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Feature Article: The New Psychology of Leadership

In recent years, however, a new picture of leadership has emerged, one that better accounts for leadership performance.

In this alternative view, effective leaders must work to understand the values and opinions of their followers—rather than assuming absolute authority—to enable a productive dialogue with followers about what the group embodies and stands for and thus how it should act.

By leadership, we mean the ability to shape what followers actually want to do, not the act of enforcing compliance using rewards and punishments.

Given that good leadership depends on constituent cooperation and support, this new psychology of leadership negates the notion that leadership is exclusively a top-down process.

In fact, it suggests that to gain credibility among followers, leaders must try to position themselves among the group rather than above it.

Getting the buy in for the Long term plans

People or organisations find keeping the enthusiasm for the long term goals a tough ask.

Beseiged by the immediacy of today, getting the buy in for the long haul is an onerous task.

David Maister in this post
suggests," what gets someone (us as well – don’t make this all about THEM)
to
change from acting in a short-term way to doing what they (already) know
is best
for them in the long-term:

Talk up or
create the “glamour” of the future state (“Think of how fabulous
it’s going
to be when you’re there!)

Make it a moral principal (Isn’t it consistent
with our/your values to act
this way?)
Get us/them to commit themselves
to more public disclosure on
actions, to keep them/us on track
(embarrassment rather than guilt.) "

Do you think this will reap rewards?

The Leadership Paradox

Daniel Goleman, authority on emotional intelligence in organizations, says "For leaders, the first task in management has nothing to do with leading others; step one poses the challenge of knowing and managing oneself. He calls this the Leadership Paradox.

This includes:
- Connecting with the deep values that guide us
- Imbuing our actions with meaning
- Aligning our emotions with our goals
- Keeping ourselves motivated
- Keeping ourselves focused and on task

When we act in accord with these inner measures, we feel good about what we do. Such emotions are contagious. When we as a leader feel positive, energized, and enthusiastic about our work, so do those we influence. But we can only maintain high effectiveness when we are able to manage the cycles of sacrifice and renewal.


Leadership Power Stress: (Part 2) Three Keys to Renewal

Engaging Your Company’s Next Generation of Leaders

To effectively train a new generation of leadership, you must engage employees in the process.

Engagement provides employees with the opportunity to be heard and provide feedback, and encourages them to make the intellectual and emotional down-payment as future leaders.

And engagement doesn’t just happen once.

Employees need to be engaged in the future of the company at every opportunity in order to build and maintain organizational strength and instill a sense of pride, productivity and fulfillment.


Engaging Your Company’s Next Generation of Leaders - Perspectives - Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick:

Presenteeism is making organisations sick

Professor Cary Cooper, a psychologist specialising in organisational management at Manchester University, coined the word “presenteeism”. He used the word to illustrate that workers are not necessarily productive at work.

According to Cooper, “The phenomenon of ‘presenteeism,’ an overwhelming need to put in more hours or, at the very least, appear to be working very long hours, is another dangerous symptom of the explosive degree of pressure in the workplace.”

That word “presenteeism” in the present day has now morphed to mean “the feeling that one must show up for work even if one is too sick, stressed, or distracted to be productive; the feeling that one needs to work extra hours even if one has no extra work to do.”

The productivity loss has assumed worrying proportions today. Employees report to work sick and are unable to discharge their duties efficiently. They just go through the motions.
This drains away the benefit of having them at the workplace.

Added to this, these sick employees while interacting with their healthy colleagues manage to infect some of them. The result, another batch of sick workers turn up for work sick resulting in productivity taking a huge hit.

Reuters report that the “So-called "presenteeism," or going to work when sick, is a persistent problem at more than half of U.S. workplaces and costs U.S. business a whopping $180 billion a year.

Like its more notorious counterpart absenteeism, it takes on growing importance as employers try to keep an eye on productivity and the bottom line.”

A CCH survey cited a number of reasons why employees report to work even though they are not fully fit. The reasons include “wanting to preserve precious vacation time, saving sick days for later in the year and even company loyalty. But the No. 1 reason for “presenteeism” in the office is the fear of missing deadlines.”

There is also an element of insecurity involved. Sick employees feel that if they do not turn up for work, they may be considered as slackers and their future in the organisation may be compromised.

The banking organisation Comerica did a health study to understand this phenomenon of “presenteeism” in their organisation. Their study revealed that organisations could control the productivity loss due to “presenteeism” by making a small investment in screening, treating and educating their employees.

Disruptive innovation

Can companies use disruptive patterns to increase their chances of creating attractive-growth businesses?

Scott D. Anthony and Clayton M. Christensen say that by following the following five principles they can have their own disruptive success stories.

1. Look for the “job” that cant be adequately or affordably done.

To find growth opportunities, then, look for customers who are frustrated with their inability to get an important job done.

2. Remember that non consumers can be great customers.

Sometimes, the best target customers are those that lack the skills, wealth, access or time to consume existing products. Removing a barrier that constrains consumption can be the ticket to growth.

3. Don't let the pursuit of perfection crowd out the "good enough."

In the pursuit of perfection, companies often create over-engineered products that are complicated and expensive. The customer might prefer a simpler, cheaper solution with less performance.

4. Do what competitors don't want to do.

Generally, disrupters follow an approach that established market leaders consider unattractive or uninteresting. By doing so, the disrupter can turn a competitor's greatest asset into a liability.

5. Focus early activities around testing key assumptions.

When you are going in a new direction, pick an early point of learning and adjustment where you can invest a little, earn a little, learn a lot and adjust your strategy to wards success.



*Clayton M. Christensen is a professor at the Harvard Business School. Scott D. Anthony is the managing director of Innosight, a Watertown, Mass., innovation consulting firm founded by Christensen (www.innosight.com). The two co-authored Seeing What's Next (with Erik A. Roth).

* SOURCE : Forbes.com