Leadership – “Landia” – Organizational Environment
Prologue
Several years ago we characterized the issues facing
businesses as puzzles. We stated that
few mysteries remain in the business world, but there are many more
puzzles. Shaping the pieces of the
puzzle and fitting them together into a cohesive effective organization is the
real challenge. The issues are typically known, or can at least be
identified. Rather than mysteries, which
contain unknown components, what businesses face are puzzles. The pieces are
usually there, but most likely need to be re-shaped so they all fit together.
We use the concept of Landia to highlight the selection and shaping of puzzle
pieces into an effective, vibrant organization.
The mechanism to shape the organization with all its pieces and Landias
is Contextual Leadership. While our
discussion of Landia started a light hearted representation, it is a very real
challenge to leaders. Applying the
concepts of Contextual Leadership is the focus of this article.
Introduction
In our last article in a rather tongue and cheek manner we
introduced the concept of one’s “-Landia” (“Portlandia”, e.g.). Over the past several years, we have been
writing about leadership, particularly Contextual Leadership. If we examine the two concepts of -Landia and
Contextual Leadership together and couple them with organizational environment,
we see how leadership can affect the culture and effectiveness of an
organization.
A
brief refresher on Contextual Leadership:
Contextual
Leadership differs from the historical view of leadership development and/or
leadership training as what seemingly successful leaders or celebrity leaders
do.
Contextual
leadership attempts to understand the dynamics of leadership and leadership
responsibilities. Unpacking these
dynamics and becoming aware of how to maximize the tangibles, leaders can begin
to recognize how to respond successfully and lead their organizations. Contextual leadership is a framework to build
upon. It recognizes that various
situations may have different contexts from the expected norm or one’s previous
experiences.
Contextual
leaders are those people who are able to:
·
Recognize and understand the culture
of the organization and its people
·
Use their attributes and apply their
experience and competencies in an enlightened and effective manner to achieve
positive results for the organization, its people, and its stakeholders
·
Not do blindly what may have worked
for them before in some other context!
For more on this
please contact us or visit our website Newsletter button, you will find detailed
articles on Contextual Leadership.
First, despite the light-hearted approach we took to the
concept of -Landia, -Landia is real.
Each and every one of us has our own -Landia. -Landias can overlap and -Landias can be
distinct and different with little commonality.
We see them everywhere and every day. Sometimes this perception is
conscious and sometimes unconscious. Consider entering a social event where you may
or may not know people. The first thing
we tend to do is look for someone we know, then someone who we may perceive as
having some common characteristic with whom we can begin building rapport. Once we start talking we are looking for
overlapping -Landias. When we identify
the -Landia overlaps, barriers come down.
In contrast, if through initial conversations we see little overlap in
our –Landias, we tend to move on and begin the process again. This example was simplistic. Now if we believe we can expand our
perspectives by seeking people whose -Landia is different and then work to
bring the two together in a manner that begins building rapport, a synergistic
effect can happen. People too often look
for common -Landias and overlook the opportunity to expand the discussion and
expand their own horizons by engaging with different -Landias. So let’s translate these examples into an
organization.
Balancing -Landias – a
leader’s responsibility
In past articles we have discussed using tools like
Myers-Briggs to identify “personality types”, recognize different types, and
make those types work together productively.
It is the same with –Landias, perhaps to a greater extent, since they
are more diverse and not as easily categorized as an MBTI grid. However, those -Landias come together in an
organization and must function to advance the organization. If an organization had only similar -Landias
it would not only be boring, it would eventually stagnate. There would be no one to challenge ideas and
bring different perspectives into the organizational thinking.
The leader of an organization must recognize that he/she
needs different -Landias, different perspectives, and different thinking to
build a productive and progressive organization. The challenge for the leader is to find those
different -Landias and then mesh them into a cohesive unit.
You want enough overlap in the right areas and sufficient
diversity to ensure broad perspectives and thinking consistent with the Vision
and Mission of the organization. This
diversity, however, does often create some conflict and head-butting between
staff members whose -Landias are divergent.
Leaders have to seek different -Landias, but then must monitor and
control the diverging -Landias to create a cohesive unit. Easy to write, but not particularly easy to
do. Instead of focusing solely on the
mission, but leaders must put equal--and sometimes more--effort into the human
interactions within the organization.
The imperative for leaders is to create an environment that
understands different -Landias exist and appreciates their value to the
organization, to realize that Contextual Leadership provides insights into
effective leadership in order to build an organizational culture that respects
varying -Landias, and to utilize those contextual qualities, attributes and
experiences to achieve the mission of the organization. While this concept is certainly not new, it suggests
that the dynamics of -Landias provide a fresh way of looking at building a
cohesive and well-functioning team.
