Month: September 2018

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Response to Matt Squirrel: Blog Post Three

Blog Post Three

What a great example of the inner struggle of leadership development which happens even when the conditions for growth are not ideal. Matt, I appreciate so much of what you have to say and the way you’ve expressed some of this inner conflict has left a real impression on me.

As I was reading Matt’s description of the tension between the desire to express these principles of servant leadership and the denial of opportunities to do so, I kept thinking about the factor of time, longevity, perseverance and commitment.

Something which may not be expressed in these servant leadership characteristics we’ve been learning is how time and longevity have the ability to grow the impact exponentially if the leader is committed to the cause and the people they are leading. Quitting too soon before the impact of stewardship, conceptualization and healing (the three characteristics Matt has written about) have a chance to take root in the lives of people around you is a major factor to consider.

I think this leads into the answer to Matt’s question. Part of the struggle of a leader is knowing when to gear up and when to gear down. Over time these opportunities can be seen in the light of past experience. Potential consequences of increasing or decreasing zeal become more obvious as the characteristic of foresight becomes a more solid habit.

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Response to daneen85: Unit 1, Activity 4: Management and Leadership

LDRS 500-Unit 1 Activity 4: Management and Leadership

Daneen, I’m impressed by your commitment to palliative care and helping others develop their skills in this area. Such a crucial role the play in helping families through difficult seasons of life.

As far as your question, I have always leaned towards the side of strong, charismatic leaders. One of my leadership convictions is that leaders should always be developing other leaders through apprenticeship and mentorship. A benefit of having one strong leader versus three average leaders would be the potential for the number of second-, third-, fourth-generation leaders who could be raised up.

Admittedly, I’m exposing my bias of what I believe the defintion of “strong leader” and “average leader” to be. These definitions may need some refining and I’d be open to critique on that.

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LRDS 500 – Follow the Leader

The blessing and the curse of social media abundance is every voice – positive, negative, constructive or damaging – has the opportunity to be amplified. Over the years I have been impacted in many positive and constructive ways by Paul Baloche and how he has led so well through multiple social media platforms.

Paul is a worship leader, pastor and songwriter who spent most of his career in Texas and now lives in New York City. He is the writer of many familiar worship songs sung by millions of people around the world and has been able to keep his focus on serving Jesus, serving the church and serving other leaders.

Paul’s social media platforms are generally used to share his ideas around gratitude, encouragement and the importance of family. He speaks often about the tension of being a Christian leader who lives in a spotlight with the necessity of promoting his own work, revealing more of his character and his desire to be a leader who serves well.

As a way to highlight each of these ideas, here are posts from three of Paul’s social media accounts.

Gratitude: 
https://twitter.com/paulbaloche/status/1041774763532840963

Always grateful when I get to lead with @verticalworship Yesterday was so encouraging.

Encouragement:
https://www.facebook.com/PaulBaloche/videos/265365450775055

Your Mercy – An incredible reminder that no matter what you’re going through God’s arms are always open wide and He’s always wanting and willing to cover you with His mercy.

Family:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm1nH1RHd3i

Our whole family! (Since several of you asked “where’s David”?) 1 wife, 2 daughters, 1 son, 2 son-in-laws, 2 grandkids, and 1 mother-in-law 🙂

Paul’s consistent reminders to me and leaders around the world about the importance of gratitude, encouragement and family have spurred me on time and time again. Leadership can be difficult and leaders can often get caught up in their own problems, their own struggles and their own isolation.

To be encouraged in these ways has helped me take my eyes off my own situation and remember the focus of my leadership is to help the people I am leading by serving them, by encouraging them, by expressing my gratitude to them and by helping them become all they were created to be.

Although this can be easy to forget, Paul’s reminders over the years have been very timely and had significant impact in my life.

As a dad, the way Paul publicly values his wife, his kids and now his grandchildren has helped me to remember that my family are the ones who should benefit the most from who I am. Family is not meant to get the leftovers of my leadership benefits or be pushed to the side in the pursuit of any kind of success.

