Leadership

PSYCH 485 blog

The path-goal and different ways of leading

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The path-goal theory focuses on how to motivate the followers to reach specific goals (Northouse, 2016, p.115). Depending upon the work environment one works in the leader’s behavior may change. Directive leadership, supportive leadership, participative leadership, and achievement-oriented leadership are all focused on what the leader must provide to the followers in order to reach the best outcome (Northouse, 2016, p.117-118).

Directive leadership is needed when the task is unclear or more difficult (Northouse, 2016, p.121). Directive leadership is when the leader tells the followers what is required of them and what must be done in order to get there, or otherwise can be defined as very to the point and directional (Northouse, 2016, p.117). I remember when I first began instructing dance classes and how concerned I was with what exactly I needed to do, and how to prepare. The director of athletics at my specific work place used directive leadership at first in order to prepare me, and relieve the stress I had due to the uncertainty of what to do or expect. Directive leadership was beneficial at first within this work environment, but once I gained experience through instructing two or three classes I was no longer in need of directive leadership.

After mastering what needs be done, the leadership style I was in need of was different than before, and called for different individuals to deliver this specific type of leadership. Supportive leadership is the leader’s ability to present them self as friendly, and in concern with the followers needs (Northouse, 2016, p.117). The transformation from directive to supportive occurred quite quickly, though the director of athletics was not the only one providing this leadership style, I also looked to those above me who have been teaching for multiple years when it came to asking advice. I no longer was in need of receiving information on what exactly should occur within my class, and how to teach; instead I was looking to receive information on other aspects.  Choosing costumes, games, and rewards I tended to look to those who had experience teaching instead of the director of athletics.

As I gained more experience with instructing dance, I began to grow. Instead of being the lowest on the totem pole, I was now exposed to participative leadership. Participative leadership is when leaders look to followers to share ideas and help with decision making (Northouse, 2016, p.118). Not only were my fellow dance instructors seeking my opinion, but also the athletic director. After about a year of being involved with this specific business I found myself helping make decisions, such as what the theme for the show should be, what I think about adding certain levels to much more. This specific type of leadership is very motivating in the sense that the follower feels of importance and becomes more confident within their job.

Though only three of the four were presented does not make the last of less importance. Instead, I just have not come to experience achievement-oriented leadership, or forcing the followers to perform on the highest level possible within instructing dance. Though, it is also important to mention that not all of these styles will be used, some leaders will demonstrate all while some may only demonstrate one. One or four, it is still a part of the path-goal theory (Northouse, 2016, p.118). Different situations call for different leaders, where some situations may call for more than one approach at once and others not (Northouse, 2016, p.118).

References

Northouse, P.G. (2016).  Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.

Leadership Styles

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Taking a few steps back to when leadership was first defined, “Stogdill(1974, p.7) pointed out in a review of leadership research, there are almost as many different definitions of leadership as there are people who have tried to define it” (Northouse, p.2). Leadership itself is not as straightforward as people think, and neither is the situational approach, which is a small piece of the puzzle that goes into leadership. As cited in the text, “to be an effective leader requires that a person adapt his or her style to the demands of different situations” (Northouse, p.93).

Instructing more than one person leads to various ways of going about the situation. Individuals vary in their commitment as well as their competence of doing something (Northouse, p.94). Due to the differences that exist amongst individuals, different leadership styles are needed. The first leadership style is high-directive-low supportive. This specific style is used for individuals who already are high in commitment but lack the ability of understanding the specific task (Northouse, p.94-97). This particular level of development may seem frustrating at first. After reading this I cannot help but think back to high school and the photography teacher I had. My instructor in photography was always viewed as intimidating and rude, and once taking the class I knew exactly why. My instructor would not be very supportive of us as students, instead she would instruct us to complete certain task and that was that. She was very to the point and demanding on what we were to complete. Looking back now I have much more respect for this specific instructor. She taught me that being more directive and less supportive would lead me to challenge myself more and want to prove her wrong. Though I do not know if she did this on purpose, I can definitely relate this to the text.

