Leadership Dilemmas

Question 1

Fairness Principle

Answer 1

When we feel like we deserve it as much as the other person and they are getting more, we act irrationally. If you put in the same amount of effort and have the same amount of deservedness the return should be even, or equitable.

Question 2

Types of Fairness

Answer 2

1. Procedural
2. Distributive
3. Informational
4. Institutional

Question 3

Procedural Fairness

Answer 3

Do employees have a voice in decisions?
Are decisions consistently applied across employees?
Are bad decisions reversed?

Question 4

Distributive Fairness

Answer 4

Are rewards equitable vis-à-vis effort/coworkers?

Question 5

Informational Fairness

Answer 5

Are employees given adequate notice on organizational actions?

Question 6

Institutional Fairness

Answer 6

Are employees treated with courtesy and respect?

Question 7

Fairness to Employee vs Employer

Answer 7

There is always a cost of being ethical.
Have a communication plan
Balance the time taken to get things right and the speed with which you need to communicate the decisions to the employees.

Question 8

Balancing Empathy & Candor

Answer 8

Balance “Care” for a person with candor toward the person.

You often have to choose between different values. Loyalty to team vs mentor
Circumstances/Incentives can change relationships from that of camaraderie to hostility

You Don’t Want: Ruinous Empathy, Obnoxious Aggression, Manipulative Insecurity

You Do Want: Radical Candor, Honesty matched with Care

Question 9

Ladders of Inference

Answer 9

Describes the thinking process that we go through, usually without realizing it, to get from a fact to a decision or action.

Pools of Available Data, without communication, lead to assumption and often division and wrong conclusions. Cherry Picking Data and Experience, No Radical Candor, results in resentment.

Question 10

Advocacy vs Inquiry

Answer 10

Keep morale up
Principles and values at stake
Time Pressure and Scrutiny
Reasonable people can disagree
Outcomes are luck as well as capabilities

Question 11

3 Types of Leadership Dilemmas

Cherished Principles

Answer 11

1. Tradeoffs: One cherished principle is the opposite of another
2. Tensions: Involves a cost benefit analysis.
3. Identity Challenges: Goes against a cherished principle.