Organizational Development

MSOP 626Scott Bohlin

To Build the Right Leader According to Jim Collins author of “Level 5 Leadership: The

Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve”, the essential ingredient for taking a company to greatness is having a "Level 5" leader, an executive in whom extreme personal humility blends paradoxically with intense professional will.

What we find in a level 5 leader is humility, will, ferocious resolve, and the tendency to give credit to others while assigning blame to themselves.

Obviously if we are talking about a level 5 leader there must be at least 4 other levels. Leaders at the four other levels can produce different levels of success but can never take a company to a sustained level of excellence.

A level 5 leader is not the only component needed to attaining greatness in a company however, but we will get to that later.

So what is the Level 5 Hierarchy?

The Level 5 Hierarchy Level 5 leaders are a study in duality: Modest and Willful, Shy and

Fearless.The Level 5 Hierarchy- Level 1- Highly Capable Individual- Makes productive contributions

through talent, knowledge, skills, and good work habits. Level 2- Contributing Team Member- Contributes to the achievement

of group objectives; works effectively with others in a group setting. Level 3- Competent Manager- Organizes people and resources toward

the effective and efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives. Level 4- Effective Leader- Catalyzes commitment to and vigorous

pursuit of a clear and compelling vision; stimulates the group to high performance standards.

Level 5- Executive- Builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical combination of personal humility plus professional will.

(Ref.1)

You must have someone to Lead… Just as his words told us the mix for our leader Jim Collins also

gives us another step and writes “Great leaders do not start with strategy and vision; they start with getting the right people first getting the wrong people out and strategy second”. (Ref.1)

This mix is one of that thrives in both formal and informal means of business for success. Why fight what works? According to Author Kathy Williams “Informal relationships rather than formal management structures are where work really gets done, problems are solved, and companies gain competitive advantage, particularly at large companies” (Ref.2).

When surveyed employees indicated they preferred a peer at work to turn to when they need to get something done, and they do so because they respect that person's knowledge and experience.

Utilizing a formal structure gives a business its “clinical” structure with rules and regulations. It is the framework of a business while the informal organization within is the lifeblood, fluid and running as needed to keep things successful and productive.

Making the Transformation Organizational transformation is a transition between organizational states

that differ substantially in crucial features such as strategy and structure (Ref.

3). During this transformation we find ourselves in the midst of multiple and

simultaneous major changes at the same time. Tushman and Romanelli examined some areas of change in strategic

orientation using a set of choices as key reference for organizational activities in five specific domains (Ref. 3):

1. Core values and beliefs2. Business unit strategy3. Distribution of power4. Structure 5. Control systems A main purpose for making these major transformations is to address

performance gaps. As Cyert and March 1967 explain it “The prospect that performance could fall short from aspiration levels-either because of expected diminishing performance due to environmental threats or because of higher aspirations raised by new opportunities-will likely impel decision makers to search for and implement new organizational routines” (Ref. 3).

Don’t forget the other guy When conducting our transformation and making our strategic

plan we must remember its not just our organizations needs to take into account. We must define the needs of the customers and the advantages of the competition.

Jole Urbany gives us three very important fundamentals in this regard in his book “Grow by focusing on what matters: Competitive strategy in 3 circles” (Ref. 6) he lists-

1. The first principle is defining advantage from a perspective of customer value.

2. The second principle is developing insight about opportunity in a way that differentiates from the competition.

3. The third principle centers around developing distinctive capabilities, resources, and assets to execute the positioning strategy

The Perfect Plan With a leader, a workforce, and organizational transformation

we now need a plan. Strategic planning is a commonly used management process, employed by managers in both the private and public sector to determine the allocation of resources in order to develop financial and strategic performance (Ref. 4).

It is generally agreed upon that strategic planning consists of three components:

1. Formulation- Which involves setting objectives and assessing external and internal environments.

2. Evaluation3. Selecting strategic alternatives Rhyne, 1987 points out that “A balanced approach has been

found to be associated with greater long term financial success” (Ref. 4).

The Final Product Organizational climate, culture, and leadership. The need for each and

the balance of the three are major factors of success. 1. For the leadership it is shown in the efficiency of the management and

the affirmative qualities of the manager which effects the employee's motivation and thus results in production shifts.

2. The culture of your workforce will dictate the efficiency of your organization which depends on the efficiency, dedication and honesty of its workers. If the members of the team are efficient, then they will work with more enthusiasm. Then the organization will be able to achieve its goals.

3. Finally you must have a favorable climate for your employees to be motivated to work in. Denison, 1996 lists four attributes of an organizations climate (Ref. 5):

a) a Supportive climateb) a climate of risk takingc) a climate of cohesivenessd) a climate with the motivation to achieve

ClosingOnce again I leave you with words of wisdom from a great mind. John Quincy Adams said” If your actions inspire others to dream more, do more, and become more, you are a leader”.

Thank you for your time, good day.

References• (Ref.1) Jim Collins, Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and

Fierce Resolve, Harvard Business Review 83.7,8 (Jul/Aug 2005)• (Ref.2) Kathy Williams, Employees Turn to "Informal Organization“,

Strategic Finance 89.3 (Sep 2007)• (Ref.3) Daniel J Wischnevsk, Fariborz Damanpour, Organizational

Transformation and Performance: An Examination of Three Perspectives, Journal of Managerial Issues 18.1 (Spring 2006)

• (Ref.4) David Jennings, John J Disney, Designing the strategic planning process: does psychological type matter?, Management Decision 44.5 (2006)

• (Ref.5) Prabhjot Kaur Mahal, Organizational Culture and Organizational Climate as a Determinant of Motivation, IUP Journal of Management Research 8.10 (Oct 2009)

• (Ref.6) Joel E. Urbany, Grow by focusing on what matters: Competitive strategy in 3 circles, Publication Date: 2010 Credo E-Books