Results from a piece of research by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) have exposed a lack of leadership within the construction industry.

Over 650 directors and managers in the construction industry, many of whom work for companies employing more than 500 people, were unable to name any influential leaders in the industry. Of those individual leaders mentioned only one in the top five highest returns was a practicing construction industry professional.

Chris Blythe CIOB Chief Executive said: "For successful organisations leadership is just as important as having good management, and there is a difference between being a leader and being a manager.

"What we have seen in this research is that while the industry lacks recognisable leaders, 90% of respondents considered themselves as above average or excellent when asked how good a leader they were. But from their own view they are not having their leadership skills improved in the right way. So we know there is a great deal of untapped leadership potential out there.

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"Many companies are offering financial incentives to develop leadership and yet our leaders of tomorrow want to be inspired, they want access to new experiences including secondments and they want more training. Only 8% said money had any impact on developing leadership potential. You can buy good management but you need to inspire and develop leaders, and that’s a totally different kind of investment."

The research suggests that construction companies are failing to provide adequate development of leadership potential. In particular, within larger companies where 18% are not progressing their leaders in any way, and 45% do not have a formal succession plan or leadership strategy.

Communication skills, strategic vision, understanding of the business, integrity and decisiveness were all regarded as the most important qualities for a leader to be successful in the construction industry.

When respondents were asked to names their own best leadership qualities, communication skills, decision makers, and integrity were the top three returns. This would reaffirm that those taking part in the research believed they were above average as leaders.

The survey asked respondents to name the person they felt was the most influential within the construction industry. The highest proportion of respondents answered either 'none' or 'don't know'. In addition, 'the government' was seen as being the fifth most influential leader within the construction industry, which also signifies a lack of clear construction leaders.

Ray O'Rourke, Chairman and Chief Executive of Laing O'Rourke, received the second highest ranking for his ability to get results, vision, passion and ambition. Sir Michael Latham was noted for his ability to influence, his vision and his ability to get results. Sir John Egan scored highly for his ability to get results, his revolutionary approach to the industry, and his ability to influence.

(CD/JM)