Equality, Diversity and Leadership: Different journeys, variegated landscapes

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Equality, Diversity and Leadership Different
journeys, variegated landscapes

• Helen Rodgers, Michael Frearson, Rick Holden,
  Jeff Gold
• Leeds Business School, Leeds Metropolitan
  University
• Learning and Skills Research Centre
• Email h.rodgers_at_leedsmet.ac.uk

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International Comparator contextsWork package
1

• Exploring organisational practices and research
  on leadership and its development and diversity
  in the education, health and public
  administration services across several
  continents.

3
Research Aim

• To establish the current state of knowledge about
  effective leadership behaviours and their
  development in education, health, local
  government and public administration both today
  and in the coming decades.

4
Research Methodology

• Central Question
• What can research tell us about the contribution
  of diversity in the types and styles of leader,
  and how can we learn from different ways of
  practising leadership in terms of gender,
  ethnicity, disability and age?

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Research sample

• In total 104 contacts were made across the three
  sectors with varying response rates.
• Out of this contact 36 case examples were drawn
  upon in detail for reporting purposes.

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Key issues.

• Archetypes and Stereotypes affect the way in
  leadership which is performed, accepted and
  taught to others in organisations.
• Conscious and subconscious exclusionary practice
  in organisations persists
• Ambiguity of terms - equality and diversity
  present key challenges to organisations

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Equality AND Diversity?

• An incongruity of terms
• (Bentley and Clayton, 1998 Winstanley and
  Woodall, 2000)
• Sound business sense
• (Kandola and Fullerton, 1998)
• Moral rightness
• (Singh, 2002, Griffin, 2002)

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Diversity

• The concept of diversity is complex and has
  different meanings for different people in
  different contexts. (Singh, 20023)
• Diversity is not about removing our prejudices
  only about recognising them and questioning then
  before we act. (Cabinet Office Diversity
  Website, 2002)
• The advance of technology and spread of markets
  globalisation is the new reality against which
  diversity is developing. (Schneider, 200127)

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Diversity

• differences resulting from age, gender, race,
  ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation,
  capabilities and disabilities, socio-economic
  background.
• George Jones (2005, p15)

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Equality and Diversity?Challenges.

• Fairness and Justice challenge
• Recognising and responding to sameness and
  difference simultaneously.
• Flexibility Challenge
• Customising equality and diversity within
  idiosyncratic practice
• Decision making challenge
• Organisational demography affecting
  organisational outcomes.
• George and Jones (2005)

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Critiques of the equality through diversity
perspective

• Emphasis on difference between individuals
  weakens the ties/links that people have through
  common experience that provides the impetus for
  action (Cockburn, 1989, 1991).
• Diversity can also offer a haven of protection
  for employers by providing an alibi for
  avoiding the responsibility of addressing the
  unfairness experienced by employees (Overell,
  1996)
• justified exclusion (Webb, 1997).
• Inequality, is seen as a private issue (EOC,
  2003).

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Leaders are key

• In helping to tackle current under representation
  of diverse groups at senior levels.
• (Singh, 2002)
• In constructing clarity and parameters within
  which diversity will flourish
• (Schneider, 2001)
• In linking strategy with appropriate values to
  achieve organisational objectives
• (Dass and Parker, 1998 Singh, 2002)

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Developments in Leadership Ideas
Styles and behaviour
New Leadership
Traits
Situational
Contingent style
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Landscapes of leadership

• The leadership landscape is gendered as a result
  of the different journeys and routes followed by
  male and females throughout their employment.
• (Applebaum, Audet and Miller, 2003)
• Essentially, the plethora of variables involved
  in leading make claims for, and of effective
  leadership behaviour difficult to substantiate
  empirically yet the call for more effective
  leadership persists
• (James, 2001)
• The range of roles and skills required by leaders
  in public sector organisations is not only
  different but more demanding than in the private
  sector (Forde et al, 2001).

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Distribution
Concentration
SOLO
COUPLES
TRIOS, QUADS
COLLECTIVE
TEAMS
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Research Observations

• Many leadership development programmes are
  prescriptive, formal training programmes aimed at
  those already in senior positions.
• Sustaining traditional stereotypes of what it is
  to be a leader.
• Issues around opportunity and progression of
  diverse others into areas of leadership.
• Few tackle issues of equality, diversity and
  diversity management head on. Those that do use
  the filter of cross cultural issues or one
  off sensitivity programmes.

