What can we learn from Thatcher’s leadership?

Pip Clarke

She may have been controversial, but many thought she was a great leader. Pip Clarke from talent management consultancy a&dc looks at what recruiters can learn from the Iron Lady.

There has been much noise following the death of the Iron Lady – both from supporters and non-supporters – but one phrase that I’ve continuously heard over the past week or so is that she was a great leader. As a political journalist in the 1980s, I experienced her leadership style first hand. She certainly divided the nation (often described as ‘Marmite’), but nevertheless she led the country through very challenging times. In today’s competitive market, quality of leadership is just as fundamental for a leader of a recruitment division as it is in politics.

When it comes to growing and attracting future leaders into the recruitment industry, no matter what your political views, you can learn a lot from Margaret Thatcher. Recruitment is a tough business, and not everyone is cut out for it. Just because a candidate has first-class qualifications, doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll last in the role.

So in order to avoid the costs of a bad hire – both in terms of time and money – it’s fundamental that you find the right talent in the first instance. This is important at all levels, from graduates with limited experience right up to senior figures. There are several key qualities for you to look for when recruiting for a head of a division within your consultancy.

So what was it that made her leadership stand out so dramatically and what is relevant when you’re looking to hire senior figures? Well, there are several key qualities that Margaret Thatcher demonstrated during her time as Prime Minister, some good and some not so good. In order for your business to be successful, it is worth taking a closer look at these to ensure your account managers have the right attributes to deliver the results you need.

Resilience

Margaret Thatcher was certainly resilient. The tougher the challenge the more she seemed to rise to it and to relish the process. At a&dc we have identified eight key characteristics of a resilient individual. We ask not whether or not people are resilient but ‘how’ are they resilient? Britain’s first female Prime Minister had three of the resilient attributes in spades – sense of purpose, self-belief, and challenge orientation. She knew absolutely what she wanted to achieve, she believed passionately that she was right and she was not shy of taking on anyone or anything that got in her way. Of course all of these attributes contributed to her eventual demise, and a&dc’s research would have predicted as much. We know that when resilient attributes are overplayed they can become blind spots that can de-rail even the most promising individual, unless corrective action is taken.

As well as being critical to good leadership, research also shows that higher levels of resilience can lead to positive consequences such as reduced stress and a more constructive work attitude. In these challenging times, it’s clear to see why resilience is a must have quality for your recruitment company as well as in politics.

Pip Clarke, a&dc

On top of this, it’s also worth recognising that there are five critical areas of effective leadership, which form our LIVED model. The first element of this is Learning: having the ability to learn from your past experiences and then apply this to new situations. The second – Intellect – is when a leader can work effectively with complex and ambiguous information, making sound conclusions based on this analysis. Values is the next part of the model, and refers to how an individual acts in an authentic and consistent way, inspiring trust and demonstrating integrity, courage and respect for others. The ‘E’ stands for Emotion, and a great leader needs to be able to manage their emotions effectively, build positive relationships and influence and inspire others. And, finally, there’s Drive whereby a leader is able to set challenging goals, take an action-orientated approach and show determination to achieve results.

Margaret Thatcher, like any leader had her strengths and weaknesses in these five areas, but her lack of ability to evolve her style to suit a changing environment (learning agility) contributed to her eventual downfall. Hiring employees who have this learning ‘intelligence’ will be vital to longer term business success.

And, as well as recruiting new employees, it’s just as important to ensure that you shape the consultants that you already have so they too can become effective leaders. You need to have a talent pipeline in place, and you can do this by identifying your high potentials – those individuals who have the skills and capabilities to progress to senior levels – and develop their skills to match the qualities of an effective leader.

No matter what your view on Margaret Thatcher, a lot can be learnt from her time as Prime Minister. If your company wants to respond to the increasingly complex business demands of the recruitment sector and succeed in such challenging times, your leaders could certainly learn some leadership lessons from this controversial figure.  

Pip Clarke is Business Development Director at a&dc