Learning to Lead

Herminia Ibarra , Professor of Organizational Behavior, and Faculty Director of the INSEAD Leadership Initiative, contests that we learn to lead in relationship, by becoming a part of a community and network of leaders, but what we preach, however, is very different.   Let's draw some inferences by considering a few schools of thought: Situational leadership, — originally conceived as the antidote to the great man theories of leadership. The situational school brought us the notion of "fit:" person to situation and leader to follower. The original version said the situation makes the leader. The simpler version we retained says something else altogether, that good leaders choose among the leadership styles or change strategies in their repertoire the one that best matches their current situation.    Discover your strengths — another great example of a one-sided and static focus on personal attributes that make people effective leaders. According to this theory, we can categorize ourselves according to a number of themes and clusters of themes that describe our strengths; once identified, they help us make decisions about what situation best match us. Practice — From Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers to Geoff Colvin's Talent is Overrated we learn about the magic rule of 10,000 hours. Bill Gates, we are told, became a computer wiz because he had access to an early computer and was able to clock the requisite number of hours. Putting in the hours, not innate talent, makes the leader.   Prof. Ibarra's research on how effective managers make the transition to bigger, broader leadership roles and cements their contribution to the growth and transformation of their organization, incorporates 4 key enablers: o    Motivate the transition to leadership. When asked to do things that don't come naturally, we implicitly ask ourselves "am I the sort of person who behaves this way?" "Do I want to be that sort of person?". When managers' identification is rooted in functional groups or expert communities, the answers are negative when it comes to leadership, and thus it is no surprise that they do not sustain the arduous practice it takes to develop as leaders. On the other hand, when they identify with recognized leaders, learning to lead is motivated by the desire to become a member of a valued group. o    Make the "competencies" come alive. One of the difficult things about learning to lead is distinguishing between "what" (content knowledge) and "how to" (process knowledge). We may know, for example, that "sensing external trends" is a critical competency in forging a strategic direction, and we may also want to become more like the leaders we know who are very good at that. But, how does one actually learn to strategize? In a successful learning cycle, role models, peer groups and communities of practice motivate change by changing our reference point on what is desirable and possible, and then once motivated, providing tacit knowledge on how to do it. o    Experiment from the outside in. Many aspiring leaders struggle to stretch their leadership within their current organization and roles. Caught in between delivery pressures and outdated views of their capacities, they more quickly or easily find roles outside the organization that allow them to lead. Their new activities, in professional organizations, clubs, informal advisory and so on, create external identities that they eventually internalize. o    Build external support & networks to sustain change. Often it is hard to get support for change from old mentors, bosses or trusted colleagues. They may have good intentions but maintain of what we can and should do that are based in the past and not the future. People and groups, on the fringe of our existing networks help us push off in new directions while providing the secure base in which change can take hold, one of the reasons why learning methods like peer coaching are so powerful.   O2ibm

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Integrative Leadership: A collaborative model that delivers results

"In the twenty-first century a new vision of leadership is needed more than ever. Leaders must integrate knowledge and talent from individuals in the private, not-for-profit, and government sectors to advance the common good."   Marilyn Carlson Nelson, Chairman Carlson School of Management Integrative Leadership  = leadership that promotes innovative, responsible, and effective solutions to cross-sector challenges locally, nationally, and globally.     Integrative leadership identifies the common ground among sectors and leverages their unique influence and resources to better move organizations, communities, and society forward in times of increased interconnection and rapid change. The Center for Integrative Leadership at the Carlson School of Management - University of Minnesota aims to better understand how collective action across sectors (business, government, nonprofits, media, academia) and geographic boundaries can solve some of the world’s most pressing and complex societal problems. Integrative leadership is driven by the following key concepts: Inclusion Involving stakeholders who can affect change in the process is a crucial task. Shared purpose Getting key stakeholders to agree on common purpose is critical to building sustainable solutions. Systemic thinking Helping members of a group to see the interdependencies of various actions and contributions they make to resolve a problem contributes to greater understanding of a problem and increased support for the solution. Sometimes, the least obvious factors are the most important. Inquiry Questioning all of the stated or unstated assumptions about the problem and facilitating an open and honest analysis of alternative points of view leads to fuller engagement by stakeholders. Consideration should be given to multiple working hypotheses. Constructive dialogue Choosing language and methods of developing shared meaning is important. Innovation Creatively resolving differences among opposing ideas can lead to innovative outcomes. Many problems are solved when a group uses inquiry to discover a new solution or a variation of a solution that is acceptable to members of the group.   O2ibm > Learn & Lead

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