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Equality, Diversity and Leadership?

• Women hold less than 10 of senior positions in
  FTSE 100, Police, Judiciary and Trade Unions.
• (EOC, 2003)
• Black staff in FE sector are concentrated in
  lower echelons.
• (CBSFE, 2002)
• Glass ceiling for gay, lesbian and bi-sexual
  staff in UK universities
• (AUT, 2001)

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Patterns emerging?

• A complex mix of

Organisational ethos
Leadership Process
Structuring knowledge
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Organisational Ethos

• National College for School Leadership
• Beyond Hero Leadership Participative and
  Collaborative approaches to leadership (Harris
  Mujis, 2002 Harris and Chapman, 2002 Lambert,
  2002)
• Leadership capacity resides with the whole school
  (King, 2002).
• Australian Principals Associations Professional
  Development Council
• Dare to Lead Programme.
• The Kings Fund
• Athena Programme

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Leadership Process

• Traditional Approaches
• Australian Principals Centre
• American Council of Education
• Office of Personnel Management
• Alternative Approaches
• National College for School Leadership

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Structuring Knowledge

• Establishing joint learning and shared
  understanding within and across organisations.
• Association of Commonwealth Universities.
• Kings Fund
• Centre for Management and Policy Studies
• Public Service Leaders Scheme - collaborative
  scheme across 4 areas of the public sector,
  (Cabinet Office, Police, IDeA and the NHS)
• Diversity Programmes awareness and sensitivity
  training, emotional intelligence and managing
  bullying and harassment

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Leadership (re)framed

• Individual thinking cannot be understood
  independently of the context or practice in which
  it occurs. the interdependence between
  individuals and context provides for a
  distribution of understanding across a situation
  composed of others actors, artefacts, documents
  and tools.
• Spillane et al (2001)
• Emphasis is on leadership as interaction between
  these features rather than a single leader with
  abilities, skills, competencies or charisma.

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The future?

• Work Packages 2 and 3 are underway.
• Fluidity and shift in cultural consciousness
  require us to reframe and explore associations of
  sameness and difference on a much wider basis
  than those presented and legislated for.
• Two challenging issues for current leadership are
  - to create the space for fluidity and shift in
  negotiated employment relationships.
• - to open up a variety of pathways and tracks in
  the development of human capacity.

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Leadership?
I am not expected to make an awesome speechThey
are all motivated.(they) dont follow me. If I
wasnt there, they wouldnt scratch their heads
and go, What do we do now??.Having said that,
you can sometimes feel that they are not quite
ready. There are always days when the team is
flat.I think the skill is getting your message
across in the fewest possible words. Youve got
to cut the crap. The real motivation is that I
am playing for these guys on the pitch.
Martin Johnson, England Rugby Captain, 5 October
2003
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Synergistic Leadership Theory
Organisation Structure Rotates Leadership. Uses
expertise of members not rank. Has consensually
derived goals. Values Members. Rewards
professional development. Relies on informal
communication. Disperses Power. Promotes
Community. Promotes nurturing and caring.
Promotes empowerment. Has many rules. Has
separate tasks and roles. Maintains a tall
hierarchy. Initiates few changes.
Leadership Behaviour Autocratic. Delegator.
Collaborator. Communicator. Task-oriented.
Risk-taker. Relational. Nurturer. Controller.
Stabiliser Intuitive.
External Forces Perceptions/Expectations of
Supervisor/Colleagues/Community. Local state and
national. Regulations. Resources. Location.
Culture of Community. Socio economic status.
Language/Ethnic Groups. Political/Special
Interest Group.
Beliefs, Attitudes, Values Importance of
professional growth. Openness to change/diversity
. Adherence to tradition. Collegial support.
Importance of character, ethics, integrity.
Importance of programs for at risk/gifted
students. Role of teachers/learners. Purpose of
school. Role of teachers/administrators.
Importance of employee well-being
Irby et al 2000