Creating culture and
changing culture
Organization culture is often misunderstood and dismissed as
a “foo foo dust”. But it is real and
critical to an organization intent on achieving its mission and thriving. The
culture of an organization develops over time.
Culture is influenced by the leader, more or less, depending on his/her
leadership traits and personality. Just
to shed a bit more light on the topic, the type of organization plays a
tremendous role in a leader’s ability to affect a cultural change. We use this example in our
presentations. As a former nuclear
submariner, I experienced a few changes of command. As one Captain physically leaves the ‘boat’
and the new Captain boards, the culture can change almost as quickly. The hierarchical chain of command, the
closeness of the physical environment, and the criticality of mission and
potential danger of operating a nuclear submarine all have a significant
influence on culture. Hence a new
Commanding Officer can rather readily, and almost immediately, affect culture
change. Contrast that with a Not-for-Profit
organization that has both employees and volunteers. A leadership change has a completely
different impact and effect. It can take
years for change, much less cultural change, to take place.
Culture is also influenced by the members of the
organization and the history of the organization. The various -Landias within impact that
influence. The impact can be positive or
negative depending on how the -Landias interact and are managed. Building a
positive and healthy culture is one of the biggest challenges for a
leader. The mission is the goal, but
achieving that goal requires an effective organization that recognizes the goal
and is committed to working together.
Workforce planning –
hiring for culture, and balancing -Landias
Perhaps one of the costliest and potentially disruptive
functions within an organization is planning human resource needs and then
hiring people. Planning a workforce is
complex and a long term initiative, and hiring the right people can be even
more difficult. With current employment
laws, when hiring goes awry, significant direct and indirect costs impact the
organization. A person may fulfill all
the technical requirements of the position description, possess the requisite
education and experience, but if that person does not fit the organizational
culture no one is happy. It is important
to note we are not suggesting the IBM Gray Suit model. Cloning people is typically not in the best
interest in any context. We recognize
certain expectations exist within any culture, and if those expectations are
not communicated at the onset, current employees and new hires can potentially
clash, or at a minimum, experience unnecessary stressors in the workplace.
When a Not-for-Profit organization engaged our services, as
part of that work we modified their overall hiring process. The team of employees we were advising
became aware of how culture was impacting their hiring and retention process; consequently,
they realized the financial (and disruptive) impact bad hires had on the
organization. We systematically changed
their process into a “Hiring for Culture” context.
-Landia plays a major role in the success of a Hiring for
Culture strategy. The goal is not to
have a -Landia diagram that is neat, symmetrical, and overlapping uniformly. (That is something that is probably
impossible.) What this concept strives
for is a balance of -Landias, where people bring unique and special skills,
knowledge, experience, and attributes to the organization all within the
context of balance. For this diversity to
be successful, the people within an organization must also be aware of the
concept of -Landia, learn to respect differences, realize the benefits of
differences, and also realize that healthy conflict is part of a healthy
organization. The negative impact of
Group Think is extremely serious.
The onus is on the leader to be aware of -Landias and how
they can interact both positively and negatively. In addition, the team members must recognize
people are different and not everyone thinks or acts like they do. And to achieve the mission of the
organization and to help the functioning of the organization, they must accept
differences and be willing to learn to work together. Such a transition will not always be
smooth. Differences can be frustrating
and lead to friction. The leader must
take the different -Landias and point them in the same direction and lead the
effort to overcome the differences to achieve the goals.
Clearly, workforce planning is a key to helping the leader
find and nurture diverse team members and instill a common goal and
direction. He/she must always be aware
of -Landia interactions to keep the team functioning and headed toward the
organizational goal. To do so requires
the leader to expend more effort on the human aspects of the team than on the
technical aspects. For some, especially
in technically oriented organizations, human interactions are not a “normal”
focus and can take a concerted effort, bringing context into the
discussion. The context created in a
technical organization is different than the context of a marketing or sales
organization.
Conclusion
We continue our discussion on -Landias by reintroducing
contextual leadership. Each individual’s
-Landia is unique, while individuals in an organization contribute to its culture. Divergent -Landias are a necessary part of a
successful organization. A key aspect—and
challenge—of building a high-functioning organization is for the leader to find
and nurture divergent -Landias. Taking
each of the individual -Landias, building on strengths and meshing them
together into a productive unit may be one of the biggest challenges a leader
faces.
Wishing you the best for the upcoming
Holiday Season, and don’t hesitate to call or write when the puzzle pieces
don’t seem to fit or if different pieces will help fill-in the gaps.
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