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LEADERSHIP Topic 1: Understanding Leadership and Ways to Develop Leadership

Before we look at the major elements of leadership in this subject, we need to identify what we are going to talk about. What are the key aspects that distinguish leadership from management and operational activity? Hence, our core questions are: What is leadership? How do we develop our leadership skills?

Thus this first topic sets out to define what leadership is and how we can develop our leadership skills. In more detail, our objectives in this first topic can be divided into three parts: 1) 2) 3) Understand the nature and myths of leadership. Leader development through education experience and reflection. Skills for developing yourself as a leader.

Learning resources Chapters 1, 2 & 3 of the textbook are essential: Hughes, R, Ginnett, R & Curphy, G 2012, Leadership: Enhancing the Lessons of Experience, 7th edn, McGraw-Hill Irwin, New York. The following readings are also essential: Bennis, W 2004, The Seven Ages of the Business Review, vol. 82, no. 1, pp. 46-53. Leader, Harvard

Gosling, J & Mintzberg, H 2003, The Five Minds of a Manager, Harvard Business Review, November, pp. 54 - 63. Key terms and concepts Leadership as a process Leadership and management Followership Myths about leadership Action-observation-reflection model Spiral of experience Perceptual set Attribution Reflection Learning from experience Leadership education Leadership development programs Single-loop and double-loop learning Self-fulfilling prophecy Thinking frames Stretch Onboarding Onboarding roadmap Technical competence Development planning Gaps analysis Prioritising needs

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Part 1: The nature and myths of leadership


The authors of your textbook identify a range of definitions of leadership, each providing a different perspective on the multi-faceted nature of leadership. They select the following as the basis for the textbook: The process of influencing an organised group toward accomplishing its goals This definition signals the core propositions that underlie the discussion of leadership & the myths that hinder leadership development throughout the textbook. These propositions are as follows: Leadership is a process, not a position: leadership is the result of title or position; it is the result of interactions between leaders and followers and can be exercised by people young and old, in senior positions or at the lowest level of an organisation or community. What is leadership: the text book states that leadership is a complex phenomenon involving the leader, the followers, and the situation. Leadership is both a science and an art: people can be very effective leaders without knowing the theory of leadership, but an understanding of leadership research can help you to develop new perspectives and enhanced leadership processes. Leadership is both rational and emotional: leaders can use emotional appeals and/or rational approaches to influence followers, but they must also be aware of the emotional and rational consequences of their actions. Leadership and management, while different, are complementary: your textbook highlights the differences, however it suggests they are closely related but with distinguishable, albeit sometimes overlapping functions. Your textbook suggests that leadership is often associated with words like dynamic, risk taking, change, creativity, and vision while management is associated with control, efficiency, procedures, paperwork, planning, regulation, and consistency. Some of the distinctions identified by Warren Bennis (1989) are also listed as follows: Managers administer; leaders innovate. Managers maintain; leaders develop. Managers control; leaders inspire. Managers have a short-term view; leaders, a long-term view. Managers ask how and when; leaders ask what and why. Managers imitate; leaders originate. Managers accept the status quo; leaders challenge it.

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Myths that hinder leadership development Good leadership is common sense: common sense is an ambiguous term that is often misleading and in fact often isnt common. Leaders need to take into account what common sense suggests but they also have to make the hard decisions that may be contrary to prevailing views, be humble in the face of uncertainty and change direction when the need is recognised. One of the challenges of leadership may well be to know when common sense applies & when it doesnt. Leaders are born, not made: leaders can have some innate abilities and skills but these can also be developed through experience. The very different personalities and backgrounds of leaders demonstrate that leadership is open to anyone and individuals can build on their innate qualities to develop their own unique brand of leadership. Leadership isnt either innate or acquired, more an interaction of both. The only school you learn leadership from is the school of hard knocks: leadership is often developed in the school of hard knocks however this learning can be enhanced by developing different perspectives and insights through formal study. The formal study of leadership can make you more discerning and better able to see the lessons and analyse the different perspectives encapsulated in your own experience and that of others. Leadership involves interaction between the leader, the followers and the situation: this is a central tenet of the textbook and much of the leadership research and relevant theories and is covered in detail in Topic 2. The textbook itself and the leadership skills covered are structured around these three central constructs the leader, the follower and the situation.

