Candice Dolgash
Why do we have leaders?
An article in the Ivey Business Journal, by Paul R. Lawrence (2011), discusses the evolution of decision-making and leadership. Animals evolved with unique traits and instincts that help them survive. Humans, on the other hand, were able to use their intelligence to adapt to a wide variety of situations.
“While early humans were not physically very powerful as individuals, they became extremely powerful in groups because they actually cared about at least some of their fellow humans, not just themselves and their own offspring. In short, humans learned to get what they needed and to deal with threats by taking into account not only their own needs, but also the needs of their companions, along with whatever knowledge and experience could be brought to bear. Such an inclusive and resourceful type of decision-making eventually led to complex human societies, to organizations of all kinds, and to leadership.” (Lawrence, 2011)
It’s the concept of leading, by caring for others, that is the basis of the authentic leadership theory. Authentic leadership describes leadership that is transparent, morally grounded, and responsive to people’s needs and values. (Northouse, 2013)
This theory is still being researched and developed, but there are three perspectives to understanding it more clearly. The intrapersonal perspective focuses on the leader and his or her knowledge and self-awareness. The interpersonal perspective claims it is a process built by leaders and followers together. The developmental perspective is the idea that authentic leadership skills develop throughout your life and are affected by major life events. (Northouse, 2013)
One practical way to apply these concepts is using Robert Terry’s Authentic Action Wheel (1993).
This approach gives leaders a tangible method to determine what is really going on in a situation and determine what can be done that would be most beneficial to the leader, followers and organization. (Northouse, 2013)
Perhaps some examples, from my own experience, will help further the understanding of this approach.
At my current employment, there has been some unrest among the employees due to scheduling issues. They complain of the extra hours and the uncertainty of work times, which causes conflicts in their personal lives.
Those of us in a management/supervisory capacity have been struggling to get schedules out on a timely basis and they tend to change frequently when venues alter their plans, to accomodate clients.
This type of situation can be shown, as below, on the action wheel:
As a problem with structure, our leadership would need to implement certain policies and procedures to solve it. By reviewing the job calendar two or three weeks prior, missing information can be attained, or problems mitigated, and a schedule can be created and sent to the staff ahead of time. Also, we could create a policy that would require venues to notify us immediately for any changes on their part, that will affect setup and teardown times.
Another issue that has been developing is that the staff is not completing full cleanup/organization of the warehouse before the next week’s preparations begin. They’re having difficulty finding items, which is slowing progress, and some equipment that would improve logistics, are just not available to them, at this time. Things are taking longer, are being forgotton, or require too much manual labor.
These types of issues are problems with a lack of the proper resources. Not having enough manpower is preventing the staff from completing all housekeeping duties on a timely basis. Also, capital investments in racking, an inventory system, and equipment would improve the workflow greatly. Unfortunately, it takes time to aquire the capital and these items must be purchased a bit at a time. These plan items must be completed, though, for the health and safety of our staff and success of the operation.
“Work smarter, not harder!”
Hopefully, these examples have provided you with a better understanding of this approach to becoming an authentic leader. It provides the “how to” steps, but be sure to ask yourself, underneath the surface, what’s really going on? This will help you, as a leader, and your followers get closer to reaching the ultimate goal of fulfillment!
Lawrence, P.R. (Jan/Feb 2011). Human Evolution Has Given Us What We Need for Good Corporate Leadership. Ivey Business Journal. Retrieved from http://iveybusinessjournal.com/topics/leadership/human-evolution-has-given-us-what-we-need-for-good-corporate-leadership
Northouse, P.G. (2013) Leadership (6th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Terry, R.W. (1993) Authentic Leadership: Courage in action. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass