re going is not quite the same as knowing how to get there and that’s important because there will be a need to innovate on the way. Being committed to a fixed route may be leading from the front but it’s no good if you’re losing people along the way who are following from behind. Leading from the rear means that you can guide everyone to the end point but people can find their own way.

Never make people feel disempowered. Micromanagement only feels as if you are in control until the number of balls in the air exceeds the theoretical maximum. Matrix management is never going to be an easy option but those individuals who are on the bleeding edge of delivery know a thing or two that you don’t. While you’re responsible at the end of the day you have to trust people, they are your most valuable resource. Individuals who are empowered will solve problems for you and will repay trust.

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Paul Nash is a business consultant with Penval Project Support Services Limited. Penval provides discrete project support to private and public sector organisations. Penval's recent work includes delivery of Technology @ Work for Business Link West Midlands, design and delivery of a dissemination strategy for Regional Action West Midlands and developing project business cases for the Delivery Innovation Team at the Department of Communities and Local Government.