White Paper # 3

Leadership and It’s Development

A Simpler View

If your organization is like most others, there is a pressing need to develop leadership that produces exceptional results in every aspect of your business. You are probably also interested in the type of leadership that makes your firm a great place to work. This paper will introduce you to a model of leadership that provides a framework that will help you to do both of those things.

This is a brief article about a special type of leadership and it’s development in organizations today. The discussion will include what leadership is and why it is important. It will also include a brief review of how to assess the current state of leadership in your organization, how to develop it, and finally how to measure your progress in that endeavor on an ongoing basis

What Is It?

There are thousands of definitions of leadership. I am partial to one put forth by Yukl (2002). “Leadership is the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what needs to be done and how it can be done effectively, and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish the shared objectives” (p. 7). There are three primary approaches to the explanation of leadership and most authors tend to focus on one of them while excluding the other two. These three approaches attempt to explain leadership either as a set of traits or characteristics, a group of behaviors, or some type of manipulation of situational context. If you think about it for a while, I think that you can come up with lots of things that people who you view as leaders either say or do that fall into one of these three categories. The problem with most current theories of leadership is that a focus on any one of these three elements is incomplete. What is needed in practice is an integrated theory that is at once comprehensive, simple, and easy to work with. That model is called “Leadership That Matters” (Sashkin & Sashkin, 2003). This model is an easy to understand synthesis that combines the three basic elements, the leader’s personality, their behavior, and the situational context.

Why Is Leadership Important?

Have you ever worked in or with an organization where the people said, “Oh we have wonderful leadership here”? It seems that this is rare. No organization ever feels like they have enough really outstanding leadership and most organizations that I have worked with over the years have repeatedly said that they wanted leadership at all levels. By that they meant that people at every level from the President to the front line would demonstrate leadership in a role appropriate way. It seems that it is leadership that enables people’s natural desire to succeed to emerge. It is leadership that aligns people’s efforts in a way that reinforces and leverages success. The one thing that most authors do agree on is that leadership is essential to sustained success in all organizations.

Most organizations talk about leadership in a very vague sense as if everybody knows what it is and knows how to exhibit it. Most organizations bemoan their lack of leadership and part of the cause of that deficit may be that they have never clearly defined what leadership means in an operational context. That means being very specific about what it is that people do that demonstrates leadership. It is very difficult to develop what you can’t define. The end result of this confusion is that everyone has their own view of what comprises leadership and lots of ad hoc development programs are run in different parts of the organization, none of which are in alignment with each other. Leadership training and development becomes the flavor of the day with no overall organizing structure or model to build toward. Part of the elegance of Leadership That Matters is that it is operationalized by an instrument called The Leadership Profile (TLP), which describes a complete leadership model in ten dimensions and then breaks those dimensions down into 50 very specific, observable behaviors that can be developed. The rest of this paper will describe how to do just that.

How Do We Assess The Current State of Our Leadership?

We need an operational definition of leadership to get us started. By that I mean a clear set of questions about observable behaviors that can be asked and answered by anyone in the organization. Sashkin’s theory called “Leadership That Matters” provides these questions in the form of a survey instrument called The Leadership Profile (TLP). This instrument measures two types of leadership, transactional and transformational. Transactional, or managerial leadership, deals with letting people know what needs to be done when and ensuring that they are rewarded appropriately for success. Transformational leadership influences people to go the extra mile and perform beyond expectations. It involves shared vision, values, beliefs, and true empowerment. For a more detailed discussion of exactly what is measured by this instrument refer to the description of the TLP scales which is attached as an appendix at the end of this article. This instrument, which is designed to be used in a 360-degree feedback process, serves to define what leadership means and is used as the first step in determining what the current state of leadership is in your organization today.

The Assessment Process

The assessment process consists of six basic steps as follows.

1) Select the target population. (Determine exactly who will participate in this assessment and development process. At the minimum it should include the top leadership team. Most organizations also include all people who supervise others. The most aggressive companies include everyone in this process.)

2) Conduct a TLP workshop. (This is a 3-4 hour session that introduces participants to the Leadership Model and prepares them to participate in the 360-degree feedback process.)

