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LEADERSHIP ESSENTIALS: Practical and Proven Approaches

in Leadership and Supervision by

Olin O. Oedekoven, PhD, John Lavrenz, M.S. Deborah Robbins, M.P.A.

Copyright © 2018 Revised Edition by the Peregrine Leadership Institute, LLC.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written

permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, write to

Peregrine Leadership Institute Box 741

1001 S. Douglas Hwy., Suite 160 Gillette, WY 82717

ISBN: 978-0-9908279-7-9 (hardcover) ISBN: 978-0-9908279-3-1 (paperback)

ISBN: 978-0-9908279-4-8 (eBook)

Printed in the United States of America

We would like to dedicate this book to John Lavrenz. John was our co-author on the project, colleague and presenter with our leadership development workshops, a mentor to so many leaders over the years, and, most importantly, our friend. His leadership influence is felt throughout in these pages and will continue with all of the lives he touched during his values-based leadership journey. John “walked the talk” as a leader of integrity, and we are all richer for the time we have spent with him.

— Olin O. Oedekoven and Deborah K. Robbins

Contents

Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Chapter 1 — Understanding Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Leadership Defined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 e Values and Attributes of Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . 13 e Power of Positive Expectations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 e 14 Characteristics of Great Leaders . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Chapter 2 — Teams, Teamwork, and Leadership Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Leadership Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Leading Teams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 e 6 C’s of Teamwork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Seven Keys to Team Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Chapter 3 — Conflict in the Workplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Dealing with Team Conflict . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Confronting Difficult Situations with People. . . . . . . . 61 Managing Team Conflict . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Chapter 4 — Recruiting and Selecting Your Team . . . . . 77 Hiring for Attitude. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Why Quality Recruiting and Selection Matters. . . . . . 80 Developing a Recruiting and Selection Strategy . . . . . 82 Reviewing the Resume and Job Application . . . . . . . . 86 Hire the Most Qualified Applicant Using a Fair and Nondiscriminatory Process. . . . . . . . . . . 91 Developing the Interview and Questions . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Chapter 5 — Leadership Communications . . . . . . . . . . 111 Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Active Listening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Giving and Receiving Feedback. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Communicating Non-Defensively . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Chapter 6 — Project Management Leadership . . . . . . . 123 Project Planning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Deliberate Decision-Making . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Chapter 7 — Stress Management for Leaders . . . . . . . . 131 Managing Stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 e 50 Proven Stress Reducers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Planning to Manage Stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Chapter 8 — Leadership Ethics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 Ethical Choices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 Values-based Decision Making . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Business Ethics and Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Chapter 9 — Time Management and Delegation . . . . . 165 Time Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Delegation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

Chapter 10 — Leading Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 Why Change? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 Resistance to Change. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 Barriers to Effective Change. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 Leading Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

Chapter 11 — Performance Management . . . . . . . . . . . 195 Identifying and Solving Performance Problems . . . . 195 Performance Counseling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 Maximizing Employee Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

Chapter 12 — e Art of Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213 Teaching and Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213 Coaching and Mentoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224 Motivating and Inspiring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 Strategic Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

Final oughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239 References and Selected Bibliograph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 Meet the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 Working with Peregrine Leadership Institute. . . . . . . . . . 251 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

Foreword

This is not a book that you have in your hands. A book, aer all, is merely a set of written sheets of paper hinged

together on one side to allow readers to flip through and glance casually at each side.

is is an understanding. It is a collective release of leadership tips and techniques as simple as your most basic needs, yet as complex as the nature of the cultural diversities in which you live today. It is a manual on how to live in a world where globalization and technological advances have toppled the walls of traditional leadership hierarchies. It’s a world in which leaders must come to know and understand the evolution of change and how to develop, inspire, and guide their organiza- tions (and their careers) through the tactical challenges coming at them both faster and different than ever before.

Leadership Essentials is a way of understanding how to survive in the ever-changing world of leadership. It is a compilation of many years of experience, of lessons learned along our own leadership journeys.

We lived and breathed every minute of this guide, shedding tears of frustration during those tenuous times and laughing when everything fell into place and we achieved leadership excellence. We held nothing back.

When we decided to put into words all that we have experienced during our leadership upbringings, it made sense to bare it all, to include not only our brief moments of fame, but those oen-staggering moments of shame as well. Aer all, “that which does not kill us only makes us stronger.”

