Leadership

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP STUDENT ID: 0660891/1 WORDCOUNT:3,923 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A journey such as this cannot be done alone. Therefore I would like to take the time to thank first and foremost my MBA lecturer Mr. Sterling Belgrove for his continuous support and commitment to his students. His lectures and slideshow presentations were of great inspirationand assistanceto me. He is truly a great leader and transformed my level of thinking and analysis while opening my eyes to the wonders of the world. I would like to thank the members of my cohort for their teamwork and dedication to our assignments.Lastly, I thank my family and friends who supported me every step of the way during my journey to self development. TABLE OF ABBREVIATIONS TABLE OF FIGURES TABLE OF DIAGRAMS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The author is geographically located in the island of Trinidad and Tobago. She works in the banking sector as a marketing representative for her organisation. She is actively engaged in her community. The author embarked upon this journey of leadership development in order to build core competencies to add valuadd value to economical and organisational development whilst being in a holistic location. To understand the leadership challenge of our volatile, globalized, hyperconnected age more clearly despite being in a holistic location. The author recognizes that she grew up in a post-colonial society where since 1976 has been seeking to become a developed nation. her own self to indigenize in the leadership culture with the hope and aspirations of an emerging society. To this end the author entered the MBA program and so embarked on the journey to self-discovery and was exposed tothe importance of leadership styles, traits, mindsets and behavioural patterns. This development led to the development of a design plan for personal leadership development for the next five (5) years while costing about TT$80,000 and time-lined. The primary aim of this plan is for the author to capitalize on after successful completion of the MBA program. She sees ahead of her a continuing adventure of self-discovery and personal development. With increasing globalisation and significant demographic changes in the workforce a premium is being placed on the ability to lead diverse others during these turbulent times. Not only do leaders need to develop their personal capacity to manage but they also must be able to create a context in which others are willing to learn and change so their organisations can continually adapt and innovate. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page NO. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. CHAPTER ONE:JOURNEY TO SELF-DISCOVERY “One’s self is at the base of everything. Every action is a manifestation of the self. A person who doesn’t know himselfcan do nothing for others.” EIJI YOSHIKAWA 1.0 INTRODUCTION The author is geographically located in southern most part of the island of Trinidad and Tobago. The author recognizes that she grew up in a post-colonial society where since 1976 has been seeking to become a developed nation. She is to some extent a product of the north and south phenomenon. As a result there is a deeper sense of commitment to one’s family and community. As I grew older I continued to observe other leaders, and began serving as the leader of various groups in my community. For example, I have been dubbed the unofficial leader of the youth group of my church ever since I was 12 years old, and although I’m the second oldest child, I’vealways been the leader/spokesman for my siblings. In high school, my leadershiproles have increased, including Class Prefect and sometimes Group Leader. She was born into a middle-class family where she was taught good leadership and morals as a young child. Her mother insisted that she did her chores, taught her how to cook and clean, do her school work on time and not forgetting to take the time to thank the Lord. Growing up she spent many hours in the family business with her father, helping him and watching him and jotting down countless mental notes as he answered her myriad of questions about running a business. After successful completion of her BSC in business management the author branched off into the corporate world. For the past two (2) years the author has been working for a large multinational organisation which hasserved as the informal laboratory for the development of her leadership thinking. The author has been employed as a marketing agent for the company. Fundamentally, she have experienced her role as a leader as one who articulates and puts into action a vision for a future that inspires others to join in, at least to some extent. Frequently along the way it has been the disequilibrium of resistance to that vision that has been the greatest influence on reshaping her focus and thinking about leadership, as she struggled to overcome obstacles. The author had worked through the emotional transition as operations were shut down; staff was being downsized, high employee turnover, lack of teamwork, staff were de-motivated, lack of support from management and as a result, sales are spiralling downward and targets were not being achieved. Currently, the company is in the