Leadership & Dream Teams

Question 1

What is the focus on the heliotropic effect?

Answer 1

~The heliotropic effect is the hypothesis that societies, cultures, organizations, groups and individuals work towards the most positive images they hold of themselves.
~The term heliotropic describes the ability of plants to move or grow towards the sun.
~Many evidences for this heliotropic effect:
- Positive emotions;
- Positive imagery/perceptions;
- Positive energy;
- Positive relationships –> INSERT “POSITIVE LEADER” HERE

Question 2

WHAT SHOULD A POSITIVE LEADER TRY TO ACCOMPLISH?

Answer 2

1. Capitalize on the heliotropic effect (we have to learned to ignore it)
2. Foster positive energy. (Energy is 4 times more powerful than information & influence).
3. Focus on abundance gaps. (People get consumed by problems and obstacles)
4. Celebrate what goes right. (Problems usually dominate our attention)

Question 3

WHAT IS LEADERSHIP?

Answer 3

~Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common (shared) goal.
 Two categories of leadership literature: troubadour tradition and academic tradition
 Size of body of works: Troubadour > academic; however, academic is catching up…

Since the last 2 decades, shift of organizations to become more people-oriented places.
 Explains the need for positive organizational scholarship/behavior/psychology.
 Also reflected in leadership theories: LMX (Graen & Uhl-Bien, 1995), individualized leadership (Dansereau et al., 1995), and the many leadership styles that have came into existence.

Question 4

EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOURS (YUKL, 2012)

Answer 4

~4 categories with each a different primary objective:

1. Task-Oriented = accomplish work in a reliable and efficient way.
2. Relation-Oriented = increase the quality/effectiveness of human resources and relations (‘human capital’).
3. Change-Oriented = increase innovation, collective learning, and adaptation to the external environment.
4. External = acquire necessary information and resources, promote and defend the interests of organisation.

Question 5

WHAT IS SERVANT LEADERSHIP?

Answer 5

~Empowering and developing people => motivational notion focused on enabling people.

~Humility => ability to put one’s own accomplishments and talents in a proper perspective.

~Authenticity => expression of oneself in ways consistent with inner thoughts and feelings.

~Interpersonal acceptance => empathy towards others.

~Providing direction => manage expectations of people.

~Stewardship => willingness to take responsibility for the larger organization and provide service.

Question 6

KEY DIMENSIONS OF SL: CONTRAST TO TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP?

Answer 6

~Although many similarities between transformational and servant leadership styles, there is one principal difference, namely the focus of the leader:
 Transformational leader has the organisation as focal point, and attempts to achieve organisational objectives by gaining the support from his/her subordinates and empowering them to realize the objectives of the organisation.
 A servant leader, on the other hand, does not focus on the organisation, but directs his/her attention to the subordinates, who together make up the organisation. In other words: the leader is seen as the servant of his/her followers

~Other difference:
 SL emphasizes humility, authenticity, and interpersonal acceptance.

Question 7

AUTHENTIC LEADERSHIP DEV.: MODEL?

Answer 7

~Authenticity = “owning one’s personal experiences, be they thoughts, emotions, needs, wants, preferences, or beliefs, processes captured by the injunction to know ‘oneself’.”
 Owning one’s personal experiences
 Acting in accordance with one’s true self (what you really think/believe and behave accordingly).

Spectrum from authentic to inauthentic.

Authentic leadership= a process that draws from both positive psychological capacities and a highly developed organizational context, which results in both greater self-awareness and self-regulated positive behaviours on the part of the leaders and associated, fostering positive self-development.

Question 8

TWO MAIN ELEMENTS OF AUTHEN-LEAD?

Answer 8

1. Self-awareness
   “Having awareness of, and trust in, one’s motives, feelings, desires, and self- relevant cognitions”.
    Reflect upon one’s unique values, identity, emotions, goals/motives, knowledge, and talents.
2. Self-regulation
   “Exertion of self-control through the setting of internal standards, the evaluation of discrepancies between standards and potential outcomes, and the identification of intended actions for resolving these discrepancies”.
    Internalized regulatory processes, balanced processing of the self to obtain more accurate self-perceptions, behave authentically, and transparency in relations with others.

Question 9

WELL-BEING OF LEADERS?

Answer 9

~Much research has been undertaken on employees’ well-being.