To achieve success in today’s highly complex world of leader- ship, you must be open to the fact that change is inevitable and fast. Nations are experiencing dramatic shifts in their political, economic, and social structures. Terms such as demographics and cultural awareness were once nothing more than mandatory inclusions in company handbooks, policies, and procedures. Now, the essence of those genera- tional and cultural differences is driving decision making like never before. One of the key skills of effective leadership is the ability to lead change. Your survival depends on it.

Remember, leaders are made, not born. We made mistakes and so will you. However, your ability to get up, dust yourself off, and put yourself at the front of the pack again and again will set you apart from those individuals who only wish they were leaders. We don’t profess to know everything there is to know about leadership. What we do know, we’ve included in this guide. Read it well and return to it oen. Each chapter contains real lessons learned from real people. is is your first step of a lifelong journey called “leadership.” Good luck and let the journey begin.

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Chapter 1

Understanding Leadership

Management is about doing things right. You manage things; you lead people.

Leadership Defined

Leadership is the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what needs to be done, how it can be done effectively, and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish the shared objectives.

Influencing — getting people to willingly do what you want them to do. How do leaders influence?

• Communicate (written, verbal, nonverbal) • Set the example • Demonstrate what right looks like

Understand and Agree — giving reasons for why we do what we need to do. How do leaders develop understanding and agreement? We communicate:

• Company goals (bigger picture) • Our mission/vision • Our departmental goals

Done Effectively — e way you want to accomplish what it is that you want to accomplish. How do leaders develop effective- ness? • Setting and maintaining standards • Teaching, coaching, and mentoring for performance

Facilitating Individual and Collective Efforts — Developing interest, will, desire, and ensuring the resources are there for them to do what they need to do. How do leaders facilitate effort? • Give employees a challenge • When they succeed, praise them • Coach/counsel them on how to do it better • Set the example through your behaviors and actions • Provide the resources they need for the mission

Accomplish the Shared Objectives — e goals, objectives, and the vision. How do leaders develop an understanding of the shared objectives? • Communicate, communicate, and communicate! • Team planning and preparing • Assessing aer the project is completed

You manage things; you lead people. Management is about doing things right. Leadership is about doing the right things. Leadership depends on the situation, the work setting, and the nature of the problem. Leadership also shis with time and responsibilities. Leadership and management are not mutually exclusive activities.

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You do not have to have subordinates to be a leader—being a leader means striving to BE, KNOW, and DO what is right, all the time. We will, however, make mistakes. How we deal with those mistakes is what distinguishes us as a learning leader.

The Values and Attributes of Leadership

ere are seven essential values and seven critical attributes of leadership.

Leadership Values

Integrity: Demonstrating the courage necessary to support your leadership values and those of the organization; exemplifying your values at all times; treating others fairly and consistently; choosing the harder right over the easier wrong; doing the right things, not just doing things right. is leadership value is essential. If you do not display integrity in your behavior at all times, you may not have the opportunity to recover.

Honesty: Being honest in all your communications, interactions with others, and with yourself; saying what you mean and meaning what you say.

Loyalty: Fulfilling your obligations to your team, peers, and superiors; being loyal to your team and organization with support on and off the job; remaining faithful and steadfast to your values; and holding what others say in trust.

Accountability: Being accountable for all your actions and the results; remembering that while you can delegate author- ity, you can never delegate responsibility—you, as the leader,

UNDERSTANDING LEADERSHIP | 13

are always responsible for the successes and failures of your team, acknowledging the contributions of others, and assum- ing the responsibility even when others will not.

Respect: Treating them with respect; treating others fairly and consistently; giving away respect and not making others have to earn your respect; respecting, acknowledging, and publicly recognizing the contributions of others.

Trust: Being approachable, acknowledging, considerate, accepting, and respectful; building trust within your team through open and honest communications; demonstrating compassion and understanding toward others.

Selflessness: Being a leader who gives credit where credit is due; helping others with the mundane tasks, making a sincere and honest effort to examine problems and issues from the perspective of others; putting the needs of others before your own; promoting the interests of the team and the organization ahead of your own.

Seven Key Leadership Attributes

Self-Discipline: Maintaining self-control over your emotions, temper, and language; following through with what you say you will do; choosing the best course of action that will support the organizational goals; maintaining your enthusiasm and spirit even when the situation is difficult.

Initiative: Seeing what needs to be done and doing it without having to be told what to do; encouraging others to participate

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and promoting their ideas; giving credit where credit is due; conducting both formal and informal assessments for all work that has been completed to help foster continuous improve- ment in the workplace.

