The Leadership Myths

1. The Leadership Myths • It’s rare • It’s found at the top • It’s about being super-human #1 #2 #3 With acknowledgement to Bev Alban-Metcalfe of www.realworld-group.com Steve Onyett.

2. Sparkling leadership • As you look back what sparkling moments stand out for you as experiences of being really well lead or managed? What did you learn about worked well? • As you look back what sparkling moments stand out for you as examples of where you were really effective as a leader or someone making a positive contribution to change? What did you notice worked well for you at that time? Steve Onyett.

3. What is leadership? • Some view leadership as a set of traits or competencies possessed by certain individuals • others view leadership as an emergent social phenomena, a social process shaped by relationship within groups. Bolden, 2004 Steve Onyett.

4. Law of the Situation • Leadership is transient and contextual • Where knowledge and experience are needed the person who can is the right person to do it. • Not all leadership should be determined by position power yet people with authority should be prepared to exercise it. Steve Onyett.

5. The essence of leadership and management • …is the creation of environments in which people can be creative.. Where they can exercise power. • leadership can only be judged by results = valued outcomes for users and their supports, and other key stakeholders Steve Onyett.

6. Three Domains for Improvement • Leadership: The art of getting things done by enabling others to achieve more than they could or would do otherwise. • Improvement Science: The study and practice of enhancing the performance of processes and systems of work. • Care Delivery Systems: The practical realities and future possibilities of how care is experienced by professionals, users and the public. Steve Onyett.

7. ImprovementScience Leadership Care DeliverySystems The power lies in the overlap Leadership in Health & Social care Improvement of health & social care Leadership for theImprovement of Health & Social Care Leadership for ImprovementImprovement of Leadership

8. Setting Direction Broad scanning Political astuteness Intellectual flexibility Personal Qualities Drive for results Seizing the future Self belief Self awareness Self Management Drive for improvement Personal integrity Collaborative working Leading change through people Effective and strategic influencing Holding to account Delivering the Service Empowering others Leadership Qualities Framework Steve Onyett.

9. Common Communication Development Decision-making Integrity Role model Negotiation Knowledge Professional competence Setting standards Flexibility & focus Leadership Inspiration Transformation Direction Trust Empowerment Creativity Innovation Motivation Management Delegation Performance Planning Accountability Finance Teamwork & team building Monitoring & evaluating Formal supervision Control Leadership and Management (the TOPPS version) Steve Onyett.

11. Success factors for leadership • having a vision for their organisation which transcends short-term issues and targets • having the skills to communicate their vision to others • building trust among different stakeholders • being passionate about high performance and high quality in their organisations • being authentic – believing in what they do and transmitting this to their staff and those around them From NHS Confederation Report- The challenges of leadership in the NHS. 2007 Steve Onyett.

12. Success factors for leadership • being visible to their workforce and to stakeholders: walking the shop-floor and knowing many of their frontline staff by name • being ‘their own person’: “being strong enough to do it your way” From NHS Confederation Report- The challenges of leadership in the NHS. 2007 Steve Onyett.

13. Success factors for leadership • being prepared to shape their own destiny rather than simply feeling deluged by external pressures and initiatives • building good teams around them – which undoubtedly helps to avoid getting ground down by the day-to-day demands of the job • being able to read the strategic direction of the service over a longer time framework and translate this into what it means for their organisation – and then communicating this locally. From NHS Confederation Report- The challenges of leadership in the NHS. 2007 Steve Onyett.

14. The time challenge • “the best leaders are those that deal with the top-down pressure and create space in which they can develop and pursue strategy. However, this is difficult and has to be achieved in spite of the system”. Finding of Goodwin, N. [date]“ Leadership and the UK health service”. Health Policy, 51(1):149–60 • Need to defend time for ad hoc contact- being visible around the organisation. • Emails, meetings and other demands compete! From NHS Confederation Report- The challenges of leadership in the NHS. 2007 Steve Onyett.

