Leadership
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Introduction
This resource aims to support those who lead (or who hope to lead) research teams. It applies ideas from some of the classic management texts to the research context. It forms one of a group of three resources:-
· Motivating research staff
· The nature of research teams
· Leading research teams (This Resource)
Leadership styles
The image below shows a continuum of management styles. It ranges from autocratic (where you dictate what your team does) and democratic (where you involve your team in planning what it does).
Which part of the continuum above you think best sums up your approach to (or style of) leadership style. Do you think you tend to be more autocratic or democratic in your approach?
Scenario 1:
Imagine you are leading a new team which has a deadline in the next few months. You can see what needs to be done and how to achieve it but time is tight. Which leadership style would you adopt in this situation? Select from the options given below
Autocratic Tell Consult Sell Share Democratic
Tell
Most of the times you tell staff what they should do
Consult
You take time to ask staff about the research and incorporate their ideas
Sell
You try to enthuse staff about the research and their role in it
Share
Staff is fully involved in all aspects of the planning and decisions regarding the research
Feedback:
If your new research team is working to a tight deadline you would ‘SELL’ to your staff what needed to be done. It may not be the way you prefer to work but you can involve the staff far more once the immediate deadline has been met.
Leadership style – “Selling”
The advantages of this approach are…
The direction remains clear with everyone sure what’s required of them.
Staff feel their importance to the research is recognised in some way.
The disadvantages of this approach are…
You are still missing the opportunity to tap into the creativity of staff.
Staff still do not feel real ownership of the end result.
Scenario 2:
Imagine you are leading a new team that are more experienced in the area of research than you are. You need to engage them in the process if you are to succeed. Which leadership style would you adopt in this situation? Select from the options given below
Autocratic Tell Consult Sell Share Democratic
Tell
Most of the times you tell staff what they should do
Consult
You take time to ask staff about the research and incorporate their ideas
Sell
You try to enthuse staff about the research and their role in it
Share
Staff is fully involved in all aspects of the planning and decisions regarding the research
Feedback:
If you are leading an experienced research team with time to develop your approach, you would ‘SHARE’ with your staff. This may take more time but is likely to be productive in the long term.
Leadership style – “Sharing”
The advantages of this approach are…
The research becomes a genuine collaboration with everyone feeling involved and that their views are respected.
Genuinely new approaches to the research are likely to emerge.
It contributes to team building
The disadvantages of this approach are…
It takes time particularly, if arguments break out about the approach.
Your researchers may not be used to such an approach so make the ground-rules clear.
Scenario 3:
Imagine your research project is in crisis – there is a matter of weeks before a key presentation and a number of tasks are some way from completion. Which leadership style would you adopt in this situation? Select from the options given below
Autocratic Tell Consult Sell Share Democratic
Tell
Most of the times you tell staff what they should do
Consult
You take time to ask staff about the research and incorporate their ideas
Sell
You try to enthuse staff about the research and their role in it
Share
Staff is fully involved in all aspects of the planning and decisions regarding the research
Feedback:
If your research project is in crisis it is likely that you would ‘TELL’ your staff what to do. It may not be the way you prefer to work but once the immediate crisis is over you can address the longer term issues.
Leadership style – “Telling”
The advantages of this approach are…
It gives clear direction for action to progress the research.
No-one is any doubt regarding what’s required of them.
The disadvantages of this approach are…
Researchers feel their creativity is being ignored.
Staff do not feel ownership of the end result
Scenario 4:
Imagine you are working with a new team on a long-term project. You know how to achieve the objectives but feel you must engage your new colleagues. Which leadership style would you adopt in this situation? Select from the options given below
Autocratic Tell Consult Sell Share Democratic
Tell
Most of the times you tell staff what they should do
Consult
You take time to ask staff about the research and incorporate their ideas
Sell
You try to enthuse staff about the research and their role in it
Share
Staff is fully involved in all aspects of the planning and decisions regarding the research
Feedback:
If you wish to engage your new long-term team in a project it is likely that you would ‘CONSULT’ with your staff to achieve it. They may need further development to fully share but this can be part of the process.
Leadership style – “Consulting”
The advantages of this approach are…
Staff feel some ownership of the project because their ideas are being listened to.
The staff will come up with ideas that you hadn’t thought of.
The disadvantages of this approach are…
If the ideas that individuals offer are not taken up they may feel frustrated, especially if they feel the consultation was not genuine.
It takes more time.
Getting things done
On a day to day basis your leadership role involves some basic questions. Examples are shown below.
WHAT should be done?
WHEN should it be done?
WHO should do it?
HOW much will it cost?
(or what resources will be needed)?
As you answer these questions (WHAT, WHEN, WHO, HOW), you are managing a series of transactions that ensure that the research is successfully completed.
