Category: Leadership Competency

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Course Reflections – Unit 10, Learning Activity 1

Although it has only been ten weeks, the impact of this course and what I have learned is significant. It has hopefully built a strong foundation as I move forward through the rest of the courses for this MA Lead program, which I’m doing with great excitement and anticipation.

In terms of specific learning, there are two which will be specific for me in terms of how I lead within my own context. First, to remember that transformational leadership on its own has a dark side which can lead to disastrous consequences (Northouse, 2018). The importance is to take this into account in combination with the heart of servant leadership. This hybrid form of transformational servant leadership gives so much new language to me as a leader who desires to lead effectively as part of an organization with clearly defined mission, vision, and values while also desiring to serve and impact those around me who are under my leadership. Transformational servant leadership can now become a framework for self-evaluation of my own leadership.

Second, the personal leadership challenge for me as I journey through this course and this program is to grow in empathy, in the other-focused side of my leadership. My desire is to help those I lead to understand emotionally that I believe in them, trust them, and want the best for them. Although this quote was from a unit on the course focused on women in leadership, the impact for me is profound. Inclusion is related not only to gender but to every person who I lead, every person who comes across my way. As I strive to be a more effective, more empathetic leader, this reminder to celebrate the uniqueness and belonging of each person is very helpful for me in my own leadership.

This quote from Nugent & Travis (2016) summarizes what I hope to bring to those I lead:

Employees reported feeling included when they experienced both:
• A sense of uniqueness—that they are recognized and valued for their specific attributes and contributions.
• A sense of belonging—that they are welcomed and valued as part of their workgroups and among their colleagues.

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

Nugent, J., Pollack, A. & Travis, D. (2016). The day to day experiences of workplace inclusion and exclusion. Retrieved from http://www.catalyst.org/system/files/the_day_to_day_experiences_of_workplace_inclusion_and_exclusion.pdf

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Organizational Change in the Face of Change – Unit 9, Learning Activity 2

Not only is change a constant but the fact that the pace of change is ever-increasing makes running a business in modern society more complicated than ever. Companies and organizations must do more than maintain their own status quo. The world is changing around them and, every year, it changes more than it did the year before.

Corporate success is no longer creating a better widget or maximizing labour force. As Goodwin (2015) illustrates, “Uber, the world’s largest taxi company, owns no vehicles. Facebook, the world’s most popular media owner, creates no content. Alibaba, the most valuable retailer, has no inventory. And Airbnb, the world’s largest accommodation provider, owns no real estate” (Goodwin, 2015).

Smart (2015) highlights several transcultural developmental patterns referred to as “There Is No Alternative” (TINA) trends (Pierre Wack, as quoted by Smart, 2015, 12:01). These trends highlight an almost inevitable societal movement toward specific ends. Societal trends affect individuals and families, of course, but they also affect companies and organizations. As societal trends impact the way people behave, there is an impact also to organizations made up of those same people.

One very timely example is today’s announcement that General Motors will be closing four North American plants. This includes the plant in Oshawa, just 15 minutes down the road from where I live. The announcement has come that the company is shifting focus to electric and hybrid cars and, therefore, the plant in Oshawa is redundant and must be closed.

Culturally, the world is moving towards the adoption of clean energy. Electric cars, green power generation, and an overall shift away from oil are all desires which are being expressed more and more around the world. And yet these desires also affect companies and how they do business. GM manufactures a product at its plant in Oshawa which is becoming less desirable and the company has decided to move in a different direction.

The shrapnel of this decision, unfortunately, doesn’t hit GM’s bottom line. This is a move to save money and increase profit. The ones who are the most affected are the people who work for the company to produce the car they were paid to make. While these people live in a world which is living through one of these TINA trends toward clean energy, the impact of a lost job and future uncertainty is very real.

In seeing these cultural trends accelerate over time, organizations must understand they exist to provide a product or service while also providing significance and meaning to their employees. Whether or not Facebook will also be the world’s largest creator of media, Facebook will always have employees. Whether GM will survive this turn toward electric cars, GM will always have employees. The value the company creates is not only in the product they manufacture for their customers.

Leaders do have a responsibility to be honest about how societal change is impacting their organization. For a company to ignore that its product is no longer relevant means it could go bankrupt and everyone is out of work. If a charity isn’t able to change communication methods with donors they risk losing significant funding. Leaders must do what they can to create environments where change can be acknowledged and new ideas can be experimented, understanding that any organization’s most valuable resource is its people.