Being high-directive-low supportive is not fitting to all situations and all people of course. Say an individual is not as committed to a certain task, and also lacks the competence in fully understanding and completing the task. This individual would most likely not benefit in my last example, instead this individual would likely benefit in the context of both high-directive and high-supportive (Northouse, p.97). I feel this is more relatable to my work experience in a restaurant. I remember last week we hired a new server, and being a new server is many times challenging at first. This specific employee began to make mistake after mistake in remembering the menu, and became very frustrated. Due to the frustration this employee decided to walk out. This of course is a more extreme example, and giving up many times is not the end result per se. I think this may have been due to the manager who was training this employee and how unsupportive he was. Though he succeeded within being high in directive he did not succeed in being patient and supporting which could be the reason this employee walked out.

Next are those categorized in the D3 category, otherwise known as those who are moderate to highly competent but still question their ability in completing the task (Northouse, p.96). I myself am definitely guilty of this and have been throughout my entire life. For example, I know I have the ability to complete certain tasks at work and how to go about doing it considering I have been at this specific job for three years, yet I still find myself asking questions every now and then. Being in this situation personally made me realize that I sometimes am in need of support more but other times I am more so in need of direction more so.

Saving the best for last, those who are high in both competence in commitment (Northouse, p.96). Those in this specific category are not necessarily in need of support or direction. Therefore the style found most appropriate for these individuals is not giving as much support or direction (Northouse, p.96). These individuals are more self-motivated and already have the ability in doing the task so they are not in need of others pushing them. This of course could change, as for many people flip flop between the different developmental levels, especially on different task.

Due to the fact that not one human being is exactly alike to another makes identifying and handling these leadership styles at times difficult. People may not exactly fit in one specific category or tend to travel between a few more than others. The ability to identify and appropriately tend to the individual leads to a better outcome for both the leader and follower. The importance of the follower needs be taken into account, because without followers there would be no need for leaders.

References

Northouse, Peter, G. (2016) Leadership, Theory, and Practive, 7th ed., SagePublications.

A Leader That Wants

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Traits and skills: where do we begin? At first glance it might look as though these two words have the same definition, but they surely do not. Thanks to #PSYCH485, you will now understand the important difference between the two! Within leadership, there are two approaches that explain how an individual becomes a leader. The trait approach focuses on hereditary and environmental factors, with the idea that a leader is born. (Lesson 2, p.3). The skills approach is under the belief that leaders can be made, because they learn leadership skills from the aspects of life around them. (Lesson 4, p.3).

Within the skills approach are three main categories of skills: technical, human, and conceptual. Katz (1955) refers to these as the Three Skills Model. Technical refers to the usage of knowledge and tools to get the work done. Human skills are people skills. Conceptual skills focus on creating ideas. (Lesson 4, p.4). One word that stuck out to me in the course textbook was the word ‘adaption’. According to Northouse (2015), “Leaders with human skills adapt their own ideas to those of others” (p.44). Connecting this to more information, Figure 3.1 on page 45 describes the need for technical, human, and conceptual skills at each level within an organization. It is interesting to see that human skills are the only skills in this group that stay consistently high for all levels of management. At the top level, technical skills are less important. At the lower level, conceptual skills are less important. Adaption is necessary on all levels of management, because a leader cannot go in to an organization close-minded.

At a church I used to attend, there was a pastor who had been there for many years. He was a leader of the church, and had a heart of gold. There was one problem: his human skills were not the best. While human skills fall under a behavior and can be learned, it seemed that he never expressed interest in learning such thing. This pastor did not adapt well with new church attendees, which was a big issue. When people are new to a church, they want to see if they fit in to the environment, if they get along with others there, and how the pastor conducts the service. Because church is not a one size fits all, and the people that attend all come from different backgrounds, the pastor needs to be able to fit the needs of all types of individuals. This requires adapting to new ideas and building strong relationships. It is hard to feel welcomed in a new place when the leader of that place barely attempts to reach out to you. The following link further explains more as to why pastors need human skills: http://sharperiron.org/article/people-skills-pastor.

