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FIVE PRINCIPLES INTEGRAL TO EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP: AN ANALYSIS ABEL CASTILLO, ANSLEM FARMER, HOLLY ELLIOTT, JENNIFER KES, LINDSEY LAZZARA, MADISON PAGAN, TONIA QUARTERMAN DAYTONA STATE COLLEGE, BAS SUPERVISION AND MANAGEMENT Five Principles Integral Effective Leadership: An Analysis Table of Contents Abstract Model the Way Inspire a Shared Vision Challenging the Process Enable Others to Act Encouraging the Heart References Abstract This research paper explores the findings and teachings of Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner from 1983 through 1987.
The two gentlemen spent over twenty years formulating a series of five principles that they believe every great leader should exhibit. Various group members discuss in this paper these five principles, which can be found in the book The Leadership Challenge. The first principle, model the way, is explained as a leader doing what he or she expects his or her followers to do by modeling the expected behavior at all times. The second principle, inspire a shared vision, means that an exemplary leader should also be a visionary with the ability to make his or her followers strive to reach this common goal using motivation.
Principle three, challenging the process, explains how an exemplary leader takes charge, makes goals, and ensures they are completed on time or before expected. This kind of leader does not believe that things are impossible and pushes his or her followers to believe the same. Enable others to act, the fourth principle, is understood as the communication and cooperation between the leader and followers. This includes the leader understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each follower and how the common goal is affected.
The last principle discussed, encouraging the heart, is the process of validating others. A leader who encourages the heart often shows a genuine interest in his or her followers, which inspires followers to take an interest in the leader’s actions. When a leader has developed an understanding of all five principles and can successfully use them, his or her ability to transform values into actions, visions into realities, obstacles into innovations, separateness into solidarity, and risk into rewards will make him or her an exemplary leader (About the Leadership Challenge).
Model the Way In their study, Kouzes and Posner set out to discover what it takes to become an exemplary leader. After analyzing thousands of cases and surveys, they came up with The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership, the first being model the way. Modeling the way is the leader doing what he or she expects the followers to do. Simply put, lead by example. If you want someone to respect you, you have to respect him or her (Leadership Behavior: Model the Way). If you want someone to work hard, you should be working hard.
People tend to imitate those of higher status. When we see someone on top doing well, we tend to imitate his or her actions because we believe it will lead us to a higher status. Leaders also establish principles concerning the way people should be treated and the way goals should be pursued (Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership). In our group, Madison Pagan stepped up early on and tried to get the group’s attention and commitment to do a part of the research paper. Unfortunately, not all students seemed to be following her example.
After some time, Abel Castillo decided to be the leader and start assigning parts to each student and seemed to be somewhat more effective. Both should be commended for stepping up and trying to lead, especially in a situation where it is easy to hide because we are not sitting in a classroom staring each other. It is important for a leader to have clear and regular internet communication so everyone can understand and know what is going on when working as a group. To be an effective leader, one must model the behavior one expects of others, achieve the highest standards and gain ommitment. Leaders have to find their values then give voice to their values. Leaders speak and act on behalf of a larger organization. They must believe in the values of that organization in order to be able to speak on its behalf. Exemplary leaders set the example through their daily actions, which demonstrates that they are deeply committed to their beliefs (Kouzes & Posner, 2007, p. 83). When one believes in what he or she is saying and doing, others will follow. Leaders are modeling the way for others to follow their beliefs and standards.
Modeling the way is about earning the right and the respect to lead through direct involvement and action. People follow first the person, then the plan (Kouzes & Posner, 2007, p. 85). Inspire a Shared Vision A visionary leader inspires followers to come to a shared vision. A visionary sees the future as what his or her organization can grow to be. True visionaries draw others into their goals and dreams and inspire their team to be excited for the future while keeping people highly motivated. The objective of visionary leadership is to increase efficiency in the work place with the ultimate goal of getting the job done.
