Chapter 9 Leadership and Change

Objectives After reading the chapter and reviewing the materials presented the students will be able to: Discuss leadership skills: inherited or learned? Understand leadership styles. Build and maintain a following. Lead change. Learn lessons from distinguished leaders.

Leadership Defined Leadership is the ability to inspire people to make a total, willing, and voluntary commitment to accomplishing or exceeding organizational goals. Leaders must be able to apply positive influences, build consensus, overcome resistance, set a consistently positive example, endure criticism, persevere against doubt, communicate effectively, and convince followers to go where they may not yet be ready to go.

What is a Good Leader? Good leaders exhibit the characteristics of balanced commitment, positive role model, good communication skills, positive influence, and persuasiveness. Good leaders are committed to both the job to be done and the people who must do it, and strike an appropriate balance between the two. Good leaders project a positive example at all times. Good leaders are good communicators. Good leaders have influence with the employees and use it in a positive manner. Finally good leaders are persuasive.

Leaders versus Misleaders Those who place image above substance and try to lead by charisma alone are misleaders. Leaders define and clearly articulate the organization’s mission. Leaders set goals, priorities, and standards. Leaders see leadership as a responsibility rather than a privilege or rank. Leaders surround themselves with knowledgeable, strong people who can make a contribution. Leaders earn trust, respect, and integrity.

Myths about Leadership Leadership is a rare skill: Renowned leaders were simply good leaders given the opportunity to participate in monumental events. There are many effective leaders that spend their careers in virtual anonymity. Leaders are born not made: Leadership, attitudes, and behaviors can be learned. Leaders are charismatic: Some leaders have charisma and some don’t. Leadership exits only at the top: Leadership is about producing results and generating continual improvement, not one’s relative position in the organization. Leaders control, direct, prod, and manipulate: Leadership in a total quality setting is about involving and empowering, not prodding and manipulating. Leaders do not need to be learners: Lifelong learning is a must for leaders. Leaders learn ways that will help their organization.

Principles of Leadership for Quality Customer focus: The organization’s primary goal is to meet or exceed customer expectations. Obsession with quality: Every employee must aggressively pursue quality in an attempt to exceed the expectations of customers. Recognizing the structure of work: Work processes must be analyzed, evaluated, and studied continually in an effort to improve them. Freedom through control: Employees must take control of work processes to reduce variation in output by eliminating variations in how work is done. Unity of purpose: When there is unity of purpose, all employees pull together towards the same end. Looking for faults in systems: Leadership for quality requires assessing systems in an attempt to ferret out and correct systemic problems. Teamwork: A team of people working towards a common goal can outperform a group of individuals working towards their own ends. Continuing education and training: Continued learning at all levels is a fundamental element for total quality.

Juran Triology Quality planning: identify customers, identify the needs of customers, develop products based on customer needs, develop work methods and processes that can produce products that can meet or exceed customer expectations, and convert the results of the planning into action. Quality control: evaluate actual performance, compare actual performance with performance goals, and take immediate steps to resolve differences between planned performance and actual goals. Quality improvement: establish an infrastructure for accomplishing continual quality improvement, identify specific processes or methods in need of improvement, set up teams responsible for specific improvement projects, provide improvement teams with the resources and training needed to diagnose problems and identify causes, decide on a remedy, and standardize the improvements once they have been made.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Five successive levels: Lowest level encompasses basic survival needs: air to breathe, food to eat, water to drink, clothing to wear, and shelter in which to live. The second level encompasses safety/security needs: Safe from harm and secure in their world. The third level encompasses social needs: families, friendship, social organizations. The fourth level encompasses esteem needs: self worth, dignity, and respect. The highest level encompasses self actualization needs: through their work, hobbies, human associations, or leisure activities. Needs must be satisfied from the bottom up. Focus on the lowest unmet need. After a need has been satisfied, it no longer works as a motivating factor.

Leadership Style in a Total Quality Setting Participative leadership in a total quality setting involves soliciting input from empowered employees. Listening to that input, and acting on it. Collect employee input, log it, track it, act on it in an appropriate manner, work with employees to improve weak suggestions rather than simply rejecting them, and rewarding employees for improvements that result from their input.

Leadership Characteristics that Build and Maintain Followership Sense of purpose: They know where they fit and the contributions needed in their area to make the organization successful. Self discipline: Through self discipline, leaders avoid negative self indulgence, inappropriate displays of emotion such as anger, and counterproductive responses to everyday pressures of the job. Honesty: They can be depended on to make difficult decisions in unpleasant situations with steadfastness and consistency. Credibility: Credibility is established by being knowledgeable, consistent, fair, and impartial in all human reactions. Common sense: They know that applying tact is important when dealing with people. Stamina: Energy, endurance, and good health are important to those who lead. Commitment: They are willing to do everything within the limits of the law, professional ethics, and company policy to help their team succeed. Steadfastness: People do not follow a person they perceive to be wishy-washy and non committal.

Pitfalls that can undermine Followership Trying to be a buddy: The nature of the relationship does not allow it. Having an intimate relationship with an employee: Few things can damage the morale of a team so quickly and completely. Trying to keep things the same when supervising former peers: The supervisor peer relationship, no matter how positive, is different from a peer peer relationship.

