KEY CHALLEGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN ACADEMIC

MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Prof. Yacov Kedem

Mofet Institute

QUESTIONS:

1. What environmental and organizational challenges are managers and leaders in higher education facing today?

2. What are the leadership and management competencies and capabilities that are needed to meet these challenges, and how can they be developed?

3. What are some highly effective leadership and mangement development practices?

Organizational Alignment

University’s Priorities:Inspire Community Introduce New Technologies

Improve Partnerships Encourage Innovation

Increase Productivity Maintain HR Quality & Support

Organizational Development StrategiesLeadership Development Reorganization & Alignment Performance Mgt

Strategic Planning Team Building Project Mgt

Work Process Change Training & Development Conflict Resolution

OrganizationalCapabilities

Leadership/Supervision

Customer Service

Change Management

People IssuesAttract/Develop/Retain

Alignment & Teamwork

Learning & Innovation

Productivity/Execution

KEY CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

FACING ACADEMIC LEADERS

• DEALING WITH THE “THEN” AND “NOW” HE SCENARIO

• “THEN”

– Academic focus

– Centralized decision making

– Entrenched hierarchies

• “NOW”

– Diffused focus

– Inclusive decision making

– Alternative perspectives

KEY CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

FACING ACADEMIC LEADERS

• MOVING FROM SPECIALIST TO

GENERALIST MODE

– No longer a purely academic focus

– Strong business and financial management and

leadership skills

– Sound knowledge of new HE policy and legislation

– In-depth understanding of the type, role and function of

the institution within the overall context of the HE

strategic framework

KEY CHALLENGES AND

OPPORTUNITIES FACING

ACADEMIC LEADERS

• GROWING LEADERSHIP SKILLS

– Acknowledge the need for a changed mindset

– Identify strengths

– Acknowledge shortcomings

– Define new roles and responsibilities

– Plan and implement personal upskilling

– Be aware of staff and student needs

PERSPECTIVES ON EFFECTIVE AND

SUCCESSFUL LEADERS IN A CHANGING

ENVIRONMENT

• EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP

– Have a vision/ be passionate about what you do

– Build a climate of trust, loyalty and commitment

– Transparency, consistency and integrity

– Lead by example: honesty and courage under pressure

– Draw on the knowledge and experience of others

– Surround yourself with other good leaders

– Be able to lead, but also be a good team player

– Understand the difference between leadership and

management

PERSPECTIVES ON EFFECTIVE AND

SUCCESSFUL LEADERS IN A CHANGING

ENVIRONMENT

• INEFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP

– Subjective rather than objective

– Cronyism

– Bulldozing changes, bullying

– Undermining colleagues

– Creating mistrust through gossip and un-collegial

information gathering

– Neglecting the details

– Deliberately impeding necessary changes

– Having a personal agenda

PERSPECTIVES ON EFFECTIVE AND

SUCCESSFUL LEADERS IN A CHANGING

ENVIRONMENT

• THE CHANGING ENVIRONMENT

– Accept and acknowledge change

– Acknowledge and deal with your own fears

– Acknowledge staff fears, uncertainties and aspirations

– Be empathetic but realistic

– No rumour mongering

– Institute and implement a change management strategy

– Ensure an environment conducive to change

DEANS AS VISIONARIES,

RESPONSIBLE AND ACCOUNTABLE

LEADERS IN HE

• THE ROLE AND FUNCTION OF DEANS

– Mainly heads of Faculties or Colleges. Diverse

range of functions in new dispensation

– Need broad knowledge of institutional types,

disciplines, functioning and offerings

– Must be multi skilled

– Be aware of danger of falling back into “what

you know”

DEANS AS VISIONARIES,

RESPONSIBLE AND ACCOUNTABLE

LEADERS IN HE

• LIVING THE VISION

– Have a clear vision and ensure your own buy-in

– Work for a balance between the vision and the

practical reality of its implementation

– Equip/skill yourself to implement the

operational plan

– Balance the dream with good governance

– Ensure legal compliance

DEANS AS VISIONARIES,

RESPONSIBLE AND ACCOUNTABLE

LEADERS IN HE

–HR Strategy:

– Identify competent people

– Acknowledge and encourage potential

– Seize on “windows of opportunity” that present

themselves in the change process

– Always work with the “bigger picture” in mind

A Collegial Approach in

Understanding Leadership (Singh, Manser, Mestry)

