Topic 4

Leadership Development

Leadership Development

“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.”

~John F. Kennedy

Leadership is developed through:

ExperienceEducationSelf-Awareness / Self-Development

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The Action-Observation-Reflection Model

• Making the most of experience is key to developing one’s leadership ability.

• The theory shows that leadership development is enhanced when the experience involves three different processes:

– Action

– Observation

– Reflection

The Action-Observation-Reflection Model

The Action-Observation Model----specifically, the three processes are:

Action (doing)Observation (seeing consequences of action)Reflection (thinking about or reflecting on those consequences)

The Spiral of Experience

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Leadership Development through Experience

• Factors that make any given experience potent in fostering leadership growth:

– The people you work with

– The characteristics of the role (tasks)

• Leaders in any field tend to first stand out by virtue of their technical proficiency.

– Competence or proficiency are factors that serve as basis for emergence or selection of a leader.

Sources of Experience

Sources of Experience – The two major developmental factors in any work situation are work associates and the task itself. Work associates can serve as positive or negative models. Work-related tasks give the leader an opportunity to become an effective and innovative problem solver.

Broad Experience

Broad Experience- Many aspects of leadership are situational. Gaining experience in different settings is therefore advantageous. Multifunctional development is an organization’s intentional efforts to enhance the effectiveness of future leaders by giving them experience in multiple organizational functions.

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“Going against the grain”

Leaders and executives often want success without stress.

– Leads to relying on proven repertoire of skills used to tackle challenges in the past because organizations put on pressure for performance

– These conditions lead to a paradox – the times people should “go against the grain” at the times they are most likely to not want to.

“Going against the grain” requires a commitment to learning and willingness to let go of fears

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The People You Work With

• A boss can be a powerful catalyst for growth.

• People from different backgrounds, perspectives, or agendas can impact the growth experience.

• Working with problem subordinates (followers) can stimulate leadership growth, as can peers.

• Both mentors and protégés benefit from having a mentoring relationship.

• Executive coaching: General responsibility of all executives towards managers (future leaders) who report to them.

Mentoring

Our experience is strengthened through mentoring.

MentoringInformal mentoring

Occurs when a protégé and mentor build a long-term relationship based on friendship, similar interests, and mutual respect.

Formal mentoringOccurs when the organization assigns a relatively inexperienced but high-potential leader to one of the top executives in the company.

MentoringLeadership practitioners should look for opportunities to build mentoring relationships with senior leaders whenever possible.

MentoringCoaching often comes from a mentor, a more experienced person who develops a protégé’s abilities through tutoring, coaching, guidance, and emotional support. A mentor is often a person’s manager, but it can also be a staff professional or a co-worker. Mentoring is traditionally thought of as an informal relationship based on compatibility between two personalities. Yet current research says that about 40% of organizations use formal mentoring.

Definition of Coaching

Coaching is a process used to encourage employees to accept responsibility for their performance, enable them to achieve and sustain superior performance, and treat them as partners in working toward organizational goals.

Coaching (continued)Formal Coaching

One-on-one relationship between the manager and the coach.

Informal Coaching – five steps:Forge a partnershipInspire commitmentGrow skillsPromote persistenceShape the environment

Useful Factors in Coaching

The Need for Coaching

Managers are increasingly being called upon to function as performance coaches for their employees. Many managers and supervisors are frustrated by their attempts to manage employee performance.Coaching is a positive approach to managing performance.

Skills Necessary for Effective Coaching

Communication

Interpersonal Skills

Demonstrating commitment to and respect for the employees

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The Key Role of Perception in the Spiral of Experience

• Experience is not just a matter of what events happen to you; it also depends on how you perceive those events.

• Perception affects all three phases of the action-observation-reflection model.

• People actively shape and construct their experiences.

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Making the Most of Your Leadership Experiences: Learning to Learn from Experience

• The learning events and developmental experiences that punctuate one’s life are usually stressful.

• A flat learning curve can result due to an inability to move against one’s grain of personal success and tolerate a dip in performance results.

• To be successful, learning must continue throughout life, beyond the completion of one’s formal education.

Leadership Development through Education and Training

University Courses

Leadership Training Programs

Management Education

Management education is the acquisition of a broad range of conceptual knowledge and skills in formal classroom settings in degree-granting institutionsBachelor’s or Master’s degree programs in business administrationExecutive education programs

Management Development

Management development is an organization’s conscious effort to provide its managers and potential managers and leaders with opportunities to grow, learn, and change, in hopes of producing over the long term a cadre of managers / leaders with the skills necessary to function effectively in that organization.

Management Development (cont.)

Strategies used to develop managers include management education, management training, and on-the-job experiences.Management development activities account for approximately 30% of all funds budgeted for training by organizations.

Management Training and Experiences

Company-designed courses

Company academics or “colleges”

On-the-job experiences

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Organization-Based Leadership Training Programs

• Programs are aimed at particular industry and public service leaders and supervisors

• The content included in these programs depends on the organization level of participants:

– First level supervisors

– Mid-level managers

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Level Specific Content In Organization-Based Leadership Training Programs

• Programs for first level supervisors use lectures, case studies, and role-playing exercises to focus on supervisory skills like:

– Training

– Monitoring

– Giving feedback

– Completing performance reviews

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Level Specific Content In Organization-Based Leadership Training Programs

• Programs for mid-level managers use individualized feedback, case studies, presentations, role playing, simulations, and in-basket exercises to focus on improving:

– Interpersonal skills

– Oral communication skills

– Written communication skills

– Time management

– Planning

– Goal setting.

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Leadership Training Programs

• Conger states that a multi-tiered approach is effective.

• Leadership development in the 21st century must occur in more lifelike situations and contexts.

