Coaching

When I think about Coaching, this is a topic which has come up frequently throughout the MSLD program. As I think about why it is a frequent subject in leadership, I realize that both of these go hand in hand. “Cathy Joy, a San Francisco-based coach and product designer for Interaction Associates says that Definition is what coaching is all about. Coaching means helping people define clear goals and set a specific time frame in which to meet them” (1999). I believe that the purpose of a leader is too bring out the best in people and guide them to who or where they want to be.

Coaching is about picking an individual, extracting their goals, and guiding them to it; it is like putting someone under your wing. Many people have goals, we all have an idea of what we want to be and what we want from life; the hard part is knowing the correct path to take. To achieve our goals we must all take a path also, not many things come easy in life so this is usually a long path. Although for some, the ones who are lucky enough to have a great coach, this path can be severely shortened. It seems that it is almost impossible to put a price on something with so much value. If someone told me that they would help me attain my goals two years sooner than expected, I would find tremendous value in an opportunity such as this one.

If we were able to apply coaching to a regulated program within an organization, perhaps we would see a huge change with that business. Many times when we have young or new employees, they do not know which path it is that they want to take to attain their goals. Having someone that has been with the organization for a long period of time can make the difference in that individual’s life.

Not only will the mentee gain from this program, but the mentor also stands to gain a lot from coaching an individual that is junior to them. Many CEO’s have gone on to say that coaching is exciting for them and they feel invigorated by it, although coaching is different from being a mentor, it is still a positive position for senior personnel to have.

Organizations can gain a lot from coaching, some might say that it does not help the bottom line, but this is not true. According to Hoffman (1999)" Coaching taps into an employee’s creativity, it encourages them to be more flexible and adaptable. That kind of response from employees can have a substantial effect on the bottom line. Making people feel as though they have someone that they can count on, can truly have a lasting effect on the behavior of future and current employees.

After reading so much about coaching over the last year, I am convinced that coaching can have a lasting effect on any organization. I do wish that my organization had a coaching program, it would be a vital program to have for those that are working hard and want to advance. Unfortunately there is a vast amount of nepotism within my organization and having a coach would help those individuals that do not have family in high places. Cutting through the nepotism which is very obvious within my organization would help restore a balance which is necessary for my organization to continue to be successful. Having individuals which think differently might create some welcomed diversity within an aging organization such as mine.

References:

von Hoffman, C. (1999). Coaching: The ten killer myths. Harvard Management Update, 4(1), 4.

Obolensky, N. (2014). Complex Adaptive Leadership: Embracing Paradox and Uncertainty. Farnham, Surrey: Gower. 

Strategy #3

After completing the exercise at the beginning of Chapter 10 in our text (Obolensky, 2014) I realized that I am considered to be a leader who likes to involve my team, I am high on people and low on goal. After going through this text over the last six weeks I believe that my thinking has changed a lot, hence this is the reason that I believe my strategy when working with others has become more in-tune with that of “strategy 3” (Obelensky, 2014, pg. 172).  This strategy is “used either when the leader does not know or chooses to hold back to allow others to discover the solution.

This is an important strategy for me because currently I am working in an environment which has a very old way of thinking and leadership skills. A lot of information is passed down from the top to the bottom and the manager is doing a lot of the work. In this environment the employees are kept on a short leash and are not exercising any creativity or leadership skills. I believe that my organization would be a lot more efficient if we had individuals making their own decisions instead of waiting for the manager to make it for them. I believe in the empowerment of employees, if I can sit back to a certain extent and let my employees begin to solve their own issues; then perhaps I can breed a culture of independent thinkers. By carrying out this strategy I would like to shy away from a dependent culture which floods my managers and leaders with extra work.

In our reading we talk a lot about empowering employees and avoiding the “vicious circle for leaders” (Obelensky, 2014, pg. 162); in the vicious circle followers will ask for constant advice from leaders, this will cause concern, followed by a leader taking on a more hands on approach, followed by lower employee confidence. The problem with the vicious circle for leaders is that this is a never ending cycle in which leaders will breed a culture of dependency. By me allowing my employees to figure issues out, I am instead breeding a culture which allows employees to flourish and know that I am okay with them making their own decisions.

