leadership – leading towards personal responsibility (module 3)

8/8/2019 Leadership – leading towards personal responsibility (module 3)

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MTI NewsletterCurrent projects ofMACHWÜRTH TEAM INTERNATIONALOrganisational and Personnel Development

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Leadership – leading towardspersonal responsibility 3Welcome back to our ongoing series about leadership. Inthis issue of the MTI-Newsletter we feature the last partof the series and probe into how leadership qualities canbe trained and developed with senior-level management.At the end of the article, you can find a self-diagnosissheet for senior management attached.

1. Introduction

In the preceding articles wewere looking into what definesleadership, how it is applied inthe context of an organisationand how it developed from theleadership culture into a specificqualification profile.

When discussing leadershipwith HR departments, oftensooner or later the question israised in how far leadershipbehaviour can be trained and

developed. Traditional trainingsettings with an often dominanttrainer role are not very suitablefor developing personal respon-sibility and intrinsic motivation.Leadership behaviour is first ofall a question of mentality – bothin concern to leadership ofoneself as in the structuring ofcommunication and theunderlying concept of humanity.

This mental attitude has to be

attained individually. It is onlypossible through intensivereflection and appraisal of one’sown value and behaviourpatterns, through open-mindedness and curiosity in re-gard to feedback, and throughcontinuous re-evaluation andadvancement of the ownleapership practices.

2. ‚Leadership’ as a qualifica-

tion concept

To strengthen and developthese leadership qualities, a qu-alification concept needs to be

put in place that meets the fol-lowing criteria in both contentand form:

Empower Senior Managersto participate in the designof learning processes byproviding them with oppor-tunities to share responsi-bility for the success of thequalification

Confront managers with

new and unexpected situa-tions that require them toseek orientation

Present ambitious andchallenging learning situa-tions that make it possibleto explore boundaries

in varying communicativecontexts a differentiatedself-perception will be de-veloped and feedback from

multiple sources receivedto generate a referencepoint system in regard tothe personal external effectand to expand the room formaneuver

Emotions and conflicts thatappear in the context of thequalification are notavoided as disturbances,but dealt with constructivelyin an environment of learn-

ing and developing

Constant self-reflection onthe own learning and de-velopment process is de-

manded and encouraged

2.1 Configurative componentsof leadership-focused qualifi-cation

The furtherance and develop-ment of leadership qualities isan ambitious task. Not everysenior manager will have thenecessary degree of maturity forit. A basic know-how of leader-ship techniques and communi-

cation as well as willingness toquestion and continuously de-velop oneself are prerequisites.

1st Configurative principle: In-dividualized concepts

It is worthwhile to be selectivewhen choosing the senior man-ager to take part in a qualifica-tion. The selection processshould involve top management,respectively the superiors of the

managers and HR managers. Inprior interviews that clarify mat-ters with the potential partici-pants, individual qualificationtargets that take into accountthe perspective of all stake-holders should be set.

When designing a qualificationprocess, attention has to be paidto a high degree of individualiza-tion of the leadership develop-ment. The focus should not be

put on the common transfer ofknow-how to all participants, but

Helmut MeyerSenior Consultant

MACHWÜRTH TEAMInternational






on creating learning opportuni-ties for the individual. In how farthese opportunities are madeuse of will be up to the personal

responsibility of the participants.

Appropriate methods to providefor individual adjustment of thequalification are guidelines forself-reflection and individual po-sitioning. In our leadership quali-fications we used these guide-lines in individual pre- as well aspost-processing of workshopsand also as a tool in the work-shop itself. The results of theextensive individual work will beshared in small groups of 3 to 4participants. Again, the par-ticipants are themselves re-sponsible for how much theycontribute to sharing with theircolleagues.

This form of workshop design isbuilt on trust in the personal re-sponsibility of the participantsand therefore at the same timean indicator of the degree of ma-turity of the leadership culture.

2nd Configurative principle:Close relation to real-life lead-ership tasks

The development of leadershipqualities cannot be achieved ina laboratory-situation seminarlacking practical relevance, but

has to be put in context with theorganizational and personneldevelopment in the own respec-tive area of responsibility. The

interconnections with real lead-ership situations have to be evi-dent throughout all elements ofthe qualification. The individualpositioning encompasses an in-tensive review of the situationwithin the own area of responsi-bility from the perspective of thesuperior, as well as a reflectionon the own leadership behaviorand its effects.

Qualification tools such ascoaching and process guidancein day-to-day leadership offerexpedient opportunities for this.That does not, however, rule outevents held jointly with all man-agers, which would rather ex-hibit a workshop or seminarcharacter. Working together onleadership topics and the per-sonal workaday task fields pre-sents a valuable supplementa-tion to self-reflection and individ-ual positioning.

While engaging together onstrategy, development and theorganization’s business environ-ment, it is important for the sen-ior managers to admit to theirown insecurities and loss of ori-entation. Contradictions and am-bivalence within the leadership

requirements must be faced.Discussions with the own top-management, employee repre-sentatives or customers are

conducive to this.

