Creating and Sustaining Positive Organizations

By Robert E. Quinn

Over the decades there is a conversation I have had over and over.  Usually it occurs when senior executives want to “fix” their managers.  The problem they specify is that their managers are not leading.  They argue that the company has changed.  It is not the old hierarchy it used to be.  It is now much flatter, it designed for speed.  Managers can no longer wait around to be told, they must take initiative.  The company needs managers to become change leaders.

In this conversation I press to know what leadership is.  The answers usually forms around one of two possible images.  The more frequent image is a description of a person who gets things done.  This person is focused, sets clear expectations, holds people accountable and executes.

The second, less frequent, image, has to do with culture building. In this case, the senior person claims that the best leaders are community builders.  They are close to their people.  They have a vision that is meaningful and the vision is used to attract their people to change.  The people are part of a team.  The team has authentic conversations in which real issues are surfaced.  There is trust.  The people feel challenged and supported.  There is creative cooperation and individuals tend to perform at a high level.  When you visit the workplace, you feel the connectivity and positivity.

These two answers or images are shared with conviction.  Despite the conviction, there is no real evidence that the senior person is right.  The images are actually a reflection of the leadership assumptions of the person speaking.  It might, therefore, be interesting to see what research has to say about these two images.

Research

Here is what research has to say about success in change leadership [1].  First we consider image one.  Many managers are wedded to assumptions of control.  They seek to “shape” the behavior of their people.  These people see themselves as the “mover and shaker.”  They set the pace for others, expect others to do what they do, they are expressive and persuasive, they hold others accountable and they control what is getting done.  People who adhered to this shaping strategy have a negative impact on change success in all contexts examined.

Image two is the culture builder.  Leaders who succeed with complex change tend to engage in four types of behavior.  First, they attract people to the big picture and future intent.  Second, they challenge people by continually confronting reality and holding their attention.   Third, they provide a “container” or supportive structure that provides confidence.  Fourth, they create movement enabling learning and change to happen.  The four types of behavior are outlined below:

• Attracts People to the Future: Subordinating personal ambition to the good of the organization, establishing emotional connections, embodying the future, tuning into daily reality and creating a compelling story, using the story to integrate people, staying aware of self and changing the self.
• Operates at the Edge: Surfaces reality, keeps people connected to the hard issues, challenges existing assumptions and norms, sets the bar high and stretches people, does not compromise on talent – seeks and keeps “A” players.
• Creates a Container (Minimal Structure): Clarifies performance expectations, values and behaviors; takes a stand based on personal beliefs; gives affirmative signals creating ownership, trust and confidence; makes it safe to have difficult conversations; Create alignment at the top to ensure constancy of approach.
• Creates Movement: Demonstrates commitment that results in trust, enables the system to go to new places, learning and changing; opens people to new possibilities by demonstrating openness and vulnerability; understands existing patterns and breaks them to create movement now, creates time and space for transforming encounters.

What is the lesson?  This research exposes a flaw in the thinking of many senior executives.  It is natural to desire easy answers.  Image one is an easy answer.  While the senior executive, who advocates image one, recognizes that the hierarchy has been flattened and there is a need for managers to lead change, the senior executive is actually still holding on to a hierarchical notion of change management.  Change is not “managed.”  It is not linear and it cannot be controlled.  Change is complex.  It requires that teams of connected people learn their way into a new future.  Image two is a pattern of influence that allows the process to happen.  In this time of flat organizations and increasing change, effective leaders are builders of human community.

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Reference

Rowland, D., & Higgs, M. (2008).  Sustaining Change Leadership that Works.  Southhampton, UK: Jossey-Bass.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 3rd, 2010 at 2:38 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.