Trump, Brexit, and what they mean for leadership
There have been some curveballs in 2016 that’s for sure.
The world is still grasping with Donald Trump’s shock presidential win over Hillary Clinton last week. Brexit is still inflaming tensions in the UK.
I’m not qualified to make political commentary but like many others, I’ve been forced to challenge my thinking and learn from this for our business.
It seems there’s a dissatisfied level within society that feel they haven’t been given a voice for years. They feel the government has failed them. They felt that any change was a good thing. Trump and Farage respectively gave these people a voice. Doing so they have created a political maelstrom that I don’t think anyone could have predicted 12 months ago.
Trump said in his first tweet since winning the presidency “The forgotten man and woman will never be forgotten again”.
This got me thinking. Are our organisations creating the same level of dissatisfaction within the workplace?
Recent Australian research from the Centre for Workplace Leadership found that despite the key role played by frontline leaders, they are mostly neglected in leadership development.
For every $10 spent on senior leaders, only $1 is spent on frontline leaders (Mercer, 2013).
Could there be a need to recognise and address the potential disconnect between the front line and the strategic thinking senior leaders, before the revolution of the “forgotten” people escalates any further?
I’ll certainly be working with our clients to ensure that every level within the workplace is given a voice and developed – irrespective of past biases.
LIW, our strategic partners in leadership are also committed to building aligned leadership at every level within organisations, and we’ll be supporting them in this quest.