In this piece, we want to quickly examine “Why Organizational Leadership Fails.” Leadership is central to the success or failure of any organization anywhere in the world. When an organization rises above and beyond its expectations and competitors, we simply congratulate the leadership. On the other hand, when organizations fail to achieve what they intended to achieve, the leadership of such organizations takes the blame. But what we are examining here is why organizational leadership fails. Many factors are usually responsible for the failure of any organizational leadership, and I want us to take a few minutes to look at a few of them.
Listen to Podcast: Why Organizational Leadership Fails
Number One: Poor Leadership. Poor leadership ruins everything – whether it has to do with self-leadership, political leadership, family leadership, spiritual leadership, or even, organizational leadership. The starting point of every organizational leadership failure is rooted and embedded in poor leadership. If a nation is poorly led, that nation would retrogress. If a family is poorly led, that family would drift apart. If an organization is poorly led, that organization would fail woefully. There is absolutely no good result that can come from poor leadership. Jesus said in Matthew 15:14: “…And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.” A leader with poor leadership acumen is simply a blind leader, and such a leader would lead the organization into the ditch. So, poor leadership is the beginning of organizational leadership failures.
Number Two: Misalignment. Anytime there is a misalignment or a disjoint between where the leadership of the organization is heading, and where the employees or the team of the organization is heading, then organizational leadership would fail to achieve the intended results. This is why leaders must at every point in time, endeavor and ensures that their team is always on the same page all the time. Most leaders that struggle to get an employee or a member of a team to act in line almost all the time are simply facing the problem of misalignment within the organization that they are leading. Amos 3:3 says: “Can two walk together unless they are agreed?” Disagreement brings about misalignment. So, to avoid organizational leadership failure, there must be some level of synergy and alignment between the leaders and the led.
Number Three: Lack of Direction & Pattern. The moment there is no concrete direction to follow in the organization, leadership no doubt would fail. Every organization must have a direction per time and per season. Everything cannot just go the way they want to go, things must follow the direction and pattern that have been laid down to follow, and it is in this direction that leadership flows and find expression. In Exodus 25:9 & 40, God said to Moses: “According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it. And see to it that you make them according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.” It is often easier for leadership to follow a direction and pattern. Once direction and pattern are lacking in the organization, then failure would set in.
So, these three factors, amongst others; are the reasons why organizational leadership fails. For organizational leadership not to fail, the question of poor leadership must be addressed, the question of misalignment must be taken care of and the question of direction and pattern must be addressed as well. This is where we are going to draw the curtains on today’s episode of Leaderview and I believe that you have learned something. Please don’t forget to share this piece with your friends and everyone within your leadership sphere so that they can learn a few things too. Till next time on Leaderview, I remain Abiola Obayomi. Thank you for listening.
[Centre for New Dimension Leadership]