3rd Configurative principle:Intensive exchange of experi-ences and mutual feedback

In addition to the self-reflectionof the own leadership practices,essential learning points to beare obtained through an inten-sive exchange of experiencesamong colleagues. Especially inlight of the fact that senior man-agers are often on their own andhave to act independently, whilehaving little time left to reflectwith others, opportunities to ex-change experiences are an es-sential part of a leadership quali-fication.

The introduction of communica-tion platforms for mutual ex-change of experiences can becarried out through several ways:

Peer consulting on the ownsituation

Topic-based exchange ofexperiences covering rele-vant and current task fieldsin leadership

Learning fairs dealing withleadership issues

Again, case studies and roleplays based on real life offerplenty of opportunities in seniormanagement workshops to dealwith differing perspectives andways of conduct in complex anddifficult leadership situations. Atthe same time they allow for mu-tual feedback that are oftenmissed out on in day-to-day lea-dership situations.

4th Configurative principle:Sustainability

The degree of success of the

development of leadership ca-pabilities is determined by the

Leadership-Quality

One‘s own responsibility

Self orientation

Entrepreneurial Initiative

The ability to make sense

and the behavior toeffectuate

Successful relationship andmanagement

Emotional stability andconflict ability

Learning- and Development

preparedness for oneselfand for others

Leadership-Quality Activities, which help

Exactingly, challenginglearning situation

Handling of the

insecureness,uncertainties, ambivalenceand contradictions

Make one‘s own contribution

possible

Personality development

Handling of emotions andconflicts

Exchange of experience






effect they have within the or-ganization. The matter of trans-fer into the workplace cantherefore not be dealt with in

form of a concluding seminarsequence, but has to be incor-porated as a constituent part ofthe qualification design.The involvement of superiorsbefore and after the qualifica-tion event and a thoroughevaluation of the implementa-tion success in various follow-up events are thus essentialcomponents of an effectiveleadership qualification.

2.2. Leadership-Developmentas ‚borderline managment’

A case study:

The situation: In the sales de-partment of an organization anew business model was intro-duced, on which occasion allsenior sales managers were toreceive an individual coachingprogram in the form of processguidance by an external consult-ant. The target was tostrengthen the senior manager’ssense of personal responsibility.

In coaching sessions time andagain the consultants were thenconfronted with the questionwhether the company indeedwanted the senior managers toact with more responsibility. Theday-to-day experience hadtaught the managers somethingquite different. Over and overnew instructions are issued byHQ’s that have to be strictly ob-eyed, leaving them with no roomto maneuver. The consultantsthemselves had to experiencehow this practice continuedeven during the coaching project.

Not just the senior management,but also the consultant teamwas confronted with the ques-

tion how to proceed. The di-lemma they faced: the call to act

with greater responsibility wasnot just lip service of the topmanagement, but consequenceof the realization that the sur-

vival of the organization wouldlargely depend on the seniormanagers not just simply fulfill-ing their job tasks. At the sametime the business environmentdictated the top management toset the organization on a newtrack they had envisioned tolead it into success. The trust inthe senior manager’s ability toact accordingly out of their ownresponsibility was not very well-founded. This was exactly whatcaused the massive interven-tions in the senior manager’sdomains.

The commentary:

High external change pressurecauses a heightened level of in-ternal insecurity. This leads toambivalent expectations. On theone hand the senior managersreceive support, on the otherhand there is fear about loss ofcontrol in a situation that justdoes not allow that. Leadershiprequires – as mentioned above – a certain degree of maturity:not only of the senior manage-ment, but also of the organiza-tion. Only when leadership be-havior, i.e. acting in full respon-sibility of one’s actions, is acommon practice, an organiza-tion can develop such a cultureof trust that is at the same timea prerequisite for the further de-velopment of leadership behav-ior. Therefore the developmentof leadership behavior is alwaysone step ahead of the own or-ganization and constantly push-ing the boundaries of what is al-lowed within it. Consistent lead-ership behavior is in that wayalso always revising the border-lines of the own organization One will constantly experi-

ence that the degree of

freedom that is allowed for

is never at par with what isnecessary

On will always see theneed to move a bit beyond

the norms that are given One will always have to

take into account the possi-bility to not be awarded fortaking this personal re-sponsibility

One has to bear one’s ownrisk.

The well-known change-management slogan ‚love it,change it or leave it’ in this wayis brought to life in daily practicefor senior managers who wantto act according to the leader-ship principle. They will alwayshave to conform to a certain de-gree yet at the same time try topush the boundaries and tochange things. And they have tobe consistent enough to leavean organization in which they nolonger feel that they can achievewhat they deem right and impor-tant.

Please write to me about youropinions on leadership. Weare readily available to openup a forum for an intensivediscussion of the future ofleadership culture.

Your Dr. Helmut [email protected]

Click here for the ReflexionTextbook Leadership.

MTI

http://www.mticonsultancy.com/fileadmin/templates/tmplfiles/resources/downloads/newsletter/en/Reflexion_Textbook_Leadership.pdf



leadership – leading towards personal responsibility (module 3)

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