The larger context for what I see in Paul’s leadership is the fact that he is a globally recognized leader when it comes to worship ministry and songwriting. His skill is without question and yet his greatest impact in my life has come through his character, his heart and who he is as a person rather than what he has accomplished as a leader.

Since Paul’s leadership carries global impact with generational influence it feels strange to offer suggestions or advice. My only recommendation and hope would be for Paul to continue pressing on, even as he’s honest about his own struggles with self-promotion amid the abundant noise of leadership advice.

As well, the value of Paul as an older, wiser, experienced leader with a track record of both skill and character can never be underestimated. Paul’s voice is so needed in a world of instant celebrity, quick rise to success and here today, gone tomorrow influence. Experience and wisdom like Paul’s are impossible to buy and are literally priceless.

I am grateful for Paul’s leadership through social media but more than that I am grateful for his friendship and mentorship in my own life. To know that how Paul portrays himself online is paralleled by who I’ve seen him to be over the years is a great encouragement to me.

I have said several times that I would like to be more like Paul Baloche when I grow up! My hope is that the way that I live my life and the way that I lead would speak to the same ideas of gratitude, encouragement and the importance of family as Paul does.

Enjoying some authentic New York pizza with friend and mentor, Paul Baloche.

 

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LDRS 500 – Unit 1, Learning Activity 5

Reading through this list of servant leader characteristics from Spears (2002, as cited by Northouse, 2018, p. 229-230) left me feeling like I now have a more complete understanding of servant leadership. To be able to summarize such an abstract concept into these ten traits was very helpful and may have been the first time I have seen servant leadership defined in this way.

As I read the list and reflected on the rest of this chapter focused on servant leadership, these are the three characteristics which stood out to me as I thought about my own leadership.

Empathy
The words of Romans 12:12-15 speak so much about empathy and how we can, to the best of our ability, “truly understand what followers are thinking and feeling” (Northouse, 2018, p. 229):

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn (New International Version)”

Leaders who can rejoice and mourn alongside those they are leading display this empathetic characteristic of servant leadership.

Conceptualization
A charity formed in response to some kind of response could be considered conceptualization within the framework of servant leadership.

Scott Harrison, the founder of Charity: Water, was gripped by what he saw in his time in Benin and Liberia. As a response he envisioned an organization which could respond to the water crisis he witnessed.

“I volunteered aboard a hospital ship with a humanitarian mission to Benin and then Liberia, West Africa, and saw extreme poverty for the first time. One year turned into two, and while I was there, I saw people drinking dirty water from ponds, rivers and swamps – simply born into communities without access. It shocked and angered me, and I began learning more about the world’s 800 million people living without access to clean water. I returned to NYC to help them, and started charity: water (Schawbel, 2013).

Building community
Employees who come together to create a workplace culture that promotes relationship and community would be an example of servant leadership. This could be a group of staff who go beyond the duties of their paid roles and look for opportunities to work together. Employees finding ways to come together to impact their local neighbourhood or helping co-workers create meaningful friendships would be possible outcomes of this servant leadership characteristic.

For me, there is no question empathy is the most challenging of the ten characteristics of a servant leader. My own lack of empathy and my awareness of this shortcoming has been a struggle in my life and leadership for many years. I am hopeful to one day see my own life marked by rejoicing with those who rejoice and mourning with those who mourn as a clear sign of growing empathy.

Question
Who is a mentor or person of influence in your life who has consistently modelled these characteristics of servant leadership?

Reference
Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: Theory and Practice, Eighth Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Schawbel, Dan. (2013, July 22). “Scott Harrison: How He Started Charity: Water And What He Learned In The Process.” Retrieved from www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2013/07/22/scott-harrison-how-he-started-charity-water-and-what-he-learned-in-the-process/.

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LDRS 500 – Unit 1, Learning Activity 4

“Leadership that is based on occupying a position in an organization is assigned leadership… When others perceive an individual as the most influential member of a group or an organization, regardless of the individual’s title, the person is exhibiting emergent leadership” (Northouse, 2018, p. 8).

