Textbooks present a variety of leadership theories from traits to behaviors (Ohio State and Michigan studies of leadership from the 1950’s) to situational (Fiedler, Path-Goal Theory). In recent decades we find leader-member exchange (Graen) and transactional/transformation leadership. In my opinion all but transformational leadership are more management style than leadership. Transformational, authentic leadership and servant leadership come closer to my idea of real leadership. 

Heroic leadership is rarely mentioned in textbooks. In a 2013 article in Organizational Dynamics, Bill Cohen reviewed criticisms of heroic leadership, discussed his research, and concluded with principles of heroic leadership. I found his article to be thought-provoking.

Cohen argues heroic leadership is transformational leadership, “not transactional leadership.” It may involve followers participating in decision-making or not. It can be found across organizational structures from hierarchies to organic. The degree of “direct control” will vary with the situation. 

What are heroic leaders? Here in Cohen's words are principles that mark heroic leaders:

• Maintain absolute integrity.
• Know your stuff.
• Declare your expectations.
• Show uncommon commitment.
• Expect positive results.
• Take care of your people.
• Put duty before self.
• Get out in front. 

Looks like great principles for leaders regardless of what leadership is called. In what some may perceive as an anti-heroic age, there is still a need for heroic leaders.

Cohen, W. A. (2013). Peter Drucker wants you to be a heroic leader. Organizational Dynamics, 42, 70-80.

Image of statue of Washington by Peter Kaminski. Used with permission. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

© John Ballard, PhD,  2019. All rights reserved. Modified from earlier blog, January 2014.
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Decoding the Workplace “deals with principles and practices that are timeless . . . Is this a must-have for managers and would-be managers? Yes.” Academy of Management Learning & Education, June, 2018.

Stress is a normal part of most workplaces. A little stress can be good but stress can easily become dysfunctional and cost time, money, and energy. Estimates for the annual cost of dysfunctional stress in U.S. organizations range as high as $300 billion. Managers play a big role in determining the amount of stress is in the workplace. If you are a manager,  how well do you help reduce stress in the workplace? Or do you unnecessarily increase stress in the workplace? Here are six questions for managers to reflect on.  

1.  Do I inadvertently support stress-inducing norms? Every workplace has formal and informal rules. Some informal rules or norms become well established even though they may be dysfunctional. 

• Do employees work long hours beyond what is really necessary? 
• How long is the workday really? 
• Is time off for vacations encouraged or seen as behavior of those less loyal?

2. Do I consider the potential negative impact of my behaviors on others? Some managers behave inconsistently such that employees are not sure what to expect. A manager gives instructions on Monday, changes them on Wednesday, and changes them again on Friday. Others assign work to be done at the last minute and expect immediate results.

3. What information do I provide to my employees? Often managers tell employees what employees need to know but not necessarily what employees want to know. They may not need to know the context of a decision but where that context can be provided, it may be helpful. It is also good to avoid surprises. As soon as possible, stop rumors, especially those that may have a negative impact.

4. Am I really a good listener or do I just think that I am? I am continually surprised by the number of managers who think they are great listeners but aren’t. 

• Can you actively listen? 
• What is going on in your mind when someone is talking with you? 
• Are you thinking about answers to questions or formulating questions, or are you truly listening to the words, emotions, and body language of the other. 
• Worse yet, are you multi-tasking, for example, working on your computer? 

One key to helping employees manage workplace stress is recognizing it. Actively listening helps.

5. Do I support my employees? Easy to answer “sure” but do you?

• How easy is it for employees to come to you with requests or questions?
• How often do you ask, “Is there anything where you need my help?”
• Do you know your direct reports well enough to know what rewards they value the most?
• Can you identify recent actions on your part that demonstrate you support your people?

6. Am I a good role model? The leader sets the example. 

• Do you stay in the office until your boss is gone? 
• Do you manage your stress? Do you take time to exercise? 
• Do you meditate, do yoga, or engage in other activities that reduce your stress?Do you encourage use of any company policies that encourage wellness?

Stress impacts the bottom-line through health care costs and lost productivity. If you are a manager, assess your impact on stress in the workplace and adjust as best you can. For those not in managerial positions, think about your supervisors. How would you size them up on these questions? 

