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Leadership lessons – or warnings – from Ed Miliband’s Labour Party Conference address.

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Yesterday’s address by Labour Party Leader Ed Miliband at the Labour Party Conference has received some positive reviews in the press. Judging by the Clap-o-meter report in The Guardian, he said what his audience wanted to hear – a speech of 64 minutes included 17 minutes of applause! However, it will take more than an hour’s rhetoric from a confident, relaxed, unscripted Ed Miliband to transform his leadership fortunes in the eyes of the public and to go on to win the 2015 General Election and lead the country out of the continuing economic gloom.

While we have yet to read what the polls make of Ed Miliband’s electability following his speech, a report in the Daily Mail on a recent Populus Poll commissioned by the Tories before the conference shows just how difficult Ed Miliband’s crusade will be:

  • Only 1 in 4 believes he can revive the economy
  • 67% of all voters think his party ‘chose the wrong brother’
  • 65% per cent of Labour voters say David Miliband would do a better job

These findings don’t make encouraging reading and raise the prospect that Ed Miliband is living on borrowed time as a leader. And they raise wider questions about what it takes to successfully lead and for others to willingly follow.

According to influential leadership experts Jim Kouzes & Barry Posner, authors of The Leadership Challenge, now in its 5th edition: we have to believe the messenger before we believe the message.

They explain that leaders we willingly follow must have ‘source credibility’. That means they must be:

  • Honest
  • Forward looking
  • Inspiring
  • Competent

Drawn from their Characteristics of Admired Leaders Checklist and numbering 20 in total, these four characteristics have consistently topped their list over the last 25 years.

So looking ahead and to  the 2015 General Election, do you believe Ed Miliband possesses these characteristics? For me, the first three characteristics are not in doubt; my problem is with the fourth:

  • Does he have the competence to lead the country?
  • What are his credentials?

It takes years to master competence in the arena in which Ed Miliband is performing.  And even if he has the competence, it’s all about the my perception of his competence. Echoing the findings in the Populus poll I have serious doubts. Do you?

There are many leadership models and examples of effective leadership.  To paraphrase employee engagement expert Dr. David McLeod: “It’s hard to describe what employee engagement is, but you know when you see it (and when you don’t)”. Can the same be said about credible leadership? And if so, when you see Ed Miliband do you see a credible leader, one who can lead his party to the General Election, win it and transform the prospects of the country? Perhaps in three years he will have developed the mastery required to convince me. And will he be given the time to develop it and demonstrate it or will he just go the same way as so many others and be deposed?

And what lessons are there here for us as leaders in our field?

  • Do we have source credibility?
  • Are we honest, forward looking and inspiring?
  • Are we competent?
  • Do we have mastery in what we do and how we do it?
  • What do our followers think?

Time to get some feedback?

If you found this Leadership Insight thought provoking and helpful, post a reply. It will be great to hear from you.