Visionary leadership gives workers trust and power with limited supervision, which develops their ability to gain quality decision-making skills. When the entire team works together as one, all are engaged in the same high efficiency standard, which results in success. Employee motivation is high when the employee feels that he or she is making a difference in the workplace. Real leadership is not a title or a position. It is about making daily choices. A visionary leader is positive and objective, spreading hope for the future.
Inspiring a shared vision means that as soon as a leader allows himself or herself to dream big, his or her followers start to realize that it just might happen! A visionary engages others to envision the future by imagining exciting possibilities. Visionary inspiration requires reflection, deep thought, time and attention. An example of a great visionary leader is PepsiCo’s CEO Indra Nooyi, who rallied her organization behind her by earning their trust, building a culture in the company that inspires, motivates, and brings out the best in people. Ms.
Nooyi leads by including the whole person in the workplace, where diverse values, beliefs, and practices are treated with respect. Martin Luther King is also a prime example of a visionary leader whose courageous behavior molded our future. His famous speech, which begins with “I have a dream,” communicates the future focused vision of creating new forms of partnerships and alliances among the people. A visionary leader such as Martin Luther King promoted creativity, innovation, and organizational learning with a deep appreciation of diversity for all.
Our group had the same general feeling of the importance of a shared vision. In this assignment, we were all leaders and had a positive impact on one another. Working as a team is something we will repeatedly be doing in the future as business professionals and we have gained the experience to be future inspirational leaders. A shared vision speaks the truth and lets workers give honest feedback while empowering themselves to believe that they are a part of something bigger than themselves and their daily job. A visionary inspires workers to challenge themselves and reach for the stars.
We are in uncertain economic times, so it is easy to develop negative thoughts. Workers are even more likely to get negative feelings when led by a person who is preaching negativity and gloom, so it is most important to share a vision of positive hope for the future. Leaders who inspire, have a vision and share their dreams with the direction, which other people will want to share and follow. Leadership vision goes beyond a written mission or vision statement. It fills the workplace with inspiration seen through actions, beliefs, values, and the goals of the organization. Challenging the Process Mr.
Renn Zaphiropoulos, president and CEO of Versatec, believed in challenges. As a result he founded Versatec, which produces electrostatic printers and plotters in America. He was the reason the ECP-42 color plotter was developed. After selling Versatec to Xerox, the newly merged company’s four-year bonus plan was overestimated and Mr. Zaphiropoulos quickly realized this and took action. To combat not making the kind of money they calculated within the specified period, Mr. Renn’s team, under his leadership, decided to accelerate the plan of making the color machine within five months instead of two and half years.
Successful, the color machine brought in huge profits the next year which compensated for the failed four-year bonus plan (Kouzes ; Posner, The Leadership Challenge: How to Get Extraordinary Things Done in Organizations, 1987, pp. 42-43). Patricia M. Carrigan was the first female General Motors employee to work as an assembly plant manager. She was faced with a critical challenge of turning the labor management around from issues like strikes, declining car sales and the temporary shutdown of the plant.
Under her leadership the Lakewood Assembly Plant prospered (Kouzes ; Posner, The Leadership Challenge: How to Get Extraordinary Things Done in Organizations, 1987, p. 34). Grievances were reduced considerably, followed by discipline incidents being reduced by over eighty percent, employees absent from work declined, and the costs of accidents and sickness dramatically decreased (Kouzes ; Posner, The Leadership Challenge: How to Get Extraordinary Things Done in Organizations, 1987, p. 35).
What inspired the improvements of the Lakewood plant? It was that the management had introduced training classes for all the employees, initiated greater employee involvement in the company’s business plans and an in depth training program for the Lakewood employees at Lakewood University (Kouzes & Posner, The Leadership Challenge: How to Get Extraordinary Things Done in Organizations, 1987, p. 36). This group had a rough start in that the communication was not efficient; posts were ignored and not responded to.
