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Editor: Dr. Wolf J. Rinke
Publisher: Wolf Rinke Associates, Inc.
(c) 2011 Wolf J. Rinke
Vol. 14 No. 4, August-September 2011
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Welcome to 14 years of helping managers like YOU achieve
dramatic improvements in performance, productivity and profitability.
Feel free to forward this eNewsletter to others.
To get your own FREE subscription click on the link above.
IN THIS ISSUE
1. NEWS YOU CAN USE
2. HOW TO FIX A DYSFUNCTIONAL TEAM
3. LEADERSHIP STRATEGIES THAT REALLY WORK
4. HOW TO FAST TRACK YOUR CAREER
5. HUMOR BREAK
6. HEAR WOLF HOWL--I MEAN SPEAK
7. ABOUT THE EDITOR
8. PRIVACY STATEMENT AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
REALITY CHECK
"You manage things; you lead people."
--Admiral Grace Murray Hopper
1. NEWS YOU CAN USE
FEMALE LEADERSHIP IS MORE DESIRABLE DURING STRESSFUL TIMES
A new study explores the glass cliff phenomenon which refers to women
being more likely to rise to positions of organizational leadership
in times of crisis than in times of success, and men being more likely
to achieve those positions in prosperous times.
ACTION STEP
During times of stress amplify your "soft" interpersonal qualities
such as "tuning into the feelings of others." For more read
or listen to "Make it a Winning Life: Success Strategies for Life,
Love and Business," available at http://wolfrinke.com/miwlbook.html.
Source: S. Bruckmüller and N. R. Branscombe, "The glass cliff:
When and why women are selected as leaders in crisis contexts,"
British Journal of Social Psychology, 49 (3), 2010, pp. 433-451.
2. HOW TO FIX A DYSFUNCTIONAL TEAM
Lack of engagement reducing performance and productivity?
Contact me. In over 30 years of consulting I have developed a unique
and fail-safe conflict resolution process that in one day will get your
leadership or other team back in working order. Differences will have
been worked out and the team will walk away with written commitments
that will be used by team members to hold each other accountable. As
a result of this intervention, participants buy into a new reality which
enables them to take team performance to the next level.
For details go to http://wolfrinke.com/conflict.htm or contact us at
800-828-9653 (USA) or 410-531-9280.
Two high value team members unable to work together? I can help. For
details go to http://wolfrinke.com/conflict2.htm.
3. LEADERSHIP STRATEGIES THAT REALLY WORK
Most people crave to be led but don't want to be managed. They want
to come to work and do a good job. If on top of that they can be involved
in a worthy cause, be part of a winning team and feel great about the
person they report to, they will literally feel like they are in heaven.
My book--Don't Oil the Squeaky Wheel and 19 Other Contrarian Ways to
Improve Your Leadership Effectiveness-teaches you how to lead more and
manage less. See http://wolfrinke.com/squeakywheel.html.
You might be asking: "what specific leadership strategies will
give me the best results?" I'm glad you asked, because the answer
has become a lot clearer as a result of exciting research reported by
Daniel Goleman in the Harvard Business Review (78 [2]:78-90, 2000).
Goleman and investigators from the consulting firm Hay/McBer studied
a random sample of 3,871 executives selected from 20,000 executives
worldwide and found that the most effective leaders choose from six
distinctive leadership styles depending on the situation and what they
want to get accomplished.
The research investigated how each of the six leadership styles correlated
with the specific components of the organizations climate or working
atmosphere of an organization. They found that leaders who used styles
that positively impacted on an organizations climate had dramatically
better financial results. By the way the organizational climate was
responsible for a third of a leader's desired results. (The other two
were economic conditions and competitive dynamics.)
Here are the six leadership styles, in order of their impact on an
organizational climate or culture, and the situations in which they
will provide you the best results:
Coercive
This is a leader who demands immediate compliance-the "it's-my-way-or-the-highway"
style. This style has a very high probability of destroying your organizational
climate and possibly even you. Even though it may be useful in an emergency,
a "turnaround" situation or as a last resort with a problem
employee, this leadership style has the most negative impact on the
overall organizational climate. Avoid it at all costs.
Pacesetting
This leader sets extremely high standards for performance. This is someone
who wants results yesterday. Even though this leader will typically
role model what's expected from others, it's a climate killer. It typically
only works when you work with an extremely highly motivated and competent
team members who know the leader extremely well. Others will feel overwhelmed
and give up because they cannot see themselves reach the leaders unrealistic
expectations. This style has virtually the same negative impact on the
overall organizational climate as the coercive style. Use this style
very sparingly!
Coaching
This is a leader who is focused on "growing people." Coaching
leaders are great delegators and are willing to put up with short-term
failures provided it leads to learning and long-term development. This
style works best when you want to help employees improve their performance
or develop their long-term strengths. This style has a relatively high
positive impact on the overall organizational climate, which is virtually
the same as the democratic style. Use this style when employees are
interested and willing to learn and be coached.
