Leadership - What Really Matters: A Handbook on Systemic Leadership (Management for Professionals)

specialists. The typical and major “manager of managers” role is to make the
employees understand the corporate strategy. According to Charan et al. at this
point the following four core tasks of leadership are most important and have to be
on the manager’s agenda: selecting and training the team and the department heads;
demanding real leadership activities for this target group; (re-) distributing resources
between departments; managing the interfaces between departments; and managing
those between your own and other areas of the company (see Charan et al. 2001, p. 51
ff.).
As soon a as a leader works on an incorrect level, it negatively affects the layers
above and below them, leading to stagnancy. If a team leader cannot delegate and
does everything himself or herself, it is demoralizing for the professionals in their
team. At the same time, the manager of the team leader fails, as the former has not
properly supported the latter. This may have fatal consequences: these signals are
received within the company – and suddenly other executives feel consciously or
unconsciously encouraged not to comply with their job requirements.
In these new leadership development models, it is extremely important that all
activities are carefully monitored. According to a study by the Federal Institute
for Vocational Education and Training 85% of German companies expect that it
will become more important to better determine training needs and to consistently
monitor the long-term success of the training. That is easier said than done, but the

Passage

Six

Enterprise Manager

Business Manager

Manage Manager

Manage Self

Group Manager

Functional Manager

Manage Others

Passage

Four

Passage

Two

Passage

Five

Passage

Three

Passage

One

Fig. 4.2Critical career moves for senior executives in larger organizations (Source: Charan et al.
2001)

4.1 Can Relationships Be Learned? A New Approach to Leadership Development 199