Toxic Leadership: Assessing Academic Work from an Evidence-based Paradigm

This workshop (http://goo.gl/dhZ8MY) deals with Padilla’s (2013) “Toxic Leadership Triangle.” The self-assessment and reflection stemming from this workshop may also inspire ways to modify procedures through which we (faculty members) carry out our professional activities. Click here to download the handouts.

Customers Help Transformational Managers Energize Employees

* I am grateful to Dr. Matt Gilley,  Founder and CEO of BusinessMinded.com, who allowed me to post this summary I wrote (as a "beta test") for his company.  If you enjoy it, I am positive that you will want to sign up for their week-long free trial!!

Key Points:

• Transformational or inspiring leaders that incorporate employee contact with customers improve their organization’s effectiveness.
• When followers perceive that their work has a positive impact on society, the association between contact with beneficiaries and supervisor ratings of performance strengthens.
• Giving employees information about how their work impacts its beneficiaries improves the motivational effectiveness of transformational leaders.

Overview:

Transformational leaders inspire their employees through sharing their vision, confidence, optimism, core values and ideals. When their employees have direct contact with others who ultimately benefit from their work, managers’ efforts to motivate their workforce are amplified. Employee perceptions of how their work improves society strengthen this relationship.

What the Research Shows:

Two studies published in the Academy of Management Journal by Adam Grant, a researcher from the University of Pennsylvania, show that transformational leaders’ words and actions motivate their employees more strongly when the latter have contact with customers. In a naturally occurring experiment, Grant obtained sales performance of 71 new hires at a call center selling software to nonprofit organizations. Both number of sales and revenue after seven weeks differed significantly, but only for employees exposed to both a speech by a senior director and another speech by a beneficiary of their sales; employees that heard only one speech or none showed lower sales, not different from each other.

The second study included survey data from 329 employees and their leaders in a wide range of jobs from a government organization. Grant measured several job characteristics such as employee empowerment, relationship quality, task significance, etc., using well-accepted measures. Only when employee contact with their work beneficiaries and their leaders’ transformational style were high, did managers’ performance ratings show a significant, positive difference. Perceptions of the benefit work has on society were also higher for employees who reported working for more transformational leaders, especially if they had high contact with customers.

Why this Matters:

These two studies help managers who prefer using a transformational leadership style magnify their effectiveness as motivators for their employees (transformational leaders are those who offer a vision for the future of their organization, foster team spirit, confidence and optimism, and are explicit in identifying values and ideals for their groups). Connecting employees with individuals who ultimately benefit from their actions has a powerful effect in their performance that can be detected in measurable quantities. Top managers may receive unsolicited “Thank you” letters from customers, but the urge to share those notes with the employees that earned the acknowledgement is not always there!

Organizations that actively seek customers’ feedback are in a position to profit greatly from distributing their positive findings with line and all other employees. For example, Deere & Company and Medtronic are among the companies that welcome contact between customers and employees in an effort to foster these human connections that show such a powerful influence in their managers’ efforts. The Marriott and Hilton hotel brands also have campaigns to “catch employees doing their best” by inviting guests to provide feedback that identifies star employees by name. If your organization has one such program, ensuring that all employees—not just the best ones—receive final customers’ positive comments as directly as possible might be an inexpensive way to increase productivity and make managers’ work more effective.

These initiatives amplify transformational leaders’ efforts to a higher extent than other types of leaders that were not part of the studies (for example, some leaders are highly task oriented, with no concern for individuals’ feelings or preferences). Still, some workers might be sensitive to these interactions with customers even when their managers have other leadership styles; sharing information about how the organization’s products or services impact people’s lives may increase productivity by means of higher motivation in all kinds and levels of employees.

Use this Today:

Giving employees opportunities to connect with customers, whether internal or external to the organization, can motivate them in measurable ways, particularly when their managers have a transformational style. This should be considered a motivational tool of the highest strategic level.

