CISummit 2013: Kristin Cullen, Leveraging Networks in Leadership and Organizational Development: Proven and Cutting-Edge Approaches

Leveraging Networks in Leadership Development:

Proven and Cutting-Edge Approaches

Kristin L. Cullen, PhDCenter for Creative Leadership

Agenda

Define leadership Identify the connection between networks

and leadership Discuss the utilization of networks in

leadership development

©2013 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.

Your image of leadership

©2013 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.Maxwell, C. I., & Greenalgh, A. N. (2011). Images of leadership: A new exercise to teach leadership from a social constructionist perspective. Organization Management Journal, 8, 106-110.

Defining Leadership

The qualities and actions of an individual (leader) who influences others (followers)

to engage in goal-directed efforts


We live in a VUCA World:

Volatile

Uncertain

Complex

Ambiguous


Defining Leadership

A single individual cannot perform all the necessary leadership functions for a collective.


Redefining Leadership

Current challenges require leadership that is distributed, fluid, and

constructed in interaction.

Denis, J. L., Langley, A., & Sergi, V. (2012). Leadership in the Plural. The Academy of Management Annals, 6(1), 211–283.©2013 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.

If leadership is a social process, what does it create?


Leader(ship) Development

Expansion of a person’s capacity to be effective in

leadership roles and processes

Expanding the collective capacity of organizational

members to engage effectively in leadership roles

and processes

Leader Development Leadership Development

CCL Handbook of Leadership Development©2013 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.

Leveraging Networks in Leader and Leadership Development


OF

IN

Carter, D., DeChurch, L., Contractor, N., & Carson, J. (2013). A framework for Understanding Collective Leadership Through Network Analysis. Houston, TX.

Leadership & Networks

LeadershipDEVELOPMENT

Leader

Leadership

ASNetworks


Personal development through improving an individual’s understanding of his/her position in organizational networks and the implications of that position (i.e., opportunities and constraints) for individual and organizational wellbeing and effectiveness.

Leadership IN Networks


Leading in a Matrix

Advantages• Flexible• Responsive• Adaptive

Challenges• Overlapping responsibilities • Competing commitments• Loss of accountability• Unclear direction• Turf battles


Bartlett, C., & Ghoshal , S. (1990). Matrix Management: Not a Structure, a Frame of Mind, Harvard Business Review

Influence Connections

Connecting– human capital,– social capital, and – context

in leader development


In-class Diagnostic


In-class Diagnostic

Help leaders develop open, diverse, and deep networks.


Three Network Types and Benefits

• Coordination• Cooperation• Getting work done• Maintaining

capacity

Operational• Mentoring• Coaching• Venting• Referrals• Safe environment

Personal• Insight into

future priorities• Gaining stakeholder

support• Access to

opinion leaders

Strategic

Ibarra, H., & Hunter, M. (2007). How leaders create and use networks. Harvard Business Review, 85, 40-47. ©2013 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.

The Ever Present Manager


Operational

Personal

Strategic

The Task Master

The Politician


Operational

Personal

Strategic

The Schemer

The Surface Networker


Developing Leaders IN Networks

• Building networks is a critical part of leader development

• Leaders can be taught to build better networks


Burt, R., & Ronchi, D. (2007). Teaching executives to see social capital: Results from a field experiment. Social Science Research, 36(3), 1156–1183..

Management of organizational networks by formal leaders through seeing, understanding, and leveraging the relationships connecting individuals as well as identifying and utilizing people in key networks positions to improve organizational outcomes.

Leadership OF Networks


Chief Science Officer

Leader (1)

POD A (1)

POD A (2)

POD A (3)

POD A (4)

POD A (5)

Leader (2)

POD B (1)

POD B (2)

POD B (3)

POD B (4)

POD B(5)

POD C (1)

POD C (2)

POD C (3)

POD C (4)

POD C (5)

POD D

Leader (3)

POD E (1)

POD E

(2)

POD E

(3)

POD E

(4)

POD F (1)

POD F

(2)

POD F

(3)

POD F

(4)

POD G (1)

POD G(2)

POD G(3)

POD H (1)

POD H

(2)

POD H

(3)

POD H

(4)

POD H

(5)

POD I (1)

POD I (2)

POD I (3)

Leader (4)

POD J (1)

POD J (2)

POD J (3)

Org charts fail to provide insights regarding:• Informal Leaders• Internal Group Connections• Between Group Connections• Key Boundary Spanners

Formal Structure

Informal Network

What’s missing from an organizational chart?


Organizing for Innovation

• Team Based Organization– Fully integrated, multi-disciplinary teams– Expertise based Peer Groups

• Networked organization– ~60 academic collaborations– ~400 clinical sites– Early drug trial collaborator network

• Culture rewards learning, innovation, teamwork

MedicalModeling

Biology

Engineering

Manufacturing

Medical

Modeling

Biology

Engineering

Manufacturing

Medical Modeling

BiologyEngineering

Manufacturing

LeadershipTeam

POD 3POD 2

POD 5

POD 4

POD 1

24

“Are we truly a networked organization?”

“What barriers are getting in our way?


Feb 2012

87% within floor communication

Question: How frequently do you communicate with each of the following associates?Response: Daily or More

Note: percentage based on floor location at Time 3; color indicates floor at Time 2; except red squares, which indicate new members

Removing Geographic Barriers to Communication

February 2012


Feb 2012 June 2012 August 2103

87% within floor communication

Note: percentage based on floor location at Time 3; color indicates floor at Time 2; except red squares, which indicate new members

Removing Geographic Barriers to Communication

February 2012 June 2012 August 2013

Introduced idea of Spanning Boundaries

Moved All Employees to the Same Floor

79% within floor communication 97% within floor communication

“It feels more like a company instead of different floors.”

