very much.. it is evident in how the people in the rank and file work too..
we've had a few no.1s throughout the years...
when i entered my organisation, we had a new no.1.. he wasn't much good, pretty lecherous, very intent on showy things, not interested in core duties, probably trying to pad his CV, loud, boorish..
the people were pretty much demoralised and just went through the motions.. people who pointed out his mistakes were usually belittled by him pulling his rank on them.. so no one really cared after a while..
then he left and quickly disappeared into the woodwork... and even more quickly disgraced himself
another one came in to clean up his mess.. it was short-lived as i guess that was his duty.. to clean up the mess...
people were pretty happy and morale kinda went from the dumps to indifferent.. so it was an improvement of sorts...
then there was a merger and some non-descript person came to be no.1.. and it showed...
the whole organisation became non-descript.. and overlooked most of the time...
the current one is a formidable man.. one whose presence actually commanded respect.. he was the organisation no.2 before and went elsewhere for a while, then came back as our no.1..
now, morale has lifted a lot and we are starting to believe in ourselves again..
that being said, the various departments in our organisation are in need of proper leadership.. most of the department bosses are self-serving asswipes who stepped on others to get there and are very happy to stick one in anyone for no reason at all and if it gives them an advantage, all the better...
so, most of the rank and file are praying those asswipes get wiped out by trucks but are optimistic enough to look forward to regular reshuffles where the better bosses come to their departments..
yes.. having good leadership is important