This has led me to the realization that leaders need to want to be leaders. They cannot settle for where their traits direct them to be. Leaders are not just born: they are made. When your only form of leadership is that which you have been born in to, are you striving to become a better leader, or are you content with the spot you are in? Leaders need to continue their leadership development to stay up to date with their environments. If a person has fallen into a leadership title by their personality and intelligence, and they do not want to be a leader, they will lead their followers incorrectly.

I have used the words #lead, #leader, and #leadership a great amount in this blog. It may be appearing repetitive at this point, but let us not forget how we became the people that we are today. It is from those who have taught us our values and who have influenced our personalities. We behave in certain situations because of the way we have learned to do so. We follow in hopes of one day leading. It is up to each individual to decide what type of leader they want to be. May your development of leadership never come to an end. May you always want to strive to be a better you.

 

References:

Northouse, Peter G. (Ed.). (2015). Leadership: Theory and Practice (7th Ed.).Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Paiz, J., Angeli, E., Wagner, J., Lawrick, E., Moore, K., Anderson, M., Soderlund, L., Brizee, A., Keck, R. (2014, November 11). In-Text Citations: The Basics. Retrieved from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/02/.

Pennsylvania State University (2016). Leadership in Work Settings—PSYCH 485. Online course lesson. Penn State World Campus. The Pennsylvania State University. Retrieved February 3, 2016 from https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/sp16/psych485/002/content/04_lesson/03_page.html

Performance Based Hiring, A new Way of Thinking

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The job description has been in use for many years and has moved company’s light years ahead of other companies. The reason is employees can work very effective when there is a description of what they are exactly supposed to do. This also helps the company by creating metrics to evaluate their progress. Imagine a hundred years ago when there was not a job description and how people were just told what to do. This can be pretty inefficient and make it difficult to compare how people are working. Job descriptions have come a long way, and most recently there has been another angle that discusses a different way of utilizing the job description when you are looking to fill positions. Instead of using typical job descriptions when looking to see if candidates are qualified to do the job, there has been discussed another way and it is called performance based hiring. Lou Adler is at the forefront of this topic and his explanations make you really look into how we are handling the hiring process through our use of job descriptions. He believes that most applicants are not even applying because of job descriptions that filter out to many good candidates. What is interesting is he believes that by using standard job descriptions for employment hiring may be weeding out candidates that may lack experience but make up for it in skills or knowledge learned. Could it be possible that we are not even seeing the best candidates because of a weak job description? What we will look at is the difference between a job description and a performance based hiring model. At the end we should be able to decide what best fits our needs.

Job descriptions are duties, responsibilities, who you report to, conditions that you will work in and what your supervisor’s role will be. This is giving you all of the relevant information you will need to succeed on the job. It also gives the employer a means to measure your efforts while working. For example knowing the specific duties or job tasks that will need to be performed. It can make things very clear to the employee of what he or she is expected to do. If you know what your duties are you, you will now the role you have, be efficient, and mindful which can lead to a higher performance rating rather than working without parameters or specific tasks. Again for the employer you have a very efficient employee who knows where they need to be and what they need to be doing.  Chris Ceplenski wrote an article called “4 Benefits of Effective Job Descriptions” and states that there are 4 key points that you need to be aware of. First, is better recruitment, a well description of the job for the employee and employer stands out to be the best tool to communicate what the role of the job will be and the requirement? By doing this well, it can improve both internal and external recruitment and can retain and motivate the best talent by ensuring that employees expectations are aligned with business expectations of what the role entails (Ceplenski. 4 Benefits of Effective Job Descriptions). His second points are better compensation and to see its relevance in the market. Ceplenski discusses how having everything spelled out and up to date for the legal aspect is of high importance. One example is the Fair Labor Standards Act that discusses the exempt and non-exempt status of the job that then leads into overtime eligibility or not. And his final point is people planning where he believes this is extremely vital. The two examples that he lists are head count and succession planning. His head count describes what everyone should be doing across the company and will point out any roles that are not being utilized or are needed for future planning. Where succession planning he states that job descriptions will show the role of the employee with a future career path. He gives this a forward looking perspective when you are looking to hire and candidates are interested in the career path. The anatomy of a good job description needs organization information, a job summary, duties and responsibilities, working conditions, job specifications, disclaimer and signature approvals (Dye et al.)

