The last forty-eight hours in the UK have been quite remarkable for the leadership community. This week saw the release of the Hutton report. This reported on the circumstances surrounding the tragic death of the weapons’ expert, David Kelly. At the heart of the debate was an allegation from a BBC News reporter that the UK government had ‘sexed up’ the weapons report to justify the war in Iraq. This then was the beginning of an almighty verbal and PR dust up between the government and the BBC, which became increasingly acrimonious.

The findings of the report has resulted in the exoneration of the government and the condemnation of the inadequate editorial control within the BBC. This then precipitated the resignation of the two senior leaders in the BBC, the Chairman Gavin Davis and the somewhat provocative and at times controversial Director General, Greg Dyke.

These events in themselves are truly historic and will have long-term impact upon how the government and media relate to one another. However, what followed Dyke’s resignation has also been quite remarkable. Within less than an hour of his announcing his resignation, literally hundreds of BBC employees from around the country staged a walk-out protest demanding that he stay. This unprecedented outpouring of commitment to, and love for, a senior executive is a helpful and timely challenge for us all. It would appear that although the public perception and political brand of Greg Dyke was as an aggressive, bullish, and shrewd business man, his brand internally would appear to be much more an inspiring, motivating, and caring individual. From the little insights we’ve received during the last few days of this media frenzy there are some important lessons for leaders who, like Greg Dyke, would love to have many members of their staff grieving at their loss and demanding their return.

Firstly, Dyke had set out to restore the confidence of the BBC in its role and place in public life. A number of comments have been heard in media reports from people saying how much was achieved during his tenure - that many within the organisation ‘believed once again’ in what the BBC was supposed to be for. Building the self-esteem of organisations is an essential function of high performing leaders. Too often the egotistical leader will build an organisation’s confidence in him or her, whereas the truly great leaders will build belief in the organisation and the people themselves.

Secondly, he provided strong and, some would say, courageous leadership. Whether people view Greg Dyke in a positive or negative light it could rarely, if ever, be said of him that he was woolly or indecisive in decision making. When this whole story started he made a very decisive call to stand his ground and when he later realised he had made some strategic mistakes he was also pretty clear. At his farewell speech on a desk in the Beeb’s headquarters he announced emotionally to his team, “I don’t want to go, but if in the end you screw up you have to go.” It would appear the second mark of leaders who would have employees begging for their return is that they make strong decisions. Too often organisations become stagnant and paralysed because of a lack of willingness to make tough calls by leaders. Those of us in the development world regularly come across organisations that are sluggishly wading through the quagmire of committee processes because senior leaders don’t or won’t express the courage required to make the big calls.

Finally, even though the BBC as an organisation has thousands of employees reaching right around the world it appears that for many within the organisation, Dyke had enabled them to feel valued and close to him. One employee demonstrating outside of the London office said, “He cared about the little people, that’s why we came out.” Certainly the scenes we saw would suggest that this was not the sole experience of this particular individual. Leaders in all kinds of organisations need to somehow find connection points with every member of their staff. Increasingly, people are distrustful and feel detached from large institutions in the corporate or public sector. In this emerging zeitgeist of workplace intimacy, leaders who can create such connection points are not only going to recruit but also retain quality staff.

As I write this the saga of the BBC roles on, I sense that the story is not at an end, however it may be helpful to pause and reflect upon the lessons that can be learnt at this point. Every one of us who lead must aspire to become the kind that it appears Dyke was for many of his employees. We could benefit from setting ourselves the goal of becoming the kind of leaders whom people would demonstrate in the streets for if we were to go. Amongst other things it would appear that those leaders at least will build self esteem within their organisation, provide courageous leadership, and enable employees to feel connected and loved.

It has been said that success is defined not by what you go on to but rather by what you leave behind. Whatever your view of the man, it would appear that by this measure Mr Dyke has been incredibly successful indeed.

Phil Wall
CEO