The group overcame these adversities and came to an agreement as to what each individual would have to do to complete the task in the specified period. Challenging the process is a central part of good leadership because it shows that the leader has the courage to step away from mediocrity and venture into a task that is challenging yet attainable. A leader will not be an efficient leader if he or she is afraid to take risks. It is acceptable to make mistakes because we all do. A leader should always reach for realistic yet challenging goals.
These goals should be specific so that the followers may have a clear idea of when, how, and why to act on these goals. Enable others to act Enabling others to act requires interactive communication and cooperation between leaders and followers. Leaders must know their followers’ strengths and weaknesses, give their followers ownership of projects as well as the authority to follow through on the project, trust their followers, and hold them accountable for their actions. Leaders also foster open communication, ffer visible support, recognize people for their work, are open to be influenced by their followers, develop their followers into leaders, and support face-to-face interactions. This section will describe the above leadership traits through research and personal experience. I was recently assigned to a leadership position in a volunteer-lead organization. The group is comprised of individuals with varying levels of experience in the company who want to network and get to know their coworkers outside of the office walls. We do everything from participating in runs / walks, to volunteering, to skiing.
I am striving to be an exemplary leader who will, as Kouzes and Posner state, “enable others to take ownership of and responsibility for their group’s success by enhancing their competence and their confidence in their abilities, by listening to their ideas and acting upon them, by involving them in important decisions, and by acknowledging and giving credit for their contributions” (Kouzes ; Posner, The Leadership Challenge: How to Get Extraordinary Things Done in Organizations, 1987, p. 250). With my assigned position, I took the initiative to start strong in a time when the organization is lacking leadership, direction, and motivation.
More importantly, I knew that I did not have the time or resources to succeed without help so in my first meeting I made it very clear that, for this organization to succeed, everyone has the opportunity to take initiative and use their strengths to make the group successful. This allows individuals to take an idea, turn it into a project / event, and keep ownership of the activity all the way through completion. If support is needed or requested, I support the individual and guide him through the process and teach him, from a sideline, how to succeed.
This inherently gives the individual the authority to complete the task as desired. I also trust the individuals to be open with me and ask for help if it is needed and to be successful and to represent themselves and the group professionally while being committed to high levels of excellence (Kouzes ; Posner, The Leadership Challenge: How to Get Extraordinary Things Done in Organizations, 1987, p. 227). Due to the friendship nature of the group, a certain level of accountability and collaboration among members is present.
To assist in communication, I have taken the role of mass-disseminator of event information to include forwarding of other similar groups’ emails and current information and upcoming events. I also request feedback (positive or negative) from the group regarding my performance and for additional event ideas. The sheer size of the group fosters a wide range of interests and points of view. I recently learned how it feels to be on the receiving end of a compliment of having a unique perspective in a group of similar minded people who lean toward group think.
That experience has taught me the importance of listening to all ideas and suggestions, regardless of my initial reaction to them, because if one person is interested there must be more! This is in line with Kouzes and Posner’s view of open communication which is that “sensitivity to people’s needs and interests is another key ingredient in building trust. The simple act of listening to what other people have to say and appreciating their unique points of view demonstrates your respect for others and their ideas” (Kouzes ; Posner, The Leadership Challenge: How to Get Extraordinary Things Done in Organizations, 1987, p. 30). The organization has connections with the company and is sponsored by one of our executives. The organizational leaders meet with the executives regularly to discuss the group. As part of my role I have developed a record form for each event completed. Included is the ability to list each participating leader for a given event, which allows me the ability to take the information to the executives and show them the names of the individuals who have taken the initiative of a leadership-type role.
Not only have I arranged this recognition piece, I also make it a point to identify the organizer / leader of each event throughout the planning stages so the names of those who take on a project are widely recognized for their work and effort. All of these actions give the people under me a perfect opportunity to practice leadership, thus gain competence and confidence, while we learn from each other’s experiences, successes, and failures.
