My vision of leadership

How do I measure up as a leader? At best, I would say informally. If I were to apply the five principles of Adair’s Action Centred Model (2003) to my current role, I would only at this stage meet the first – giving direction, and that too, minimally. While my job description does not require me to formally lead teams, the quote from the late Donald H. McGannon accurately sums up my vision of leadership – “Leadership is action, not position” (Adair 2006).

Figure 1: McGannon on leadership (AZ Quotes 2016)

The leadership style that I aspire to follow is transformational leadership as it emphasises collaboration between a leader and his followers, while keeping in mind an organisation’s objectives and the followers’ interests (Burns 2003). Avolio et al (1991) explains that a transformational leader has the following traits: influence on his team, the ability to provide motivation and intellectual stimulation to his followers, and understanding the needs of individual followers. In addition to these traits, Yukl’s (2010) six guidelines of transformational leadership provide a further insight into the practical elements of this style of leadership – particularly the guidelines addressing how to achieve vision and leading by example.

Drucker’s 5 Operations of a Manager (1977) provides a good start to how I can develop the traits and guidelines explained above.  Through the practical application on setting objectives, planning and measuring milestones, and developing teams coupled with the Leadership Performance Indicator Feedback provided by my team mates, I aim to close the gaps in my current skills and capacities by adopting a systematic approach to my personal development and capabilities towards leadership.

Figure 2: Drucker on leadership (Beyersdorf 2015)

In my journey towards effectively leading others I foresee two main challenges. Firstly, my ability to influence and empower others, and secondly, the ability to overcome an underlying resistance to change within my organisation. Both seem to go hand in hand.

In exploring how I can develop my influence and power, it is my opinion that not one single type of power laid out by French and Raven (1959) can be taken in isolation. Goncalves (2013) suggests that leaders are those who are known for their ability to connect with their teams and build relationships – a source of power 89% of leaders seek to leverage (Centre for Creative Leadership, 2008) – but who are also not afraid to be at the forefront in making and taking responsibility for difficult decisions.  This seems to suggest that in developing my capacities as a leader I must combine the elements of referent and expert power (French and Raven 1959).

Figure 3: Bennis on leadership (Beyersdorf 2015)

In understanding the resistance to change within my organisation, I recognised the factors addressed by Mullins and Christy (2013) surrounding habits, the feeling of a loss of freedom and the loss of power or influence. This could be attributed to the corporatisation of the institution and its new objectives starting in 2008. Rather than considering theories, I would like to share two examples of leaders who inspired my view of overcoming the resistance to change.

The first from a global perspective was the late Nelson Mandela whose legacy as a transformational leader needs little introduction. Taking the reins of an incredibly divided South Africa after close to 50 years of apartheid, Mandela set about unifying the nation through an exemplary vision of understanding and forgiveness (History 2010).

While many remember him for this tolerant approach to introducing change, Bass (1999) explains that Mandela represented both the directive and participative elements of transformational leadership. His declaration “Forget the past” is an example of his directive approach, while his support and involvement in multiracial discussions reflected his participative approach (Bass 1999). Schoemaker (2013) explains that Mandela’s leadership reflected five important elements, namely authority, authenticity, commitment, mastery of communication and consistency of message. These therefore seem to be the ingredients in paving the way to change.

Figure 4: A scene from Invictus depicting Mandela’s approach to change through forgiveness (Movieclips 2011)

The second example is from my personal experience with Rohit Sharma, the CEO of INTI International University & Colleges. While a CEO for just over a year, Sharma has done two exemplary things to address the resistance in the organisation. Firstly, he has made it a priority to know everything effecting the business, including issues which are often left to middle management. Secondly, he has committed to personally connecting with all levels of employees in driving key messages and ideas. In addition to attending almost every single town hall and major event across INTI’s six campuses, Sharma connects with employees through an informal “brown bag lunch”, an opportunity that invites employees of all levels to meet him in an informal setting to air concerns and provide direct feedback on issues affecting the organisation.

Through his leadership, INTI’s 2015 employee engagement rates improved to a 70% average, while its academic outcomes stand at 97% of students being employed within six months upon graduation (INTI International University & Colleges 2016).

Drawing from these two leadership examples and the theories suggested above, my vision of leadership can be summarised into three broad ideas – being proactive in taking responsibility, growing personally, and building strong relationships within the organisation. To end my reflection on the leader I would like to become, Figure 4 below provides words of wisdom from a leader I consider among the greatest of our time.

Figure 4: Mandela on leadership (Anonymous 2013)

(859 words)

REFRENCES

1. Adair, J (2003) The Inspirational Leader: How to motivate, encourage and achieve success. London and Philadelphia: Kogan Page

2. Adair, J. (2006) Leadership and Motivation: The fifty-fifty rule and the eight keynprinciples in motivating others. London and Philadelphia: Kogan Page

3. Avolio, B., Waldman, D. and Yammarino, F. (1991), ‘Leading in the 1990s: the four Is of transformational leadership’. Journal of European Industrial Training 15 (4), 9-16

4. Anonymous (2013) 6 great quotes from Nelson Mandela [online] available from <https://whatifpa.wordpress.com/2013/08/05/6-great-quotes-from-nelson-mandela/&gt; [25 March 2016]

5. Anonymous (n.d.) Donald McGannon Quotes [online] available from                             <http://www.azquotes.com/quote/526046&gt; [25 March 2016]

