Leadership in Public & Non-profit Sectors Final

Diversity

focuses on recognizing differences

Surface-level diversity

visible or observable differences (along race/ethnicity, sex, age) within a group of people

Functional diversity

differences in educational backgrounds, skills

Deep-level diversity

differences in terms of values, beliefs, and thoughts or ideas

Discrimination-fairness approach

policies and practices that ensure fair treatment of all groups (procedural and distributive fairness)

Colorblind approach

look beyond the seeming differences and focus on shared values and norms (ind. of strong cultures)

Learning approach

recognize and value cultural differences

Inclusion

the process of incorporating differences in individuals into a group or organization; treated as an insider and encouraged to retain uniqueness, high in belonging & uniqueness; focuses on embracing differences

Equity

recognize that certain groups in the society or an organization are not afforded with the same opportunities and resources like others; focuses on confronting injustices

Exclusion

not treated as an organization insider, but others are, low in uniqueness & belonging

Differentiation

not treated as an insider, but unique characteristics are seen as valuable, low in belonging & high in uniqueness

Assimilation

Treated like an insider when they conform to cultural norms, high in belonging, low in uniqueness

Ethnocentrism

tendency for individuals to place their own group/identity at the center of their observations of the world/others

Prejudice

a largely fixed attitude, belief, or emotion about another group. Preconceived opinion not based on reason or experience

Unconscious Bias/Implicit Bias

unconscious attitudes toward people

Stereotype

classifies groups with similar characteristics as the same, labeling

Privilege

the advantage held by the in-group blinds people to the experiences of the underprivileged

Out-group

Individuals who do not identify as members of a larger group

Strategies to bring Out-Group members “in”

#1: Listen to out-group members
#2: Show empathy to out-group members
#3: Recognize unique contributions of out-group members
#4: Help out-group members feel included
#5: Create a special relationship with out-group members
#6: Give out-group members a voice and empower them to act

Climate

atmosphere of a team or organization

Constructive climate

positive atmosphere of a team/organization that creates satisfaction

To establish a constructive climate:

-provide structure
- clarify norms
- build cohesiveness
- promote standards of excellence

Cohesiveness

cement holding the group together

Benefits of group cohesion:

• increased productivity

• satisfaction is high

• members influence each other

Drawbacks of group cohesion:

• develop group-think

• resistant to change

• unwelcoming to people

Promoting Standards of Excellence:

- Require Results: clear and concrete expectations
- Review Results: give constructive feedback
- Reward Results: recognize and appreciate contributions

Vision

ideal future state

Mission

how to get there (to the ideal future state of a vision)

Key components of a vision:

- A picture
- A Change
- Values
- A map
- A challenge

Articulating vision

Leaders must adapt their vision to their audience and highlight the intrinsic value of their vision so they will accept it through inspiring and inclusive language

Implementing a vision

• acting out the vision

• setting performance expectations

• keeping eyes on the goal

• sharing work and empowering people

Why transformation efforts (change) fails:

1. Lacking an inspiring vision
2. Not communicating the vision well
3. Not establishing a sense of urgency
4. Not creating a powerful guiding coalition
5. Not empowering others to act on the vision
6. Not creating short-term wins
7. Declaring victory too soon
8. Not institutionalizing changes in the culture

Power

capacity that A has to influence the behavior of B, so that B acts in accordance with A’s wishes

Formal power

• coercive power

• reward power

• legitimate power

Coercive power

power to punish people

Reward power

power to reward people

Legitimate power

power from a formally assigned role

Personal power

power possessed because of who you are, separate from position

• expert/info power

• referent power

Expert power

power from perceived competence and/or access to information/expertise

Referent power

power from being well-liked/respected

General Dependency Postulate

when you posses anything others’ require but you alone control, you make them dependent upon you and, therefore, you gain power over them

• dependence is inversely proportional to the alternative sources of supply

Dependence is created by:

Importance, scarcity, and no substitutability

Power and influence tactics:

- legitimacy: using position
- rational persuasion: appeal to intellect/logic/reason
- inspirational appeals: appeal to emotion
- consultation
- exchange: you do this and I’ll do this
- personal appeals: using friendship
- ingratiating: using flattery
- pressure: coercive/manipulation
- coalitions: group pull/influence

Political skill

ability to influence others to enhance their own objectives

Political behavior

activities that are not required as part of one’s formal role in the organization, but that influence the distribution of advantages within the organization

