In the conversation there was a discussion on what makes a good leader effective? (which was also the question we left off with in part one.)
The response was actually what formulated a presentation titled "Communication in Leadership" I gave at Mcgill University with two colleagues of mine Simon Garceau and Jacquie Snelling. You can view the slideshow below. (you can right click on the communication in leadership link and open it in a new window - easier to follow the slides and read at the same time)
Communication In Leadership
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Slide 1: Communication in Leadership - The effective way!
The title - subject explained in slide 3.
Slide 2: Intro - Who we are?
The three presenters. Yermi Kurkus, Simon Garceau, and Jacquie Snelling.
Slide 3: Intro - Our Subject
This is a presentation that will focus mainly on the way a leader communicates with his subordinates, it also talks about the different types of leaderships in a similar situation. This presentation follows a "role-playing" style, where a scenario is played in 3 various types of leaderships. Note: there are more types of leadership - but this presentation covers the 3 main and general types.
Slide 4: Intro - Discussion
Have you ever experienced when your supervisor, director, manager or boss call you in to an unexpected meeting? Or when that leader tells you that "we need to talk"? What is the feeling that you are experiencing? What is going through your head at that time? How fast are all those butterflies in your stomach flying? What did you do wrong?
Slide 5: Intro - Our Presentation
In this presentation we will talk about:
A) The leadership styles and some theories that connect to them.
B) Different possible outcomes from different methods of communication.
C) We will try to identify the ideal situation.
Note: this is from is personal (group) point of view and we encourage your different opinions, please let us know of them by using the comments below (don't worry we'll remind you again in the end).
Slide 6: Scene #1 Directive Leader (DL)
The situation or the scenario is: There is one employee that seems to be slacking on the job, he is always coming late, and is not meeting the expectations of the company. (This scenario will play along the three following scenes).
The Directive Leader or DL is the type of personality that says "shape up or shape out"
Slide 7: Scene #1 - Directive Leader
The DL is the type of leader that gives out the jobs that need to be done, or he enforces them, by either setting deadlines or enforcing the deadlines with negative consequences that are threatened if these deadlines are not met.
Slide 8: Scene #1 - Directive Leader
The DL does not seem to consider the people or subordinates that are involved with the specific tasks, he does not seem to consider their expectations, needs or inputs. and finally he does not consider any external or internal situational factors that may be effecting the employee performances. Sometimes it seems as though there is no one to talk to and that he is hiding behind a locked door.
Slide 9: Scene #1 - Directive Leader
The DL has his focuses mainly on the task at hand. He may also have his selfish reasons such as the focus on their personal success, meeting their ambitions, hunger for power, level of seniority, and/or want of control. The DL may also perceive that he is the best for the job and no one else can do a better job than himself.
Slide 10: Scene #2 - Charismatic Leader (CL)
The type of leadership that encourages and befriends his subordinates - "Yes, we can!"
Using the same scenario as before, this type of leadership seeks not to confront the employee or make him uncomfortable. The leader believes that if he can somehow encourage or satisfy the employee in some way - the job will get done and the employee will keep his job with everyone still in a good atmosphere.
Slide 11: Scene #2 - Charismatic Leader
The CL is the type of leader that is more diplomatic, he tends to motivate employees by offering them more incentives and always has that cute smile and pats the employee on the back.
Slide 12: Scene #2 - Charismatic Leader
CL considers mostly the employees' happiness and comfort. He assumes that they expect the nice smile, encouragement and tries to involve them as much as he can in different aspects of a job. The CL perceives that if there is a good "climate" there is a good atmosphere, which in other words means that if he sets the mood right and always encourages and motivates his subordinates, they in turn will do the job correctly and evidently create a good atmosphere.
Slide 13: Scene #2 - Charismatic Leader
The CL's focus is mostly on the employees, trying to make sure that he can keep a positive working environment and tries to avoid conflict as much as possible. He hopes to get approval from his subordinates and hopes they like him at all times.
Slide 14: Analysis - DL vs. CL
If you are to compare the two types of leaderships we have just presented you can see that the DL is strict, tough and ego centered, while the CL is more of the nicer character, motivating and sort of soft - which means that he is more likely going to let something wrong go in order to get approval from the subordinates and avoid conflict.
