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Editor: Dr. Wolf J. Rinke
Publisher: Wolf Rinke Associates, Inc.
(c) 2004 Wolf J. Rinke
Vol. 7 No. 5, October/November 2004
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IN THIS ISSUE
1. NEWS YOU CAN USE
2. DON'T MANAGE PEOPLE--PART I
3. SPECIAL HOLIDAY GIFT
4. HEAR WOLF HOWL--I MEAN SPEAK
5. HUMOR BREAK
6. ABOUT THE EDITOR
7. PRIVACY STATEMENT AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
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REALITY CHECK
"You manage things; you lead people."
--Admiral Grace Murray Hopper
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1. NEWS YOU CAN USE
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E-mail has gotten out of hand. (Are you thinking--tell me what I don't
know?) According to IDC, a Framingham, Mass., research firm "the
number of daily e-mails in North America has tripled since 1999 to 11.9
billion." By the way that does not include spam. It's gotten so
bad that 10% of office workers spend more than 50% of their time on
e-mails, and 48% spend one to two hours a day. Some of my clients deal
with 300-400 e-mails a day.
ACTION STEPS:
Declare Friday to be e-mail free. Penalize anyone who sends e-mails
on Friday within your department--say $5 per violation--that gets distributed
via a drawing at the next employee meeting. In the event that your team
members must communicate with someone within your department tell them
to pick up the phone or talk in person. Permit team members to continue
to communicate via e-mail outside of your department. Can't be done?
Well it has been done with powerful positive results at Veritas Software
Corp., CA.
Source: M. A. Walker, "The Day the E-Mail Dies," Wall Street
Journal, 8/26/04, p. B1 &B7.
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2. DON'T MANAGE PEOPLE--PART I
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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, and in turn feel great about themselves, they
are literally in work heaven. My new book-- Don't Oil the Squeaky Wheel
and 19 Other Contrarian Ways to Improve Your Leadership Effectiveness--is
all about leading more and managing less. Or to be more precise, mastering
20 contrarian leadership strategies that will enable you to become a
more effective leader. To find out what the difference is between management
and contrarian leadership take a look at Exhibit 1.
EXHIBIT 1: MANAGERS VERSUS CONTRARIAN LEADERS (CLS)
MANAGERS
Rely on the "tried and true"
Maintain
Control
Direct
Administer
Strategy driven
Rely on position power
Structure/system focus
Cope with complexity
Focus on the bottom line
Do things right
CONTRARIAN LEADERS
Experiment with Contrarian approaches
Develop
Trust
Inspire
Innovate
Philosophy driven
Empower
People focus
Embrace change
Focus on employee and customer satisfaction
Do the right things right
Hey that's cool, but 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 leaders desired results. (The other two
were economic conditions and competitive dynamics.)
Here then 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. 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. Someone who
wants results yesterday. Even though this leader will typically role
model what's expected from others, it is 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 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 our 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 has shown that leaders
who have mastered four or more styles, especially the authoritative,
affiliative, democratic and coaching styles, and who can move seemlessly
from one to the other 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.
In the next issue of this eNewsletter (Vol. 7, #6) you will find out
about "The Cost of Leadership Misalignment " and discover
specific Smart Steps to take to make sure that you are leading more
and managing less.
SOURCE: Based in part on Chapter 4 of my new book Don't Oil the Squeaky
Wheel and 19 Other Contrarian Ways to Improve Your Leadership Effectiveness,
released by McGraw-Hill in May 2004. Take advantage of my very special
offer that follows.
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3. SPECIAL HOLIDAY GIFT
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Hate shopping as much as I do? Here is a one-of-a-kind holiday gift
that will save you time and money!
It's a great way to say thanks to all the people who support you all
year long--team members, co-workers, friends and family.
It is a universal gift that everyone will LOVE. It will keep on giving
for years to come! It's inexpensive! It's totally unique - there is
no other gift quite like it!
What is it? It's my Make It a Winning Life Perpetual Desk Calendar
This unique perpetual calendar provides words of inspiration and wisdom
every day of the year! PLUS easy to apply action steps to help make
the message a reality! Best of all at the end of the year, turn it over
and use it again, and again. Truly a unique gift that keeps on giving
... forever!
PLUS in the spirit of the holidays I will include my new book Don't
Oil the Squeaky Wheel and 19 Other Contrarian Ways to Improve Your Leadership
Effectiveness for only $10, with orders of 4 or more calendars.
** 4 Calendars plus my new Squeaky Wheel book for ONLY $40 **
Regular Price $51.80+$14.95 for the book. You SAVE $26.75
You risk absolutely nothing!!! If for any reason the perpetual calendars
or the book are not everything you expected, send them back to me and
I will give you your money back.
Click here or call 800-828-9653. Mention
this ad when ordering by phone! Offer expires 1/15/2005.
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4. HEAR WOLF HOWL--I MEAN SPEAK
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Here is the last full day seminar that I will be presenting in 2004
that may be open to you, especially if your company is a member of the
Institute of Management Studies (IMS). Contact the Chairperson for additional
information.
Achieve Peak Performance--Increase Your Personal Effectiveness
10/20, Bristol, UK, Mike Matthews, ims@events01.golbalnet.co.uk
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5. HUMOR BREAK
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Among other things, Linda was responsible to provide employees training
in proper dress codes and etiquette for a mid-size company.
One day as she was stepping onto the elevator, and another employee,
rather casually dressed in jeans and a 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."
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6. ABOUT THE EDITOR
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Dr. Wolf J. Rinke, CSP is an internationally recognized 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 personal effectiveness. He is also a highly effective
management consultant, executive coach and author of 13 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
To take advantage of Dr. Rinke's services call 800-828-9653 or mailto:WolfRinke@aol.com
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7. PRIVACY STATEMENT AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
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