A633.9.3.RB - Polyarchy Reflections

For this task, I was asked to reflect on traditional leadership from the perspective of complex adaptive leadership and address the implications and how they will affect me as a leader in the future. I will discuss my leadership development over the next 3 years and identify resources that will help me achieve such a development. Also, I will describe the impact all of this will have on my future strategy.

According to Obolensky (2014), a complex adaptive system is an organizational construct with a flat hierarchy, dynamic process and policies focused on team members, effective communication, transparency, and a flexible strategy development process. A successful organization will grow from a “functional silo” organization through to a complex adaptive structure (Obolensky, 2010, p. 23-27), or perish; therefore, leadership models will adapt and change along the way. Complex adaptive leadership (CAL) promotes increased flexibility within the realm of traditional leadership. Organizations need to become more bottom up and the way to do this is through change, coaching, motivation and innovation. Complex adaptive systems can also encourage more upward leadership  as it helps traditional leaders consider interaction and adaptability in the changing environment.

The 70:20:10 model suggests that 70% of our learning is hands-on learning, 20% is learning from others, and 10% is learning from professional development. "The future of work is changing, and only those who adapt will survive. The trends that define this new era of work are entrepreneurialism, flexibility and innovation" (Groth, 2012, para 1). The 70:20:10 model encourages leaders and organizations to spend their time wisely through different types of learning.  

My goal over the next 3 years is to focus on the strengths of my followers and helping them to grow professionally.  To do this, I need to know what my followers want. If a supervisor does not know how an employee would like to grow professionally, they cannot tailor opportunities to meet their needs, and that is how companies lose good people (Bajic, 2013). One way to guide the follower to find a way is using the GROW questioning technique. "GROW stands for the questions asked" Goal, Reality, Options, Will" (Obolensky, p. 179). The GROW model uses open-ended questions to 'pull' the follower into solving their developing their goals and growing professionally. I will use the 70:20:10 model through this process.  For example, if my follower has a goal to become a better public speaker I will first use the GROW model to better define and strategize their goal.  Then I will have them practice public speaking in front of others by having them brief role calls and speak at professional ceremonies.  The model shows that 20% is learning from others so I could have my follower attend public speaking events such as motivational speakers and ceremonies.  Lastly, I can have them enroll in public speaking courses through their schools or attend classes that are offered on-base.  

Another of my leadership goals is motivating my followers and being adaptable. Although I am an involved leader, I need to let-go more often and empower others to take the initiative and solve problems. In turn, this will motivate my followers. Recognizing the natural drive to be a part of the solution is a critical first step to motivating people to do their best (Musselwhite, 2007). Letting go is also critical to being adaptable. Letting go can be seen as embracing ambiguity but enforces followers' freedom to act. Ambiguity tolerance enables freedom to move easily without too much constraint (Obolensky, 2014). Practicing wu-wei will empower and motivate my followers as well as allow me to be a more adaptable leader. 

Complex adaptive Leadership promotes flexibility and upward leadership.  I will continue to use the lessons I learned about CAL and the 70:20:10 model to encourage and improve professional development and continued learning.  Over the next 3 years I will coach my followers toward their goals while continuing to motivate them.  Furthermore, I will aim to be a more adaptable leader.  

References

Bajic, Elena. (2013).The 6 Steps For Retaining Good Employees. Forbes. Accessed at http://www.forbes.com/sites/elenabajic/2013/07/15/the-6-steps-for-retaining-good-employees/

Groth, A. (2012, Nov. 27). Everyone Should Use Google's Original '70-20-10 Model' to Map Out Their Career. Retrieved from Business Insider: http://www.businessinsider.com/kyle-westaway-how-to-manage-your-career-2012-11

Mussellwhite, C. (2007, August 1). Motivation = Empowerment. Retrieved April 17, 2018, from www.inc.com/resources/leadership/articles/20070801/musselwhite.html

Obolensky, N. (2014). Complex Adaptive Leadership. Ashgate Publishing Ltd.

A633.8.3.RB - How To Better Enable Leadership

I recently interviewed members from all levels of my organization to ask about how my squadron can better enable leadership at all levels. The purpose of these questions was to improve the organization via the process of action research. For this assignment, I will reflect on the results of my investigation. I will describe the implications from an organizational perspective as well as an individual perspective. I will discuss how the information I uncovered can be used to build a better organization. Finally, I will consider what role I can play to promote leadership at every level of the organization.

I approached some designated leaders as well as subordinates in my organization to discuss how leadership at all levels can be better facilitated. There was a wide array of responses, but lack of accountability was one theme that seemed to be talked about most and were highlighted during the interviews. The implications this interview from an organizational perspective exemplify the need for increased focus on accountability, both good and bad. Accountability is not simply taking the blame. Accountability is taking initiative with thoughtful, strategic follow-through. (Bregman, 2016) Without accountability, no one will learn from mistakes and trust (in leadership and the organization) will diminish. "When employees (and let’s be fair, managers do this too) don’t hold themselves responsible for their actions, it prevents anyone from learning from them" (Pomeroy, 2015, para 4). Seeing that accountability appears to be an issue in my organization, forces me to look inward as well.