I can understand how perhaps “strategy 3” calls for a lower focus on goals, but I believe that when I first become a leader and I am trying to build a relationship with my followers, this can be an essential move in the long run. Obelensky (2014) tells us that “Leaders get the followers they deserve, followers get the leaders they deserve”. This quote makes me feel like the product which I create as a leader will follow me for my time of being in charge of a group. Once a certain behavior is embedded into the culture of a group, it might be difficult to change with the same leadership in charge.

I fully believe that as a future leader, I will make it my main focus to use “strategy 3” from our Obelensky text to mold my team. I believe that once we have the people skills down and we are running as a strong team, then perhaps we can shift gears and move onto a more goal focused strategy. Goals are very important to maintain as a leader, but goals cannot be accomplished efficiently without a strong team to work with.

References:

Obolensky, N. (2014). Complex Adaptive Leadership: Embracing Paradox and Uncertainty. Farnham, Surrey: Gower.

The Vicious Circle

Considering all of readings in this module and the learning exercises regarding upward and downward leadership; reflect on the diagram (figure 9.5; p.152) "the vicious circle for leaders".  Does this happen in your organization?  What are the effects on the organization? Create a new circle that would promote strong followership and even leadership at the lower levels of the organization.

            This diagram which represents “the vicious circle for leaders” (Obelensky, 2014, pg. 162), is one which I myself have experienced in the past. Unfortunately I have been on the receiving end of this pattern from one of my leaders. For starters I have to say that there is a pattern which a manager can get into which can wreak havoc on an organization or a certain division. In my division, having a manger who was not a very good leader and constantly feel into this vicious circle with many employees; I realized that this definitely took its toll on our team. This manager created an environment which the employees felt insecure, devalued, and very negative. To this day this culture still exist in this division, I was just wise enough at the time to know that I needed a change.

            As a rail traffic controller my workplace consist of eight different divisions, these eight different divisions are divided by different sections of the United States in which we control train traffic. A controller is able to bid on different jobs within all different divisions, so it is quite easy to change the division which you work for. The bidding is based on seniority, usually the less seniority you have the more difficult and challenging your division will be. When I was very new to this job, I ended up bidding a job on the south east zone, I was very excited to get off of the extra controller board and finally be a permanent part of a division. Very quickly my excitement turned into regret as I worked my first day on this division, let’s just say that I was greeted by a very angry manager, it was surprising to me since most managers were very nice.

            The further along I held this position things began to get very sour, very quickly. It seemed as though my manager was visiting me on a regular basis and telling me which move to make next in my puzzle of trains. I felt very frustrated because I was being micromanaged and I felt as though I was under the microscope. Eventually I started to make decisions on my own without asking questions and my manager continued to take exception to every move that I would make. I was so tired of this manager wanting everything done her way that eventually I would ask her what she wanted my next more to be very often. Due to the fact that I was now asking her very often what she wanted my next move to be, she was now concerned and again taking more of a hands on approach. The fact that she treated me this way severely lowered my confidence and forcing me to continue to ask more questions. I had fallen into “the vicious circle” which was created by my leader.

            Fortunately for me I was able to realize that this manager was toxic for my work happiness. I seriously considered quitting my job many times but I finally won a bid on a different zone with much better managers. It has been three years since I left this zone and I have been so happy, I have not been getting in trouble, I have my manager’s trust and confidence, and I feel like I am a productive member of the group.

            The problem which my old manager had was that she liked to micromanage. “A supervisor who micromanages her employees prevents them from demonstrating aptitude and potential. Employees lose initiative as well as the motivation to exercise independent judgment, both of which are professional characteristics on which many promotional opportunities are based. Employees subject to micromanagement often feel it’s useless to demonstrate these characteristics because their managers rob them of the desire to prove they are capable of performing at a higher level” (Mayhew, 2010). Aside from micromanaging and taking away confidence she also doubted all of her employees skills and did not show that she trust anyone except for herself.

            Her management skills are definitely felt in our organization, because of the way that she runs that division anyone with experience has left to another zone. Now this zone only has new employees who are forced to work on this zone, this zone also has a very high amount of rules violations. I find it interesting that even though she has been to anger management programs and many people complain about her, she continues to stay in charge. I believe that my organization needs to see the importance of culture and atmosphere if this zone is to succeed. As a prior member of this zone I can easily recognize how being in this “vicious circle for leaders” can really hurt an organization.

