INFLUENCE, NETWORKS AND STRATEGIC

LEADERSHIP

Audrey J. Murrell, Ph.D.Associate Professor of Business Administration,

Psychology, Public and International Affairs and

Director of the David Berg Center for Ethics and Leadership

University of Pittsburgh, School of Businessamurrell@katz.pitt.edu

Our Objectives

Understand the role of strategic leadership in complex and dynamic organizations

Discuss the connection between leadership and effective organizational change

Examine key concepts such “Tipping Point” and “Level 5” leadership in organizations

Enhance self-awareness of one’s own leadership strengths and opportunities for improvement

Prairie Health Services (PHS) What are some of the key issues

described in this case? Who are the key people that we need to

understand and discuss? What aspects of leadership effectiveness

or ineffectiveness are evident in the case?

What other issues should be identified and discussed?

The Myths of Effective Leadership

“If I have the authority, I can get things done.”

“It’s important for me to have direct control over the things that I am responsible for in the organization.”

“A key factor in my success is being given the power to direct the work of others.”

“Change does not happen here unless the person with the title says so.”

What Effective Managers Do

Effective managers (Kotter): Develop and utilize both technical and

relational competenciesDevote significant time agenda building

within the organizationRecognize that power and influence are

often gain without formal title or authority

Spend significant time cultivating diverse relationships within the organization

What It Really Means to Effectively Manage & Lead

Myth Authority Formal Position Dependency

only on subordinates

Control and compliance are goals

Use of technical skills

Reality Interdependency Informal

relationships Peers and others

outside formal lines

Commitment and empowerment are goals

Use of technical and social skills

Leadership Framework

Sensemaking

Process of coming to understand the context in which you (and others) are operating within

Must seek many types and sources of data

Involve others in the process Avoid overuse of personal schema/biases Learn from small experiments Use images, metaphors and stories to

help communicate

Tipping Point Leadership

“In many turnarounds, the hardest battle is simply getting people to agree on the causes of current problems and need for change”

~ Kim and Mauborgne

Tipping Point Leadership

How do we get the key message or issue to stick?

Overcoming Hurdles: Cognitive Hurdle

Put people face-to-face with problems and customers; finding new ways to communicate

Resource Hurdle Focus on the hot spots and negotiation with key

partners Motivational Hurdle

Highlight commons interests/identities and frame the challenge to match organizational goals/mission

Political Hurdle Address internal and external opponents

Tipping Point Leadership

Key Action Steps: Cognitive Hurdle

Develop and execute an internal communication strategy

Resource Hurdle Refocus resources – pay attention to

organizational currency Motivational Hurdle

Engage key influencers Political Hurdle

Focus on the “80-20” rule

Sensemaking at PHS

For group discussion: What is the key issue at PHS that

needs to become “sticky” What hurdles should be the focus in

order to help make the key issue “tip”?

What are some specific steps that should be take here and who is key to their success?

Relating

Creating relationships, managing the relationship aspects of the organization thru building social capital and trust in leadership

Spend time understanding the perspective of others

Encourage real participation Develop connections and important

advice networks Develop social capital inside and

outside the organization

Level 5 Leadership

“Level 5 refers to the highest level in a hierarchy of executive capabilities that we identified during our research. Leaders at the other four levels in the hierarchy can produce high degrees of success but not enough to elevate companies from mediocrity to sustained excellence. Good-to-great transformation don’t happen without Level 5 leaders at the helm. They just don’t.”

~ Jim Collins

“From Good to Great”

Collins and research team studied companies that “made the leap from good results to great results and sustained those results for at least 15 years”

Firms studied outperformed the market over the 15 year period

Key question asked was “Can a good company become a great company and if so, how?”

Level 5 Leadership

Level 1: Makes productive contribution thru knowledge, skills & hard work

Level 2: Contributes to achievement of common goals

Level 3: Organizes people and resources toward key objectives

Level 4: Catalyzes commitment to clear and compelling vision

Level 5: Builds enduring greatness thru personal will and humility

Level 5 Leadership

Professional Will Ferocious resolve, stoic determination Demonstrates an unwavering resolve to do

whatever much be done Sets the standards of building an enduring

company – inspired standards Never blames other people or external factors or

bad luck for negative outcome “Yes, leadership is about vision. But leadership is

equally about creating a climate where the truth is heard and the brutal facts confronted. There’s a huge difference between the opportunity to “have your say” and the opportunity to be heard. The good-to-great leaders understood this distinction, creating a culture wherein people had a tremendous opportunity to be heard and ultimately, for the truth to be heard.”