6. Bass, B.M. (1999) ‘Two Decades of Research and Development in Transformational         Leadership’.  European Journal of Work and Organisational Psychology 8 (1), 9-32

7. Beyersdorf, N. (2015) A Collection of Quotes from Peter F. Drucker [online] available from <http://www.slideshare.net/optimaltransformation/collection-of-quotes-from-peter-f-drucker&gt; [25 March 2016]

8. Beyersdorf, N. (2015) A Collection of Quotes in Business Excellence, Quality, and Change [online] available from <http://www.slideshare.net/optimaltransformation/collection-of-quotes-46951559&gt; [25 March 2016]

9. Burns, J.M. (2003) Transforming Leadership. New York: Grove Press

10. Centre for Creative Leadership (2008) The Role of Power in Effective Leadership [online] available from <http://insights.ccl.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/roleOfPower.pdf&gt; [25 March 2016]

11. Drucker, P.F. (1977) People and Performance: The Best of Peter Drucker on                             Management. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation

 12. French, J.R.P. and Raven, B. (1959) The Bases of Social Power [online] available from <http://www.communicationcache.com/uploads/1/0/8/8/10887248/the_bases_of_social_power_-_chapter_20_-_1959.pdf> %5B25 March 2016]

13. Goncalves, M. (2013) ‘Leadership Styles: The Power to Influence Others’.                            International Journal of Business and Social Science 4 (4), 1 – 3

14. History (2010) Apartheid [online] available from                             <http://www.history.com/topics/apartheid&gt; [25 March 2016]

15. INTI International University & Colleges (2016) Why INTI? [online] available from <http://newinti.edu.my/whyinti/&gt; [25 March 2016]

16. Movieclips (2011) Invictus #1 Movie CLIP – Reconciliation and Forgiveness Starts Here (2009) HD [online] available from <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHqi6ZB_F0U>                   [25 March 2016]

17. Mullins, L., Christy, G., Scott, P. (2013) Management & Organisational Behaviour. Pearson: Harlow

18. Schoemaker, P. (2013) Nelson Mandela, Transformational Leader [online] available from <http://www.inc.com/paul-schoemaker/what-made-mandela-a-transformational-leader.html&gt; [25 March 2016]

19. Yukl, G. (2010) Leadership in Organizations. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall

Leadership and change

Figure 1: A video on how to lead change management (Strategy + Business 2014)

“The only thing that is constant is change.” These were the immortalised words of the Greek philosopher Heraclitus (c. 500 BC) which remain as relevant, if not more so, today. Mullins (2010) opines that the willingness to adopt or adapt to change depends on an individual’s personality and cannot be altered by management. While this may be true to an extent, could it not be argued that one of the key roles of leadership is in fact to affect change in organisations?

In analysing change, two aspects are taken into consideration. Firstly, emergent change. Burnes (2011) explains that this is change influenced by external conditions, which require the consistent realignment of the organisation in meeting these changes. Mullins and Christy (2013) identify nine drivers of these external changes which include globalisation, economic, political, social and managerial elements.

The second aspect to consider is an organisation’s culture, which is potentially the most influential factor in change management. Egan (quoted in Mullins 2010:727) identifies culture as the beliefs, values and norms that make up the way an organisation operates. An exceptionally strong culture, while defining and differentiating an organisation in the market, may also lead to its demise (Robbins 2001), especially if it focuses on only one of Handy’s typologies of culture (Handy 1993), and is unable to adapt to a new culture when required.

Figure 2: The role of employees in change management (Adams, 2012)

To ensure the continued growth of an organisation, it is therefore vital for leaders to address the concerns arising from an individual’s resistance – influenced by habit, past security or fear; and the organisation’s resistance – influenced by culture, past practices or concerns surrounding its future stability (Mullins 2013).

In my opinion, it is not a question of whether management can do little about the resistance to change but rather what they must do to align their teams to new objectives. By empowering followers with a sense of ownership and inspiring them to take initiatives, organisations may reach a 79% success rate (Isern, Meaney and Wilson 2009).

While there are several models addressing change management, Kotter’s 8 Step Process (2014) provides the most updated model, building on the original process introduced in 1996 (Kotter International 2016). Broadly, the process can be broken down into 3 stages, namely creating the environment for change, engaging the employees into the process for change, and sustaining change (Kotter International 2016).

Figure 3: Kotter’s 8 Step Process (Kotter International, 2016)

While the model provides a comprehensive guide to each step of the process as seen in Figure 3 above, O’ Keefe (2011) identified three flaws to the model, namely:

1. The model seems to consider change as a one-time event.
2. Change is driven and influenced from the top.
3. Employees only come into the process at the fourth step of the process – essentially playing no part in the decision making process.

While these may be valid disadvantages to the process, the almost autocratic management of the late Steve Jobs indicates change management from the top down may be necessary especially in instances where an organisation is on the brink of failure (Entrepreneur 2011).

When Jobs took on leadership at Apple in 1997, the organisation was at a 30% loss in sales and producing too many of the same products (Entrepreneur 2011). Among the important changes he initiated was a $150 million non-voting stock agreement with long-standing rival, Microsoft; the reconstitution of Apple’s Board of Directors; the reduction from 15 product lines to four; and the unification of sales channels to a single dealer which heightened the brand’s elite offerings (Wired 2011).

