Servant-Leadership in ELT: feeble drivel or natural fit?

Barbara Craig & Sandra PitronaciMacquarie University ELC

NEAS Conference 12 May 2017

Intentions

• Review some leadership and management theories

• Examine complexity theory and systems thinking

• Consider the notion of servant-leadership

• Look at quality as an emergent process

• Hear your thoughts and share your ideas throughout

Task 1: Culture & Leadership

• Write 3 adjectives to describe your workplace culture

• Write 3 adjectives to describe yourself as a leader

• Share with partner

Leadership Theories

Great Man Theory Least Preferred Co-Worker Scale (Fiedler’s Contingency Theory)

Situational Leadership

Leadership Theories

Transactional

Goleman’s

6 Leadership Styles

Transformational

So where does ‘service’ fit?

• What is the essence of life? To serve others and do good.He who cannot be a good follower cannot be a good leader.Aristotle 384-322 BC

• According to Peter Senge, “No one in the past 30 years has had a more profound impact on thinking about leadership [than Robert Greenleaf].”

• Underlying approach/philosophy – a constant base – from which leaders can move between leadership models as required, in a principled, eclectic way.

• Supports many current leadership models and theories

Task 2: Complexity Theory

i. Complex Dynamic Systems

ii. The New Science

iii. Systems Thinking

iv. The Mess

• Have you heard of any of these theories?

• What do you understand about them?

Complexity Theory

i. Complex Dynamic Systems – Diane Larsen-Freeman

• PhD in Linguistics

• Professor Emerita University of Michigan School of Education

• Applies complexity theory to language and SLA

Complexity Theory

i. Complex Dynamic Systems – Diane Larsen-Freeman

Complexity theory aims to account for how the interacting parts of a

complex system give rise to the system’s collective behavior and how

such a system simultaneously interacts with its environment.

(Larsen-Freeman & Cameron 2008)

• Theory originated from biology, maths, physics

• In last 20 years applied to other disciplines, including business

management and SLA

Complexity Theory

i. Complex Dynamic Systems – Diane Larsen-Freeman

Examples of Complex Dynamic Systems:

• Living organisms

• Weather patterns

• The stock market

• The human brain

• Schools/Organisations

Complexity Theory

i. Complex Dynamic Systems – Diane Larsen-Freeman

Complexity Theory

i. Complex Dynamic Systems – Diane Larsen-Freeman

Characteristics of Complex Dynamic Systems:

• Open and respond to feedback

• Change over time (dynamic)

• Change is non-linear and unpredictable

• Cause and effect are not equal

• Components interact and behaviour is emergent

The New Science

ii. The New Science – Margaret Wheatley

• MA in Systems Thinking

• Management consultant, speaker, author

• Studies systems thinking and chaos theory in learning organisations

The New Science

ii. The New Science – Margaret Wheatley

Learnings from the New Science:

• An organisation ≠ machine, people ≠ cogs or parts

• Envisage the organisation as a spider web, or as a living system

• Relationships are the key determiner of everything

• Leadership is a behaviour, not a role

• Think globally, act locally

• Life is a process of becoming

Complexity Theory

How is this related to my college/organisation?

Consider linear systems versus complex systems:

Linear

Hierarchical org chart

Chain of command

Siloed teams

Prescriptive curriculum

Unilateral decisions

Complex

Matrix org chart

Egalitarian interactions

Cross-functional teams

Descriptive curriculum

Pool of knowledge

(Vyotsky?!)

Complexity Theory

Hierarchical versus matrix

Systems Thinking

iii. Systems Thinking – Peter Senge

• MSc in Social Systems Modelling, PhD in Management

• Developed notion of ‘Learning Organisation’

• Author of ‘The Fifth Discipline’ (1990)

Systems Thinking

iii. Systems Thinking – Peter Senge

Living systems have integrity. Their character depends on the whole. The

same is true for organizations; to understand the most challenging

managerial issues requires seeing the whole system that generates the

issues. (Peter Senge 2006)

Systems Thinking

iii. Systems Thinking – Peter Senge

Systems Thinking for Leaders:

• Cause and effect are not close in time and space

• We are part of the system

• Look for patterns rather than react to events

• Integrate reason and intuition

• Be committed to the whole

The Mess

iv. The Mess - Adrian Underhill

• On the ELT scene since 1973

• Teacher, teacher trainer, author, ELT consultant

• Interactive phonemic chart, Demand High

The Mess

iv. The Mess - Adrian Underhill

What can Leaders make of the mess?