• Leadership programs for senior executives and CEOs focus on strategic planning, public relations, and interpersonal skills.

• No matter the type of program chosen, a systematic approach increases the chance of it being useful.

Self-AwarenessLeadership Development Through Self-Awareness

An important mechanism underlying self-development is self-awareness, insightfully processing feedback about oneself to improve personal effectiveness. Self-awareness occurs at two levels. Single-loop learning occurs when learners seek minimum feedback that might substantially confront their basic ideas or actions. Single-loop learners think defensively. Double-loop learning is an in-depth type of learning that occurs when people use feedback to confront the validity of the goal or the values implicit in the situation.

Single-Loop Learning

Single-loop learners seek relatively little feedback that may significantly confront their fundamental ideas or actions.

Individuals learn only about subjects within the “comfort zone” of their belief systems.

Double-Loop Learning

Double-loop learning involves a willingness to confront one’s own views and an invitation to others to do so, too.

Openness to information and power sharing with others can lead to better recognition and definition of problems, improved communication, and increased decision-making effectiveness.

Single-Loop Learning Versus Double-Loop Learning

Self-Discipline

Leadership Development Through Self-Discipline

Leadership development requires considerable self-discipline, mobilizing one’s effort and energy to stay focused on attaining an important goal or goals. Self-discipline plays an important role in the continuous monitoring of one’s behavior to ensure that needed self-development occurs.

Self-Development (Learning From): Multirater Feedback Instruments

• Today, some organizations use 360-degree tools for management development, as a part of a training or coaching program, in succession planning, or as a part of the performance appraisal process.

• Leaders who receive 360-degree feedback often have higher performing work units than leaders who do not receive this type of feedback.

• 360-degree feedback systems can add tremendous value, but only if they are used for development purposes.

Sources For 360-degree Feedback

Direct Reports

360º Feedback Results

Boss

Self Peers

Questions Addressed By Recent 360º Feedback

Research• Does 360Does 360ºº feedback matter? feedback matter?• Are self-observer perceptual gaps Are self-observer perceptual gaps

relevant?relevant?• Does 360Does 360ºº feedback improve leaders’ feedback improve leaders’

ratings over time?ratings over time?• Are there meaningful culture, gender, Are there meaningful culture, gender,

ethnic, or race issues with 360 ethnic, or race issues with 360 ºº feedback?feedback?

Why It’s Important for Practitioners

to Understand 360º Feedback • It’s likely that many practitioners will It’s likely that many practitioners will

receive this type of evaluation.receive this type of evaluation.• Describes the leadership behaviors Describes the leadership behaviors

needed to achieve organizational goals needed to achieve organizational goals (if it’s built around an organization's (if it’s built around an organization's competency model).competency model).

• May be one of the best sources of May be one of the best sources of “how” feedback for leadership “how” feedback for leadership practitioners.practitioners.

Why It’s Important for Practitioners to Understand 360º Feedback, continued

• Effective leaders seem to have a broad Effective leaders seem to have a broad set of well-developed leadership set of well-developed leadership skills. skills.

• Leaders need to create specific goals Leaders need to create specific goals and development plans in order to and development plans in order to improve leadership skills.improve leadership skills.

• Leadership behavior can change over Leadership behavior can change over time.time.

• There may be cultural, racial,ethnic There may be cultural, racial,ethnic and gender issues.and gender issues.

Yukl’s Basics For:

• Accomplishing the work/tasks:– Planning and organizing– Problem solving– Clarifying roles and objectives– Informing– Monitoring

Yukl’s Basics For: Building/maintaining work relationships:

• Motivating and inspiring

• Consulting• Delegating• Supporting• Developing and

mentoring

• Managing conflict and team building

• Networking• Recognizing• Rewarding

READ Leadership Research• Many times research findings seem contrary

to conventional wisdom about leadership.

• It is difficult to provide practitioners with timely, easily digestible, research-grounded advice on how to effectively lead others.

• High quality leadership research is difficult, expensive, and time consuming to conduct.

READ Leadership Literature

• Academic tradition– Consists of articles that use data and

statistical techniques to make inferences about effective leadership.

• Troubadour tradition– Books and popular press articles

usually consisting of opinions.

Leadership Research

• Practice-research gap – the tension between discovering the “truth” about a leadership question and being able to apply what is learned.

• “Real” leaders rarely study findings of leadership research, turning instead to popular books and articles. This information:

Leadership Research (continued)

– Appears to provide timely answers to their practical concerns, however this information is rarely based on sound research.

– Oversimplifies the complexities of the leadership process.

– Many times offers bad advice.

Maxims and Theories of Leadership

• Maxims are personal opinions that can give leaders valuable advice about leadership.

• A leadership theory is a framework for conceptualizing relationships between variables and guiding research toward a fuller understanding of phenomena.

Maxims and Theories of Leadership (continued)

• Although both leadership maxims and theories are useful for understanding leadership situations, in general only leadership theories add to the body of knowledge concerning the science of leadership and help the development of universal laws of leadership.

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Building Your Leadership Self-Image• Leadership develops through experience, education,and

self-awareness.

• Not everyone wants to be a leader or believes he/she can be.

• Not everyone who wants to be a leader can be.

• Avoid selling yourself short.

• Understand the importance of leadership, keep an open mind.

• Experiment and take a few risks with different leadership roles.

• Seek challenges--make the best of any leadership opportunity.

Characteristics of Successful Leaders

Ability to develop or adaptEstablish collaborative relationsAbility to build and lead a teamNon-authoritarian

Characteristics of Successful Leaders

Consistent exceptional performance

Ambitious

Characteristics of Derailed Leaders

Inability to develop or adapt

Poor working relations

Inability to build and lead a team

Characteristics of Derailed Leaders

Authoritarian

Poor performance

Too ambitious