Learning to Lead from Dave Leding

You don’t have to be a CEO or Supervisor to be a leader. In an organization your leadership will be called upon in various ways and you won’t always have a formal position of title to accompany it. When leading your peers/co-workers there are different styles of communication that are required. This usually depends on the situation, team formation, and leadership role.

Dave Leding a graduate of Minnesota’s Executive Program at the Carlson School of Management with near 20 years of management experience spoke with communication students Wednesday 5/22/2013 about management best practices. It was an engaging and personable presentation with lessons on Lean Management, Pros and Cons of various team forms, and Management tips.

Probably the biggest take-away from the whole presentation was his recognition of the Pros and Cons to various leadership and team structures and the communication method that follows.

Here is a brief overview.

Supervisory top-down

Description of behaviors: 

Uses direct language, explains/trains subordinates, Manages on-on-one, Contains conflict, Reacts to change

Pros: High control and task oriented

Cons: low trust, low morale, high degree of attention & direction needed

Participative

Description of behaviors: 

Involves employees, Solicits input for decisions, Develops individual performance, Coordinates group efforts, Resolves conflict, and Implements change.

Pros: Promotes employees voice and engagement

Cons: slow decision process, can de-motivate employees if their opinions/ideas are constantly rejected.

Team Leadership

Description of behaviors: 

Builds trust and inspires teamwork, Facilitates and supports team decisions, expands team capabilities, creates a team identity, Makes the most of team diversity, Foresees and influences change

Pros: highly efficient and proactive, more creativity

Cons: only works with high levels of trust, employee empowerment, and proper levels of support, authority, and resources.

They can further be places and described by the following leadership curve. This graph explains the leadership and communication styles necessary for varying levels of task difficulty/ambiguity and relationship levels with followers. It also includes a scale of readiness by the follower, which is another consideration a leader/manager must take into consideration. So considering the department, the task, and the relationship with the followers, a leader must choose the appropriate type of leadership and communication style.

Situational leadership from Project-management-skills.com

The overarching theme that Leding taught though is no matter the level of the task, followers should be treated as humans, not machines. Develop a relationship of trust and respect with employees that empowers them and yet still holds them accountable. He proves that you can be personable and still authoritative.

He left us with final pointers that will help any employee facing leadership responsibilities.

Take Public Speaking

--Think on your feet, watch the ums and ah’s, animate your voice

Listen, listen and listen some more

--Seek to understand before being understood

Use common sense & common courtesy

Be civil, but honest and open, share the good and the bad

Tell it like it is – don’t pull any punches or you will be thought of as a ………

Trust in your people

Tell it, write it, tell it again, and then do it

Focus on the behavior or issue not the person

Deal with conflict situations fast but not out of anger

               Be clear on expectations

You can connect with him on LinkedIn and learn more about his perspective and approaches to management. I would highly recommend him. Thank you Dave Leding for sharing your experience and advise.  

Employee Survival Techniques 101 (PART II)

Building a positive workplace

Once you have information seeking techniques down, you can reduce uncertainty about people, tasks, and your ability. With that uncertainty reduced the next phase of surviving is developing relationships and a positive work environment. A negative work environment can be toxic to your self-esteem, emotional state, health, social life, and work ability.

I can tell you this from experience. I used to work in a franchise juice shop that was full of catty females and a supervisor that was out of touch of the situations. Gossip and uncooperative behavior making team work impossible and customer service terrible. It was every employee for themselves. If you are friends, or at least respectful and considerate of others work will feel less of a war zone and more like a cooperative space.

Here are some basic rules of thumb:

    1.   Be like honey not vinegar

Remember the idiom: You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar? Well it’s true.The more positive and friendly you are the more likely you will have people on your side and willing to work with you. You don’t want scare people with fear like Alice from Dilbert. Even she is delighted by positivity.

    2.   Practice good habits

         

The workplace is a community space. Noise, time, supplies, and more are shared with the rest of the department, so be respectful and considerate of your actions and ask others to be too.

