Transcript Introduction to Leadership Rory O’Sullivan 27 February 2012

Introduction to Leadership
Rory O’Sullivan
27th February 2012
Outline
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What is Leadership?
Importance of Vision
Leadership Skills
Leadership Archetypes
Situational Leadership Model
The Risks of Leading Change
Scenarios
What is Leadership?
Leadership V Management
“Management is doing things right
Leadership is doing the right thing”
Peter J. Drucker
A Theory of Leadership
– R.J. Starratt
Assumptions:
1.
Leadership implies a relationship with other
people
2.
Leadership is something that is exercised
over time rather than in a single act or
event
3.
Leadership takes place in relation to some
organisation, agency, institution or
community
What Leadership is not!
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It is not present simply because a
person occupies a “leadership position”
It is more than a style, a trait, a group
of behaviours, or a degree of
effectiveness
It is not a part that is identified as
encompassing a whole, e.g. risk-taking,
decisiveness, foresight
Characteristics of Leadership
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Rooted in meaning
Emerges out of a vision
Emerges out of a dramatic sense
Requires the articulation of a vision
Embodies the vision in organisational
structures
Continuous or periodic renewal of the
institution
Importance of Vision
Peters & Austin, 1985
A Vision is a concise statement/picture of
where the organisation and its people
are heading
In leadership the issue is not the
substance of the vision but the
importance of having one, being able to
communicate it and implement it.
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Vision comes first!
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Starts with a single individual
“committee’s vision” – be wary!
Dream or fantasy – a sense of the
possible
Bandwagon or hearse!
Beware! – too many attempts at the
vision process can create apathy
Vision and Action!
Vision without action is merely a dream.
Action without vision just passes the
time. Vision with action can change the
world!
J.A. Barker 1990
Development of a Vision
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Stakeholders – who are they and what
do they want?
Environmental factors
Guiding Values & Principles – Core
Values
Organisational analysis e.g. SWOT
Change Management
Potential Barriers
Vision Statement
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Example, Europa Hotel Belfast
“We are ladies and gentlemen serving
ladies and gentlemen”
Vision Statement
Martin Luther King, 1963
“I have a dream that one day my four
children will live in a nation where they
will not be judged by the colours of
their skin but by the content of their
character. I have a dream today”
Vision Statement?
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Barack Obama, 2008
Yes we can!
(Is feidir linn?)
Leadership Skills
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Technical – least important ?
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Human – very important ?
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Organisational
Administrative
People management
Motivation
Conceptual – most important ?
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Strategic planning
Vision
Leadership Archetypes
Ben Walden, 2008
Great King
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- Static Masculine – Order
Great Mother
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– Static Feminine – Nurture
Warrior
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– Dynamic Masculine – Action
Medicine Woman
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– Dynamic Feminine - Change
Medicine Woman – Change
Character Qualities
Visionary
Creates changes
Enthusiastic
“Sparky”
Imaginative
Paints Pictures
(with words)
Creative
Adaptable
Demonstrative
Animated
Inspired
Dynamic
Experimental
Great Mother – Nurture
Character Qualities
Reassuring
Supportive
Responsive
Helpful
Relational
Receptive
Radiates Warmth
Encouraging
Empathetic
Sharing
Relaxed
Welcoming
Builds Trust
Develops others
Warrior – Action
Character Qualities
Inspiring
Persuasive
Selling Vision
Competitive
Strong Willed
Confident
Challenging
Motivating
Forceful
Task focused
“Call to Arms”
Rousing
Instils belief
Confronting
Good King – Order
Character Qualities
Sets Objectives
Praises success
Informative
Recognises Effort
Authoritative
Controlling influence
Attention to detail
Deliberate
Precise
Methodical
Analytical
Logical
Assessment
Practical
Negative Leadership Potentials
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Good King – Too Much Order
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Great Mother – Over Nurture
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Devouring Mother
Warrior – Action Only
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Bitter Old Man
Mercenary Tyrant
Medicine Woman – Addicted to Change
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Madwoman
The Risks of Leading Change
Ref. Heifetz and Linsky
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Leadership often involves challenging
people (including yourself) to live up to
their words, to close the gap between
their espoused value and their
behaviour
It is often about helping groups make
difficult choices
The Risks of Leading Change
Ref. Heifetz and Linsky
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Leadership can come from any place
within or even outside an organisation.
The more authority you have, the more
you risk when you exercise leadership.
Leadership is dangerous because you
are rarely authorised to lead.
The Risks of Leading Change
Ref. Heifetz and Linsky
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If leadership were about giving people
good news the job would be easy.
People do not resist change as such.
People resist loss.
You place yourself in the line when you
tell people what they need to hear
rather than what they want to hear.
The Risks of Leading Change
Ref. Heifetz and Linsky
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The problems that require leadership
are those that the experts cannot solve
The solution to these adaptive
challenges lie not in technical answers,
but rather in people themselves.
Successful leaders in any field tend to
emphasize personal relationships.
The Risks of Leading Change
Ref. Heifetz and Linsky
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Remember when you ask people to
participate in adaptive change, you are
asking a lot. You may be asking them
to choose between two values, both
important to the way they understand
themselves.
You may be asking people to close the
distance between their espoused values
and their actual behaviour.
The Risks of Leading Change
Ref. Heifetz and Linsky
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Any significant adaptive change that benefits
the organisation as a whole may clearly and
tangibly hurt some of those who thrived
under the status quo. If people simply
cannot or will not go along with change, then
they will become casualties.
If you signal your unwillingness to sustain
casualties, you invite people to ignore your
goals.
Leadership
Scenario 1
Crisis Situation
Significant Budget Cuts/Loss of Business
How should a leader behave?
Leadership
Scenario 2
Traumatic Event
In a small company/organisation a
colleague’s mother dies suddenly and
unexpectedly.
What should the leader do?
Rudolph Giuliani
Mayor of New York in 2001
Weddings Discretionary
Funerals Mandatory
Leadership
Scenario 3
Conflict situation in the organisation
Staff is split on a particular issue
How should a leader behave?
Wanted
“The Perfect Leader”
A miracle worker who can do more with less,
pacify rival groups, endure chronic second
guessing, tolerate low levels of support,
process large volumes of paper and work
double shifts (at least 75 nights per year), he
or she will have carte blanche to innovate,
but cannot spend much money, replace any
personnel or upset any constituency.
- Michael Fullan, 1995
Thank You
Questions?