A521.9.4.RB - Reflections on Leadership

Reflections on Leadership Gregory Rutbell 21 December 2013 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Worldwide Campus For this Reflection Blog, I will create a reflection blog focusing on Denning's Chapter 12, "A Different Kind of Leader." In Chapter 12, Denning explicitly describes his dimensions of leadership. I will reflect on those dimensions and how I expect they will impact the way I lead in the future. Include specific examples of how at least THREE of Denning's dimensions manifest in my own application of leadership. In my current thinking, what is most important to me? The interactive leader works with the world rather than against it. The key is to read the world and let the world do some of the work for you rather than trying to manipulate and control others by imposing various kinds of boundaries, incentives, and disincentives to get compliance with your will. The interactive leader is someone who can overcome stronger adversaries by catalyzing and channeling his or her energy. (Denning, 2011) Interactive leadership both adds and subtracts elements from the leadership palette. Interactive leadership supplements the traditional management functions of command, control, regulation, analysis and optimization by adding new capabilities. It's not possible for leaders to exercise manipulative and spinning behavior in one part of their conduct and expect to be accepted as open, truthful, and trustworthy in other domains. (Denning, 2011) Interactive leadership builds on personal integrity and authenticity. Because you can communicate who you are and what you stand for, others come to know and respect you for that. Because you are attentive to the world as it is, your ideas are sound. Because you speak the truth, you are believed. Because you treat others as ends in themselves, not merely as means to your own ends, people trust you. Because you make your values explicit and act in accord with those values, your values become contagious and others start to share them. Because you listen to the world, the world listens to you. Because you are open to innovation, happy accidents happen. Because you bring meaning into the world of work, you are able to get superior results. (Denning, 2011) Interactive leadership doesn't depend on the possession of hierarchical authority. Anyone and everyone who can help clarify the direction or improve the structure, or secure support for it, or offer coaching that improves performance is providing leadership. (Denning, 2011) Interactive leadership benefits from an understanding of the different narrative patterns that can be used to get things done in the world. This involves telling stories, not talking about storytelling. Narrative depends on emotional intelligence, but it also puts emotional intelligence to work to achieve practical outcomes. (Denning, 2011) Above all, interactive leadership entails active participation in the world rather than detached from observation. And it is to this distinction that I now turn. (Denning, 2011) I attended a John Maxwell training class at work this spring titled "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership." He is an incredible speaker and subject matter expert on leadership and teams. He stated "everything rises and falls on leadership." When good leadership is in place an organization succeeds at customer satisfaction, employee retention, productivity and growth. Without sound organizational leadership an organization may experience lack of moral, high turnover rate and difficulty maintaining a strong public image. (Maxwell, 2007) Leadership is won or lost on body language! How do you want to present yourself, deliverable and "connect" with your audience? Your dress attire, hand shake, eye contact, posture (how you stand, walk and movements), gestures, voice (use your voice), smile etc. along with your interpersonal "soft" skills will make or break you. Are you "connecting" along with your deliverable to the audience? Leadership guru John C. Maxwell, researcher and author of the masterpiece book "Everyone Communicates Few Connect: What The Most Effective People Do Differently" states that it's not experience and talent that stands between you and success but "connecting" with people. This includes: finding common ground, keeping communication simple, capturing people's interest, inspiring people, staying authentic in all and your relationships. (Maxwell, 2010) There is a leadership crisis today. Leaders are important for three basic reasons. First, the success of failure of all organizations (including stock prices too) rests on the perceived quality of the people at the top. The second reason is that the change and upheaval of the past years have left us with no place to hide. Visionary navigators are needed who can develop and implement charted courses and plans for dead reckoning. The third reason is that we as a nation are alarmed by the pervasive erosion of the character and integrity of our organizations. (Bennis, 1989) Our quality of life depends on the quality of our leaders. If you've ever dreamed of becoming a leader, now's the time to make those dreams reality. The future needs a legacy from today's leaders, and those are far too few to answer the challenge. Bennis contributed to the field of leadership in extraordinary ways. One specific thing he expanded on is the idea of self-actualization and reflection. Bennis mentioned that it's important to reflect on our past experiences in order to begin to know ourselves and our world. It is through this reflection, that leaders can lead more effectively. (Bennis, 1989) Becoming a leader isn't easy but learning to lead is easier than one may think because every manager possesses an inventory of raw materials to become a genuine leader: experiences, observations, vision and others. The key is molding and integrating them that are unique and to your own self. Although everyone can become a leader not everyone will. Why? Because too many people are prisoners of their own inertia. They lack the will to change and develop their potential. People who are willing to overcome inertia can transform themselves if they really want it bad enough. Leadership comes from evolution instead of a series of individual lessons. (Bennis, 1989) Bennis on Understanding the Basics: According to Bennis (1989), the basic ingredients of leadership are having a guiding vision, passion, self-knowledge, candor, maturity, trust, curiosity, and daring. Bennis goes on to say that these are ingredients for becoming a leader and not traits, hence, we are not born with them but must develop them over years. Bennis on Knowing Yourself: In knowing yourself, Bennis (1989) outlines four lessons aimed at leaders. He tells us that we should be our own best teacher, we should accept responsibility, we can learn anything we want, and that true understanding comes from reflecting on our own experiences. Bennis (1989) mentions that we should really know ourselves and what we are capable of before we can lead others. In other words, knowing yourself gives you confidence to lead people. Bennis on Knowing the World: According to Bennis (1989), to become a leader we must know our world as well as we know ourselves. We know our world through learning. We do this learning through our experiences, our reading, our formalized instruction, our travels, our mentors and our own mistakes. But it's not just learning, it's about having a passion for learning; it's about losing yourself in the reading, education, travel, friends, and reflections. Bennis on Operating on Instinct: A leader is a person that knows himself, knows his world and relies on everything he’s learned to set a guiding vision. A leader uses prior knowledge to make difficult decisions based on “gut” feelings. Bennis (1989) calls this visions “inner voices,” which leaders learn to trust when making decisions based on limited data or information. Bennis on Forging the Future: According to Bennis (1989), leaders forge the future by managing the dream, embracing error, encouraging reflective backtalk and dissent, possessing optimism, providing hope and faith, develop understanding, possessing the touch, seeing the long view, understanding stakeholders, and creating strategic alliances. It's not as easy as it seems. Leaders must be able to manage internal and external change while leading the organization to a shared future. It will inspire and motivate the reader to Bennis (1989) theory can be summed up into one sentence. A great leader must first know himself and his world, then and only then can they lead through a shared set of values and objectives with the passion and determination of turning the shared vision into a reality. In his 1989 book titled On Becoming a Leader, Warren Bennis outlined the principles and implementation plan for becoming a leader. He sums up his book with three top recommendations for leaders. They include the status quo is unacceptable, recruiting and retaining smart people leads to competitive advantage, and followers need direction, trust and hope. Organizations cannot be reengineered, downsized, or even managed to prosperity, success, greatness and excellence; they can only be led. Work harder at using influence to bring out the best in others and to direct that toward the benefit of the organizations that are served by the leader. (Bennis, 1989). References Bennis, Warren (1989). On Becoming a Leader. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Books Group. Denning, Stephen (2011). The Leader's Guide to Storytelling - Mastering The Art and Discipline of Business Narrative. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.). Maxwell, John (2010). Everyone Communicates Few Connect: What The Most Effective People Do Differently. Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson. Maxwell, John (2007). The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You. Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson.