Apple’s venture into consumer electronics was undoubtedly the true turning point for the organisation and with the introduction of the iPhone, the company’s revenue grew from $7.1billion in 1997 to $65.2 billion (Bloomberg Business 2011).

Figure 4: Steve Jobs on innovation and leadership (The Daily India, 2016)

While Jobs’ hard driven change turned Apple around, Research in Motion or RIM (Blackberry) is juxtaposed as the organisation that failed due to its inability to adapt to change. Priding itself on secure and efficient communications over the iPhone’s broader internet content, RIM’s senior executives ignored the impact it would have on the competitive landscape and customer demands (The Wall Street Journal 2015).

In spite its success among business customers, RIM’s failure to consider the wider market of consumers and its insistence on retaining its signature full keyboard are the evidences of poor strategic planning and the inability to adapt to change (Time 2013). RIM’s poor strategic vision and its failure to change created long term impact not only in its sales which saw close to $1 billion in losses and its stock price depreciating by 20%, but also the loss of 4,500 jobs in 2013 (Time 2013).

In my opinion, these two cases clearly set the importance of aligning to change. In the case of RIM, this misalignment came from the senior executives who failed to recognise the growing needs of a consumer market. The inability of individuals to adopt to change, both internally and externally, therefore, can be seen to lead to dire consequences.

(820 words)

 

REFERENCES

1. Adams, S. (2012) Dilbert Comics [online] available from                           <http://dilbert.com/strip/2012-10-29&gt; [20 March 2016]

2. Aguirre, D. and Alpern, M. (2014) How to lead change management [online] available from <http://www.strategy-business.com/article/00255?gko=9d35b&gt; [20 March 2016]

3. Burnes, B. (2011) ‘Introduction: Why Does Change Fail, and What Can We Do About        It?’. Journal of Change Management 11(4), 445 – 450

4. Fell, J. (2011) How Steve Jobs Saved Apple [online] available from                             <http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/220604&gt; [20 March 2016]

5. Gustin, M. (2013) The Fatal Mistake That Doomed Blackberry [online] available from <http://business.time.com/2013/09/24/the-fatal-mistake-that-doomed-blackberry/&gt; [20 March 2016]

6.Handy, C. (1993) Understanding Organizations. London: Penguin Books Ltd

7. Isern, J., Meaney, M.C, and Wilson, S. (2009) Corporate transformation under pressure [online] available from  <http://www.mckinsey.com/business-unctions/organization/our-insights/corporate-transformation-under-pressure&gt; [20 March 2016]

8. Kotter International (2016) The 8 Step Process For Leading Change [online] available from <http://www.kotterinternational.com/the-8-step-process-for-leading-change/&gt; [20 March 2016]

9. McNish, J. and Silcoff, S. (2015) The Inside Story of How the iPhone Crippled BlackBerry [online] available from <http://www.wsj.com/articles/behind-the-rise-and-fall-of-blackberry-1432311912&gt; [20 March 2016]

10. Mullins, L., Christy, G., Scott, P. (2013) Management & Organisational Behaviour. Pearson: Harlow

11.  O’Keefe, K. (2011) Where Kotter’s 8 Steps Gets it Wrong [online] available from <https://www.cebglobal.com/blogs/where-kotters-8-steps-gets-it-wrong/&gt; [20 March 2016]

12.  Robbins, S. (2001). Organisational Behaviour. Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River

13. Rose, F (2011) The End of Innocence: How Steve Jobs Was Able To Save Apple                               [online] available from <http://www.wired.com/2011/08/4246/> %5B20 March 2016]

14. Shikha, D. (2016) Steve Jobs Best Inspirational & Motivational Quotes [online] available from <http://www.thedailyindia.in/2016/02/steve-jobs-best-inspirational-motivational-quotes&gt; [20 March 2016]

15. Stone, B. (2011) Steve Jobs: The Return, 1997 – 2011 [online] available from <http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-10-06/steve-jobs-the-return-1997-2011&gt; [20 March 2016]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most Effective Leadership & Management Styles & Approaches

As organisations become more complex, the style of leadership within a company becomes increasingly crucial to its success.  CMI (2013) suggests that the traditional top down approach of management is outdated, whilst consultative leadership empowers employees to work better. But could there be a place for both?

Kent (2005) suggests that there are three differences between leadership and management, namely; how things are done; what type of relationships they inspire; and how they influence stability or change. Management provides a framework for processes, while leadership persuades teams to go beyond these processes.

Figure 1: The differences between leading and managing (Karoleff, 2014)

In reviewing Figure 1, it is my opinion that while management determines a company’s objectives, leadership inspires people to achieve them. De Jong and Hartog (2007) emphasised that leaders are vital in helping followers to understand challenges from various perspectives, and in empowering them to develop their full potential.

Adair’s (2003) Model of Action Centred Leadership dives deeper into the characteristics of a leader, which includes balancing between the tasks to be completed, the team’s dynamics and the individuals that make up an organisation. The role of the leader doesn’t stop at ensuring a task is completed; they are responsible to ensure the team functions coherently and that each individual has the tools and support they need to develop and contribute positively to the organisation.

Briefly there are three styles of leadership relevant to today’s businesses. Hersey et al (2008) suggest that the style of leadership adopted is reflective of a leader’s pattern of behaviour in influencing others.

