Leadership in practice

MN222 2012 RichardCotter

What is leadership like in organizations?

A view from practice


Lecture objectives You will

be exposed to experiences of leadership in action, a.k.a ‘tales from the field’ (Van Maanen, 1988)

have a base on which to relate future lectures which concentrate on leadership theory

have a chance to gain practical career advice – one of the benefits of experience is that we may learn from it !


Lecture structure A series of linking thumbnail portraits about

leadership in practice which work by;

qualifying leadership in action by unpacking it’s practical characteristics

providing real life examples

showing relevant theoretical references

stimulating discussion around these


A working definition of leadership for this lecture

Leadership as a process of influence, aimed at some type of change, done by and between people in organisations

(adapted from Northouse, 2011, pp 2-4)


#1 Leadership is plural Leadership is not one thing in an(y) organization What is leadership like in organisations?

Depends on who you ask Depends on who is asking – what definition of leadership is being

used? Depends on why you’re asking – questions shape responses as do

the abilities & interests of those responding Depends on the company, i.e. market, culture, type, size,

demographic etc.

Key learning point – what leadership is like is contingent - no one universally true answer exists


#1 Leadership is plural

“Leadership is embedded in the context, it is socially constructed in and from a context where patterns over time must be considered and where history matters”

Osborn et al (2002) in Jackson and Parry (2011, p.69)


#1 Leadership is plural

Say you are running a leadership development workshop

You ask a question – what is leadership? In small groups they write down the answer Then you ask a second question, this time you make it an individual exercise – “How

do you experience leadership, what is leadership like for you in your part of the ‘organisational world’ (Leavitt, 1973)?”

I will bet you cash (!) the answer to the first question has similarities, the second disparities

Definitions of leadership seem to maintain some consistency but often how people experience leadership (because it is heavily contingent) can be dramatically different.

This is a problem for organisations – why do you think this is?


Machiavelli’s gap“…there is such a gap between how one lives and

how one ought to live that anyone who abandons

what is done for what ought to be done learns his ruin

rather than his preservation: for a man who wishes to

make a vocation of being good at all times will come

to ruin among so many who are not good.”

• So, the problem is one of inconsistency. Plural understandings & enacting of leadership can be fine but ‘bad’ leadership in organizations isn’t !

•Machiavelli is recommending a (hyper) realistic view on how people enact theory in practice

• In terms of Leadership however, Machiavelli’s advice is problematic - can you think why?


#2 Leadership is normative Leadership is about what should be It often entails a vision or an ‘end in mind’

(Covey,1987) How could we get there is the part of

leadership in practice which takes Machiavelli’s advice but which does not treat it as a governing law

Key learning point – be both realistic and optimistic when leading in organisations


#2 Leadership is normative Machiavelli’s cloud is too black – no silver lining People are not all bad “Assume the worst of people and you will get the worst…

self interest is not our only drive” (Chang, 2010) Machiavelli is a full stop. Leadership requires a comma People are ‘x’. People can be ‘x’, but also can be ‘y,z, etc.’ In terms of thinking about leadership, Stockdale’s

balance is better…..


Collins (2001) interviews Stockdale When Collins asked who didn't make it out of Vietnam, Stockdale

replied: "Oh, that's easy, the optimists. Oh, they were the ones who said, 'We're going to be out by Christmas.' And Christmas would come,

and Christmas would go. Then they'd say, 'We're going to be out by Easter.' And Easter would come, and Easter would go. And then

Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart.“

Stockdale then added: "This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never

afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be”


The Stockdale Paradox

see Collins (2001)


#2 Leadership is normative Say you work in a customer service team You operate a process which you have noticed is causing problems

(delays, costs, complaints etc.) Nobody else seems to have noticed, or else they have but are

ignoring it Your ‘practical reasoning’ (Audi, 2005) might go something like this:

Why should this process be improved (normative) Could it be improved / what could I do? (realistic – remember the

optimist part!) Will I do something? (the leadership question)

• Well, will you do something?......


#3 Leadership is risky Leadership often challenges the way things are Challengers to the status quo are not always appreciated However, risks tend also to come with rewards attached Challengers to the status quo, if politically aware, may be seen as

leaders by others Leadership is often about how one is perceived by others (Jackson

and Parry 2011, p.53) not necessarily about what height you have scaled in the organizational structure

Key learning point – leadership can be risky but rewarding. If you want to practice leadership you may have to take risks. If so, do this in a politically sensitive way.