3) Conduct the 360-degree feedback process. (This involves each participant selecting a feedback team, distributing the feedback instruments and having them collected by a third party. This may be done electronically.)

4) Conduct a feedback workshop. (This full day session reviews the Leadership Model and provides people with their feedback data.)

5) Analyze the feedback. (During the feedback workshop participants follow a carefully designed process to analyze the feedback that they receive from the TLP.)

6) Each participant creates a Personal Development Plan. (During the feedback workshop participants are assisted in the creation of a development plan that is unique to them based on a combination of their feedback data and their role in the organization. It is important that this plan is closely aligned with the accomplishment of their real work.)

Development

Development takes place at both the individual and the organizational level. At the individual level, each participant is responsible for creating and implementing a development plan during the feedback workshop. This plan needs to take into account numerous position related factors including strengths, weaknesses, and agreement or disagreement with others indicated by the 360-degree feedback instrument. Each person’s supervisor should be involved in this process. By that I mean that the participant should discuss and share the development plan with their supervisor and ask for their support in its implementation. The actual 360-degree feedback data may or may not be shared depending on the level of trust that exists between the participant and their supervisor.

Recommendations for group development include focusing on the positive use of power and influence, which is an integral part of any leadership model and tends to provide the most leverage when addressed at the organizational level. The next issue to be addressed is the selection and implementation of a coaching model. Understanding how people learn is essential to helping them to learn. In organizations that are serious about developing leadership, coaching becomes an important part of the culture. Initially, it is typical that outside coaches are engaged to help managers with their own development first and also to then help those managers to become successful coaches for each person in their organization. Good coaches tend to use questions to focus learning. They don’t teach people how to do things. They teach people how to learn.

How Will We Measure Progress?

Looking at composite 360-degree feedback data after the first administration of the TLP and then again after the second administration is one way to measure progress. By the way, I think that 18-24 months is about the right amount of time to wait between administrations of the instrument. There is normally plenty of data to work on after the first administration and it does take organizational energy to conduct one of these. This timeframe gives appropriate breathing space for progress to be made, but not so much time that all focus is lost. A better way to measure progress on leadership development is by asking people in the organization a series of simple consistent questions about leadership and trust over time. This is the most effective way to measure ongoing progress. This can be as simple as a quarterly “temperature check”. A series of 4-6 questions, which everyone has an opportunity to answer anonymously, is an elegant way to do this. The scores are important, but the response rate is equally telling. When people see progress and believe that you are serious about developing leadership, they will respond.

Summary

The following table summarizes the 11 steps just described. For more detail or an in depth understanding of the leadership model, read “Leadership That Matters” (Sashkin & Sashkin, 2003).

1. Select the leadership population to be developed

2. Agree on the Leadership Model to be used (“Leadership That Matters” is recommended)

3. Describe the process to participants in a workshop

4. Conduct 360-degree feedback (TLP is the recommended instrument)

5. Conduct a feedback workshop

a. Provide 360-degree feedback data

b. Analyze the data

c. Create personal development plans linked to the strategic work of the organization

6. Participants share plans with managers

7. Train participants in the positive use of power and influence

8. Adopt a coaching model

9. Utilize external coaches for support and integration as needed

10. Measure progress on an ongoing basis using a “temperature check”

11. Repeat 360-degree feedback process in 18-24 months

For help in implementing the above Leadership Development process, contact Dr. Jim Stryker at Leadership Perspectives, Inc. by email at Jstryker@LPI1.com or voicemail at 703-629-8977.

Appendix

The Dimensions of The Leadership Profile (TLP)

Note: This is Copyrighted Material

Questionnaire and/or Questions

Can Not Be Reproduced

Without Author’s Permission

Transactional Leadership (Scales 1-2)

Scale 1: Capable Management (Measures day to day basic administrative or managerial tasks)

• Makes sure people have the resources they need to do a good job.
• Provides information people need to effectively plan and do their work.
• Helps people get the training they need to perform their jobs effectively.
• Supports and encourages people to get the job done well.
• Makes sure people have clear and challenging goals.

Scale 2: Reward Equity (Measures degree to which goals are made clear and goal accomplishment is rewarded)

• Rewards people fairly for their efforts.
• Recognizes good performance with rewards people value.
• Expresses appreciation when people perform well.
• Knows the rewards people value.
• Makes sure that people know what to expect in return for accomplishing goals.

