Leadership:

What Does It Mean

AND
How Do You Get It?
 Leadership: Session Focus
 What does leadership really mean?

 Do higher education business officers need to be

leaders, or is this the domain of elected officials
and chief executives?

 How can we officers exercise leadership within the

finance or business office?

 What is the difference between managing and

leading?

 How do you develop leadership skills in yourself

and others?
Session Panelists
Dr. Doug Ihrkey
Associate Professor of Political Science
University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

Mr. Larry C. Gates

Vice Chancellor
Division of Administration & Finance
University of Missouri – Kansas City
Leadership Development in
Public Institutions?
Douglas M. Ihrke
University of Wisconsin-
Milwaukee
 Douglas M. Ihrke
Associate Professor of Political Science
University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
 Serves as the Director of the Master of Public Administration (MPA) program.

 Teaching and research interest are in the areas of public and nonprofit
management, organizational leadership and change, urban politics and
public policy.

 Published in prestigious journals as Publius, the Journal of Urban Affairs,

Public Productivity and Management Review, Public Personnel
Administration, and Nonprofit Management and Leadership.

 Consults regularly with public and nonprofit sector organization and

specializes in change management and training and development.
Overview
 Defining Leadership and Leadership Development
 Measuring Leadership Effectiveness
 Overview of Major Research Approaches
 Leadership and Organization Culture
 Leadership Credibility
 OD Approach to Leadership Development – Self-Other Perceptions
Defining Leadership
 Leadership is influence processes affecting the interpretation
of events for followers, the choice of objectives for the group
or organization, the organization of work activities to
accomplish the objectives, the motivation of followers to
achieve the objectives, the maintenance of cooperative
relationships and teamwork, and the enlistment of support and
cooperation from people outside the group or organization
(Yukl, 1994, p. 5).

 Most definitions of leadership, like the one above, reflect the

assumption that leadership involves a social influence process
whereby intentional influence is exerted by one person over
other people to guide, structure, and facilitate activities and
relationships in a group or organization.

 Influence is often viewed as the essence of leadership

Leadership Development
 Can we develop leaders in public
organizations?

 Yes, but not with out a lot of work and

commitment!

 Development takes time

 OD Approach – action research

Leadership Effectiveness
 Common Measures
 Unit and/or Individual Performance
 Attitudes of followers toward leader

 Leader contribution to quality of group process

 Direct and Indirect Effects

 Direct – immediate impact on what is done, how it is
done, or how efficiently it is done
 Indirect – refer to leader decisions and actions that are
mediated by intervening variables in the causal chain.
Slower to be felt, but often more durable.
Overview of Major Research
Approaches
 Most leadership research can be
classified into one of the following four
approaches:
1. Trait Approach
2. Behavior Approach
3. Power-Influence Approach
4. Situational Approach
Trait Approach
 One of earliest approaches to study of leadership.

 Emphasizes the personal attributes of leaders.

 Underlying assumption that some people are natural

leaders who are endowed with certain traits not
possessed by other people.

 Exercise
Behavior Approach
 Paying attention to what managers
actually do. Two subcategories:

 Nature of managerial work (Mintzberg)

 Comparing effective and ineffective leaders

Power-Influence Approach
 Attempts to understand leadership by
examining influence processes between
leaders and followers.
 Power is viewed as important not only for
influencing subordinates, but also for
influencing peers, superiors and people
outside the organization
 How is power acquired and lost by various
individuals.
Situational Approach
 Emphasizes the importance of contextual factors
such as the nature of the work performed by the
leader’s unit, the nature of the external
environment, and characteristics of followers.

 Attempts to identify the aspects of the situation that

“moderate” the relationship of leader behaviors
and leadership effectiveness

 Theories describing this relationship are

sometimes called “contingency theories.”
Transactional vs.
Transformational Leadership
 Transactional Leadership – exchange
between leader and follower

 Transformational Leadership – transform the

organization in fundamental ways
Leadership and Organization
Culture
 Nature of organization culture
 Schein (1992) defines culture as the basic assumptions
and beliefs shared by members of a group or
organization.
 Fundamental measure of leadership effectiveness
is cultural change
 Embedding and reinforcing
aspects of culture
 5 primary mechanisms:
1. Attention – communicate through planning
2. Reactions to crises – increases potential for
learning about values and assumptions
3. Role modeling
4. Allocation of rewards
5. Criteria for selection and dismissal – influence
culture by recruiting people who have particular
values and skills and promoting them to
positions of authority
Embedding and reinforcing
aspects of culture
 5 secondary mechanisms:
1. Design of organization structure
2. Design of systems and procedures
3. Design of facilities
4. Stories, legends, and myths
5. Formal statements
Leadership Credibility
 Like a bank account. You make deposits and
withdrawals via actions.

 Credibility enables leaders to get followers to do

extraordinary things in organizations.

