Category: Unit 5

Part A

Plano Clark and Creswell (2015)

For this week’s blog post and analysis, I chose a different article.

Hunter, E. M., Neubert, M. J., Perry, S. J., Witt, L. A., Penny, L. M., & Weinberger, E. (2013). Servant leaders inspire servant followers: Antecedents and outcomes for employees and the organization. Leadership Quarterly, 24(2), 316-331.

The link to the article is here

Evaluation of the Research Design:

Plano Clark and Creswell (2015)

Part B

Evaluation of the Participants and Data Collection Procedures

Plano Clark and Creswell (2015)

Part C

Evaluation of the Data Analysis and Results

Plano Clark and Creswell (2015)

Part D

As a consumer of research reports, the most important aspects I need to consider in the methods and results section of a high quality quantitative research report are:

• Asking whether or not the selection of participants, the data collection and data analysis procedures are rigorous and if they fit the study’s design purpose. (Plano Clark & Creswell, 2015)
• Asking whether or not the participants have been treated ethically
• Asking whether or not the sample of participants is large enough
• Asking whether the results provide an explanation to the problem(s) being researched

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I find the analysis of data and the tables in quantitative reports difficult to interpret. This is most likely due to the fact that I have never taken statistics and majored in the Arts as opposed to Science. I don’t have any experience with the reading or analyzing of them other than what I have read in Plano Clark and Creswell  (2015) and what has been discussed during this course. It is like trying to learn a whole different language to be honest! I struggled with interpreting the data presented in my article and trying to determine whether or not the data collected met the criteria for a high quality research report or not. The data made my head spin and I had to keep pushing myself to go back and examine it while referring continuously to Plano Clark and Creswell (2015) to try and break it down.

I can apply this knowledge to my current leadership experience if I ever wish to examine in more detail statistical data collected on specific educational questions that require an explanation.

Question for the Group:  Out of curiosity, and this may seem like a silly question, but how much do you think your current position and your background education play into your preference for either Quantitative or Qualitative research? Do you think either of those things even play a role or is it solely dependent upon what you are currently trying to achieve (either an explanation or further exploration)?

Please note that all tables used in this blog post have been referenced from Plano Clark and Creswell (2015).

References

Hunter, E. M., Neubert, M. J., Perry, S. J., Witt, L. A., Penny, L. M., & Weinberger, E. (2013). Servant leaders inspire servant followers: Antecedents and outcomes for employees and the organization. Leadership Quarterly, 24(2), 316-331.

Plano-Clark, V. & Creswell, J. (2015). Understanding research: A consumer’s guide. (2nd Ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

A response to Charlie Mable’s blog post entitled “See, Listen, Reflect” Link to Blog Post:

I thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog post and especially loved your question and comment about listening and empathy.

How can there be empathy without first actively listening with understanding? The adage comes up that we have one mouth and two ears and should spend twice as much time listening as speaking.

You didn’t just say listening, (which is a verb itself) but you added the word “actively” to define even further that leaders need to intentionally listen to others in order to understand. The other day, I was chatting with someone about a particularly moving and sad story and at one point they accidentally responded “cool”.  They quickly realized that the response of “cool” didn’t come remotely close to being applicable and they apologized for not really listening and being distracted. We laughed about it and moved on. However, if I had been a student, sharing something deeply personal, this interaction might have caused me to never want to share again. It was a good reminder to this individual and to myself, the need to put our phones down, to ignore the dings of our email and to focus intentionally and listen actively.   How many times have we missed something important due to a lack of actively and intentionally listening? How many opportunities to connect were lost because we were too focused on ourselves?

You raised another great question at the bottom of your post:

Do you agree that having a reflective practice increases and is important for awareness?

Yes, I completely 100% agree that having a reflective practice is important in order to become more aware.  When things go wrong especially, it is often easy to find excuses or become defensive. However, I truly believe that we grow the most by being reflective and thinking about how we can improve things for next time. It’s not about beating ourselves up over something, but rather acknowledging the good, the bad and the ugly and learning from them so that we can add these experiences to our tool kit.  We will have a much better perspective and the foresight on how to do things differently/better when similar situations crop up again.

Thank you for stimulating some reflection of my own after reading your post!

According to Spears (2010) in his article entitled “Character and Servant Leadership: Ten Characteristics of Effective, Caring Leaders” there are a set of ten characteristics that help define the active practice of servant leadership.

The ten characteristics of servant leadership are the ability to:

1. 

   Buzzle.com

   Listen “intently to others” which also includes being able to hear not just what is being said, but also unsaid (p.27). This includes listening to our own inner voice and reflecting on what is being said. Don Page and Paul Wong (2000) in their article “A Conceptual Framework for Measuring Servant-Leadership” state that the servant leader “wants to listen to people before making a decision” and “seeks first to understand then be understood” (p. 73).

