#Leadership: Too much of a good thing?

My mom told me this over forty years ago, but somehow it took until 2010 for management researchers to find out that too much of a good thing, isn’t a good thing – known as the TMGT effect. These researchers found that too much of certain things can actually cause negative outcomes in areas such as strategic planning, leadership development, human resources management, new venture planning.  Essentially after a certain point, these activities tend to lead to increased waste, lack of impact or increased risk, all of which result in declining performance.

Recently we’ve been hearing a great deal about transformational leadership, leadership that has a softer, more supportive approach, designed to support and develop followers. Transformational leadership was considered an alternative to transactional leadership.

Transformational leadership includes four dimensions: Idealized influence (charisma), Inspirational motivation (high standards + high commitment), Intellectual stimulation (encouraging innovation + creativity), Individualized consideration (support + development).  Research has shown a slew of positive aspects of transformational leadership.  Which is great. But too much of a good thing…

Bruce Avolio, one of the leading researchers in transformation leadership suggests that we need transactional and transformational leadership to be effective. “without the more positive forms of transactional leadership, such as setting expectations and goals, as well as monitoring performance, leaders and those led would be limited in their ability to succeed” (p. 49) Essentially transactional leadership is a set of tools designed to provide followers with clear, explicit direction.

He notes that one of the most important aspects of team development was the ability to clearly define roles, responsibilities and outcomes. “it’s not what you tell them, it’s what they understand is required of them that really counts” (p. 13).

Thus, full range leadership uses tools from many places, from transformational, transactional, authentic and servant leadership. The key for leaders is to understand how and when to most effectively use these tools. Emotional support, inspiration and motivation without clarity of roles or expectations will result in frustration.  Clarity of roles and outcomes without support and motivation will result in lack of commitment and engagement. Either way, it doesn’t work.  Thus, we have the TMGT effect in action.

Perhaps one of the reasons we have so much difficulty with developing leaders is that we don’t just lead. We have to agonize, reflect, go to training sessions. There is evidence that leadership interventions do have a modest positive impact (Alvolio, 2011). But the broader question is why so modest? Why can’t we get any better at this? Perhaps we should be thinking about the TMGT effect.

Alvolio, B. (2011). Full range leadership development. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.

Pierce, J. & Aguinis, H. (2011). The too-much-of-a-good-thing effect in management. Journal of management. DOI: 10.1177/0149206311410060

Singing and #Leadership

Strong leaders possess higher levels of three personality attributes: openness to experience, extraversion and conscientiousness and lower levels of agreeableness and neuroticism.  In other words, leaders like to try new things, are out-going, and are careful to ensure that tasks get completed well and thoroughly. They tend to have less concern for social harmony, and are more emotionally even keeled.

Openness to experience, in particular, it an important personality dimension with respect to developing organizational vision. It’s necessary to be open to new ideas and experiences in order to develop a sense of possible futures, and to articulate those futures. While these personality dimensions tend to be relatively fixed, there is some evidence that it is possible to stretch yourself in order to develop your leadership aptitude.

So I decided to stretch.  This year I have joined Ev’s Thick Fat Sound Choir.  Now Ev’s is not your average choir.  Ev’s is a “bar choir”.  We get together every Wednesday night at a local bar for about 90 minutes to sing pop songs – ELO’s “Don’t Bring Me Down”, Mumford and Sons “I Will Wait for You”, Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way”, and Florence and the Machine, “Shake it Out”.

The great thing about a bar choir is that you just sing along. You don’t worry about singing “properly” or the rules or anything.  Occasionally we stop for a sip of beer. You sing for the sheer fun of it. This is good, because I can’t carry a tune unless you give me a bucket.  I’m there to have fun, explore new and old songs and to make friends. Every now and then the choir hits a lovely harmony, and it is sublime just to be part of that moment.

Bar choir is a bit of a revelation. I’m learning to relax, to let go of control to our choir director, Gina.  I’m learning to enjoy something even if I’m not very good at it.  I’m exploring ideas, concepts and experiences I’ve always avoided, because I judged myself for it. I’m now exploring how these ideas relate to leading and to vision.

Trying something that is out of our comfort zone is critical to ongoing learning, to developing vision and to leading. As leaders, we often get into a rut that leaves us blind to potential threats to our organization. As well, attempting new challenges that stretch our experiences also helps us relate to others within our organization.

What are you doing that scares you, just a bit?  How are you stretching your experiences? What are you doing to expand your world? To experience it from another person’s perspective? To create an appreciation of beauty or art or ideas?

To Aspiring Leaders: Get Your Shit Together

I’ve been posting recently about work ethic and professionalism for leaders and aspiring leaders. Here is why:

Professor Scott Galloway (Stern School of Business, NYU) received this email:

Sent: Tuesday, February 9, 2010 7:15:11 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific
Subject: Brand Strategy Feedback

Prof. Galloway,

I would like to discuss a matter with you that bothered me. Yesterday evening I entered your 6pm Brand Strategy class approximately 1 hour late. As I entered the room, you quickly dismissed me, saying that I would need to leave and come back to the next class. After speaking with several students who are taking your class, they explained that you have a policy stating that students who arrive more than 15 minutes late will not be admitted to class.