A521.8.4.RB - Making Contact

McKay, Davis and Fanning provide some direction for making contact with strangers. How comfortable are you striking up a conversation with someone new?. Are you able to "work a room" with ease? In your blog, reflect on aspects of your personality and/or upbringing which make you able to relate to strangers easily—or not so easily. What lessons can you take from Chapter 14 of Messages to improve your ability to connect with others? The world is full of interesting strangers. Every day potential friends and lovers pass you in the hallway and the parking lot. They eat next you. They wait on you in the store. Your glances meet and shyly slide away. It's scary to step out of your anonymous role and make contact. What would they think? What would I do if I was rejected. (McKay, Davis, and Fanning, 2012) Fear of strangers comes from two sources: outmoded nineteenth-century social restrictions and your own self-depreciating internal monologue. Nineteenth-century rules mandated that strangers must be introduced by a third party before initiating conversation. It was off-limits for unacquainted people to approach for anything more intimate than asking directions. People out in public were isolated from those around them. These rules contributed to the modern-day phenomenon of loneliness in the midst of crowds - people bustling everywhere but forbidden to make the slightest contact. (McKay, Davis, and Fanning, 2012) Your fear of strangers may have been influenced by habitual negative thoughts. I may say things like this to myself: "They don't want to talk to me." "They probably won't like me." It's hopeless." "I'm too awkward, too ugly, too short, too stupid." In each case you view yourself as someone inferior, unworthy, and unattractive. Like the comic strip character Charlie Brown, you imagine that other people are always heroes while you are always the goat. The belief that you are unworthy inevitably leads to awkward self-consciousness and the painful conclusion that people you could enjoy won't enjoy you. (McKay, Davis, and Fanning, 2012) It is important to analyze what you say to yourself. Imagine that you are in a doctor's waiting room and have just started a conversation with an attractive person of the opposite sex. The person listens for a moment, makes a few perfunctory responses, and returns to reading a magazine. Now notice your internal monologue. Are you blaming yourself for the rejection? What fault have you found with yourself for the other person's disinterest? Are you using global labels to describe yourself, such as "stupid," "lame," "ridiculous," and so on? Negative judgments and labels should be changed. Make a list of your negative labels and devaluing statements. Make a commitment to yourself to use descriptive rather than negative labels in your internal monologues. The hard part is sticking with your nonjudgmental descriptions when trying to approach someone or after you've been rejected. The solution is to make a list of your significant positive and negative qualities. The negative qualities are nonjudgmental descriptions. The positive qualities are things you realistically like or take pride in. (McKay, Davis, and Fanning, 2012) Reframe your approach behavior. Meeting with interesting strangers shouldn't be a test to see if they want to sleep with you, want to be your friend or mate, or even particularly like you. It's merely an opportunity to begin getting to know someone who interests you. You're curious about what will happen but not worried about it. You don't want anything from the other person; you are merely offering your time and interest. A refusal of your interest is a lost opportunity, nothing more or less. (McKay, Davis, and Fanning, 2012) Reframe rejection. When you approach a stranger, you are offering a gift - the gift of interaction. If the other person declines the offer, you may frame the rejection in a variety of ways. You may see yourself as inadequate and unworthy, you may focus on your physical and character flaws, or you may bear yourself up as socially incompetent. The problem with these frames is that they assume facts not in evidence. You are mind reading. Mind reading will almost always get you in trouble by leading you to the most negative possible interpretation for any refusal. The best thing to do if you are rejected is to assume there are personal reasons for the refusal that have little to do with you. If you want more information, ask for clarification. (McKay, Davis, and Fanning, 2012) You should expect to get soundly rejected at least three times a week. This means that you've found yourself interested in someone who, for one of hundreds of possible reasons, wasn't receptive to your interest at the moment. How can you deal with an emotional blow? Your deep breathing and body awareness can act as a sort of thought stopper and keep you from psychologically kicking yourself. Later, when you're in a quiet place, think back and notice how many of your assumptions were right or wrong. Did you enjoy yourself at all? Did you experience any sense of accomplishment in meeting a challenge. (McKay, Davis, and Fanning, 2012) There are two basic rules for successfully making contact. First, you have to give what you would like to receive, which means that the attention, interest, respect and liking that you want must also be something you offer to others. Second, you have to have an outward rather than an inward focus. You listen to the other person instead of rehearsing your next remark or worrying about your hair or your awkwardness. Body language is very important in making contact: • move toward the other person • lean forward • uncross your arms and legs • make eye contact • smile • let your responses show • touch the other person (McKay, Davis, and Fanning, 2012) The art of conversation has several guidelines for making contact: • use icebreakers • ask questions • listen actively • disclose a little about yourself (McKay, Davis, and Fanning, 2012) References McKay, Matthew, Davis, Martha and Fanning, Patrick (2012). Messages: The Communication Skills Book (3rd ed.). Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications, Inc.