#3 Leadership is risky Sometimes it comes down to choice

“ If your boss is insecure taking a well-reasoned contrarian stand will frighten him/her, leading to envy or fault finding. Over time your only recourse may be to leave, to find a secure leader who values the courageous follower” (Lubans, 2010)

• Luban’s quote points to important practical lessons about leadership


#3 Leadership is risky Learning from Luban’s quote:

Leadership in practice is a two way street (it’s ‘relational’, see Jackson & Parry, p.144, top of page, see also Cunliffe & Eriksen, 2012)

Correction - it can be a two way street – leader’s must be secure enough to have their views challenged

In terms of trait theories of leadership it also tells us something important about a leader’s character – humility, openness, security etc.

It also tells us something about the potential costs of poor leadership in organizations, i.e. if those in leadership positions cannot or will not accept leadership from others (e.g. followers) organisations can pay practical prices, e.g. put crudely;

1) Good people go2) Bad leaders stay3) Important information gets lost or goes unused


#3 Leadership is risky Guiding vision Passion Integrity Trust Curiosity Daring

Warren Bennis (2009) on leadership ingredients (he believes these can developed by the way)

• Luban’s book is called ‘Leading from the Middle’, in practice this means that…..


#4 Leadership is often non-hierarchical

Leadership can come from anywhere in an organization It is not only something ‘Bosses’ do Not listening to others and their ideas is simply bad practice “With every two hands you get a free brain!” – much work today is

knowledge work Knowledge is dynamic, equivocal (subject to different meanings and

interpretations) and context-dependent (Alvesson, 2004; Newell et al, 2009) The ‘Boss’ as the font of all knowledge? Knowledge in organizations has many fountainheads Wisdom does not necessarily flow “down the food chain”

Key learning point – leadership is not a ‘Boss’ activity, ideas, change, creativity, improvement, inspiration can come from anywhere. Organisations must encourage rather than stifle this though.


#4 Leadership is often non-hierarchical Say you work in an organization – not in a management/leadership ‘position’ Everyday you go to the company intranet to check what’s for lunch on there – this is the only

piece of useful information on there you think! Everytime you go to the site you’re ‘annoyed at how crap it is” You decide to do something about it You email HR with a suggestion It turns into a proposal (what you will do) It turns into an agreement (how you will do it) It turns into a project (who’s involved, what resources will you need etc.) It turns into (hard) work… …it gets frustrating …but it stays interesting and worth it… You stick with it You do it It works The feedback is great No more crappy intranet in this organisation

• What has happened here ?



Leadership

• This is not necessarily what happens…



Nodes, networks, leadership in ‘white spaces’



“you have to be the change you wish to see in the world”

Gandhi



Starting fires? Don’t get your fingers burnt…


#5 Leadership is political Leadership action is often critical action There are people attached to ‘the way things are’ This means attachments of interests, emotion, tradition

(habits), power etc. Leadership does not take place in a political vacuum Organizational life, like life itself, is political

Key learning point – leadership in practice cannot afford to be naïve but must be politically sensitive. This need not be underhand or overtly negative, in fact, it can mean leadership is more inclusive.


“…for the people do not easily change, but love their ancient customs; and it is by small degrees only that one things takes the place of another”

(Aristotle, The Politics)

#5 Leadership is political



Try implementing something new (especially from a non-hierarchical position) in any organisation without doing the necessary political work

This something could be the best idea ever heard, it may be 100% reasonable, it may still fall flat on it’s face

Why? Reasonable is not the only measure (it should be according to some normative theory e.g. Evidence based management. But it’s not in practice)

Leadership is political work, political work is relationship work, (remember leadership is relational, Jackson and Parry, 2011, p.144)

Relationship work is long-haul, mutually beneficial, give and take, negotiated etc.

Build a “coalition of the willing” or “throw the grenade in”?



“If you want to get something done around here don’t here you don’t treat people like children, and you pick up the phone and go talk to them, you don’t e-mail them on a Friday, tell them off, land them in it and then go on your holidays having ticked the ‘I told them’ box…people will see through that very quickly and things will become very difficult for you around here”

(Manager x telling a relational truth)

Leadership is not only about what is the right thing to do, it’s about treating people the right way…..


