Distributed LeadershipLeadership is the activity of mobilising

people to respond to adaptive challenges by clarifying their guiding values, developing new strategies that incorporate these guiding values and learning new ways of operating. This ongoing activity is achieved by individuals/organisation developing developing the 4 key capabilities of sensemaking, relating, visioning and inventing

The capabilities are outlined in the distributed leadership model

Numerous models/perspectives: emergent, dispersed, informal, organic, decentralisation, democratic

Basic idea: leadership at all levels, not necessarily position-

relatedDecision-making is but one aspect of leadership;

organisation invents the way decision-making is undertaken (Gore)

Distributed Leadership is the undertaking of leadership at various levels within the organisation by people with and without formal authority

Our model: based on Sloan Leadership Model

distributed leadership model recommends “developing productive relationships and networks, visualizing the desired outcome, and inventing ways of working together to realize that vision.”

How is this leadership: think of the capabilities as:Building blocks: enabling capabilities, creative and

implementationEverybody adds something to the whole

Extant literature on the organisationFit with DLM

Environmental uncertaintyNeed for flexibility

Manufacturing, mass customisation, workforce, strategic options

Flatter structuresForm of the organisation: structure precedes

strategy or strategy precedes structure?Expectations of staff

Sloan Distributed LeadershipViews leadership as a capacity i.e. a potential that

is yet to be realisedThis capacity resides in the individual or the

organisationThis capacity is built on 4 capabilities:

sensemaking, relating, inventing, visioning: abilityIf residing in individual, must cycle thru these 4

capabilities or do so in partnership with othersIf residing in the organisation, formal leader must

facilitate the development of these capabilities within the organisation AND facilitate boundary spanning activities at all levels

Additional component to the model: Change signature

A consideration

DLM cannot work if you have the ‘wrong’ people in the organisation

Collins: Get the right people in the right seats on your bus

One of those people is the formal authorityAfter that it is recruitmentWith the right people, your structure,

systems, processes (i.e. components of the DLM) can be aligned

Counterpoint: All organisational structure is the art of the compromise: Ford (Bill Ford vs Jacques Nasser)

DLM continued4 assumptions: Leadership is

Distributed: an ongoing process involving a set of individuals taking on a variety of tasks and working interdependently. It is not a position or a single person; Senge and systems perspective

personal and developmental (consistent with HB: change LS style; Fiedler: change member relations; personality: manifestations can be changed)

About change (manager-leader distinction)How you create change depends on situation:

Nature of followers, organisational culture, strong/weak situation

Evolutionary: develops over timeLearn to change your style e.g. HB, personalityAffected by traits not determined by traits

The 4 capabilities: a brief look

Sensemaking: is not only researchA dynamic, on-going, iterative process that

requires ‘objectivity’ aimed at getting to the truth of the matter: what is the reality?

Gain UnderstandingRelating:

3 components: inquiry, advocacy and connectivity

The objective of Relating is to achieve unity and understanding by improving one’s ability to build relationships. Inquiry: to understand where someone is

coming fromThis is not a license to practice subjectivism or

relativism: values impact on thisIt is intended to build understanding of others.

It is balanced by your self-understanding and advocacy of your own viewpoint

With these components in place, we can then try to build networks/coalitions/alliances of people to create change

Visioning:Much has been said, but practiced littleAligns peopleEstablishes a quid pro quo

something for something: If I give up something, what can I hope for in return

Dreams and creative tensionInventing:

New ways of …Processes and structuresHow can we get people to work together:

pertains to mobilising peopleBoundary spanning, decision-making, team

work/dynamics

Change SignatureYour characteristic way of doing things,

how you see the world ( a world view?)Change thumbprintThis evolves as wellPertains to ACTIONYour actions may reflect your valuesWhat do these quotes say about their

speakers?

Kouzes and Posner, 2003, p 57 & 58)

Technical Challenge

Adaptive Challenge

SensemakingSimply put it is making senseMaking sense of uncertainties in

environments through interactionDeals with the establishment and

interpretation of meaningLinks information, knowledge and meaningPeople act on the basis of the meaning they

createAn ongoing iterative process directed at

eliciting meaning and hence understandingObjective is gain an understanding of the

situation the organisation is facing at this moment in timeNokia: paper mills (1860s) to

telecommunications (1960s)The hard reality: The Stockdale ParadoxPersonal traits that assist?