A521.7.4.RB - Knowledge Sharing Story

With $85 billion in annual revenues and 170,000 employees, Boeing is quite literally the biggest airplane-building company in the world. Just one of its airplane models, the ubiquitous 737, has carried more than 16.8 billion passengers over its lifetime -- more than twice the population of the globe. So chances are, if you're breathing today, you've probably flown on a Boeing. Yet as familiar as the Boeing brand is to us, there's still a lot about the company that a lot of people don't know. Here are just a few of those things. (Boeing, 2013)

1. Look up in the air! That's not Superman. That's a Boeing 737!
Take that 737, for example. You've probably heard that it's the "best-selling commercial aircraft in aviation history," right? More than 11,500 orders placed? More than 7,700 planes delivered? What you may not know is what those numbers mean in practice. As a result of its immense sales success, there are now so many 737s in service around the globe that, on average, a 737 airplane takes off or lands somewhere around the globe once every two seconds. And any given moment, 2,000 of Boeing's 737 workhorses are probably airborne. So yes, if you "look! Up in the sky!" -- chances are that thing you see with the sunlight glinting off it is neither a bird, nor a Superman, but a Boeing 737. Other commercial products include: 747-800, 777, 767, and the revolutionary carbon fiber (composites) 787 Dreamliner. The newly launched 777X at the November Dubai Air Show will change wide body international global flight. The KC-46 refueling tanker and strategic transport, P-8A Poseidon "Sub Hunter," and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet multirole fighter will help the US Air Force and Navy maintain global leadership. Take that, EADS - Airbus! (Boeing, 2013)                

2. Boeing's older than your grandfather -- and richer, too
Impressive as this sounds, it's actually old hat for Boeing. It's been 110 years since Orville and Wilbur Wright took their first powered air flight in Kill Devil Hills, N.C. But within just 13 years of the Wright Brothers' invention of the airplane, Boeing had invented the airplane company.

Founded by William E. Boeing in 1916 in Seattle, Boeing today employs roughly 170,000 people and has a presence in nearly half the countries on the globe. It sells $85 billion worth of merchandise annually, and while its 7.6% operating profit margin isn't the best in the business (that honor goes to Brazilian planemaker Embraer), Boeing is 73% more profitable than archrival Airbus. (Boeing, 2013)

 3. Boeing's come a long way (baby)
How did Boeing get so big, and so good at what it does? In part because the company's a high-tech wonder. We tend to take airplanes for granted. But did you ever wonder how they get made -- or where they get made?

Seventy-five percent of the commercial aircraft in use today were built by Boeing. Statistically speaking, most of the airplanes you've ever flown on probably got put together at Boeing's Everett Factory, just north of Seattle. By volume, Boeing's Everett factory is the largest building ever constructed in the world. Bigger than the Pentagon. Bigger than the Mall of America. It's so big that at one point, Boeing's engineers were worried that clouds might form inside, near the ceiling. So they put in an air circulation system to prevent cloud formation. (How many companies have that problem?) (Boeing, 2013)

 4. Planes in space
Everyone knows that Boeing builds planes. But did you know its high-tech expertise goes all the way into space? It's true. In 1995, Boeing joined forces with Lockheed Martin to form the United Space Alliance, which helps NASA with space launch and recovery operations and mission planning and control, and it even trains astronauts for spaceflight. A decade later, Boeing and Lockheed integrated further by forming the United Launch Alliance, which performs space launches for the Department of Defense, NASA, and the National Reconnaissance Office.

Boeing "turned over the keys" of the International Space Station's on-orbit segment to NASA in 2010, but it still plays an integral role in integrating new components into the station. (Boeing, 2013)

5. A 21st-century technological wonder, with a workforce still living in the 1950s
At the same time as its technological achievements astound, in some ways Boeing is still a slave to tradition -- for example, in its employment practices. You've probably heard by now about some of the problems Boeing has been having with its labor unions. What you may not know, though, is that union negotiations and labor strikes are a problem fast becoming unique to Boeing.

According to The Wall Street Journal, 35% of American workers were members of one labor union or another back in the 1950s. Six decades later, that number's just 6.6% ... everywhere but at Boeing, where union membership soars to 39%. Twelve U.S. labor unions have Boeing workers on their rolls.

The two biggest players are the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) -- and Boeing literally cannot work without them. They comprise 13% and 21% of Boeing's workforce, respectively. And every five years or so, they begin new contract negotiations that threaten to bring the whole high-tech wonder that is Boeing to a screeching halt. (Boeing, 2013)                         6. Legacy of leadership
As our leaders grow, our company grows. The Boeing Leadership Center in St. Louis was modeled after General Electric - Crotonville. Leadership development is the foundation for our continued success at Boeing. Through our disciplined approach to leadership development, guided by leaders at every level of the company, we improve the skills of our people. Boeing people have been the source of our innovation and success for nearly 100 years -- they are our leaders. Their creativity, passion, and desire to develop the next great innovation have made Boeing the world's aerospace leader -- from the 1916 B & W Seaplane and the aerial refueling KC-135 jet tanker, to today's revolutionary 787 Dreamliner and combat-proven F/A-18 Hornet. Everyone is a leader. And as our people grow as leaders, our company grows. It's that simple.