Modified from my original article published online, September 2, 2015, in the American Management Association's Playbook. 

Image, "stress-management", by Mohamed Hassan. Obtained from https://pixabay.com/illustrations/angry-businesswoman-conflict-3233158/
Free to use. 

© John Ballard, PhD,  2019. All rights reserved.
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Decoding the Workplace “deals with principles and practices that are timeless . . . Is this a must-have for managers and would-be managers? Yes.” Academy of Management Learning & Education, June, 2018. 

How do we develop leaders? Is training leadership skills enough? With environments becoming more uncertain, with change accelerating, leadership needs to emerge across organizations. Increasingly leadership needs to be collective, shared, relational. 

In 2013 leadership scholars at Auckland University Business School in New Zealand published an article describing leadership development predominantly as skills-based training. Kennedy, Carroll, and Francoeur suggested leadership development requires less training and evaluation of individual skills and greater attention to mindset, where mindset addresses underlying assumptions about how the social world is perceived and acted upon. 

From this perspective, they suggest leadership development should:

• Question and unsettle established patterns
• Test assumptions and thought processes 
• Develop practices attune to a “complex, indeterminate, and relational world”

My take-aways:

1. To some degree I think Kennedy, Carroll, and Francoeur are building on the work of David Day. Day makes a very important distinction between leader development and leadership development. Leader development grows human capital. Leadership development grows social capital. Day differentiated as follows:

Orientation toward human capital [leader development] emphasizes the development of individual capabilities such as those related to self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-motivation that serve as the foundation of intrapersonal competence. Orientation toward social capital [leadership development] emphasizes the development of reciprocal obligations and commitments built on a foundation of mutual trust and respect; it rests on a foundation of interpersonal competence, but ultimately, it requires enactment. Leadership is developed through the enactment of leadership. (p. 605)

Perhaps this is at the heart of Kennedy et al.’s argument. We have traditionally emphasized leader development (behavioral skills). Now our organizations need leadership development (new and varied mindsets to deal with our fluid and complex world).

2. As I stated in an earlier blog: "Organizations can easily confuse leader development with leadership development (see Day, 2000). Leader development focuses more on the individual, trying to develop skills and competencies to lead. On the other hand, leadership development seeks to grow leadership throughout an organization developing relationships among leaders, understanding followership, to insure leaders are on the same page, not at cross-purposes. And when this happens, magic happens." 

Day, D.V. (2000). Leadership development: A review in context. Leadership Quarterly, 11, 581-613.

Kennedy, F., Carroll, B., & Francoeur, J. (2013) Mindset not skill set: evaluating in new paradigms of leadership development. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 15 (1), 10-26.   

Image of Auckland from http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesclay/4161292580/in/photostream/
Permission from http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/deed.en

© John Ballard, PhD,  2019. All rights reserved. Modified from an earlier blog, May 2013.
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Decoding the Workplace “deals with principles and practices that are timeless . . . Is this a must-have for managers and would-be managers? Yes.” Academy of Management Learning & Education, June, 2018. 

Think about your relationships in the workplace. With whom do you enjoy working or seeking advice? Who do you try to avoid? Relationships at work strongly impact the work experience. These relationships may be positive, negative, or both. According to research recently published in the Academy of Management Journal, the quality of work relationships affects employee engagement, commitment to the organization, and more. 
 
Kyle Ehrbardt (University of Colorado Denver) and Belle Rose Ragins (University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee) explored workplace relationships in three large-scale studies (nearly 700 participants total). They tested a model of how work relationships affect organizational concerns. We have “relational needs” that result in varying degrees of “relational attachment.” The degree of relational attachment is related, in turn, to our organizational commitment, work engagement, turnover, absenteeism, and more.
 
They built on the work of William Kahn (2007) who talked about two types of relational needs:

• instrumental support needs – “help with job tasks and/or making sense of the environment"
• personal support needs – “help with personal challenges”

Workplace relationships can help fulfill these two types of needs resulting in a person feeling more connected to others in the workplace (relational attachment).
 
Ehrbardt's and Ragins's findings supported their model: “relational needs fit predicted relational attachment.” Relational attachment predicted organizational commitment, turnover, absenteeism, and life satisfaction.
 