Textbook The textbook describes the crash of a plane in the Andes in 1972 on pages 2-3. This incident is provided as an illustration of what is meant by leadership. Activity 1.1 Please read the above illustration and note who showed leadership and what form it took. Also consider the three profiles of leadership, and then identify the lessons about leadership that you can draw from these examples.

Part 2: Leader development through experience and education


There is increasing recognition that leadership experience and formal learning go hand-inhand. It is suggested that although formal learning on its own will not make a leader, it is important to accelerate the rate of learning from experience. This in part accounts for the growing use of action learning as an approach to executive development in companies such as Boeing, Shell, and General Electric.

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A difference is drawn between leader development and leadership development. The former being related to individual development and the latter referring to developing whole groups. Your textbook captures much of this trend by incorporating the action-observationreflection model as the central model informing the development of leadership. Leaders learn by acting in a particular situation, observing the consequences (intended and unintended) of their actions and by reflecting on the implications of these actions and consequences. Leadership development depends not just on the kinds of experiences one has but also on how one uses them to foster growth. Your textbook emphasises the role that perception plays in each of these three phases of the spiral of experience people are not passive recorders of experiences that happen to them, instead they actively shape, interpret and construct experiences. The roles of perception are identified as: Perception and observation: Our observation can be influenced by our perceptual set a tendency to be selective in what we see and what we attend to. Our perceptual set acts as a filter of our observations and is influenced by our expectations, feelings, prior experience, needs and especially by our personal vision. Thus we observe our experience differently depending on the stereotypes we hold and whether we have positive or negative expectations towards a person and/or the experience. Perception and reflection: Reflection involves interpretation and meaning-making hence it is very open to the process of attribution that is the tendency to decide that a particular factor is the cause of a particular outcome. It is generally believed that we are self-serving in our attributions. We tend to attribute positive outcomes from our actions to our intelligence, personality or experience; negative outcomes are explained away in terms of situational factors. We are usually less kind to others we tend to ascribe negative outcomes of their actions in terms of their intrinsic traits and positive outcomes in terms of situational factors. In other words, we own our positive outcomes but do not let others own theirs. Reflection however, also involves evaluation and judgement but that will be addressed later. Perception and action: A persons expectations and biases about another affects the way they will act towards another person, which in turn, affects how the other person will respond. Thus having expectations about others can subtly influence our actions and these actions can in turn affect the way others behave. This can therefore then lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Reflection, experience and education/training are the three cornerstones of leadership development. These three key catalysts of leadership development are discussed below: Reflection plays a key role in the development of professional competence and leadership capability. Yet this is the most neglected area of a leaders development. Few people genuinely reflect on their experience, one reason may be time pressure; however intentional reflection may prompt one to see different perspectives. Your textbook highlights Argyris (1976) distinction between single-loop learning and double-loop learning. The former relates to learning within existing frames of reference, failing to challenge fundamental assumptions. Associated with this is behaviour designed to deflect any negative emotion or to ward off criticism. There is no open exchange of information or honest feedback involved. This contrasts sharply with double-loop learning which involves a fundamental challenge to our basic 4
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assumptions, views, goals and behaviours that encourage open disclosure of information and honest feedback. One constructive outcome from double-loop learning is the development of new thinking frames and perspectives new ways of organising our thinking and construing the meaning of our experiences. Experience comes in many shapes and sizes and differing complexities. In the early stages of our careers we tend to stand out because of our technical competence, e.g. through our successful participation in complex projects. As we progress in management, we need to draw on a wider range of experiences and skills. Bunker and Webb (1992) identified that there was a meaningful link between stress and learning. They suggest that both positive and negative feelings, can shape the quality of an experience. Peers can also be a source of leadership development particularly where peer influence is formalised through a peer mentoring scheme. Managers and subordinates can provide both sound and poor models of organisational behaviour. Working with people with different styles, perspectives and agendas can accelerate our growth as leaders provided we learn the art of reflective observation. Mentors and executive coaches play an important role in helping us to develop this reflective capacity because of their willingness to challenge us. The nature of the development task also has a significant bearing on leadership learning and development. The ideal learning task will involve stretch extending beyond the known and familiar and confronting the uncertain and ambiguous aspects of organisational life.