For the fifth straight year, Boeing was named the No. 1 innovator among aerospace and defense companies. Boeing has been awarded 14,251 patents around the world over the past 20 years. More than 140,000 of Boeing's 175,000 employees hold college degrees. Boeing is the #1 exporter in the United States -- a position the company has held for the last decade. (Boeing, 2013)                                                                                                                                                  7. The Greatest International Competition in Business                                                                   Boeing versus Airbus is the greatest international competition and rivalry in business history. Airbus is a European consortium including England, France, Germany and Spain. Both organizations have about a 50/50 split in sales revenues and number of aircraft. Both organizations try to beat the other at their own strategy and tactics. Both attend prestigious international showcase events including Paris Air Show and Dubai Air Show to showcase and sell the latest technological innovations in aviation. (Newhouse, 2007)

References

Boeing. (2013). [On-Line] Available http://www.boeing.com/         

Denning, Stephen (2011). The Leader's Guide to Storytelling - Mastering The Art and Discipline

            of Business Narrative. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.).                                                                                                                                             Newhouse, John (2007). Boeing Versus Airbus. United States: Alfred A. Knopf.

A521.6.3.RB - High Performance Teams

 

 

High Performance Teams  

 

Gregory Rutbell           

 

29 November 2013         

 

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Worldwide Campus       

 

 

           

           

