Leadership: Whats the Big Idea The Leadership Journey

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Leadership Whats the Big Idea?The Leadership
Journey

• Linda Gojak
• President, NCSM
• www.jcu.edu/cmsett
• lgojak_at_jcu.edu
• CMC South
• November 3, 2006

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Food for Thought
Being in power is like being a lady. If you
have to remind people that you are, you
arent. Margaret
Thatcher
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What is Leadership?

• The skill of influencing people to work
  enthusiastically toward goals identified as being
  for the common good.

• Skill -- a learned or acquired ability

• Influence -- affect someones thinking and/or
• actions

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"A leader takes people where they want to go. A
great leader takes people where they don't
necessarily want to go, but ought to
be. Rosalynn Carter
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• Think of someone in your life for whom you would
  walk through walls.
• What are the qualities of character that this
  person has?

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• Honest, trustworthy
• Good role model
• Caring
• Committed
• Good listener
• Treats people with respect
• Positive, enthusiastic

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• Are we born with these qualities or are they
  learned behaviors?
• To some degree we have all of them -- some more
  so than others. We must choose and work to
  strengthen these qualities in ourselves if we are
  to be effective leaders.

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Two dynamics in working with people and getting
things done

• TASKS
• RELATIONSHIPS
• You cannot focus on one at the expense of the
  other

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Power vs. Authority

• Power - ability to force or coerce someone to do
  your will because of your position of might
• Authority -- getting people to willingly do your
  will because of your personal influence

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Effective Leaders

• Have a purpose or mission
• How will you benefit the students?
• Have identified values
• What do you stand for?
• How will you accomplish your mission?
• Have measurable goals
• What specific steps will you take to reach your
  mission?
• How will you know when you are there?

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Levels of Change

• Knowledge
• Providing information
• Attitude
• How people feel about that knowledge
• Behavior
• How people act about making the change
• Organizational
• Attempting to influence the knowledge, attitude
  and behavior of multiple people

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Why Change Is So Difficult

• People feel awkward when confronted by change
• Tell them what to expect
• People feel alone -- even if everyone else is
  going through the same change
• Structure activities and create involvement
• Encourage individuals to share ideas

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Why Change Is So Difficult

• People will think first about what they have to
  give up
• Dont try to sell the benefits of the change
  effort initially
• Let people mourn their perceived losses
• Listen
• People will think they can only handle so much
  change at once
• Set priorities on which changes to make
• 10 per year is realistic for most people

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Why Change Is So Difficult

• People will be concerned they dont have enough
  resources (time, money, skills) to implement the
  change
• Encourage creative problem solving
• Work with those who control the resources
• People are at different levels of readiness
• Recognize that some people are risk takers and
  others will take longer to feel secure
• Acknowledge the feelings and find ways to support
  those who are more reluctant to change

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Why Change Is So Difficult

• If pressure is taken off, people will revert to
  old behaviors
• Keep people focused on maintaining the change and
  managing the journey
• Work with other leaders to keep the mission in
  front of people
• Focus on goals
• Recognize and celebrate successes

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• The key to leadership is to
• accomplish the task while
• building relationships.

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Steps to Purposeful Leadership

• Diagnose the development level of each person you
  are leading

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Developmental Levels

• Enthusiastic Beginners
• High level of commitment, low level of confidence
• Inexperience
• Disillusioned Learners
• Some experience and competence
• Reduced level of commitment and enthusiasm due to
  some failure during the learning process or
  realization that the task is more difficult they
  they thought

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Developmental Levels

• Capable but Cautious
• Moderate to high level of competence
• May have lost some enthusiasm or confidence
• Cautious in applying the change on their own
• Peak Performers
• Self reliant achievers
• Highly competent and highly committed to change

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Steps to Purposeful Leadership

• 2. Flexibility in Leadership Style

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Fexibility

• Directive Leadership
• Telling people
• what to do,
• when to do it
• where to do it
• how to do it

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Flexibility

• Supportive Leadership
• Listen
• Encourage
• Praise progress,
• Facilitate interactions
• Involve people in decision making

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Four Leadership Styles

• Directing
• provide specific directions about roles
• track performance in order to provide frequent
  feedback on results
• Best used with enthusiastic beginners
• High direction, low support -- leader decides

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Four Leadership Styles

• Coaching
• explain why
• solicit suggestions
• praise progress that is approximately correct
• continue to direct task accomplishment
• Best used with disillusioned learners
• High direction, high support (lets talk and
  decide or leader decides)

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Four Leadership Styles

• Supporting
• facilitate interaction with others,
• listen to people, draw them out,
• encourage and support
• provide little direction
• Best used with capable but cautious performers
• High support/low direction (lets talk and you
  decide)

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Four Leadership Styles

• Delegating
• facilitate interaction with others
• listen to people and draw them out
• encourage and support
• provide little direction
• Best used with peak performers/self reliant
  achievers
• Low direction/low support (you decide)

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Situational Leadership
Coaching
Supporting
Supportive Behavior
Delegating
Directing
Directive Behavior
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Steps to Purposeful Leadership

• 3. Partnering for Performance

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Partnering for Performance

• Determine with people how to work together in a
  way that people can accomplish their goals
• Follow through on any agreements
• Determine the right leadership for the right
  developmental level.

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Building Relationships

• Trust -- letting go
• Respect -- feelings must align with actions
• Focus on the needs of others

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The Journey

• If you do not change your
• direction, you will end up
• exactly where you are headed.

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Journey to Servant Leadership

• Leadership
• Authority
• Service and Sacrifice
• Love
• Will

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• Will
• aligning our intentions with our actions
• making choices
• Love
• how we behave toward others , rather than how we
  feel about others

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Love (behavior) and Leadership

• Patience showing self control
• Kindness giving attention, appreciation and
  
• encouragement
• Humility being authentic, without arrogance
• Respectfulness treating all others as
  important
• Selflessness meeting the needs of others
• Forgiveness giving up resentment when wronged
• Honesty being free from deception
• Commitment sticking to your choices

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• A leader of authority is called upon to make many
  choices and sacrifices.
• When we choose to extend ourselves by serving
  others, we will build influence.

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• As we continue on the journey of leadership in
  order to become a servant leader, we may have to
  adjust our course by even a few degrees.
• A few degrees may not make a big difference on a
  short journey, but for the long journey of life,
  it may put you in a completely different place.

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The person who says it cannot be done should not
interrupt the person doing it.... Chinese Proverb
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To lead people, walk beside them ... As for the
best leaders, the people do not notice their
existence. The next best, the people honor and
praise. The next, the people fear and the next,
the people hate ... When the best leader's work
is done the people say, 'We did it ourselves!
Lao-Tsu
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RememberThe definition of insanity is
continuing to do what you have always done and
hoping for different results.
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Let your journey begin today.
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• NCSM Leadership in Mathematics Education
  ncsmonline.org
• Powerpoint slides
• lgojak _at_ jcu.edu
• www.jcu.edu/CMSETT
• The Servant, A simple story about the True
  Essence of Leadership by James C. Hunter
• The Servant Leader by Ken Blanchard and Phil
  Hodges