As a Senior Non-Commissioned Officer (SNCO) holding a key position in my organization, I reflected on implications of accountability from an individual perspective. Personally, I have a responsibility to encourage leadership and hold myself and others accountable. Airmen, through self-discipline, adhere to high standards and we hold our fellow Airmen accountable to follow our standards (2012). If I do not have personal accountability I cannot lead by example nor can I effectively hold others accountable for their actions.

Understanding that the organization has a lack of accountability allows me to take steps to use this information and build a better organization. Accountability is culture problem that starts with employees not trusting each other to do their jobs. "It’s a domino effect: low accountability leads to mistrust leads to low morale leads to worker devaluation leads to low engagement leads to low productivity" (Pomeroy, para 6). Fortunately, if approached correctly, leaders can practice accountability and produce positive results. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM, n.d.) found that managers need to

• involve employees in setting clear, challenging yet attainable goals and objectives, and give them the authority to accomplish those goals;
• coach employees when they request help, and support employees in all aspects of the job;
• monitor progress towards goals, and provide feed-back that includes credible, useful performance measures;
• provide the training and resources employees need to do the work; and recognize employees for good performance, both formally and informally. 

In short, accountability is about clear expectations and goals, capability, measurement, and feedback. This is something that leaders, including myself, can do to promote leadership at every level of the organization. "Managers who involve employees in setting goals and expectations find that employees understand expectations better, are more confident that they can achieve those expectations, and perform at a higher level" (OPM, para 3). Leaders must hold employees accountable for results as well as recognize their efforts. They must set specific, measurable goals while providing feedback along the way. 

For this assignment, I interviewed both superiors and subordinates in my organization with questions focused on the central theme of how the organization can better enable leadership at all levels. According to the results of my interviews, accountability in my organization is lacking. Lack of accountability can decline trust and low productivity. Accountability, although a culture problem, can be solved by individual leaders at every level. Setting expectations and goals empowers employees to perform at higher levels. Also, enforcing positive accountability promotes leadership at every level. 

Air Force culture: Air Force standards. (2012). Washington, DC: Department of the Air Force.

Bregman, P. (2016, March 09). The Right Way to Hold People Accountable. Retrieved April 08, 2018, from https://hbr.org/2016/01/the-right-way-to-hold-people-accountable

OPM. (n.d.). Accountability Can Have Positive Results. Retrieved April 08, 2018, from https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/performance-management/reference-materials/more-topics/accountability-can-have-positive-results/

Pomeroy, S. (2015, October 06). Why Accountability in the Workplace Matters. Retrieved April 08, 2018, from https://talentculture.com/why-accountability-in-the-workplace-matters/

A633.7.4.RB - How Do Coaches Help?

Based on the readings I will reflect upon the statement below:
To be an executive coach, it is necessary to know that clients are the first and best experts capable of solving their own problems and achieving their own ambitions; that is precisely the main reason why clients are motivated to call on a coach. When clients bring important issues to a coach, often they already made a complete inventory of their personal or professional issues and identified all possible (known) options. Clients have already tried working out their issues alone, and have not succeeded.

How do coaches help?  After reflecting on the statement above, I realize that coaches help others help themselves.  Ralph Stayer, the owner of Johnsonville Sausage transformed his organization by learning to be a better coach.  He described the art of coaching as communicating a vision and then getting people to see their own behavior, harness their own frustrations, and own their own problems (Stayer, 1990).   Coaching is also a way of empowering followers to take initiative. "Coaching is a good technique to...move an individual towards level 5 followership" (Obolensky, p. 179).  If leaders continue to take the lead and/or give followers answers to every question, followers will never grow.  The leadership charade will continue.  Therefore, leaders must encourage followership maturity through coaching and effective questioning

Coaching and effective questioning can help followers help themselves.  When clients (or followers) bring important issues to a coach, often they already identified possible solutions.  However, they may not have the skill or will to lead themselves.  "So how a leader behaves will dictate to some degree the level of followership maturity" (Obolensky, p. 161).  One way to guide the follower to find a way through the problem is using the GROW questioning technique.  "GROW stands for the questions asked" Goal, Reality, Options, Will" (Obolensky, p. 179).  The GROW model uses open-ended questions to 'pull' the follower into solving their own problems.  It is important to keep in mind for followership maturity to become sustainable,  the leader (coach) should start where the observed behavior is and go step by step level 5 followership (Obolesnky, 2014).  Similarly, questioning followers using the GROW technique should flow from Goal to Reality to Options to Will.

For example, I have a follower who has been struggling with the decision whether to separate from the military or reenlist.  Rather than let my biased opinion of wanting him to stay in the military influence his decision, I decided to coach him.  To guide him, I have asked several questions about his life goals and what he would like to achieve.  He explained he wanted to earn his degree and eventually work in a field dedicated to disaster aid.  We discussed how close he was to completing the degree and the realities of earning it while still serving in the Air Force versus if he were to separate.  I asked about other options of what he would do for work if he separated before earning his degree.  Other options were discussed as well about serving another 4-years and how that would impact his overall goal.  Lastly, I asked what the steps were to completing his goal and if he really wanted to do that.  After weighing all his options, he came to his own conclusion that he wanted to extend his enlistment rather than reenlist in order to complete his degree and see begin looking in to employment options soon.