“The network data provided the support we needed to make the move.”


Intensive Boundary Spanning Development Work

Central New York

Newark, NJ

Rural North Carolina

Birmingham, AL

Kansas City

Albuquerque, NM

Portland, OR

Cleveland, OH

Building Community Networks

The biggest issue facing nonprofits is a leadership deficit*

*Bridgespan Group, www.bridgespan.org

CCL was awarded $4 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Ladder to Leadership (LTL): Developing the Next Generation of Community Healthcare Leaders

Objective: Develop a well-connected cadre of leaders, who will go on to collaborate and solve community problems


LTL Development

In-depth, 16- month leadership development process:• Multiple face-to-face sessions • Action learning projects with individual

and team coaching• Mentoring• Goal development and planning

A coach-supported process involving a small group of people solving real problems … while at the same time

focusing on what they are learning … and how their learning can benefit each group member … and the organization or community as a whole. (Michael J.

Marqardt)

Would this process improve the connections between this cadre of leaders?


Collaboration with Other FellowsCentral NY

27 monthsDensity = .10

16 monthsDensity = .15

BaselineDensity = .03


Participant Reactions

reported an increased ability to identify health-related needs in the community;reported an increase in ability to identify health-related resources in the community.

leveraged networks to address community health challenges;reported an increase in leading collaborative community projects.

91%

71 %

92%

72 %

And, one year after the program:


“Time and resources are need to build networks”“Sustaining networks within a community is not easy”

Improving the Decisions and Actions by Leaders OF Networks

• Enhances leaders’ ability to look beyond designated relationships and see the connections between people in and beyond their organization

• Many actions can be taken to manage overloaded individuals, leverage the periphery, and bridge disconnected groups


Collective development through understanding how leadership as a social process connects group members to each other and how these networks structures create the direction, alignment, and commitment needed for shared success.

Leadership AS Networks


Leadership Development

You can’t just put the individualback in the organization and expect CHANGE.

Moving beyond developing individuals.

Network Structures

leader centered distributed

distributed coordinateddistributed-fragmentedMehra, A., Smith, B. R., Dixon, A. L., & Robertson, B. (2006). Distributed leadership in teams: The network of leadership perceptions and team performance. The Leadership Quarterly, 17(3), 232–245.©2013 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.

Shared Leadership

• Leadership network density is a common approach to measuring shared leadership

Carson et al. (2007). Shared Leadership in Teams: An Investigation of Antecedent Conditions and Performance. Academy of Management Journal, 50(5), 1217–1234.

• Easier to scale than structural classification approaches shown previously

• Leadership network density is positively related to performance

Does everyone know where we’re headed and what we’re trying to accomplish?

Are we adequately earning and re-earning everyone’s active commitment?

SettingDirection

AchievingAlignment

MaintainingCommitment

Leadership Roles

Are we adequately reaching out to our stakeholders and other critical groups?

Spanning Boundaries

Do we have everyone/everything working in the same direction?


Leadership Networks in a Nonprofit

• Organization dedicated to building a society with equal access

to opportunities and the law and governments that advances the

public interest• Centers operate independently but

are coordinated HQ• Board concerned that the efforts of

the network may be disjointed


Breakdowns in DACFacing same way, but lacking momentum• Promises without delivery• Only easy things get done• Failure to progress

Willing cooperation, but lacks purpose• Inertia• Running in circles• Everyone headed in different directions

Buy in, but uncoordinated• Competing for resources• Failure to agree to

deadlines and ways of working

A

D

CLeadership


Leadership Networks

AD

C

Helps establish direction so that work is aligned with values and strategyHelps align roles and responsibilities to meet goalsProvides social support


Network within a between HQ and the four largest centers

(executive level leaders)

.644 .181

1.00 .833

n = 10n = 9

n = 4n = 3

.333n = 3

Leadership Networks

AD C


.367 .444 .511083 .069 .097

.750 .500.167 .875 .750.500 .833.000.330

Fostering Collective Leadership AS Networks

• Mental shift from thinking about leadership as:– residing in individuals – the responsibility of a few

• Early research on shared leadership supports a connection with performance

• Focus on building leadership connections within and beyond your organization


OF

IN

Carter, D., DeChurch, L., Contractor, N., & Carson, J. (2013). A framework for Understanding Collective Leadership Through Network Analysis. Houston, TX.

Leadership & Networks

LeadershipDEVELOPMENT

Leader

Leadership

ASNetworks


CCL Approach

• Assessment for Development

Expand KnowledgeCreate Leadership

Resources and Tools

Individual DevelopmentDevelop a pipeline of

successful leaders at all levels

Team PerformanceBuild effective teams

to maximize performance

Organizational TransformationAccelerate bold strategies

that drive sustainable results

Societal AdvancementEnable interdependent leadership

to address pressing social challenges

• Networks are one (important lens) to view organizations

• Aim for impact at multiple levels

• The three perspectives discussed on integrating networks into leadership development important anddifferent utility

5 Takeaways

• Networks may be leveraged in both leader and leadership development

• Leader development is a necessary, but insufficient part of building the leadership capacity in an organization

• Leadership development happens in the process of real work• Approaches developing leaders IN and OF networks are fairly

well established• Developing leadership AS networks represents the cutting

edge and offers promise for challenges that require leadership that is “distributed, fluid, and constructed in interaction”

Questions for me?

How are you using networks to enhance

leadership?

What’s the next innovative

application?