Defensive Behaviors

• avoiding action

  • overconforming

  • buck passing

  • playing dumb

  • stretching

  • stalling

• avoiding blame

  • bluffing

  • playing safe

  • justifying

  • scapegoating

  • misrepresenting

• avoiding change

  • prevention

  • self-protection

avoiding action: overconforming

strictly interpreting responsibility by saying things like “the rules clearly state…” or “this is the way we’ve always done it”

avoiding action: buck passing

transferring responsibility for the execution of a task or a decision to someone else

avoiding action: playing dumb

avoiding an unwanted task by falsely pleading ignorance or inability

avoiding action: stretching

prolonging a task so that one person appears to be occupied

avoiding action: stalling

appearing to be more or less supportive publicly while doing little or nothing privately

avoiding blame: bluffing

rigorously documenting activity to project an image of competence and thoroughness, known as “covering your rear”

avoiding blame: playing safe

evading situations that may reflect unfavorably

• only taking projects w/ high prob. of success

• having risky decisions approved by superiors

• qualifying expressions of judgement

• taking neutral position in conflicts

avoiding blame: justifying

developing explanations that lessen one’s responsibility for a negative outcome and/or apologizing to demonstrate remorse

avoiding blame: scapegoating

placing the blame for a negative outcome on external factors that are not entirely blameworthy

avoiding blame: misrepresenting

manipulation of information by distortion, embellishment, deception, selective presentation, or obfuscation

avoiding change: prevention

trying to prevent a threatening change from occuring

avoiding change: self-protection

acting in ways to protect one’s self-interest during change by guarding information or other resources

Impression Management (IM)

the process by which individuals attempt to control the impression others form of them

Character of a leader

qualities, disposition, and core values

• trustworthiness

• respect

• responsibility

• fairness

• caring

• citizenship - things you do for the common good that aren’t explicitly expected

Actions of a leader

ways to accomplish goals ethically

• showing respect

• serving others

• showing justice

Power of a leader

capacity to influence/affect others

Goals of a leader

identifying and pursuing worthy goals

Honesty of a leader

dishonesty creates distrust

Values of a leader

ethical values (character), modal values (actions), end values (goals)

Historical ethics philosophy: Deontology

-ethics based on duty
-focused on actions, the morality of an action is based on whether it is right or wrong
- Immanuel Kent: believed universal moral law could be derived by reason
- maxim: always tell the truth
- Other forms: divine and natural law

Historical ethics philosophy: Unitarianism/Consequentialism

- focused on the consequences of decisions
- Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mills
- moral decisions that result in the most good for the most people (increases total happiness)
- Act vs Rule: You can not think of this theory every time you make a decision, so we make rules to make decisions easier

Historical ethics philosophy: Virtue Ethics

- Focus on character traits: if you develop well-formed character, you will naturally make moral decisions
- Socrates, Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas
- Aristotle's "Golden Mean" Sliding Scale:
Cowardice--Courage--Recklessness
Boorishness--Wittiness--Buffoonery

Other philosophies

• justice ethics

• care ethics

• rights ethics

Phases of crisis leadership - Phase 1: Emergency phase

stabilize and buy time

Phases of crisis leadership - Phase 2: Adaptive phase

address underlying causes and adjust to a new reality

Adaptive Leadership

uses disruption to reshape the organization to meet future challenges

Hunker Down

trying to avoid anything terrible happening

• ex. get people to safety during a hurricane

Hit Reset Button

using the turbulence of crisis to make meaningful changes

• Civil War and 13th amendment

• ex. build a dam after a hurricane

Adaptive Leadership practices

- Foster adaptation: create an environment where you can pivot
- embrace disequilibrium: adjust as necessary, don’t flip out at failure
- generate leadership: mobilize everyone (leaders & followers) to generate solutions; letting people be innovative, take leadership, and experiment

Obstacle

a hinderance, problem, or hurdle that gets in the way of followers and makes it difficult for them to reach their goal

Path-Goal Leadership

addresses the ways that leaders can assist others in overcoming obstacles that hinder productivity

Overcoming obstacles

#1: unclear goals → clarify/identify it
#2: unclear directions → define the path to the goal
#3: low motivation → incorporate expectancy theory (people will be more motivated when effort they put into a task leads to an expected outcome that they value) to motivate others, give relevant support (individuals are competent, this is what they can expect, help see value through rewards)
#4: complex tasks → simplify, be directive and clarify path to goal (what, how, timeline [when], clear performance standards)
#5: simple tasks → give support and nurturance
#6: low involvement → use a participative style to invite others to share and create an open climate
#7: unchallenged → adopt a achievement-oriented style of leadership to challenge to perform at a high level and set standards of excellence

Leadership styles that are useful to help people overcome obstacles:

• directive

• supportive

• participative

• achievement oriented

Component of a vision: A picture

mental images toward a common goal (better than status quo)

Component of a vision: A change

change in the status quo

Component of a vision: Values

visions are grounded in values

Component of a vision: A map

provides guiding philosophy

Component of a vision: A challenge

challenge to make things better