2. Empathize with others and  seek to understand.  According to a recent article online Forbes article by Karen Higginbottom (2018) entitled “Why
   

   www.genius.com

   Empathy Matters in the Workplace” there is a direct correlation between empathy and the productivity and successfulness of a company. She also shares that an empathy index published in the Harvard Business Review found that “the 10 most empathetic companies increased in value more than twice as much as those at the bottom of the index, and they generated 50% more earnings defined by capitalization from one year to the next.” The article also states that empathy has an impact on the retention of employees, and that if leaders show empathy towards their employees, employees are more likely to stay long term with a company. She quotes Chief Executive Jon Shanahan of Businesssolver when he states “empathy is like a muscle which needs to be trained to become stronger” and that leaders need to work on developing this skill.

3. Heal others by recognizing that many people we come in contact with are “broken spirits and have a variety of emotional hurts” (Spears, 2010, p. 27). The servant leader, genuinely wants to find ways to help others become whole and heal.
4. Be aware. Being self aware is essential to being a strong servant leader because it allows for reflection and contemplation. I especially love how Spears (2010) says that the purpose of being aware is not to bring “solace” but rather to “awaken” the leader to help them better understand “issues, power and values” (p.27)
5. Persuade others instead of using positional coercion (which is not true leadership).
6. Conceptualize to see beyond the immediate tasks to the possibilities that are not yet defined.
7. Use the gift of foresight  to see the “likely future consequences” based on “past experiences” and the “realities of the present” (Spears, 2010, p.28).  Servant leaders listen to their intuition.
8. Be a steward and hold the institution/company “in trust for the greater good of society” (Spears, 2010, p. 29). Servant leaders ensure that all decisions are made for the benefit and future of everyone invested.
   

   Courtesy of answersingenius.org

9. Grow others instead of yourself. Servant leaders enable the professional growth of others by providing resources and opportunities.
10. Build community that stretches beyond the four walls of your organization and focus on bringing people together.

Some of the top characteristics that a team leader should take when coordinating a new project are listening, being a steward, empathizing and being aware.  At the heart of each of these characteristics are people, not tasks. Don Page and Paul Wong (2000) state that, “people and process will always be more important than tasks” (p.70) because too often character is forgotten as “leaders have been task or process oriented without the heart for serving others” (p.72).  By putting people first, and by actively listening and being aware of what is not just being said but also that which isn’t, and by ensuring that any decision made is made with the benefit of everyone in mind, new projects can be more easily coordinated.  A fatal mistake is when leaders try to impose coercion instead of actively persuading which involves choice. Page and Wong (2000) share that, “co-workers need to be treated with respect as part of a team who work together to accomplish a task and make decisions with shared information” by “encouraging input and feedback and sharing credit for the results” (p.73).  I personally feel that there is a reason why listening is first on Spears list and that it is essential to ensure that everyone’s voice is heard and acknowledged before embarking on a new project or implementation. We cannot learn if at first we do not listen and reflect. We cannot empathize, grow others, build community, heal, be stewards, persuade or show foresight without first listening.

Do you feel like you are actively listened to in your workplace? What advice would you give your direct supervisor about how they might improve their practice of listening before embarking on a new project or assigning tasks?

References:

Higginbottom, K. (2018). “Why Empathy Matters in the Workplace”. Retrieved from Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/karenhigginbottom/2018/05/31/why-empathy-matters-in-the-workplace/#6dd33e4c1130.

Marciano, P.L. (2010). Carrots and sticks don’t work: Build a culture of employee engagement with the principles of RESPECT. New York, NY: McGraw Hill

Oliver S. (2006). Leadership in health care. Musculoskeletal care, 4(1), 38.

Page, D., & Wong, T.P. (2000). “A conceptual framework for measuring servant leadership. The human factor in shaping the course of history and development” 69-110.

Spears, Larry C. (2010). “Character and Servant Leadership: Ten Characteristics of Effective, Caring Leaders” The Journal of Virtues & Leadership, Vol. 1 Iss. 1, 2010, 25-30.

The 2 Critical Functions of Effective Team Leadership

Google Images:  Walter Lee Elementary School

As defined by Northouse (2019),  team effectiveness focuses on how well  a team works together to accomplish defined goals.  There are 2 critical functions of team effectiveness;  performance and development. Performance focuses on how well the team has met their goals and completed their tasks. To be clear, just finishing a task does not equate to performing well, there has to be a high standard of quality in the work produced.  Development refers to how well the members of the team work together. Team members are not just working collectively to reach a common goal or complete a task, but they are also simultaneously balancing the need to successfully meet their own personal requirements (Northouse, p. 375).  Effective teams are essentially made up of people who are capable of working well together and who share the same high performance standards/expectations as they work to achieve tasks or common goals.