 If I were to create a circle which promotes strong follower-ship and even leadership at the lower levels of the organization, it would be as follows:

Step 1- Follower ask for advice – leader ask “what do you suggest?”

Step 2- leader believes in his employees and wants to see what they can do

Step 3- Leader is eventually able to take a lesser hands on approach and get more       managerial work completed.

Step 4- Followers confidence increases and gets accustomed to making decisions.

Step 5- Manager gets promoted, follower becomes a manager.

----- Back to step one.

Reference:

Obolensky, N. (2014). Complex Adaptive Leadership: Embracing Paradox and Uncertainty. Farnham, Surrey: Gower.

Mahew, A. (2010). The Chron: Micromanagements effects. Retrieved from:

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/micromanagements-effect-employees-10840.html

The Chaos Game

As a student of leadership, I believe that this “chaos” game is an exercise which I will do with many teams to come in the future for now I was able to play this game with a group of family and friends recently. At first they were all moaning and groaning about having to play one of my mind games which I learned from class, but in the end they were all having a good time and learning a bit about themselves. It was interesting that this game was very chaotic until it was completed within two minutes, I found it interesting because it was chaotic until I asked the question at the end. When I asked them if they knew how long this would take if someone was in charge if this task, they all laughed but at the same time I witnessed that everyone also had a light bulb go off in their head. It seemed as though everyone realized that perhaps always leaning on an individual to lead might not be the greatest thing. I think that as a whole the group saw with their own eyes how quickly a task can get completed when people take charge of their own work and do not need to ask for permission from someone else.

What this exercise means to me is that, I need to find a way to emulate this situation in real life. As a manger I need to make sure my employees can make decisions on their own, are not afraid of the consequences, do not wait for permission to do their job. These are all ideas which came to me as I saw the chaos game come to an end. After reading chapter six Obolensky (2014), I also realized that there are other important lessons to be learned from the chaos game, lessons like having boundaries, a few simple rules, and having a clear objective. These are important lessons because as a leader I can incorporate these lessons into my game plan and my quest towards empowering my employees. If I am to empower my employees I just need to give them some simple rules which they must follow so to establish a clear boundary, and I also need to give them a clear objective so that they have a goal to strive for.

During this game I also realized that if I were to give constant feedback to my employees instead of trying to lead them, I can be much more effective as a leader. If I could “give feedback so that every individual knows at any time where they are in relationship to achieving their objective” (Obelensky, 2014, pg. 104), than these individuals would understand how they could correct themselves towards achieving the end goal. Continuous feedback allows individuals to correct themselves and judge if they are on the correct path without having to hear it from a supervisor, feedback is an important part of empowering employees.

Last but not least, I have to believe that for me the most important part of this exercise is that it gives me a chance to realize who has the skill and the will to be successful. As I was conducting this exercise I was able to spot the person that excelled the most, and the person that wanted to be the best. For a manager to have an opportunity to scout talent is imperative, being able to find the people that you can trust will make letting your employees make more decisions much easier.

I believe that this exercise works great for both sides, the employees and the managers. On one side you have the employees who get to see that sometimes things can be much easier if they do not have to ask for permission to complete every task. On the other side managers can see that it is okay to empower employees, and they can all see who their future leaders will be. This is a great example and I am sure that I will end up using it for many years to come.

Reference:

Obolensky, N. (2014). Complex Adaptive Leadership: Embracing Paradox and Uncertainty. Farnham, Surrey: Gower.

Step Change

Why do you think the shift in leadership is occurring and do you think this is indicative of what is happening in your organization?

            Step change, according to Obelensky (2014) this is when an organization does sweeping changes including strategy, culture, and re-organization. Shift in leadership is occurring because every organization desires these results, and they want it to happen fast. Many companies realize that change is necessary, to succeed we cannot have businesses run essentially the same way that they were run one hundred years ago.

            I have been a part of an organization where information comes from the top to the bottom, usually the bottom is misinformed, confused, and they spend their time around the coffee station complaining about management. It is no surprise that companies want to change the way that their business is run, nowadays companies find value in diversity and new and exciting ideas which will keep their business relevant. What businesses are looking for is information which will flow from the bottom to the top so that all of these new employees can bring their ideas into the lime light.

