What is this leadership stuff?Leadership Gainesville Alumni Association Members

Tuesday, October 30th, 2012 Dr. Donnie Horner

What is this leadership stuff?Agenda

• Leadership as a mystical construct• Leadership defined• Theoretical orientations• The great debates• Tools to help you lead, motivate, understand, & evaluate others

• High performing teams • Character• Leading today: the current milieu

Questions & discussion welcomed throughout!

Leadership as a Mystical Construct

“ A slippery phenomenon” (Selznick) . . . “one of the most observed and least understood phenomenon on earth” (Burns)

• Why?• What makes “leadership” so mystical? So

hard to put our finger on?

Leadership Defined• Leadership Demystified: a process . . . in which the organizational

leader . . . attempts to influence members of the organization (team) . . . to engage in behaviors . . . pursue objectives . . . consistent with organizational goals . . .

• A lot there! . . . process (ongoing) . . . influence (motivation). . . leader. . . led. . . organization (team). . . situation (context). . . goals / objectives . . . . perception-based

Leading is about action!

Theoretical Orientations• Great man theory (Caryle, 1841)• Trait theories

- Napoleon’s “115-essential traits” for his subordinate commanders• Scientific management (Frederick W. Taylor et al)• Human relations school (Elton Mayo, Hawthorne Studies, et al)• Interactionist theories (Fiedler’s contingency, managerial grid, et al)• The trend? Leader . . . Led . . . Situation . . . INTERACTION among the three

Leader

Led Situation

Holistic Leadership: Interconnectedness

Total Person

Professional:Relationships &

Job

Physical

Personal:Relationships &

Family

Mental & Spiritual

“The mental is to the physical as 3 is to 1.” -- Napoleon

New buzzword: from BALANCE to work-life INTEGRATION

The Great Debates

• Born vs. Made• Art vs. Science• Leadership vs. Management

Tools to Help You Lead, Motivate, Understand, & Evaluate Others

The Performance EquationP = f (M + A) x O where: M = mi + me and A = (T + E)or: P = f (mi + me + T + E) x OM = Motivationmi = internal motivation me = external motivationA = abilityO = opportunityT = trainingE = education

Key Questions:Succeeding because of ‘A’ or ‘M’ or both?

‘A’ and ‘M’: in what proportion?

Potential to improve ‘A’ with ‘T & E’?

Perceptions?

How much ‘O’ has been afforded?

What does this equation tell us about guaranteed contracts?

About incentive-rich contracts?

Tools to Help You Lead, Motivate, Understand, & Evaluate Others

Equity Theory of Motivation• If a situation is unfair, a person is motivated to restore fairness. • “People are motivated by fairness.”

• Comparison Ratio: Inputs of Person A : : Inputs of Person BOutcomes of Person A

Outcomes of Person B

• Resolution Strategies:Put in more OR put in less. Get better outcomes (get mo’ $$).Change who you’re comparing yourself to.Act on person you’re comparing yourself to.Cognitively distort the situation. Leave the organization.

Tools to Help You Lead, Motivate, Understand, & Evaluate Others

Attribution Theory

We tend to take credit when things are going well.

We tend to blame others or blame the circumstances when things are not going well.

Key Items to Pay Attention to:Listen to the explanations that people give!

Do they take too much credit for the good things??Do they credit their others?

Do they take responsibility for losses?Do they blame others, or other things, for poor outcomes?

Leaders absorb responsibility

when times are tough!

Tools to Help You Lead, Motivate, Understand, & Evaluate Others

Motivation Through Consequences (MTC)

• Reward, punishment, negative reinforcement, extinction.• “Classical conditioning “ or “behaviorist” models.• Most common form of motivation. Quick! Direct!

Suggestion:• Focus on performance . . . not personalities. • Performance behaviors are linked to CHARACTER.

People tend to do what they’re rewarded for or value!

Character

• Character: “mark” or “distinctive quality” • For us: the aggregate of the attributes or features that comprise an individual. • Assess? Focus on human behaviors relevant to roles. • Define core roles . . . AND . . . Measure the behaviors associated with the roles.

EXAMPLE: Jacksonville Jaguars– World class professional football athletes– Good teammates– Solid citizens in the community

INSTRUMENTS: measure the degree to which behaviors – past, present, & future behaviors – are consistent with these roles.– Wonderlick; Keirsey -- Interviews with current coaches, teammates– Physicals -- Police records & background checks– Performance/fitness testing -- Observations: interviews, practices, games

Character manifests through roles and behaviors!

Tools to Help You Lead, Motivate, Understand, & Evaluate the People You Interact With

Assessing behaviors to make insights about character: chart 1.Assessing Behaviors to Make Insights About Character

Poor Normal ExceptionalWorst Neutral Best Notes

Before Practice 1 2 3 4 5On time? Late?How quick to practice? First? Last?Alone or with teammates?Which teammates?Purposeful?Proper uniform?

same uniform as teammates?

During PracticeParticipation in drillsParticipation in team activitiesLevel of effortInteractions with teammates

encouraging?discouraging?

communicative?Interactions with coaches

coachable?respectful?

Leadershipgood leader?

good follower?

During Games: On the FieldProper uniform?Level of effortPlay every play?

High Performing Teams (HPTs)

• Stages of group / team development:Forming . . . Storming . . . Norming . . . Transforming / High Performing

• Characteristics of HPTs – Communications, formal & informal -- Roles – Self-policing -- “We

over me.” A culture of team– Covering for one another -- Team sanctions

non-conformity– Stability: personnel, hierarchies, policies. -- Whole > sum of the parts– Chemistry -- HPTs

are not “dream teams.”

• HPTs tend to be VERY temporary! Turnover, casualties & losses, and competition are the enemy of HPTs.

• Tough to repeat as champions! . . . Why?

Leading Today: the Current Milieu

Multi-Tasking• Leader = juggler• Role multiplicity• Task variety• Huge array of “KSAs” [knowledge, skills, abilities]• Complex environments• FRONT stage vs. BACK stage active• Rapid-fire sequencing / calendar• Multiple “set” changes• Generational differences• Competing organizational (corporate) cultures

ENERGY! (physical / psychological / social / spiritual). . . massive comfort (or DIScomfort) zone . . . range of complexity calls for KEEN INTELLECT

Leading Today: the Current Milieu

Leadership Development• The complexity of life BEGS for leadership development!• Leadership development process:

Sequential assignments Training and education Self-development (reading, writing) Mentoring and coaching Tactical vs. Operational vs. Strategic level thinking

Remember: P = f (M + A) x O and and A = (T + E)Leadership development affects ‘A’ via ‘T’ and ‘E’

Leading Today: the Current Milieu

Personality characteristics: Keirsey’s 4-temperaments: www.keirsey.com

Guardians / Artisans / Idealists / Rationalists Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator

extraversion vs. introversionsensing (directly) vs. intuitive (intuitions)thinking (analytical) vs. feeling (gut)judging (planner) vs. perceiving (impulsive)

Leading tends to be . . . a highly relational business . . . people-intensive . . . energized with contact . . . emotionally intelligent

“Work should be play” - Plato

Questions?