process of devising a long term strategy for growth and sustainable competitive advantagefrom a strategic perspective. They are currently in search of The authorrecognizes her weakness of growing up in a holistic location and her inability to hold a global perspective. Her core values she have held about leadership is that the leader is one who sees a potential future and sets in motion actions that move those involved toward that vision. Over the years she havefound that my time horizon (based on the work I was tasked to do) has provided a fairly accurate view of an emerging future, and I have felt a strong pull to take action as a means of preparation for meeting that future vision. With increasing globalisation and significant demographic changes in the workforce a premium is being placed on the ability to lead diverse others during these turbulent times. Not only do leaders need to develop their personal capacity to manage but they also must be able to create a context in which others are willing to learn and change so their organisations can continually adapt and innovate. Does the researcher play a leadership role outside of the organisation' Outside of the organisation the author is actively engaged in her religion. What are the core values of the researcher'Vision and mission of the researcher To this end the author entered the MBA program and so embarked on the journey to self-discovery and was exposed to a new era of leadership styles, traits, mindsets and behavioural patterns. This development led to the development of a design plan for personal leadership development for the next five (5) years while costing about TT$80,000. The primary aim of this plan is for the author to capitalize on after successful completion of the MBA program. She sees ahead of her a continuing adventure of self-discovery and personal development. Frequently that takes the form of recognizing the gaps between the resources required to operate in that future state and actions needed to close the gap. The leadership challenge comes in being able to express this vision when others may not have the capability to think that far out into the future or agree to what that future should be and what it will take to create it. It is with this extent Given her exposure the author saw the need for professional development and hence she is embarking on this leadership journey. Given the fact that globalisation is advancing rapidly and given her third world experience the ability to be relevant and functional in this emerging economy the need for new leadership skills and traits became her primary responsibility. Life Values-Family, Religion, personal development, Independence and Success, integrity, Equality,honesty Work Values-growth, recognition, achievement, advancement Who am I as a leader' a learner, strong, flexible, responsive, compassionate, decisive, intuitive, authentic, confident, humorous, hard-working, delegatory, collaborative, don't need to always be right. Mission-to be a sustainable leader that add value to society. CHAPTER TWO Critical reflection of current/recent leadership effectiveness 2.0 Critical Reflections: 2.1 Experience 1: Mareting Representative Leadership Effectiveness Lessons Learnt Experience one- Team Leadership My first day at work with the new company, I was struck by the tyranny of meetings that absorbed so much time there was no time left to do work. Employees were frustrated because they did not have access to their managers for direction. Projects were not being completed in a timely manner because the subject matter experts needed on them were double or triple booked and unavailable. Organizational beliefs about collaboration required all key employees that were stakeholders to a project participate in discussion and decision making. Yet, decision making was an extremely slow process as there was no clarity (with the exception of a handful of senior executives) as to who had decision making authority. Very often a meeting would be called to make a decision. A group would gather and discuss the issue, but because one key person was not present (double booked in another meeting!) the decision could not be finalized. So another meeting would be called and on and on it went as a never ending caucus-race. I was brought into a company as marketing agent and explicitly taskedto market corporate financial services and products. He then assigned her a team responsible for the coordination of all the marketing related activities. During the first few weeks on the job she discovered a number of people problems as well as an outdated business strategy. When she approached her boss of adopting a new strategy to deal with the changing business conditions or making changes within the group nothing was done. However the author was aware she had survived a major corporate downsizing she I was confronted with immediate short term targets to visit prospective clients and executives. I reported to the Executive Vice President of the company to which I have a lengthy conversation with him about the constraints in the way we were conducting business. His first few weeks on the job were sufficient to convince her that her group had a number of people problems as well as an outdated business strategy. This experience was an extremely difficult period for me, yet significant in