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"The Confluence of Leadership and Values on Human Motivation" |
What do you expect of your leaders? (The session began with a class exercise involved forming several groups in which half came up with their ideas on what attributes relate to leaders and which relate to followers.) The responses from the various groups:
Attributes.
LEADER ATTRIBUTES—
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Dr. Taylor said that a survey of experts’ key attitudes included the class’s consensus elements: Vision. Integrity. Compassion. Fairness. The experts’ listing is as follows: 1) Competence. 2) Honesty/Integrity—assumes "fairness". 3) Vision— for the future and how to get there.
"Competence" is a belief—a confidence—in what’s the right things to do. It involves transmitting that sense or belief to others.
One group decided to call the follower a "Facilitator" as in "associate"—or to seek out other more palatable words than "follower."
The various groups then gave their…
"FOLLOWER" ATTRIBUTES—
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Experts surveyed give these key follower attributes:
1) Competence—skill. 2) Integrity/Honesty. 3) Loyalty and Commitment.
Interestingly, the key attributes are about the same for both good leadership and "follower-ship."
Values.Dr. Taylor asked, "When is it OK to tell a lie?" Some responses: To protect the team? Never. When the truth unnecessarily hurts someone else. It all depends on what one defines as a lie.
Dr. Taylor said that groups do not generally have a common definition of Integrity. That’s one of the main problems we have—until we get to know one another better—and amalgamate common beliefs. When one uses words they assume them in terms of how they believe—and assume others do as well.
One member made the point: Integrity is not necessarily synonymous with honesty. It’s broader than "honesty"—though it’s not dis-honesty. One does not have to reveal everything they know.
Dr. Taylor noted that we must cope today with incredible CHANGE. Change is:
It used to be you could "re-tread" or re-think periodically—perhaps every ten years. Not today. You must build self-development, growth, re-education in your daily routine. The political dissatisfaction is due the change occuring in our society. No current institution is secure today—unless its adaptive and growing to meet current, relevant needs. Change is challenging our whole concept of leadership. Warren Bennis wrote Where Have All Our Leaders Gone? We’re systematically destroying all our leaders. Due to the scrutiny, people choose not to step forward. One member said, "One may not have a ‘perfect past,’ but the ‘fabrications’ are what’s really killing."
We portray all candidates as "crooks," so no matter who wins, the crook wins!
We complain about those running for office because we never ran for office! We condemn politicians doing an overall good job because we disagree on single issues. What good does it do to judge on single issues—because my single issue is not yours. Most are "zero-sum." We’ve lost the art of consensus building. We don’t know how to pick our fights anymore. We "go to the wall" on anything. There is no "American" anymore; our cultures, our values are so different.
One member said: "No matter the issue, 20% will favor it, 20% will oppose, and 60% won’t care."
The problem in politics is: 1) Find those who really favor what you want to do. 2) Negate those who oppose your views. or 3) Try to please/appease both.
Can we control the rate of change then? "When it comes to technological progress, we’ve lost control," said Dr. Taylor.
The point that must change due to the diversity we now have is to change the way things are presented—the message, the packaging, the delivery. The ability to communicate across all the cultures we have.
One member said: "What we have in a democracy—with diversity—is difficult. But it also produces richness."
Dr. Taylor said, "You don’t ‘strategic plan’ for five years anymore; you ‘contingency plan’ for tomorrow!"
Americans no longer have the best. Hotels, for example. We must learn to change more quickly. A natural tension tends to hold us in flux between tradition and progress. More risk-taking is essential.
And values are more crucial today. Missed expectations are usually due to differences in values, which are one’s:
The breadth of each generation is greater, but the depth of understanding of each succeeding generation is less, noted Dr. Taylor. Today, we are quickly—but briefly—connected to events all over the world.
Values also:
What’s causing the great changes in our values?
Immigrant cultures brought shared values. Then they mixed with others’ values. Today there is an effort to retreat to "shared" values rather than the weakened, intermingled ones. But the ability to enforce one’s values has also changed. There is a decline of organized religions—but a rise in local churches that no longer subscribe to national denominations. The idea of a single religion no longer exists.
A fundamental change was implemented by Dwight D. Eisenhower: the interstate highway system. The sense of "community" was, thus, impacted. The mobility of society has created great changes in our value systems. Child care centers today are among the greatest shapes of shared values.
Differences in Values might be reflected in these examples:
People who lived through the Depression live for the future!
Students today—employees too—want to know what’s the minimum acceptable level!
Kids today know they’ll be less well off than their parents. Within themselves, they’re self-confident. But economically they will have to spend all they earn to survive. They’ll probably have to also pay for their own retirement—without public, employer support. Even today, most of us are following the dice on our retirement. They won’t be able to retire due to the labor shortage. They’ll have to work to the end because we will need them!
More differing values are presented in the following listing—
(Which apply to you? And which are common to your group?):
[The numbers represent votes for each from the groups—their group consensus.]
