IT DEPENDS

What is the best leadership approach? It depends.

What leadership style should I use to empower my staff?  It depends.

How do I change the culture of my organization?  It depends.

Leadership means different things to different people.  In the last week I've had many conversations with clients and those I mentor about the best leadership approaches.  I've found myself spreading the gospel of Blanchard's Situational Theory of Leadership to help facilitate some perspective on this issue.

As a graduate student in Leadership Studies we quickly learned that the answer to every leadership question is "It Depends".  Sounds ridiculous, but not so if you consider the complexity of situations and follower needs.  According to Blanchard (1985), every situation offers context and a unique set of variables.  Each constituent has different values, motivation and influencers (Blanchard, 1985).  Takes more work, but effective leaders consider the needs of the situation and those of the followers when making decisions.

My professional experience has facilitated a first hand understanding that one leadership approach only works when the needs of the situation are consistent with that leadership approach.  Otherwise, monochromatic approaches, lead to decision errors based on leader preference instead of solutions focus.

"To a hammer, everything is a nail".  This describes a leader focused approach to leadership, where no matter the challenge the leader uses the same approach because its what they prefer (or in some cases all they know). We have preferences in all aspects of our lives.  These preferences are usually based on brain dominance and talent/strengths you possess.  High performing leaders serve situational and constituent needs over leader preference.

Are you dealing with an urgent challenge, or one where there is time to make a more calculated decision?  The context should influence how you chose to address the challenge.

Is one of your constituents deliberately ignoring your processes or are they not aware of them?  Clarity on the challenge, offers perspective on the most appropriate approach to address the issue.

Its ok to act based on your preferences, and we all do. Understand that your preferences may not best address the complexity of the challenge in front of you.  Remember, if there was one correct way to lead, everyone would be doing it and leadership would be easy.  One of the greatest strengths leaders can have is an understand of context and the desire to serve those who follow them.

Develop your leadership tools and resources.  Have them in your leadership tool belt.  Assess the needs of the challenge and use the tool that best fits.

LEADERSHIP LOST

One of my Sport Management students is doing a research project on the evolution of the Point
Guard position in the NBA.  I dug up 2007 journal article titled "Does on Simply Need to Score to Score" by Berri et. al at the University of West Virginia to help him get started.

The article speaks to how the contemporary NBA Point Guard has become more of a scorer than a facilitator.  The researchers attribute remuneration as the variable that has caused this shift.  Remuneration in the form of higher paying contracts, endorsement deals, sponsorships and time on "Sportscenter". The equation is simple, score more, get paid more.

This dynamic has had an interesting effect on what used to be the greatest leadership position on the floor.  The point guard was an extension of the coaching staff.  Like the Quarterback in football, this floor general ensured the greatest level of teamwork through execution of the prescribed team strategies.  The point guard took the temperature of the team and the situation. With support from the coaching staff and equipped with a solutions focus, helped the players on the floor to function as a high performing team to drive success.

The problem is that the scoring leaders got paid more and received more of the spotlight. So what happens?  Point Guards decide they wanted the spotlight and big buck so they decide "to hell with assists, we're going to score more!"  This effect has changed the way the position is played, arguably to the detriment of the game.  Your greatest floor leader has now become your top performing follower.  Point guards may be better scorers now than ever, but has this been at the expense of problem solving, facilitating teamwork and accountability on the court?  If my individual production is my top priority, then where does the success of the team fit in?  The bigger problem is that this phenomenon gets modelled down the college/university, high school and elementary school level players.

This is a basketball analogy that has real life implications.  There is a disturbing trend toward promoting, remunerating and idolizing the top producer or performer in organizations, but not the person who helps the organization itself perform optimally.  When your assigned leaders are more concerned with their performance (scoring), than the teams performance (success). We experience "Leadership Lost".

Who is your athlete of the week?  The person who scored the most, or the person who help the team perform at the highest level?  Who do you spotlight in your organization, the greatest individual performer or the person who drives the highest level of team success.  Everyone has a role on a team. Be mindful of rewarding all the behaviours that you value in order to drive the highest level of success with your team or organization.

The truth is that leadership is not lost.  Even though we talk a lot about leadership, we devalue it every time independent production receives more remuneration than behaviours that facilitate high performance teams.