Misguided leadership?

A recent global survey by McKinsey found that inspirational leadership — that defined expectations from workers and rewarded deserving ones, remained the most sought-after quality in CEOs during and after the crisis.

Sadly, these were not the qualities leaders were seen to have stood for. Over 750 respondents quizzed said they had seen more leaders focus on monitoring individual performance — even though it is seen as one of the least helpful ways of managing a crisis.

The behaviour patterns executives saw as most helpful were seen more in female leaders. Most companies, however, admitted that they did not have programmes to support gender diversity. Only 28 per cent of the respondents said it was a top-10 agenda item in their companies, and 40 per cent admitted it wasn’t on their companies’ agendas at all.