            Identify the elements of high-performance teams, shared values, and review the four patterns of working together. In your RB:                                                                                      1) Detail one positive and one negative experience.                                                                  2) Connect these experiences to the readings and module objectives.                               3) What could you have done to influence the outcomes?                                                     A team has a time-bound, predefined operational objective, with commitments to produce some product or service. A team is focused on accomplishing a task. Members of a team are connected by interdependent tasks and values. Membership in a team tends to be a matter of appointment by the organization. (Denning, 2011)                                                                                       High-performance teams goals relate to doing something. High-performance teams are exceptional. In addition to having the basics in place: clear goal, appropriate leadership and membership, and  adequate resources and support, high-performance teams exhibit characteristics of community as well:                                                                                                    1. High-performance teams actively shape the expectations of those who use their output    - and then exceed the resulting expectations.                                                                                    2. High-performance teams rapidly adjust their performance to the shifting needs of the       situation. The innovate on the fly, seizing opportunities and turning setbacks into good      fortune.                                                                                                                                   3. High performance teams grow steadily stronger. Over time, members come to know             one another's strengths and weaknesses and become highly skilled in coordinating their    activities, anticipating each other's next moves, and initiating appropriate responses as             those moves are occurring.                                                                                                                  4. The members of a high-performance team grow individually. Mutual concern for each other's personal growth enables high-performance teams to develop interchangeable skills     and hence greater flexibility.                                                                                                              5. Fueled by interpersonal commitments, the purposes of high-performance teams      become nobler, team performance goals more urgent, and team approach more powerful.               6. High-performance teams carry out their work with shared passion. The notion that "if    one fails, we all fail" pervades the team. (Denning, 2011)                                                                   The experience of being a member of a high-performance team is deeply meaningful. According to Peter Senge, "When you ask people about what it is like being a part of a great team, what is most striking is the meaningfulness of the experience. People talk about being part of something larger than themselves, of being connected, of being generative. It becomes quite clear that for many, their experiences as part of truly great teams stand out as singular periods of life lived to the fullest. Some spend the rest of their lives looking for ways to recapture the spirit." (Denning, p. 156) Thus even when the job is over and the team has disbanded, the members tend to have reunions to reminisce and relive the experience. (Denning, 2011)                                  According to Katzenbach and Smith in The Wisdom of Teams, "What sets apart high-performance teams... is the degree of commitment, particularly how deeply committed the members are to one another. Such commitments go well beyond civility and teamwork. Each genuinely helps the others to achieve personal and professional goals. Furthermore, such commitments extend beyond company activities and even beyond the life of the team itself." (Denning, p. 157) To put it another way, high-performance teams have the characteristics of effective communities: a web of affect-laden relationships; a commitment to shared values, norms and meanings; a shared history and identity; and a relatively high level of responsiveness to members and to the world. (Denning, 2011)                                                                                              Managers have import roles and responsibilities in establishing the basic operating arrangements for teams and communities. In the case of teams, managers need to establish direction, membership, resources, recognition and accountability. Managers can implement these basics with conventional management techniques by taking the necessary hierarchical decisions. But hierarchical approaches cannot generate either high-performance teams. According to Richard Hackman in Leading Teams, "There is no way to 'make' a team perform well. Teams create their own realities and control their own destinies to a far greater extent, and far sooner in their lives, than we generally recognized." (Denning, p. 157) (Denning, 2011)                                              It's not that the standard management techniques are ineffective in the area of high-performance teams. They can be actually harmful. Attempts to formalize or blueprint processes typically kill the passion of high performance teams. The result is that high-performance teams slide back into mere competence. The techniques of directing, controlling, and deciding that are used in traditional management to optimize and standardize repetitive processes are ill suited to inspiring and energizing high-performance teams. That's because these techniques are "designed for aliveness." (Denning, p. 158) (Denning, 2011)                                                                                       The ability of a team to collaborate is essential to team effectiveness. A collaborative climate is one in which members can stay problem focused, listen to and understand one another, feel free to take risks, and be willing to compensate for one another. To build an atmosphere that fosters collaboration, we need to develop trusting relationships based on honesty, openness, consistency, and respect. Integration of individual actions is one of the fundamental characteristics of effective teams. Team members "have specific and unique roles, where the performance of each role contributes to collective success. This means that the causes of team failure may reside not only in member inability, but also in their collective failure to coordinate and synchronize their individual contributions." (Northhouse, p. 301) Research demonstrates that effective team leaders ensure a collaborative climate by making communication safe, demanding and rewarding collaborative behavior, guiding the team's problem-solving efforts, and managing their own control needs. (Northhouse, 2013)                                                                                    Table 1                                                                                                                           Comparison of Theory and Research Criteria                                                             Conditions of Group Effectiveness                          Characteristics of Team Exellence     Clear, engaging direction                                         Clear, elevating goal                         Enabling structure                                                         Results-driven structure                                                                                                                      Competent team members                                                                                                                  Unified commitment                                                                                                                           Collaborative climate                        Enabling content                                                           Standards of excellence                   Adequate material resources                                          External support and recognition           Expert coaching                                                       Principled leadership                        (Northhouse, 2013)                                                                                                                                     High-performing teams share many traits. Healthcare company Kaiser Permanente conducted a research study of 16 of its high-performing teams in five different regions of the United States. The study found that the teams shared the following characteristics:                                       1. Strong leadership. Acting more like coaches than managers, team leaders share information - financial, performance, staffing, and so forth - with team members so that everyone is in the loop and understands the big picture. Also, multiple team members have the opportunity to rotate into the leadership role.                                                                                                            2. Line of sight. Team members have a clear understanding of how their actions influence the overall strategic goals of the organization. In support of this objective, performance metrics should be understandable and accessible to all team members.                                                            3. Team cohesion. High-performance teams find ways to build cohesion among members, whether it's through regular team meetings, posting summaries of meetings or announcements, or by e-mail.                                                                                                                                                           4. Process improvement. High-performing teams use structured approaches to improving their performance, whether Dr. Deming's "Plan-So-Study-Act" process, the use of "huddles" (i.e., short meetings without a formal agenda) or the use of "status meetings" (short meetings with a formal agenda of reporting status of a project, production, etc.).                                                         5. Infrastructure and support. Ongoing training is often used in high-performance teams to ensure a "shared language and set of expectations" among team members. Also, high-performance teams obtain the support of internal sponsors and mentors who can help the team obtain the resources necessary for the team's success.                                                         (Ivancevich, Konopaske, and Matteson, 2014)                                                                            Table 2                                                                                                                          Differences between Conventional and High-Performance Teams                 Charactertics                         High-Performance Teams                Conventional Teams Leadership                             Within the team                            Outside the team            Team member role                Interchangeable                                   Fixed                          Accountability                         Team                                                   Individual                       Work effort                             Cohesive                                             Divided                            Task design                                    Flexible                                               Fixed                              Skills                                                Multiskilled                                         Specialized           (Ivancevich, Konopaske, and Matteson, 2014)                                                                     Table 3                                                                                                                              Benefits of High-Performance Teams                                                                                              1. Greater improvements in quality, speed, process and innovation.                              2. A sense of belonging and ownership in one's work.                                                        3. Greater employee motivation.                                                                                             4. Accelerated new product and process development.                                                                     5. Greater employee participation.                                                                                                      6. Reduced operational costs because of reductions in managerial ranks and greater           efficiencies.                                                                                                                             7. Greater employee job satisfaction, commitment, and productivity and lower turnover    and absenteeism rates.                                                                                                                        (Ivancevich, Konopaske, and Matteson, 2014)                                                                                 The last few decades have seen a massive shift toward working together, for many reasons:                                                                                                                                                1. The work requires it. Working together with others is necessary to achieve increased speed to market, faster product development, better customer service, lower costs, and the opening of new markets. No individual has the expertise necessary to get everything done. Collaboration has become a critical competency for achieving and sustaining high-performance.            2. People want it. After several hundred years of emphasis on the development of the individual, the pendulum has begun to shift back toward an interest in being together. Growing numbers of people are interested in moving from a world of "me" to a world of "we."                             3. Technology has made it possible. Radical changes in the ability to stay in touch with others, by e-mail, the Web, and cell phones, have resulted in a global explosion of connectivity. Technology makes it possible for people to be spatially dispersed and still connected together. (Denning, 2011)                                                                                                                               The rapid growth of the numbers of teams, communities, and networks is likely to continue:                                                                                                                                                  1. Geographically dispersed teams can now be scattered around the world and communicate fully with each other. As global supply chains proliferate, it's increasingly common to see goods designed on one continent, manufactured on another, and sold on a third. Ever-faster cycle times require closer and more agile collaboration.                                                      2.  Communities of practice are recognized as essential for knowledge sharing in an organization. All organizations eventually discover that sharing knowledge happens systematically only when informal networks or communities of practice are in place.                                     3. Mergers and acquisitions tend to fail as a result of the clash of cultures. Often a merger brings together groups that have been fighting each other as competitors, maybe for generations. The management then expects the members of these groups to work together. These situations make it urgent to figure out how to get people working together rapidly and naturally.                      4. Supply chain management is moving toward federated planning. The traditional approach in which the organization being supplied is seen as the commander of all the organizations that provide products or services, with the result that communications flow in single direction and suggestions from suppliers are not on the table, is giving way to an approach in which supply chain partners collaborate to address the trade-offs and break constraints across the extended enterprise. Suppliers become genuine partners. (Denning, 2011)                  

            A positive experience I have had from working together is with Boeing. Boeing merged with McDonnell Douglas and Rockwell International in 1997 creating the world's largest aerospace company. The journey has taken almost twenty years to integrate different cultures into one. The end result has created the world's leading aerospace company working together to create the future of flight. Vision 2016 states "People working together as a global enterprise for aerospace leadership." Working together social events include: luncheons, family picnics, barbeques, and sporting events. Working together community service events include: World Vision Books and Backpacks for schools and children, volunteer events at food banks, etc. Boeing Values include:                                                                                             Leadership

Integrity

Quality

Customer satisfaction

People working together

A diverse and involved team

Global corporate citizenship

Enhancing shareholder value                                                                                                 (Boeing, 2013)                                                                                                                                     One negative experience is my high-performance industrial engineering team was downgraded from a high level to a low level because of poor performance. Why did this happen? We lost focus and scope of team roles and responsibilities including ineffective communication. We now have bi-weekly team meetings including high-performance team training, working together events, and goals objectives four panel chart summaries.                                                                                          

 

References

Boeing. (2013). [On-Line] Available http://www.boeing.com/.        

