After completing the exercise at he beginning
of Chapter 10 in Obolensky’s (2014) book I realized a lot about myself and how
I lead. The first thing I learned was
that sometimes there is not a right answer, such as with the options in the
exercise, I found that I may end up using a mix of two answers to achieve the
desired outcome. I also learned that I
am highly people oriented, as the majority of my answers were related to
Strategy 3: Involve, and on the questions where I choose more than one answer I
often chose the answer corresponding to Strategy 2: Sell. I have found my best and most productive
interventions have been when I involved the follower in the conversation about
my concerns, used that information to pinpoint what they feel is the issue and
what they are invested in and used that to sell them on how their improvement
will help not only the company but themselves also.
Over the course of this class, a few things
have changed for me, I have always believed that leaders need to be involved
but also be inquisitive; some of the most useful information comes from
followers themselves. Obolensky (2014)
described this as “allowing others to discover the solution” (p. 172). When followers are involved with finding
solutions they are most invested in them.
Taking the time to have a dialogue with followers is important in
finding a solution. In terms of the
skill/will matrix this person may be in the low skill/low will category, and
the first step is to work on their will so that they are open to learning the
skill. Once their will has improved they
can receive the education needed to perform their job successfully.
On the other side of the exercise, I realized I
fell under the strategy of selling but needed to step up a bit more with
this. While I believe there is a place
for a leader to tell a follower to do something I do not feel it is the best
thing to do on a regular basis. It does
not facilitate the follower to take any responsibility in their job. I also feel there are times when stepping
back and watching situations unfold can be a great learning experience I do not
think it is an effective leading strategy on its own. There are situations where stepping back and
watching can offer insight into what is happening, however, there should be
some interaction and guidance also. For
me, the best leading strategy is to be involved and then sell the idea to the
followers, with a tiny bit of telling and devolving mixed in when
necessary.
Obolensky (2014) talked about overlapping the
skill/will matrix with the leadership yin/yang to create a roadmap of how to
lead. This left a huge impression on
me. I was able to understand that when a
follower is low on both will and skill the best intervention for me would be to
become involved, listen to what they have to say, and gather the necessary
information to help them move their will up to a higher level. From there I have the chance to educate them
on the skills they need to become successful, this is where the telling (or
showing) strategy come into play. I have
the knowledge they need and it is my responsibility to pass that information on
by either telling them or showing them. Once
the follow has the skills and the will then I need to sell them on why they
should want to be productive for themselves and the company. The final step is where I may step back and
watch what the follower in action to find out how they are doing and evaluate
how they are doing and if any further action is needed.
There is no one strategy that is perfect for a
leader at all times, a good leader knows which strategy to use at what time to
help their followers. They should also
know when to use a different strategy on a specific follower to help them
personally. Leadership is not a one
size fits all job, it is an ongoing process to find out the best way to handle different
situations. It is a job that requires ongoing
education and learning.
Obolensky, N. (2014). Complex adaptive leadership:
Embracing paradox and
uncertainty (2nd ed.). Farnham, England:
Gower Publishing Limited.
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