Larson & LaFasto (1989) define 8 characteristics of team excellence and effectiveness as shared by Northouse (2019). They are as follows:

1. Teams must have a clear goal outlined:  Without this, no-one would know what they were working towards.
2. Teams must have a results driven infra-structure: Team members need to know  what their specific role is, have clearly defined communication steps, and, know how each team member will have their individual performance assessed etc.,
3. Only competent members need apply: Team members need to actually know how to do the job for which they have been assigned. They also need to possess the personality skills to be able to get along well with others.  Northouse quotes Hackman (1990), when  he shares, “a common mistake in forming teams is to assume that people who have all the technical skills necessary to solve a problem also have the interpersonal skills necessary to collaborate effectively” (p. 377). Wow,  is this ever true! There are definitely people who are fully capable of completing a task on their own, but as soon as you throw another individual into the mix who offers different opinions or ways of doing things they become a nightmare to work with. There is an individual at my school who continually rubs co workers the wrong way because they lack the interpersonal skills to ensure that everyones individual needs are being met while working towards a common goal or task. This person is highly qualified and highly educated but completely lacks social awareness and therefore is not an effective team member.
4. Team members need to be unified in their commitment: Just because people work together in a group, does not make them a team!  In middle schools and high schools teachers are usually grouped together according to subject matter taught, however, this doesn’t mean that they are a solidified team where everyone is on the same page and in agreement. True teams are developed when members have built a “sense of unity” where all members are “involved in the process” (Northouse, p.377). The most effective teams that I have been a part of are ones where everyone has “bought in” and has a vested interest and say in the collective team goal.
5. Team members need a safe, collaborative working climate: To be truly effective, team members need to feel like their voice is heard and acknowledged. The best ideas are those that are hashed out in a safe environment where there is no judgement or criticism.  Every member is recognized for their unique contribution to the team.
6. There needs to be standards of excellence established: “The standards must be clear and concrete, and all team members must be required to perform to standard” (Larson & LaFasto, 1989) as quoted by Northouse (2019, p. 378).  This was something that I dealt with a lot as the Grade 8 Team Leader and Department Head at my last school. As a team, we discussed what certain standards of expectations we needed to have in order to resolve some issues that we were having with student behaviour. For example, we were experiencing a drug problem and students were transporting them in backpacks and dealing was occurring during lunchtime. As a team, we all agreed that we had to enforce the rule of no backpacks in the classroom or out on the field at lunch. We ran into a team issue when two members of our team chose to not follow through and continually allowed their students to have their backpacks when the rest of us were enforcing this expectation.  It had to be addressed and resolved in order for the team to be effective in reaching our goal. It wouldn’t work if only a few of us were doing what we had agreed upon.
7. Teams need external support and recognition: Resources are a necessity! Northouse (2019) sums this up perfectly,  “The best goals, team members, and commitment will not mean much if there is no money, equipment, or supplies for accomplishing the goals” (p.378).
8. 

   Courtesy of Pinterest

   There needs to be principled leadership! Northouse quotes Zacarro et al., (2001)  when he refers to leadership as being the “driver” of effective teamwork through 4 processes which are “cognitive, motivational, affective and coordination” (p.379). Cognitively, the leader needs to be able to identify and understand any problems that the team may encounter. The leader also needs to act like the team cheerleader and find ways to bring the team together and motivate them to produce high quality work. Being a principled leader means being able to come up with strategies to help deal with issues that crop up and affectively handle them. Leaders coordinate well, not just schedules and organizational matters but they also match peoples strengths and skills to tasks so that everyone not only has their needs met, but performance standards are also met.   This process of principled leadership affected me while working in the middle school because I had to try and be that leader.  I didn’t always fulfill that role well in the very beginning, especially affectively and motivationally! It was difficult and challenging trying to bring so many different people together; people  who were there initially solely out of grade grouping and not because they had chosen to be a part of the team. The first task was to recognize that this group was going to have issues because we weren’t yet a team and we needed to become one (somehow).  We all had different teaching styles, skill sets (some were more technically capable than interpersonally), experience levels (some were brand spanking new and others were close to retirement), levels of willingness to try new things and vast differences in personalities (some were extremely outspoken and others felt like they had no voice).  We had to define what we wanted our team to look like, what we stood for, what our vision was. We had to define what our common standards of excellence for our shared practice would look like for our pod teams as well as our group as a whole. We needed to figure out schedules, define roles for everyone on the team and outline how we would communicate effectively, especially how we would address problems if individual members failed to live up to the expectations of the group as a whole.  It was a huge learning curve for me. I initially balked at the discomfort of having to address inadequate performance because our meetings sometimes didn’t feel like the “safe, collaborative climate” they were supposed to be as some people would go on the attack (forgetting to be factual and non-judgemental) and we lost some ground that we would then have to rebuild. However, I began to realize that effective leaders are those that take the initiative to address issues in a respectful manner and who help provide strategies to deal with potential problems (preferably proactively and not reactively).

What have you as a group member (not necessarily the appointed leader) found to be the most challenging aspect of teamwork? What strategies did you find most helpful in dealing with those issues?

Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Sage Publications.