 

Reference

Goodwin, T. (2015, March 03). The Battle Is For The Customer Interface. Retrieved November 26, 2018, from https://techcrunch.com/2015/03/03/in-the-age-of-disintermediation-the-battle-is-all-for-the-customer-interface/

Smart, J. M. [John M Smart]. (2015, April 08). John Smart – Leadership of Tech Change – WFS 2013. [Video file]. Retrieved November 26, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhdWqLNUJns

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Gender and Leadership – Case Study Reflection – Unit 8, Learning Activity 1

The case study of “The Glass Ceiling” (Northouse, 2018, p. 417-418) tells the story of Lisa, an experienced, confident executive who leaves her Wall Street firm after repeated attempts to achieve partner. The working environment as well as her direct relationship with the CEO show clear evidence of gender discrimination. Lisa has relevant experience, educational qualifications, and a track record of success in the firm. She is given increased seniority and responsibility as she brings value to the company. Lisa is respected by her peers and brings positive impact to company revenue and the bottom line. Over an extended period of time, her requests for partnership based on performance are denied and Lisa leaves the firm.

As I reflected on this case study it was evident that this was a description of an environment where the senior leader helped to create an environment of discrimination and discomfort for other leaders and particularly women. Knowing there are peers of Lisa’s who are coming to her privately but not willing to speak up on her behalf publicly points to a domineering culture where there may be fear of consequences for anyone who challenges the CEO.

For this situation specifically, there is no obvious reason to say there are experience or education gaps which are the reason for the treatment Lisa is receiving. The fact that the CEO is willing to say two women in one room together is scary is clear evidence of deeper discrimination which is not connected to employee performance. Lisa is not given the opportunity to lead as a partner in the firm not because she isn’t a qualified leader but because of the advancement barriers in place in this firm, known as the glass ceiling.

With a CEO who questions a woman’s ability to lead and speaks publicly of his fear of women together in a room, it’s no surprise that a woman of Lisa’s calibre and experience would leave the firm to pursue other opportunities. Had there been a clear path to partnership which included performance, education and experience goals, the criteria become clear. Lisa could have made a case for partnership based on what she had achieved or the CEO could have made plain to her what still needed to be accomplished for her to be considered.

Giving opportunities in an organization for promotion, increased responsibility and career advancement must be equitable when it comes to gender and leadership. Employees need to be given the opportunity to demonstrate they are capable, qualified and trustworthy for new roles within an organization. When these paths to success are confusing, unclear or secret, this builds distrust and uncertainty among employees. All employees, male and female, deserve to understand what is expected of them and what opportunities are available for them in the future based on their performance and success in their current role.

Personally, this case study and reflection help me to think about how I lead in an environment where I have both male and female direct reports. My friendships and working relationships with men and women look different but I have a responsibility as a leader to be clear with those around me that they are being treated fairly, respectfully and with equality regardless of gender. They need to understand how their success helps to shape their future within our organization and I need to actively look for ways to highlight their successes as they grow.

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

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Organizational Employee Development Plan – Unit 6, Learning Activity 3

Employee development is meant to grow any organization’s key asset: people! Regardless of the industry, employees are the ones who develop and carry culture, who influence a customer’s experience, and who determine the impact and effectiveness of an organization.

I work at a church which is an industry with a relatively short history when it comes to employee development. Thankfully as senior leaders, we have already decided to make employee development a significant part of what we do and I feel we have a fairly robust system in place to help employees grow. At the same time, it’s always good to hit pause, take a step back, and evaluate the effectiveness of what you are currently doing to see where they could be some improvements. This is what I’ve done as I’ve considered an outline of an employee development plan for our organization using technology.

Three components to this employee development plan include orientation, on-going coaching and onward focus. Development is crucial in each of these layers yet the implementation will look different.

Orientation
An employee will never be as disoriented as they are on their first day on the job. Effective leveraging of this disorientation would be to build organizational citizenship behaviour from day one. Understanding an organization’s mission, vision and values while in this state of heightened disorientation means the impact of these can be strengthened and deepened in the life of the employee. Understanding how staff values shape the way we interact with other staff, with congregation members and with community residents is an important factor in employee and organizational success.

Although personal contact and interaction is a priceless vehicle for delivering information, using video, websites and digital tools like Google Drive allows us to leverage technology in presenting mission, vision and values to new employees as part of their orientation.

Orientation also gives managers the opportunity to explain “standardization of work processes” (Damanpour, 1991, as cited in Kandampully, Belgian & Tingting, 2016, p. 158). Employees who understand these processes and the reasons behind them are then freed up to innovate within this common script or shared behaviour across the organization. As Kandampully, Belgian & Tingting affirm (2016), many contemporary organizations have a desire for innovation and employees (rather than managers) are often the right people to encourage, value and reward toward these new ways of thinking.

