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Annual Maureen Dixon Lecture

Re-thinking Leadership: Time for a New Perspective?

Beverly Alimo-Metcalfe MBA PhD C.Psychol.Professor of Leadership Studies

University of Leeds

&

Leadership Research & Development Ltd Health Service Executive /

Office for Health Management

Dublin, June 1st 2005

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People don’t resist change!

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Creating a culture with high ‘readiness for change’

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Leadership & culture: the inextricable link

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Notions of leadership are constantly changing

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Leadership Research

• The ‘old paradigm’ models

• The ‘new paradigm’ models

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The ‘New Paradigm’ Models of Leadership

• Visionary

• Charismatic

• Transformational

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But management (transactional leadership)

is essential!

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Leadership And Performance Outcomes

Transformational Leadership has a significantly greater impact than Transactional Leadership on:

• staff

• teams

• organisations

Source: Bass, B.M. (1998) Transformational Leadership: Military, Industrial & Educational Impact. London:Lawrence Erlbaum

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Leadership & Organisational Performance (1)

One study, investigated the impact of top 250 executives at a major financial services company found:

• 34 per cent of business unit performance results was due directly to transformational leadership.

• Other benefits included: - more innovative products produced; - more innovations introduced in organizations - more patents for work produced - higher company financial performance.

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Leadership & Organisational Performance (2)

• European study found that the transformational leadership of 120 Branch Bank Managers, predicted long-term branch market share & customer satisfaction

(Geyer & Steyrer, 1998)

• Canadian study of Department Heads in large financial institutions, found that transformational leadership predicted consolidated departmental performance one year later

(Howell & Avolio, 1993)

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Leadership & Mental Health

• Association between transformational leadership of team leader, and Customer satisfaction, & Quality of Life ratings of adults with serious & persistent mental health problems

Corrigan, P.W. (2000) Mental health team leadership & consumers’ satisfaction & quality of life, Psychiatric Services, 51, 6, 781-785.

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Why UK research?

• ‘Received wisdom’ based on US studies

• Focus typically on ‘distant’ leaders

• ‘New paradigm’ models often based on ‘leaders’’ perspectives

• Limited samples used

• ‘Heroic’ models under attack

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The problem with ‘charisma’

• The ‘dark side’

• The link with effectiveness

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Leadership: time for a new direction?

• Jim Collins

• Kanter

• Mintzberg

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What does this ‘post-heroic’ model look like?

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A New Inclusive Model of Transformational

Leadership

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UK Transformational model• Showing genuine concern

• Enabling

• Being accessible

• Encouraging questioning & curiosity

• Integrity

• Networking

• Building Shared Visions

• Self-development

• Cultures of learning & developing others’ leadership

Alimo-Metcalfe, B. & Alban-Metcalfe, J. The Transformational Leadership Questionnaire (TLQ). Leeds: LRDL

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Comparison between ‘distant’ and ‘nearby’ models of Leadership

‘Distant’ = Charismatic - Inspirational: leader as role model

‘Nearby’ = Genuine concern for others: leader as servant and partner

‘Nearby’ = themes of openness, humility, humanity

‘Nearby’ = theme of connecting and inclusiveness

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Servant leadership

“As we near the end of the twentieth century, we are beginning to see that traditional autocratic and hierarchical modes of leadership are slowly yielding to a newer model – one that attempts to simultaneously enhance the personal growth of workers and improve the quality and caring of our many institutions through a combination of teamwork and community, personal involvement in decision making, and ethical and caring behavior. This emerging approach to leadership and service is called servant-leadership."

 Taken from the Introduction to Reflections on Leadership published by John Wiley in 1995.

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Leader as ServantCharacteristics:

- Listening- Empathy- Healing

- Awareness- Persuasion

- Conceptualisation- Foresight

- Stewardship

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Danger of obsession with targets!

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It’s not that competencies aren’t important, but that leadership is

about…

…performing the competencies of one’s job, in a Transformational

way!

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But does it work?

Staff of ‘Excellent’ authorities are more likely to…

• Have an input into work planning

• Have an opportunity to show their initiative

• Believe their manager listens to their ideas

• Have a say in management decisions

• Have the opportunity to let the authority know how they feel about things that affect them and their work

• Feel their authority keeps them well-informed

• Believe that the reasons for change are well communicated, & that change is well managed

LRDLSource: ‘The Impact of Motivation on Organisational Success’ (2004) London:IDeA

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Leadership & ‘readiness for change’

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Predictors of ‘Readiness for Change’ (1)

Best predictors are:

• Individuals in ‘active positions’

• Social supportive workplace

• High ‘self-efficacy’

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Predictors of ‘Readiness for Change’ (2)

Implications of research findings:

1 Create a discrepancy

2 Promote ‘active jobs’

3 Encourage an active approach to job p/solving,

4 Enhance self-efficacy

5 Encourage supportive working relationships

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Innovation in the public sector

Leaders can create a supportive climate for bottom-up innovation by:

- consulting staff

- instituting formal awards and informal recognition for innovators

- promoting innovators

- protecting innovators from control-orientated central agencies

- publicly championing bottom-up innovations that have proven successful & have popular appeal

Borins, S. (2002). Leadership & innovation in the public sector. Leadership & Organisation Development Journal, 23, 8, 467-476.