Hold yourself accountable for your responsibilities as well. There are going to be times you’ll be ask to take on more responsibility or where you fail to complete something on time. Take responsibility for it. It builds trust, dependability, and shows integrity, all of which are positive characteristics to have and characteristics you’d want in your workplace. Lead the change.

    3.   Focus on positive qualities

We all have flaws, it’s human. If we focus on the other’s flaws, we are always going to be disappointed, annoyed, frustrated, etc. But if you focus on other’s positive characteristics, then you are focusing on what they can do and what they can bring to the workplace. It can help create more comfortable relationships, a more positive atmosphere, and uplift attitudes.    

   4.    Don’t gossip

That was so high school.  

    5.   Don’t let communication fail

Things break down when communication breaks down. We don’t all think, see, or know the same things. It’s important that you never fail to communicate. Make sure your co-workers and supervisors are informed and have a clear understanding of what you mean. 

Employee Survival Techniques 101 (for newbees)

Information seeking methods in new job scenarios

We've all had that fantasy dream job as a child. Perhaps to be a doctor, firefighter, cop, astronaut, teacher, or perhaps to follow the footsteps of our parents. It's because we are conditioned by our surroundings. We see these positions glamorized in children's books. Children hear all about their parents day at work. Children are so sensitive to how they are socialized that they even sometimes aspire to be a princess, knight, or (as my brother wanted to be) a scrubbing bubble.

OK so becoming a scrubbing bubble isn't the most realistic job, but as kids we have idealistic fantasies of the average work-life. We gradually discover the reality of it. Jobs have pros, cons, surprises, and uncertainties we are not yet prepared for. For example, the stereotypical hesitation of internships--it generally starts with excitement, then turns to despair as you realize you're just the coffee boy.

Going into a job, you never truly know what it's going to be like. The culture, environment, employees, and projects are not always the same from company to company. And when you want to make a good impressive survival is key.

The Dilemma: How to survive in a work environment as the new-be?

No matter how experienced you are there are general uncertainties you have and information you need to be successful. There is uncertainty in the relationships to be built, uncertainty in the task, and uncertainty in the one's own ability to do the task.

Best way to survive: gather information!

How--

• Ask Overt Questions
• Directly asking what information you need like "How do I turn on my computer?"
• ›Ask Indirect Questions
• Ask a question related to the information you need like "Have you had issues with your computer turning on? Would you mind taking a look at mine?"
• Talk with Third Parties
• Talk with related people, but not the specific person (e.g. ask your employees what are the things that annoy the boss the most) 
• ›Test the Limits
• Test the boundaries of corporate policies and people (e.g. testing how late you can come in, in the mornings--8 am, 8:30 am, 9 am, 11.....)
• ›Use Disguising Conversations



A similar example of disguising conversation. 

• Often used in the form of disclosure, disguising conversations tries to extract or prompt information to be exposed. For example if one was wanting to know about why employee A is continually showing up later and later to work, one might say to employee A "Corporate asks us to be here at 8, so I don't understand why so many people come at 9 or 10 or even later!" 

• ›Observe
• Watching behaviors in an unnoticeable/non-intrusive way (e.g. watching over a co-workers shoulders as they make a copy to learn how the copy machine works)
• ›Do Surveillance
• Reflecting on the observed behavior (e.g. spending the first day, absorbing and observing everything, and then reflecting on it all at home after work) 

Word of caution: 

*These techniques are not suitable for all conditions* 

Just like wilderness setting, how you survive in the desert will be different from that of the forest. 

Things to consider:

›-- Context

Sometimes overt questions make people think
less of you, but they also get information fast.

       What is the situation you are in? Are you addressing 
        relation uncertainty, referent, or ability? 
›--Need for information
       How fast do you need the information? The more
       quickly the more 
--›Individual characteristics
       Consider people's personality type and emotional 
       stability. Do they mind being bothered with 
       questions? Do they angry easily? 

›--Social Costs & Face Threat
       How will you be perceived? Will people see you less 
       competent if you ask overtly vs. indirectly?  


