The Leadership Series: Making Sense of the Puzzle

Over the coming months I am going to share some thoughts about leadership based on my PhD research, current events and my experience working alongside leaders in organisations.

So let’s get started with the first blog in this series............

1. Getting Off The Starting Blocks

At the turn of the millennium I made a big decision, I walked away from my first role as a consultant in a change management consultancy. After five years at ER Consultants (OE Cam), working with great colleagues who were so generous in sharing their experience and knowledge with a rookie occupational psychology graduate, it was time for the next challenge.  The shock for friends, colleagues and my family, was that this challenge would be unpaid as a PhD student looking at Leadership in organisations.  The opportunity to study at Cambridge University was way too tempting and although it was much earlier in my career than I wanted, I grabbed the challenge and ran with it.

For the first year (March 2001) I attended the Manufacturing Leaders Program alongside leaders in their field who were undertaking an MBA-like experience within the Institute for Manufacturing.  As a researcher, these were to be my subjects.  They came from large organisations, GSK, ABB, Rolls-Royce to name a few, industry giants with a strong desire to develop their leadership talent.  I listened, observed, participated and learned a great deal.  It served as a fantastic springboard into talking to others in these organisations.  I embarked upon interviews with leaders.  But then came the challenge,  gradually I became disheartened with the ‘MBA’ like answers that I was being given in response to my questions.  It wasn’t igniting my interest in the subject and was in fact dampening it somewhat. I needed to cast my net wider.

I started to read more about early stage companies and start-ups.  I wondered how this intense period of growth and change impacted upon leadership.  My interviews shifted to this population and the touchpaper was lit. I listened to honest, unedited accounts of leadership through challenging times. I heard founders talk about the challenges of attracting bright people to risky projects and getting them to ‘follow you into the unknown’.  I was also struck by the additional ‘weight’ of responsibility that these leaders carried, fully aware that the success of the business month to month was directly connected to their ability to pay themselves and their team.  As the cash burned through within a funding cycle, this became an ever present burden.

Three years is a long time to focus on one thing singularly and in great depth, I needed the subject to drive me forwards. This world of leadership suddenly looked more interesting, with it’s filter-free nature and relatively uncharted territory, it became the main focus of my research.  My interest was in what leaders actually do and the processes of leadership in this specific start-up and early stage context. 

Over this series, I want to share some of the insights from my research and invite you to contribute.  You will learn more about why contribution, collaboration and co-creation is a core part of my findings and so why it makes sense to emulate that style in sharing this with you.

I also want to share my findings and explore the applicability today as many leaders in businesses are navigating change right now; both the self-imposed and externally driven.

Next time..............insights from the first stage of my research.