Related Links:

The Evolution of Employee Opinion Surveys: The Voice of Employee as a Strategic Business Management Tool :: http://www.shrm.org/Research/Articles/Pages/TheEvolutionof.aspx

How to Make the Most of Customer Feedback :: http://www.inc.com/guides/2010/07/how-to-make-most-of-customer-feedback.html

The Power of Customer Feedback :: http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2011/4865/the-power-of-customer-feedback

Source: Grant, A. M. (2012). Leading with Meaning: Beneficiary Contact, Prosocial Impact, and the Performance Effects of Transformational Leadership. Academy of Management Journal, 55(2), 458-476.

Leadership -- a haiku deck presentation

I recently spent a few minutes checking out an iPad app that has been receiving some notoriety in the media:  Haiku Deck.  I played around with its ability to bring images around a particular theme and how the slides appear once you add a few sentences.

I liked it, but, quite frankly, I'm not sure that it's ready for prime time.  When the programmers add the ability to change font colors and maybe a few more layouts, I'll probably like it much more.  But then again, that will make it less than "haiku", won't it?

You be the judge:  here are the fruits of my labor.  If you have a chance, let me know what you think!

…my new “Ba-B-JHR”!

Many times I’ve heard authors talk about their latest publication as “their baby” –in fact, I have used this metaphor several times, especially when I show the results of my efforts with colleagues or friends, after months of thinking, writing, analyzing, submitting manuscripts and responding to reviewers and editors.  Well, a few days ago, I received my newest “baby,” the “ba-BJHR” or Business Journal of Hispanic Research, first issue of its fifth volume, and I can hardly wait for opportunities to talk about it!

The funny thing is that I only wrote one page in this issue.  But I can tell you that I spent many more hours, energy and effort as Editor-in-Chief of this issue than I have for many other publications, even those in which I am single or first author.  Coordinating the efforts of twenty-six highly qualified individuals who so conscientiously wrote their manuscripts to be scrutinized by our editorial boards –another forty, highly qualified, well known individuals from industry and academia—and several ad-hoc reviewers is an experience in interdependence that I had never had before.  I sure hope that many conscientious managers and researchers will agree with us that this issue is full of helpful, relevant advice, distilled through rigorous methodologies.

I believe that this is one of the clearest ways in which NSHMBA distinguishes itself from other organizations that only have a yearly event or two to serve their stakeholders! And this is one that creates a tangible legacy for generations to come!

Let me share with you how this journal is different from other business publications.  First and foremost, most of the authors are highly trained individuals: you will notice in its index and Contributors section that all have finished graduate school and most –over 80%--have doctorates.  Secondly, there are five sections in this journal, three of them written mainly for the thoughtful manager who wants her or his practice to stay away from fads and “intellectual snake oil” –the Executive Articles, Summaries, and Book Reviews—and the other two sections –the Academic or Scholarly Articles and the Research in Progress—are written mainly for business scientists and researchers, who report their work in a more technical fashion.  All the content is intended to document how Hispanics in business have different sets of circumstances than the rest of our society, and provide information that will not just be rigorously distilled, but also highly usable.  Lastly, while the BJHR, like most journals, is distributed through libraries and electronic databases, it is also sent directly to NSHMBA’s sponsors and partners, both academic and industrial; to chapter presidents and to subscribers.  This increases the chances that it will be read and used actively, not just found occasionally.

Contributions

Have you ever noticed how some blue-collar workers seem to be more stressed than others?  Dr. Carol Howard and her co-authors from Oklahoma City University and from the U. of Tennessee -Knoxville surveyed not just workers but also their supervisors to examine whether ethnical matches made any difference on job stress and burnout.  They found measurable differences in stress levels, on burnout and on intent to turnover, but Hispanics appeared to be more vulnerable to ethnic mismatches than their Anglo counterparts; for that reason, they recommend a focus on job design for Anglo workers and on perceived ethnic fit for Hispanic workers.  But don’t take my word for it; read the full article on pp. 54-71 so you can draw your own conclusions!

You might also have noticed that some organizations have Diversity Management initiatives that are readily accepted, whereas other organizations struggle to find support for them, even among the employees that are expected to benefit.  Dr. Richard Herrera from Texas A&M in Texarkana and his collaborators from Our Lady of the Lake and UT-Dallas have been able to find empirical support for a number of relationships that link cultural descriptors with leadership preferences and ratings of diversity management.  Among their recommendations, Human Resource and other managers of people might do well by promoting a collectivistic rather than individualistic culture to increase the acceptability of their diversity practices.  Again, I invite you to read the full report on pp. 72-85.