On-going Coaching
Once an employee is comfortable in their role on-going development moves from orientation to coaching. These should be regular and expected. Each employee knows that once a month they have a dedicated meeting with their manager to talk about their performance and give them an opportunity to ask questions.

Technology to track an employee’s progression on certain projects is definitely helpful when it comes to coaching and on-going development. Project management software like Trello or Asana can be used to facilitate this on-going coaching.

Coaching creates a culture where every employee is seen as valuable and has a voice to speak into the overall function of the organization. Opportunities for innovation and co-creation can often begin in these regular, expected, safe, trust-filled coaching conversations between managers and employees.

An employee who understands that their manager cares for them personally and not just for the work they do will become much more effective in both the work they are doing and in their effectiveness for the organization. As Dan Rockwell (2017) says, “Effective improvement is always self-development.” And this is a two-way street. As an employee improves under a manager’s coaching their desire for development increases. And as an employee is encouraged to grow and develop through coaching and challenges, their effectiveness will also improve.

Onward Focus
Along with orientation and coaching, there should be a desire that an employee would succeed within an organization and find a long-term opportunity as they continue to grow. Performance reviews can be part of seeing this happen but entering into conversations between the manager, the employee and senior leadership around possible career paths and succession planning become a key component of employee development.

Technology then becomes incredibly valuable for on-going education. If an employee is succeeding in a role but needs to gain skills to continue in their growth, online learning or video-based resources become so valuable to help the employee develop while not being forced to leave their current position or the organization.

Conclusion
Starting with the conviction that employees are the most significant asset in an organization, these forms of employee development including orientation, on-going coaching and onward focus help to promote organizational citizenship behaviour and innovation in a service-oriented culture.

Reference
Kandampully, J., Bilgihan, A., & Zhang, T. C. (2016). Developing a people-technology hybrids model to unleash innovation and creativity: The new hospitality frontier. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 29, 154-164.

Rockwell, D. (2017, March 5) The Anatomy of Performance Enhancing Coaching Conversations.

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Andragogy: Leadership and Learning – Unit 6, Learning Activity 1

Andragogy is meant to help understand the role of the learner’s experience in adult education. The distinctions between andragogy as education for adults and pedagogy as education for children need to be understood to help both the teacher and the student succeed.  The challenges of going back to school at 41 while also working full time as part of an incredible staff team in a senior leadership position has given me fresh eyes as both a learner and a leader.

Malcolm Knowles’ six assumptions about andragogy give some clarity to help understand both the overarching experience of an adult learner as well as to my own experience of andragogy.

  1. As a person matures, his or her self-concept moves from that of a dependent personality toward one of a self-directing human being.
    The fact that I’m in this program now is evidence of the truth of this assumption! Although I attended university after high school, my own personal motivation to further my own education now is a result of 20 years of maturity, life experience and a desire to continue to move forward. Understanding now why I am continuing my education is very much a self-directed decision.
  2. An adult accumulates a growing reservoir of experience, which is a rich resource for learning.
    When it comes to leading others, part of my desire is to help equip people where they are able to take on the work they are doing without my direction. As a learner grows in their experience they should grow in competency but also in their understanding of how they can become better as they grow. Helping adult learners move beyond simply gaining skill has been a key function of my own leadership. 
  3. The readiness of an adult to learn is closely related to the developmental tasks of his or her social role.
    As children, students learn because they are required to go to school or there may be family pressures toward pursuing education. For adults, the requirements of a job or a desire for future opportunities mean that the function of education is much different.For myself, the requirements of my current job as well as what I would like to pursue in the future have helped to influence and shape my readiness for this program. My focus isn’t on simply completing the courses or doing the work but in developing as a leader and becoming better in my role.

     

  4. There is a change in time perspective as people mature – from future application of knowledge to immediacy of application. Thus, an adult is more problem than subject centered in learning.
    As a leader, helping an adult who serves as a musician on our worship team means teaching them how they help us solve the problem of leading the congregation in worship every Sunday across our church’s three locations. The reality of family, work and other responsibilities means adults only have a narrow bandwidth when it comes to learning new tasks, resulting in an increased focus in helping to solve the immediate problem in front of them. 
  5. Adults are mostly driven by internal motivation, rather than external motivators.
    As a pastor this has been something I have had to learn as a leader. When it comes to motivating people to be involved in ministry we are very dependant on growing internal motivation simply because the resources for external motivation are simply not available. Internal motivators such as achieving goals, helping to launch new locations of our church, becoming a more skilled team of musicians and to see the impact in the lives of people in our congregation are all examples of how I have helped adults learn as they participate in different volunteer teams in our church. 
  6. Adults need to know the reason for learning something.
    This assumption has become very clear to me even in the first half of this course. Because I understand the reasons for the learning I’m doing in this program I am more motivated, dedicated and focused. The learning I’m doing is not specifically for the benefit of understanding the content but in becoming a better leader, growing in current and future opportunities. 

