LIT REVIEW

Leadership & Organizational Management Journal

Volume 2015 Issue 1

Leadership Statement Troy A. Tyre President & CEO - T & B Treasures, Inc. Owner - Missouri Star Equine and Wellness Center Essential Oils Consultant/Business Mentor - Embrace Young Living Essential Oils 201 Tennessee Rd. Ozark, MO 65721 Phone: 417.312.0550 [email protected]

Leadership Statement

Leadership is in one’s being and everything one does. This concept has remained steadfast for years. In one’s leadership approach the scholarship, practitioner, and leader model is a viable tool to help one grow and mature one’s leadership. When leadership is packaged with the scholarship, practitioner, and leader model, one’s leadership can be unpackaged to tell the story in the right context, if the container is established. Knowing and understanding leadership is imperative. Leadership is instrumental in one’s success in business and in life. Emotional intelligence coupled with situational leadership is an effective and efficient leadership style.

Situational Leadership

Leadership is a tool, honed on a daily basis. If one mired to stagnancy in leadership, one might still be viewing leadership as the great man theory. The great man theory comes from one of the earliest studies on leadership by Galton in 1869, Hereditary Genius (McCleskey, 2014a). The great man theory argues that leadership is a characteristic of extraordinary individuals (McCleskey, 2014a). Hersey and Blanchard (1969) argued that leadership is effective when based on evaluation of the situation. In 1969, Hersey and Blanchard developed the situational leadership while working on the first edition of Management of Organizational Behavior (Hersey, 1985; Hersey & Blanchard, 1969a; Hersey & Blanchard, 1969b; McCleskey, 2014a). The basic concept of the situational leadership model is that there is no one best leadership style. Leadership rests on the leadership style and the maturity of the individual or group. Effective leaders need to determine the best leadership style through task-relevance. The most effective leaders adapt the leadership style based on the situation and the maturity of the environment (Blanchard, Zigarmi, & Zigarmi, 1985; Hersey, 1985; McCleskey, 2014a).

Therefore, effective leadership varies based on the situation, task, and maturity of the environment. Effective leadership must be flexible and adaptable to the situation and the environment (Blanchard et al., 1985; Hersey, 1985; McCleskey, 2014a). Understanding the

Leadership & Organizational Management Journal

Volume 2015 Issue 1

environment and the situation requires the ability to determine underlying emotional aspects of the environment. Emotional intelligence allows the leader to evaluate the situation and the environment (Batool, 2013; McCleskey, 2014b).

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is the ability for a leader to monitor one’s own emotions as well as others emotions to discriminate and correctly label the emotional environment to guide thinking and behavior (Batool, 2013; McCleskey, 2014b). Three models of emotional intelligence exist. The first model developed by Salovey, Mayer, and Caruso (2004) is the ability model and focuses on the individual’s ability to process the emotional environment in efforts to manage the social environment. Petrides and Furnham (2001) developed the second model, trait model. The trait model is a self-report model based on behavioral dispositions and self-perceived abilities. The final model and the model I implement is the mixed model, developed by Daniel Goleman (1998). The mixed model is a combination of the ability model and the trait model. The founding principles of the mixed model are emotional intelligence is an array of skills and characteristics that drive leader performance. The emotional intelligence framework has five domains. Salovey, et al.’s (2004) five domains are identified as knowing your emotions, managing your own emotions, motivating yourself, recognizing and understanding other’s emotions, and managing relationships (Salovey et al., 2004). The determination of the emotional environment allows the leader to use the emotional information to guide thinking and behavior.

Synthesized Experience

One never has all knowledge, as knowledge absorption, retention, and growth are lifelong pursuits. At various points in one’s leadership journey, one assumes that one has a firm understanding of the scholar-practitioner-leader model. The scholar-practitioner-leader model is the foundation for many leaders. Additionally, one assumes that one has a foundational understanding of one’s own leadership. Growth comes in the phenomenon of leadership as applied in the scholar-practitioner-leader model.

Growth can only come when one opens the mind and leaves the comfort zone. Growth in leadership operates in the tacit dimension (Polanyi, 1983). The tacit dimension allows one to move from the first realm of knowing, through the second realm of knowing and into the third realm of knowing. Polanyi argued that most learning occurs in the third realm of knowing. The first realm is things one knows one knows. The second realm is things one knows one does not know. The third realm and the realm with the most growth potential is the realm where one does not know what one does not know one does not know (Polanyi, 1983). Dwelling in the third realm is where a leader obtains knowledge. One should work as a leader to cross the threshold into the third realm of knowing.

Systems thinking is a means for me as a leader to understand the events, patterns of behavior, structures, and the mental models. Goodman (2002) developed the Iceberg Model to help leaders work through the process systemically. The closer one gets to the mental model, the lower levels of the iceberg, the more leverage one obtains.

Learning can be single-loop, double-loop, or triple-loop learning. Argyris (1976) discussed single-loop and double-loop learning while Peschl (2007) presented triple-loop learning. Triple- loop learning is the most challenging but the most rewarding. Scharmer’s (2007) Theory U is a

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process model from moving a leader through the learning loops up to the point of triple-loop learning.

Prescencing is the art of bringing the future vision to the present by understanding the mental models. Scharmer (2007) argued that one must pass through the voice of judgment, voice of cynicism, and the voice of fear to have the will to develop presencing. The brain controls the voice of judgment. The heart drives the region for the voice of cynicism. The will controls the voice of fear.

Maturing leadership skills requires collective thinking and inquiry. The art of collective thinking and inquiry is through dialogue. Isaacs (2000) provided a description of dialogue that creates a container for discussions. The container is a terminology for a visionary space where one removes the blinders for clear, concise, and open dialogue. Therefore, one needs to set the stage for open dialogue before one can expect collective thinking and inquiry.

One’s actions do not always appear to others as one thinks. Espoused action can differ from portrayed action. Argyris (1976) argued that one’s espoused theory is different from one’s theory of actions. Espoused actions are actions one thinks one is portraying. Theories of action are portrayed actions. One gains power when the espoused actions are congruent to the actions of theory (Argyris, 1976). I found this intriguing and informative. One needs to account for personal perceptions and the perception of others before placing reality on one’s actions.

Leadership development is fostered on in-depth understanding of the scholar-practitioner-leader model. Embedded in this mega-concept can reside the cornerstone of one’s leadership. Scholarship encompasses the what, theories, concepts, and models. The practitioner encompasses the how does it work, practice, and processes. The leadership aspect envelops does it work for me, and enacting my role as the leader. Implementing and unpacking the stage of the model to tell a story is the means to a meaningful dialogue.

One bases leadership decisions on interrelated internal processes. One implements a framework to aid in this decision-making process. The framework is systems thinking. Senge (1997) argued that system thinking is the cornerstone to organizational learning. System thinking is a complex method of accounting for the interrelationship of multiple processes in action simultaneously when developing one’s leadership decision matrix.

Conclusion

Growing as a leader prevails by continued growth as a scholar, practitioner, and leader. Situational leadership that couples leadership style with emotional intelligence is a highly effective method of leading one’s self and others. Learning, as a leader requires a level of humility. Future development can continue through the pursuit for growth in all aspects of the scholar-practitioner-leader model. One can engage in understanding the scholar aspect, which will enhance the practitioner aspect, which will foster growth as a leader. Understanding the frameworks, theories, and models allow one to package and unpackage knowledge, while creating a container for dialogue, as one moves through the leadership decision matrix.

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