Leading Change: The Science and Art of Leadership in the Changing Organization

Todd Darnold

•      What is leadership?

•      Leaders, Made or Born?

•      Leadership Theory and Evidence

•      Leading Change

•      Business Research versus Medical Research

Leadership

•      Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences others to achieve a common goal.

•      Leadership is ultimately about creating a way for people to contribute to making something extraordinary happen.

                             ~Alan Keith, Lucas Digital

Leadership

Leadership Theories

•      Trait theories of leadership - Theories that sought personality, social, physical, or intellectual traits that differentiated leaders from nonleaders.

–   A recent meta-analysis has shown that emotional stability, extraversion, openness to experience, and conscientiousness are all positively related to leadership.

–   A recent meta-analysis has shown that intelligence is positively related to leadership.

Leadership Theories

•      Behavioral theories - Specific behaviors differentiate leaders from nonleaders.

–   Initiating structure vs. consideration

–   Production-oriented vs. employee-oriented

Can Transformational Leadership Be Learned?
Study of Bank Managers

Effects of Transformational Leadership Training
Subordinate Job Performance

Leadership Theories

•      Fiedler contingency model - Effective groups depend upon a proper match between a leader’s style of interacting with subordinates and the degree to which the situation gives control and influence to the leader.

–   Situation is defined based on leader-member relations, task structure, and position power.

Two Basic Forms of Leadership

•      Transactional leadership

–    Reinforce followers for successful completion of their end of the bargain (contingent reward)

•      Transformational leadership

–    Motivate followers to work for transcendental goals that go beyond immediate self-interests

–    Transformational leaders…

•   Are charismatic

•   Present a positive, appealing vision of the future

•   Are seen as agents of change and innovation

•   Encourage and support followers

Charismatic, Transformational, and Visionary Leadership

•      Charismatic leadership - Followers make attributions of heroic or extraordinary leadership abilities when they observe certain behaviors.

•      Visionary leadership - The ability to create and articulate a realistic, credible, attractive vision of the future that grows out of and improves upon the present.

•      Transformational leadership theory is the broadest - it incorporates elements of the other two.

Four Dimensions: Transformational

•   Idealized influence

–    serving as charismatic role model to followers

•   Inspirational motivation

–    articulation of clear, appealing, and inspiring vision to followers

•   Intellectual stimulation

–    stimulating creativity by questioning assumptions and challenging status quo

•   Individualized consideration

–    attending to individual needs of followers

Four Dimensions: Transactional

•   Contingent reward

–    Exchanging resources for follower support

•   Management by exception-active

–    monitoring performance/taking corrective action

•   Management by exception-passive

–    intervening only when problem becomes serious

•   Laissez faire

–    avoiding leadership responsibilities

The Additive Effect of Transformational Leadership

Research Supporting Transformational Leadership

Widespread Support for Transformational Leadership

•      Global support

–    Evidence supporting the theory found in Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Canada, Mexico, USA, Egypt, Israel, South Africa, Venezuela and others

•      Occupational support

–    School principals, marine commanders, entrepreneurs, ministers, middle managers, CEOs, union shop stewards and more

•      Level support

–    No significant differences have been found in the effects of transformational leadership across levels of leaders.

Ethical vs. Unethical
Charismatic Leaders

Unethical (personalized)

•       Uses power only for personal gain or impact

•       Promotes own personal vision

•       Censures critical or opposing views

•       Demands own decisions be accepted without question

•       One-way communication

•       Insensitive to followers’ needs

•       Relies on convenient external model standards to satisfy self-interests

Ethical (socialized)

•       Uses power to serve others

•       Aligns vision with followers’ needs and aspirations

•       Considers and learns from criticism

•       Stimulates followers to think independently and to question the leader’s view

•       Open, two-way communication

•       Coaches, develops, and supports followers; shares recognition with others

•       Relies on internal moral standards to satisfy organizational and societal interests

Characteristics of
Empowered Employees

•      Self-efficacy - The person has high confidence about his or her capability to perform activities with skill.

•      Self-determination - The person has the capability to determine how and when the work is done.

•      Impact - The person believes it is possible to have a significant impact on the job and work environment.

•      Meaning - The person values the purpose or goals of the activity in which they are engaged.

What are the biggest barriers to change?

Resistance to Change:
Individual Factors

Resistance to Change:
Organizational Factors

Establishing a Sense of Urgency

•      What works:

–    Showing a need for change using dramatic stories, data and examples from outside the organization.

–    Never underestimating how much complacency and fear constrains people’s actions.

•      What doesn’t:

–    Relying solely on rational business cases, seeking upper level approval before moving, or racing ahead before recognizing people’s resistance.

–    Believing that you have to be “sinking” before you can build a strong case for change.

Building the Guiding Team

•      What works:

–    Showing enthusiasm and commitment to attract the right people to the team.

–    Structuring meetings to minimize frustration and increase trust among members.

•      What doesn’t:

–    Trying to lead change with weak task forces of volunteers, single individuals, or fragmented teams.

–    Avoiding confrontation with “top people” who don’t endorse the change effort.

Getting the Vision Right

•      What works:

–    Developing a 1-2 sentence description of the vision.

–    Focus on people and services.

–    Pay attention to strategies that will make it a reality.

•      What doesn’t:

–    Overly analytic, financial based vision exercises.

–    Focus on slashing costs or raising profits.

–    Relying solely on logic to convince people how they can do more.

Communicating for Buy-In

•      What works:

–    Keep it simple and repeat it often.

–    Understand the audience, and their resistance.

–    Directly addressing anxiety, fear, & confusion.

•      What doesn’t:

–    Speaking only to convey new information.

–    Contradicting words with actions.

–    Overwhelming people with junk messages that hide the important issues.

Empowering Action

•      What works:

–    Finding credible examples of people with change experience to increase people’s confidence.

–    Recognition and reward systems that inspire and promote self-confidence.

–    Providing feedback (positive & negative).

•      What doesn’t:

–    Ignoring bosses who don’t empower, or giving their power to their subordinates.

–    Trying to remove all barriers at once.

Creating Short-Term Wins    

•      What works:

–    Early wins that are highly visible.

–    Wins that are emotionally meaningful to people.

–    Wins that benefit other powerful people, not yet “on your team.”

•      What doesn’t:

–    Trying for too many small wins at once.

–    Taking too long.

–    Stretching the truth about accomplishments or creating wins with all the best people.

Not Letting Up

•      What works:

–    Removing tasks that soak up time, but are no longer relevant.

–    Keeping up urgency.

–    Walking the talk and showing success.

•      What doesn’t:

–    Developing rigid long-term plans.

–    Sacrificing so much that you burn out yourself and others.

–    Avoiding confrontation with existing systems.

Making Change Stick

•      What works:

–    Using new employee orientation to reinforce what the organization cares about.

–    Using promotions and rewards to visibly demonstrate new norms.

–    Telling vivid success stories about the change.

•      What doesn’t:

–    Thinking that rewards can take the place of culture.

–    Trying to start, rather than end, with culture.

Differences in Research

•      Grants ???

•      Conflicts of interest ???