A
Different Kind of Leader
Leadership and communication have an inevitable relationship.
A message presented by a interactive and actively transformative leader sparks
change, and a leader with high communication skills can transform the world. Denning
(2011), when touching base on leadership and communication, lists the dimensions
of a transformative leader. Interactive leadership, for Denning:
1.
Entails a leader to work with the world
rather than against it.
2.
Adds and subtracts elements from the leadership
palette.
3.
Doesn’t depend on the possession of hierarchical
authority.
4.
Builds on personal integrity and authenticity.
5.
Calls for the leader’s active
participation rather than detached observation.
6.
Benefits from an understanding of a
different narrative patterns.
Three
of Denning’s dimension that I believe to be manifested in my current own
application of leadership are:
1.
Entails a leader to work with the
world rather than against it.
Professionally,
while my organization is passing through several changes, there is a lot of
rejection from the front line in applying those changes. Although I do not agree
with all of them, and I believe that some challenges could be avoided or diminished,
I try to motivate my team to deliver the best, independently of their perceptions.
I do that through setting example, through honest conversation, and by valuing my
team members’ opinions and performance through reporting suggestions to the
company and their outstanding key behaviors.
2.
Doesn’t depend on the possession of hierarchical
authority.
I
strongly believe on the potential of polyarchic leadership as a powerful tool
for long lasting results (Obolensky, 2014). Authority is something I don’t need
to perform as a follower, neither as a leader. My team and I work together to
achieve results, and all ideas are heard and considered before making decisions.
Often, when passing through a challenge which allows me time for brainstorming,
I get my team together to collect ideas and gather different perspective, setting
a harm free conversation environment to find the best solution. This dimension
brings along the third one which I apply.
3.
Calls for the leader’s active
participation rather than detached observation.
Whichever
decision I make, I embrace it with active participation. I roll up my sleeves
and work along with my team, not only in challenging circumstances, but in any
regular situation. As I have being in their role for years, my operational
performance does not require me a lot of attention, this way allowing to play
the role of the leader while performing as a follower by their side. When
participating, I am still capable of observing behaviors and performance,
adjust decision, provide two-way feedback, and call out poor decision making (independent
who decided upon).
Overall,
I believe to be interactive and actively connected with my followers, participating
with others in any process, however I see a gap to be transformative; to shift
perspectives by sharing my vision; to motivate others into action. Aware of
this opportunity, I intend to use the power of storytelling, more specifically
springboard story (Denning, 2011, chapter 3) and future story (Denning, 2011,
chapter 10).
The dimensions listed by Denning (2011) are reinforced by
Obolensky (2014), Northouse (2016), Hill (2014) and McKay et al (2009) to name few
of authors whose agree partially or holistically with Denning’s idea. Important
to highlight is the ability of critical thinking (Nosich, 2012), when applying the
dimensions, which does not necessarily imply that one should replace another,
neither that they should be chosen in specific order, but that is essential
that all are taken deeply in consideration, though through in all levels. Being
able to combine and link the dimensions is possibly the greatest challenge for
a leader, but conceivably the greatest achievement.
References
Denning, S.
(2011). The Leader's Guide to Storytelling. San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass.
Hill, L. (2014).
How to manage for collective creativity. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/linda_hill_how_to_manage_for_collective_creativity
McKay, M., Davis, M., Fanning, P. (2009). Messages:
the communication skills book. (3rd edition). Oakland, CA: New
Harbinger.
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: theory and practice.
(7th ed). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Nosich, G. M. (2012). Learning to think things through: A guide to
critical thinking across the curriculum (4th edition). Boston, MA: Pearson
Obolensky, N. (2014). Complex Adaptive Leadership: Embracing Paradox
and Uncertainty (2nd ed). New York, NY: Routledge.
Torres, R. (2013). What
it takes to be a great leader. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/roselinde_torres_what_it_takes_to_be_a_great_leader#t-526779
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