Getting Extraordinary Results from Ordinary People!

What this session covered

This session in the institute's webinar series examined how leaders can draw strong performance from people commonly regarded as ordinary. After opening remarks from the institute's president and an introduction by the moderator, two invited speakers addressed the theme in turn — one drawing on a long career in the armed forces, the other on senior corporate management experience in the United States — before a moderated question-and-answer session that drew on questions from an international audience of more than 250 participants. The first speaker, describing himself as a career soldier rather than a management specialist, argued that no member of a team is inherently ordinary and that people tend to perform to the level a leader enables. Drawing on service experiences, the speaker suggested that a competent, motivated team can for a time carry a weaker leader, but that a capable leader, given reasonable time, can train and motivate a team towards strong results, making leadership central to the outcome. On the development of leaders, the speaker held that those early in their careers should be passionate about their work and build competence, set high personal standards and guard against complacency, while more senior leaders should recognise the effect of their conduct on subordinates, develop rather than merely use their people, share credit and act with humility.

The second speaker, speaking from a corporate background, framed leadership as a human responsibility and a social achievement rather than simply a business position, distinguishing leadership as an attribute from management as a role. The speaker emphasised finding value in ordinary, everyday moments; setting clear short- and long-term expectations; building deep relationships and sound processes; and leading by example through a readiness to admit uncertainty and to apologise. Communication was described as something to be repeated and checked against what the recipient actually understands, yet exercised with caution, and failure was presented as an opportunity. The speaker observed that, although the two contributions had not been prepared jointly, they converged, taking this as evidence that leadership qualities recur across different fields.

In the closing discussion, the speakers were asked whether a strong organisation rests on its people or its objectives; the response offered was that people and clear objectives are interdependent, with goal-setting and continual review both treated as necessary, and with review increasingly seen as an ongoing rather than annual exercise. Further questions touched on the lessons that sport and a sporting temperament may offer to leadership, and on the differing contributions of individual and team sport. In concluding remarks, the discussion returned to the value of collective rather than individual framing, to role effectiveness at every level of an organisation, to ethical conduct, and again to communication understood in terms of what the recipient receives.

Key points raised

• The session's central proposition was that there are no inherently ordinary people, and that performance largely reflects what leadership enables.
• One speaker traced leadership across a career: passion and competence when young, vigilance against complacency, and humility and the development of others when senior.
• The other speaker framed leadership as a human responsibility distinct from management, resting on clear expectations, deep relationships, sound processes and leading by example.
• Communication was discussed as something to be repeated and checked against what the recipient actually understands, while exercised with caution.
• In discussion, people and objectives were presented as interdependent, with continual review of goals regarded as increasingly necessary.
• Sport and a sporting temperament were repeatedly cited as sources of leadership lessons, alongside the value of admitting uncertainty and sharing credit.