Denning, Stephen (2011). The Leader's Guide to Storytelling - Mastering The Art and Discipline

            of Business Narrative. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.).

Ivancevich, John M., Konopaske, Robert, and Matteson, Michael T. (2014). Organizational                                                                                                                                                                       Behavior & Management (10th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.  

Lussier, Robert N. and Achua, Christopher F. (2013) Leadership: Theory, Application & Skill                                                                                                                                                       Development. (5th ed). Mason, Ohio: South-Western, Cengage Learning.   

Northhouse, Peter G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice (6th ed.). Thousand Oaks,                                                                                                                                                              California: SAGE.

 

             

 

                                                                                                                                                                                   

 

 

A521.5.4.RB - Aligning Values

Aligning Values  

 

Gregory Rutbell           

 

23 November 2013         

 

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Worldwide Campus       

 

 

 

           

           

            Organizations are formed through the process of communication. As organizations meet and interact, they develop a shared meaning for events. As organizational meet and interact, they develop a shared meaning for events. Communication is not contained within the organization. Instead, communication is the organization. (Hackman and Johnson, 2013)                                                In recent years communication scholars and others have borrowed the idea of culture from the field of anthropology to describe how organizations create shared meanings. From a cultural perspective, the organization resembles a tribe. Over time, the tribe develops its own language, hierarchy, ceremonies, customs and beliefs. Because each organizational tribe shares different experiences and meanings, each develops its own unique way of seeing the worls or culture. Anyone who joins a new company, governmental agency, or nonprofit group quickly recognizes unique differences in perspectives. New employees often undergo culture shock as they move into an organization with a different language, authority structure, and attitude toward work and people. Even long-term members can feel out of place if they change positions within the same organization. Each department or branch office may represent a distinct subculture. (Hackman and Johnson, 2013)                                                                                                            Edgar Schein is a management scholar and consultant interested in the role of leaders in the development and maintenance of organizational culture. His 1992 classic book - Organizational Culture and Leadership - describes a model of dividing organizational culture into three levels -  Level 1: Artifacts, Level 2: Espoused Values, and Level 3: Basic Assumptions. The second level of Schein's model of culture is composed of individual and group values. Values represent preferences or what "ought" to happen. For example, an individual with a value for hard work will probably spend long hours at the office. A manager who values innovativeness will reward workers who come up with new and better ideas for getting the job done. Thus, this level of culture represents a mosaic of beliefs about how things ought to be done in an organization. Several interesting points should be included about this second level of culture. First, organizations do not have values, but individuals do. Not all values will hold equal "weight" in an organization. Many scholars believe that the values of the organizational founder or leader play a critical role in shaping the organization's culture. For example, the organizational culture of the White House shifts when there is a new presidential administration. A second point about the value level of culture is that sometimes individuals say they hold a particular value, but their behavior belies that statement. Thus, Schein labels this second level of culture "espoused values," emphasizing that stated value and behavior don't always match. For example, a manager might say that she values the contributions of employees in decision-making. However, that same manager might consistently make decisions without seeking employee input. (Hackman & Johnson, 2013)                                                                                                                                    Values are recognized and acknowledged by organization members. Values reflect what the organization "ought" to do. They serve as a yardstick for judging behavior. One way to identify important values is by examining credos, vision and mission statements, and advertising slogans. words like "concern," "quality," and "corporate responsibility" articulate the official goals and standards of the organization. (Hackman & Johnson, 2013)                                                             A good way to determine how an organization views itself and the world is by listening carefully to the language that organizational members use. Word choices reflect and reinforce working relationships and values. The selection of the word "we" is revealing. It reflects a willingness to share power and credit and to work with others. The choice of terms to describe followers also provides important insights into organizational life. For example, using the term "associates" rather than "employees" suggests that all organizational participants are important members of the team. Workers at Disney theme parks are called "cast members" to emphasize that they have significant roles to play in the overall performance for visitors who are, in turn, called "guests." Language is a powerful motivator that focuses attention on some aspects of experience and directs it away from others. Those who speak of innovation or quality workmanship ("BMW - The Ultimate Driving Machine") are generally more likely to provide creative and well-crafted products. In addition, a common language binds group members together. (Hackman & Johnson, 2013)                                                                                                        Organizational stories carry multiple messages. They reflect important values, inspire, describe what members should do, and provide a means to vent emotions. In many cases, organizational members are more likely to believe the stories they hear from coworkers than the statistics they hear from management. For example, workers at Intel tell the story of a manager who was fired after receiving an average performance evaluation. She was dismissed because "there are no average employees at Intel." This story makes it clear that the company has high expectations of its members. (Hackman & Johnson, 2013)                                                                         Rituals, rites and routines involve repeated patterns of behavior: saying "hello" in the morning to everyone on the floor; an annual staff retreat; or disciplinary procedures. Common rites include:                                                                                                                                         1. Rites of passage - these events mark important changes in roles and statuses.                  2. Rites of degradation - some rituals are used to lower the status of organizational                members, such as when a coach or top executive is fired.                                                                       3. Rites of enhancement - raise the standing of organizational members.                          4. Rites of renewal - strengthen the current system.                                                                           5. Rites of conflict reduction - organizations routinely use collective bargaining task      forces, and committees to resolve conflicts.                                                                                       6. Rites of integration - tie subgroups to the large system.                                                                      7. Rites of creation - celebrate and encourage change, helping organizations remain          flexible in turbulent environments marked by rapid shifts in markets and technology.                      