Exploring leadership

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Exploring leadership

• Ann Sue
• December 08

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Context

• Global
• National
• Community
• Organisational
• Team
• Networks
• Interpersonal

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50 years of leadership research!!!!

• Probed
• Explored
• Clarified
• Obscured
• Theorised
• Politicised
• Unintelligible
• Conflicting evidence

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Leadership research is like a flowing stream,
meandering, intertwining and constantly shifting
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NHS Leadership Qualities Framework

• 15 qualities
• 3 clusters
• Personal qualities
• Setting direction
• Delivering the service

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Different leadership in different contexts

• Hierarchical and bureaucratic vested in formal
  roles of power authority
• Leadership authoritarian, directive, through a
  fixed chain of command and control
• Keeping in line
• Matron

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Carry on matron?

• autocratic matron led nursing services clearly
  and unambiguously until 1960s
• the loss of the matron as the service head was
  a significant factor in nursings later
  leadership problems
• the days when the matron would have known
  exactly what was happening in her hospital and
  would have been firmly in charge of everything
• Girvin J (1998) Leadership and Nursing.
• Palgrave

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Carry on matron?

• Matrons power base
• Autocratic
• Did not advance practice
• Oppressive
• Command and control
• Think of a context where this style of leadership
  is needed

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Leadership heroes and heroines

• Identify a leader/s
• Why do you consider them a leader?
• How do they demonstrate leadership?
• What was 1 thing that made you think of them as
  leaders?

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1. Personal qualities

• Can do confidence
• Shapers
• Stand up for what believe in
• Relish a challenge
• Aware of own emotions and impact upon others
  (emotional intelligence D Goleman)
• Tenacious and resilient
• Cope in a complex environment
• Drive for improvement
• Personal integrity and values

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Leadership is about?

• Hierarchy job role/position
• Action/ability sports champion
• Temporary task related
• Permanent position/role
• Learned behaviour school/spin doctoring
• Genetic predisposition
• ? Related to management
• For personal gain/others gain- sports
  leaders/religious leaders

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2. Setting Direction

• Sets a vision for the future
• Political awareness of context
• Receptive to fresh insights
• Driven by values

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Categories of leadership

• Constitutional
• Circumstantial
• Charismatic (transformational)
• Contractual (transactional)
• Constructivist
• Rafferty A (1993) Leading questions a
  discussion paper on the issue of nurse leadership
  Kings Fund Centre

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Constitutional theories

• Great man qualities and or traits
• Born to lead
• Study of lives of prominent people identified
  traits such as self-confidence, judgement,
  alertness,
• Later research felt that training could enhance
  these traits although it was felt that is someone
  didnt possess the traits no amount of training
  would enable them to become an effective leader
• ? Who might we place in this category?

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Circumstantial theories 1Behavioural

• Behavioural
• Authoritarian
• Democratic
• Laissez-faire

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Authoritarian

• Strong control
• Coercion
• Commands
• Communication flows down
• Decision making does not involve others
• Difference in status
• Criticism is punitive
• Followers feel secure, creativity stifled,
  motivation poor

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Democratic

• Less control
• Awards to motivate
• Directed through suggestion and guidance
• Communication flows up and down
• Decision making involves others
• Emphasises we
• Criticism is constructive
• Productivity may be lower, encourages cooperation
  and co-ordination and nurtures personal growth
• Democracy takes time and working together for
  long periods
• Can lead to frustration for quick decision makers

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Laissez-faire

• Permissive, little or no control
• Motivates by support when requested
• Little or no direction
• Communication happens between all
• Decision making is dispersed
• Group emphasis
• Criticism is not given
• Substantial productivity and creativity due to
  high motivation and self-direction
• Lack of direction can also lead to frustration,
  disillusionment and apathy
• Works well in brainstorming to solve problems

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Circumstantial 2Situational

• Effective leaders respond to new situations by
  adjusting style accordingly
• There is no single best style and it depends upon
  the environment
• Leaders do not operate in a vacuum so followers
  were fore-grounded
• Leaders are responsible for fostering growth in
  themselves and others follower maturity
• 4 leadership styles in repertoire based upon job
  maturity psychological maturity
• Hersey Blanchard (2003)

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Charismatic (transformational)

• Fulfilment of higher order needs
• Creation of a cycle of rising aspirations
• Leader and led being transformed as individuals
  in the process of achieving their vision
• A relationship of mutual stimulation and
  elevation that converts followers into leaders
• Burns J (1978) Leadership

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3 steps to transformation

• First develop and establish a vision of the
  future and a strategy to reach it ( achieved
  through listening, taking in knowledge
  experience of those around you process the
  knowledge using imagination and judgement

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• Step 2
• Communicate and sell the vision
• Step 3
• Need personal skills, courage to motivate,
  inspire and give people a sense of ownership

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Charismatic

• Charisma is the result of follower perceptions,
  influenced by actual leader qualities and
  behaviours
• Vision
• Inspiration
• Meaning-making
• Empowerment
• Setting of high expectations
• Fostering collective identity
• Seeks to engage
• Is it always a good thing?
• Like-minded individuals
• Followers seek to raise own self worth seek
  through leaders approval
• Focus on change and innovation at expense of
  administration and effective management systems

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Language of leadership

• Shall we do?
• Notice the language of leaders
• Does it generate a feeling of belonging and
  achievement

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Powerlessness organisational culture

• Autocratic well do it this way
• Bureauracratic - were supposed to do it this
  way
• Technocratic Its best to do it this way
• Democratic How do we dop it?

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• http//uk.youtube.com/watch?vOoc5eJc5SHA