A633.6.4.RB_DavisCarl Circle of Leadership

ERAU Daytona Campus - CSD 2015

It’s another week of the Educated Leadership blog! Welcome back. This week we’re going to talk about what Obolensky calls the “vicious circle for leaders” (2016, figure 9.5, p. 162). Take a moment and read around the circle.

                         
                                          

Who is in the wrong here? There is a shared responsibility. Notice that the circle doesn’t mention the leader or the follower stopping to have a conversation to level set the situation. If either person made an effort to clarify the desires or intentions of the other, the circle is likely broken.

Those of you that have been reading this blog for a while know that I spent time working as a flight instructor. As part of teaching someone to fly, the student has to be allowed to attempt maneuvers and skills. Flight instructors know they have to let the student make some mistakes so that lessons will be learned. The skill of the flight instructor lies in allowing the student to head toward trouble to see if they can recover while knowing exactly when to take control…before the airplane is in a situation beyond recovery. Instructors WANT the STUDENT to see the situation developing and work to get themselves out. That builds confidence. Instructors also know that as soon as they take control of the airplane from the student, learning ceases for a period of time. Depending on how the change of control was handled, the amount of time the student ‘shuts down’ will vary. The more abrupt or aggressive the take-over, the longer the period. Competent instructors do not want that to occur. If the instructor continually takes control, the vicious cycle ensues and the student is apt to give up flying lessons.

Micromanagers are excellent candidates for swirling down the drain of a vicious circle. At some point, the employee all but gives up trying to think or act. They know that their actions will be corrected or dismissed. One of the questions to be answered this week is if there are examples of vicious circles in my organization. Without a doubt, there is. How do I know? I have been on the receiving end of the circle from a leader. I did try to break the circle via conversation, action, and outright coaching. No luck. I did eventually quit trying to think ahead of my boss. I knew I would get detailed descriptions of how I was to handle anything that came my way. I decided two things during this experience. The first was that I would still strive to find ways to do my best and add my perspective to situations. I’ll call that a decision to persevere. The second was that I would learn from the situation and strive to never put a follower in that position intentionally. I’ll call that my commitment to leadership excellence. When I was at the Naval Academy I was taught about learning from leaders by observation. The obvious lesson was that I could learn from the great leaders. The lesson that was not as obvious to me as a teen, but has proven to be the more impactful in my life, is that one can learn what never to do from unskilled leaders. I decided to apply that practice to the situation at work. Use difficult situations to your advantage.

The vicious circle can be a very intimate situation. One on one with another person with whom you are in close proximity for 40 hours a week, relying on the interaction between the two of you to make things work is an intimate situation. If the relationship is unhealthy, from a social or leader/follower perspective the situation can dissolve into the vicious circle before either person knows what’s happened. Distance is no vaccine to falling into the circle. In fact, the barrier to communication that distance often brings can hasten the development of the circle. So, rule one for evading the circle is to communicate! Recall that to communicate means to receive a message, transmit what you understood, and receive either confirmation of the message OR clarification of the original message (which then should be confirmed). Only then has communication taken place.

Let’s tie this back into another leadership theory. Recall that Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theory proposes that leaders will have two groups of followers. “The basic idea behind the leader-member exchange (LMX) theory is that leaders form two groups, an in-group and an out-group, of followers. In-group members are given greater responsibilities, more rewards, and more attention. The leader allows these members some latitude in their roles. They work within the leader’s inner circle of communication. In contrast, out-group members are outside the leader’s inner circle, receive less attention and fewer rewards, and are managed by formal rules and policies” (Lunenburg, 2010, p.1). Given that description, doesn’t it seem the members of the out-group are predisposed to fall into the vicious circle with the leader? At the end of each day, as you review the situations you have faced as a leader and critique your own performance, run a scan of your organization specifically looking for evidence of an LMX. Then look for evidence of vicious circles with those with whom you feel less…connected.

So, how do we create “virtuous circles”, as Peter Senge (1990) calls systems that build up an organization, not tear it down. We have already talked about the first thing. Communicate. Then we can begin to rebuild the circle’s parts. We’ll start in the upper right of the circle with “Follower asks for advice – demonstrates low skill to leader.” This is a great time to ask the follower what training they may have had, or what their needs are, or if there are other issues distracting them from performing. Taking a few moments to investigate the situation would then turn the next step from “Leader gets concerned” to “Leader provides training, or provides the correct tool, or assists the follower in dealing with the distraction”. From there we can change “Leader takes a more hands-on approach” to “Leader supports and observes follower to ensure the situation is rectified”. Now we can change “Follower’s confidence lowers” to “Follower’s confidence is bolstered”. By now, the follower is hopefully feeling a sense of accomplishment and a growing level of confidence so we can change “Follower thinks he has to defer more” to “Follower completes tasks and demonstrates mastery of the process”. We’re back at the spot we started, but we can change that slot to read, “Follower asks for more complexity or more tasks”. The beautiful part is that if we’ve done a good job as a leader, the follower will ask us for advice BEFORE stumbling, or will be unafraid to admit they have stumbled because they now know they will get support. Voila! A Virtuous Circle of our own making!

This virtuous circle can be applied across all facets of an organization. Finance, Sales, Accounting, Operations, Custodial Services, Transportation, Assembly, Marketing, Distribution, you name it, it can be used there. The really cool part is that it can be used ACROSS functions! I have spent time with finance personnel assisting them with situations, terms, and nuances that apply to my part of the organization so they could do their job better. Guess what? They came back for more help later, BEFORE situations developed that required re-work or repair. I have done the same thing with Supplier Management, Contracts, Accounting, Human Resources, Business Operations, Business Development, and Quality Assurance. The operations department now has a reputation of being helpful. I am proud of my team and the way they continue to nurture and grow the relations across our organization. We have open relationships based on trust. I and my team know we can go to these departments and ask for clarification and assistance when we are preparing to act on a project and that we will be received in a positive light and helped. Is it always perfect? No. Do we have a great foundation? Yes. We’ll keep working on it, that is for sure!

Lunenburg, F. C. (2010). Leader-Member Exchange Theory: Another Perspective on the Leadership Process. International Journal of Managment, Business, and Administration, 13(1), 5.

Obolensky, N. (2016). Complex Adaptive Leadership (2nd ed.). London and New York: Taylor & Francis Group.

Senge, P. (1990). The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. New York: Currency Doubleday.