Many organisations are led by individuals who lack the ability to inspire, nurture and get the best out of teams working for them. The situation persists despite considerable investment and attention in leadership development, according to Rajeev Peshawaria, CEO of Kuala Lumpur based not-for-profit company Iclif Leadership and Government Centre.

 

Peshawaria’s comments came during a discussion hosted by the Dubai School of Government on his latest book: ‘Too Many Bosses, Too Few Leaders’, The session drew the participation of top-level executives and department heads from various public and private sector institutions.

 

From his extensive global experience in leadership development, , Peshawaria launched a two-year global study to identify reasons that make bosses fail as leaders and explore solutions. The study involved thousands of people across multiple industries in over 100 countries. Respondents were asked how many bosses that they have worked with could be qualified as great leaders.

 

Peshawaria said: “The average response we get is always between 0-2. It is abundantly clear that despite all the investment and attention on leadership development, great leaders are hard to find.

 

“This is due to flawed assumptions and beliefs about leadership.  Contrary to conventional wisdom, leadership cannot be learned in a classroom through copy-cat role-plays or theoretical competency models.  Leadership also has nothing to do with formal position power. Leadership is about creating a better future. Real leaders have seemingly unlimited energy that keeps them going despite the most formidable of resistance. These leaders also achieve sustainable success for their organisations by masterfully shaping and managing the three pillars of growth: The Brains (strategy), Bones (organisational architecture) and Nerves (culture).”

 

Kanoo Group, a Gulf-based multinational group of companies with over 100 years of entrepreneurial experience and a commitment to community, diversity and environment, sponsored the DSG talk.

 

Rajeev Peshawaria is CEO of The Iclif Leadership & Governance Centre based in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, author of Too Many Bosses, Too Few Leaders (Simon & Schuster 2011) and a regular blogger for Forbes, Rajeev has extensive global experience in leadership development with a particular focus on developing and delivering on business strategy. Rajeev’s professional roots are in industry. He has been Chief Learning Officer of both Coca-Cola and Morgan Stanley, and has formerlyheld senior positions at American Express and Goldman Sachs. At Goldman, Rajeev helped found Pine Street - the firm’s acclaimed leadership academy - and headed Pine Street for Europe and Asia. He has also provided coaching, consulting and advisory services globally. His current research centers around the differences between effective leadership in the East vs. West, and on how leaders resolve ethical dilemmas. Rajeev is a sought after international speaker and has been widely featured in international media platforms such as Bloomberg TV & radio, Harvard Business Review, CNBC, Fast Company, Leader to Leader, American Management Association (AMA) magazine, Leadership Excellence magazine, The Times of India, The National - Dubai, Mint-Wall Street Journal and the Conference Board. Rajeev and his family have lived in fourteen cities in eight countries.