Leadership and Change Develop a change picture: Written from the point of view of those affected by the change. Communicate the change picture: to all stakeholders and give them plenty of opportunity to ask questions, voice their concerns, and even vent their anger. Involve stakeholders in making the change: take advantage of their expertise and experience to ferret out potential roadblocks. Make specific assignments: for all actions to implement change and assign deadlines. Monitor: and adjust as necessary. Update policies, procedures, and all related documentation: to reflect change.

Employees and Managers on Change The key to winning the support of employees for change is involvement: Promote a “we are in this together” attitude towards change. Make sure all employees understand that change is driven by market forces, not management. Involve everyone who will be affected by change in planning, and implementing the response to it.

Restructuring and Change Acquisitions, mergers, buyouts, and downsizing – common occurrences in today’s marketplace – all typically involve corporate restructuring. This fact is market driven and can be controlled by neither individuals nor organizations. However organizations and individuals can control how they respond to the changes brought about by restructuring.

Change Facilitation Every organization that has to compete is forced to constantly reduce costs, improve quality, enhance product attributes, increase productivity, and identify new markets. Establish and charter the steering committee: Members should have the authority to make decisions and commit resources. Members should have expertise. Membership should have vision, commitment, perseverance, and persuasiveness. Develop a vision: A vision that points to a better tomorrow for all stakeholders. The vision must be realistic and attainable. General enough to allow for responding to changing conditions. Can be explained to an outsider. Communicate the Change Vision to all Stakeholders: Keep the message simple. Repetition forces employees to take notice. Use multiple formats: small group meetings, large group meetings, newsletter articles, fliers, bulletin board notices, email, etc. Feedback mechanisms must be in place. Implement the Change: Remove structural inhibitors to change. Enable employees through training. Incorporate the Change Process: Showcase the results as soon as they are realized. Communicate the results and their benefits constantly. Remove resistant employees that are still fighting the change.

Lessons from distinguished Leaders Abraham Lincoln on Leadership: Abraham Lincoln prevailed against the forces of secession through 4 years of the American Civil War between the North and the South. Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation freeing the slaves under Confederate control. Harry Truman on Leadership: Truman decided to use the atomic bomb on Japan to bring World War II to a speedy conclusion. He took responsibility for firing General Douglas MacArthur after the Korean War, paying for it with his political career. Winston Churchill on Leadership: Great Britain’s prime minister during World War II. Because of Churchill’s courage, Great Britain was able to hold on until the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and brought United States into the war as an ally.

Servant Leadership and Stewardship Servant leaders and stewards set an example of putting their employees, customers, organizations and community ahead of their own personal needs. The concept differs from conventional leadership in its approach to achieving the goal. Advocates of servant leadership believe those who serve best lead best.

Negative Influences on Leaders: How to Counter Them Leaders fall prey to the negative influences of followers when they make mistakes such as letting the majority rule, being fooled by flattery, and relying too heavily on knowledgeable advisor. Strategies to counter negative influences of followers: Keep the organization’s vision and values uppermost in your mind: How does the follower’s recommendation square with where you are trying to take the organization, core values of the organization, your core values? Encourage, promote, and reinforce truth telling: Do not shoot the messenger when what you hear runs counter to what you would like to hear. Set the right example: Let followers see you live out what you believe. Delegate, do not abdicate: When you delegate, stay in touch – monitor.

Summary Leadership is the ability to inspire people to make a total, willing, and voluntary commitment to accomplishing or exceeding organizational goals. Good leaders exhibit the characteristics of balanced commitment, positive role model, good communication skills, positive influence, and persuasiveness. Juran Triology: Quality planning, Quality control, and Quality improvement. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: basic survival, safety/security, social, esteem, and self actualization needs. Leadership Characteristics that Build and Maintain Followership: Sense of purpose, Self discipline, Honesty, Credibility, Common sense, Stamina, Commitment, and Steadfastness. Pitfalls that can undermine Followership: Trying to be a buddy, Having an intimate relationship with an employee, and Trying to keep things the same when supervising former peers. Leadership and Change: Develop a change picture, Communicate the change picture, Involve stakeholders in making the change, Make specific assignments, Monitor, and Update policies, procedures, and all related documentation. The key to winning the support of employees for change is involvement: Make sure all employees understand that change is driven by market forces, not management. Involve everyone who will be affected by change in planning, and implementing the response to it. Every organization that has to compete is forced to constantly reduce costs, improve quality, enhance product attributes, increase productivity, and identify new markets. Servant leaders and stewards set an example of putting their employees, customers, organizations and community ahead of their own personal needs. Leaders fall prey to the negative influences of followers when they make mistakes such as letting the majority rule, being fooled by flattery, and relying too heavily on knowledgeable advisor. Keep the organization’s vision and values uppermost in your mind: How does the follower’s recommendation square with where you are trying to take the organization, core values of the organization, your core values?

Home Work Answer Questions 1, 2, 12 on page 145. 1. Define the term leadership. 2. Explain the concept of a good leader. 12. Explain what organizations must do to respond effectively to change.