• “Traditional management implies that the ideal organization is orderly and stable, that the organizational process can and should be engineered so that things run like clockwork.” (Kouzes & Posner, 1997: 15)

• “Collegiality, on the other hand, is a collaborative process that entails the devolution of power to teachers and other stakeholders in order for them to become an integral part of the leadership processes of the school that are guided by the school’s shared vision.” (Sergiovanni, 1991: 26)

Collegiality Defined

• A process of assimilation

• Encouraging personal visions to become part of a shared vision

• Built on synergy

• Collegial strategies are more lateral or horizontal vs. vertical or hierarchical

• All stakeholders should be involved in decision-making and ‘own’ the outcome of discussions (Bush, 2003: 70)

Kouzes and Posner on

Leadership• “Leaders know that no one does his or her best when feeling weak, incompetent or alienated; they know that those who are expected to produce the results must feel a sense of ownership.”

• “Leadership is the art of mobilizing others to want to struggle for shared aspirations.”

• “People in positions of authority can get people to do something because of the power they wield, but leaders mobilize others to want to act because of the credibility they have.”

Trust Kouzes and Posner (2001: 85)

• “Leadership is a relationship between those who aspire to lead and those who choose to follow.”

• “The heart of this relationship is trust.”

Contributing and Distracting

Factors

• What are the factors within your College and Program that contribute to collegiality?

Examples:

• other full-time faculty and Program Coordinators in your school/department

• physical environments that promote collegial conversations

• What are the factors that distract from a collegial work environment?

Examples:

• high ratio of part-time teachers within your Program

• administrators who don’t encourage collegial relationships

Team Based Leadership and Learning(Terry Dance-Bennink, V.P., Academic, Sir Sandford Fleming

College, A Leadership Abstract, April 1999)

• “How can we expect college students to become good team players if college staff lack those skills ourselves?”

• “How can we expect faculty to promote collaborative learning activities if they are treated in an authoritarian, top-down manner by ‘management’?”

• How can a college respond quickly to student needs if decisions are slowed by layers of bureaucracy?”

Collegial Leadership (Dr. Paul Davenport, President, the University of Western Ontario,

June 20, 2005)

• Others have knowledge we don’t have – they need space to act, succeed and occasionally fail.

• Our job is to listen to others on campus, work with them to set directions which we all agree on, and then monitor progress and cheer on success.

• Our moral authority is key: leadership by example isn’t one way of leadership, it’s the only way.

• Leadership rests on communication and making choices.

Three Advantages of Collegiality

(Bush, 1993: 33 – 39)

1. Teachers participate fully in the management and leadership of the school;

2. The quality of decision-making is improved when the teaching staff participate in this process and take the lead in finding solutions to problems;

3. The contribution of the teaching staff is important because they take the responsibility of implementing changes in policy.

The Burke-Litwin ModelExternal

Environment

Leadership

Management

Practices

Work Unit

Climate

Motivation

Individual &

Organizational

Performance

Mission and

Strategy

Organization

Culture

StructureSystems (policies

& procedures)

Individual Needs &

Values

Task Requirements

& Individual

Skills/Abilities

The McKinsey 7-S Framework

Skills

Sharedvalues

Staff

Style

Strategy

Structure

Systems

The Struggle to Explain Leadership

Definitions of leadership are influenced by the

times in which we live:

1920s 1940s Today

Trait Theory Behavior Theory Contingency Theory

•Great Man Theory

•Common traits &

characteristics

•Ohio State & Michigan

Studies

•Task oriented

•Relationship oriented

•Situational Leadership

•Transactional /

Transformational

•Servant Leadership

•Values-based Leadership

Leadership: Traits & Behaviors

Who the leader is? (personality traits)

How the leader behaves? (observable

behaviors)

Traits + Behaviors = Desired Results

Introduction to Leadership Theories

� Historically went hand-in-hand with studies

of “the elite”

� Throughout 20th century, numerous studies

conducted which resulted in theories

� Theories are NOT isolated, but rather are

evolutionary

Timeline of Leadership Theories

1900’s:Are leaders natural-born?

1930’s:How does leadership emerges & develops in small groups?

1940’s-1950’s:What traits do leaders have in common?

1950’s-1960’s:What patterns of behavior result in leadership?

1960’s-1970’s:Which leadership behaviors work in specific situations?