8. Rites of transition - meetings, speeches, and other strategies can help organizational           members accept changes that they didn't plan, as in the case of an unexpected merger.                        9. Rites of parting - when organizations die, parting ceremonies (e.g., meals etc) are           common.                                                                                                                                    (Hackman & Johnson, 2013)                                                                                                              Leaders concern themselves with much more than organizational charts, information management systems, and all the other traditional subjects of management training. The pay close attention to the assumptions, values and symbols that create and reflect organizational culture. Organizational psychologist highlights the significant role that leaders play in the creation of organizational culture: "Neither culture or leadership, when one examines each closely, can really be understood by itself. In fact, one could argue that the only thing of real importance that leaders do is to create and manage culture and that the unique talent of leaders is their ability to understand and work with culture." Schein notes that the responsibilities of symbolic leaders shift as the organization matures. The founder/owner, in addition to determining the group's purpose, imparting values, and recruiting followers, provides stability and reduces the anxiety people feel when an organization is just starting out. A new organization often struggles with meeting its payroll, developing a market niche, and managing growth. The seeds of future problems are often sown during the organization's initial stage of development. For example, the founder/leader might emphasize teamwork but continue to make all major decisions. Other founders do not perform as effectively as leaders once the organization has been firmly established. Founders/leaders often lay the groundwork for future change by promoting people who will share some, but not all, of their values. Once the organization reaches mid-life and maturity, leaders (frequently someone other than the founder) become change agents who intervene to challenge cultural assumptions, reinforce key values, or create new symbols. (Hackman & Johnson, 2013)                                                                                                                                   Your effectiveness as a leader will depend in large part on how well you put your "stamp" on an organization's culture or subcultures either as a founder or as a change agent. Perhaps you want to introduce more productive values and practices or encourage innovation as part of your vision or agenda. Cultural change, while necessary, is far from easy. Some organizational consultants sell programs that promise to modify organizational culture in quick and orderly fashion. Such claims, which treat culture as yet another element housed in the organizational container, are misleading. (Hackman & Johnson, 2013)                                                         Change is difficult because cultures are organized around deeply rooted assumptions and values that affect every aspect of organizational life. Current symbols and goals provide organizational and individual stability, so any innovation can be threatening. However, knowing how culture is embedded and transmitted can help you guide the cultural creation and change process. According to Edgar Schein, there are six primary and sin secondary mechanisms you can use to establish and maintain culture. Primary mechanisms create the organization's "climate" and are most important tools for shaping culture. Secondary mechanisms serve a supporting role, reinforcing messages sent through the primary mechanisms.                                Primary Mechanisms                                                                                                                                      1. Attention - systematically and persistently emphasize those values that undergird your     organization's philosophy or plan.                                                                                                       2. Reactions to critical incidents - the way you respond to stressful events sends    important messages about underlying organizational assumptions.                                                          3. Resource allocation - how an organization spends its money is a key indicator of where    it is headed.                                                                                                                                         4. Role modeling - effective leaders work to develop others who share their vision.     Become a coach and teacher to followers, particularly to those who are directly      underneath you on the organization ladder. You can also instill organizational philosophy         through formal training programs. Hewlett-Packard estimates that one-third of its initial           training session is devoted to discussing the "Hewlett-Packard Way." Employee       evaluation is partially based on how well workers adhere to the HP philosophy.                              5. Rewards - rewards, recognition and punishments (corrective action) based on     individual and team performance.                                                                                                      6. Selection - since organizations tend to perpetuate existing values and assumptions by          hiring people who fit into the current system, reform the culture by recruiting members             who share your new perspective rather than the old one. Promote those who support your    vision; if necessary, help those who won't or can't change find employment at another             organization.                                                                                                                                       (Hackman & Johnson, 2013)                                                                                        Secondary Mechanisms                                                                                                              1. Structure - organizational design and structure affect how leaders divide up such things as product lines, markets, and work responsibilities. Some structures emphasize the             interdependence of organizational units, for example, while others encourage each             department or branch to operate as independently as possible.                                             2. Systems and procedures - quarterly reports, monthly meetings, work routines, and           other recurring tasks occupy much of our time in organizations. You can use these       organizational routines to reinforce the message that you care about certain activities.                    3. Rites and rituals - to encourage change, nonessential rituals (those with little meaning    for participants) can be dropped, essential rituals can be adapted to new purposes, and         new rituals can be created. Rites of passage and enhancement are the best ways to          encourage change.                                                                                                                               4. Physical space - the physical layout of your organization's facilities can transmit your   values, but only if you pay close attention to the messages you send through these             elements.                                                                                                                                                5. Stories - consider creating new stories and changing old ones.                                                  6. Formal statements - credos and mission statements reflect important values. Such      statements can help you and your constituents clarify your thinking. If members          understand the philosophy of the organization and have a statement of its goals, they can quickly make decisions about what actions will help their company or nonprofit group.                               According to Mahatma Gandhi, "We must be the change we wish to see in the world."                (Hackman & Johnson, 2013)                                                                                                    James Rest and his colleagues at the Center for the Study of Ethical Development at the University of Minnesota believe that ethical behavior is the product of four intrapersonal and interpersonal communication processes. Ethical failure occurs when one of these processes malfunctions. By understanding these components, we can improve our performance and help our followers do the same.  