#6 Leadership is ethical Human relations are ethical spaces ‘I and thou’ (Martin Buber) – when you and I talk we

‘stand in relation’ to one another People are not means to an end, they are ends in

themselves (Immanuel Kant) Two cases for leading ethically

High road – a la Kant, Buber, Lower road – be ethical because it makes business sense, the

‘EVA’ of leading ethically (Covey, Moss Kanter)

Key learning point – no matter what road you take, in practice leading ethically, at least in some minimal sense, is in most organisations probably non-negotiable


#6 Leadership is ethical “It is the leader who must make ethical

awareness happen…the leader is the principal architect of corporate conscience”

(Goodpaster, 2007)

Do you agree? Does ethical responsibility fall solely or mainly on those in positions of leadership?.....


#6 Leadership is ethical

On a relational view, ethical leadership is everybody’s business

“Leadership principles are a shared achievement. They are created by people interacting with one another…” (Drath, 2001)


#6 Leadership is ethical The case of John, the traditional manager, flexing new leadership muscles Communication problem – how was this known? Through feedback

(engagement survey) his team said it should be better Call this normative nudging – change rarely comes fleshed out in full, you

get more or less clear indications from people as to what needs to, or should be done differently

This guy took the feedback seriously Was open to trying something new The idea of dialogue forums were designed Training was provided, this was going to be hard for this individual The team had to be involved and to understand their role Team had to let him lead –this meant they had to change, see him

differently, i.e. they too had to lead, to lead him as he was trying to lead It’s sometimes hard to be ethical on your own!


#6 Leadership is ethical Results of ethical leadership: “I saw a different side to John today, I understand him more now, he

is going through things I never understood”

“I expected him to be rubbish, I sort of wanted him to be too if I’m honest, but in fairness, he came out and he was very open and I saw a side I hadn’t seen before. I hope he keeps it up”

Why did John do this? Couldn’t he have not bothered? What would have happened if he didn’t? Isn’t he the exception?....


#7 Leadership is a work in progress Leadership is a “complex and contradictory phenomenon” (Alvesson and Spicer,

2011) This holds true in terms of theory and practice In terms of theory although generalisations may hold true, in the detail (always where

the devil lies), theories of leadership not always in perfect agreement In terms of practice, organisations can make leadership very hard They may be still too ‘top down’ (Leavitt, 2005) and not be set up to embrace and

enable leadership Organisations tend to be dominated by the ‘material’ (what is visible) and the

intangible (what is less easily seen, e.g. Leadership) can be more easily forgotten or ignored, or pretended….

Key learning point – don’t expect leadership where you work. Expect hierarchies, Bosses, bureaucracy, administration etc. But, don’t deny leadership where you work. Show leadership if you can and row in with attempts at leadership by others.


#7 Leadership is a work in progress

“…[there is] widespread scepticism about claims that bureaucracy is being killed off by ‘post bureaucratic forms of organising”

(Willmott, 2011)

Who to believe? - Workplace bureaucracy is over now that workplace democracy is here

“Business is broken. We all know it even if we’re scared to admit it. Most of us feel screwed and many of us feel helpless to change it. We have become slaves to business’s controlling tools, procedures and mandates. Something’s got to give. Something already has”.

(Jensen & Klein, 2010)



“the concept of leadership is very popular but its not very clear…leadership suggests greater diversity in organisations…can organisations tolerate that much diversity?

(Leavitt, 2005)

Who to believe? - Management is over now that Leadership is here

The ‘end of managerial control’ is nigh and there is a ‘revolutionary imperative’ to reinvent management

(see Birkinshaw, 2010; Hamel, 2005; Raelin, 2011 )



Beware false prophets….

The difference between normative and descriptive theories of leadership (see Jackson & Parry, 2011, p.62)


#7 Leadership is a work in progress • But also beware of self-defeating cynicism

• Remember – leadership is to an important extent itself normative

• Ironically, the only way leadership will thrive in practice in organizations is if people believe it can

• This doesn’t mean that belief alone will change anything, but without the starting assumption that leadership is thinkable & doable, we’re probably stuck with the way things are

• This might be fine

• It might not be.


Recap Leadership in practice is plural – not ‘one thing’ Leadership in practice is normative – often begins with what should

be the case Leadership in practice is risky – change is hard and potentially

dangerous Leadership in practice is non-hierarchical – can come from

anywhere (orgs. need to be open to this to fully benefit) Leadership in practice is political – watch your step, manage

relationships Leadership in practice is ethical – involves people interacting with

other people Leadership in organizations is a work in progress - many still

struggle to realise the potential value of leadership. Don’t expect it but don’t deny it either, in yourself or others


Lecture 2: Home research task

Ask someone you know who works in a company “What is leadership like in your organisation?”

Write down their answer, bring it to class next week. I will ask you all for your responses.

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Leadership in practice

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