1980’s:What key traits, behaviors and situations allow to lead organizations to excellence?

Leadership Theories

• Trait Theory

• Behavioral Theories (Ohio State studies)

– Role Theory

– The Managerial Grid

• Participative Leadership

– Lewin’s leadership styles (University of Iowa studies)

– Likert’s leadership styles (University of Michigan studies)

• Contingency Theories

– Fiedler’s Least Preferred Co-Worker (LPC) Theory

– Cognitive Resource Theory

– House’s Path-Goal Theory of Leadership

• Situational Leadership

– Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership

– Vroom and Yetton’s Normative Model

Summary of Leadership Theories

Theory Leadership Based On…

Trait Theory Leaders born with leadership traits

Behavioral Theory Initial structure and consideration

- Role Theory Shaped by culture, training, modeling

- Managerial Grid Concern for production and concern for people

Participative Leadership More people involved = better collaboration

- Lewin’s Style Autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire

- Likert’s Style Task oriented, relationship oriented, participative style

Contingency Theories No one best leadership style

- Fiedler’s LPC Theory Task focus v. relationship focus

- Cognitive Resource Theory Intelligence and experience make a difference

- House’s Path Goal Theory Help followers make their goals compatible with

organizational goals

Situational Leadership Similar to contingency theory

- Hersey and Blanchard Based on relationship between leader and follower and

task behavior

- Vroom & Yetton Decision quality and decision acceptance

Leadership vs. Management

Leadership & Management

• Leadership Role:

to provide inspiration, create opportunities, energize people and make key choices

• “Relationship”

– Selecting talent

– Motivating

– Coaching

– Building trust

� Management Role:

to make things happen and keep work on track; to supervise endless details and engage in complex interactions that are routinely part of an development.

� “Function”– Planning– Budgeting– Evaluating– Facilitating

Why do we follow

leaders?

• Voluntarily

• “Followers”

• Leaders appeal to people. They must want to follow you enough to stop what they are doing and perhaps walk into situations they would not normally consider risking.

Why do we follow managers?

• “Subordinates”

• Compliance

• Managers have a position of authority vested in them by the company, and their subordinates work for them and largely do as they are told.

Leadership vs. Management

Working in the system

React

Control risks

Enforce organizational rules

Seek and then follow direction

Control people by pushing them in

the right direction

Coordinate effort

Provide instructions

Working on the system

Create opportunities

Seek opportunities

Change organizational rules

Provide a vision to believe in and

strategic alignment

Motivate people by satisfying

basic human needs

Inspire achievement and energize

people

Coach followers, create self-

leaders and empower them

Agenda

Network Development for Agenda Achievement

Execution

Outcomes

Leadership Management

Establishing Direction

Develop future vision

Develop change strategies to achieve

vision

Aligning People

Communicate directly by words &

deeds to those whose cooperation

needed

Influence creation of coalition/teams

that understand & accept vision and

strategies

Motivating/inspiring

Energy to overcome barriers (ex.

Political resource, bureaucratic) to

change by satisfying basic needs

Tends to Produce

Change often dramatic

Provides potential for very useful

change (ex. New products)

Planning/Budgeting

Develop detailed steps/ timetables for

results

Allocate necessary resources

Organizing/Staffing

Develop necessary planning, staffing,

delegation structures

Provide policies/procedures for guidance

and methods/systems for monitoring

Control/Problem Solving

Monitor results vs. plan in detail

Identify results/plan deviations and plan

and organize to correct

Tends to Produce

Order/predictability

Key results expected by stakeholders

� The manager administers; the leader innovates.

� The manager maintains; the leader develops.

� The manager accepts reality; the leader investigates it.

� The manager focuses on systems and structures; the leader focuses on people.

� The manager relies on control; the leader inspires trust.

� The manager has a short-range view; the leader has a long-range perspective.

� The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why.

� The manager has his or her eye always on the bottom line; the leader has his or her eye on the horizon.

� The manager imitates; the leader originates.

� The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it.

� The manager is the classic good soldier; the leader is his or her own person.

The manager…; The leader…

Culture of Discovering Leadership

•Respect

•Trust

•Integrity

•Satisfaction

for those

whom We

serve

•Scholarship

•Learning

•Outreach

•Stewardship

•Productivity

•Collaboration

•Collegiality

•Partnerships

•Innovation

•Entrepreneurship

Teams Systems

Leadership

Experience

Change

Management

(Practices)

Research on Leadership Development*

• Lessons learned from experience have a lasting impact on how a person manages and leads.