A fundamental skill for leaders is learning how to learn. Your textbook describes the anatomy of a learning experience and explains the important concepts of comfort zone, plateau and going against the grain. Transitioning to new skills will often involve tension and stress, discomfort and an initial drop in performance. Beyond this is the prospect of a new repertoire of skills and behaviours and enhanced success and achievement. Effective leaders, however, never arrive they are always learning and are proud to acknowledge this ongoing state of changing and becoming. Leadership development through education and training can take many forms including university courses and formalised leadership training programs. University courses may involve a combination of feedback from personality tests, initiation and/or analysis of case studies, role plays, simulations or games and work-based experiences or placements. Leadership development programs tend to be very diverse in nature because they are tailored to the level of the managers involved and focus on specific leadership skills. Your textbook describes different types of leadership programs ranging from the more inward-looking programs to those that involve extensive teamwork and occur in the context of work itself.

Textbook Your textbook illustrates the spiral of experience and the action-observation-reflection model in Figure 2.1. Activity 1.2 Please review this diagram and the story of Colin Powells cycle of experience (p. 4748) in relation to an event occurring during his airborne Ranger course. Reflect on a significant learning experience in your own life and identify how you have used this experience to shape your own approach to managing others.

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Part 3: Skills for developing yourself as a leader


Leadership improvement involves the practicing and development of skills. Successful leaders will act to hone their skills and continue learning and developing throughout their career. The ability to exercise good leadership skills is critical in the case of leaders taking up new positions. In particular development planning is a skill that leaders should exercise. It should be remembered that development planning is important not only for the leaders followers, but also for the leader themselves. Your textbook explains a process of onboarding in a new leadership role. This involves an onboarding roadmap that allows a leader in a new position to plan activities that should be undertaken, and when, to facilitate as smooth as possible an introduction to the role. As stated earlier, learning from experience will be accelerated through formal learning. Your textbook also suggests that feedback, creating stretch in the role, learning from others, keeping a journal and development planning will also enhance learning form experience. Your first 90 days as a leader can decide the success or failure that will be experienced. The chances of success can be improved with the preparation of a new leader onboarding roadmap. This roadmap covers a period from 30 days prior to commencement in the position, to 90 days after commencement. Your textbook suggests that this period gives a unique opportunity for leaders to initiate change and the time should be used wisely. Learning from experience is an important skill for leaders and will enhance effectiveness. Leaders need to create opportunity for relevant feedback to enable experiences to create meaningful learning. A leaders learning is always the result of stretching and good leaders seek opportunity for stretch because by doing so they increase their learning. Learning from others is a powerful learning experience for leaders. Observation of others, regardless of whether they are in similar leadership positions or not, can create valuable learning experiences. This process can be enhanced by asking questions of others. A method of enhancing learning from experience is in keeping a journal. A journal should not simply be a diary of daily events; it should include such things as relevant news paper clippings, leadership quotes and reflections of interactions. A journal may also provide an opportunity to think on paper. Building technical competence is the process of gaining the knowledge necessary to perform a task effectively. This is important for both leaders and followers. It is important therefore to understand how technical competence can be improved. Determining how the job contributes to the overall mission will allow for individuals to assess whether their current technical competence is suitable or whether and what additional training may be required. Becoming an expert in the job can be achieved through additional training, observing of others and teaching others. Leaders can also enhance technical skills by seeking opportunities to broaden experiences. Your textbook refers to the importance of building effective relationships with superiors and building effective relationships with peers. These relationships are considered important to allow for productive, mutually satisfying and value sharing.
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Development planning has been mentioned earlier and your textbook illustrates the process for conducting a gaps analysis, prioritising needs and building a development plan. The purpose of a development plan is not only to increase knowledge and skills but in so doing alter behaviour for the better.