The first style is situational leadership introduced by Hersey et al in 1996, which combines:

• the extent to which a leader provides direction, sets goals and defines the roles for his followers – the task behaviours, and;
• The extent to which a leader engages in two way communications and connects with them – the relationship behaviours.

These behaviours are dependent on the prevailing situations within and outside the organisation, and requires leaders to be flexible in determining what which form of leadership method to adopt in response to the circumstances.

Figure 2: The situational model (Blanchard, 2016)

The second style is based on Kouzes & Posner’s (2006) five practices of exemplary leadership. This style of leadership emphasises how the leader acts as a role model to his team by inspiring, challenging, and encouraging them. It is opined that this style of leadership depends too much on the role of the leader and Thompson (2012) also suggests that this model would be challenging to use within an industry that requires constant change.

The third style of leadership is transformational leadership espoused by Burns (2003). Yukl (2010) explains that transformational leadership requires a leader to develop and communicate a company’s vision, lay out how it can be achieved, as well as lead by example and instil confidence in his followers. This style also emphasises how leaders need to leverage influence, motivation, intellectual stimulation and consideration towards building up the capacities of individual team members (Avolio et al 1999).

 

In my opinion, while each of these three styles has its merits, situational leadership stands out as it emphasises how leaders respond to external conditions and the employees’ stages of development.  Leaders who follow this style of leadership tend to be versatile style as they adapt to the ups and downs of an organisation.

An example of such a leader was Jack Stahl, the former CEO of Coca Cola, and Revlon. Stahl (2007) explained that the best leaders are those “who can step into any circumstance and recognize whether they need to engage at the strategy level or dive into the nitty-gritty” (Strategy + Business 2007).

Drawing from his own experience, Stahl (2007) emphasised the need for leaders to train others to be detail oriented and work alongside them at the initial stage so as to minimise the need for micromanagement later on. By assessing the needs of each situation, Stahl grew both businesses strategically towards becoming the greatest consumer brands of the 21^st century (Strategy + Business 2007)

Figure 3: Coca Cola remains one of the world’s most iconic brands, adapting to new situations and issues such as the legalisation of same sex marriages in North America (Coca Cola, 2015)

A second example of situational leadership is James Lentz, the CEO for Toyota Motor North America. Unlike many other leaders, Lentz adopted an informal style of leadership which enabled the organisation to be “flexible, transparent, quick-acting” (The Dallas Morning News 2015), and empowered teams to respond to the changes in the market easily.

In spite his current success, Lentz also experienced numerous failures. Having to settle a USD1.2 billion suit with the U.S. Justice Department was one of the situations through which Lentz had to reconsider the way Toyota operated and what he needed to do to move it forward (The Dallas Morning News, 2015).

Figure 4: Lentz is the most powerful North American CEO in Toyota’s 58-year history in the United States (Turkus, 2014)

In my opinion, this style of leadership appears to be the most effective as it juxtaposes the leader’s role with the needs of the organisation, including the strength of its talent and the current market conditions. By adopting an approach that meets the requirements around him, a leader leverages the four stages of situational leadership and is able to empower his team to advance in any type of economy.

REFERENCES 

1.Adair, J. (2003) Concise Adair On Leadership. London: Thorogood Publishing                      Ltd.

2.Avolio, B., Waldman, D. and Yammarino, F. (1991), ‘Leading in the 1990s: the four Is of transformational leadership’. Journal of European Industrial Training 15 (4), 9-16

3. Blanchard, K. (2016) Situational-Leadership-II [online] available from <http://www.kenblanchard.com/getattachment/Solutions/By-Offering/Government-Solutions/Situational-Leadership-II-(GSA-Approved)/SLII-Color-Model-Exp_inpr.png> %5B7 March 2016]

4. Hersey, P., Blanchard, K.H., and Johnson, D.E. (2008) Management of                               Organisational Behavior. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall

5. Box, T. (2015), ‘Easygoing CEO is firmly in control of Toyota North America’.The Dallas Morning News [online] 8 August. available from <http://www.dallasnews.com/business/autos-latest-news/20150807-gentle-jim.ece&gt; [7 March 2016]

6. Burns, J.M. (2003) Transforming Leadership. New York: Grove Press

7. Coca Cola (2015) It’s now official. Love is love is love. #LoveWins [online] available from <https://twitter.com/cocacola/status/614482787572297728&gt; [7 March 2016]

8. de Jong, J.P.J. and Hartog D.N.D. (2007) ‘How leaders influence employees’ innovative behaviour’. European Journal of Innovation Management 10 (1), 41 – 64

9. Karoleff, A. (2014) Managing vs Leading [online] available from <https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140806223025-19149296-managing-vs-leading&gt; [7 March 2016]

10. Kouzes, J. & Posner, B.Z., (2008) The Leadership Challenge, 4th Edition.                            San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

11. Mullins, L., Christy, G., Scott, P. (2013) Management & Organisational                         Behaviour. Harlow: Pearson

12. Prewitt, M. (2007) ‘The Situational Leader’. strategy + business [online] 11 September. available from <http://www.strategy-business.com/article/li00042?gko=f3702> %5B7 March 2016]

13. Thompson, J. (2012), ‘Transformational leadership can improve workforce competencies’, Nursing Management – UK, 18 (10), pp 21-24

14. Turkus, B. (2014) Jim Lentz exposes more details behind Toyota’s move to Texas [online] available from <http://www.autoblog.com/2014/05/02/toyota-move-texas-details/&gt; [7 March 2016]

The challenge of managing diverse teams

 

 

 

With the advent of partnerships such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement, businesses have become increasingly global. So too have their people and today’s organisations are tasked with weaving the diversity of their workforce into every aspect of management and decision making. While diversity “is a must-have for leaders”, as opined by Ibarra and Hansen (2011:71), how exactly do leaders manage these diverse teams?

Figure 1: Elements that make up workplace diversity (Strategic Diversity Management 2015)

Thomas (2011), explains that while it is common to hear business leaders speaking about diversity, there is a need for them to also imbue middle management with practical measures on the ground.  The need for leaders is not only to recruit diverse employees but to ensure diversity is a part of their culture and processes (Thomas 2011).

By empowering teams to work collaboratively rather than in pigeonholes, leaders derive an emotional intelligence that helps them and their teams to move beyond the need to validate their actions (Hofstede 2012). Empowering people at every level promotes diversity of thought and innovation derived from the experiences of an organisation’s various employees (Boyatzis, 2011).

This process of collaboration however is not an easy one to achieve. Tuckman and Jensen (1977) addressed the stages of a team’s development through a five step process explained in Figure 2 below.

Figure 2: Tuckman and Jensen 5 step model for team development (WageningenUR 2012)

Stein (n.d.) suggests that while this framework is helpful, it is important to realise that team development is not always linear.  Good leaders must be able to recognise and manage changes that may cause teams to revert to a previous stage in the model, including when new team members come on board, or in setting new targets so that teams in the “performing” stage are not complacent in their roles (Stein n.d.).

Consistent communication and engagement between leaders and their teams therefore becomes of primal importance. White (1999) explains that to facilitate communication, leaders often need to move away from traditional bureaucratic management. By adopting a more flexible approach, organisations are more likely to attract and retain high performing employees and improve the quality of their services to customers and stakeholders (White 1999). Mullins and Christy (2013) likewise highlight that it is not sufficient for leaders to only diagnose and identify issues arising from their organisations but that often they need to adapt to the scenarios around them – emphasising once again the need for flexibility in managing teams.

An excellent example of leading diverse teams is American Airlines, who practices open policies on ethnicity, gender, and even sexual orientation (American Airlines 2016). They were the first to hire an African-American flight attendant in 1963 (American Airlines 2016) and as well as the industry’s first female pilot in 1973, and female captain in 1986 (DiversityBusiness 2016).

Figure 3: Video statement on diversity by Doug Parker, Chairman and CEO of America Airlines (American Airlines 2016)

In another example, Presler (2013) writes about the remarkable capacity of Emirates to offer superior services through its diverse mix, sharing how a single flight could include employees from as many as 27 nationalities. Undoubtedly the diversity of Emirate’s teams in catering to its diverse customers are among the reasons why it ranked fifth among the Top 100 Airlines for 2015 (World Airline Awards, 2015).

In spite these evidences of the value diversity brings to an organisation, there are still limitations faced by organisations. In my opinion, four of Hofstede’s (2012) cultural dimensions still reign within many organisations, including, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism and masculinity.

In 2015, the Centre for Aviation (CAPA) addressed the issue of “Why don’t women run airlines?” It noted that since 2010, there was only a 6% increase of women in leadership positions in the airlines, significantly lower to the 30% per annum increase across other industries as reported by McKinsey (Centre for Aviation, 2015).

CAPA further highlighted that of the 200 airlines it studied, less than 20 had women CEOs in April 2015, and surprisingly these included airlines based out Malaysia, Kuwait, Syria, and Tunisia, countries typically associated with gender stereotyping (Centre for Aviation, 2015).

Figure 3: Pilots from the Women Airforce Service Pilots established during WWII (History 2010)

This seems to indicate that national culture may not be the reason we see fewer women in positions of leadership, but that deep set organisational cultures form the bigger challenge. In my opinion, while organisations may be diversifying their teams, the same may not be seen of its level of leadership. This highlights a significant aspect of managing diverse teams, namely, the unspoken example leaders reflect. If at the top levels of an organisation there is a lack of diversity in its leaders, no amount of processes or models will help teams to function as cohesively as they should.

To sum up, Gleeson (2015) suggests the following steps in leading teams more effectively: creating an environment of leadership where everyone takes responsibility and pride in their roles; making a team feel safe by addressing concerns and issues quickly and coherently; actively managing through adaptive change; serving the needs of the team first; reaping the rewards last when a team has been successful.

(812 words)

REFERENCES

1. American Airlines (2016) Diversity and Inclusion: A way of life at American Airlines [online] available from <http://hub.aa.com/en/nr/factsheet/diversity-and-inclusion-backgrounder&gt; [22 February 2016]

2. Centre for Aviation (2015) Why don’t women run airlines? Part 1: 94% of airlines are led by men (online) available from <http://centreforaviation.com/analysis/why-dont-women-run-airlines-part-1-94-of-airlines-are-led-by-men-217930&gt; [22 February 2016]

3. DiversityBusiness.com (n.d.) American Airlines: A History of Diversity by Michael Collins, Managing Director – Diversity Strategies, American Airlines [online] available from <http://www.diversitybusiness.com/news/diversity.magazine/99200835.asp&gt; [22 February 2016]

