Leadership Style in Professional Service Firms: The Leader as Coach or Supportive Leadership Style

Senior Researcher Ragnhild Kvålshaugen, Knowledge and Strategy

Managerial position duties and responsibilities – the traditional view

Supervising Training, developing skills, scheduling work, setting performance goals, scheduling their work

Planning and organizing Formulating short time plans, resource allocation, budgets, plan, developing operational policies and procedures, translating long range plans into short-term operational goals

Decision making Monitoring indicators

Performance indicators, market conditions, culture, social and political climateControlling

Cost estimates, tracking productivity, quality assurance Representing

Outside the organization, figurehead, spokesperson, information monitor Coordinating

Communicating with others, mediating conflicts, maintaining smooth working relationships with peers

Consulting Introducing new techniques or technologies, acting as expert advisor, consultant

Administering Locating information on company practice and procedures, analyzing routine information, maintaining detailed and accurate records and documents

What about professional service firms?

The leadership function:Recruiting the best professionalsObtaining interesting clients and projects

Characteristics of professional services:Characteristics of output: Intangible, idiosyncratic and innovative

Leader challenges: Problems with controlling and monitoring Challenges resulting from the interaction: Simultaneity, information asymmetry, double moral hazard

Leader challenges: Problems with administering, planning and organizing, supervising, micro decision making

Characteristics of input: Invisible assets and individual professionalsLeader challenges: Problems with planning and organizing, controlling, administering, consulting

Sources: Løwendahl, B. R. 1997. Strategic Management of Professional Service Firms. Copenhagen: Copenhagen Business School Press.Carlsen, A., Klev, R., & von Krogh, G. (Eds.). 2004. Living Knowledge. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.

What’s left?

SupervisingPlanning and organizingMacro decision makingMacro decision makingMonitoring indicatorsControllingRepresentingRepresentingCoordinatingCoordinatingConsultingAdministering

What do we need? Supportive leadership style (leader as coach)?

The leader facilitates the enhancement of the employee’s performance and empowers the self-directed learning, personal growth and achievements of employees

Empowering leadership behaviorSupport development of employeesPositive reinforcementsSupport co-operation

Facilitating leadership behaviorDeterminedFollow up

Happy employees improve organizational performance

Employee satisfactionEmpowering

Leadership StyleSupport co-operation

Facilitating Leadership Style Economic performanceDetermined

Customer satisfaction

Discussion Questions

Are my assumptions of the managerial duties and responsibilities in professional service firm right?Have we identified the right indicators when it comes to describing the leader as coach in professional service firms?