Whenever possible I encourage the group to meet face-to-face to discuss event ideas, issues, or anything else being encountered to foster relationships, build trust, and to promote teamwork (Kouzes & Posner, The Leadership Challenge: How to Get Extraordinary Things Done in Organizations, 1987, p. 240). Another example of the necessity of meeting face-to-face is with my current group of customers at work. My team’s lead lives in Indiana with people who report to him in Washington, DC, Georgia, Ohio, Illinois, Texas, and Washington while the team is expected to work with teams who are based in the Washington, DC rea. Nothing can replace the value of the team meeting physically, despite cost concerns, to discuss issues and foster team morale. Two documents recently came out for the team to review and provide feedback, and on each a different method was used to complete the work. The first method was to communicate via telephone and email which required months of discussion and had many instances of miscommunication and work not being completed correctly. Not only was a poor final product delivered, the morale of the team diminished because they were not able to do their jobs properly.
The second method was for the team to physically meet with the document’s authors and those with authority to make necessary changes. This method, while appearing to be more costly at a glance, saved countless man hours of reviewing documents, alleviated most of the frustrations between all groups involved, and was able to be completed in three days with a quality product that could not have been produced without the collaborative effort of the group in the face-to-face meeting.
After being a part of both of these very similar projects, I definitely agree with Kouzes and Posner when they state that “there is no more effective way to build trust and promote teamwork than making it a practice to get people together regularly, face-to-face” (Kouzes & Posner, The Leadership Challenge: How to Get Extraordinary Things Done in Organizations, 1987, p. 241). Encouraging the Heart Leadership requires a humble spirit on many levels. One quality of a good leader is the ability to encourage the hearts of those led.
While leaders are often viewed as strong personalities, there are many other attributes that build up the person who leads the pack. Validating others is a skill that may take work but helps make people around you feel good. Showing genuine interest in others inspires them to take genuine interest in your endeavors. For example, if someone comes in with a cast on their leg, a caring inquiry into what happened or how they feel will open them up to your agenda. This is not being “phony. ” Genuine interest and validation of others add to the humanity of the leader (Kouzes & Posner, Encouraging the Heart, 2005).
Because of the lackluster start of our group assignment, it was important for the leader to keep everyone motivated to ensure the best product possible. Even in the face of adversity, Abel had complete confidence in the team and ensured that everyone knew that each part of this paper was just as important as another. As group members turned in their portions, Abel thanked them and kept everyone updated on the progress of the paper. This tactic helped to ensure a level of commitment and attachment to the project so that everyone was inspired to do their best. Gratitude is a large part of making everyday life better.
Be grateful for the things your employees do and they will be more likely to produce the results you want. Research shows that less than 50 percent of supervisors give credit to their employees for a job well done. This is because encouraging others is a skill that not all leaders possess. “Encourage the heart is a core leadership skill. When striving to get extraordinary things done — raise quality, recover from disaster, start up a new business, or make dramatic change of any kind — leaders must make sure that people experience in their hearts that what they do matters” (The Heart of the Matter, 2011).
References About the Leadership Challenge. (n. d. ). Retrieved 10 06, 2011, from The Leadership Challenge:The Most Trusted Source for Becoming a Better Leader:http://www. leadershipchallenge. com/WileyCDA/Section/id-131053. html Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership. (n. d. ). Retrieved 10 06, 2011, from Unlimited LearningResources: http://4ulr. com/products/humanres/lpi/fivepractices. html Kouzes, J. , & Posner, B. (2005, 12). Encouraging the Heart. Retrieved 10 6, 2011, from TheLeadership Challenge: The Most Trusted Source for Becoming a Better Leader:http://www. eadershipchallenge. com/WileyCDA/Section/id-420500. html Kouzes, J. , & Posner, B. (2007). The Leadership Challenge. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Kouzes, J. , & Posner, B. (1987). The Leadership Challenge: How to Get Extraordinary ThingsDone in Organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Leadership Behavior: Model the Way. (n. d. ). Retrieved 10 06, 2011, from Business LeadershipQualities: http://www. business-leadership-qualities. com/leadership-behavior. html The Heart of the Matter. (2011, 5 14). Retrieved 10 6, 2011, from The Leadership