Direction-Alignment-Commitment: A Leadership Framework Theoretical Roots Applied Practice Opportunities and Dilemmas Cindy McCauley Senior Fellow mccauley@ccl.org

DAC as Ontology Traditional leadership ontology (the “tripod” framework of leadership) Context Leader Behaviors Follower Behaviors Shared Goals Leader Characteristics Follower Characteristics Drath, W.H., McCauley, C.D., Palus, C.J., Van Velsor, E., O’Connor, P.M.G., & McGuire, J.B. (2008). Direction, alignment, commitment: Toward a more integrative ontology of leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 19, 635-653

DAC as Ontology Direction-alignment-commitment leadership ontology Individual Leadership Beliefs Direction, Alignment, Commitment Longer-term Collective Outcomes Leadership Practices Collective Leadership Beliefs Context Leadership Culture Drath et al., 2008.

Leadership Outcomes Direction Alignment Commitment Agreement in the group on overall goals Alignment Coordination of work within the group Commitment Mutual responsibility for the group

Roots of DAC Framework: Experiencing the Limits of the Tripod Constructivist perspective Leadership as “meaning-making in a community of practice” (Drath & Palus, Making Common Sense, 1994) Relational perspective Leadership cultures as the source of leadership; leadership as emerging from relationships (Drath, The Deep Blue Sea, 2001) Whole system perspective Leadership development as individual and organizational development (CCL Handbook of Leadership Development, 2nd edition, 2004) 1994 Constructivist Perspective 2001 Relational Perspective 2004 Whole System Perspective

Four Streams of Research on “Leadership in the Plural” Sharing leadership for team effectiveness Pooling leadership at the top to lead others Spreading leadership across levels over time Producing leadership through interactions Mutual leadership in groups: members leading each other Dyads, triads, and constellations as joint organi- zational leaders Leadership relayed between people to achieve outcomes Leadership as an emergent property of relations DAC Framework part of broader movement in the field. Denis, J., Langley, A., & Sergi, V. (2012). Leadership in the plural. The Academy of Management Annals, 6(1), 211-283.

Application: Putting DAC to Work Improving Group Processes: Monitoring and improving leadership (DAC) in teams Empowering People to Act: Encouraging all people to see their role in producing DAC Crafting New Leadership Practices: Developing leadership beliefs and practices that better enable the production of DAC in the face of complex challenges

RESULTS

Group Processes: DAC Debrief To what degree has the team generated DAC thus far? Very Little A great deal DIRECTION 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ALIGNMENT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 COMMITMENT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 What did the team do collectively to produce direction, alignment, or commitment (DAC)? What did I do to contribute to the production of DAC? What can the team do going forward to better produce DAC? What can I do going forward to better contribute to the production of DAC?

Empowering People to Act: Telling Your DAC Story Think about a time when… …we found our purpose …we saw how all the parts of the work fit together …we were committed to one another

Three Kinds of Leadership Culture How do we achieve agreement on direction? How do we coordinate our work so that all fits together? How do we maintain commitment to the collective? © 2009 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.

Opportunities and Dilemmas PERSPECTIVE OPPORTUNITY DILEMMA DAC as outcomes of leadership A cross-context way of assessing whether leadership is happening If it’s not happening, tell me how to improve DAC production. DAC impacts collective results (but so do other factors) Doesn’t make leadership synonymous with results How can we say we have effective leadership if we aren’t achieving results? DAC is produced through the interactions of people with shared work A way of seeing that all leadership is shared leadership Are you promoting participative or democratic forms of leadership? A wide variety of social processes can produce DAC Expands the possibilities when it comes to producing leadership Aren’t you diluting the distinctiveness of leadership as a concept?