shaping my views on leadership. First, I went through a season of deep self searching as I worked through the shift from manager to independent contributor. This was a period of deep reflection on my sense of identity, my values, and sense of personal integrity. I interpreted this transition as the system self-I found this conscious decision to be freeing and challenging at the same time. Freeing in that I found myself liberated from a sense of self that derived value from titles, and power roles (I realized in my changing role, that I had part of my self-identity in the work context was tied to having employee relationships). This commitment was also challenging as I began to explore the process of leadership outside the mainstream hierarchical power structure that could mandate action through positional authority. As an independent contributor I found myself free to lead in a variety of ways, emphasizing the importance of influence in the contexts that I was called to serve in Experience Two-Spiritual Leadership The author grew up in holistic location where she was actively engaged in her community baptised a Her mother insisted that she did her chores, taught her how to cook and clean and not forgetting to take the time to thank her Lord Her father owed a clothing store and she spent many hours in the family business with her father, helping him and watching him and jotting down coutless mental notes as he answered her myriad of questions about running a business. Upon branching off into the corporate world she saw prominent differences between the way her father, a Christian leader ran his business and made decisions as compared to the secular leaders who were mentoring her. She will never forget Brent, a kind, gentle middle aged Christian Managing Director who was also a respected leader in the community and in his church for the company she worked for many years ago who hired her as his personal assistant in a finance institution. He was a strong believer in his faith. She was quite disillusioned when she learnt that he took off his Christianity role every morning before entering the office. It was the end of the financial year, the MD including herself and a few employees were woking late to finalize budget documents for the next financial year to present the next day to the Board of Directors. While finalizing her documents she overheard the MD telling the company’s accountant to delete several expenditures totalling TT$100,000.00 from the proposed budget. The MD had committed himself to the expenditures. She watched as he placed his hand on the account’s shoulder and assured her that he would take care of everything and not to worry. She looked up to MD, after all, he was her leader. I was shocked and appalled but she was also young , naïve and scared so she followed the directive and did not say a word. Her conscience kept her awake for several nights until she finally mustered up enough courage to talk to her MD. She was astounded when she learnt about her boss unethical behaviour. In fact, some of his dealings were becoming so outrageous the way he treated his staff that the colleges use to talk about his immoral behaviour. For years she has been asking herself as a Christian and as a leader where and how does Christ fir into her professional affairs' Why do so many professed Christians separate Christ from their intellectual lives and divorce him from their careers' Why do we tend to divide the sacred and secular parts of our lives as though we are two different people' Should we not mold the two together and form a pure holistic life, one where Christ is leading in every aspect' Thus, began the author’s journey to learn more about Spirtual Leadership and the traits, behavious and skills that make a sprirtual leader. Experience three-Transformational Leadership CHAPTER THREE ‘Leader’ is derived from words meaning path, road…Suggesting a way ahead 3.0 CHAPTER THREE-LITERATURE REVIEW Leadership, and the study of this phenomenon, has roots in the beginning of civilization. Our work, work environment, worker motivations, leaders, managers, leadership style, and a myriad of other work-related variables have been studied for almost two centuries. Over time, organizations have evolved from those with an authoritarian style to ones with a more comfortable work environment, and then to organizations where people are empowered, encouraged, and supported in their personal and professional growth. This paper examines how leader focus has changed over time, the nuances of leader focus as captured in the progression of leadership theory. 