4. Gleeson, B. (2015) 5 Ways To Lead Your Team More Effectively [online] available from  <http://www.forbes.com/sites/brentgleeson/2015/02/18/5-ways-to-lead-your-team-more-effectively/#251dfa805665&gt; [29 March 2016]

5. History (2010) Our Veterans: Sharing their stories [online] available from                              <http://www.history.com/images/media/pdf/ OurVeteransOurStories.pdf&gt; [29 March 2016]

6. Mullins, L., Christy, G., Scott, P. (2013) Management & Organisational                               Behaviour. Harlow: Pearson

7. Presler, T. (2013) 27 nationalities and 17 languages, but one team = 21st-                               century diversity working [21 March 2013] available from <https://titusonmission.wordpress.com/2013/03/21/27-nationalities-and-17-plus-languages-but-one-team-21st-century-diversity-working/&gt; [22 February 2016]

8. Skytrax World Airline Awards (n.d.) The World’s Top 100 Airlines in 2015 [online] available from <http://www.worldairlineawards.com/awards/world_airline_rating.html&gt; [22 February 2016]

9. Stein, J. (n.d.) Using the Stages of Team Development [online] available from <http://hrweb.mit.edu/learning-development/learning-topics/teams/articles/stages-development&gt; [29 March 2016]

10. Strategic Diversity Management (2015) Types of Diversity in Today’s Modern                   Workplaces [online] available from                               <http://www.strategicdiversitymanagement.com/#!Types-of-Diversity-In-Today’s-Modern-Workplaces/ci3g/558092d10cf2205db3ab8824> %5B29 March 2016]

11. The Hofstede Centre (2012) Geert Hofstede & Culture: A summary of Hofstede’s research into National and Organisational Culture [online] available from <htp://geert-hofstede.com/organisational-culture.html> [2 February 2016]

12. Tuckman, B. W. and Jensen, M. A. (1977) Stages in small group developmentcrevisited [online] available from  <http://www.freewebs.com/group management/BruceTuckman(1).pdf> [27 March 2016]

13. WageningenUR (2012) Tuckman Tool 34 [online] available from                               <http://www.mspguide.org/tool/tuckman&gt; [29 March 2016]

14. White, R.D. (1999) ‘Managing the Diverse Organisation: The Imperative for a New Multicultural Paradigm’ Public Administration and Management: An Interactive Journal [online] 4 (4), 469 – 493. available from <http://www.aueb.gr/users/esaopa/courses/maniatis/99_4_4_4_w.pdf&gt; [22 February 2016]

15. Yale Insights (2011) What do leaders need to understand about diversity? [online] available from <http://insights.som.yale.edu/insights/what-do-leaders-need-understand-about-diversity&gt; [22 February 2016]

 

 

Leadership and Ethics

Figure 1: The multifaceted elements surrounding ethics (Thing Link 2015)

Since the Enron scandal in 2001, several schools of thought have emerged on the need for ethics within organisations, especially at the levels of leadership. What, however, is ethical leadership and how does it positively affect leaders and organisations?

In addressing this, we review the two principle theories of ethics as highlighted by Mullins and Christy (2013) – Deontological, or rules; and Teleological, or consequences.

In brief, Deontological looks chiefly at the duties levied on individuals and actions which uphold moral law (Kant 1785); whilst Teleological takes a utilitarian approach of the means being justified by the end. In their works, Bentham (1789) and Mills (1861) opined that it was ultimately the consequences of human actions that resulted in their moral value.

Two ideas are put forward at this point. One, while these theories were introduced centuries ago, they accurately highlight the responsibility individuals have towards the larger society. Two, on closer inspection of the quote presented by Rubin et al (2010), both theories come together through “normatively appropriate conduct”, which today are governed by the moral codes expected by society, as well as “personal action”, which supports the idea of consequences.

It is my opinion that in today’s context, ethical leadership cannot just be confined to one specific principle, but encompasses both to a degree, that is: moral code and the realisation of consequences stemming from one’s actions. Modern day scholars further define these principles through their models of leadership.

Yukl (2010) puts forward the notion that ethical leadership depends on the practical actions of individuals which conform to suitable moral principles, while Mullins and Christy (2013) define ethical leadership as the ability to determine between right and wrong. It is suggested that both combine the idea of fixed moral laws and the experience gained from past consequences.

The crux of ethical leadership, however, lies in the second part of the definition presented by Rubin et al (2010), that is, “the promotion of such conduct to followers” and the “positive effects” felt by individuals and the organisation.

In analysing these components, let us review the aviation industry, which contains a number of laws governing conduct, and is steeped in dire consequences stemming from unethical behaviour.

Since 2014, Qatar Airways has been criticised for a number of unethical issues. As recently as 2015, the International Trade Union Confederation and the International Transport Workers’ Federation filed a report with the International Labour Office on violations falling under the Geneva Convention (ILO 2015).

Figure 2: Qatar Airways’s promotional image (Armtimes 2016)

The report detailed a number of jarringly unethical laws imposed on employees, in particular women flight attendants. These included the right for Qatar Airways to immediately terminate any female employee who becomes pregnant, and the barring of their right to marry. The later incident resulted in eight incidences of crew members resigning from their posts following false promises made by the airline’s CEO, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, and being denied re-entry into the country (ILO 2015).

The report further highlighted the confinement of attendants to airline premises 12 hours before their flights, and impositions on their social media activities (ILO 2015). These issues became so significant to the public that a petition was raised requesting the world champion football club, FC Barcelona, to drop its sponsorships (The Telegraph 2015).