            In my organization, I believe that we are becoming much more transparent. It is imperative that the people at the bottom understand what is going on in the company, we want the people at the bottom to understand the issues of the company and find new ways to solve those problems. Many new employees are thirsty for a chance to prove themselves and when upper management empowers these employees they are giving them a chance to shine. Obelensky (2014) recognizes that “those at the top of the organizations only know a fraction of the solutions needed to overcome the problems faced by the organizations that they lead”. Obelensky (2014) also realizes that sixty percent of solutions can come from the bottom of the organization. It is our job as managers to take advantage of the bright new employees which we hire and give them a chance to voice their opinions.

List three reasons that support or refute this position.

1.      Organizations like KODAK which did not change their leadership style ended up looking at the demise of their once powerful status. “Kodak’s top management never fully grasped how the world around them was changing” (Muir, n.d).

2.      Corporate culture is one of the main reasons in which organizations will be dysfunctional or a great place to work with a low turnover rate.

3.      Empowering employees makes everyone’s job easier, there is a big shift in leadership occurring because organization realize that there are a lot of good ideas which can come from empowering those at the bottom. “Empowered employees feel free to challenge the status quo, which is critical for companies in today's fast-changing, technology-driven environment”, says Lin Grensing (2011).   

If so, how would leadership dynamics have to be altered to accommodate and promote these types of changes?  What are the implications on strategy?

            Obelensky (2014) states that, “those at the top do not know the solutions needed to overcome the problems faced by the organizations that they lead. And generally speaking they know that they do not know”. So if this is the case perhaps we need to flatten out the organization and make more of an even playing field. Many companies have moved on to a flatter hierarchy in which more employees have a bigger voice and their opinions matter. I believe that if we have people who can view each other as peers, than perhaps ideas will come out more often without fear of backlash from someone with a stronger title. Companies need to take advantage of employees with new and exciting ideas, this is definitely a good start to empowering your employees.

References:

Obolensky, N. (2014). Complex Adaptive Leadership: Embracing Paradox and Uncertainty. Farnham, Surrey: Gower.

Munir, K. (n.d.). The Demise of Kodak: Five Reasons. Retrieved October 2, 2015, from http://blogs.wsj.com/source/2012/02/26/the-demise-of-kodak-five-reasons/

CAS

Find a company which reflects Morning Star and St Luke’s image of a Complex Adaptive System (CAS) and reflect in your blog what the implications are for you and your present organization (or any organization you are familiar with). Identify what you believe are appropriate actions to move your organization forward.

            As I was reading the description of what the Complex Adaptive System entails I was definitely reminded of the organization which I currently work for, BNSF. The part that stood out to me the most is the fact that there is a great emphasis on personal responsibility and under-performance is not tolerated for long – “they are not necessarily a ‘nice’ place to work” (Oblensky, 2014, pg. 27).This stands out me in a big way because I currently experience this at my current job. It is a high stress job which does not tolerate any accidents, people are let go on a daily basis if they are not cutting it. It seems that at my company they instill this fear on day one, during indoctrination you are told that if you commit a couple of mistakes, you will be let go. This is especially true during the probation period and from day one you feel as though you are just a number. Making employees feel as though they can be easily replaced or that they are not cherished is something which the company that I work for needs to improve.

            I believe that the culture of the organization is the problem, this type of culture creates a high turnover rate. Many employees feel that their position at my company is not a permanent one, a large portion of the employees feel that it is a temporary organization to work at until they find something better. Working for BNSF with this type of culture is one of the reasons that I ended up perusing a Master’s degree, as long as I have been employed by BNSF I have always felt as though I needed a backup plan.

            The rail road which I work for does have a lot of very similar characteristics to the CAS organization, one which I often find is the teams which are formed at this organization. Many times teams will be formed for projects and then they are disassembled, this is the way of the railroad ad in many ways I can understand why they have to keep this system. The railroad works across thousands of miles in the U.S, this makes it very difficult for employees to follow where the company works. Due to the nature of the business this is why teams are created and then torn apart one the project is complete, this also leads to a lot of furloughed employees, only the best employees are hired as managers to travel where necessary.