What are some significant differences as groups? Are these perceived differences just stereotypes? White males tend to choose values listed above from the column on the left. Native Americans and Hispanics tend to choose from the right-side list. Other groups had no particular pattern.
Sometimes the models we have don’t relate to the cultural heritage and values that many groups have. Our sense of "leadership" is predicated on values that don’t relate to many. We make assumptions about others based on our stereo types that may not relate as far as other groups are concerned. Women are bringing very different realities and orientations to leadership. And men as well as women are changing.
We really can’t put together groups with exact same values.
"Managers talk. Leaders listen!" "Managers have answers. Leaders have questions!" They have the broad perspective, but they know the least of anyone the nitty specifics. They can find out the detail. Leaders prepare organizations for tomorrow!
Know questions. When people answer questions, they have the "monkey." Leaders let things happen.
Managers make things happen. But over time, it's leaders who help organizations meet goals—and they may not be the leader's goals!
KERA is an example of a leader having the vision versus the people having the vision. KERA was "their" vision—many people’s vision—not a few "leaders" vision(s).
Visioning works when leaders transmit their vision and it becomes others’ vision. Leaders tell the story—and it becomes everyone’s story. The best way to do it is to use metaphors.
"GE is me." This line had a story for everyone. Many different messages came from this—all good. The most important challenge after vision is: How do we get people to do things?
A leader doesn’t motivate. People motivate themselves. A leader simply gives people the opportunity to do what they want to do.
| Click on the image to the right for larger image of Expectancy Theory chart on Human Motivation |
|
"The Confluence of Leadership and Values on Human Motivation" |
The most important element in the entire equation is values. Who has the higher performance? The one who cares! Once one has basic literacy, thinking and computational skills you can teach them anything. It’s important how they see themselves, what drives them.
We spend too much time on "abilities and traits" and major focus should be on prospective employees’ "values." People with moderate skills but great values and desire will produce more and better results.
Spend time with someone. Get to know intuitively what their values are. "Intuition" is not magic, it’s putting them together with what you know deeply inside your brain. Inside you "know" all the time. People must have a reference point. They must receive external "rewards" which match their internal rewards. If we don’t give workers matching rewards, they get demotivated and give less effort.
If the system let’s others get by without penalty, it adversely affects other workers’ values.
Tell people in advance, then, what "Good" "Better" and "Best" are. For example say, "we only hire good people and to be equal to them you must work harder than you’ve ever worked in your life. To be better—you must walk on water. To be best—you have to walk above the water."
Fortunately, people do react to more than money. But money is the only thing we can decide what to do with.
The key to leadership is finding out what one really wants and needs and giving the opportunity to achieve it.
In evaluating performance there needs to be: 1) Trust and 2) Empirical data. Empirical data becomes crucial only when trust is no longer present.
You can’t change culture over night. There’s a difference in staff coming in today than those who’ve been there a long time. The 80%/20% rule applies. 80% will buy in; 20% won’t no matter what.
The problem today is: Trying to do the "right" thing versus trying to do the "legal" thing.
Leaders today must bring people to the table who see, think, feel differently from themselves. They will challenge you. Innovation will then occur.
There are basic fundamental values that are shared regardless of where one comes from.
Power.
What is it? Once again, the class members conferred in groups and reported out these ideas:
Dr. Taylor said the classic definition is: "Power equals force times distance"
(persuasion producing outcomes)
Traditionally, power was the ability to accumulate and disperse (dispense) resources—e.g., knowledge—one of most important resources we have and use. Some people "bottleneck" processes because they build their power based on it. One of the great power shifts is the diminution of power bases within our communities: No longer are there "company towns." We must organize 250 different groups now to get anything done.
"Community Leadership" has, thus developed: we call it consensus building. People think differently, want different things. The most important skill a leader is to "empower" followers.
The leader’s ability to accumulate the resources in an organization, for example, gives people the opportunity to do what they really want to do. A leader’s job is to go out and get the resources his people need to get the job done. The focus is not for him/her to control those resources, but get the resources so the followers can act!
"Management is the power to control. Leadership is the power to influence."
"There is incredible leadership through the power of ideas"—not the control of resources.
"You make no wine before its time."—E. & J. Gallo. Sometimes it’s just not our time. But there is a time for all to lead.
Three intriguing factors concerning "power" in America:
(But mostly, we’re uncomfortable with it, so we tried to create new alternative terms.)
Vision is not things, but intellect, ideas, communication.
"Power transforms," says Dr. Bob Darrell. Then the question is not how we give it away, but the focus is on the power itself and how to best use it. It’s the property of everyone.
"If you have "power" and your audience "likes" you, you’re home free," said Arch Lustberg
"Many of us prepare for leadership—but they’re not prepared," said Dr. Taylor. You drop in and out—you’re not leader for life! When you’re in dynamic change, giving up power is hard to do.
So many concepts of power are culturally bound. We don’t have a shared sense of power and leadership.
In closing, the key elements of leadership are:
Notes by—
Ronald Lee Logsdon, Executive Director
Audubon Area Community Services, Inc
Owensboro, Kentucky
November 11, 1994