Figure 3: Messi in Qatar Airways Barcelona shirt (The Telegraph 2015)

A recent blog published by Huffpost Business (2016), also emphasised the unfair benefits received by Qatar Airways in expanding into new markets. Due to a lack of transparency in Qatar Airways’ financial reporting, the benefits were only uncovered after a “painstaking investigation” (Huffpost Business 2016). The same concern around transparency and unfair competition was raised in Forbes (2015).

These reports are evidences of unethical leadership as it reflected the conduct and decision making of the CEO, his senior management and perhaps, more alarmingly, the government of Qatar who sanctioned many of his actions (Huffpost Business 2016).

In comparison, AirAsia, which approaches its 15th year (Airasia 2016), still prides itself on a leader who is renowned for his approachable attitude towards all staff (Kamisan and King 2013), and took personal responsibility when flight QZ8501 went missing (Forbes 2014). His exceptional leadership and success has been highlighted across many platforms including Adecco Group Asia’s publication on “What It Takes To Become a Great Leader in 2015”, and his contribution in developing entrepreneurship through the AirAsia Foundation (The Star 2015).

Figure 4: Tan Sri Tony Fernendes speaking to the families of victims of QZ8501 (ABC News 2014)

In analysing these two examples, one agrees with Rubin et al (2010)’s statement of the influence leaders have through demonstrating ethical leadership and its impact within and beyond an organisation. Clearly we see that where ethics governs a leader’s actions, employees and society view it favourably in spite moments of crisis, as opposed to impressive profits laced with unethical practices.

 

REFERENCES

1.Adecco (2014) The Leadership Paradigm: What It Takes to Become a Great Leader in 2015 [online] available from <http://adecco.com.hk/upload/adecco_knewsfs11411104745103471.pdf&gt; [30 January 2016]

2. BBC (2014) Ethics Guide [online] available from <http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/introduction/duty_1.shtml&gt; [30 January 2016]

3. Britton, R. (2016) ‘Bullying in the Airline Business?’. Huffpost Business [online] 27 January. available from <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rob-britton/bullying-in-the-airline-b_b_9081054.html&gt; [30 January 2016]

4. Edwards, T. (2015) ‘Petition calling on Barcelona to drop shirt sponsor hits 40,000 in 24 hours’. The Telegraph [online] 10 July. available from <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/barcelona/11731733/Petition-calling-on-Barcelona-to-drop-shirt-sponsor-hits-40000-in-24-hours.html&gt; [30 January 2016]

5. International Labour Office for the Geneva Convention (2015) Ninth Supplementary Report: Report of the Committee set up to examine the representation alleging non-observance by Qatar of the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), made under article 24 of the ILO Constitution by the International Trade Union Confederation and the International Transport Workers’ Federation [online] available from <http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—ed_norm/—relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_376576.pdf&gt; [30 January 2016]

6. Kamisan, A.P. and King, B.E.M. (2013) ‘Transactional and Transformational Leadership: A Comparative Study of the Difference between Tony Fernandes (Airasia) and Idris Jala (Malaysia Airlines) Leadership Styles from 2005-2009’ International Journal of Business Management [online] 8 (24), 107 – 116, available from  <http://vuir.vu.edu.au/25134/1/27785-108358-2-PB.pdf&gt; [30 January 2016]

7. Karmali, N. (2014) ‘AirAsia Boss Tony Fernandes Joins Search For Missing Plane’. Forbes [online] 28 December. available from <http://www.forbes.com/sites/naazneenkarmali/2014/12/28/airasia-boss-tony-fernandes-joins-search-for-missing-plane/#2ea54f99329e&gt; [30 January 2016]

8. Lim, W.H. (2015) ‘A pledge to support social enterprises’. The Star [online] 4 November. available from <http://www.thestar.com.my/metro/smebiz/news/2015/11/04/a-pledge-to-support-social-enterprises-30-asean-ses-and-top-ceos-to-share-business-experience-at-air/&gt; [30 January 2016]

9. Mullins, L., Christy, G., Scott, P. (2013) Management & Organisational Behaviour. Harlow: Pearson

10. Northwest Missouri State University (n.d.) Teleological Ethical Theory [online] available from <http://catpages.nwmissouri.edu/m/rfield/274guide/274overview4.htm&gt; [30 January 2016]

11. Poghosyan, S. (2016) The result of the negotiations. Doha’s Qatar Airways launches flights to Yerevan [online] available from <http://armtimes.com/hy/read/78295&gt; [30 January 2016]

 12. Pudyanto, R. (2014) Search for AirAsia Flight 8501 [online] available from <http://abcnews.go.com/International/photos/airasia-flight-8501-missing-27859102/image-27876528&gt; [30 January 2016]

13. Reed, T. (2015) ‘Etihad and Qatar Airways Report Earnings, So to Speak – But Are They for Real?’. Forbes [online] 20 June. available from <http://www.forbes.com/sites/tedreed/2015/06/20/etihad-and-qatar-airways-report-earnings-so-to-speak-but-are-they-for-real/#771a1a707fb1&gt; [30 January 2016]

14. Think Link (2015) Ethics Resources [online] available from                             <https://www.thinglink.com/scene/626939662446886913&gt; [30 January 2016]

 

Reflections on the overall course

Due to a recent survey which was organised to determine the effectiveness of internal communications in my organisation, I discovered that most staff did not require management based communications, but wanted more face to face time with their superiors, to better understand the needs of the organisation. This has required me to redefine my role, and determine how best my capabilities can be used within the organisation.