Now we can take a look at another way of thinking. The typical bullet points or must have in a job description will still be there such as legal requirements. What we can look at now is the performance-based hiring process that is supposed to give your insight as to whether the candidate will be a right fit for the job. The definition of performance-based hiring was coined by Lou Adler and is a four step process for hiring that integrates sourcing, screening, interviewing, and recruiting into a seamless approach based on how top people look for jobs and why they accept one positons over another (Luceo, Go Beyond). Lou Adler discusses seven ways to achieve the performance based hiring process so that you can repeat the process long term.

  1. Move away from using the traditional job description for filling positions. He states that top people do not look for skills or experience but rather challenges and opportunistic value. When we write a job description instead of skills perhaps we should be listing the work that needs to be completed. Instead of specifying what needs to happen we could look at what results are need to define and complete the job requirement. The job description should be stating what the performance expectations are and what results are needed in order to accurately give a representation of the job. For example, if we state on a traditional job description that you need to lift fifty pounds on any given time, we may want to actually say what we are lifting. This can just give some insight to the requirements.
  2. To make the job description say what he people will actually be doing with the skills. This can be called a performance profile, and as Adler states, is the center piece of the performance based hiring. This will describe performance objectives and describes how this person that accepts the job to be successful. Lou states that it is different from the traditional job description and instead what the person needs to do in order to full fill the needs to be complete the job. He uses and example where “Have five years of accounting experience and a CPA,” and his suggestion is to “Complete the implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley reporting requirements by Q2.” You can see here that the wording actually can open the door to a lot more candidates that may be qualified to learn the skills.
  3. Look at ways to advertise for the positions. Are they “based on how the best look for jobs”? There are different avenues to use to help you find the right person or for that matter the top talent pool. Adler discuses developing multiple channels and “based on quality, cost and time” and work each channel for optimization. Some examples of the avenues to look through are resume databases, internal transfers, internet-based advertising employer referrals, recruiting from college, job fairs are one of many ways to grab talented people.
  4. Disregard the questions that are not relevant. Instead ask questions about the person’s accomplishments in the past while observing how this person has grown. You can gain valuable information by asking what achievements has the person made or their most recent accomplishments.  You can assess the person’s ability on what they say but also in how they say it. Asking a question as to what accomplishment stands out the most to you that you have done and then describing it. Adler believes that getting the right answer to this question will tell you everything you need to know in order make a hiring decision.
  5. Hiring people who can do the work and are competent. To assess true motivation, you will need to look for multiple examples of where the person has excelled at and the underlying environment and circumstances (Adler, Hire with Your Head). Looking at their examples they give and whether they are consistent will tell you that there is some measureable performance that has happened in the past.
  6. In order for us to properly assess a candidate, we need to be able to keep our emotions in check so that we can make a sound and thoughtful judgment during the hiring process. You are wanting to collect relevant information during the interview to help make your assessment.
  7. The final point, you will need to be strong at recruiting during times of increased talent. This will give you the opportunity to hire top talent on a regular basis. There will be at times that the top talent is being heavily recruited by other companies. You then need to be able to essentially fight for them to be interested in your positions and nothing can help more but having a performance based hiring process in place to help you land the right people for the right job.

