Chapter 9: Leadership in service organizations

Question 1

I. Leadership and leadership styles

What is Leadership?

Answer 1

Definition of leadership: “Leadership is a process where an individual influences a group to achieve a common goal” (Northouse2013, p. 5)

Delimitation of leadership and management:
Management:
Focus – results, predictability, and order.
Tools – planning, budgeting, organization, staffing, controlling, problem solving.

Leadership
Focus – vision and change.
Tools: Align the vision to organizational strategies and people; develop a culture; think ahead; inspire people

Both leadership and management are important to building and sustaining a successful organization.

Management = complexity, low emotional involvement
Leadership = change, high emotional involvement

Question 2

Leadership Style

Answer 2

Situation-based leadership: Adaptation of the management style to the respective situation. Depending on the situational requirement more supportive or rather instructive.

Transactional leadership: Reward and punishment mechanisms in response to the obedience of employees. Active or passive intervention in case of problems

Transformational leadership: Building strong, interpersonal relationships through effective communication, teamwork, and sharing of resources. Increases motivation and performance of employees. (focus=goals)

Servant leadership: Primary motivation of leader is to serve, develop, and empower employees. Focus on employee and work ethic, continuous self-reflection and problem-solving. (focus=to serve)

Question 3

II. Requirements for leaders:

Emotional intelligence

Answer 3

• Definition of Emotional Intelligence (EQ=quotient) (not teachable, but learnable):
  Emotional intelligence describes the ability to:
• perceive emotions
• recover and develop emotions
• understand emotions
• regulate/adjust emotions
  in order to grow emotionally and intellectually.
• Emotional intelligence is relevant to:
  . increasing personal life satisfaction,
  . reducing interpersonal conflict,
  . controlling impulses, and
  . increasing effectiveness as a leader.
• Five dimensions of emotional intelligence (3 Inner Theater Stage and 2 Outer Theater Stage): link between EI and leadership
• To know his own emotions
• Manage his own emotions
• Motivate yourself
• Recognize the emotions of others
• Managing relationships with others
• Effective leaders are
  (1) mindful (attentive)
  (2) sympathetic
  (3) hopeful (optimistic)

Question 4

Requirement for leaders:

Authenticity

Answer 4

• Definition of authenticity or authentic leadership from three perspectives:
  . Intrapersonal perspective (are genuine, lead by conviction, original)
  . Development-oriented perspective (developed over the time)
  . Interpersonal perspective (how they are authentic with other people. Authentic leaders work with followers who are identify with the leader’s values)

Five Characteristics authentic Leaders According to the Intrapersonal Perspective:
They understand their purpose
They have pronounced values, which is right
They build trusting relationships with others
They show self-discipline and behave in accordance with their values
They pursue their mission with passion

Question 5

III. Roles of leaders:

Team development

Answer 5

Team development

• If teams work well, their performance is better than the performance of the sum of the items (Synergies)
• Typical dysfunctions in teams:
  (1) absence of trust,
  (2) fear of conflict,
  (3) inability to commit to team goals,
  (4) lack of responsibility for team performance,
  (5) lack of attention to results,
  (6) group thinking (desire for harmony results in dysfunctional decision making = avoid controversial issues)
  (7) lounging (bouncing around = descansar)
  (8) excessive risk appetite
• – 6,7 = too much cohesion.

- Team development based on a Team Charter (to encourage accountability and fostering high performance):
Shared values (≤ 6), i.e. respect
Specific behaviors (≤ 3 per value), i.e. listen, polite
Management of (non-) obedience=indiscipline. i.e. any member can call the behavior at any time.

Question 6

Roles of leaders:

Mentor

Answer 6

• The mentor helps the mentoree (associate) through active listening and open questions to discover opportunities for change by encouraging and challenging the mentoree’s new thoughts and feelings.
• Process of mentoring according to the GROOW model (Goal set, reality check = what is happening now, options, obstacle, way forward = what is next)

Key Competencies of a Mentor:

• Building trusting relationships
• Show presence
• Generous listening
• “Powerful” questions
• Development of recommended actions

Advantage of Mentoring:
. Mentoree: knowledge, skills and self-confidence
. Mentor: Close contact with employees, satisfaction, visibility as a leader
. Organization: skills development, reputation for development

Question 7

Role of leaders:

Ethical model and trust developer

Answer 7

Ethical model and trust developer

Ethical leaders have and promote ethical principles: (from others)
They respect others
They serve others
They are fair
They are honest
They promote community

Trustful executives build trust among employees and customers: (from self)
They have integrity
They are competent
They are consistent
They are loyal
They are open

Question 8

Role of leaders:

Change agent

Answer 8

Change agent

Systematic approach to drive change in the organization:

1. Create sense of urgency
2. Build a strong coalition leadership
3. Present the vision effectively
4. Communicate to generate approval
5. Enable action
6. Generate short-term success
7. Do not cease or stop
8. Make the changes sustainable and lasting

• To bring about sustainable change, a transformational leadership style (compared to a transactional leadership style) is beneficial.

- Executives should process, empower, inspire, example, passion: 
question processes, 
empower others to act, 
inspire through a vision, 
lead by example and 
arouse passion.

Question 9

Roles of leaders:

Strategist and cultural developer

Answer 9

Strategist and cultural developer

Equation of service excellence: (= strategy + culture). Managers in service organizations must:

(1) set the strategic direction and
(2) build and maintain a culture to achieve service excellence

• Equation of power:
  Performance is a function of ability (A = Ability), motivation (M = motivation) and ability to perform (O = Opportunity to Perform). P = f (A, M, O)
• Decisive for high performance is the creation of a strong organizational culture → Culture proposes strategy

Creation of a coherent organizational culture according to the HOME principle:
History (story)
Oneness (unit)
Membership
Exchange (exchange)

Question 10

Summary of Leadership in service organizations

Answer 10

Leadership is “a process where an individual influences a group to achieve a common goal”, it differs in its focus and its tools of management

There are four generic leadership styles that can be used to better suit service contexts: (1) situational leadership, (2) transactional leadership, (3) transformative leadership, (4) servant leadership

Successful leadership requires leaders who have high emotional intelligence and high authenticity

Executives take on different roles in service organizations depending on the context, they are

(1) team developers,
(2) mentors,
(3) ethical role models and trust developers,
(4) change drivers, and
(5) strategists and cultural developers