~Leaders have been recognised for their impact on subordinates’ healthy (work) experience.

~Yet (scientific) research on leader’s own well-being is lacking/lagging.

~And it is very important/interesting to know about this.

Why?
 Provides an explanation for negative impact on employees/subordinates.

Question 10

MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES: CAUSES THAT AFFECT LEADERS’ NEGATIVE BEHAVIOURS?

Answer 10

1. Subclinical depression and anxiety
2. Sleep Problems
3. Alcohol use
4. Personality disorders
5. Early exposure to aggression
6. Personality disorders
7. Attachment avoidance/anxiety

Question 11

What can be done about it?

Answer 11

1. Awareness

Question 12

EMOTIONAL PATH: EMPATHY?

Answer 12

~Definition: when one can vicariously experience another person’s emotion.
~Empathy leads to feelings of warmth, compassion, interpersonal support 
Can be trained.
Yes:
- Seeing and hearing
- Demonstrate understanding
- Following
-Feeling with someone
NO:
- Agreeing
- Giving advice, or fixing suggesting
- Leading conversation
- Feeling for someone

Question 13

What is a team?

Answer 13

A team is any group of people (≥ 2) that is organised to work together in an interdependent fashion and cooperatively meet the needs of their customers by accomplishing a common purpose and goals.

Teams are created for both long- and short-term interactions.

Question 14

GROUP (TEAM) DEVELOPMENT MODEL (TUCKMAN)?

Answer 14

1. Forming
2. Storming
3. Norming
4. Performing
5. Adjourning

Question 15

Why use teams?

Answer 15

1. More knowledge/skill is available;
2. Stimulate higher interdependence between employees;
3. Faster response to external changes (Higher boundary spanning).
4. Synergies (i.e. 1+1 = 3), which result in better (= effective/ efficient) decision-making and performance

Question 16

Explicit vs Tacit knowledge?

Answer 16

~Resource-based perspective: popularisation of the knowledge concept.

~Both explicit and tacit knowledge are important, but tacit knowledge:
• “is valuable, rare, difficult to imitate, and without substitutes” (Barney, 1991; Peteraf, 1993).
• “can be expanded rather than depleted through its use” (Peteraf, 1993; Kraaijenbrink et al., 2010).

Explicit knowledge: tangible, visible, public, can be accessed by third persons. Once shared, it belongs to everyone. Can be seen above the water. (20%)

Tacit knowledge: intangible, invisible, private, can be accessed on only a first-person basis, hidden “underwater”.

Question 17

FOUR CATEGORIES OF TACIT KNOWLEDGE?

Answer 17

(slide 29)

Question 18

Structural influence: team structure

Answer 18

• Structure is “the configuration of relationships with respect to the allocation of tasks, responsibilities, and authority”
• Stewart & Barrick (2000): two important elements of team structure:
  1. Interdependence: extent to which team members cooperate and work interactively to complete tasks.
  2. Team Autonomy/Self-leadership: extent to which teams have the freedom and authority to lead themselves independent of external supervision.

Question 19

IPO IS NOT JUST ABOUT OFFERING STOCK OF A PRIVATE COMPANY TO THE PUBLIC…

Answer 19

• It also concerns the Input-Process-Output perspective.
• Intra-team processes are “interactions that take place among team members” (Hackman, 1987):
   Task interactions: those aspects of interaction that relate directly to a team’s work on its task.
   Socio-emotional interactions: the interpersonal transactions that take place within the team; who is talking with whom (or not), etc.

Question 20

BOUNDARY ACTIVITIES

Answer 20

Teams should be composed of individuals who can effectively carry out external boundary activity.
Q: How can you enable a team to meet external demands?
A: When putting together a team, take into account:
1. Functional diversity;
2. Members’ connections/ties to other groups and individuals (“boundary spanning”);
3. Configuration and nature of team members’ assignments on the team.

Question 21

BOUNDARY SPANNING: FOUR TYPES OF ACTIVITIES?

Answer 21

1. “Scout” activity
   a. Scan for information about the competition, the
   market, or the technology
2. “Task coordinator” activities
   a. Communicate over technique problems b. Coordinating technical or design issues c. Influence external environment
3. “Ambassador” activities
   a. Protect the team from outside pressure b. Persuade others to support the team
   c. Lobby for resources
4. “Guard” activities
   a. Avoiding releasing information

Question 22

BUILDING ON STRUCTURE: SELF-MANAGING TEAMS?

