The Solutions Focus
+44 (0) 7786 735945
  • Home
  • Services
    • Training >
      • Getting The Best From Feedback
      • Effective Conversations
      • Solutions-Focused Conversations for the Workplace
      • Bite Sized Sessions
      • Introduction to SF Coaching
      • Team Building
      • Leadership Development
      • Manager as Coach
      • Masterclasses
      • Productive Meetings
      • Leading Change through Powerful Conversations
      • Difficult to Constructive Conversations
      • Building Resilience
      • Increasing Engagement
      • Raising Performance
      • What Works Well
      • Positively Speaking The Course
    • Coaching >
      • Executive and Business Coaching
      • Team Coaching
      • Online Coaching
      • Coaching Conundrums
      • Supervision
    • Consulting >
      • Change Projects
      • Strategy Workshops
      • Appraisal Design
      • 360 Degrees Feedback
      • SF Professional Development Programme
      • Licensing
    • Speaking >
      • The Book
      • Keynotes and Presentations
      • Conferences
  • About Us
    • Our Approach
    • OSKAR Coaching Model
    • Six SIMPLE Principles
    • Solutions TOOLS
    • Our Clients
    • Accessibility
  • Resources
    • Articles
    • Blog
    • Books
    • Coaching Cards
    • The SF Community
    • Inspiring Quotes
  • Shop
  • Contact Us
    • Newsletter
    • Social Media
  • Link Page

Leadership is a bunch of talk

25/6/2019

0 Comments

 
‘Therapy is nothing but a bunch of talk’, as the founder of Solution-focused Brief Therapy Steve de Shazer once said. And it’s not too much of a stretch to consider leadership, too, as nothing but a bunch of talk.
 
Organisations spend a great deal of money to develop and train their leaders. More than £20,000 per leader per year, we've seen estimated. And beyond that, people who want to be leaders get themselves expensive educations at business schools.  
 
The idea is that this spending pays off, as these improved leaders increase profits, recruit and retain better staff, engage and motivate them more effectively and so forth.  
 
But what are they taught on their leadership courses? All sort of theories of leadership. Most of which are based on limited or dated research, with conclusions drawn from one set of circumstances as if they can be applied (scientifically) to other circumstances that different leaders will face in their digitally-reconstructed futures in radically different organisations.
 
Even leaving aside the quality of research and the rigour of the logic of the leadership arguments, attempts to apply these theories may or may not be wise. Perhaps it is simply not possible to have a true and accurate map of leadership. To say the least, the landscape of leadership is not fixed.
 
When people mistake a map for the territory, and then people do not react as they are expected or supposed to, we are tempted to call them resistant (to our great idea). I’m the leader, and you should follow me this way. The theory says so. We are confronted with disappointment and even argument and rebellion.  
 
Whereas if we were less tied to theory and were instead, say, trying out something which seems to be a good idea during the course of our leading, we could be looking for signs of co-operation and progress – key elements of a solutions-focused approach.
 
Instead of giving leaders theories, let’s give them tips. Offer hints on how better to interact with people, ways to deal with changing situations, tools for collaboration. And a reminder to keep an eye out for what works.

Picture
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Book
    Care
    Change
    Coaching
    Comedy
    Complexity
    Conference
    Constructivism
    Consulting
    Conversation
    Decision Making
    Education
    Engagement
    Facilitation
    Feedback
    Future
    Goals
    HR
    Improvisation
    Interview
    Journalism
    Leadership
    Learning
    Management
    Marketing
    Meetings
    Mistakes
    Monday
    Neuroscience
    Organisation
    Organisational Development
    OSKAR
    Performance
    Philosophy
    Police
    Politics
    Problems
    Project Management
    Psychology
    Questions
    Resilience
    Scale
    SFBT
    SIMPLE
    Sport
    Stress
    Supervision
    TOOLS
    Top Tips
    Training
    Video

    Archives

    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    February 2013
    December 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    November 2011
    October 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    September 2010
    August 2010

Home
Services
Training
Coaching
Consultancy
Speaking


About Us
Our Approach
OSKAR
​SF Tools
Our Clients
Resources
Blog
Books 
Conferences
SF Community
Shop
Contact Us
The Solutions Focus
Tel +44 (0)7786 735 945
      
Email: contact@thesolutionsfocus.co.uk

     The Solutions Focus © 2014   All Rights Reserved
  Terms of Use   Privacy