Now, if you have been following the debates over illegal immigration and how the local and state debates may impact businesses –hey, your business might have experienced some of these concerns!—you will be interested in a case study that Dr. Mark D’Antonio and his colleagues from Northern Virginia Community College wrote.  This review of the legal precedents and justification for Affirmative Action programs, not just for compliance but from a competitive advantage perspective will put you –or your trainees—in the driver’s seat.  In addition to the case printed on pp. 86-97, there is a full set of teaching notes available from the Managing Editor of the BJHR; they are free for qualified instructors with a current subscription to the BJHR, but others who are not so close to NSHMBA may also purchase the teaching notes in electronic or print form.

Our Executive sections include articles on entrepreneurs and services offered to them, on academy-business collaborations and academic inequality, a couple of summaries that address differences on Hispanics’ happiness and job-related stress levels, in addition to two reviews of highly relevant books.  From well-known to recently minted academics from universities like Indiana, Tulane, UT-San Antonio, Saint Xavier, Quinnipiac, Marymount, and Clarion are present in these articles.

And, did I mention that NSHMBA Premier and Executive members have online access to the electronic version of the journal included as a benefit of their membership?  All you need to do is login to the NSHMBA site and continue your professional development through reading and internalizing the information in this multi-disciplinary effort by businesspersons and academics.  As always, I look forward to hearing from you via email or through my social networking pages (please remember to let me know that you’re a fellow NSHMBA member if you send me a connection request).

¡Hasta la próxima!

…Leadership in Music

Few jobs involve leadership skills as obviously as that of an orchestral conductor.  As I write these words, I’m sitting in the back of the rehearsal room while one of my children plays the violin with the discipline and concentration that about thirty other musicians need to exert in order to play classical music well enough for a future public performance.

This is both a stirring and a humbling experience.  In the background, I’ve been grading homework submitted by my Leadership students while the conductor works intensely to create the harmony that I have enjoyed so many times in the hall, from a seat in the audience.  As I read and evaluate the concepts that my students are applying, I become increasingly aware of how practical Leadership classes can be if we apply them to contexts as different as business, volunteer work, family life, and even musical performances!

I don’t think I had ever fully realized the time, knowledge, skills, and energy needed to make so many talented, individual performers work for their shared objective of executing a piece flawlessly.  It just is so delightful when you spend an hour or more enjoying music considered classic because it has endured the test of time.  Some of the compositions evoke places, moods, emotions, and so many other human experiences even when the listener doesn’t know much about the hours of training that brought them about, but even more when we know a bit of it.

The level of knowledge that the conductor requires is evident whenever he (or, more often in recent times she!) explains what is needed to better interpret a particular classical author in a given segment of the piece.  Also, whenever they recognize that a particular performer or set of instruments is not joining at the precisely right time that is required.  Their skills are also put to the test whenever the group just “naturally” changes its cadence because the piece itself “suggests” it --but it wasn’t the composer’s original intent!

The way conductors have to be both task and relationship oriented is also shown whenever they have to give feedback in a way that is perceived as neither impersonal nor caustic.  At times, they focus on the music pitch, the rhythm, the chords, and a myriad other details that can be considered predominantly technical.  But often, they also have to work on the interpersonal dynamics, such as the time that a trombone player who momentarily left the room found his instrument filled with water when he tried to start playing!  Fortunately, by the most part this group knows each other well and they seem to have a friendly camaraderie.  But I am sure that at times, jokes, personal preferences, differing levels of ability may be upsetting to some of the performers and the conductor’s implicit job description surely includes defusing conflict and creating an esprit de corps that will eventually translate into a stirring performance.

My child is the youngest performer, but I can see that this is an experience that is paying off by way of providing the most challenging experience so far.  I’m already looking forward not just to the concert in a few weeks, but to share these thoughts with the entire family as well as my students --and with you, kind reader!

What do you think?  Have you experienced “Obvious Leadership” in a particular context that you’d like to mention?  I look forward to reading your ideas and examples.  Please send me your comments via email to drolivaslujan_at_gmail.com or by posting a comment on my facebook profile. 

¡Hasta la próxima!