• Developmental experiences fall into four areas:

– Challenging Assignments - 42%

– Significant other people - 22%

– Hardships - 20%

– Other events - 16%

• Challenge within experience drives learning forward and makes it developmental.

*Center for Creative Leadership Benchmarks, Greensboro, North Carolina, 1998.

Leadership Development

Five Steps to Leadership Development:

1. Have a model of leadership

2. Get some feedback relative to that model

3. Evaluate the feedback you receive

4. Make a plan

5. Work the plan

Learning to Learn from Experience

Action-Observation-Reflection Model

Action/Experience

What did you do?

Observation/Feedback

What happened?

Reflection

How do you feel/think

about it now?

"Leadership cannot really be taught.

It can only be learned."

— Harold Geneen

The Goals of Discovering Leadership

Create new

leadership

experiences

Increase

participant self-

awareness

Execute a

customized

learning and action

plan

Improve

communication

and relationship-

building skills

Develop skills for

leading & supporting

change

GOALS

Obstacles to Discovering Leadership

A. Program Obstacles:

� Competing definitions and models

� Integration of three programs

� Mixing faculty and staff

� Duration of program

� Team teaching

B. Organizational Obstacles:

� Developing sponsorship

� Engaging faculty support

� Acquiring funding

� Marketing

Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence*

Competencies

1. Self-awareness - ability to understand emotions

2. Self-regulation - ability to

think & redirect impulses

3. Motivation - a passion to

pursue goals with energy

4. Empathy - ability to deal with

others’ emotions

5. Social Skill - proficiency in

building relationships

Hallmarks

• Self-confidence, realistic self-

assessment, humor

• Trustworthiness, integrity,

openness to change

• Achievement, optimism,

commitment

• Building talent, cross cultural

sensitivity, service

• Effectiveness in leading

change, persuasiveness,

teambuilding

*Adapted from Daniel Goleman, “What Makes a Leader?” Boston: Harvard Business Review, November-December, 1998, p. 95.

Attributes of Leadership*

1. Personal Credibility (Ethos)

• Intelligence and competence

• Clear values, goodwill, sincerity, integrity, and trustworthiness

• Strong work ethic

2. Logical Strategies (Logos)

• Rational dialogue

• Mental models/tools (capabilities)

• Evidence and proof

3. Emotional Strategies (Pathos)

• Emotional commitment to values and beliefs

• Appeal to personal interest

• Achievement orientation

*Adapted from E. Bettinghaus and M. Cody. Persuasive Communications. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1987.

�Strategic Planning

�Developing Culture

�Team Building

�Leading Change

�Managing Performance

�Negotiating Solutions

Leadership Capabilities

Model I: The Defensive Organization

Chris Argyris, Overcoming Organizational Defenses

Most organizations foster attitudes that are:

• Controlling - they act and manage the environment unilaterally

• Competitive – maximize winning and losing

• Protective – of themselves and others

• Withholding - of feelings and information

• Attributive and blaming - of others

• Adverse to conflict - at all costs

Model II: The Learning Organization

Learning organizations foster attitudes where people are:

• Data Seeking – exploring new and risky ideas

• Collaborative – people are supportive and helpful

• Empowering – autonomy and power sharing are valued

• Open – actions and assumptions are confronted and tested

• Commitment – people are engaged and take responsibility

for actions

• Feedback – individual and organizational feedback is valued

Model II: The Learning Organization

The Resilient, Adaptive, Agile, Fast Organization

John Kotter, Corporate Culture and Performance: Most successful cultures over time are adaptive. Outperform others by as much as 300%. The most visible factor is competent leadership.

Change in Motivation: from controlling to learning

Consequences: Learning and change are encouraged.