Textbook Your textbook illustrates a sample GAPS analysis in Figure 3.2. Activity 1.3 Please review this sample GAPS analysis and reflect on your current position. Through this reflection process attempt to identify some gap areas and consider how a development plan may assist.

Conclusion
This chapter covered three major objectives: 1) 2) 3) Understanding the nature and myths of leadership. Exploring leadership development through education and experience. Skills for developing yourself as a leader.

The definition of leadership which is taken from your text is as follows: .... leadership is a complex phenomenon involving the leader, the followers, and the situation. Underlying the definition was a set of propositions that shaped your textbook. The core propositions are: Leadership is a process, not a position. Leadership can be developed through study and experience. Skills for developing yourself as a leader

While we identified some differences between the concepts of leadership and management we stressed the complementary nature of these two concepts and the need to integrate them in practice. Gosling and Mintzbergs (2003) discussion proposed five mindsets as a way to achieve this integration. When discussing leadership development we stressed the centrality of the action-observationreflection model and the spiral of experience. We identified the important role of perception in each of the phases of observation, action and reflection. Both reflection and experience were seen to play major roles in the development of leadership. Single-loop learning was seen to add limited value to experience while doubleloop learning provided the platform for new learning and heightened experience.

Australian Institute of Business

V6Aug11 HGC:2012:7ed

The benefit of experience for leadership development depends not only on the quality of reflection of the leader but also on the nature of the development task and the calibre of the people we work with (including bosses, peers and subordinates). A fundamental skill in leadership development is learning how to learn.. Your textbook discusses that learning from experience will be accelerated through formal learning. your textbook also suggests that feedback, creating stretch in the role, learning from others, keeping a journal and development planning will also enhance learning form experience. The benefit of becoming an expert in the job through improving technical skills can be achieved through additional training, observing of others and teaching others. Leaders can also enhance technical skills by seeking opportunities to broaden experiences Development planning is identified in your textbook as the process of conducting a gap analysis, prioritising needs and building a development plan. The purpose of a development plan is not only to increase knowledge and skills but in so doing alter behaviour for the better.

In the light of this discussion, a possible exam question on Topic 1 could be: If you were to design the perfect leadership development exercise for yourself, how would you do so and what would it include? How would you know it was effective? In responding to such a question you might consider our prior discussion about the observation-action-reflection model, the role of perception and the range of leadership development activities available. Central to your consideration would be some form of assessment of your learning needs in relation to leadership. You might already have data from personality tests and/or work sample tests as an input to this. Your leadership development process would need to address these learning needs and be congruent with the desired outcomes. So a need for technical knowledge would be addressed very differently to a need to develop strategic thinking. In assessing the effectiveness of your leadership development program you would look at ways of gathering both qualitative and quantitative data from your superiors, clients, subordinates and/or from unit performance reports,

References Argyris, C 1976, Increasing Leadership Effectiveness, John Wiley, New York. Bennis, W 1989, On Becoming a Leader, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA. Gosling, J and Mintzberg, H 2003, The Five Minds of a Manager, Harvard Business Review, November, pp. 54-63.

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Feedback about activities Activity 1.1 The survivors faced a range of issues that were critical to their survival the tension between individual and group goals, dealing with the different needs and personalities of the group members, and keeping hope alive in the face of considerable adversity. The leadership was shared in many ways but all survivors had a common goal to escape to safety. There were many opportunities to demonstrate leadership during the period the group was stranded on the Andes. Some showed leadership by leading the way in weatherproofing the wreckage, others found water or provided medical assistance. Still others led expeditions to establish where they were. Three survivors undertook the final expedition which had been planned together and supported by all the remaining survivors. Lastly, some used their persuasive skills to encourage group members to do things that they would normally consider abhorrent. One boy, Parrado, who was considered shy and lacking physical strength and social skills emerged as an unlikely leader. He demonstrated his leadership by his courage, optimism, fairness, and emotional support. This case also illustrates the need for leaders to be able to use both emotional and rational forms of influence.

Australian Institute of Business

V6Aug11 HGC:2012:7ed

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