Slide 15: Analysis - Employee Expectations
When analyzing we must look at all the subjects involved, this includes the subordinates or the employees. We must consider their expectations, what are they looking for in a leader? what factors develop their perception of a leader? This all depends on their culture, background and character. For example: People with military background have a perception that leaders are tough and demanding. Where as some american teenagers have the perception of "freedom of speech and freedom of expression"
This will suggest the connection to the "Equity Theory" which will be explained and presented in a few slides.
Slide 16: Analysis - Types of Situations
There are two types of situational factors in every setting, the Macroenvironment which are external factors. For example: The employee is experiencing different problems in his personal life or fright of political issues in the country he resides or in the country where he has loved ones living there.
The second situational factor is the Microenvironment which are internal factors. For example: Where the employee feels there is an imbalance in the Equity and LMX theories which are explained in the next few slides.
Slide 17: Analysis - Theories
We will not go in depth on the theories but simply - skim the surface and explain the connection of the theory to our presentation.
Equity theory - is where the employee compares and sort of "calculates" their inputs (situation, the process they got to the situation) and their outcomes (payment, satisfaction etc.) vs. their peers' inputs and outcomes. Further explained in the next slide.
Slide 18: Adam' Equity Theory Diagram - job motivation
Diagram Credit: Alan Chapman 2001-4. More free online learning materials are at www.businessballs.com
The subordinate in question will look into all the effort he put into getting his job and maintaining it - for example: the amounts of years of education, years of experience, efforts etc. He'll compare it to the payment or benefits he receives for all his inputs. The subordinate takes that whole equation and compares it to his peers (their inputs and outputs).
If the subordinate feels that there is an imbalance that favours himself - he considers that to be "equitable" which means acceptable, where as if it favours his peer - then it is considered "inequitable" and may cause him to preform at a lesser extent or not at all, until there will be some kind of balance.
Slide 19: Analysis - Theories
LMX Theory - also known as the Leader-Member Exchange theory, is another type of "equation" the subordinate calculates - this time however instead of putting his peer as the variable, this time it's the leader.
The subordinate will conceive a perception of the type of leadership he seeks or considers acceptable, and sees if the leader in question acts according to his perception - if the exchange exists (is the leader is what the subordinate expects) then the subordinate becomes a follower. This is explained better with a diagram in the next slide.
Slide 20: Leader-Member Exchange theory
The subordinate perceives that a certain type of leadership is acceptable, if this leadership style is exercised, the subordinate will respect this type of leadership and perform based on his perception. This is better explained if we understand the "Expectancy Theory"
Slide 21: Analysis - Theories
The Expectancy theory basically says, that the employee based on his upbringing, culture and background will deem a certain type of leadership as acceptable and conceive a perception based on that. Based on this perception will be the outcome of their performance. They will build their "performance chain" which means that they will put in their personal effort, and performance, they will the perform better depending on the rewards they are offered, and they will be more attracted if this whole chain meets their personal goals. In the next slide we will explain how this links together with the LMX theory.
Slide 22: Vroom's Expectancy Theory
Diagram credit: www.12manage.com
If we remember in the first LMX diagram we had the middle part which basically says how the follower will react if his expectancy is met. This diagram basically explains how we reach that middle part. This is how the subordinate builds his expectancy. Firstly he will consider how much effort will am I willing to put into my job? this will build his initial expectancy. Next, how will I perform? (do I give 100% or only 50%). this will be decided upon the outcome or reward that is waiting later on in the chain. "If I give my 100% I will get a nice big reward." Because the subordinate has worked so hard and was rewarded properly for it he is now able to afford the car he always fancied (personal goal).
Therefore - in order to satisfy this chain, the subordinate will conceive his expectancy. He will then consider what type of leadership style will work best for him, that means, if the leader will be too harsh, the subordinate will get discouraged and will lose confidence in himself - therefore crushing his expectancy. Or on the other hand, if the leader is too soft, the subordinate will become lazy and start slacking on his job, hence not performing at the proper effort level, subsequently not reaching his expected goal.