I’m grateful for these six assumptions of andragogy and how they help to give language and understanding to my own experience as both leader and learner when it comes to adult education.

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Servant Leadership – Unit 4, Learning Activity 2

First introduced by Robert K. Greenleaf in 1970 as a concept, servant leadership is understood to be distinct from other leadership theories because of the priority placed by the leader on serving and developing followers. Although there is “no consensus about a definition and theoretical framework of servant leadership” (Van Dierendock, 2011, p. 1229) there is an abundance of writing which identifies elements, strengths and weakness of servant leadership.

According to Van Dierendock (2011), there are ten essential elements identified by Spears (1995, as cited by Van Dierendock, 2011) which are considered to be essential to servant leadership. These are listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment, and building community (Van Dierendock, 2011). Searle & Barbuto (2011) demonstrate how these ten essential elements work together to encourage growth of followers and a positive increase in job performance. Servant leaders facilitate “positive moral behavior in their followers” (Searle & Barbuto, 2011, p. 111).

Servant leadership is distinct from transformational leadership in that leaders are focused on desired outcomes seen in individual followers rather than in positive organizational outcomes. Van Dierendock (2011) affirms that “more satisfied, more committed, and better performing employees” (Van Dierendock, 2011, p. 1247) are produced within the framework of servant leadership which results in higher quality followers who help the leader become better. The hope is servant leadership results in positive organizational outcomes which would have broader societal impact (Smith, Montagno & Kuzmenko, 2004).

As a specific element of the servant leadership approach, awareness is concerned with an understanding of the well-being of the followers, “that each person deserves to be loved” (Van Dierendock, 2011, p. 1231). Emotional intelligence or self-awareness is more concerned with the leader’s understanding of oneself.

Modelled by Southwest Airlines’ president Colleen Barrett, awareness as a concept within servant leadership is exemplified when she says, “At the top of our pyramid in terms of the most important priority that we have is our employees… 85 percent of my time is spent on employees and on delivering proactive customer service to our employees” (KnowledgeAtWharton, 2008).

 

Reference
[KnowledgeAtWharton]. (2008, July 9). Southwest airlines’ Colleen Barrett on ‘Servant Leadership’. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TgR95vnM0c

Searle, T.P. and Barbuto, J.E. (2011). Servant Leadership, Hope, and Organizational Virtuousness: A Framework Exploring Positive Micro and Macro Behaviors and Performance Impact. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies 18(1), 107-117. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.student.twu.ca/login?url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1548051810383863

Smith, B.N., Montagno, R.V. and Kuzmenko, T.N. (2004). Transformational and servant leadership: Content and contextual comparisons. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies 10(4), 80-92. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.student.twu.ca/login?url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/107179190401000406

Van Dierendonck, D. (2011). Servant leadership: A review and synthesis. Journal of Management 37(4), 1228-1261. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.student.twu.ca/login?url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0149206310380462

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Transformational Leadership – Unit 4, Learning Activity 1

Transformational leadership is focused on changing people, the work they are doing and the character of who they are (Northouse, 2018). Transformational leaders are focused on visioning, empowering and resourcing people to help them grow and achieve organizational goals (Smith, Montagno & Kuzmenko, 2004).

Burns, in his book Leadership, first identified transformational leadership (as cited in Northouse, 2018, p. 164). According to him, “the crucial task of transformational leaders is to raise the awareness and consciousness of their followers to higher levels of conduct and morality” (Burns, 1978, p. 20 as cited in Mulla & Krishnan, 2011, p. 130).

To accomplish this, transformational leadership is concerned with four factors: idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration (Northouse, 2018; Smith, Montagno & Kuzmenko, 2004). When successful, transformational leadership allows “followers to accomplish more than what is usually expected of them” (Northouse, 2018, p. 172).

Strengths of transformational leadership identified by Northouse (2018) include extensive research, appeal for leaders and followers with needs met for both, a broader view of leadership as a whole, attention to the character of followers, and overall effectiveness. Transformational leadership has also been found to be effective when organizations need to grow, when facing external challenges, and when followers are able to be given the freedom to innovate and take risks (Smith, Montagno & Kuzmenko, 2004).