• Find out more about how the system works

• Do something different and see what happens

• Learn from it

• Give up on certainty

• Depend on diversity

• Look for unintended consequences

How do we work within the mess?

Finally there is the increasingly urgent call that leadership should actually

serve people. (Underhill 2005)

Servant Leadership

v. Servant Leadership – Robert K. Greenleaf

• 1904 – 1990, USA• Believed the ‘command and control’ leadership approach was creating a

national leadership crisis • 1970 essay “The Servant as Leader”

Servant as leader – the paradox

Servant leadership is strongly based in ethical and caring behavior, and enhances the growth of workers while improving the caring and quality of organizational life. (Spears 2010)

Director

Senior Managers

Teachers and Admin staff

Students

Students

Teacher and Admin staff

Senior Managers

Director

Key Characteristics

As long as power dominates our thinking about leadership, we cannot move toward a higher standard of leadership. We must place service at the core; for even though power will always be associated with leadership, it has only one legitimate use: service. (Nair 1994)

It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. The best test is: do those served grow as persons; do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?

(Robert Greenleaf 1970)

What is Servant Leadership?

• Draws on principles rather than processes

• Recognises that in order to achieve organisational goals, a leader needs to first work on:

• themselves How do my beliefs and actions impact upon those in my care?

• the work environment How do my staff relate to each other, to their roles and to our purpose?

• the needs of staff What do my staff need in order to perform well and to belong to this community?

• Takes holistic view of organisation, including staff, customers and stakeholders

What is Servant Leadership?

• Emphasises power of persuasion and consensus over top-down management (seeks to convince rather than coerce)

• Values voice and leadership of all staff

• Involves others in decision-making

• Seeks to “draw out, inspire and develop the best and highest within people

from the inside out” (S. Covey 2001)

• Works with intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivators

• Promotes community

Servant leader key behaviours (Spears 2003)

1. Listening

• to staff – to what is said and unsaid

• to self – honest reflection

2. Empathy

• accepting, non-judgmental. Appreciates others

• gives credit generously

• works with diversity to create strengths

3. Healing

• demand high (Underhill)

• humility – we are all a little bit broken

• mistakes are part of the learning process – make it ‘safe’

• extends trust, delegates

Servant leader key characteristics4. Awareness

• self-awareness – grows in own competence

• models

• views situations from systems perspective

5. Persuasion

• seeks to convince others rather than force compliance

• effectively builds consensus within groups

6. Conceptualisation

• concept-thinking (dream great dreams)

• provides and models vision and inspires following

7. Foresight

• understands lessons from the past, what is currently happening and what is likely in the future

Servant leader key characteristics

8. Stewardship

• views leadership as a position of trust and service to the organization, to those within it and to society

• has commitment to serving the needs of others – resources, information, time, attention etc.

• works with integrity and honesty – builds own competence

9. Commitment to the growth of people

• believes in the intrinsic value of all – beyond their contributions to the organisation

• nurtures personal, professional and spiritual growth of employees

10.Building community

• workplace culture? We are integral in building this – we set scene

Task 3: Matching pairs

Task 4: Risks of Servant-Leadership

Risks:

• Personal/professional status?

• Losing power and authority?

• Being regarded as weak or servile?

• Devolution of power will go in wrong direction?

• Too meek an attitude for a complex, dynamic world?

Task 4: Benefits of Servant-Leadership

Benefits:

• A return to your ‘teacher calling’?

• Humble, open approach can build staff trust

• Associated behaviours can slowly permeate organisation’s culture on many levels

• Building notion that leaders support staff, and staff in turn support students, and that all serve the organisation

• …and because it’s simply a good way of doing leadership… (especially? naturally?) in the ELT world

Quality/Culture

Developing the right environment requires:

• Focus on bringing the best out in people

• Commitment to the goal

• Time, time, time…

Creating a Culture of Quality

Harvard Business Review April 2014

• Traditional strategies to increase quality have little effect (monetary incentives, training, sharing best practice)

• Grassroots, peer-driven approach to develop culture of quality more successful

Quality as a cultural value

Shift from rules-based to culture of quality within your system

2. Having a believable message on quality

• delivered by the right people (respected)• appealing personally to workers • consistent and easy to understand

3. Peer involvement

• where quality is frequently discussed • each holds each other responsible (positive social pressure)

4. Employee ownership and empowerment

• Each understands role clearly and how quality fits in• Empowered to apply skills and make quality decisions, being reflective

about risks and payoffs of decisions• Able to challenge or raise concerns when management directives

challenge quality

1. Leadership emphasis on quality – walking the talk

Task 5: What part do you play?