But as they also predicted, work relationships can be “too close for comfort.” When employees get too much support, it can negatively impact relationships. In other words, work relationships are good to some point but at some point they can become intrusive. That point will vary from person to person.
 
Ehrbardt and Ragins suggest managers and organizations recognize that positive workplace relationships can lead to positive organizational outcomes, but managers need good listening skills and emotional intelligence so they do not become too intrusive.
 
My take-aways:
 
1. Ehrbardt and Ragins have provided a useful model for researchers interested in the impact of positive workplace relationships. However there is a flipside, the effect of negative workplace relationships. I would venture the impact of negative workplace relationships is different than just the absence of positive relationships. 
 
2. I see large individual differences here. Some people are very social and naturally build positive relationships at work. Others are less social and may interact as little as possible. In other words, there are significant differences in the relational needs of employees. My guess is, all things being equal, it should be easy to perceive who is which.
 
3. But all things are rarely equal. You could have very strong work relationships where everyone disagrees with how the organization is being run or even the organization’s objectives. For example, a medical facility, to the disagreement of employees, may put profits above patient care. Congruence between employee perceptions and organizational objectives may moderate the impact of the relationships-commitment linkage.
 
4. For organizations, this research shines a light on the importance of positive workplace relationships in discussions of workplace engagement. The most important of these is the relationship with one’s boss. In my consulting and managerial experience, turnover was most often attributable to a poor supervisor. The importance of positive workplace relationships underscores the need for organizations to stay abreast of what managers are doing in the workplace and the organizational climate they create.
 
5. For me the article caused me to look back over my workplace experiences and think about relationships. Many were instrumental making it easier to get things done. Others were more social, some people becoming close friends. As I say in Decoding the Workplace, “the world of work and the world of organizations are worlds of people.” Or as Ehrbardt and Ragins put it, “Relationships are the threads in the fabric of organizational life.”
 
Ehrhardt, K. & Ragins, B. R. (2019). Relational attachment at work: A complementary fit perspective on the role of relationships in organizational life. Academy of Management Journal, 62(1), 248-282.
 
Kahn, W. (2007). Meaningful connections: Positive relationships and attachments at work. In J. E. Dutton & B. R. Ragins (Eds.), Exploring Positive Relationships at Work: Building a Theoretical and Research Foundation, 189-206. New York: Routledge.
 
Image, "Brainstorming-workplace-coffee", by mohamed_hassan. Image obtained from https://pixabay.com/en/brain-storming-workplace-coffee-3232627/​ Used in accordance with: https://pixabay.com/en/service/license/

© John Ballard, PhD,  2019. All rights reserved.
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Decoding the Workplace “deals with principles and practices that are timeless . . . Is this a must-have for managers and would-be managers? Yes.” Academy of Management Learning & Education, June, 2018. 

Google how to be an effective manager and the results will mostly be about leading people. Effective management is about achieving goals, getting things done. It is easy to say ineffective management is the opposite, that is, failing to achieve goals. But are there other behaviors that characterize ineffective managers?

Wickham Skinner and W. Earl Sasser thought so. Although their Harvard Business Review article is from over 40 years ago, their observations about behavioral characteristics of less effective managers still ring true:

1. accepting conventional company wisdom without question; example, “we always promote from within”  
2. acting too slowly when changes are needed now
3. tolerating subordinates who are ineffective, hinting at improvements needed instead of taking decisive action
4. not challenging the way things are done, “we have always done it this way”
5. not handling priorities
6. not taking calculated risks, lack of “boldness, nerve, and self-confidence”
7. not asking for help or advice when needed
8. not recognizing their own weaknesses 

My take-ways: 

1. Have you seen managers who exhibit these characteristics? I have many times, even managers who had good people skills and were liked by those with whom they worked. Sometimes they were just too busy putting out fires. Sometimes it just seemed that it would be too much trouble and take too much energy to challenge the status quo. Different reasons for different managers.

2. Often the complacency or lack of initiative is a function of organizational culture. What happens if you take risks and fail? The consequences become part of the culture. Challenge conventional wisdom and get shot down? The consequences become part of the culture. Ask for help or advice and then have this seen as a sign of weakness. Again, part of the culture. Culture is difficult to change but if the culture is not what you want it to be, then as leaders we should act to change it. 