Northouse (2018) identifies many criticisms and weaknesses of transformational leadership from lack of clarity of the concept and of the MLQ, the primary measurement tool. Criticism exists also that transformational leadership “treats leadership as a personality trait or personal predisposition rather than a behavior that people can learn” (Bryman, 1992, pp. 100-102, as cited in Northouse, 2018, p. 181). There is also not yet clear evidence that followers are changed, even as the group or company succeeds in its goals. A significant criticism is the potential abuse of transformational leadership around the leader’s motives for personal gain or the pursuit of evil outcomes, as well as the risk of manipulation or the rise of narcissism (Van Dierendonck, 2011).

I would consider Abraham Lincoln a good example of a  transformational leader. Lincoln’s vision that all should be free was accomplished through his ability to motivate and transform people around him to accomplish what they did not believe was possible.

Lincoln leveraged his influence as president, his motivation through letters and speeches, his intellectual ability as a lawyer through individualized relationships with military and political leaders. The abolishment of slavery in the United States stands as a testament to Lincoln’s ability to lead in a way that results in both individual and national transformation.

Reference
Mulla, Z.R. and Krishnan, V.R. (2011). Transformational leadership: Do the leader’s morals matter and do the follower’s morals change? Journal of Human Values 17(2), 129-143.Retrieved from https://ezproxy.student.twu.ca/login?url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/097168581101700203

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

Smith, B.N., Montagno, R.V. and Kuzmenko, T.N. (2004). Transformational and servant leadership: Content and contextual comparisons. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies 10(4), 80-92.Retrieved from https://ezproxy.student.twu.ca/login?url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/107179190401000406

Van Dierendonck, D. (2011). Servant leadership: A review and synthesis. Journal of Management 37(4), 1228-1261. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.student.twu.ca/login?url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0149206310380462

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Rank – Talk – Write

My experience has been that skill development among pastors is typically presented as leadership theory, budget management and organizational development. Kathleen A. Cahalan’s article Integrative Knowing and Practical Wisdom (2017) presents instead the reminder that pastors are practitioners who must grow toward practical wisdom.

Cahalan’s central question is presented at the end of her introduction after giving sketches of funerals led by two different pastors, one fumbling and rigid and one compassionate and merciful.  “How did this priest learn to be this kind of minister?” (Cahalan, 2017, p. 116)

Broken down by headings within the article, I found five main ideas presented:

The Intelligence of Practice
Skills can be learned in different ways which, over time, have the potential to be acted on together becoming practical wisdom.

In the Beginning
The beginning of practice acknowledges that a novice practitioner requires education, mentors, peers and opportunity to help them grow in skill and understanding.

Advancing in Practice
As practitioners advance they grow in their ability and also by internalizing the ethos of their area of skill.

Competence in Practice
As practitioners, and pastors specifically, grow in competence they develop additional skills such as foresight, empathy and seeing the bigger picture which help move them closer to practical wisdom.

Another Kind of Competence: Expertise or Unknowing?
Practitioners in many skill areas are focused on expertise while the focus for pastors is the truth that the knowledge and understanding of God will never be fully known.

Cahalan’s article (2017) is a strong reminder of the importance of “eight ways of knowing that are essential to wise practice” (p. 117). Yet the summary remains that for ministers the expression of practical wisdom is different from skill areas where “the virtues of practice are related to speed, efficiency, accuracy, and often individual effort” (p. 121). For priests and pastors to truly minister to the families they are serving, practical wisdom goes beyond skill development or increased knowledge. “Ministers who are expert practitioners require something very different: the ability to slow down and contemplate what God is doing” (p. 121).

Reference
Cahalan, K. A., Foley, E., & Mikoski, G. S. (2017). Integrating Work in Theological Education. Eugene, Oregon: Pickwick Publications. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.student.twu.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1500058&site=eds-live

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LDRS 500 – Unit 2, Learning Activity 3

Seeing results of leadership assessments is like hearing your own voice recorded on video. I hear my own leadership voice all the time but reading these assessments lets me hear it presented back to me in a way that gives an opportunity for reflection, critique, development and change.

Overall, it is no surprise that I score higher on task style and conceptual skill in the Style Questionnaire and Leadership Theory and Practice. Results from the Leadership Trait Questionnaire are the most examined since they come from people who know me well and are impacted daily by my leadership.

I’m motivated in my desire to focus on the relational side of my own leadership while not neglecting the good impact which comes from strength areas. My hope in taking on this program in leadership is to see my leadership tool belt grow.

At the same time, I’m encouraged that those I asked to give feedback through the Leadership Trait Questionnaire were more generous in rating my strengths and less critical of my weaknesses. Healthy critique of one’s own strengths and weakness is a good reminder that those we lead are usually more generous and gracious with us than we are of ourselves!

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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.