Where Do Business Leaders Come From? - Myth Busters -Indian Management Magazine

Good leaders are in more demand than ever. They must guide unprecedented global change amid a host of challenges. Today’s leaders face labor shortages and the retirement of skill workers without trained replacements, supply chain disruptions, inflation, and rapid innovation and converging technologies requiring smart, agile and creative leaders from the shop floor to the C-Suite.  

Baby Boomer leaders are retiring at a record pace and demand is high, so where do companies look for qualified leaders? Will college graduates be ready to step in to lead, or is there an opportunity to develop leaders more quickly through mentoring and on-the-job experience?  

If we listen to public policy leaders, the expectation is that college is how we must prepare the workforce of the future, but is that truly the best policy? Amidst calls for free college for all, is there another option that should we investigate? Alternatives for developing leaders through specialized training and development are worth exploring.  

In the United States, the adult workforce is roughly 165 million, and some 35 percent have obtained at a Bachelor’s degree or higher. The other 65 percent, or around 107 million, have something less than a 4-year degree.  Meanwhile, the average manager’s span of control is 8 to 10 people. This means that the number of employees managers need in the workforce is from 16.5 to 20.6 million people.  

Leadership at its core requires the ability to influence others to work together to achieve a goal. Good leadership is based on developing or adopting ideas, developing a plan, and communicating to others in a way that engages them to do their part to achieve the goal. This requires leaders to be both proficient and experienced in what they’re advancing and to exhibit behaviors — some of which are innate, like patience, empathy, positivity, creativity, and risk-taking, and some which are learned, like active listening, reliability, dependability, communication, team building, and the ability to teach and mentor. 

Various myths exist about business leadership and how much is innate versus learned. Among the more common include: 

Myth 1 – Most business leaders are college educated 

The numbers would suggest that this might be true, with 58,000 degree holders in the workforce. Yet many of the 107 million people without degrees who mainly enter the workforce through entry level jobs often learn on the job and work their way up to supervisory and manager-level (or higher) roles through their innate abilities, training, and leadership certification programs. Many of these front-line leadership roles involve supervising large groups of people.  

Myth 2 – Colleges train the next generation of business leaders 

It’s true that colleges train many next-generation leaders and have done so for a long time. But not all college students are trained in leadership. Rather, it’s mainly taught in leadership-specific courses that aren’t required for all degrees. Many of these courses train for problem solving and decision making, and developing an individual’s ability to analyze problems and develop solutions based on the data. The process presented is an entirely rational one. This is a good start, but it’s not enough to be an indicator of innate leadership ability.  

Leaders not only need to analyze data and find a theoretical solution, they need to be able to translate their plan into action. In other words, they must read between the lines of analysis and planning and know the capabilities of the team and how to influence and support team members. They must rally the team to accomplish goals and also to look for opportunities to create more value.  

The dynamics of leadership revolve around getting things done — with the team, in the moment, and under pressure. Most business leaders are college graduates, but many aren’t and they learn leadership in the military, in building trades, in their respective industries, and other settings, where their experiences enable them to develop into skilled leaders.  

Myth 3 – Business leadership is about control and power 

Business leadership is about delegating control and power within a framework of goals and objectives, along with marshaling agreement on the culture of the organization and mobilizing around a shared mission. With those elements in place, decisions and actions can be taken in a way that’s consistent with the organization’s values and ethics.  

What I’ve found as a leader is that the more responsibility I have, the more I need to use persuasive communication, an aspirational but achievable goal, and a good plan. Then I delegate the execution to the team, coach as needed, and take responsibility for the results.  

Myth 4 – Business leadership is complicated and hard to learn 

Business leadership isn’t hard to learn, but it’s hard to practice consistently. Team members look to their leaders for clear goals, thoughtful strategy, and help with tactics. They look for a consistent and well-communicated vision that reflects the company’s core values, and they look to their leaders to live those values. When practiced well, the team will align with the leader’s vision.  

I recently retired as COO at H. B. Fuller Company where I was responsible for three global business units with more than $3 billion in sales, that served 30 global markets with 38 technology centers and 69 plants in 35 countries. I’ve worked with great leaders from all walks of life, genders, ethnicities, and cultures from all around the globe. Each one had these things in common: they were guided by a culture built on winning the right way, they understood and exhibited the power of collaboration and the essence of courage, and they were supported by an executive committee willing to delegate responsibility to trusted team members who were closest to our customers.  

Myth 5 – Everyone can be a business leader 

This is only true if you add “who wants to” to the end of the statement. Leadership is about taking responsibility to decide what to do and then doing it. It’s learned through experience and can take root in employees at all levels who have a strong desire to influence outcomes, are willing to take responsibility for themselves and others, and enjoy being accountable for achieving results.   

Leaders need a balance of analytical, innate abilities and a desire to be successful. I’m an example an entry-level employee without the benefit of a college degree who rose to become CEO by using my innate attributes of curiosity, will, and self-directed learning. Because of my own experience, I believe that everyone can be a business leader who wants to.