Slide 23: Analysis - Theories
This brings us to the final theory called the "Path-Goal Theory" - this is where the leader is the focus. The leader must identify the LMX and Expectancy of each employee, he has to consider all the different types of situations (external and internal), he must study the character traits of the individuals that are under him, he must take into account all the possible barriers or "noise" that are between him and his subordinates, which means that he has to consider how long will this memo reach the person it's intended for? will this message be read in the right or wrong way? should this message be better of addressed face-to-face in a meeting?
The Leader focuses at the tasks at hand and with all the above considerations he acts accordingly. In the next slide there is a chart that explains how the leader does this.
Slide 24: Path-Goal Theory
The chart basically summarizes all the different types of leaderships, the expectancies of the subordinates, and the situational factors that may surround them.
In short the table suggests that the "Situational Leader" takes everything and everyone into consideration. This will be better explained in the conclusion.
Slide 25: Conclusion -Situational Leader (SL)
As explained in the previous slide the SL looks to "make it work" which means, "we have a task at hand, how and what needs to be done and expected in order to get this task complete on time?"
Using the same scenario as in scene one and two - we will move onto scene #3 which we consider to be the "ideal situation."
Slide 26: Conclusion -Situational Leader
The SL is the mixture of the two types of general leadership styles mentioned earlier. In addition he identifies the strength and interests of his subordinates, which in turn empowers the right employee for the right task (for example, the employee with the best financial skills and knowledge will be in charge of the budget of that specific project.) The leader then monitors the subordinates and considers all their situational and motivational factors. If the leaders identifies an issue, he takes care of it immediately. (examples in a few more slides).
Slide 27: Conclusion -Situational Leader
SL considers everything - but mainly the employees' expectations and any types of barriers or situational factors.
Slide 28: Conclusion -Situational Leader
SL focuses on the task, as well as the employees. As mentioned he will consider all factors and react to create a smooth working atmosphere. The leader considers this to be a circular process, and considers everything to be connect. He believes that nothing is allowed to be forgotten. There is a task, there are people involved and people are people therefore they have their needs and they have their situations around them.
Slide 29: Conclusion -Situational Leader
Therefore the leader constantly asks himself the three questions: What, How and Why? by asking himself these three questions he will remind himself what needs to be done to what situation. wether training is needed (what), development (how) and assignments (why) all these will show his ability to perform as a leader. in other words - the leader is considering all possible ways to interact with the differed situations and employees he leads. This is shown in the next slide's diagram.
Slide 30: Conclusion -Situational Leader
In this diagram you can see how the leader is acting accordingly in different situations to different expectations (blue represents the leader's activity or emphasis) this same diagram is put into a chart in the next slide and may be clearer to understand.
Slide 31: Conclusion -Situational Leader
In this chart we can see that the leadership is built of four types of leadership styles or behaviors. The leader will slide horizontally or vertically depending on the different situations and expectations.
To clarify all this - the leader will have to basically act according to every individuals' needs and situations. That means, if he has the military background type of employee who is used to the delegating or directing type of leaderships - the leader will have to behave and direct accordingly. If one day that same subordinate is having a low day - the leader will call him in and ask him what is wrong? The leader might find out that maybe it was a memorial day for veterans of war and therefore this ex-military man is on the low side. Likewise, the american teenager, who needs more coaching and supporting. The leader will have to lead this subordinate differently than that of the ex-military person. Here he will support and coach this teenager. On the low day of that teenager - once again the leader will call her in and may find out that she wasn't getting along with her parents.
In conclusion - the situational leader may be the most effective type of leadership, he might be able to actually get a lot more done, because he is on top of everything. Don't get me wrong - this is no easy task. But that brings us back to the original question - "Are leaders born or made?"
Slide 32: Q&A
you can use the comments box to discuss the next few questions - I encourage you to be critical and have your own opinion I would be more than happy to hear what you have to say.
1. which leadership style do you consider the most effective?
2. In your own opinion - which leader do you think will use what type of communication method? (which means -who will scream and yell, or would would smile at everything? who will be more serious and who will be all joking? - you can identify any type of method).
3. From your experience can you identify different leaders that match different leadership styles? (i.e. people of political power, old or current bosses, etc.)
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