A633.6.4.RB - Circle of Leadership

A633.6.4.RB - Circle of Leadership

Critically think about how strategy is formulated in your organization and include both upward and downward leadership. Now, considering all of the readings in this module and the learning exercises regarding upward and downward leadership; reflect on the diagram (figure 9.5; p.152) "the vicious circle for leaders". 

Does this happen in your organization? 

I think that this definitely happens in my organization. In my immediate organization, industrial engineering, follower confidence is regularly shaken when something new is required and their level of influence is minimal so they defer to the leader for…well, leadership…instead of taking the initiative and opportunity for creating their own processes. This is because this dichotomy has been well established in the culture of the organization.   

What are the effects on the organization?

The effects are that teams silo themselves and don’t trust other teams. They keep their core competencies to themselves and we all suffer from this division. This summer, management tried to break down the siloes by mixing up the teams. People kept their statement of work but were suddenly reporting to a new manager. They even had to move their desks to the new manager’s area. This lasted about two months and then quietly, the two people who had been put in our team were moved back to their original team.

We are not confident enough to make our own decisions because we don’t think we have the autonomy to do so. We have gone through some crazy changes in the last four months and instead of sharpening our skills by working together and sharing knowledge, we have stayed siloed and the teams are all experiencing the same pains instead of learning from each other. (We’re positional so some teams experience the changes before other teams because of schedule position.) No one has said, “Hey…we need to let the Pos 2-5 people know that the director commented on this, this, and that.” Our leaders are nonchalant or hyper-critical…it’s very discerning and we’re actually also losing a few of our best people to other organizations because of this.

Create a new circle that would promote strong followership and even leadership at the lower levels of the organization.  Ensure that this reflects the actions and involvements of all significant departments such as; Sales, Marketing, Finance, Accounting, Operations, Marketing, and Distribution.

See that the behavior of the follower often drives the behavior of the leader, the leader is where the changes needs to happen.

(Imagine this in a circle…)

Leader assigns project, follower’s confidence wavers, leader does nothing, follower works on problem themselves by asking questions to applicable departments, leader offers assistance with removing any roadblocks, follower’s confidence increases, leader trusts the follower’s instincts and assigns higher profile projects, and follower’s confidence wavers again, the leader does nothing…etc. etc. etc.

(I guess you could ask why the follower’s confidence wavers at getting a high profile project but that would be what I would do. My confidence would be boosted but this new task would have me a little freaked out and my confidence would waver a little. I would talk to the leader about it, who would listen but do nothing, and I would have to figure it out again on my own with minimal help.)

References:

Obolensky, N. (2015). Complex Adaptive Leadership. Farnham, Surrey, England: Gower Publishing Limited.