Distinguishing between assigned and emergent leadership is a strong reminder that title or position alone does not make a leader. Typically, assigned leadership comes from the top down while emergent leadership comes from the bottom up.

Although the categories of assigned and emergent are new terminology to me, it is a reality I have observed and have sought to understand. How do some people thrive as leaders as though the position was made for them? How do others influence and display leadership even though no official role or title may have been given?

“Assigned leadership is based on a formal title or position in an organization. Emergent leadership results from what one does and how one acquires support from followers” (Northouse, 2018, p. 15).

Ellis & Fisher (1994) have found emergent leaders can be identified through positive communication behaviours such as “being verbally involved, being informed, seeking others’ opinions, initiating new ideas and being firm but not rigid” (Northouse, 2018, p. 8). Smith and Foti (1998) suggest personality traits such as dominance, intelligence and confidence “could be used to identify individuals perceived to be emergent leaders” (Northouse, 2018, p. 8).

As an 18-year old spending the summer working at camp, I began to emerge as a leader across areas of responsibility which were not under my direct authority.  We had a camp director who was an assigned leader by title and we had many other leaders given authority and responsibility. My emerging leadership was not in competition with their assigned leadership but allowed leaders above me to accomplish their goals while the group around me continued to be motivated to achieve our common goals together.

The essential activities of management and leadership
Leadership study over the last 100 years has helped uncover how the distinction between managers and leaders plays out through different roles, functions and organizational outcomes.

Fayol (1916) identified planning, organizing, staffing and controlling (Northouse, 2018, p. 12) as primary functions of management. From the Kotter (1990) reference, these management functions “provide order and consistency to organizations, whereas the primary function of leadership is to produce change and movement” (Northouse, 2018, p. 12).

Aware of the power dynamic of leadership, the Rost (1991) reference gives relational influence as an essential activity of management and leadership. “He contended that leadership is a multidirectional influence relationship and management is a unidirectional authority relationship” (Northouse, 2018, p. 13).

While managers and leaders are both crucial for an organization to survive, the tension between their primary functions will always exist. Bennis and Nanus (2007) state it clearly, “Managers are people who do things right and leaders are people who do the right thing” (Northouse, 2018, p. 13). Leaders who are given free reign for change and movement become lone rangers, leaving the group behind in confusion and chaos. Managers who fail to lift their eyes will find themselves running a bureaucracy. In both cases, leadership suffers as the group becomes unable to achieve its common goal. “To be effective, organizations need to nourish both competent management and skilled leadership” (Northouse, 2018, p. 13).

Despite this tension and the necessity for both managers and leaders, my opinion is that organizations without leader-driven leadership will ultimately fail. Northouse adds the argument from Zaleznik (1977) that a leader changes the way people think about what is possible (Northouse, 2018, p. 14). This new possibility is what ultimately brings people together around their shared desire to achieve a common goal. 

What a great reminder of the need for altruistic servant leaders who can leverage their leadership not only for the sake of a group’s common goal but also to help followers imagine what is possible for their own lives.

As a leader, do you find yourself more comfortable when you are the assigned leader or the emergent leader?

Reference
Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: Theory and Practice, Eighth Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Bennis, W. G., & Nanus, B. (2007). Leaders: The strategies for taking charge (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Harper & Row.

Ellis, D. G. & Fisher, B. A. (1994). Small group decision making: Communication and the group process (4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Fayol, H. (1916). General and industrial management. London, UK: Pitman.

Kotter, J. P. (1990). A force for change: How leadership differs from management. New York, NY: Free Press.

Rost, J. C. (1991). Leadership for the twenty-first century. New York, NY: Praeger.

Zaleznik, A. (1977, May-June). Managers and leaders: Are they different? Harvard Business Review, 55, 67-78.

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Response to Ryan Morrow: Unit 1, Learning Activity 3

Blog Post One

From the original post on Ryan Morrow’s blog, this sentence caught my attention, “While a designated leader is crucial, the idea of process allows for members of the group who are followers to take ownership of the common goal and contribute to it.”

