A511.7.4.RB

A core competency of good leaders is understanding oneself. After all, self-knowledge allows us to be able to understand others as well. For most individuals who train to become coaches, the value of the training is as much about their increased self-awareness as it is about their ability to work with others and help them achieve their potential.

Goffee and Jones’ article “Getting personal on the topic of leadership” emphasizes the art of self-awareness, as does Yukl, 2012.  Yukl, 2012 states The theories of ethical leadership emphasize leader values more than behavior, and the long-term welfare and development of followers rather than financial performance. .

Art of Self-awareness
Self-awareness can also help you to persevere as you carry out your plan.  I've found that knowing your business and yourself can also help you to know when to follow your instincts, so you can find the courage to move ahead and ignore the advice of naysayers (Branson, 2013). 

How are the people on your team, with their particular skills and talents, shaping your company and making it different from others? What's special about your product or service? How is your company helping your community and environment? If you're an entrepreneur or business leader and don't have the answers to these questions at the ready, it's time to meet with your team outside the office. Throw a barbecue or dinner, and start up a conversation about what you have done so far and what you want to do.  While the answers will change over time, talking about this now will help all of you to get a sense of where you're going and what you've built so far, helping to prepare you for the next bumps you encounter. And what could be better than having dinner and drinks with your team, reflecting on all you've accomplished and what comes next?

Personally, the differences that distinguish and help me to live and act on the basis of my core values is that I know what is truly important to me and don't let things and people distract.  Personally, my family and inclusive behavior come first, above all other things.  My kids will never be second to my work or school.  Additionally being supportive and inclusive in all of my actions distinguishes me form others.  My goal is for no-one to have a negative things to say about me.  (I shoot for the stars, what can I say?)

My core values outside of 'family first' are equality, humility, honesty, and commitment

 

 

References

 

Branson, R. (n.d.). Self-awareness for Leadership Growth, Entrepreneur.com. Business News & Strategy For Entrepreneurs Entrepreneur.com. Retrieved July 19, 2013, from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/226863  

Kennedy, D. (2013, June 3). Richard Branson on Self-Awareness for Leadership Growth | Entrepreneur.com. Business News & Strategy For Entrepreneurs | Entrepreneur.com. Retrieved July 16, 2013, from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/226863   

    

Yukl, G. A. (2013). Leadership in organizations (8th ed.). Boston: Pearson. 

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A511.6.4.RB

Change Management:
One of the most important and difficult leadership responsibilities is to guide and facilitate
the process of making a major change in an organization. A major change may involve a variety
of different objectives, including attitudes, roles, technology, competitive strategy, economics,
and people (Yukl, 2013).

Dave and Wendy Ulrich, co-authors of The Why of Work have said, “In organizations, meaning and abundance are more about what we do with what we have than about what we have to begin with.”

An abundant organization gives meaning to everyone involved by offering a spiritual as well as physical environment within which to thrive as human beings; their contributions, in turn, create a decisive competitive advantage for the organization while increasing and enhancing its market as well as its social value.  Dave and Wendy Ulrich, go on to state, "When we find meaning in our work, we find meaning in Life".

I know I tend to spend more time at work than anywhere else and to think that the two can be managed separately is crazy!  Every person I come in contact seems to be searching for meaning.  People, in my experience, are more engaged and dedicated to the things they find meaning in, whether it be gardening, volunteering or lending a stranger a helping hand.

In his famous book Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl posits that it "is a peculiarity of man that he must have something significant yet to do in his life, for that is what gives meaning to life" (2004, p. 56).  Frankl argues that we have an incredible power to shape our attitudes and responses to the challenges life presents us and that we inevitably grow thanks to these challenges.

I don't know about you, but I like to think I have the power to steer through challenges and shape my responses to life's curveballs!

If you sit down with a hefty challenge that leadership has faced in your company, and then compare the progress of the challenge against these five practices, you can see very powerful correlations between what went well and poorly and these practices. There are not just touchy-feely "nice to have" ideas. It is clearly demonstrable that working to build a common purpose with the team, celebrating the small victories as you move along a project, building a climate of trust between managers and employees, and recognizing employees when they do an outstanding job are critical to the short term and long term success of an organization. They can often spell the difference between success and failure on a project.  Kouzes and Posner write in The Leadership Challenge: "The executive must find a way to communicate the vision in a way that attracts and excites members of the organization" (1987, p. 106).