 Can’t bring about change unless perceived as

credible.
Developing Credibility: 5 Broad
Practices and 10 Commitments
1. Challenge the Process 4. Model the Way
1. Search for opportunities 1. Set the Example
2. Experiment and take risks 2. Plan Small wins

2. Inspire a Shared Vision 5. Encourage the Heart

1. Envision the Future 1. Recognize Individual
2. Enlist Others Contributions
2. Celebrate
Accomplishments
3. Enable Others to Act
1. Foster Collaboration
2. Strengthen Others
Leadership Development: Self-
Other Perceptions
 Self-ratings are inflated, unreliable, invalid, biased, inaccurate, and
generally suspect when compared to ratings of others (e.g.,
superiors, subordinates, co-workers/peers, customers/clients) or
more “objective” criteria.

 Self-rating is determined by a number of personality, cognitive and

biographical factors.

 Significant other’s perception is based on interactions with, and

observations of, the focal individual by the relevant other.

 A comparison process results in which self-other agreement is

assessed. That is a determination is made to the degree to which
the self-rating is in agreement with the other-rating – a definition of
accuracy that is common in the literature.
Self-Other Ratings – The
Comparison Process
 Model asserts that comparison process results in three
categories

 Accurate estimators are those focal individuals whose self-

ratings are in agreement with the ratings of the relevant others.

 Over-estimators are those focal individuals whose self-ratings

are significantly inflated above the ratings of the relevant others

 Under-estimators are those focal individuals whose self-ratings

are significantly deflated below the ratings of the relevant
others.
Individual and Organizational
Outcomes of Self-Other Process
 Accurate Estimates – positive individual and
organizational outcomes

 Over-estimators – tend to produce diminished org.

outcomes – for example, poor supervision-
subordinate relationships

 Under-estimators – affect some organizational

outcomes favorably – for example, interest in self-
development/training, and others less favorably –
for example, promotions are not pursued.
Leadership Development: Self-Other
Perceptions in Wisconsin Communities

 Self – City Manager  Other – Dept. Heads

 Communicates = 4.0
 Plans Future = 3.6
 Trust CEO = 3.4
 Follows Thru = 3.90
 Rewards = 3.8
 Experiments = 4.0
 Eff. W/ Council = 3.9
 Communicates = 3.3
 Plans Future = 3.0
 Trust CEO = 2.8
 Follows Thru = 3.2
 Rewards = 3.0
 Experiments = 3.3
 Eff. W/ Council = 3.3
Leadership Development: Self-Other
Perceptions in Wisconsin Communities

 Overall, department heads (relevant others)

do not view managers/mayors (focal
individuals) as positively as they themselves
do.

 All differences are statistically significant

 Same pattern holds for council member views

on managers/mayors
Another OD Option: Influence
Tactics
 Work of Gary Yukl (SUNY-Albany), Chuck
Siefert (Siena College) and Doug

 Skill development in influencing people

 To be effective – necessary to influence people

to:
 Carry out requests
 Support proposals
 Implement decisions
Overview of Influence Tactics
 Influence Process – The effect of one
party (the “agent”) on another (the
“target”)

 Direction of Influence Attempts – not

unidirectional – leaders influence followers
but followers also influence leaders
Examples of Influence Tactics –
15 in Total
 Rational Persuasion – agent uses logical arguments and factual
evidence to show that a request or proposal is feasible and relevant.

 Consultation – agent asks the target person to suggest improvements or

help plan a proposed activity or change for which the target person’s
support is desired.

 Inspirational Appeal – agent appeals to the target’s values and ideals or

seeks to arouse the target person’s emotions to gain commitment to the
request.

 Pressure – agent uses demands, threats, frequent checking, or

persistent reminders to influence the target to do something.

 Collaboration – agent offers to provide assistance or necessary

resources if the target will carry out a request or approve a proposed
change.
 Outcomes of Influence Tactics

Commitment – target internally agrees with a

decision or request from the agent and makes
great effort to carry out decision or request.
Compliance – target is willing to do what the agent
asks but is apathetic rather than enthusiastic and
will make a minimal effort.
Resistance – target is opposed to the proposal or
request and actively tries to avoid carrying it out.
Use of Influence Tactics in
Leadership Development
 Provide 3 dimensional picture for agent

 Provide feedback to agent on others’

perceptions of their use by the agent

 Provide training for agents in using

different influence tactics
 Leadership Development in Public
Institutions? - Conclusions
 Leadership – getting people to do what you want them to do (Dahl)

 Leaders can be developed through training - introspection

 Long-term change does not occur without cultural change –

transformational change

 Analysis of self-other perceptions is one way of developing leaders

 I guess cameras do work?

 Training in the use of influence tactics is one way of developing

leaders

 Followers will not buy-in to what leaders are trying to do unless they
perceive them as credible.

 Have some fun and try this at work!

Team
Leadership

Larry C. Gates
Vice Chancellor for Administration &
Finance
University of Missouri – Kansas City
 Larry Gates
Vice Chancellor for Administration & Finance
University of Missouri – Kansas City
 22 years at Missouri State University in administrative roles and as
tenured faculty member in the School of Business.

 12 years at the University of Missouri System Office as Associate Vice

President responsible for coordinating the system level strategic
planning, budget planning and development, institutional research and
planning and coordinated the system audit internal auditing.

