Leadership & Organizational Achievement UTA SSW, SOCW 5306 Generalist Macro Practice Professor Dick Schoech Suggest printing slides for class using: Print | Handouts | 3 slides per page | grayscale options Copyright No part of this presentation may be used or reproduced without the written permission of dr. Schoech

Review of Previous Classes Class 2-3: Generalist practice, change, roles, levels of intervention, etc. Class 4: Theories, values, and perspectives Class 5-9: Community assessment Class 10: Administrative practice overview Class 11: Assessing organizations Class 12: Supervising Class 13: Leading Next weeks: societal and political practice, issues, etc §

Leadership (we will cover) Definition Leadership vs. management Theories and studies of leadership –Trait, style, task, follower, contingency Organizational achievement (leader activities) –Strategic Planning –Organizational development –Organizational learning §

Leadership definition/tasks Depends on the management theory Good summaries: –I am their leader, I must find out where they are going and follow them –Leaders are concerned with where we are going. Managers are concerned with how are we going to get there §

Leadership vs. Management Doing things right Set day-day direction Mostly internal Concern=efficiency Personnel focused Worker needs/capacities Embodies goals/objectives Manages resources Applies technologies Seeks stability Manage teamwork Doing the right thing Set overall direction Mostly external Concern=effectiveness Stakeholder focused Customer needs/capacities Embodies mission/vision Gets more resources Secures technologies Seeks change Bring teams together § ManagementLeadership

Leadership theories and studies A lot of research has been done Theories offer incomplete explanations Most research illustrates the complexity of leadership Look at theories concerning trait, style, task, follower, community power §

Trait theories Look for traits of a good leader –1900s: brawn, guts, stamina, etc –Later: concerned, charismatic, flexible –Thinking, sensing, intuition, feeling –Current: participatory, inclusive, flexibility, environmental scanning Trait theory not supported by research §

Theories Based on Leaders Style Authoritarian, democratic, laissez faire High concern for people vs. production Research suggests that style is based on the situation, e.g., In the military, an authoritarian style might be more effective than in a human service agency §

Theories Based on Leader Tasks Seek out: Find the best & seek diversity Empower: Motivate, give latitude to succeed/fail Mentor: Encouraging the right people Orchestrate: Listen, coordinate & inspire Unite: Infuse agency mission Mediate: Resolve competing directions Symbolize: Embody, express emotions, set rituals Innovate: Challenge the old and consider the new Task theories are not supported by research §

Theories based on Followers McGregor belief in follower –Theory X= lazy, unmotivated, –Theory Y= motivated, eager Characteristics of group –Hawthorne experiments –Group Centered Model, Blanchard & Hersey §

Theories based on org culture Culture: shared beliefs, values & assumptions assumed valid & passed on informally to new employees (wisdom from the snack room) Leaders define agency culture from mission/vision & stakeholders Leaders infuse org culture into systems/processes, training, etc. vs. constantly putting out fires Leaders represent agency culture to those inside and outside the agency §

Theories Based on Community Power (Concern is how community decisions get made rather than how an organization is led) Elites decide Institutions decide Interest group decide Rational decision making prevails Bureaucracies decide Bargaining and negotiating decides Systems model (interaction/environment) §

Contingency/Situational leadership Key contingencies –Leader’s characteristics –Followers (education, motivation,) –Situation (power, tasks, group behavior, etc) –Culture of the organization & stakeholders §

Summary: Successful leadership Know yourself –Know your strengths, limitations, do not burn out –Understand how you communicate (listen, symbolize, etc.) Know your situation –Understand your system –Understand your environment (look for opportunities) –Define and measure quality (Patti)(TQM) –Rally internal/external support on quality (Patti) Know your followers –Understand the culture of your agency –Understand what motivates your people –Understand work group behavior Setting up system to optimize agency mission, goals §

Core Tasks of Leaders Embodying the mission and representing the organization Strategic Planning Organizational development Developing a learning orgainzation

Organizational achievement Three types of activities that leaders do –Strategic Planning –Organizational development –Organizational learning §

Embody and Represent Embody the mission –Explain the mission to new employees –Explain the mission to the public Represent the organization –Participate in intraorganizational meetings –Make speeches to the public –Work with the press –Listen to clients and stakeholders

Strategic planning (soul searching) Reformulate mission, policies, & plans Identify customers and their needs Reflect on big picture Consider societal trends Examine core functions Speculate on long term goals Identify resources and opportunities §

Organizational development (education) Team building & conflict management Action research & employee involvement Consultation on processes Participatory management Job enrichment, job redesign §

Driving Organizational Learning Insuring information quality Info driven decision making or evidence based practice (work patterns) Accumulating expertise –Capturing expertise during normal services –Linking to outside expertise Info dissemination (visualization, use) Data warehousing (storage, links, retrieval) Data mining (making sense of the info) §

Conclusion Leadership is situational so take a contingency approach to leadership