3.1 Leadership Defined Although there has been much investigation in the study and practice of leadership, there is still not a generally accepted definition of leadership. Yukl (2010) defined leadership as “the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what needs to be done and how to do it, and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives.”Yukl’s definition states that leaders need to have followers and leaders must share common goals with their followers. This includes efforts to influence and facilitate the current work of the group, and it also ensures that the groupis ready to meet future challenges. Although Yukl’s definition is comprehensive, there are many researchers whose definitions of leadership focus more narrowly. For example, Hemphill & Coons (1957) believe leadership is, “the behavior of an individual directing the activities of a group toward a shared goal.” Katz and Kahn (1978) believe leadership is “the influential increment over and above mechanical compliance with routine directives of the organization.” The reason for the varying definitions is because researchers define leadership according to their own perspective, the areas of leadership that most interest them, and the specific aspects of leadership they attempt to explore. The choice of a definition of leadership is of critical importance to leadership development. After all, one has to know specifically what is being developed. For the purpose of this paper, the definition of leadership I will use is Yukl’s definition of leadership, because it focuses on leadership as a process, and addresses activities that the author believe are critical to a leader successfully fulfilling their responsibilities, namely involving others to understand and agree upon a common goal and plan, and working to accomplish collective and individual objectives. Leadership theories As demonstrated in the discussion of definitions and approaches to the study of leadership, the topic of leadership is itself subject to a great deal of debate. The debate can confuse experts on the topic, not to mention the student of leadership. Leadership definitions and approaches are derivatives of theories that were and are developed to explain the concepts and dynamics of leadership. As with leadership definitions, there are about as many leadership theories as there are theorists to describe the leadership phenomenon. To place leadership theories into some form of logical, easily understood framework, this section of the book is devoted to a brief description of many of the theories of leadership. For sake of simplicity, the leadership theories presented are categorized in three major groups: leader-centered theories, follower- and context-centered theories, and leader-follower interactions-centered theories (see figure below). A review of the leadership literature reveals an evolving series of 'schools of thought' from “Great Man” and “Trait” theories to “Transformational” leadership (see figure below). Whilst early theories tend to focus upon the characteristics and behaviours of successful leaders, recent theories begin to consider the role of followers and the contextual nature of leadership. Early leadership theories focused on what qualities distinguished between leaders and followers, while subsequent theories looked at other variables such as situational factors and skill level. Figure 1: Evolution of Leadership Theory Source: The Trait Approach to Leadership- “Great leaders are born not made” The trait theory represents one of the first systematic attempts to examine leadership (Vinzant and Crothers, 1998). In the early 1900’s great leaders were studied to identify traits that made them successful. Often referred to as “ great man” theories, trait approaches to leadership focused on identifying the innate qualities and characteristics possessed by ‘great’ leaders (Anderson, 2000). According to the trait theory individual and predominately psychological, inborn characteristics in biological beings form the ingredients for leadership ability. Traits such as popularity, originality, self-confidence among others, combine to inspire others and cause them to follow a leader’s agenda (Bass, 1990). In the mid 1900’s, trait theory was challenged by research that questioned the universality of leadership traits. Stogdill (1948) suggested that no consistent, uniform group of traits distinguished leaders from non-leaders across a variety of situations. A leader in one situation may not be a leader in another. As a result Stogdill reconceptualized leadership focusing on qualities or characteristics a leader possessed, Stogdill focused on Stogdill (1974) identified several traits that he believes are critical to leaders. These traits can be seen in the table below. The trait theory evolved from the ‘Great Person Theories’, which hold the view that the capacity for leadership is natural and inherent in biological beings. This theory postulates that people are endowed with certain traits and disposition from birth or develop them early in life. If these traits were to be identified they could be used to screen for good leaders. In other words, leadership was HEREDITARY. If an individual has royal blood, they were thought to have a capacity to lead. Thousands of studies explored the traits of ‘good’ leaders. Traits such as intelligence, birth order, socio-economic status, honesty and integrity, self-confidence, a desire to lead and deep technical knowledge are the traits that set leaders apart from others. Trait theorists refer to people like Mahatma Ghandi, Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher and Steve Jobs. Table 1: Leadership Skills and Traits Source: Stogdill (1974) McCall and Lombardo (1983) identified four (4) primary traits by which leaders could succeed or fail: * Emotional stability and composure: Calm, confident and predictable, particularly when under stress. * Admitting error: Owning up to mistakes, rather than putting energy into covering up. * Good interpersonal skills: Able to communicate and