Confidence: Exercising good judgment with people and the work that needs to be done; maintaining your perspective of the bigger picture and the goals of the organization; acting with courage during the difficult times.

Decisive: Making sound, timely decisions and communicating them clearly and concisely; not withholding decisions that you should be making; remaining steadfast with your decisions, but being open to adapting to new information or changed conditions; not yielding to impulses, but rather examining problems logically and systematically without prejudice or bias.

Valuing Diversity: Respecting cultural differences; maintain- ing cultural awareness; appreciating the value of diversity and the benefits it brings to an organization; being mindful and respectful of differences in the workplace and understanding what it takes to motivate, inspire, and lead the cultural and generational differences in the organization.

Empowering: Enabling others to make decisions on their own by giving them an understanding of your intent, along with all information needed to make good decisions on their own; not micromanaging the work; encouraging others to take the initiative; promoting others’ ideas and giving credit where

UNDERSTANDING LEADERSHIP | 15

credit is due; and recognizing and rewarding the achievement of others.

Humility: Recognizing that it is not about you—it is about the success of your team and the organization; looking outward to attribute success and looking inward to apportion failure; and maintaining your sense of humor—always taking the work seriously, but not taking yourself too seriously.

The Power of Positive Expectation1

e concept of Pygmalion Leadership has its roots in ancient Greek mythology. It says that your employees will rise only to the level that you expect them to reach. at is, what you expect of your employees will have a direct bearing on their performance’s outcome.

If you believe that a person will succeed and the person knows this expectation, most people will rise to the level you expect from them.

Your expectations will drive team performance. If you believe that a person will fail, most likely they will believe it as well (and fail). But if you believe that a person will succeed and the person knows this, most people will rise to the level you expect from them.

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e Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

People have an extraordinary influence on others—and oen don’t know it. Psychologists have demonstrated that the power of expectation alone can influence others’ behavior. The phenomenon has been called the “self-fulfilling prophecy” or the “Pygmalion Effect.” People sometimes become what others expect them to become. Many supervisors are able to develop competent employees and stimulate their performance.

• What is their secret?

• How is the successful supervisor different from the unsuccessful ones, the ones who cannot develop their employees?

• What are the implications of this for the growing problem of turnover and disillusionment among promising employees?

e self-fulfilling prophecy shows how it can either be a useful or a destructive tool in the supervisors’ hands.

e Pygmalion Effect

All it takes is really believing. Supervisors can create better employees by simply believing in them. is is even truer when working with underachievers.

If you tell a grammar school classroom teacher that a child is bright, the teacher will be more supportive, teach more difficult material, allow more time to answer questions, and provide more feedback to that child. e child receiving this attention and basking in the teacher’s beliefs learns more and

UNDERSTANDING LEADERSHIP | 17

is better in school. It does not matter whether the child is actually bright. All that matters is that the teacher believes in the child. is is also true of managers and workers.

is uniquely human phenomenon is called the Pygmalion Effect. It is a persistently held belief in another person such that the belief becomes a reality. e person believed in, becomes the person they are perceived to be.

Did you ever notice that there are some people with whom we naturally feel comfortable: those who think our ideas are great? When they listen to us, we express ourselves clearly and are able to make ideas ring with clarity and insight. This is because they, believing we are bright, see us in this light. We, in turn, knowing how they feel about us, work hard to make sure they are satisfied with our answers.

e opposite is also true. ere are people with whom we are not comfortable and whom we believe do not like us. We avoid these people and do not do our best when we are around them. We are hesitant and much less articulate. Most of the time, we are less likely to try very hard to be understood. We become victims of a label that someone gave us.

This is also true in the supervisor/employee relationship. Researchers looked at twelve separate research studies from different work settings involving a total of 2,874 participants and using a technique called meta-analysis. All studies involved employees and their supervisors. Each study randomly assigned employees to two groups, and supervisors were told that one group of employees had considerably greater potential than

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the other. us, supervisors developed a positive attitude about one group of employees who were basically no different than the employees in the other group.

Employees in the positive-information group responded with greater productivity with only two exceptions. e magnitude of these gains seemed to be dependent on the circumstances of the work relationship. The greatest gains were seen in military training settings. The researchers suspect this is because in the military, it is easier to control the information supervisors receive, whereas in a business situation, word-of- mouth and reputation may bleed into the situation, making less believable the positive information received by the supervisor.