 Joined University of Missouri – Kansas City in 2001 as Vice Chancellor

for Administrative and Finance with senior leadership responsibility for
all financial and business related functions.

 Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Business Administration.

 Significantly involved in leading a number of quality improvement

initiatives in higher education environments. Focused during the past
5 years on creating a culture of leadership excellence integrating both
individual and team leadership development.
Team
Leadership
Larry C. Gates
Vice Chancellor for Administration &
Finance
University of Missouri – Kansas City
 The Next Stage in
Leadership Evolution

Premise: 21st century organizations are ripe

for a new model of leadership – how it is
viewed, practiced, and developed

 Organizational Drivers
– Teams as the primary work unit
– Boundaryless organizations and horizontal
coordination
– Workforce diversity
– Focus on customer responsiveness
– Advent of “learning organizations”
 The Next Stage in
Leadership Evolution
 Emerging Characteristic of New Model for
Leadership
– Reciprocal Relationship of People Working Together
 Initiated by interaction of people rather than by an individual

– Shared Meaning Making

 Joint interpretation of experiences
 Synthesis of all partial observation

– Social or group process

 Spawned from the diverse collective wisdom of individuals
working together
 Team Leadership vs.
Leader-led Team
Premise: Team leadership is distinct from a leader-led
team. Team leadership is based on the concept of
“team”, while the leader-led team is based on
“teamwork.”
 Basic Principles of “Team Leadership”
– Jointly create a meaningful purpose
– Shared leadership
– Mutual accountability
– Collective work products
– Performance goals set and assessed collectively
– Work approach shaped and enforced by members
 Team Leadership vs.
Leader-led Team
 Basic Principles of a “Leader-led”
Team
– Purpose directed by organizational mission
– Strong clearly focused leader
– Individual accountability
– Individual work products
– Performance goals set and assessed by
leader
– Work approach directed by leader
 Deploying “ Team
Leadership’’ or “Leader-led
Team”
Premise: The use of “team leadership” versus
“leader-led team” is determined by the performance
challenge to be addressed.

 “Team Leadership” is best suited when:

– Focus is on strategic not operational results
– Real-time collaboration is required
– Integration of multiple skills and perspective is necessary
– Time frame for producing results is long-term
– Performance affects entire organization’s success
– Cross-organizational participation is needed
 Deploying “Team
Leadership or “Leader-led
Team”
 “Leader-led team” is best suited when:
– Performance challenge is operational in nature
– Work can be delivered through the sum of
individual contributions
– Performance results require short time frame
– Performance narrowly affects organization’s
success
– Cross organizational participation is not required
 Team Leadership

Premise: High performing organizations

in the future will achieve success through
team leadership more than through
individual leadership

 Attributes
– Mutual trust
– Constructive conflict
– Shared commitment
– Joint accountability
– Focus on results
 Team Leadership
 Practices
– Challenging the Process
 Willingness to take risk
 Exploring new alternatives

 Learning from mistakes

 Support team members in these efforts

– Inspiring Shared Vision

 Common understanding of purpose
 Aligning team efforts with organization’s goals

 Using values to guide action

 Team Leadership

– Enabling Others to Act

 Playing active role in setting goals and planning
projects
 Setting cooperative objectives
 Sharing information and keeping each other
informed
 Demonstrating mutual respect for one another

– Modeling the Way

 Translating shared values into action
 Mutual accountability
 Influencing by example
 Creating small “wins”
 Team Leadership

– Encouraging the Heart

 Emotionally connected to the team
 Timely feedback

 Pride in team accomplishments

 Celebrating together

 Contributions
– Legacy of leadership excellence - quality
– Legacy of future leaders - continuity
– Legacy of organizational growth - sustainability
 Implication for Leadership
Development

Premise: A new model of leadership requires

a new way of thinking about leadership
development

 Develop capacity to engage in context

of interdependence
– Focusing on collective ability of people to
interrelate
– Taking responsibility individually and with others
 Implication for Leadership
Development
 Develop People in Context
– Interactions with people influence who you
are
– Leadership arises in the joint actions of
individuals
– Leadership is about taking part, not taking
charge
– Understand the nature of interrelating, its
forms, and effectiveness
– Quality leadership is dependent upon the
vitality of interrelating
 Implication for Leadership
Development
 Develop Leadership Capacity of Teams
– Improve the quality of interrelating among people
engaged in interdependent work
– Strengthen collective contributions as the sum
total of
all interaction of people
– Enhance ability to resolve conflict constructively
– Expand capability to engage in quantum thinking
 Team Development and
Individual Leadership
Development
Premise: Organizational development
practice and individual development practice
will merge to support a new concept of
leadership.

 Current Model
– Separate model and curriculum for leadership
development versus team building or
organizational development

– Viewed from different focus – individual vs.

group dynamics
Team Development and Individual
Leadership Development

 Future Model
– Integration of team and organizational
development with leadership
development

– Blending of two separate

organizational structures and cultures
 Leadership:
What Does It Mean
& How Do You Get It?
Open Discussion and
Questions