Create “Cause” or "Meaning" at Work:
 Many people only go through the motions at work, while trying to stay out of trouble with the boss. Their jobs feel like a meaningless array of busywork foisted upon them by management. Although the quality of work life is low, these people may feel trapped in their jobs for various reasons. It is possible for leaders to create a culture where people are energized because they are fully engaged in the business.

Transformational leadership theory is all about leadership that creates positive change in the followers whereby they take care of each other's interests and act in the interests of the group as a whole.  In the same light, the theory of leading change recognizes that people need to see a better world for themselves before they can respond with maximum energy to a vision. "If people can't see a better world at the end of the journey, don’t expect them to be wild about the process. That’s why it is critical to have people at all levels support the vision. Leaders become the artists who carefully paint the picture of a better future on the canvas of today’s paradigm" (Whipple, 2003, p. 109).

References

Frankl, V. E., & Lasch, I. (2006). Man's search for meaning. Boston: Beacon.

Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2007). The leadership challenge (4th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Ulrich, D., & Ulrich, W. (2010). The why of work: how great leaders build abundant organizations that win. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Whipple, R. T. (2003). The trust factor: advanced leadership for professionals. Rochester, NY: Leadergrow, Inc..

Yukl, G. A. (2013). Leadership in organizations (8th ed.). Boston: Pearson.

A511.4.4.RB

A511.4.4.RB

 

This week’s readings and content covered managerial motivation and effectiveness.  Motivation is a topic I could read about all the time and never get tired of!  In many of the instances I've experienced where employees were unhappy, it was due to being unmotivated in their work.  When you, as a manager can motivate your employees, it gives them a sense of purpose.  Today, more than ever, a sense of purpose is important!

 

Managerial motivation, or motivating as a manager is not too much different than motivating as a team member, it simply has more weight!  As a manager, it is my job to encourage and motivate my team.  I realized some time ago, that motivating my team makes things not only go smoother, but have a coherent outcome.

 

 

Managerial Effectiveness

Theodore Rubin stated the following about problems (as a manager).  The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem.

 

Managers loose effectiveness when they loose site of the fact that problems will happen, after all it is PART of the job!  It is important for managers to take the people out of the problem and simply focus on the problem!

 

As a leader I posses the following skills which I believe contribute greatly to the leader and manager I am:

• Vision
• Intuitive
• Set a Good Example
• Supportive (give praise for great work)
• Listener
• Doer
• Foster leadership in subordinates/employees

 

I believe I can leverage those strengths to improve value to my organization by using them to influence change.  Change is necessary for growth and doesn't always have to be painful.  influencing change, creates an environment that is open to change, which is a beautiful thing!

 

 

 

 The type of change I am speaking of, is in leadership and management that holds the torch high, but still low enough to keep everybody warm!  It is the type of leadership and management which hones the leaders who to come, because a leader is only as good as his/her team!  The contingency theory can help me by continually being flexible as a leader and manager.  There is not a one-size fit-all answer to every question and fix to every problem.  Each solution is contingent, not only on the team member, but the situation at hand!

 

Taking in account situational variables to assist in the process will show employees and peers that I have taken the time to think about options, rather than just making a quick decision because I can.

 

 

References:

 

 http://quotations.about.com/cs/inspirationquotes/a/Team9.htm

 

Yukl, G.  (2013).  Leadership in organization. (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:  Prentice Hall

A511.3.4.RB

Power and influence are subjects which pervade our society as well as our organizations – those in which we work, play, and live (our families!).  

What is power and influence? 

Power:

According to Yukl, 2013, the concept of  power is useful for understanding how people are able to influence each other in organizations (Mintzberg, 1983; Pfeffer, 1981, 1992). Power involves the capacity of one party (the “agent”) to influence another party (the “target”).  How power is used and the outcomes of influence attempts can increase or reduce an agent’s subsequent power. In this book, the term power is usually used to describe the absolute capacity of an individual agent to influence the behavior or attitudes of one or more designated target persons at a given point in time.