Transformational Leadership Behavior (Scales 3-6)

(Behaviors based on the work of Bennis and Nanus (1985) and consistent with the work of Kouzes and Posner (2002))

Scale 3: Communications Leadership (Assesses the ability to manage and direct the attention of others through clear and focused interpersonal communication) (Bennis called this management of communication)

• Pays close attention to what others say.
• Communicates a clear sense of priorities.
• Grabs people’s attention, focusing on the important issue in a discussion.
• Listens for feelings as well as ideas.
• Is able to get complicated ideas across clearly.

Scale 4: Credible Leadership (Measures perceived reliability and integrity) (Bennis called this management of trust)

• Can be relied on.
• Follows through on commitments.
• Keeps promises.
• Acts in ways consistent with her or his words.
• Can be trusted.

Scale 5: Caring Leadership (Measures degree to which respect and concern for others is demonstrated) (Bennis called this management of respect)

• Respects people’s differences.
• Shows he or she cares about others.
• Shows concern for the feelings of others.
• Treats others with respect, regardless of position.
• Makes others feel a real part of the group organization.

Scale 6: Creative Leadership (Assesses ability to create opportunities and learn from failure) (Bennis called this management of risk)

• Creates opportunities for people to succeed.
• Designs situations that permit people to achieve their goals.
• Involves others in new ideas and projects.
• Helps others learn from mistakes.
• Gives people the authority they need to fulfill their responsibilities.

Transformational Leadership Characteristics (Scales 7-10)

Scale 7: Confident Leadership (Measures the extent to which self confidence is displayed and instilled in others) (Based on the work of Bandura (1977) on efficacy)

• Acts in ways that have impact.
• Can see the results of her or his actions.
• Makes a difference.
• Is confident in her or his own abilities.
• Is in control of his or her life.

Scale 8: Follower-Centered Leadership (Measures degree to which leader sees followers as empowered partners and not as pawns to be manipulated) (Based on work of McClelland (1987) and McClelland and Burnham (1976) on motivation in terms of personalized power need and pro-social power need)

• Enjoys making others obey her or his orders (reverse score).
• Expects others to obey without question (reverse score).
• Uses power and influence to benefit others.
• Seeks power and influence to attain goals people agree on.
• Shares power and influence with others.

Scale 9: Visionary Leadership (Measures ability to define and clearly express a future for the group or organization) (Based on the work of Jaques (1986) on cognition)

• Considers how a specific plan of action might be extended to benefit others.
• Concentrates on short-term goals at expense of long-range, strategic goals (reverse score).
• Explains long-range plans and goals clearly.
• Expresses a vision that engages people.
• Has plans that extend over a period of several years or longer.

Scale 10: Principled Leadership (Measures ability to develop and support shared values and beliefs) (Based on the work of Schein (1992) on culture)

• Encourages others to act according to the values and beliefs we share.
• Demonstrates that group goals are her or his own.
• Supports effective coordination by working cooperatively with others.
• Encourages people to support their views and positions with concrete evidence.
• Values action over maintaining the status quo.

References

Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Bennis, W.G., and Nanus, B. (1985). Leaders: The Strategies for Taking Charge. New York: Harper & Row.

Jaques, E. (1986). The Development of Intellectual Capacity. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 22, 361-383.

Kouzes, J.M. & Posner, B.Z. (2002). The Leadership Challenge (3^rd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

McClelland, D.C. (1987). Human Motivation. New York: Oxford University Press.

Sashkin, M., & Rosenbach, W. E. (1995). The Leadership Profile.

Sashkin, M. (1996). The Visionary Leader: Leader Behavior Questionnaire trainer guide. (Rev. ed.). Amherst, MA: Human Resource Development Press.

Sashkin, M., & Sashkin, M.G. (2003). Leadership That Matters. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.

Sashkin, M. (1998). Development and validity of the leadership profile (Working Paper 311-98). Program in Human Resource Development, Graduate School of Education and Human Development: The George Washington University.

Schein, E.H. (1992). Organizational Culture and Leadership (2^nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Yukl, G. (2002). Leadership In Organizations. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.