Used properly, these tips can help you survive your job get you closer to your dream job. 

Critical Approaches & Power Dynamics

Anonymous employee
*source: Google images*

Revealing systems of control and power 

In all organizations there is varying levels of power, control, and politics. It can affect the work environment, productivity, employee satisfaction and other aspects of an organization.

I conducted an interview with an employee who's company is the epitomy of "unfair and unnecessary power structures, procedures, and communication practices" (Gallagher, Erin. Critical Approaches, PPT slides, 2013)

To respect the employee and the organization, both will remain anonymous through out this blog entry. I will refer to the employee as [D] and his boss as [^^] and myself as [LT]. 

[LT] How is power distributed throughout the organization?
[D]: It's held by executive level
[LT]: How much voice does the average employee have? 

[D]: "There's little room to voice one's opinion. Even if we voice our opinions, it's not heard."

*image source dilbert.com*

*image source dilbert.com*

[LT]: What effect does this have on your abilities to achieve tasks, projects, and goals?

[D]: HA!

*image source dilbert.com*

[LT]: I see.... very discouraging, unsupportive, and inhibiting.

[D]: Pretty much. They think we are all idiots. We're micromanaged and given senseless tasks that we cannot accomplish  due to a lack of support, information, resources, and proper approvals to get anything done. 

[LT]: So the leadership is holding you back?

[D]: It's a never ending cycle...

*image source dilbert.com* 

[LT]: Would you describe the relationship with your manager positive or negative?

[D]: well.... it's more the latter than the former."

Simple Power *image source dilbert.com*

[LT]: What are some policies and that are hindering your productivity? 

[D]: "What isn't hindering my productivity? The constant procedures and policies are utter non-sense, but it keeps the power in upper-management's hands. As an employee, I don't have the ability to make simple decisions, and hence cannot complete my job in a timely or productive manner."

An example of bureaucratic control. *image source dilbert.com*

[D]: Technology does not work in our favor. It doesn't always make sense and the extra security procedures make it more complicated than necessary. I understand it is a way the company can keep control of their information, but it makes it harder and less convenient for us to use as employees. 

 [LT]: Do you at least have the technological support? 

*image source dilbert.com*

[LT]: Hmm.... certainly sounds like there are varying levels of control.

As organizational communication theories discuss, control comes in four forms of power: Simple,  Bureaucratic, Technological, and Concertive.

Simple power 

Simple power is the use of the authoritative power granted with a position of leadership. 

Bureaucratic power is referring to the policies and procedures necessary to follow.

Technological power is the power technology can provide to control one's actions. (i.e. security cameras, password protection codes, security clearances, blocked websites, etc.)

Bueacratic power 

Technology power

  





And finally, Concertive power is control through culture and identification. It's the pressure that co-workers apply to coerce one to follow certain norms and rules (typically established by upper management). 

Power and control is necessary. The question is, as an organization how can you use power and control without inhibiting productivity and demoralizing employees? 

There is no answer, only self analysis. 

As an employee you must realize you have a choice. That is your power. You have the choice to be submissive to the powers/control around you. You have a choice to stay at that establishment. Of course your choice will have consequences, so what are you willing to accept? What is it that corporate wants? Why are they employing these forms of power and control? If you know the answers to these you be begin to find other solutions. You can learn to be an influencer to change the way things are done. Consider the book How to Win Friends and Influences People by Dan Carnegie, as well as other persuasion and influence techniques. 

As a corporation, review what are the forms of power/control being exercised? What is their purpose? How is it affecting employee morale and productivity? How much extra stress and work in placed on you to maintain this power? How much control is really required? Rationalize this. How much can be dispersed to employees so they are empowered? What needs to be communicated and what training is necessary so that they are empowered? How can you monitor the quality and security still so you can release more power/control without inhibiting productivity or morale?

It's all a balancing act. If power and control is misused it can have detrimental effects, like it does with our guest employee [D]. It needs to be used responsibly and appropriately. If any cases sound too similar to the interview had....well...it's time to take a critical approach to the current establishment's power structure.