Properties of sensemaking:

Grounded in Identity Construction

RetrospectiveEnactive of Sensible

EnvironmentsSocialOngoingFocused on and by

Extracted CuesDriven by Plausibility Rather

than Accuracy

Grounded in Identity Construction

Begins with a Sensemaker Situation Meaning: which ‘hat’ are you wearing

Identity DependenceThe meaning you derive is contingent on the

perceptual map you apply; this depends on your identity at the time of sensemakingWhat was your identity when you stepped thru the door

after the break? How did it affect what you said or did (or did not do?)

People act in the direction of maintaining identityDerives from Need for a Sense of IdentitySelf-ReferentialMicrosoft and the internet: "Sometimes we do get

taken by surprise. For example, when the Internet came along, we had it has a fifth or sixth priority.“ (Gates, 1998)

ContrastIdentity: Compare

"Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages. Bitter cold. Long months of winter. Constant danger. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success.“ (Advertisement allegedly placed by Ernest Shackleton in The Times in December 1901)

“Better a live donkey than a dead lion” Shackleton, Arctic explorer

RetrospectiveAfter the horse has bolted … so that it won’t

happen again ... But:The past has been reconstructed knowing the outcome,

which means things never happened exactly the way they are remembered … and

Memory vs recall:What is placed into memory: selective perception: your

filterAttention is directed backward from a specific point in

time. Whatever is occurring at that moment will influence what is discovered when people glance backward – recall

How did you go about placing the farmers?Would I get exactly the same account from everybody?

Enactive of Sensible Environments

People Produce Part of the Environment they faceObserver effect: The act of observing an object changes

itA marketing campaign: you consider possible

competitor actions and incorporate them in your planPeople Create Environments (action),

Environments Constrain ActionsIf farmer A is here, that means pears are grown by

Farmer B, implying that the truck cannot be driven by Farmer C; also

X looks very smart and seems to know what to do; I want to impress X so I won’t say anything silly; I will agree with X’s analysis

No Detached, External Environment:Not discrete but continuous.

SocialLinked to precedingSensemaking affected by others

Physically present or otherwise“Besides if my mum found out she’d kill me

…”People obey the rules only to the extent that

they believe that they will be caught e.g. speeding, drink-driving, stealing, cheating on tax

So sensemaking is never solitaryHow did other people affect what you

contributed to the exercise?Talk, Discourse, and Conversation

Ongoing

Sensemaking Never Stops; we do it sub-consciously

Continuous Flows: We separate experiences into blocs: at work, at

home, in traffic, lunchSeamless but containing cues we extract … yet

Interruptions and Emotional ResponsesInterruption to a flow typically induces an

emotional response, which then paves the way for emotion to influence sensemaking.

How aware are you at any one moment? Situation awareness (human factors)

Focused on and by Extracted Cues

Only that which stands out is perceived: failure to match expectations: Extracted Cue

Fundamental to learning

Driven by Plausibility Rather Than Accuracy

Accuracy is Nice but not NecessaryStrength of SensemakingWhy Accuracy is Secondary

Need to FilterEmbellishment: I got the impression …” “I

assumed …”Impossibility: you’ll never know for sure at

the moment whether your sensemaking (meaning) is right or wrong hence

Does your story make sense: naturalistic decision-making

Iterative

JelloConsumers are not buying and Sales are

trending down:What do you do?

Sensemaking and Distributed LeadershipDynamic external environmentFormal Leader does not have all the

answersOthers in the organisation aid

sensemaking: e.g. they detect the deviation between the expected and the unexpected: extracted cuesIBM in 1994: great technical ability. Like

Microsoft did not recognise potential of internet (TV feed of Winter Olympics diverted to internet with IBM logo replaced with Sun Microsystems’ Logo) – extracted cue recognised by lower level manager who agitated for change

By 1999 25% of revenue was net related

Lessons

Be conscious of identity:your own and others at time of sensemakingIdentity and extracted cue

Cast your eyes over past events to see if those events are relevant (can they become part of the story)Jello

Be aware that you are creating the environment in which you are acting:Affect what others say, do or don’t doConstrain and opne up actions for yourself and for others

You learn from others:Water cooler chats, morning teas and boundary spanning

Sensemaking is not just researchWhich is better a probability sample or a non probability

sample?