Level 5 Leadership

Personal Humility Compelling modesty Acts with calm, quiet determination Relies on inspired standards rather than inspired

charisma Channels ambition into the company Focuses on leadership and management

succession to surpass their own success Leading from good to great does not mean coming

up with the answers and then motivating everyone to follow your messianic vision. It means having the humility to grasp the fact that you do not yet understand enough to have the answers and then to ask the questions that will lead to the best possible insights”.

Key Findings

Larger-than-life, celebrity leaders negatively correlated with taking a company from good to great

No systematic pattern linking specific forms of executive compensation to going from good to great

Neither strategy, technology or mergers per se predicted who was identified as a “good to great” firm

Good to great companies were not in “great” industries, but terrible industries

“Those who build great companies understand that the ultimate throttle on growth for any great company is not markets, or technology or competition, or products. It is one thing above all others: the ability to get and keep enough of the right people.”

Level 5 Leadership produces a irony in that personal ambition that drives people to positions of power conflict with the qualities of success at this level

Boards of Directors frequently operate under the false belief that a “larger than life” charismatic leader is what will make the company successful – this may be why there is a “dearth” of this type of leader

Level 5 Strategies

Attend to people first, strategy second Confront the most brutal facts of the

current reality Focus on executing consistent and

sustained approaches for transformation Focus people’s attention on 3 keys

concerns: What our company can be the best in the

world at How our economies work best What best ignites the passion of our people

Relating at PHS

For group discussion: Evaluate the CEO at PHS in terms of the

concepts of Level 5 Leadership How might “professional will” be a positive

or negative factor in this case? What role might “personal humility” play

in the overall effectiveness of the CEO as a leader?

What advice might you give to Carl on how to improve his overall effectiveness as a leader based on these concepts?

Inventing

Capability to change the way people work together and think about their work

Involves key aspects of team design, building and leading

Focuses on executing, change and implementation of vision

Captures the ability to create innovative and creating solutions, processes and outcomes

Why Change Fails

Not establishing a great enough sense of urgency

Not creating a powerful enough guiding coalition

Lacking a vision Under-communicating the vision by a

factor of ten Not removing obstacles to the new vision Not systemically planning for, and

creating short-term wins Declaring victory too soon Not anchoring changes in the

corporation’s culture

Kotter’s Change Process

8. Anchor new approaches in the culture

7. Communicate gains; produce more change

6. Generate short-term wins

5. Empower broad-based action

4. Communicate the change vision

3. Develop a vision and strategy

2. Create the guiding coalition

1. Establish a sense of urgency

Telling

AssertingExplaining

Asking

ClarifyingInterviewing

Observing

BystandingSensing

INQUIRY Low High

AD

VO

CA

CY

Low

High

Change Requires Communication

Peter M. Senge et al., The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook

DIALOGUE

Exploring eachother’s assumptions to generate meaning

Change Requires Collaboration

Customers

Networks in OtherDepartments

YOUR INNER CIRCLE

NGOs

Government Agencies

Senior ExecutiveNetwork

Suppliers

Change Requires Commitments

Change Requires “Currency”

Task-related Resources Assistance Information

Position-related Advancement Visibility Reputation Networks

Relationship-related Personal support Understanding Validation

Personal-related Learning Ownership Expertise identity

Key Action Steps for Creating Change

Establish a sense of urgency Identify specific threats, “smoldering crises or

major opportunities Form a powerful guiding coalition

Assemble a group with power and “currency” to lead and implement change effort

Create and communicate a vision Understand how to “meet people where they are”

Plan for and create short-term wins Use evidence and data on outcomes to make a

case for change

Can change be too slow?

Karl Weick: “Emergent changes can be slow to

cumulate; too small to affect outputs or outcomes; less well suited for responding to threats than for exploiting opportunities; limited by pre-existing culture and technology; deficient when competitors are wedded to transformation; better suited to implementation in operations, plants and stores than to strategy, firm-level or corporate change….”