Though my follower in the example above had already tried working out their issue alone, he seemed reluctant to make his own decision. As a leader, your job is to mentor, coach and develop people so they learn to do the work and make decisions on their own (Musselwhite, 2007). I supported my follower through this process and truly believe he came to the same realization he had already (subconsciously) decided and wanted. I helped him help himself.

Employees are capable of solving their problems although they sometimes need help from a coach to make that realization. Often, followers have identified potential solutions to their problems but are not able to clearly see a way forward possibly due to lack of skill or will. Coaches might empower followers to take initiative by utilizing level 5 followership maturity steps and the GROW questioning technique. In this way, coaches can help follower help themselves discover the solution to their problems.

Mussellwhite, C. (2007, August 1). Motivation = Empowerment. Retrieved April 3, 2018, from www.inc.com/resources/leadership/articles/20070801/musselwhite.html

Obolensky, N. (2014). Complex Adaptive Leadership. Ashgate Publishing Ltd.

Stayer, R. (1990). How I Learned to Let My Workers Lead. Harvard Business Review, 68(6), 66-83.

A633.7.3.RB - Leader Follower Relationship

I completed the exercise at the beginning of Chapter 10.  For this task, I was asked to reflect on what my assessment means in terms of me as a leader and my relationship to my followers.  I will describe how my thinking has changed over the course of the past six weeks.  Also, I will explain the significance of this assessment in the context of my future leadership goal and objectives.

As I completed the assessment, I imagined how I responded to similar situations with my last team.  I discovered, as a leader, I am very involved.  My score in the Strategy 3 column was 7 points, whereas the other three columns were 3 points each.  My score indicates that I utilize the "Involve" strategy more than most, holding back allowing others to discover the solution (Obolensky, 2014).  I have always been a people person but this assessment makes me realize I may be too focused on followers and not focused enough on goals.  Ideally I should have scored 4 in each column (Obolensky, 2014).  Furthermore, my scores suggest that I might be working too hard or that I might be taking too direct of an approach (Obolensky, 2014).  Having completed this exercise, and reflecting on my leadership experiences, I recognize that I need to not be so involved and learn to let go.

Before starting this course, I had not heard of the concept of 'wu-wei'.  Also, as I started this book I did not understand how Taoism and Yin/Yang could be ingrained so much in leadership.  "Letting go is hard to do, and yet it is central to the idea of wu wei, which according to ancient Chinese wisdom, is the highest form of leadership" (Obolensky, p. 118).  Over the course of the past six weeks, I have come to understand how wu-wei is practiced in leadership and how I can apply the concept to my leadership 'style'. 

For example, I have been in the Air Force as a crew chief for 13 years.  I have worked on two different airframes and taught aircraft fundamentals to hundreds of students.  I enjoy working on planes and often think I know the best way to go about repairing aircraft discrepancies. However, two things are wrong with the situation.  First, I am not very experienced on the B-2 bomber.  The systems are different than I am used to and I only have a few months of actual 'hands-on' practice. My inexperience can lead to the classic leadership charade, if I were to step in believing I know better than my Airmen.  Second, if I step in out of fear of poor performance rather than letting my Airmen do the work, my Airmen may think that I do not trust them.  Trust and creating an empowered environment can yield great results.  Although I naturally find it hard to 'let go', giving discretion and freedom to act to my Airmen will empower them and give them more willingness to take initiative.  "One often finds that wen one lets go, things tend to sort themselves out often faster and better than if one tried to control it" (Obolensky, p. 118). Recognizing (and practicing) that I need to let-go is crucial to my leadership goals.

Some of my leadership goals are motivating my followers and being adaptable.  Although I am an involved leader, I need to let-go more often and empower others to take the initiative and solve problems.  In turn, this will motivate my followers.  Recognizing the natural drive to be a part of the solution is a critical first step to motivating people to do their best (Musselwhite, 2007). Letting go is also critical to being adaptable.  Letting go can be seen as embracing ambiguity but enforces followers' freedom to act.  Ambiguity tolerance enables freedom to move easily without too much constraint (Obolensky, 2014).  Practicing wu-wei will empower and motivate my followers as well as allow me to be a more adaptable leader.

This weeks lesson and assessment showed me that I am an involved leader but possibly too involved. My scores indicated that I might be working too hard.  I realize now that I need to embrace wu-wei and learn to let-go.  Allowing my followers to take initiative is one way to  let-go and it demonstrates my trust in their abilities.  Furthermore, letting-go empowers my followers and will, in-turn motivate them.  Also, practicing wu-wei will help me accept ambiguity and become a more adaptable leader.

Mussellwhite, C. (2007, August 1). Motivation = Empowerment. Retrieved April 3, 2018, from www.inc.com/resources/leadership/articles/20070801/musselwhite.html

Obolensky, N. (2014). Complex adaptive leadership. (2nd edition.). London, UK: Gower/Ashgate