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/