3. I wrote in an earlier blog that these characteristics could be used to develop a good questionnaire or scale to measure effectiveness. Years later I realize these might also make good items to help assess culture. To be innovative, to compete, organizations need people who challenge the status quo, make change where change is needed, hold others accountable, and have enough self-confidence to ask for help when needed. To lead is to do more than just the job. 

Skinner, W. & Sasser, W.E. (1977). Managers with impact: Verstile and inconsistent. Harvard Business Review, 55(6), 140-8.

Image, "Multi-tasking-efficiency-manager", by mohamed_hassan. Image obtained from https://pixabay.com/en/multi-tasking-efficiency-manager-2840792/ Used in accordance with: https://pixabay.com/en/service/license/

© John Ballard, PhD,  2019. All rights reserved.
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Decoding the Workplace “deals with principles and practices that are timeless . . . Is this a must-have for managers and would-be managers? Yes.” Academy of Management Learning & Education, June, 2018. 

Good metrics and good use of metrics can increase effectiveness and efficiency in most businesses. Metrics are outcomes and outputs we measure to track and manage processes, operations, or performance in and across business units. How well are your organization and its units using metrics to make positive differences? Are you getting the most from your metrics management?

With today’s technology, there is very little that cannot be measured. For some, the ease of measurement results in an abundance of data that can be mined to improve performance. However, this ease of measurement can also result in so many measures that the most important metrics do not get the attention they should. To stay on top of your metrics and their use, regardless of your function or level in the organization, consider these questions.

1. Do we know our most important metrics? Not all metrics are equal. Every metric should be clearly tied to a goal, an objective, or strategy. Some, more than others, are indicative of strengths and weaknesses, potential problems, and perhaps opportunities. The better you understand your key metrics, the better you understand how your business is functioning.

2. Are we measuring what we need to measure? Measuring CD sales in an MP3 world does not make sense. Stay abreast of changes in your environment, with your competitors, with your customers, with technology. Reevaluate your metrics on a schedule that makes sense for your business. You should be able to answer, “Why are we measuring this?” or ask, “Why are we not measuring this?”

3. Do we know precisely how the values of our metrics are determined? Every metric needs to be operationally defined and easy to understand. You need to know exactly how the quantitative or qualitative information in a metric got there, the source, the procedure, the form. For example, inadvertently changing a form or data entry criterion may unknowingly change a metric. Some metrics may be too complex or not worth the time consumed to produce.

4. Are we measuring what we think we are measuring? Even well-designed metrics may be subject to manipulation out of self-interest.  For example, consider past reports on the manipulation of waiting times at some VA hospitals.

5. Are we evaluating key metrics in a timely manner?  You may have a dashboard that displays key indicators daily or in real time. Or metrics may be the focus of weekly or monthly meetings. Timeliness will be a function of the type of metric, its criticality, and level in the organization. The key is to know if you are reviewing key metrics in sufficient time that corrective measures can be effectively taken if needed.
​
6. Do our employees participate in metrics management?  Buy-in can elevate a metrics program. People in the trenches know, see, and have information that may make measurement better, more reliable, and more useful.  Likewise, sharing metrics may help build a stronger workforce.

The better your metrics and metrics management, the better your decision-making and greater the probability for business success.

Modified from my original article published online, July 9, 2014, in the American Management Association's Playbook. 

Image by Gerd Altmann. Obtained from https://pixabay.com/en/analysis-pay-businessmen-meeting-680572/
No attribution required. 

© John Ballard, PhD,  2019. All rights reserved.
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Decoding the Workplace “deals with principles and practices that are timeless . . . Is this a must-have for managers and would-be managers? Yes.” Academy of Management Learning & Education, June, 2018. 

To have a good relationship is one thing; to have a good partnership is another. One view of integrative leadership encourages leaders to (1) cultivate good relationships and then (2) nurture these relationships into “full-fledged partners.”
 
