Help with Organizational Leadership

20 Jun Help with Organizational Leadership

WEEK ONE – The Meaning of Leadership Overview

Background

Andrew Rockfish, part owner and head of Global Delivery Direct (GDD), North American Division, was watching “Undercover Boss” on TV last night and was considering the idea for himself. He thought it was a great way to get honest feedback from the frontline workers. While the lack of honest feedback was important to him, what bothered him the most was the lack of personal mentoring! He could see weaknesses in his leadership staff that concerned him more than ever. GDD was losing market share in North America, and he knew that leading innovation and change was critical for GDD to stay in the game. This change would only come from leadership and committed workers. As he was mulling this idea over in his mind the next morning at work, he overheard a conversation between a few human resource employees discussing the paperwork for the new management hires. It occurred to him that were he to get the seasoned managers (including himself) to lead the training sessions, the experienced managers might benefit from a review of some of the major leadership concepts as well as from being exposed to some of the contemporary leadership ideas. These training sessions could facilitate reflection on the strengths and weaknesses each may have in a constructive and much less threatening manner. The new recruits would gain the most because they would get the benefit of mentoring from the seasoned managers while becoming familiar with the GDD way of doing things. Personally, Rockfish thought, “I will get to see the new hires and how they work.” As these ideas began to grow on Rockfish, he went to see the Director of Human Resource to discuss the ideas further.

Fortunate for you, GDD has given you a new managerial spot. A recent e-mail sent to you revealed that you would be receiving eight weeks of training before entering your assigned job. The focus of the training is leadership led by the Division Head, Andrew Rockfish. The existing managers (your instructors), will lead you in discussions and assignments that will focus on a variety of leadership topics. Each week you will be provided with an agenda (schedule) along with Rockfish’s personal comments on the topics and material to read that will hopefully allow you to comprehend the importance of good leadership to GDD and how it is best accomplished.

Rockfish has put the following agenda out for his management mentees. Staff managers have prepared the weekly topics for discussion. In putting the schedule together, Rockfish has provided key take-away points.

Rockfish – Welcome Remarks:

Welcome to GDD!

It is exciting to have you here at GDD. This is the start of a new program for “Managers to Leaders” and one I hope will prove a great success. GDD is at a critical time in its history. Although still a sound viable business, we face a market position that will reverse our growth trends unless we find new and sustainable ways of supporting our customer base. This challenge is one facing many businesses today. It is our obligation as the leaders of the company to accept the challenge. Leadership, hand in hand with management, will accomplish this goal. However, the leadership must drive the change and new ideas needed to meet the challenge. That is why today we will begin a journey towards understanding leadership in the 21st Century and how it will apply to making leadership great at GDD. The destination for this journey is to arm each of you, as a future leader of GDD, with the knowledge useful to meet the challenge we are facing. We want you to be learning leaders, which starts with knowing what you need to learn about leadership. Our focus in this class will be on developing an understanding of the skills useful to being a good leader in today’s business environment. So, let us begin the journey.

Agenda:

THEME ONE: Understanding the nature of leadership helps to frame the viewpoint of a leader

Rockfish- Topic Introductory Remarks

DEFINING LEADERSHIP

Many scholars have defined leadership over the years, but the definition of leadership is dynamic. The definition has changed as the years have passed and organizations change to meet the business environment of the times. In fact, many recognized scholars have disagreed on the nature or essential characteristics of leadership but offer a variety of perspectives. The second theme for the week details these perspectives. How you view leadership will influence the beliefs, values and behaviors you maintain while leading and relating to others. One common thread in these perspectives is that leadership is about relationships especially between leaders and followers. Leadership is about recognizing the skills and qualities of others and acting upon this knowledge to complete a task. Here is an everyday example of leadership that we wish to share with you.

Juan Carlos was a college intern at GDD. He was 18 years old and considered by his peers to be the “go to guy” whenever they had a problem with their cell phones. In one day, five people asked Juan Carlos for help with a cell phone problem. Two other interns, his immediate supervisor and two managers all asked for help with retrieving information from the phone, activating an app or installing updates with key chain issues. He happily helped solve the problem and shared information that would help them in the future. Juan Carlos was just 18 but was seen a leader with respect to the situation. Juan Carlos demonstrated his leadership skills by being dependably knowledgeable, by being approachable, and by teaching others about the cell phone.

Effective organizational leaders must recognize the opportunities for leadership all around them and thus influence others to bring about change for the better. Further, effective leaders must recognize “leaders”, like Juan Carlos, and act to enable them to lead.