Culturally there has been a bit of a shift away from trusting and following assigned leaders so I really appreciate the reminder that with good leadership the opportunity is created for followers to gain ownership within the process.

Ryan, your question of how to respond to an individual who is no longer working toward the common goal is a good one. I have found the most challenging aspect of leadership is leading myself well, including having the courage to have hard discussions when I know they must be had.

Tough conversations where expectations can be clarified and everyone is able to understand how they are no longer helping the group win become a crucial tool in a leader’s skill set. Those conversations are not fun and not easy but the responsibility of leadership sometimes requires a leader to step up in this way.

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LDRS 500 – Unit 1, Learning Activity 3

“Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal” (Northouse, 2018, p. 5).

Northouse presents leadership through this definition where leaders are understood to be more than the sum of their traits or their own positive actions but rather help others succeed.

As process, leadership requires interactions between leader and followers. Followers are then influenced either closer to or further away from the achievement of their common goal as a result of this interaction process.

Rather than relying on a leadership model driven by power, Northouse highlights multiple bases of power (2018, Table 1.1, p. 10) which are all derived from the relationship between the leader and the followers. Power is not simply the way for the goal to be accomplished but “should be used by leaders and followers to promote their collective goals” (Northouse, 2018, p. 11).

Since power can influence either positively or negatively, a leader must be aware of the group context and the layers of relationships which exist in any group. Relationships between leaders, relationships between the leader and the group as well as relationships within the group itself must all be understood for the leader to leverage this process of achieving a common goal.

The outcome of leadership is never the success of the leader alone but the group’s success in goal achievement. The challenge leaders face is to understand the right goal which will result in the group working together toward success. A goal which is perceived to be too far out of reach will result in apathy, a goal which is considered too simple will result in individuals reluctant to give their best.

Although this definition is focused on a group context, what is the role of self-leadership within Northouse’s definition?

Reference
Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: Theory and Practice, Eighth Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

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Tracking the Trackers

The development of the modern web seems to be a constant trade-off between the give and take of information. Users are expected to give information, give privacy, give access while companies and online resources are expected to give resources, give value and give connection. Of course if one is giving, another is taking.

Rapid growth of what is possible online now allows us to live much of our life digitally in a way that was only a pipe dream ten or twenty years ago. What began primarily as an information delivery system (reading news articles, checking sports scores, sending email) has evolved over time to be an extension of a much more integrated human experience.

Along with this development and growth comes the need for data to be tracked. Not only data but also its relation and connection to other data which gives online services a fuller picture of its users, whether or not that picture is completely accurate.

Correlated data based on online behaviour, website activity and habits such as purchasing decisions, social media posts and banking all work together to create a digital image of an individual.

We have learned to become accustomed to this like the proverbial frog in the pot of water with the temperature turned up slowly, degree by degree. We only notice how hot the water of online digital tracking has become when we are made aware of it or when we decide to take the temperature.

Using Lightbeam on Firefox as a way to visualize how all of this data was being tracked based on my digital behaviour was intriguing. Over the course of approximately ten days I was surprised to discover that the sites which tracks and recorded the largest amount of data were three that I would say are not common places I visit online: ebay.com, newyorker.com and foxnews.com.

Also surprising was the amount of data which was correlated across multiple sites. Seeing some data points with single connection lines to single websites is interesting. Seeing other data points in the middle of a criss cross jumble of multiple connections to multiple sites was very interesting.

At the same time, I recognize that since Firefox is not my usual browser (I’ll typically use Safari and also Chrome) I found myself thinking differently about my own online behaviour. It isn’t the understanding that data is being tracked which changed my behaviour (since this is already known and understood using other browsers) but more that I knew the tracking would be on display in a visual form.

A true digital picture of my own tracking online would come through an extended analysis of browsing on Safari, not only on my computer but also on my phone and my kids’ iPad which sometimes gets picked up when other devices aren’t nearby.