As of yesterday evening, I was interested in three different Monday night classes that all occurred simultaneously. In order to decide which class to select, my plan for the evening was to sample all three and see which one I like most. Since I had never taken your class, I was unaware of your class policy. I was disappointed that you dismissed me from class considering (1) there is no way I could have been aware of your policy and (2) considering that it was the first day of evening classes and I arrived 1 hour late (not a few minutes), it was more probable that my tardiness was due to my desire to sample different classes rather than sheer complacency.

I have already registered for another class but I just wanted to be open and provide my opinion on the matter.

Regards,
xxxx

—
xxxx
MBA 2010 Candidate
NYU Stern School of Business
xxxx.nyu.edu
xxx-xxx-xxxx

It seems obvious to me that it is not acceptable to show up one hour late to class, because you wanted to sample the alternatives.  Here is Professor Galloway’s  Reply:

—— Forwarded Message ——-
From: scott@stern.nyu.edu
To: “xxxx”
Sent: Tuesday, February 9, 2010 9:34:02 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific
Subject: Re: Brand Strategy Feedback

xxxx:

Thanks for the feedback. I, too, would like to offer some feedback.

Just so I’ve got this straight…you started in one class, left 15-20 minutes into it (stood up, walked out mid-lecture), went to another class (walked in 20 minutes late), left that class (again, presumably, in the middle of the lecture), and then came to my class. At that point (walking in an hour late) I asked you to come to the next class which “bothered” you.

Correct?

You state that, having not taken my class, it would be impossible to know our policy of not allowing people to walk in an hour late. Most risk analysis offers that in the face of substantial uncertainty, you opt for the more conservative path or hedge your bet (e.g., do not show up an hour late until you know the professor has an explicit policy for tolerating disrespectful behavior, check with the TA before class, etc.). I hope the lottery winner that is your recently crowned Monday evening Professor is teaching Judgement and Decision Making or Critical Thinking.

In addition, your logic effectively means you cannot be held accountable for any code of conduct before taking a class. For the record, we also have no stated policy against bursting into show tunes in the middle of class, urinating on desks or taking that revolutionary hair removal system for a spin. However, xxxx, there is a baseline level of decorum (i.e., manners) that we expect of grown men and women who the admissions department have deemed tomorrow’s business leaders.

xxxx, let me be more serious for a moment. I do not know you, will not know you and have no real affinity or animosity for you. You are an anonymous student who is now regretting the send button on his laptop. It’s with this context I hope you register pause…REAL pause xxxx and take to heart what I am about to tell you:

xxxx, get your shit together.

Getting a good job, working long hours, keeping your skills relevant, navigating the politics of an organization, finding a live/work balance…these are all really hard, xxxx. In contrast, respecting institutions, having manners, demonstrating a level of humility…these are all (relatively) easy. Get the easy stuff right xxxx. In and of themselves they will not make you successful. However, not possessing them will hold you back and you will not achieve your potential which, by virtue of you being admitted to Stern, you must have in spades. It’s not too late xxxx…

Again, thanks for the feedback.

Professor Galloway

While I would not likely use the same tone as Professor Galloway, his message is undeniable. We learn many habits early, and once learned, they are hard to break. This student is so self-absorbed that he has forgotten that his behaviours impact others. If Professor Galloway didn’t flame him, I’m sure his first boss will skewer his arrogance. Better to learn it in B-School.

It’s Only 5 Minutes. Wrong.

It’s only five minutes.  That’s what we say to ourselves when we’re running late for an appointment or meeting. Five minutes really isn’t that much time in the grand scheme of things, right? Wrong. Five minutes is a lot of time. Here’s why.

Let’s say you work an eight hour day. Subtract a 45 minute lunch, you’re now down to a 7 hour 15 minute day. Now take five minutes off every hour. You’ve now lost another 35 minutes. Now 35 minutes over the period of a day, doesn’t seem like much, but that 35 minutes equals 8% of your working day.

Now, think about the number of times you picked up your mobile to make a quick check of facebook, or twitter, or LinkedIn, or to check your texts. I bet each time you do that it takes about 5 minutes. And, I’d bet that you do this more than once an hour. No wonder we struggle with white-collar productivity.

Thirty-seven percent of HR professionals in the York College of Professionalism study note an increase in the lack of focus among new university graduates, and 79% attribute this lack of focus to technology interruptions.

Now let’s consider the “leave before you leave” phenomenon. Every week in class, I see my students packing up five to ten minutes before the end of class. They’ve checked out before we’ve finished. Again, checking out before you’re done adds up. That five or ten minutes adds up to another 35 minutes a week. Imagine that you’ve actually paid attention to the discussion – what did you learn that you might have missed?

Now let’s consider the average work week. Using 5 minutes an hour to check your tech, and packing up mentally before the end of the day, you’ve lost 3.5 hours per week. Doesn’t that sound like time you would like back?  Wouldn’t it be nice to use that time effectively getting out of the office earlier? It’s not “only 5 minutes”.  It might be the most important 5 minutes of your day.

McCart, K. (2013). What’s in five minutes? Transformative Dialogues: Teaching and Learning ejournal, Volume 6, Issue 3, is freely accessible at: http://kwantlen.ca/TD/Current_Issue