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How are we doing?

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TLQ Public & Private sector norms

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Does it matter?

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The Impact of Poor Leadership

Impact/

Scale

Job-related

Stress Motivation

Achievement

Motivation

Job Satisfaction

Genuine Concern

Encouraging Questioning

Acting with Integrity

Inspiring Others

Focusing Team Effort

Supporting a Developmental

Culture

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Embedding leadership in the organisation’s culture

Alimo-Metcalfe, B. & Alban-Metcalfe, J. (2004). ‘Leadership in public sector organizations’. In John Storey (ed.). Leadership in Organisations: Current Issues & Key Trends. London: Routledge

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Leadership & Organisational Culture

• 2 sides of same coin

• The single most important responsibility of a leader is to create the appropriate culture

• The Chief Executive, & senior managers are key

Source: Schein, E. (1998). Organizational Culture & Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

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A Potential Problem…

Managers think they’re good at it!

Don’t assume your perceptions of the

organisation’s culture are shared!

LRDL

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Cultural diagnosis

Source: The Ethical Leadership Culture & Change Inventory. Leeds: LRDL

Organisations that are most effectiveHave cultures that are:

• Human(e)

• Have clear vision

• Engage staff in developing ‘local’ visions

• Ensure individuals are clear about objectives – jointly agreed – and ‘own’ their jobs

• Involve staff in decisions which affect them

• Take staff development very seriously - provide regular constructive feedback

LRDL

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Q: Why do most leadership development initiatives fail?

Answer:

# 1

# 2

# 3

Alimo-Metcalfe, B., Ford, J., Harding, N. & Lawler, J. (2000). Leadership Development in British Companies at the Beginning of the 21st Century. London: Careers Research Forum

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Embedding a Culture of Transformational Change

• Start at the top!

• Examine the organisational culture

• Scrutinise Recruitment

• Reflect on Succession Planning policies

• Use 360 appropriately & resource development

• Be passionate about appraisal/PDR

• Encourage constructive criticism & new perspectives

• Spend time on the shop floor!

• Liberate leadership!

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“

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How can you tell a ‘leader’?

…not in terms of the leadership they exercise….

But in terms of the leadership they evoke in others

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And finally…

“Cynicism concerning people in power…seems to be at comparatively high levels..

The emerging era of terrorist threats may rekindle interest in leadership, targeted toward the promotion of inclusion, unity, and allegiance, and less toward the emphasis of division and separateness”

Vecchio, R.P. (2002). ‘Leadership and gender advantage’. Leadership Quarterly, 13, 643-684.

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Where do I start?

Remember Pygmalion…!!

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How can you tell the effectiveness of a leader?

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Additional ReferencesAlimo-Metcalfe, B. & Alban-Metcalfe, J. (2005). ‘Leadership: Time for a new direction?’. Leadership, 1,

51-71

Alimo-Metcalfe, B. & Alban-Metcalfe, J. (2002). ‘Leadership’. In P.Warr (ed.). Psychology at Work. Penguin.

Alimo-Metcalfe, B. & Nyfield, G. (2002). ‘Leadership & organisational effectiveness’. In I. Robertson et al., The Role of Individual Performance in Organisational Effectiveness. London: Wiley

Alimo-Metcalfe, B. & Alban-Metcalfe, R.J. (2002). ‘The great and the good’, People Management , January 10th, 32-34.

Alimo-Metcalfe, B. & Alban-Metcalfe, R.J. (2002). ‘Leadership: Half the battle’, The Health Service Journal, March 7th, 26-27.

Alimo-Metcalfe, B. & Alban-Metcalfe, R.J. (2000). ‘Heaven can wait’, The Health Service Journal, October 12th, 26-29.

Alimo-Metcalfe, B. (1998). 360 degree feedback & leadership development. International Journal of Selection & Assessment, 6, 1, 35-44.

Alimo-Metcalfe, B. & Alban-Metcalfe, J. (2001). ‘ The development of a new Transformational Leadership Questionnaire’. Journal of Occupational & Organizational Psychology, 74, 1-27.

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Further information

b.m.alimo-metcalfe@leeds.ac.uk

Leadership Research & Development LtdStewart House

St Andrews CourtLeeds

LS3 1JY0845 6017708/ 0113 243 0008

www.lrdl.co.uk