Can Change Be Too Radical?

Karl Weick: “The liabilities of planned change

include a high probability of relapse; uneven diffusion among units; large short-term losses that are difficult to recover; less suitability for opportunity-driven than for threat-driven alternations; unanticipated consequences due to limited foresight; temptations toward hypocrisy (when people talk the talk of revolution but walk the walk of resistance)….”

Inventing at PHS

For group discussion: Among Kotter’s reasons why change

fails, which ones are most relevant to PHS?

Examine Ann Smith’s role as an “change agent” within the case – in what ways is she effective or ineffective in this role?

What advice might you give to Ann on how to improve her overall effectiveness as an agent of change within PHS?

Visioning

Creating and communicating a compelling shared image of the future

Focus on framing of visions to reach key stakeholder groups

Visions must be shared, compelling and sincere

Issues selling strategies are important for communicating vision

Vision must be followed by action – “walking the talk” is key

Agenda Building

Agenda building involves reconciling diverse and conflicting expectations by developing one common agenda and course of action

Involves activities and competencies such as: Managing trade-offs across key

currencies Negotiating across diverse interests Analyzing the cultural and political

environment

Agenda Building Understanding who sets (and the process)

the organization’s agenda Agenda building involves reconciling diverse

and conflicting expectations by developing one common agenda and course of action

Involves activities and competencies such as: Managing trade-offs and conflict Negotiating across diverse interests Analyzing the cultural and political environment

Issue Selling

Critical pathways for managers to raise issues of importance

Reflects key tactics for effective agenda-building Illustrates the importance of change “from the middle” Includes attempts by lower level managers to influence

higher level members of organization Issue selling important to both organizations and

leaders: Today’s leaders are challenged to cope with complex

business world Issue selling allows many minds to contribute in

organization’s future These minds may be closer to problem areas and thus offer

important perspectives

Issue Selling – Strategic Choices

Bundling

Linkages of new issue to existing issues Requires understanding of how issues get

on firm’s agenda Can tap into resources and support based

on current issue Can “backfire” or become tainted because

of negative issue and/or perceived failure

Framing

Framing impacts how choices are evaluated Issues can be framed as an opportunity or a

threat Framing an issue as an opportunity can

induce greater participation, commitment to taking action versus framing an issue as a threat

Framing also makes a choice of: Responsibility vs. obligation Moral/ethical vs. business case Internal vs. external Idea focused vs. data driven Emotional vs. logical

Language

Related to issue framing Relies heavily on understanding of the

cultural lens Language is tailored to the focal target

group or groups Key issue is focusing on:

Purpose Audience Context Obstacles

Involvement Involves issue selling as a process Must identify critical stakeholders and

understand the role and impact of participation

Factors such as effective use of teams, negotiation, coalition building and networks are relevant

Focuses on the importance of change champions/sponsors and change implementers/agents

Approach

Individual skills and strategies for issue selling

Key choices involve: Formal vs. informal Individual vs. team Public vs. private

Must be able to communicate across function, interpersonal style and organizational role/position

Timing

Must understand both the political and cultural context of the organization

Key factors are momentum, windows of opportunities and social/organizational climate

Must understand the phases and cycles of change in organization

Issue Selling Challenges Understanding managers’ choice processes in deciding to sell

issues People more willing to sell issues in contexts where they perceive

management will listen and where context is experienced as supportive Context may enhance or inhibit issue selling

Issue sellers often worry about damaging their reputations Leaders plays important role in issue selling because they set

context for subordinates Issue selling is difficult in conflict avoiding organizational cultures Charged issues are tough, problematic, sensitive issues that

sellers may be reluctant to raise Examples of charged issues:

Outsourcing Restructuring Diversity/Inclusion Treatment of the natural environment

Visioning at PHS

For group discussion: You have just been informed by CEO Carl

Nord that the board has asked for a presentation from the team that reviewed the proposals for the new technology. You will have 5 minutes to make a “pitch” to them on your ideas/recommendations. Carl will be present during your presentation to the board. The board will meet again in 10 days to review/decide.

Taking the role of the evaluation team, outline your strategy for how you can begin to make change at PHS.