Component 1: Moral Sensitivity (Recognition)                                                                                              Moral sensitivity is identifying the existence of ethical problems. We can't solve a moral problem unless we first recognize that one exists. This component involves acknowledging that our behavior impacts others, identifying possible course of action, and determining the consequences of each possible strategy. Empathy and perspective-taking skills are essential if we are to predict the possible consequences of our actions and to evaluate the effectiveness of various options. We need to imagine how others might feel or react. However, we can be victimized by moral tunnel vision when our mental scripts don't include ethical considerations. Moral muteness is also a problem. All too often leaders are reluctant to use ethical terminology when describing situations, perhaps because they want to avoid conflict or believe that their silence will make them appear in control. (Hackman & Johnson, 2013)                        Component 2: Moral Judgment                                                                                                          Moral judgment is deciding which course of action identified in the first component is the right one to follow. Decision makers determine what is the right or wrong thing to do in this particular situation. Moral judgment is the most studied component of Rest's model including studies of moral judgment using an instrument called the Defining Issues Test in which respondents read moral dilemmas and then rank a series of items that reveal what they take into consideration when making ethical choices. According to Rest, the highest form of ethical reasoning is based on broad principles like justice, cooperation, and respect for others. Results from the Defining Issues Test indicate that we can increase our ethical competence. There is a strong link between higher education and reasoned decision making. People in college and graduate school demonstrate the greatest gains in moral development. However, insecurities, greed, and ego can subvert the reasoning process, contributing to the downfall of such prominent leaders including Martha Stewart, John Edwards and former House majority leader Tom DeLay. Base your decisions on widely accepted ethical principles. Be alert to the possibility of faulty reasoning - consult with others to check your perceptions against reality and stay close to people who will tell you the truth and hold you accountable. (Hackman & Johnson, 2013)                  Component 3: Moral Motivation                                                                                                  Moral motivation refers to following through on choices. The desire to do the right thing generally comes in conflict with other values like security, wealth and social acceptance. Ethical behavior results if moral values take precedence over other considerations. Leaders and followers are more likely to follow through when they are rewarded for doing so. Lockheed Martin, for example, encourages ethical behavior by evaluating ethical performance as part of the review process and by giving out an annual ethics award to senior-level managers. Emotions, like rewards, also influence ethical motivation. In general, positive feelings like happiness, jpy, and optimism encourage individuals to follow through while negative emotions like anger, frustration, stress, and depression lower motivation and instead encourage aggression and other antisocial behaviors. You can increase your moral motivation and that of your followers by creating an ethically rewarding environment and managing your emotions. (Hackman & Johnson, 2013)                                                                                                                  Component 4: Moral Character                                                                                                    Moral character is the implementation of the model. Opposition, fatigue, distractions, and other factors are formidable barriers to ethical action. Overcoming these obstacles takes persistence. Those with a strong will are more likely to persist as well as those with an internal locus of control. Internally oriented people (internals) are convinced they have control over their lives and can determine what happens to them. Externally oriented people (externals) believe what happens in life is generally outside  their control and is the product of such forces as fate or luck. Internals are more likely to take personal responsibility for their actions and therefore try to do what is right. Externals are more likely to give in to situational pressures and to give up rather than to carry on. Successful implementation requires competence as well as persistence. (Hackman & Johnson, 2013)                                                                                                                         Creating an Ethical Environment: Defensive and Proactive Strategies                                                     Defensive Tactics                                                                                                                                1. Create zero-tolerance for antisocial behaviors                                                                                    2. Personally adhere to policies; model compliance                                                                            3. Confront offenders at the first sign of trouble                                                                               4. Punish those who break the rules                                                                                                    5. Address the root causes of destructive behaviors: oppressive supervision, injustice,        stress, unpleasant working conditions, etc.                                                                                             6. Set-up reporting systems (e.g., ethics hotline) for ethical behaviors and create           disciplinary procedures                                                                                                                       7. Design performance evaluation systems that detect unethical behavior                                        Proactive Tactics                                                                                                                                 1. Create codes of ethics                                                                                                                     2. Appoint ethics officers                                                                                                              3. Establish clear line of accountability                                                                                      4. Honor ethics heroes                                                                                                                                    5. Model moral behavior                                                                                                                     6. Continually communicate the organization's core values and core purpose                                    7. Incorporate values into every organization decision                                                                       8. Equip constituents to make their own moral decisions; empower them to do so                           9. Build ethical criteria and standards into performance reviews                                                           10. Reward ethical behavior                                                                                                                      11. Evaluate based on processes                                                                                                             12. Support, don't punish whistle-blowers                                                                                         13. Select employees based on their character and values                                                                  14. Integrate discussion of ethics and values into socialization processes (interviews and           training)                                                                                                                                               15. Provide ongoing ethics training                                                                                                    16. Periodically audit the ethical culture of the organization                                                       (Hackman & Johnson, 2013)                                                                                                   According to Richard Santulli, "The heartbeat of a company is its culture, and you can't allow that culture to change." And without it "we're out of business." Culture is the heart of organizational leadership and drives all other concepts and processes including: mission, vision, strategy, operating and guiding principles, etc.(Santulli, 2007)       

                                                                                                                                                                                    

 

 

References

Denning, Stephen (2011). The Leader's Guide to Storytelling - Mastering The Art and Discipline

            of Business Narrative. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.).

Hackman, Michael Z. and Johnson, Craig E. (2013). Leadership: A Communication Perspective

            (6th ed.). Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, Inc.                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Santulli, Richard (2007). Brands Are Built on Integrity & Attention To Detail (Books24/7).                                                                                                                                                       Retrieved from  

 

            http://library.books24x7.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/toc.aspx?bookid=38738.