This is very interesting way to look for prospective employees. Lou discusses that it is important to look for people on what they can do on year one instead of what they can do on day one. This opens the door for more candidates who may not have the proper job description. It can focus on what they can learn, what their abilities are to perform over time. Hiring a person who has the experience and skills might look good on paper, but they may be missing on the ability to perform their job to the company’s expectations. We have probably at one point in our lives seen in the work place people get hired for the skills and education and only to fail at the performance aspect and either quit or get fired. Take a Chef who is applying for a job and he is a well-seasoned and veteran Chef of fine dining. He has all of the skill and experience needed. This person may fit everything to perfection when it comes to using the traditional job description. Unfortunately this person had a performance issue and could not meet expectations because he was not aware of the results oriented business that this was. Now we have a Chef who has previously worked at Chipotle, a lower end fast food place as compared to the previous candidate. This person did not have all of the skills and experience as the fine dining Chef had. He was lacking in fine dining because it just did not have that experience. So what this person does have by using a performance based hiring technique is the ability, the motivation, the drive and the high performance goal oriented mind set to actually learn everything and be accomplished on year one instead of day one.  Sometimes we need to look further into the mindset of a candidate to see what they capable of doing and what they are not are. With traditional job descriptions we are really looking for someone to fill shoes. What we really need to be looking at his someone who can walk in their own shoes.

 

 

  • Adler, Lou, The essential guide for Hiring and Getting Hired. Lou Adler, 2013
  • Adler, Lou, Hire with your Head. New Jersey: Wiley, 2007
  • Luceo, Go Beyond: Performance Based Hiring: luceosolutions.com
  • Griswold, Allison. “What employers Get Wrong When Writing The Job Description.” Business Insider. 15 Oct. 2013 Web. 8/1/2015
  • Jagoe, Andy. “The Most Dangerous Threat to your Startup Hiring Efforts.” Venture Grit. 2015 Web 8/1/2015
  • Dessler, Gary, Human Resource Management 14th Edition. New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc., 2015
  • Ceplenski, Chris. “4 Benefits of Effective Job Descriptions.” HR Daily Advisor
  • Dye et al. “Well Written job descriptions are worth the effort.” www.purdue.edu/hr/LeadingEdition/Ledi_404_job_descriptions.html

 

 

The Dime of Intelligence

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Now a day the cost of attending college is absurd, let alone continuing your education with graduate or doctoral programs. I strongly believe that leadership comes with education and knowledge; however, I am not saying that leadership cannot already be instilled in individuals. However, with the cost of education and the acceptance of compiling huge amounts of student loans, is the dime that tags along with the fancy credentials deterring students from obtaining degrees?

According to the collegechoice.net (2016) the cost of a college bachelor’s degree has gone up 500 % since 1982 with some states tuitions rising more than 80% per academic year! What is even more astonishing is that the rate at which tuition is rising is not matching the inflation rate. For example, if college tuition was to rise at the same rate as inflation, and tuition was approximately $10,000 in 1982, the cost of that same tuition today would be around $24,00 (collegechoice, 2016).

The problem is that with college becoming so expensive, it is preventing individuals who have desires to go on to graduate and doctoral programs such as medical and law school from doing so because they do not want to acquire mass amounts of debt. So overall how does this relate to leadership? According to Redmond (2016), “research shows that more intelligent leaders are faster learners, make better deductions, and are better at developing strategies to make their vision a reality” and furthermore, leaders of high intelligence are shown to accomplish group goals more effectively than less intelligent leaders. Education = intelligence (or at least a good portion of it).

With that said, if the price of an education continues to rise, more and more individuals will sway away from the idea of obtaining a college education, specifically post-graduate and doctoral degrees and ultimately we will have less intelligent and successful leaders.

References

The Rising Cost of College. (2016, February 3). Retrieved January 19,    2016, from http://www.collegechoice.net/the-rising-cost-of-       college/

Redmond, B. (2016) Lesson 2: Trait Approach [Lecture Lessons]. Retrieved from             https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/sp16/psych485/002/toc.html

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