As society’s familiarity with what is possible online combined with our growing demanded for the web to do more for us, the opportunity and need for data tracking will only continue. Ethical conversations will continue as data breaches and theft become more common with greater impact.

The give and take of user information and user experience will continue on as companies around the world discover new and better ways to convert that data into opportunities to influence human behaviour. The awareness of how we are being tracked and how that information is being used must stay at the forefront of our conversations around future web development.

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The Art of Crap Detection

Information has never been created or available in such abundance in human history. According to Forbes, “Over the last two years alone 90 percent of the data in the world was generated.” It’s almost impossible to comprehend.

With such abundance there will inevitably information presented along different ranges of accuracy and truthiness. Thank you, Stephen Colbert.

The notion that honest organizations present honest information has been hijacked with narratives of fake news as well as by devious attempts to misrepresent and mislead people online through phishing and spoofing.

Michael Caufield’s four moves – check for previous work, go upstream to the source, read laterally and circle back – give a good robust framework for the reader who is looking to be critical and cautious with online material. Including his added habit of check your emotions to these four behaviours should remind us that evaluating fact or fiction is not only about the brain but the heart as well.

Since the power of marketing can be used for good or evil, the same emotional triggers which result in charitable giving can result in false information being spread at the expense of truth and accuracy. It’s not only the apparent validity of the information itself which results in fake news being shared.

Over time I’ve learned to rely primarily on Snopes and Wikipedia to verify information online while also practicing a rule-of-thumb to not be the first to post any news or information when I’m not able to feel assured that what I’m posting is true and accurate.

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Digital Literacy

Social media and technological abundance have done so much to change the world and it is likely that we are only beginning to learn of the impact these changes are having on society and culture.

Media exposure in the past would be the result of a press release, a press conference, some significant event worthy of a certain level of attention. Now every tweet, every photo on instagram, every post on facebook is able to receive the same level of notoriety as historic events which occurred before the arrival of social media.

As an early adopter when it comes to most things related to technology and specifically with social media, I’ve had a strong and active presence on facebook, twitter and instagram for years. While I’ve never found myself in any kind of relational controversy or global scandal because of anything I’ve posted there have been more than enough examples of unintended fallout from what people have posted online.

When every tweet carries the power of a press conference, the level of awareness and caution needs to match the level of consequence.

The summer of 2018 has seen numerous examples of professional baseball players being publicly shamed through the resurfacing of posts on twitter from several years ago. Despite claims of immaturity and personal growth, these athletes have still had to face criticism and consequence for their poor decisions.

The counterbalance is the question of whether or not there should be some statute of limitations on old posts and some forum to respond to allegations of hurtful intent when social media controversy arrives.

Should statements made 5, 10, 15 years ago be viewed through the same cultural lens as the identical statement would be if it were to be said today? Over time we see opinions and cultural norms change to the point where what was a joke or an insult a decade ago can became hurtful and atrocious in a modern context.

Responsibility lies with both the creators and the consumers when it comes to outrage and controversy online.

Two simple guidelines have helped me in my time with social media.

As a content creator, before posting (whether it’s on a social media network or on my personal site) I will pause, ask whether what I’m about to post is necessary and helpful and occasionally ask for an extra set of eyes to review. If there’s any question or concern or unclarity, I will generally not post.

As a content consumer, I try to always assume the best of the person who has posted. While we call it social media the truth is that words on a screen carry almost no social cues and so we are often unable to completely accurately identify context, tone or intent. Assuming the best allows for me to be wrong and for the creator to be right, even though I may disagree passionately with what is being said.

One more overarching principle is the reminder that very few opinions have been changed or arguments been settled through back-and-forth on social media. Comments and replies generally spiral downward very quickly and move away from the original issue.

As awareness of the power of social media increases and the level of education continues to grow around online bullying and appropriate communication on social media, I believe we will see the power and potential of these technologies continue to grow. They are certainly not going away! As a global community we will need to learn to leverage these new forms of communication and understand the limitations found in each of them.