persuade others without resort to negative or coercive tactics. * Intellectual breadth: Able to understand a wide range of areas, rather than having a narrow (and narrow-minded) area of expertise. Just as there are ‘Positive’ leadership traits, Neill (2008), advanced that there are also the following ‘Negative’ traits that may prevent persons from being effective leaders: Uninformed Non-participative Rigid Authoritarian Offensive Criticisms of the trait theory Neill (2008) identified unclear evidence of the cause and effect relationship of leadership and traits (which comes first, trait or leadership position'). He goes on to argue that traits predict behavior better in “weak” situations than “strong” situations. * Provides little guidance on training to give current or soon-to-be leaders * Better predictor of the appearance of leadership than distinguishing effective and ineffective leaders. * Overlooks needs of followers * Fails to clarify trait's relative importance. Stogdill (1948) opines that there is no single set of universal traits that are predicative of leadership. He argues that leadership arises from a situation and it involves interaction with other people. The relationship between the traits and leadership capabilities was weak and inconsistent at best (Lord et al, 1986) making traits poor predictors of good leaders. The theory focuses exclusively on the LEADER. The impact that leaders have on their followers is influenced by the characteristics of these followers (Lord, Browne and Frieberst, 1999). However in contemporary times effective leadership style is based on the followers’ characteristics in terms of willingness and ability to do the job (Greenberg et al, 2000). Greenberg argues that the theory ignores the influence of the current situation in that the individual became more important than the situation. Bass (1990) opines that persons who are leaders in one situation may not necessarily be leaders in other situations. Therefore, this theory fails to offer guidelines for effective leadership development because the underlying approach is that leaders are naturally endowed with certain traits not posessed by others. Traits that would guarantee success have not yet been discovered. Research has thus far failed to produce a set of traits that leaders must possess in order to be effective. Trait theory –what is the paradigm' Leader is at the top, someone everyone looks up to. However in the 21st century researches observed a Paradigm shift in that customers are the most important, the role of the leader is to serve. Contemporary trends focused on a top down mentality, in that everyone should look upwards. Does the trait theory applicable to me' Why is does or does not apply to me. Have you been advised that you have natural attributes. How relevant are these traits to modern 21st century organizations' Only 5% of all the traits that were identified were common throughout all of the studies. The Behavioural Theory The behavioral theory attempts to answer the question: what behaviors should leaders adopt to be most effective. According to the behavioral theory the greatest predictors of leadership effectiveness are the behaviors and abilities that people learn over time. Research by Stogdill (1957) and others concluded that there were two principal dimensions to leader behaviour: Task oriented and Follower Oriented. Task Oriented Researchers found that managers who worked in manufacturing organisations and who exhibited high concern for task completion and low concern for people were rated by their supervisors as more proficient than more employee-centred managers. Task oriented focuses on accomplishing the assigned job. It concerns about followers taking a back seat and provides the necessary structure to followers by setting goals, provide training, define expectations and limits on behavior and establish rules and procedure. Get the job done, it you do then you are effective. Follower Oriented This behavior involves a manager’s concern for developing mutual trust with subordibnates. The leader’s behavior encourages mutual trust and two-way communication. Focused less on the job and more on the follower. Support followers as biological beings. Demonstrate behaviours such as showing respect, gaining respect, demonstrating consideration, beinf friendly and approachable. Most leaders try to balance between both orientations. Blake and Mouton's Managerial Grid The Managerial Grid developed by Blake and Mouton(1985) identified a range of management behaviours based on various ways that task-oriented and employee oriented styles can interact with each other. Figure 2:The Blake Mouton Managerial Grid (Blake & Mouton, 1964) Source:Blake & Mouton, 1964 Critiques of the leader trait paradigm prompted scholars to look beyond leader traits and consider how leaders’ behaviours predicted effectiveness. This led to the development of the behavioural paradigm of leadership research. Northouse (1997) suggests that there are 4 components that characterize leadership components that characterize leadership: Leadership is a process It involves influence It occurs within a group contect It involves goat attainment. Dissatisfaction with research on leadership that saw leadership as a set of permanenet personal charcteristics that described the leader, led to further