In the March/April 2016 issue of EXPLORE: The Journal of Science and Healing, Bonnie Horrigan provided tips for building good relationships (see my previous blog) and then tips for developing those relationships into partners. Here I summarize her tips for leaders concerning partnerships.

1. Ensure people understand and embrace the organization’s vision. “Explain the benefits that will be derived when the vision is realized.” (p. 139)
2. “Create opportunities for others to experience the vision,” to own it.
3. “Encourage new ideas about old things and promote innovation.”
4. “Extend people the space and authority to do their jobs”. . . thus creating “active ‘partners’ rather than passive ‘employees.’ “
5. “Celebrate accomplishments” both big and small, saying thanks “for jobs well done.”

My take-aways:
 
On #1. Employees should understand and embrace both the mission and the vision. The Society for Human Resource Management differentiates mission and vision as follows:
 
A mission statement explains reason for existence, what organization does, its intent, purpose. "A vision statement describes the organization as it would appear in a future successful state . . . An effective vision statement is inspirational and aspirational.” 
 
My guess is that there are enormous differences here among organizations. Do you have a mission statement? A vision statement? Are they current? Still valid? Do people truly understand the mission? The vision? Are they more than words on a business card or sign? Have you hired, developed, and rewarded to create an environment where people want to be part of achieving the mission and vision? 
 
On #2. Part of experiencing the vision is recognizing those moments, those events, in accomplishing the mission where the vision can be glimpsed.  Perception is important here. Without the leader acknowledging or communicating how the current outcome represents what we want to achieve, those experiences of the vision might not be recognized. There will be times when people or teams far exceed current expectations and demonstrate what is indeed possible, the vision. These moments need to be recognized, rewarded, and celebrated.
 
On #3. This seems straightforward but in my consulting experience it was not. I consistently found people had great ideas to solve problems, to innovate, but management was not receptive. A common remark from managers: “If they had good ideas, then why aren’t they in this job and not me.” Leaders build organizational climates and cultures where people share insights and ideas and are rewarded for them.
 
On #4. Empowering employees by letting them make decisions can be motivating for many. In Decoding the Workplace (pp. 33-34) I tell the story of a hotel clerk who did not have the authority to make relatively small decisions that would increase customer satisfaction. Her supervisor had approval authority and was often not available. When the hotel became part of a different hotel chain, she was given that authority and her job satisfaction greatly increased – and probably resulted in more satisfied customers. Even so, it should be noted that not everyone wants more authority.

#5 Herbert Shepard had eight “rules of thumb for change agents.” In a 2012 blog I proposed a ninth, Rule IX: Celebrate the moment. It is easy to let moments, big and small, pass by without celebrating when celebrating would have been good. Sometimes leaders fail to celebrate the successes made possible by those they lead. I had an older graduate student who led an organization that had a very successful year. After we discussed celebrating the moment, he realized that he had not done this with his company, that he barely acknowledged the great year before focusing on the next. The next Monday when he went to work, he corrected that situation. They celebrated the moment. Celebrate the moments, large and small, that unfold to you.

Horrigan, B. (2016). Integrative leadership means partnering. EXPLORE, 12 (2), 139-140. 

In memory of Bonnie Horrigan. Modified from my blog posted April 1, 2016.

Image, "Bonnie Horrigan", courtesy of the journal EXPLORE: The Journal of Science and Healing

© John Ballard, PhD,  2019. All rights reserved.
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Decoding the Workplace “deals with principles and practices that are timeless . . . Is this a must-have for managers and would-be managers? Yes.” Academy of Management Learning & Education, June, 2018. 

Each January I pose the question: What book are you reading now? My experience is the best leaders read. They always have a book from which they develop insights and opinions. And not just books about management or businesses but also books of fiction or creative nonfiction.
 
Lifelong learning is essential to grow as a leader. A habit of reading books is important to that growth. What role do books play in your life? In your learning? Making time to read books is important. I usually have several books in my study that I am working through. On long car trips I enjoy audio books. I have friends who like audio books best. I was very pleased that my book Decoding the Workplace made it to audio in 2018.  
 
The book I enjoyed most in 2018 was the surprising Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata translated from Japanese by Ginny Tapley Takemori. Working in a convenience store, Keiko Furukura finds purpose, fulfillment, and scripts for social interactions while her friends and family encourage her to find a "proper" career. A great read with insights on finding meaning in the workplace and life. 