Just as it is important to define leadership creating a leadership perspective, it is equally important to know what leadership is not. Leadership is not a position and it is not power. Telling someone what to do does not mean the work will be done or, more importantly, done well. Having the power to create change does not mean it will succeed.

Read:

What is Leadership?

Leadership Definitions – Input into browser: www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/wmg/ftmsc/modules/modulelist/le/content_store_2012/leadership_definitions.doc

The Difference Between Influence and Leadership

Ambler, G. (2016, Nov 16). Leadership is Not Title or Position

Satel, G. (2014, June 1). To Create Real Change, Leadership Is More Important Than Authority

Maxwell, J. C. (2007, July 13). Position Leaders: Destined to Disappoint

THEME TWO: The evolution of leadership theory can help to explain what makes a good leader today.

Topic Introductory Remarks via E-Mail from Andrew Rockfish to Management Trainees and Mentors

Hello New Leaders,

I am sending this e-mail so that you will have time to review the material in advance of this week’s discussion. As mentioned earlier, leadership experts have perspectives/ theories about leadership. It is important to understand the history of leadership theories, because it will help define the way leadership today. The business environment controls the view of the leader as it controls the actions needed for a company to survive. By reviewing the chart below and the leadership theories from the attached readings, it should become clear to you how leadership has evolved. Understanding how leadership theory has evolved to meet the needs of the organization over time will help to define us as leaders today.

Decade(s)

1950-60

1960-80

1980-2000

2000-Now

Theories

Great Man/Trait

Behavior/

Contingency

Influence

Relational

Organizational Structure

Vertical/

Pre-bureaucratic

Vertical Hierarchy/

Bureaucratic

Horizontal/Cross-Teams

Flat/

Functional

Leader View

Single Hero

Command and Control

Team/Change Leader

Shared Vision/ Alignment/

Change Agent

Environment

Post-War Stable

American Business Growth/ Stable

MNC Dominance/Japanese Model/ Chaotic

Technology Revolution/

Disrupted/

Chaotic

Source Document: Daft, 2008

Read:

Leadership Theories

Sincerely,

Andrew Rockfish

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TAKE AWAY POINT FROM LEADERSHIP THEORY EVOLUTION

The flow from “Great Man” views of leadership to “Learning Leader” illustrates that the view of good leadership is colored by the demands of the business landscape of its time. Leadership, and its definition, is dynamic and complex. It is changing in response to the needs of the organization in society.

Presently, many business leaders are continuing to transition from the “Calm Chaos” of the latter half of the 20th century to the “Turbulent Chaos” of the 21st. Leaders are focusing on change management, facilitating vision and values to encourage high performance and continuous adaptation. New theorists, such as Jacob Morgan, are modeling the organizations of today blending the vertical structures of the 80’s and 90’s with the flat structure of the 21st century. Morgan maintains that it is costly and inefficient to dismantle the vertical structures that currently house most of the viable business organizations. Instead, Morgan proposes a new structure known as a “flatarchy”. A flatarchy can be relatively flat yet can create an ad hoc hierarchy to work on a project or function and then disband. The organization can also have a loose hierarchy that can flatten when required and then return to a loose hierarchy when the need is over. The leader of today must find ways to transition quickly the old with the new. Implementing fast change and getting people to accept and implement the change is the greatest task facing leaders.

The leader must combine the “soft” skills of leadership with the “hard” skills of management to guide effectively organizations.

Read:

Leadership Theories

Who Are Hersey and Blanchard – Drs. of Leadership

The Relational Leadership Model

Complete:

Review syllabus

Post your introduction

Participate in week 1 learning activities – Response due by Sunday, 11:59 p.m.EST.

WEEK ONE

Learning Activity 1 – Theme One: Understanding the nature of leadership helps to frame the viewpoint of a leader.

View: Drew Dudley:

In conjunction with the opening comments in the week 1 course schedule, the readings for week 1, theme 1, consider the point stated by Drew Dudley in Everyday Leadership . Then, reflect on your experiences with leaders, and in your own words, define leadership. How does your definition differ from what you read and viewed and explain why.

Learning Activity 2 Theme Two: The evolution of leadership theory can help to explain what makes a good leader today.

Explain the meaning behind theme two and describe the GDD leader of today based on the evolution of theory. What you will need to do is look at the different leadership theories and apply the theories to support your reasoning.