Leadership Case Study

What follows is a more detailed approach / explanation of the framework/process for your use and/or consideration. The cycle is an iterative process that occurs as the Commander/Supervisor determines what is necessary in providing continuous leadership development and growth.

Supportive Climate: For the supervisor/commander/leader who is using this framework an overall supportive climate enables the overall learning.

During the initial phase of the framework, the supervisor/commander must conduct an assessment of the organization and the individual slated for development using a verity of tools, assessments, documents, etc to more inform their initial assessment of the needs of both the individual and organization.

Supervisor/commander: Conducts assessment of the individual and the organization.

Individual Needs: Informed by discussions, ORB, IDP, observations, career status/timeframe, goals. These informative building blocks of information assist the supervisor/commander in their assessment of the individual to determine what learning opportunities are required and what areas of leadership development to focus.

Organizational Needs/Desires: Informed by Commander assessment, mission, vision, environment.

Learning Opportunities: The commander/supervisor determines the learning opportunities. No need to add to the organizational schedule. Take advantage of what is already scheduled/occurring within the organization. The learning opportunities are varied based on the organization. Be creative in the what and how for the learning opportunities to provide the experience in the next phase of the cycle/development. After the assessment of both the individual and organization which includes what learning opportunities are available, this information feeds the sense-making cycle. The learning opportunities are the events, meetings, etc that become the experiences the individual receives. Leverage routine events to maximize learning and development.

Experience: The commander, supervisor, leader determines based on their assessment of both the individual and organizational needs, what learning opportunities which lead to the individual having experiences that facilitate learning via the experiential learning model/theory. These can be events or activities. Again, take advantage of what the organization is already doing/scheduled. Be creative in the experiences provided. During the experience, the observer is looking at behaviors, decisions, judgement, actions, etc that will later provide the basis for the feedback.

Observed Behaviors: The experience must be observed to be useful for the individual within the sense-making cycle. Typically the commander, supervisor, or leader of the individual is the one observing, but does not always have to be the case. The key is the individual facilitating the development receives the information on the observations (observed behaviors discussed above) to provide feedback later is an essential element of the cycle.

Feedback: Timing and feedback from the observer is essential. The closer in time from the observations to the feedback provided is desired to facilitate learning. How much time it takes to provide the feedback depends on the level of feedback given/required. During this initial feedback, allow the individual to ask questions and to clarify any details required to assist in ensuring the observations are communicated effectively. Recommend not getting into a lengthy discussion as this point as the feedback is new and still being processed by the individual.

Self-Reflection: This is the opportunity for the individual to think about (reflect) on the initial parts of the cycle (Experience had and the initial feedback provided). Time provided before the initial discussion depends on schedule. Recommend no more than a week so that everything remains fresh.

Initial Discussion: During this discussion, the individual should come prepared to discuss their insights from the experience, feedback provided and their reflection. This is essential in the meaning-making aspects that move into the overall sense-making cycle. Incumbent upon the commander/supervisor/leader is to determine what meaning the individual has made to this point. Depending on what meaning the individual has made, this is the point in which the Commander/supervisor/leader assists the individual in ensuring they are taking the right lessons learned and meaning behind what happened, why things happened in the way they did, and what other aspects they can learn from (what tasks did not get accomplished, what other decisions could have been made, why did they decide to do what they did, second/third order of affects, unintended consequences….). The tone (informal instead of formal such as in counseling) of this discussion is critical as it is a dialogue/conversation and how the conversation is received.

Planned Changes/Lessons Learned: In this part of the cycle, the individual determines what would need to be different and should they be in a similar situation in the future, what would they do differently. What did they learn? This is essential the individual clearly understands what learning/meaning occurred in order to move forward.

*Discussion: In this point of the cycle, another discussion could occur as needed to ensure the individual has taken the meaning and made sense of the experience they had and what came from it and the potential way ahead for the future. This is the last check on learning during this part of the cycle for the initial experience. Should be made clear for the individual that they should remember what they learned to continue their growth and development.

The cycle occurs again with another experience to produce further development and growth or to reinforce the experience as needed. At a point the Commander/supervisor/leader determines is appropriate, have the discussion with the individual(s) they are developing on what are they doing to develop their subordinates in leadership. What process are they using? Have they found value in this process if used. If they are finding value, then there is potential they will follow the framework much in the same way to develop the leadership capacity of their subordinates, thereby producing over time an organizational leadership development program/plan.

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Primary Embedding Mechanisms

What leaders pay attention to

How leaders react to crisis

How leaders allocate resources

Deliberate role modeling, teaching and coaching

How leaders allocate rewards and punishments

Secondary Reinforcement Mechanisms

Organizational design and structure

Organizational systems and procedures

Rites, rituals, and stories

Design of physical space

Formal statements of philosophy and vision

Implementing a leader development process

Making it stick

This is how leaders integrate their values and beliefs into the culture of an organization to shape how people think, feel, and behave.

From Organizational Culture and Leadership, by Edgar Schein

Leaders use secondary mechanisms to reinforce the values and beliefs shared through the primary embedding mechanisms.