Answer 22

• Also known as: Self-directing teams, self- maintain teams, self-leading teams, autonomous teams, self-regulated teams
• Usually consist of 5-10 members.
  What composes a self-managing team?
   Responsible for tasks as a collective whole;
   Flexible task designs;
   Various skills and expertise from team members;
   Highly interdependent activities;
   Autonomous operations (may use managerial coordination but no supervision);
   High commitment.

Question 23

TRADITIONAL VS. SELF-MANAGING TEAMS?

Answer 23

~Traditional team:
- Leadership outside the team
- Fixed team leader role
- Individual accountability
- Work effort allocated
Fixed task design
- Specialized skills

~ Self-managing teams

• Within the team leadership
• Shared team leader role
• Team accountability
• Cohesive work effort
• Flexible task design
• Multi-skilled skills

Question 24

PROS AND CONS OF SELF-MANAGING TEAMS?

Answer 24

~Advantages

1. High autonomy.
2. High learning and adaptation.
3. High commitment.
4. Rapid response to changing environment.
5. Good records of improving productivity, quality, and customer services.

~Disadvantages

1. Higher constraint put on (quality of) workforce.
2. May lead to higher cost (i.e. resources and time) for team members to adjust.

Question 25

IPO Perspective: Self-managing teams?

Answer 25

HR TEAM-RELATED PRACTICES/TRADE-OFFS:

1. Hire team players vs. hire stars?
2. Encourage collective activities vs. encourage independent work?
3. Coach on consensus vs. coach on selection?
4. Elaborate everyone’s opinions vs. focus on few?
5. Same salary/award vs. distinctive salary/award?

Question 26

How to build self-managing teams?

Answer 26

Team task features:

1. Select members ( 1= input)
2. Aggregate inputs in structure
3. Synergize inputs in process (P= process)
4. Generate team outputs (O= outputs)

Question 27

1. SELECT SELF-MANAGING TEAM MEMBERS

Answer 27

1. Self-driven members
    High need of autonomy
    Performance goals (need of competence)
    Clear about personal goals
2. Diverse skills
    Functional diversity (expertise)
    Educational diversity
    Nationality diversity (cultural background)
3. Compatible interpersonal styles
    Personality fit
    Communication styles (high-quality connections)
    Cross-cultural knowledge

Question 28

2. AGGREGATE DIVERSE INPUTS IN STRUCTURE

Answer 28

1. Composition
    Individual resources are indiscriminately added up in team output
    Decided by the sum/average of individual resources.
2. Compilation
    Team output is a complex integration of individual resources
    Might be decided by the most competent member(s)
    Might be decided by the least competent member(s)

Question 29

COMPOSITION VERSUS COMPILATION APPROACH

Answer 29

–> COMPOSITION
- Recruit smart team players
- Homogeneous contributions
- Training
 Shared goals
 Information sharing and exchanging
- Maximum involvement
 Collective activities
- Performance appraisal
 Same weights on contribution
 Same performance rewards

COMPILATION
Hire and retain star members Differentiated contributions
 Core resources vs. auxiliary resources
Training
 Self-expression of star members
 Collaborate around star members
Selective involvement  Target on the core
Differentiated rewards  Salary
 Promotion

Question 30

3. SYNERGIZE INPUTS IN TEAM PROCESS

Answer 30

1. Information elaboration—the extent to which collectives exchange, process, and integrate all resources from individuals into one collective solution (van Knippenberg, De Dreu, & Homan, 2004).
2. High information elaboration covers and converts available ideas into joint solutions;
3. Low information elaboration selects from member contributions rather than synthesizes all.

Question 31

ADAPT THE I-P-O MODEL TO DIFFERENT TASKS

Answer 31

1. Task complexity
   - Refers to a task’s intrinsic cognitive load. Overall, how difficult is the team task?
   - Compilation model works better in complex creative tasks (radical creativity);
   - Composition model has a stronger influence in simple creative tasks (incremental creativity).
2. Task interdependence
   - Definition: the degree to which group members must rely on one another to perform their tasks effectively given the design of their jobs (Georgopoulos, 1986; Kiggundu, 1981, 1983).
   - Interdependence requires team members to share and elaborate information in order to get work done.