However, when looking at findings in elementary school settings, there seems to be something that happens in a learning situation that is different from what happens in a work situation. It is possible that a positive attitude on the part of supervisors may have a greater effect on learning than it does on work productivity.

e second-greatest gains were obtained in situations where disadvantaged workers (those who were less likely to be success- ful) were randomly assigned to two groups. e group for which the supervisor was given positive information made significant gains over the group for which the supervisor was not given positive information.

It is suspected that people with low self-esteem and self-efficacy are more likely to respond to positive feedback. is indicates that supervisors have the potential to create high-performing

UNDERSTANDING LEADERSHIP | 19

employees. All that is needed is for them to believe that an employee has potential. is is probably because the employee is more fully engaged and motivated when working for a positive-thinking supervisor, thereby allowing the organization to tap into their full capabilities.

ere were fewer gains noted when supervisors had less direct interaction with subordinates, such as in sales situations where employees worked independently and away from their supervisor. In addition, women supervisors were less likely to be affected by the Pygmalion Effect. It was observed that women, regardless of their beliefs, seemed to treat employees equally. erefore, the group of employees about whom a woman supervisor was given positive information made less significant gains over the other group. This was even more pronounced when the supervisor and all the employees were women.

The Pygmalion Effect is an important key to creating or improving a workforce. It believes in your employee’s capabiltiy to achieve goals. Everything should be done to create a highly positive attitude about employees in the minds of supervisors, and employees should be made to feel that their supervisors and the organization believe in their potential as people.

Leaders should present new employees to supervisors in a positive light while highlighting the new employee’s potential, and making sure that the supervisor and the work group have a clear expectation that the new employee will make a significant impact on the group’s ability to succeed. Supervisors should

20 | LEADERSHIP ESSENTIALS

be trained in how to impart a positive, motivating attitude that fosters a belief in the employee’s ability to perform.

Employees should have a clear understanding that there is no question of them performing well. Employees should be given training opportunities that bring out potential rather than focus on weaknesses. Overall, the organization should strive to create an understanding among its employees that they all have potential and all that is needed is for that potential to be brought out.

Climate

Negative Pygmalion

Poor behaviors that communicate low expectations include: • Being distracted, in a hurry, or not giving an employee your full attention

• Verbally criticizing an employee’s competence or potential

• Negative nonverbal cues through tone of voice, or face and body gestures

Positive Pygmalion

Good behaviors that communicate high expectations include:

• Being verbally supportive and encouraging

• Providing positive nonverbal cues through tone of voice, eye contact, facial expressions, body posture, and movements

• Helping employees set challenging goals

UNDERSTANDING LEADERSHIP | 21

Input

Negative Pygmalion

Poor behaviors that communicate low expectations include:

• Not giving people vital information to do a job

• Not giving people sufficient direction or guidance

• Waiting too long to check on progress or provide any needed course correction

• Treating people like they are incompetent by providing only limited or sketchy information (only on a “need to know” basis)

Positive Pygmalion

Good behaviors that communicate high expectations include:

• Spending extra time with people

• Providing ideas to follow up on or sources for further information (giving team members enough resources or ideas while allowing them to retain autonomy and ownership of projects)

Output Negative Pygmalion

Poor behaviors that communicate low expectations include:

• Cutting people off when they are speaking

• Not seeking their opinions or insights

• Limiting the number and scope of their work assignments

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Positive Pygmalion

Good behaviors that communicate high expectations include:

• Allowing them to express their opinions and ideas (even disagreeing opinions)

• Giving them new assignments (or a variety of assignments, including incrementally challenging assignments)

• Giving them opportunities to learn or practice skills (e.g., training, projects)

• Allowing them to gain exposure to, and visibility with, other people and departments (especially upward in the organization)

Feedback Negative Pygmalion

Poor behaviors that communicate low expectations include:

• Providing mostly negative, vague, or limited feedback

• Criticizing the person (instead of the behaviors), making negative generalizations (e.g., negative labels)

Positive Pygmalion

Good behaviors that communicate high expectations include: • Providing helpful suggestions on how people might be able to improve or do things better

• Positively reinforcing desirable behaviors (praise, recognition, rewards, etc.). is should be sincere, specific and frequent

UNDERSTANDING LEADERSHIP | 23

• Making sure any feedback regarding poor performance is done in a positive way, where the employee can sense that you have their best interests at heart and you reinforce your belief in their ability to do better

Expectations A well-defined expectation is the foundation for goal achieve- ment. It formalizes:

• What is to be accomplished • Who will be involved • When the activity will be accomplished • How resources will be used

Expectations should incl

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