15. Transformational leaders are: • Charismatic: Providing role models, aligning others around a vision. • Inspirational: Providing meaning and optimism about the vision and its attainability • Intellectually stimulating: Encourages questioning of basic assumptions, and to consider problems from new and unique perspectives. • Individually considerate: Developing the potential of others. Steve Onyett.

16. “Transformational” leadership- roots • James MacGregor Burns transformation as that which turns followers into leaders and leaders into moral agents. • Transformational leadership occurs when people elevate each other into a higher level of motivation and morality. • Thus inextricably linked with the social meaning that people attach to their work. Steve Onyett.

17. A competency based approach is not enough. + Degree to which engaging or ”transformational” Need is to enact competencies in a transformational way + Degree of competence With acknowledgement to Bev Alban-Metcalfe of www.realworld-group.com Steve Onyett.

18. Goleman’s (1995) five independent but mutually reinforcing components of effective leadership • moral purpose; • understanding the change process; • relationship building; • knowledge creation and sharing; and • coherence making. Steve Onyett.

19. “New paradigm” approach • Less concerned with “Great man” models of leadership • More concerned with change/improvement • “Transformational”- visionary leadership • More “soft stuff” emphasis on working through others With acknowledgement to Bev Alban-Metcalfe of www.realworld-group.com Steve Onyett.

20. “New paradigm” approach • Leaders with more faith in other people than they have in themselves (and they have a lot of faith in themselves!) • Leader as servant and partner • Ambition, optimism, openness and personal humility • Importance of connectedness and inclusiveness With acknowledgement to Bev Alban-Metcalfe of www.realworld-group.com Steve Onyett.

21. Reflections of Sir Gerry Robinson • Recognise ability • “Management is not an exercise in bludgeoning people. It is about getting people on side, about making them feel important. The secret is to make them feel special, part of an organisation that works, where they play their part”. • Chimes with Alimo-Metcalfe research on leadership From NHS Confederation Report- The challenges of leadership in the NHS. 2007 Steve Onyett.

22. Reflections of Sir Gerry Robinson • Achieve role clarity. • Give CEOs more control of their organisations. • “There is too much interference from the centre and managers are not left to get on with the job. Clinicians don’t feel management is there to lead or to set the rules….. I felt that managers do not believe they have the right to manage.” From NHS Confederation Report- The challenges of leadership in the NHS. 2007 Steve Onyett.

23. Reflections of Sir Gerry Robinson • Felt that managers should be given clear objectives and a budget and allowed to get on with it. • A good approach to working with complexity- specify ends not means. • Sir Gerry is solution focused…! “It is about making the right things happen and stopping the wrong things happening”. From NHS Confederation Report- The challenges of leadership in the NHS. 2007 Steve Onyett.

24. “New paradigm” approach “Leadership is a contact sport not a virtual reality” With acknowledgement to Bev Alban-Metcalfe of www.realworld-group.com Steve Onyett.

25. Conclusions from TLQ research • A transformational or engaging leader may be defined as someone who encourages and enables the development of an organisation that is characterised by a culture based on integrity, openness and transparency, and genuine valuing of others. With acknowledgement to Bev Alban-Metcalfe of www.realworld-group.com Steve Onyett.

26. Conclusions from TLQ research • This shows itself in concern for the development and well-being of others, in the ability to unite different groups of stakeholders in articulating a joint vision, and in delegation of a kind that empowers and develops potential, coupled with the encouragement of questioning and of thinking which is critical as well as strategic. With acknowledgement to Bev Alban-Metcalfe of www.realworld-group.com Steve Onyett.

27. Conclusions from TLQ research • Transformational leadership is essentially open-ended in nature, enabling organisations not only to cope with change, but also to be proactive in shaping their future. At all times transformational behaviour is guided by ethical principles. With acknowledgement to Bev Alban-Metcalfe of www.realworld-group.com Steve Onyett.

28. Research using the Team Leadership Questionnaire • “Showing genuine concern” has the biggest impact on motivation. • Being interested in your needs and aspirations and how thing feel for you. With acknowledgement to Bev Alban-Metcalfe of www.realworld-group.com Steve Onyett.