In many respects it could even be compared with a project like building an extension to your home or even getting married! If these analogies have any meaning for you then you may find it useful to look at transactional analysis…
Transactional Analysis
Transactional analysis is a contractual approach to relationships. In the 1950’s Berne identified three ego-states. Whether you are leading (or being lead) they characterise the way you think, feel and behave…
Psychology researchers consider it a simplistic approach but it can be a useful tool to analyse what is going on within your research team.
Read the statements (below) and decide which one of those statement sums up how you have felt about a member of the team you lead when something went wrong.
Statement 1:
“I just felt so disappointed. I went out on a limb to bring them into the team but they just don’t perform. I usually end up putting in extra hours in order to sort it out.”
Statement 2:
“It’s frustrating but I just try to sort things. I break tasks down so that they can deal with them. When workload permits I try to stretch them and help them develop.”
Statement 3:
“I just feel I can’t cope with the way they behave. I just felt like shouting at them. At least before I became team leader I could cover for them.”
Feedback
Statement 1 - This is an example of Parent ego-state
Statement 2 - This is an example of Adult ego-state
Statement 3 - This is an example of Child ego-state
Parent
Driven by mimicking those influential in our own childhood – parents and other adults.
An example of being in this state would be…
“I just felt so disappointed. I went out on a limb to bring them into the team but they just don’t perform. I usually end up putting in extra hours in order to sort it out.”
This displays values, feelings and behaviour from those influential in our own childhood – parents and other adults. As a result they tend to caricature adult behaviour. Every parent at some stage finds themselves at odds with the way they planned to bring up their children. Often they are just repeating things to their children that were said to them by their parents or carers.
Adult
Driven by current reality, experience and what is effective to get the job done.
An example of being in this state would be…
“It’s frustrating but I just try to sort things. I break tasks down so that they can deal with them. When workload permits I try to stretch them and help them develop.”
This is a rational ego-state. Values, feelings and behaviour are determined by current reality and what is effective to get the job done. You base what you do on years of experience rather than responses learnt in childhood. Some say that Adult combines the best features of the Parent and Child ego-states.
Child
Reverting to the values, feelings and behaviour you exhibited as a child.
An example of being in this state would be…
“I just feel I can’t cope with the way they behave. I just felt like shouting at them. At least before I became team leader I could cover for them.”
When in this ego-state you revert to the values, feelings and behaviour you exhibited as a child. Remember how you felt if you got called to your head-teacher’s office without knowing the reason? When in this ego-state, that’s how you feel going into a meeting whether with your manager or your team.
Positive strokes
A "stroke" was the term Berne used as a currency or unit of human recognition. It can be either positive (eg praise, recognition) or negative (eg criticism). Steiner developed the notion of a “stroke economy” with a set of rules that govern the exchange of strokes...
Don’t give strokes you would like to give.
Don’t ask for strokes you would like to get.
Don’t accept strokes you would like to accept.
Don’t reject strokes you don’t want.
Don’t give yourself strokes.
Who’s to blame?
One example of a negative stroke is attributing blame. The idea of a ‘no blame’ culture is a development of Transactional Analysis. This highlights the many negative consequences of blame in workplace interactions which lead to…
HELPLESSNESS = You’re OK + I'm not OK (i.e. “I'm to blame”)
ANGER = I'm OK + You’re not OK (i.e. “You’re to blame”)
HOPELESSNESS= I'm not OK + You aren’t OK (i.e. “We’re both to blame”)
No-blame
None of these emotions will help salvage your research project when major things go wrong. Nor are they healthy for your team.
Writers on ‘no-blame cultures’, such as Davis, suggest a healthier mindset would be: "It's no-one's fault, blame isn't the issue - what matters is how we go forward and sort things out."
I'm okay + You’re okay = Happy
No-blame: Product and Process
The success of your research team will be decided by the:-
Product: This is the research task or outcome of your collective effort. What is your product? Will it be on time? Will it meet (or exceed) the criteria set?
Process: This is the methodology and the way in which your team meets the planned outcomes. Are you using the available resources efficiently? Are your team members getting effective support when they need it? Are they happy? Is there another way the outcome could have been achieved?
Product and Process: Exercise
Think of a project (or part of a project) your team has recently undertaken. Consider the strengths and weaknesses of both the product and process.
Having considered both dimensions of your leadership, give yourself a score out of 10 for…
PRODUCT where…
0 = not much attention to the task
5 = effective, generally achieving the teams objectives without too much trouble
10 = always completing projects ahead of time and exceeding expectations
PROCESS where…
0 = not much attention is given to the needs of the team or individuals
5 = effective, generally ensuring that the team or individuals within it are happy
10 = individuals are ecstatic to work here and always feel their development needs are being met
If you have any difficulties with this, think what your most critical member of staff would answer.
Power or the people: What’s your style of Management?
Using the figure for…
Process = People
Product = Task
Select the area of this graph that you think best represents your style of leadership. There is a feedback (below) which will provide a detailed description including the strengths (and weaknesses) of that approach.