            Because of the nature of this CAS organization, this style of running a business is compared to Taylorism. “Taylor saw organizations as machines which leaders could run in a deterministic way, Pulling the right levers would ensure results could flow” (Obolensky, 2014, pg. 28). Although this system tends to work for some organizations, I do not believe that organizations should be run like machines if we are to spark creativity and innovation. I believe that the problem with running an organization like a machine is that we are not allowing the organization to take its own personality.

            Overall I believe that the CAS organizational system seems to me like it is an older way of doing business. I believe that it does not spark creativity among employees and it also does not give off a good working environment. Businesses that are thriving in today’s world like google, believe in a more free, open, and employee friendly way of doing business. If I were in charge of my organization I would ensure that we take a path where our employees are more appreciated and felt wanted, I would also try to empower my employees and give them the confidence needed to come up with new ideas.

References:

Obolensky, N. (2014). Complex Adaptive Leadership: Embracing Paradox and Uncertainty. Farnham, Surrey: Gower.

The Butterfly Affect

Based on this week's reading, reflect on complexity science and theory in organizations and the butterfly effect (p.66). 

Identify 2 examples where “small changes yield large results” in your organization.

What are the implication of complexity theory for you and your organization and how can you use this to drive improvements.

            It took me many times reading about the butterfly effect before it hit me, In just a matter of seconds it all made sense, it is complex yet it is something that happens so often. There was one sentence which stood out to me from our text (oblinsky, 2014). The sentence read “when a situation has a great sensitivity to initial conditions a small change can have a disproportionate affect”.  We see this happen all too often, one small event can lead to having a completely different world unfold in front of you. I am constantly thinking about “what if’s” in life, many times I am amazed that I am even in my current situation. The butterfly effect is a very complex and intricate frame of thought which leads to alternate universes where one incident could lead to a completely different world.

            Dealing with the different organizations that I have been in I have two separate examples where ne small change can lead to large results. One of my examples have to do with the way that my organization completely changed my life and the other example deals with how a small change can completely improve the efficiency of the company which I work for.

            My first example is one which I will never forget, it is how I met my wife, thanks to a small change done to me by my organization. During my time in the military, I can say that I was definitely the rebellious type, I was not very good at following orders. I recognized that the military life was not for me very early on in my career, because of this knowledge I decided that I was going to attend college on base and work on a degree.

After many semesters of college on base I decided that I wanted to be around different kind of people, so I joined a college in the local town which I was living in. I was all signed up for classes and getting ready to start my first day. My classes would be during working hours, the military gave me special permission to skip out on work and go to class. Unfortunately for me I had committed one of my rebellious acts and infuriated my boss. He was so upset that he told me that I would not be allowed to attend school.

            In my attempt to fight back and show that my boss would not stop me, I signed up for the only available class in the evening. I did not care that I was at work and school all day, as long as I did not let anyone stop me from my goals. It turns out that in this class which I spontaneously signed up for and was not supposed to be in, would be the class in which I would meet my wife, the mother of my child.

            So much has happened since then, some difficult times and also a lot of amazing points in my life; all this because of my rebellious behavior. If I would not have gotten into trouble that same day I would probably be living in another state or perhaps be a completely different person. That one incident changed my life completely, I am who I am today because of this incident.

 The butterfly Effect makes you think a lot about how small changes can have a big effect in your life. Aside from my personal life, I have seen how the butterfly effect works in many ways at my organization. As a rail traffic controller for BNSF Railroad, I am in charge of the safe and expeditious flow of railroad traffic across the United States. I have to control where I will crossover trains, where to stop them, and how to get them to their destination as fast as possible. For people in my profession we always teach people how to plan many hours in advance, one small move that you make many hours in advance can affect how good or bad your shift will be.

I can recall many times when I was learning how to do my job, there were many discrepancies which I would encounter due to bad planning. There was one time when I delayed a train for a small amount of time to let maintenance workers correct a deficiency on the track. At first I thought it was not a big deal, but many hours later because of this delay my train crew run out of working hours, this crew was not allowed to touch this train because of my bad time management skills. This was the butterfly effect in full force, when one small mistakes ends up growing into something completely different, one small decision could have changed the whole situation.  For me to improve at my job I have to learn from mistakes like this and use the experience to make me the most effective rail traffic controller I could possibly be.

Reference:

Obolensky, N. (2014). Complex Adaptive Leadership: Embracing Paradox and Uncertainty. Farnham, Surrey: Gower.