studies that emphasized the nature of the leadership process-the interaction between the leader and follower. Some research sough to understand how leaders behave rather than what they are. Hence research began in the 1950’s on behavioural theories. The results of the trait studies were inconclusive. Traits, amongst other things, were hard to measure. How, for example, do we measure traits such as honesty, integrity, loyalty, or diligence' Another approach in the study of leadership had to be found hence the bevaioual theory. The Contingency or Situational School- Effective leaders change their leadership style to fit the situation (Aldorry, 2004). This theory suggests that not only can leaders alter their leadership styles but that they should depending on the situation at hand. The internal and external environments of organizations were changing. The transference of power from those doing the work to those possessing knowledge about how to organize work more closely leveled the playing field for leaders and followers. Society acknowledged that traditional methods of leadership were no longer effective. McCollum (1995) implied that companies in the information age were unsuccessfully trying to conduct their business using obsolete industrial age leadership theories. Change was the only thing of which everyone could be sure, a factor requiring leadership research and society to consider contingency/situational approaches to leadership if businesses were to remain successful and profitable in an ever-changing and increasingly complicated environment (Contee-Borders, 2003). Researchers defining the situational/contingency theory of leadership acknowledged that leaders did more than simply “act”–they often had to “react” to specific situations, and thus, the situational/contingency theory of leadership evolved. Hersey and Blanchard (1996) proposed a contingency/situational theory advocating a leader's use of differing leadership behaviors dependent upon two interrelated maturity factors: (a) job maturity–relevant task and technical knowledge and skills, and (b) psychological maturity–the subordinate’s level of self-confidence and self-respect (Yukl, 1998). An employee who has a high level of job and psychological maturity requires little supervision; while an employee who has a low level of job and psychological maturity requires hands-on attention. According to Baker and Brown (2001), Successful use of Situational Leadership relies on effectiveness in 4 communication components: Communicating expectations Listening Delegating Providing feedback According to Vroom and Jago” a leadership style that is effective in one situation may prove completely ineffective in a different sitautaion.” This the choice of leadership style one uses may bring about both positive or negative consequences depending on the given situation. The situational leadership theory allows leaders to make a choice which ultimately predicts their effectiveness. S3 S1 S4 S2 Low Supportive and Low Directive Behavior High Directive and Low Supportive Behavior High Directive and High Supportive Behavior High Supportive and Low Directive Behavior DEVELOPMENT LEVEL OF FOLLOWER(S) DEVELOPED DEVELOPING HIGH LOW MODERATE D4 D1 D2 D3 THE FOUR LEADERSHIP STYLES DIRECTIVE BEHAVIOR (High) (High) (Low) S U P P O R T I V E B E H A V I O R Figure: Hersey and Blanchard’s situational leadership theory leader behaviour options Source : Yukl, 1998 They categorized all leadership styles into four behaviour types, which they name S1 to S4. S1 defines S1 - define the roles and tasks of the 'follower', and supervise them closely. Decisions are made by the leader and announced, so communication is largely one-way. No one style is considered optimal or desired for all leaders to possess. Effective leaders need to be flexible and must have adapt themselves according to the situation. However, each leader tends to have a natural style and in applying situational leadership he must know his intrinsic style. Fiedler contingency model Fiedler’s contingency model postulates that the leader’s effectiveness is based on ‘situational contingency’ A leader’s effectiveness is based on ‘situational contingency’ which is a result of interaction of two factors: leadership style and situational favorableness (later called situational control). CHAPTER 4 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality through planning (Bennis) Leaders need a written plan. At the very least a leader must have a vision for their leadership that they can share with others and inspire action. Reflecting on exemplary practices, blind spots, learning opportunities, personal mission statement, early wins, strategic alignments, celebrations with the support of a mentor/coach should help move a good leader to a great leader. Recommendations for future leadership development APPENDIX STRENGTHS | WEAKNESSES | * Competent * Dependable * High Energy * Honest * Intelligent * Supportive * IndustriousGood listener | * Not proactive enough * Inability to hold a global presence * Skeptical * Lack of initiative * Insecure * Limited point of view | OPPORTUNITIES | THREATS | Emerging economies-BRIC’sConstruction boom | GlobalisationUpsurge in PHD’sFellow MBA colleagues | Table 1: Author’s Swot Analysis Source: Author, 2013 CURRENT LEADERSHIP EFFECTIVNESS REFERENCES