Democratic
This leader wants to achieve consensus thorough participation. This
style builds trust, respect and commitment and works best when you want
to get employees to "buy-in," achieve consensus or receive
input from employees. It does not work in times of severe time constrains
or if employees are confused or uninformed. If handled correctly, this
style has virtually the same positive impact on the overall organizational
climate as the coaching style. Use this style when you have ample time
and work with employees who are knowledgeable and informed.
Affiliative
This is a leader who is interested in creating harmony and building
emotional bonds with employees. These leaders are relationship builders
who are primarily focused on the people issues of organizational life.
This style works best when you want to motivate employees, especially
when they face stressful situations, when you want to build team harmony,
improve communication, increase morale or repair broken trust. This
style has a slightly more positive impact on the overall organizational
climate than the coaching and democratic styles. Because this style
has virtually no downside it is the best overall approach. So if in
doubt use the affiliative style.
Authoritative
This leader mobilizes people with an incredible level of enthusiasm
and a clear vision. This is a visionary leader who gives people lots
of leeway to innovate and take calculated risks provided that they move
in the direction of the stated vision. This style works best when change
requires a new vision or when employees are looking for a new direction.
This style fails when employees are more knowledgeable or experienced
than the leader, or if the authoritative style becomes overbearing.
Provided that it is used with finesse, this style has the most positive
impact on the overall organizational climate. Use this style if you
have a clear vision of the future and you can mobilize people to buy
into your vision.
Back to your original question-which leadership style will give you
the best results? The answer as you have just learned is it depends
on the situation. However Goleman's research demonstrates that leaders
who have mastered four or more styles, especially the authoritative,
affiliative, democratic and coaching styles, and who can move seamlessly
from one to the other style depending on the situation, have the most
positive organizational climates and the most effective business performance.
However, if you are unable to use all four styles, or if you are in
doubt, use the affiliative style because it will likely keep you out
of trouble and give you the results you want.
SOURCE: Based in part on my book "Don't Oil the Squeaky Wheel and
19 Other Contrarian Ways to Improve Your Leadership Effectiveness,"
McGraw-Hill, available at http://www.wolfrinke.com/squeakywheel.html
or if you prefer to earn 20 CPEUs order the book with study guide at
http://www.wolfrinke.com/CEFILES/cemgt.html#C213.
4. HOW TO FAST TRACK YOUR CAREER
The fastest way to get to the next level is to learn from people who
have been where you want to go. I've partnered with AthenaOnline.com
to bring you 54 high-impact video mini-lessons that will help you fast
track your career. Topics range from "Advancing your Career"
to "Leadership in Tough Times." Each video mini-lesson is
about 2 -7 minutes long. To get started go to http://wolfrinke.com/mgttraining.html.
While there you can also take advantage of my on-line management and
personal development training programs at http://wolfrinke.ontimetraining.com.
5. HUMOR BREAK
One of Linda's responsibilities was to provide employees' training in
proper dress codes and etiquette for a mid-size company.
One day she was stepping onto the elevator and another employee who
was a bit too casually dressed in jeans and golf shirt got on with her.
Thinking of her responsibilities, Linda scolded, "Dressed a little
casually today, aren't we?"
The man replied, "That's one benefit of owning the company."
6. HEAR WOLF HOWL--I MEAN SPEAK
Aug 3, 2011, 1:30-3:00 "Positive Attitude: The Key to Wellness
and Peak Performance," American Assoc. of Diabetes Educators (AADE)
annual meeting, Mandalay Bay Resort and Convention Ctr., Lagoon ABGH,
Las Vegas, NV. To register or for more info: http://www.diabeteseducator.org/annualmeeting/2011/index.html
Oct 24, 2011 "Increasing Your Personal Effectiveness", Renaissance
Woodbridge, Iselin, NJ. This full day seminar may be open to you if
your company is a member of the Institute of Management Studies (IMS).
Contact Ken Verostick, newjersey@ims-online.com for specifics.
7. ABOUT THE EDITOR
Dr. Wolf J. Rinke, CSP is a highly effective management consultant and
executive coach who specializes in building peak performance organizations,
teams and individuals. He is the author of 14 books including "Don't
Oil the Squeaky Wheel and 19 Other Contrarian Ways to Improve Your Leadership
Effectiveness" and "Winning Management: 6 Fail-Safe Strategies
for Building High-Performance Organizations" available at www.WolfRinke.com.
Wolf is also an internationally recognized management/leadership keynote
speaker and seminar leader who delivers customized presentations that
combine story telling, humor and motivation with specific "how
to" action strategies that participants can apply immediately to
improve their management and leadership effectiveness. Preview a live
demo at www.WolfRinke.com. To take advantage of Dr. Rinke's services
contact us at 800-828-9653 or WolfRinke@aol.com
8. PRIVACY STATEMENT AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
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