MBA401 People, Culture and Contemporary Leadership Workshop Week 7 Perspectives on Leadership COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Copyright Regulations 1969 WARNING This material has been reproduced and communicated to you by or on behalf of Kaplan Business School pursuant to Part VB of the Copyright Act 1968 (the Act). The material in this communication may be subject to copyright under the Act. Any further reproduction or communication of this material by you may be the subject of copyright protection under the Act. Do not remove this notice. Workshop Objectives • To understand what is meant by leadership. • To identify the link between leadership and performance. • To understand the anti-leadership perspective. • To be able to identify the different leadership roles. • To understand the concept of leadership effectiveness. • To understand the concept of followership. • LO3 - Describe contemporary approaches to leadership. • LO4 - Analyse the characteristics and psychology of different leaders. • LO5 - Apply leadership skills across a variety of domains. What is Leadership? Leadership? Leadership? Leadership? Leadership? • The ability to inspire confidence and support among the people who are needed to achieve organisational goals. • Leadership Effectiveness refers to attaining desirable outcomes such as productivity, quality, and satisfaction in a given situation. • Leadership Process elements include: – Leader – Group Members – Context of the Situation Meaning of Leadership Source: Dubrin (2013) Leadership? • Leadership is a partnership between leaders and group members and thus involves a sharing of leadership responsibility. • The power between leaders and group members is approximately balanced, meaning this partnership occurs when control shifts away from authoritarianism toward shared decision making. • Additionally, leadership often shifts depending on the expertise needed as most relevant at the moment. What this means is that the most senior individual on a work team is not always the leader based on seniority. Source: Dubrin (2013) Leadership is a Partnership • Factors necessary for a valid partnership and shared responsibility include: – Exchange of purpose – A right to say no – Joint accountability – Absolute honesty • The leadership role within a team is seldom the responsibility of only one person. • Leadership may shift, depending on whose expertise is the most relevant at the moment. Leadership is a Shared Responsibility Source: Dubrin (2013) • Leadership is a relationship between the leader and the people being led. • “Leadership isn’t something you do to people. It’s something you do with them.” - Ken Blanchard • How leaders build this relationship has changed as technology and the use of social media and email has increased. Leadership is a Relationship Source: Dubrin (2013) • Research shows leadership matters when: – Leader is perceived to be responsible and inspirational. – Leaders throughout the organisation are involved in making decisions and these individuals are knowledgeable about the problem to be resolved. – Leaders change, company performance changes. • Statistical analysis suggests the leader might be responsible for between 15-45% of a firm’s performance. • Study findings have shown the leader’s activities have a 66% probability of achieving a positive outcome in an organisation’s performance. Source: Dubrin (2013) Leadership and Performance • Watch the following TED talk and answer the following questions with the person next to you. • https://www.ted.com/talks/roselinde_torres_what_it_take s_to_be_a_great_leader#t-510287 • Questions – What is leadership? – What do leaders do? – How do they do it? Activity - Video • Arguments against the importance of leadership include: – Substitutes exist for leadership; factors in the work environment that provide guidance and incentives to perform, make the leader’s role almost superfluous. – Leaders can be irrelevant; people lead themselves and outside influences can overwhelm them; factors outside the leader’s control have a larger impact on business outcomes than do leadership actions. – Organisational systems are far too complex to attribute success to leadership; forces outside the leader’s control determine a company’s fate. Anti Leadership Movement Source: Dubrin (2013) • Figurehead • Spokesperson • Negotiator • Coach and Motivator • Team Builder • Team Player • Technical Problem Solver • Entrepreneur • Strategic Planner • Executor Leadership Roles Activity – Leadership Roles • You work as an HR leader in a large corporation and have just received a call from the police to say there is a suspicious package in the office canteen. • In groups of 3 or 4, come up with three actions for each of the leadership roles that would be most appropriate in dealing with that problem. Activity - Leadership • The things I would find personally satisfying about leadership are: • 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 • The things I would find personally frustrating about leadership are: • 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 Leadership Effectiveness Source: Dubrin (2013) • Whether or not a leader is effective depends on four sets of variables: 1. Group Member Characteristics • Attributes of the group members • Examples include their intelligence and high level of motivation to assist the leader with doing an outstanding job 2. Leader Characteristics & Traits • Leader’s inner qualities that help the leader function effectively in many situations • Examples include self-confidence and problem-solving ability 3. Leader Behaviour & Style • Activities the leader engages in, including his/her characteristic approach • Examples include participative leadership, task-orientation behaviour 4. Internal & External Environment • Elements/forces of the situation that may or may not be within the leader’s control • Examples include economy, diversity of workforce, organisational culture Leadership Effectiveness • To be an effective leader, one needs good followers. • Leaders cannot exist without followers. • Key aspects of effective group members: – Types of followers. – Personal characteristics of productive followers. – Importance of collaboration between leaders and followers. • Followers differ in their individual engagement approach to being a group member. Source: Kellerman (2007) 1. Group Member Characteristics Types of Followers Source: Kellerman (2007) Activity - Types of Followers Source: Kellerman (2007) Which type of follower are you in this class? Activity - Leadership • On your own complete the following exercises: 1. Leadership Self-Assessment Quiz 2. Leadership Skill-Building Exercise • Find a buddy and discuss the following: 1. What is your readiness for a leadership role and why? 2. What are your key capabilities and what do you need to develop? • Leadership is multi-faceted. • For leadership to be effective, a number of key attributes must be present. • Followership refers to the behaviour of group members. • Leaders have a number of different roles. Summary Any Questions? Activity – Do Before Next Week • Undertake the free 16PF test either: www.psychometrictest.org.uk or http://personality-testing.info/tests/16PF.php. • Using research that you undertake, interpret your results and their meaning for leadership for discussion in the next workshop. • Log your reflections in your journal. 28 • From today’s workshop: – What have you learned about leadership? – What has surprised you? – What have you learned about yourself? – How could you apply these learnings in the workplace? – How could these learnings be reflected in Assessment 2? Activity – Journal Reflection Assessment 2 - Overview • Refer to subject outline. Any Questions?