Chapter 3: Concepts of Leadership
For centuries, academics and professionals have studied the nature of leadership and produced enough material to fill a library. Executive management degree programs dedicate courses to the practice of leadership, and writers endlessly publish articles about leadership in journals and magazines. How can this Workbook distill all of that for a Team Leader?
Fortunately, there are some basic shared concepts of effective leadership. This article will introduce some basic leadership concepts and identify resources for more information. Team Leaders are encouraged to use these concepts to understand their own approaches to leadership, examine how their leadership qualities may differ from those of other leaders, and acknowledge that there is no single path to becoming a leader.
Chapter 3 learning objectives
- Explore where leadership "comes from".
- Learn what followers need.
- Describe the differences between management and leadership.
- Describe the differences between tactics and strategy.
- Identify the kind of social power most relevant for PBEM volunteer leaders.
- Understand the balance between group process and action.
- Recognize the value of delegation.
Leadership Concept #1: Leadership as a Role
In American culture, our first thought when we think about effective leaders are often associated with individuals at the tops of organizational hierarchies. Visualized as strong-willed and rugged, these people push themselves upward to command followers. Some highly collaborative leaders in history, such as Martin Luther King, Jr., may even be rewritten as powerful individuals without acknowledging the power that very leader vested in the people around them.
An effective and brilliant military commander like Napoleon Bonaparte would probably make a terrible community volunteer leader. Portland NET is a collaborative group. As such, followers process leadership differently than a business, military, or paramilitary group does. In collaborative groups, leadership is best not approached as a magic quality invested in rare and forceful individuals. Instead, Team Leaders should think of leadership as a role that:
- Requires a specific and acquired skillset; and,
- Is equal to other roles in NET.
The question, ‘Who ought to be boss?’ is like asking, ‘Who ought to be the tenor in the quartet?’ Obviously, the man who can sing tenor.— Henry Ford
On the first point, a volunteer can train, study, and work to gain leadership skills. Similar to an Amateur Radio Operator (ARO) learning to operate a radio through training and experience, Team Leaders can learn the skills necessary for effective leadership.
Second, in NET, roles are filled by individuals with the skills, training, and experience that make them effective in that role. "Team Leader" is one of those roles, equal to other roles, and carried out by individuals with the leadership skillset. Importantly, this also means that the title of "Team Leader" does not imply coercive power over other Team Members. Nonetheless, though Team Leaders and Team Members are considered equal, a leadership role implies "followers". This will take us to the next Leadership Concept.
Leadership is a series of behaviors rather than a role for heroes.— Margaret Wheatley
Leadership Concept #2: What Do Followers Need?
Leaders have followers. In fact, you are a leader only if others follow. In NET, "follower" does not carry meanings of servility. Instead, followers are simply trained NET members and other volunteers with an assigned job or role other than leadership.
According to leadership scholars Tom Rath and Barry Conchie, followers need four basic things from leaders: trust, stability, hope, and compassion. We will explore them in the context of NET leadership.
Trust
Trust represents the basic currency between a leader and followers. Leaders build trust with followers through relationships, and trusted leaders follow through and do the things they say they will do (i.e. aligning actions with words). Leaders also build trust by facilitating cooperation between members of their team, impartially resolving conflict between others, giving honest feedback, being authentic, and checking in about concerns voiced by team members.
Accountability factors into trust. A leader should justify their actions and decisions. Most important of all, a leader should take responsibility for their mistakes: own it, convey remorse, point up the learning opportunity the mistake presents, and follow through by taking action.
Leaders also build trust by demonstrating expertise and know-how. For a NET Team Leader, this does not mean knowing how all components of disaster response work (after all, that's a whole career's worth of knowledge!) A NET Team Leader does not need to claim expert proficiency in first aid, search and rescue, radio communications, and on and on. An expert NET Team Leader sees the big picture and understands how all those other parts fit together into community resilience and response readiness.
Stability
Trust bears on a leader's predictability, bringing us to stability. Trusted leaders avoid behaving wildly inconsistently. Stability also applies to managing team goals. Volunteers want to know where the team is headed and that the team will get stronger as time and work moves forward.
In his book Leaders Eat Last, Simon Sinek describes a team like a family and the importance of building a "circle of safety" and cultivate an atmosphere of belonging. A lack of feelings of belonging and safety can create an atmosphere of insecurity, indifference, or chaos. This drives team members into managing their emotions instead of working on the tasks at hand.
