Leadership development for senior staff in Higher Education

Professor John G Burgoyne Policy Research ConsultantCouncil for Excellence in Management and Leadership211 PiccadillyLondon W1V 9LDTel 0207 830 9780Fax 0207 830 9781http://www.managementandleadershipcouncil.org/

on secondment from:Department of Management LearningLancaster University Management SchoolLancaster University Lancaster LA1 4YDX

direct phone: 01524 594026 direct fax: 01524 762338email: john@burgoyne77.freeserve.co.uk

Leadership development for senior staff in Higher Education

• The context - optimistic and pessimistic views

• The big picture - best practice in corporate leadership development

• Methods, approaches, tools to support learning

• Universities: Does it apply? Should it apply? Could it apply?

The context - optimistic and pessimistic views

• Universities do ok.• Collegiate leadership is

back in fashion.• The right people emerge

for the right jobs.• Bright and intelligent

people can turn their hands to leadership.

• Universities are in decline in the knowledge industry.

• Universities are struggling to apply obsolete management procedures.

• Universities lack visionary leadership.

• Universities have no career tracks and development support systems to form appropriate leaders.

Optimistic Pessimistic

The big picture - best practice in corporate leadership development

• Leadership is having a massive comeback in the corporate world as it is reshaped by the knowledge work (and virtualising, organisational learning) revolution.

• Corporations have borrowed the ‘collegiate campus’ model of organisations from Universities, who are busy trying to apply the corporations cast off management practices

best practice in corporate leadership development

• Address organisational effectiveness and four contemporary priorities

• Consists of ten principles:

• Three strategic imperatives.

• Six strategic choices.

• A principle of evaluation and continuous improvement.

• Applied in different ways according to context.

best practice in corporate leadership development

The principles are attuned to helping the organisation refine and deliver its core business model or models, and in addition respond to four other contemporary priorities:

Diversity of the employee population Ethics and social responsibility Greening Duty of care to employees

Strategic Imperative One:

Driven from the top with specialist support – one consistent message is that the impetus for corporate executive development must come from the highest level of the boardroom. The future of the organisation and the future talent pool are seen as inextricably linked.

Strategic Imperative Two:

Leadership Development supports and drives the business – the key is that leadership development activity drives and is in step with the vision and values of the company.

Strategic Imperative Three:

Articulated framework – many organisations had an articulated framework for developing executives. A key choice is whether to have a ‘fast track/high potential cadre’ which may have a different or accelerated career trajectory. The framework would articulate how and when processes such as regular assessment, developmental assignments, specific projects, international assignments, high flier business school programmes etc. would be applied.

Strategic Choice One:

Varied degrees of formal, explicit development activity – different amounts of formal versus informal development activities are used. Whether informal development or formal development are combined or preferred has to be reviewed against changing circumstances.

Strategic Choice Two:

Graduate recruitment versus executive search – The relative importance placed on recruitment into the organisation of global leaders with outstanding track records versus development from within the organisation is a key variation. For some organisations, this is due to their own stage of development; for others it is a reflection of the nature of the business or the marketplace.

Strategic Choice Three:

Business Schools and other external resources – organisations are moving away from a ‘sheep dip’ approach to using business schools. The move is towards a considered use of business schools and other external resources on a highly integrated joint design and resourcing basis rather than as a standard commodity purchase.

Strategic Choice Four:

Value of competency framework, capabilities and performance management – competency frameworks are extensively used but the relative importance placed on them varies. The notion of capabilities alongside competencies was important in some organisations and performance management was given most priority in others. Competency frameworks are used for a range of assessment and development work. They are generic to organisations but take on different local meanings and emphases in different parts of organisations.

Strategic Choice Five:

Cultural differences and different approaches to selection, assessment and collective learning – Assumptions about the business culture needed and assumptions by the top team of the nature of leadership will influence the type of development undertaken for future top executives. For example whether leadership is seen as individualistic or as existing in teams and at all levels will influence selection and development practices and the relative emphasis on each.

Strategic Choice Six:

Retention and Reward Strategies – in best practice organisations, these are specifically designed to support HR strategies, to encourage the development of self and others, and to contribute to organisation-wide performance. For future leaders, enhancing the c.v.as part of development is also a reward mechanism.

The single final principle of evaluation and continuous

improvement

An explicit and shared approach to evaluation – Organisations identified the importance of evaluating their approach to leadership and management development in order to test, monitor, prove, improve and challenge the systems and practices by which it was delivered.

Methods, approaches, tools to support learning

In the context of all this, how do we support and facilitate learning to improve individual and collective leadership?

The spectrum of ‘delivery’ processes

Two dimensions:

•Formal, structured, programmed (courses etc.) to the ‘learner centred’ approaches: mentoring, coaching, action learning.

•Individual focused to collective focussed: organisation development, team building, learning organisation initiatives, business review and development processes (e.g. EQFM model)

A trend to the learner centred and collective approaches, but on a foundation of the formal and individual, not instead.

The spectrum of ‘delivery’ processes

In house off line events for organisation development CoachingMentoringSuccession managementOpen programmes with external providersTailored programmes with external providersInternal programmes with internal providersAction learning linked to programmes /basis of programmes Secondments Special projectsAssessments against competencies, capabilities or in relation to performance management schemeDevelopmental involvement with strategic levels of organisation New styles of programme designs and learning experiencesInternational experiencesInduction into (new) corporate culture

Changes in the Use of Avenues of Leadership Skills: 2000-2005

Taught Learning

Formal Setting

Self Learning

40% to 60% 18% to 45%

18% to 35% 20% to 35%

Experiential LearningDistance Learning

Taught Learning Mentored Learning

• In-house programmes• Chartered institute courses• Business school courses• Customised courses

• ‘Just-in-time’ tips• Coaching• Internal benchmarking• External mentoring

• Computer-based learning• Open/distance learning• Self-diagnostics• Networking with peers• Case studies; simulation exercises

• Stretch assignments• Lateral transfers• Consortium benchmarking• Stepping out of the comfort zone

Leading PeopleInformal Setting

• In-house programmes• Chartered institute courses• Business school courses• Customised courses

Integration with corporate strategy and human resource

management processes

Effective organisations closely integrate the learning of relevant management competencies with the processes of career development for the relevant individuals and the formulation and implementation of new organisational strategies and policies.

Leading contemporary practice

•Leading organisations are heading to make about 30% of this provision virtual (e) learning at this stage. There is considerable expectation of a major contribution in this area, but an acknowledgement by the informed that it is by no means clear what is can do and how it can work.

•The “killer application” for e-learning authoring does not yet exist. Big money is going into the race for it.

•Meanwhile general packages like ‘Dreamweaver’, ‘Flash’, ‘Blackboard’ and Lotus Notes are being pressed into service.

•The new generation of e-learning designers and facilitators is emergent and in short supply.

Universities:

• Does it apply?

• Should it apply?

• Could it apply?