29. Gowdy and Rapp’s observations • managers constantly modeled good practice • focused less on traditional features of management such as attending meetings, preparing reports and proposals • spent most of their time helping either users or staff to achieve their goals Steve Onyett.

30. As they say.. • “My favourite thing to say is, ‘You help people figure out what it is they want; you figure out how to help them get it; then you figure out how to get them to keep it.’ Mixed in with all that practical stuff is some kind of friendship, being a vehicle for them to broaden their support network... I think that’s critical”(Gowdy and Rapp, 1989, p.49). Steve Onyett.

31. Study of Crisis Resolution Teams highlights IMPACT OF • High concern with and engagement of staff • Encouraging a shared vision • Team leadership capabilities With acknowledgement to Bev Alban-Metcalfe of www.realworld-group.com Steve Onyett.

32. Study of Crisis Resolution Teams highlights • CRTs with higher admission rates had less positive culture-particularly leadership quality at team level re “engagement of staff” • Individual productivity of staff also associated with this factor • “vision” and “team leadership” significantly associated with attitudes to work and well-being at work but not on performance With acknowledgement to Bev Alban-Metcalfe of www.realworld-group.com Steve Onyett.

33. The gender issue • Women more transformational than men on all leadership scales, and significantly more transformational on most of the scales, irrespective of whether the person rating them was male or female Alimo-Metcalfe, B. & Alban-Metcalfe, J. (2003). 'Gender & Leadership: A Masculine Past, but a Feminine Future?'. Proceedings of the BPS Annual Occupational Psychology Conference, Brighton, January 8-10th, pp 67-70. With acknowledgement to Bev Alban-Metcalfe of www.realworld-group.com Steve Onyett.

34. Kouzes and Posner describe five fundamental actions which people said build the credibility of those they wanted to lead them. • Know your constituents. • Stand up for your beliefs. • Speak with passion. • Lead by example. • Conquer yourself. Steve Onyett.

35. Courageous leadership and the challenging of basic assumptions • e.g.– “Delegation of nursing management to local authority social services is therefore a definite route to partnership for [Long Term Conditions & s31 health act flexibilities allow ], • but will anyone dare take it? “. • Lorimer, R. (2006) p47 Steve Onyett.

36. Four principles of effective team leadership • “Clients are people” • “Learning for a Living” • “Making something from nothing” • “Focus on client outcomes” Steve Onyett.

37. The filling in the sandwich • Middle management the critical layer between corporate management and practitioners. • The most stressed group in the NHS workforce. • Often feel disempowered- so like practitioners exercise what power they have by saying “no” or taking flight from authority. • Thus need to link their development strongly with neighbouring layers in hosting organisations From NHS Confederation Report- The challenges of leadership in the NHS. 2007 Steve Onyett.

38. Can leadership be learned? YES, BUT…. • Leadership is a set of skills but it is dispersed and dependent upon the context and the job needing to be done. • How you do it is as important as what you do!- be transactional in a transformational-engaging way • There are significant emotional components • Reflective practice and learning is needed; rather than books or story-telling alone • Context, methods, and participants must be carefully matched for success Steve Onyett.

39. Processes of development • “..leadership practice takes shape in the interactions between people and their situations, rather than from the actions of an individual leader” (Spillane, 2004) Steve Onyett.

40. Processes of development • “..if we consider leadership as a collective process rather than an individual property then we need to challenge the traditional approach of sending only senior management on leadership development programmes, and encouraging others in the organisation to ‘follow the leader’”. Bolden, 2005, p.7 Steve Onyett.

41. What are the major blocks to the success of leadership development initiatives? #1 #2 #3 • Senior managers- excluding themselves • Senior managers- discrepant views with subordinates regarding what leadership is • Senior managers- simply blocking development From Alimo-Metcalfe, B. et al (2000). British Companies at the beginning of the 21st Century. Factors that impede leadership development initiatives. London Carers Research Forum. With acknowledgement to Bev Alban-Metcalfe of www.realworld-group.com Steve Onyett.