Re-creating leaders – the influence of environment

In 1896 an English moth enthusiast, James W Tutt, published a book entitled “British Moths”. In this he explained how technology had created changes in the environment and the impact this had on local moths. Tutt’s conclusion was that the environment in which we operate influences both the rate and the degree of evolutionary change.

My observations of and in organisations for more than 40 years suggests that the same is true of leaders and organisations.

I have seen leaders who were tremendously successful in one environment or organisation become total failures when they moved to another – and I have seen the reverse. I have seen organisations that were tremendously successful in one environment suffer serious decline when they have sought to establish themselves in another location – and I have seen the reverse.

Sometimes we seem to forget that leadership is both culturally and task specific. In other words, for example, being a leader in a commercial organisation demands some different competencies from being a leader as a parent or in a community-based organisation. And being a leader in a small organisation requires some different competencies from being a leader in a large organisation.

What are the environments in which you function as a leader?

In what way are these different from your previous leadership environments?

In what way are these different from the environments in which you want to lead?

What changes have you had to make in order to be successful today?

What changes will you need to make in order to be successful tomorrow?

How are you going to make these changes?

How are you going to help others in their process of re-creation?

More information about Douglas Long at http://www.dglong.com/