 
 

Influence:

Influence is the essence of leadership. To be effective as a leader, it is necessary to influence people to carry out requests, support proposals, and implement decisions. In large organizations, the

effectiveness of managers depends on influence over superiors and peers as well as influence over

subordinates. Influence in one direction tends to enhance influence in other directions (Yukl, 2013).

 
 

How is power is acquired or lost in organizations?

 According to Gareth, 2006, the "power" within an organization may not always rest with the "boss".

The following sources of power can provide organization members with a variety of means for enhancing their interests and smoothing over or creating organization conflict.

1. Formal authority
2. Use of organizational structure, rules and regulations
3. Ability to cope with uncertainty
4. Interpersonal alliances, networks, and control of "informal organization"
5. Symbolism and the management of meaning
6. Gender and the management of gender relations
7. Structural factors that define the stage of action
8. The power one already has

Additionally, the control of the following can provide additional power to members: 

S	carce resources
	Decision processes
	Knowledge and information
	Boundaries
	Technology
	Counter organizations

 

Consequence of power for leadership effectiveness:

Members of teams with high-power leaders are likely to keep quiet in meetings, both because high-power leaders talk a lot, meaning there's not much time for others to talk, and because of the perception—fair or not—that powerful people aren't interested in anyone else's ideas. This can result in a dearth of ideas during brainstorming sessions.

Leader power has a negative effect on team members' perceptions of the leader's ability and desire to engage in open communication. Because open communication is vital to any project, these perceptions can hurt team performance.

These negative effects of leader power can be virtually eliminated simply by clearly communicating the idea that every team member is individually instrumental to any given task at hand.

 

 

 

Types of influence tactics used in organizations:

 Influence, at its most basic definition, is changing someone’s behavior. It making an impact in a situation where you ordinarily you wouldn’t have much control. It is a way of doing something, rather than sitting back and deciding that there is nothing you can do.

Influencing tactics are as follows:

• Rational/Logical Persuasion
• Inspirational Appeal
• Consultation
• Collaboration

I believe that all of the above tactics can be used to influence subordinates and peers.  I am a firm believer that more than one tactic should be used!  Different people react to influence in different ways, when different tactics are used a manager is not only influencing but doing so with the best possible outcome!  Influencing superiors however, is a bit trickier!  When influencing superiors
it is important to inspire and collaborate, leaning any further on the consultation or persuasion side of things could be taken as being a pushy or over-stepping boundaries!

 

 The power that I personally bring to my work place is a collaborative, inspiring and roll-your-sleeves up approach.  I believe people are much more receptive to me in this manner, which in turn does not make it tough to convince 'Alaskans to buy ice' from me!  (I can be very persuasive, without anybody knowing at all)  

A strong part of this power and influence for me, is team work.  I never ask a person to do something I will not do myself, I like working with people, whenever possible!

In my current position  I haven't experience high quality LMX situations (Leader-member exchange). 

 

Leader-member exchange (LMX) theory posits that leaders develop special relationships with certain employees.  By and large, prior studies have emphasized the positive aspects of LMX for the employees who have high-quality exchange relationships with their supervisors

However, given the benefits that tend to accrue to employees in high-quality exchange relationships, workers who have relatively low-quality exchange relationships with their supervisors are likely to be frustrated when they compare their situation to that of their peers.

 

On second thought, maybe I HAVE experience high quality LMX situation, but am just on the 'high' side.  I tend to have really good relationships with my supervisors!

 

 

 

 

 

References:

 Morgan, G. (2006). Images of organization (Updated ed.). Thousand Oaks, [etc.: Sage Publications.

Yukl, G.  (2013).  Leadership in organization. (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:  Prentice Hall.
 