There is…a symbiotic relationship among leader/manager and other staff

competencies and the organizational structure and culture.

(Murray & Christison 2009)

• We must always look to ourselves and our own behaviour before we try to

define our centre’s culture.

• What influence have you had on the culture of your centre, and what influence

has the culture had on you?

Task 6: Ideas and behaviours to considerIdeas and behaviours to consider Thoughts?

Do you have lunch with your staff in the staff kitchen?

Is your office door generally open? What do you say when you answer the phone?

Do you practise daily in MBWA, asking people if they are ok, what they need, how you can help?

Do you ask your staff how you can improve their workloads?

Do you stop in the corridor when asked a question, and give people serious time?

Do you ask your staff how you can improve systems and processes?

Do you ask your staff what they would like for PD?

Do you encourage your staff to actively participate in meetings?

Do you look for opportunities for your staff to grow?

Do you develop leadership capabilities in your staff?

Do you ask your staff how you can help when they are ill or in a bad place or not performing well?

Do you happily jump into any role across the organisation if needed, such as sitting at reception, buying

milk, or packing the dishwasher?

Do you fall into the trap of proclaiming busy-ness or harbouring secret martyrdom when asked for help

or when interrupted, or do you consider supporting staff to be a core function of your role?

Do you tackle the difficult conversations in order to help your staff develop, or do you shy away?

Do you give praise and credit where praise and credit are due?

Do you hold back and let your staff speak and acknowledge their expertise?

Are you genuinely open to taking on ideas, suggestions and feedback?

Do you model courtesy, equity, humility, openness, and preparedness to lend a hand?

Summary

Propose that quality culture can emerge where an organisation is viewed as a

living system, in which servant-leadership is practised at the core by leaders

and throughout by teachers and professional staff

Contacts

Barbara Craig barbara.craig@mq.edu.au

Acting Head of Centre, Macquarie University ELC

Sandra Pitronaci sandra.pitronaci@mq.edu.au

Acting Head of Academic Programs, Macquarie University ELC

References

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Christison, M. & Murray, D. (eds) (2009) Leadership in English Language Education. Theoretical Foundations and Practical Skills for Changing Times. Routledge, New York.

Covey, S. (1989) The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Powerful lessons in personal change. Simon & Schuster, London.

Greenleaf, R., (1977) Servant Leadership. A journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness. Paulist Press, New York.

Greenleaf, R. (2003) in Spears et. al (eds) The Servant Leader Within. A Transformative Path. Paulist Press, New York.

Keffard, R. (2004) ‘Robert Greenleaf’s Servant Leadership – an evaluation’, Independence, 29(2).

Larsen-Freeman, D. & Cameron, L. (2008) Complex Systems and Applied Linguistics, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Russell, R.F., & Stone, A.G. (2002) ‘A review of servant leadership attributes: developing a practical model’, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 23(3).

Senge, P.M. (2006) The Fifth Discipline. The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, (2nd ed), Crown Business, New York.

Spears, L. (1995) (ed.) Reflections on Leadership. How Robert K. Greenleaf’s theory of servant-leadership influenced today’s top management thinkers. Jon Wiley & Sons.

Spears, L. (2010) ‘Character and Servant Leadership: Ten Characteristics of Effective, Caring Leaders’, The Journal of Virtues & Leadership 1(1).

Spears, L. The Understanding and Practice of Servant-Leadership. Available at: https://www.regent.edu/acad/global/publications/sl_proceedings/.../spears_practice.pdf

Spears, L. The 10 Gifts of a Servant Leader. Available at: http://www.dailygood.org/story/447/the-10-gifts-of-a-servant-leader-larry-spears/

Srinivasan, A. & Kurey, B. Creating a Culture of Quality. Available at: https://hbr.org/2014/04/creating-a-culture-of-quality

Underhill, A. (2005) ‘Learning Leadership and ELT Today’, Humanising Language Teaching, 7(1).

Underhill, A. Reflective Practice, Action Inquiry and Deep Values. Available at: www.eltj.org/oxford%202007/Action%20Inquiry.pdf

Underhill, A. ‘10 Questions for Adrian Underhill’, English Australia Journal 29(1).

Wheatley, M.J. (2006) Leadership and the New Science. Discovering order in a chaotic world. Berrett-Koehler, San Francisco.

White, R., Hockley, A., et. al (2008) From Teacher to Manager. Managing Language Teaching Organizations. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.