THE HOOD

Leadership requires individuals coming together for a common purpose. There are many groups that rely on and benefit from each other. These groups are the hoods. Hoods are informal groups and formal organisations that can have the opportunity to bring about synergy and high performances that require coordination and direction. Individuals rely on and operate in several hoods and can have differing roles. These hoods rely on great leadership to exist, thrive, and grow. Leadership has wide-ranging influence and should not be viewed or aspired to as having the opportunity to only be at the top of the chain of command. It needs to be fully realised for the opportunities to bring positive change to hoods (i.e., communities, organisations, academia, neighbourhoods, markets, industries, alliances, teams, and individuals). Regarding such a holistic view to leadership, it should never be taken lightly or for granted. The hoods can be a leader's greatest asset or test, because change is naturally resisted or questioned at the least, and it will always be filled with winners and losers.

The hood is the metaphor to have discussion based on my management and leadership experiences across all the hoods with which I have been involved. This includes both the unpleasant and pleasant aspects of leadership and the impact that comes with the role. Hopefully this starts open and candid discussions on leadership and its requirement for management in all its hoods.

I hope this book will lead to debate and critical thinking regarding the application of leadership as both a guide and stimulus to achieve envisioned outcomes and bring about the high performances that individuals and teams can achieve with direction from leadership and cross collaboration at all levels in the hoods. The leader cannot be successful without having other people to support him or her with management and leadership.

The most crucial point in discussion of the hood is that it is about people and what they can achieve together in collaboration with other hoods.

All the hoods that you are involved with will provide benefits and opportunities for greater performance and self-development. This will provide the positive impact that you can have on people's lives through great leadership, even without being their formal leader.

LEADERSHIP

Leadership is a system of processes and human arts consisting of creativity, tactics, ideals, and strategic movements. It should not be considered as only being about the control of the hood. The leadership role is to inspire, chart, and determine what the hood needs in all its contexts to improve performance and achieve a continuous evolution towards its vision.

Leadership is having the opportunity to serve, not to be served. This is not to lose sight of the rewards from successful leadership. Leadership is highly sought after for the rewards that are often attached to the position, which can be many things. In many organisations, the leadership role is a reward for previous performances. In some instances, it is even a case of being in the right place at the right time. However, leadership should occur at many levels and in many situations. Once receiving such a role, there is the struggle of remaining the leader through the need to deliver higher performance and have the creativity to develop and provide innovative pathways from which all stakeholders can benefit. There will be suitors for the role within and outside the organisation for the leadership position, and a new leader needs to perform or excite immediately.

Discussing leadership leads discussions on management. Leadership is about the movement and the extracting of higher performances from people, and this will also require professional management practices.

In the management of people and teams for creating change and supporting new leadership, there are issues and conflicts that need to be understood for effective leadership and management. There should also be consideration for the emotional impact it can bring on the leaders and their teams. To have leadership is to bring disruption, and this requires thick skin from the leader to stay the course while initiating change processes and understanding that such disruption brings discontent and, in some cases, militant responses.

Being in charge is not necessarily being the leader. In such cases, leadership direction and actions become situational and create a frequency of review or question as to who the leader is or who is in charge. This can be driven by managers who are the best fit for a given situation to step up or where the leader is preoccupied with other issues and leaves a specific leadership vacuum. This can also be driven by an individual who has political aspirations to lead, and there may be external environmental changes to deal with separately. Often when thinking about leadership, the focus can be on the personal attributes and the characteristics of prominent leaders.

What makes successful leaders? It is more about what they want to do and then do, even though how they do it and whom they do it with is very important. Leading is a progressive action that is about forward change. The substance of strategy and the audacity of the vision of where the leader would like to take the "businesshood" are vital. This leads away from the personal character attributes and more to the aspirational and innovative thinker.

The businesshood is a term I like to use to describe how an organisation is its own neighbourhood. This includes the scope and reach of businesses existing within other hoods and communities and the role that people play to develop and prosper the leader's ideals. A business or organisation and its leader cannot thrive alone. They need to have wide-ranging internal and community support apart from needing to service and interact with other businesses. They also need to satisfy and increase customers, comply with laws and general corporate governance, show environment responsibility, deal with morale issues, and develop their teams in safe, conducive environments. Talking about leadership in the businesshood shows the scope and complexity that is involved, as well as the...