A511.2.4.RB Supportive Leadership

Leadership Behavior

Take the opportunity to reflect specifically on Yukl's material on pages 63 through 72, Supportive Behavior

Supportive leadership (or “supporting”) includes a wide variety of behaviors that show consideration, acceptance, and concern for the needs and feelings of other people. Supportive leadership helps to build and maintain effective interpersonal relationships. A manager who is considerate and friendly toward people is more likely to win their friendship and loyalty. The emotional ties that are formed make it easier to gain cooperation and support from people on whom the manager must rely to get the work done. It is more satisfying to work with someone  who is friendly, cooperative, and supportive than with someone who is cold and impersonal, or worse, hostile, and uncooperative (Yukl, 2013).

Guidelines for Supporting

·        Show acceptance and positive regard.

·        Provide sympathy and support when the person is anxious or upset.

·        Bolster the person’s self-esteem and confidence.

·        Be willing to help with personal problems.

Guidelines for Developing Subordinates

·        Show concern for each person's development.

·        Help the person identify ways to improve performance.

·        Be patient and helpful when providing coaching.

·        Provide helpful career advice.

·        Help the person prepare for a job change.

·        Encourage attendance at relevant training activities.

·        Provide opportunities to learn from experience.

·        Encourage coaching by peers when appropriate.

·        Promote the person’s reputation.
 

Recognizing

Recognizing involves giving praise and showing appreciation to others for effective performance, significant achievements, and important contributions to the organization. The primary purpose of recognizing, especially when used with subordinates, is to strengthen desirable behavior and task commitment. Recognizing is primarily a relations behavior, but like developing, it can contribute to the attainment of task objectives as well. Three major forms of recognizing are praise, awards, and recognition ceremonies.

Assuming that these leadership behaviors are appropriate at all levels of organizations; I do a fairly good job of using these tactics with my Work Experience Students.  In my role, it is extremely important to give positive constructive feedback, coach, encourage, support and recognize individuals for all progress, no matter how small! 

I’ve found that the students respond positively and in turn actually WANT to come to ‘work’.  That is what I aim for, a positive experience that they actually want to come and do every day!  All students met 2 out of 3 goals set for them in the beginning of the year, this is big!  These two things alone give me plenty of reason and cause to keep these tools close and use often because I want to engage the participants in my program!

 

A511.1.5.RB

Where Leadership and Management Intersect: The ‘IT’ Factor

A leader realizes that in order to develop and lead other people he or she must first develop her/himself, it is in this respect I think leadership is a key quality in being an effective manager.  This post will look closely at the intersect of leadership and management.  Nobody has proposed that managing and leading are equivalent, but the degree of overlap is a point of sharp disagreement (Yukl, 2013).

In order to take a closer look we must first answer the following questions: What is leadership and how does it relate to management? The concept of how management and leadership intersect is continually discussed and debated.

 

 

Leadership Definition:

According to the text, (Yukl, 2013, Leadership is the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what needs to be done and how to do it, and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives.

Leadership Theories & Concepts:

Most theories about effective leadership focus on behaviors used to directly influence immediate subordinates, but a leader can also influence other people inside the organization, including peers, bosses, and people at lower levels who do not report to the leader.

In the text, Yuki states that leadership has many different and varying meanings to people, “some theorists question whether it is even useful as a scientific construct (e.g., Alvesson & Sveningsson, 2003; Miner, 1975). Nevertheless, most behavioral scientists and practitioners seem to believe leadership is a real phenomenon that is important for the effectiveness of organizations. Interest in the subject continues to increase and the deluge of articles and books about leadership shows no sign of abating”(Yukl, 2013).

Split Concepts of Leadership:

A major controversy involves the issue of whether leadership should be viewed as a specialized role or as a shared influence process.  Another way to view leadership is in terms of an influence process that occurs naturally within a social system and is diffused among the members. Writers with this perspective believe it is more useful to study “leadership” as a social process or pattern of relationships rather than as a specialized role.

Kotter (1990) proposed that managing seeks to produce predictability and order, where-as leading seeks to produce organizational change. Both roles are necessary, but problems can occur if an appropriate balance is not maintained. Too much emphasis on the managing role can discourage risk taking and create a bureaucracy without a clear purpose. Too much emphasis on the leadership role can disrupt order and create change that is impractical. According to Kotter, the importance of leading and managing depends in part on the situation. As an organization becomes larger and more complex, managing becomes more important (Yukl, 2013).