Moving from Model I to Model II

Peter Senge: The Fifth Discipline

Five Core Competencies:

Dialogue

Team Learning

Model I Personal Mastery Model II

Vision

Systems Thinking

Discovering Leadership Change Process

1. Identify challenges

2. Formulate key questions

3. Ask questions

4. Compare answers

5. Conduct best practice

research

6. Evaluate answers/

research findings

7. Develop vision & goals

8. Build team & sponsorship

9. Develop project plan

10. Implement plan:

empower, coach, develop

11. Measure performance &

communicate results

12. Reward, correct, &

improve performance

Discovering Leadership Program

1. Discovering the leader within

• Self-awareness, leadership skills, and personal mastery

• Dialogue

• Coaching

• Conflict resolution & Interest-based negotiations

2. Developing teams

• Facilitating organizational systems

• Consulting process & skills

• Building high performance teams

3. Applying leadership to organizations

• Leading change

• Strategic planning

• Managing performance/measurement

Leadership Challenges and StrategiesLeadership Challenges Strategies/Skills Methods/Tools

Motivating Commitment Self and organizational awareness,

personal mission, values and vision

MBTI, CPI, Emotional Intelligence, 360

feedback, SYMLOG Group Assessment,

Group Management Observation, personal

learning and action plans, project

assignments, executive coaching

Communicating across roles and cultures Giving and receiving feedback, dialogue

(inquiry/advocacy), building relationships

& trust, managing diversity, managing

conflict

Scenario development, case studies, open

space technology, left-hand column

exercise, decision therapy, role practice

Establishing shared values and goals Strategic planning & visioning, culture

development, team design

Future search conference, strategic

planning,Values-clarification and

alignment

Coordinating across disciplines and

functions

Planning & facilitating meetings,

developing group dynamics, building

sponsorship & teams, group problem

solving & decision making

Organizational simulation, action

research/learning, group problem solving

and decision making tools

Creating change for continuous

improvement

Dealing with resistance to change and

building support systems, project

management

Action research/learning, organization

development, organizational roles, and

project assignments

Developing accountability Performance measurement & management,

organization design, coaching, and conflict

resolution

Balanced scorecard, coaching-by-type,

interest-based negotiation

Action

Planning

Strategize specific action steps that serve to enhance collegiality while minimizing the forces that are detrimental to a collegial approach.

Action

Planning

Identify what could be:

•Stopped

•Started

•Continued

to enhance collegial leadership within your College.

Benefits of Discovering Leadership

• Understanding and alignment of personal values,

mission, vision, and impact.

• Clear values, safety, trust, strong relationships,

teamwork, community (culture & social capital).

• Enthusiasm, optimism, and renewed commitment.

• Increased initiative, innovation, agility & stability

• Personal and organizational productivity.

• Humanization of the work place.

Lessons Learned

� Align leadership development with university’s and HR’s priorities, goals, strategies, and performance systems.

� Conduct a needs assessment and relate participant needs and issues to exercises and relevant tasks.

� Build safety and trust through informal, interactive exercises, e.g., ropes, coaching groups, energizers.

� Provide self-assessment opportunities and exercises.

� Structure learning activities around real issues; develop new experiences & competencies through simulations and role plays.

� Link competencies to capabilities, e.g., strategic plans, project teams, OD interventions, performance & change management.

� Provide access to coaching and organizational expertise.

� Engage individuals in action learning projects and on-the-job applications.

Selected References on Leadership Development

• Argyris, Chris (1990), Overcoming Organizational Defenses, Boston: Allyn & Bacon

• Argyris, Chris (1993), On Organizational Learning, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Blackwell

• Burke, Warner, W. (2002). Organization change: theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

• Covey, S. R. Principle-Centered Leadership. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1991.

• Cunningham, L. L. (1990). Educational Leadership and administration: Retrospective and prospective views. In L. L. Cunningham & B. Mitchell, Educational Leadership and changing contexts in families, communities, and schools (pp.1-18). Chicago: The National Society for the Study of Education.

• Leithwood, K. Jantzi, D. and Steinbach, R. (1999). Changing Leadership for Changing Times. Philadelphia: Open University Press.

• Senge, Peter M. (1990), The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of The Learning Organization, New York: Currency/Doubleday

• Senge, Peter M. et al (1994), The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook: Strategies and Tools for Building a Learning Organization, Doubleday/Currency, New York

• Scholtes, P. R. (1998). The Leader’s Handbook. New York: McGraw-Hill

• Wellins, R.S., Byham, W. and Dixon, G. R. (1994). Inside Teams: How 20 World-Class Organizations are Winning Through Teamwork. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

• Sobel, C. Studied trust: building new forms of cooperation in a volatile economy. In Richard Swedberg, ed., Explorations in Economic Sociology, New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1993.

Thank you very much.