In 2019 I look forward to reading Êloge de Gantner, a folio about my favorite artist, the late Bernard Gantner. A painter and lithographer in the Alsace region of France, Gantner's landscapes have affected how I see the natural world around me. Great art.

The folio is in French. Foreign languages are not my strength. As my teacher Mrs. Suther said to me several weeks into my first high school French course: "Johnny, I had heard such nice things about you and have been looking forward to having you in my class. You are such a disappointment." Fortunately though, the aptitude for language, while skipping me, landed nicely with my two children. Today we have Google Translate and various apps so I will be able to read Êloge de Gantner.

“The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them”, Mark Twain. 

Or as the comedian Groucho Marx said, “Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.”   
 
What are you reading?

Modified from my previous annual January blogs about the importance of reading,

Image, "Route en Forêt" by Bernard Gantner. Photo © John Ballard

© John Ballard, PhD,  2019. All rights reserved.
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Decoding the Workplace “deals with principles and practices that are timeless . . . Is this a must-have for managers and would-be managers? Yes.” Academy of Management Learning & Education, June, 2018. 

This time of the year I like to revisit a Christmas classic from Thomas Stetz of Hawaii Pacific University, “What Santa Claus Can Learn from I-O Psychology: Eight Performance Management Recommendations.” The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist originally published the article in 2012 and it can be read in full at the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology’s website. Here I will summarize (and elaborate upon) Dr. Stetz’s astute observations and recommendations concerning Santa Claus’s questionable performance management system.

1. “Develop refined rating scales.” How does Santa determine whether a child is “naughty” or “nice”? What is naughty? What is nice? How can a child improve performance if the child does not have clear guidelines and examples of the behaviors expected?
2. “Develop SMART performance objectives.” A child needs clear goals to be successful at “nice,” goals that are “specific, measureable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound.” Ideally these would flow from the family strategic plan.
3. “Increase feedback throughout the year.” It’s either a lump of coal or presents one day a year. 364 days with no feedback is just not acceptable in the 21st Century. If feedback is too much for Santa to handle, he should delegate and train others, such as parents. 
4. “Establish a naughty review board.” There may be review boards in organizations that are naughty; this recommendation concerns grievances. What’s a child to do if deemed naughty and considers this an unfair assessment? Is it fair to not have a grievance procedure, especially in the absence of feedback?
5. “Get a handle on rating inflation.” Let’s be real. It seems most children get a “nice” rating and the associated benefits. Refined rating scales would definitely help here.
6. “Explain how he obtains his information.” This one puzzled me as a kid. How does he know if I am being naughty or nice? As Stetz’s very appropriately noted, “at least a consent-to-monitoring statement should be made.”
7. “Decide between developmental or administrative evaluations.” “Under the current system how can naughty children improve. They can’t” (p. 36). There is no feedback. Children simply did not know how to improve their performance. Santa’s performance system is administrative with only “rewards and punishments.”
8. “Institute self-assessments.” Instead of writing letters to Santa once a year, which not all children do, there should be periodic self-assessments from children. This could be an online system with elf’s perhaps providing feedback. Currently children have little opportunity to speak to the naughty or nice question with relevant supporting data.

Stetz concluded Santa would do well to employ an I-O psychologist.
 
My take-away:
 
Can any of the recommendations for Santa’s performance system be applied to your organization? If so, 2019 might be a good year to work toward improvements. Feedback is key to employee development and organizational growth and renewal.
 
Best wishes for the holiday season and a great 2019.
 
Stetz, T. A. (2012). What Santa Claus can learn from I-O psychology: Eight performance management recommendations. The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist, 49 (3), 35-37.
 
Image, Santa, by Jo-B. Image obtained from https://pixabay.com/en/santa-claus-christmas-parties-joy-1827265/ Used in accordance with: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en
​
© John Ballard, PhD, 2018. All rights reserved.
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Decoding the Workplace “deals with principles and practices that are timeless . . . Is this a must-have for managers and would-be managers? Yes.” Academy of Management Learning & Education, June, 2018. Now also available as an audiobook.