Management Concepts:

The descriptive research found that managerial work is inherently hectic, varied, fragmented, reactive, disorderly, and political. Brief oral interactions predominate, and many of these involve people outside the manager’s immediate work unit and chain of command. Identifying meaningful and widely applicable categories to describe the content of managerial work has been a problem for a long time. One approach is the taxonomy of managerial roles proposed by Mintzberg.



 

TABLE 2-1   (Yukl, 2013)  Mintzberg’s Managerial Roles

 Information Processing Roles

• Disseminator
• Monitor
• Spokesperson

 Decision-Making Roles

• Entrepreneur
• Disturbance handler
• Resource allocator
• Negotiator

Interpersonal Roles

• Liaison
• Figurehead
• Leader

Another approach is represented by job description research that asks managers to rate the importance of different activities and responsibilities for their jobs (Yuki, 2013).

The ‘IT’ Factor:

Leaders and followers influence each other as they interact in non-coercive ways to decide what changes they want to make. Managers may be leaders, but only if they have this type of influence relationship.

“Failing organizations are often over managed and under led” –Warren G. Bennis

Finally, effective managers are more proactive in their behavior. Even when reacting to unforeseen events, their behavior more closely reflects their objectives and priorities. Effective leaders devote time to identifying current problems for which a solution can be found, and they prepare how to respond to unavoidable but predictable problems and disruptions. When a problem occurs, they quickly identify the cause and take decisive action to direct the work unit’s response. Effective leaders also keep people informed about progress in efforts to deal with a serious crisis (Yuki, 2013).

 

Manager/ Leaders with the ‘IT’ factor have done the following:

• Go from Planning  to Creating Vision
• Go from Organizing to Aligning
• Go from Controlling to Inspiring

 

Reference:

Yukl, G. A. (2013). Leadership in organizations (8th ed.). Boston: Pearson.

A520.9.3.CM.HoyeJennifer

The text defines power as the "potential to influence behavior" (Whetton and Cameron, 2011, p. 286).  Power is a funny thing, I read an anonymous quote once that said, "The only way to predict the future is to have power to shape the future."   As a leader, this quote couldn't be MORE true!  As an effective leader, we have the power to change the future of our company!  Leadership is the ability to influence employees to voluntarily pursue organizational goals....very powerful indeed!  Leadership copes with change by setting a direction, aligning people to accomplish an agenda, and motivating and inspiring people.

 

Are you comfortable developing sources of personal influence to gain power?

I am comfortable developing sources of personal influence to gain power.  Let me explain a bit further about this:  I think it can be assumed that it is easy for someone with power to give commands rather than make requests.  Powerful people tend to get positive feedback from subordinates and they begin to care less about what subordinates say.   With this assumption in mind, I try to stay very grounded in my leadership/ power approach. 
In my experience, people prefer managers and leaders who have direct and cooperative power.  The most effective power tactics are rational argument, consultation and inspirational appeal.  These are the more socially acceptable tactics and are very useful in influencing situations!

Do you embody the characteristics of likable people depicted in Table 5.4 (p. 290)?
The characteristics of likable people are as follows:

Table 5.4 Characteristics of Likable People

We like people when we have reason to believe they will:

• Support an open, honest, and loyal relationship.
• Foster intimacy by being emotionally accessible.
• Provide unconditional, positive regard and acceptance.
• Endure some sacrifices if the relationship should demand them.
• Provide social reinforcement in the form of sympathy or empathy.
• Engage in the social exchanges necessary to sustain a relationship.

I think I definitely embody these characteristics.  The one place I could work on a little more, however, is showing a bit more sympathy and empathy.   The reason I don't often show these things to employees, is with the thought that,  "if I've done it in worse situations, you can do it now".   Yes, I indeed, should accept that not everybody is a super hero like myself and show more sympathy!  ha ha

Are you able to use influence both up and down your organization considering the information in Table 5.5 (p. 293)

I feel I am able to use influence rather interchangeably both up and down  considering the information.   I am always the manager which subordinates come to with problems, when they won't go to others managers.  They know I will listen to them, and they also know, I have the ability to influence change.  I don't take that lightly, I take is as a great compliment and try not to become complacent!