David Pendleton, Professor in Leadership at Henley Business School

As a Professor in Leadership at Henley Business School, co-founder and former Executive Chair of a successful business psychology consultancy, and the author of several books on Leadership (including Leadership: All You Need To Know) - David knows a thing or two about what it takes to be an effective leader.

In our conversation, he shares some thoughts, knowledge and insights on leadership, motivation and navigating change at work.

You’ve been described as a world-leader in leadership. Tell me where it all began…

“My career began as a psychologist working with doctors on making their communication with patients more effective but, after several years, it became increasingly clear that many communication issues were caused by the context in which they were working. This coincided with an opportunity to work in a specialist business school for the health service in which I became immersed in matters of management and leadership.”

Can you summarise your definition of leadership as you see it today?

“There are many definitions of leadership, many of which are contradictory. My definition is pragmatic: Leadership is creating the conditions for people and organisations to succeed and achieve significant goals.”

To be an effective leader, how important is it to be a strategic thinker?

“The big misunderstanding often made by senior players is that they have to become more strategic. They do not, but they have to be part of the strategy conversation. If I may explain… Leadership operates in three domains: the strategic, operational and interpersonal domains and most senior players are more expert in one of those domains. The strategy conversation needs contributions from all of the domains, not just the strategic, in order to make sound strategic decisions. Coaching is a big help both to help people understand where they do their best work and how to be part of the conversation at the top table.”

What makes the work that you do meaningful to you?

“Work matters. We give the best hours of each day and the best years of our lives to our employers. Leadership has the power to transform people’s experience of work from the anodyne and exploitative to the purposeful and energising. My job is to help leaders achieve that.”

And what do you think makes it meaningful to others?

“Pretty much the same factors, I think. Plus, I have a unique approach to leadership which I created over a number of years. Its uniqueness and coherence appeal to most people. It is called the Primary Colours Approach to Leadership.”*

*See: Leadership: No More Heroes by David Pendleton, Adrian Furnham and Jon Cowell 2021

What motivates you in business?

“My wife and I co-founded the Edgecumbe Consulting Group Ltd in 1995 and we ran it until 2015 when we left it in the capable hands of our colleagues. They continue to develop tools based on the Primary Colours ideas. While we ran the firm, we always found it exciting to work with great clients on important and challenging projects. But the motivation for us had a second, equally fascinating challenge internally. I wanted to create a workplace that was so positive to work in that people left in the evening in at least as good shape as they arrived in the morning.”

How do you choose the team around you?

“My whole approach to leadership is based on a key principle, namely, that it is hard to be a complete leader alone and that complete leadership requires incomplete leaders to work together in teams of complementary differences. I need a team to make my leadership complete. I am hopeless at planning and organising, so that is the first contribution I need from others. A keen eye for detail is the second and someone who gets things done. After that, I want positivity and energy, support and challenge.”

When you think about your career to date, what stands out?

“I have been lucky beyond belief to work in great organisations all over the world with some truly outstanding leaders (among others!). But maybe I can afford a brief ironic smile at the fact that, though I absolutely did not want to be an academic, after 25 years in consultancy, I have ended up as a Professor in a Business School!”

What advice do you have for anyone currently navigating change in their career?

“I fear I am going to end in a cliché, but I have come to see repeatedly that, if you do what you love, then what you do does not feel like work. So I would say try to get aligned: do what you love with people you like and respect, and seek out those team mates with whom you can be interdependent.”

If you’d like to hear more, David’s latest books Leadership: No More Heroes and Work-Life Matters are available on Amazon, and his podcast The Professor & The Coach can be found on Spotify.