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.