While I will retain some of my internal communications role in assisting the organisation’s corporate leaders to develop their key messages, I will now also focus more of my time on working with the PR team on their events and external communications, as these drive how our organisation is perceived in the public eye.

Over the last three months of the course, I have learnt to critically evaluate my work and my presentation skills. Both of the modules from this semester have helped me understand the gaps between my current capabilities as well as the actual requirements of a manager within a corporate environment, especially one where credibility and empirical evidence is critical in promoting its programmes and offerings.

I’ve learnt the importance of time management, as the biggest challenge I face is to give my studies as much importance as I give to my work. I’ve also learnt that, while I may work very hard to produce quick results, they can still be improved on, and pursuing this programme provides me the vital tools for that improvement.

Reflections on presenting the research

Because we each had separate journals and questionnaires, with a range of different ideas and results, the biggest challenge we faced during the group presentation was consolidating our data and deciding how best to use it – specifically the literature reviews. This posed problems with relevance and flow, and some of us went back to our journals to ensure our collective presentation would make sense.

Overall, we could have presented our findings better, but ended up simply taking all our data and regurgitating it. It made sense when the assessor highlighted that our presentation was too wordy, and while we were able to come to a conclusion thanks to our overall findings, we could have improved it through better planning and communications.

Reflecting on this experience, it seems necessary for teams, both within the programme and at work, to come together earlier and more regularly when doing research and presentation. This could have helped us form a more cohesive presentation, for example, having visual elements to present our data.

A practice round with the entire team could have also served to help us improve our overall flow. Because of time constraints and a lack of communication, we each had separate, somewhat disjointed presentation styles, which again disrupted the final presentation.

Moving forward we should take into account the presentation goals, and the importance of coming together more frequently to discuss and develop clarity before final presentations. It was complacence rather than capability that hindered us from doing well this time.

 

Reflections on collecting and analysing data from the questionnaire

Collecting data was the hardest part of the research project. The main challenges were identifying A Level students specifically, as well as getting them to take the questionnaire, as many were required to complete it on the spot. A key learning from this experience was that having sufficient time to find and approach students was crucial to obtaining the right data.

Calculating the results was another challenge, as each response had to be reviewed individually and then compiled into groups of responses. While relatively easy, this method did leave margins for error, and required each field from the questionnaire to be written down and counted. These numbers were then manually keyed into an online system to generate the results and percentages – a task which may have been simplified by using an online tool to develop, distribute and calculate responses.

Uncovering the data was also quite interesting as, considering the number of tuition centres established within the proposed location, it was surprising to discover that most students did not take tuition for A Levels.

Reflecting on my attempt to ask a tuition centre for help with my questionnaire, I realised these centres did not only focus on A Levels, but also supported students from the Cambridge IGCSEs and O Levels. While their operations appeared small, they seemed to obtain their volume by catering to various levels of students. This indicated that an A Levels specific centre may not be feasible, as there may be insufficient students.

Reflections on designing a Questionnaire

When I designed the questionnaire, I took into consideration how easy it would be to answer. This was why I chose a multiple choice format rather than open ended questions. The challenge in doing this was that it limited the number of questions I could ask, as I also had to include answers.

Looking back, the overall questionnaire was quite basic as it went directly to whether or not A Level students were currently taking tuition, and details such as subjects, duration, preferred number of classes in a week, and price. Asking for price points was a mistake as students would obviously select the lowest option. This question could have been improved by asking what price they would be willing to pay. However, this could have given me too wide a range of prices.

I chose to create the questionnaire using a Word Document file as I thought this would be the easiest for printing and emailing to potential respondents. Looking back, however, a more practical way of sharing may have been through a Google Document, which could have been sent as a link. This would have minimised the number of printed papers, and used an electronic results calculation.

This activity was very useful as my organisation uses surveys to obtain data on student and staff engagement levels. By carrying out this activity, I not only focused on the information I needed, but learnt how to develop suitable questions to gain the best information.

Reflections on carrying out the Literature Review

The biggest challenge in carrying out the Literature Review was to find research materials aligned to the topic. Materials focusing on a specific group of students (A Levels), and for a specific location (Subang Jaya), were impossible to find. There was also a lack of materials specific to Malaysia. Finally, I chose to expand my research to journals addressing trends and factors influencing private tuition centres in other countries.

What I learnt from this experience was that finding suitable materials requires various combinations of key words, and that a preliminary reading is necessary before choosing the most suitable pieces for further review. In my search I found titles which seemed suitable at first glance, but many, however, did not relate to tuition centres, or focused on sustainability rather than the feasibility of a new start up.

Finally, I chose five pieces which shared two main themes – entrepreneurial success and perceptions towards tuition centres. I felt these were the most suitable because they highlighted what an entrepreneur must do to be successful – for example, having financial stability when starting up, and also gave evidence of why previous respondents chose private tuition centres.

After reviewing these materials, I have decided to develop my questionnaire around what students want in a tuition centre. This will align to the literature review, as it will also look at students’ preferences for a tuition centre, and provide a realistic view about whether these preferences support starting up an A Levels tuition centre in Subang Jaya.