Vibrant Leadership Culture
How to create a vibrant leadership culture with high morale and great output
You need leadership to buzz throughout your organisation. Neil Jurd OBE explains what this looks like and what you can do to encourage a vibrant leadership culture.
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What's this video about?
In this short talk, Neil Jurd explores the culture of leadership within organisations and emphasises that effective leadership can come from any level, not just the top. He defines leadership as achieving goals beyond individual capacity by engaging others intellectually and emotionally towards a clear and compelling objective.
Neil states that in traditional, hierarchical organisations, leadership is restricted to senior positions, creating bottlenecks where decisions are slow, and leadership flows only downward, Neil explains that this limits the organisation’s potential by relying on a small group of top leaders. He contrasts this to high-performing organisations, which encourage leadership in all directions. This results in individuals leading their peers and even influencing their own leaders, inspired by the clear and compelling purpose. This approach increases engagement from all members of the organisation, creating a dynamic and responsive environment.
Neil highlights the importance of engaging others intellectually and emotionally, especially when leading peers or superiors who are not required to follow their directions. He quotes Max Weber, a German sociologist, who believed that leadership throughout the system should be encouraged rather than just at the top. Neil shares an example of a Scottish clothing manufacturer where any employee can lead a project if it aligns with company objectives and gains approval from a judging panel, describing how this inclusive leadership culture has resulted in a successful and positive workplace.
He concludes by encouraging leaders to reflect on how leadership flows in their own organisations and to consider ways to grow a culture of more widespread leadership.
