reframing leadership

Dr. Patricia ChaseAACP Academic Leadership

Fellows Program August 2014

Our Leadership Studies this Week

Talents

Knowledge

Skills

But this session is focused exclusively on academic pharmacy – and you!

Session Material Check •PowerPoint

•Bibliography

•Assessment instrument & scoring

•List of symbolic frame ideas

Comments from ALFP Fellows & Mentors “Now I know why a project failed that I thought I

carefully designed. I didn’t design the project considering all four frames.”

“I wish I knew this information 20 years ago!” “I took the tools home and immediately started

seeing new things in my college.”“The frames help me solve problems in a new way.

I’m much more effective.” “I used the four frames of leadership that I

learned from the ALFP session.” (Karimi, R. – 2012 ALFP)

We Are Not Trying to Make You Deans! We want you to enjoy the leadership role

you have.We want you to be more effective in your

current role by giving you tools to take back home.

We want you to think about what comes next in your career. You are the future of the academy and it is important that we do succession planning.In the next 5 years there will be a

tremendous number of positions open: Dean, Associate/Assistant Deans, and Department Chairs. Career opportunities will abound!

My Leadership Journey Confessions of a leadership “junkie.” Dissertation: A Study of Academic Leadership (what it

takes to become an excellent dean). The AACP New Deans Conference in 1994 changed my

path – ALFP can be this for you. In my 14th year of being dean (both public and private) Dean’s Compass - many ALFP authors! Harvard Institute for Management and Leadership in

Education (MLE)

Like you, I’m a work in progress!

The Concept of Frames

Case study:Course in Ph.D. program. Assignment: To

read the B&D book and apply the concepts to an organization.

The course totally changed the way I look at an organization and make decisions.

It began a 20+ year study of the concept of frames.

Learned to use the frames to look at what is going on and then how to solve problems.

Our Goals for Today To assess your preference for each of the

frames.To describe the four frames that leaders

can use to become more effective in solving organizational issues.

To define the process of reframing and describe how it can be used to solve problems.

To discuss how the four frames can be used to develop a stronger team.

Private Goals: Our Journey To discuss leadership in a more personal context

by sharing lessons we have learned on our personal leadership journeys. You’ll never see this in books!

Please Note: Not all of the slides are in your handouts. This is intentional because some of this material reflects my personal journey.

Our next session will allow your team facilitators to share their personal leadership stories - one of the best parts of the program!

Our most important rule: What happens at

Airlie stays at Airlie!

Private Goals: Our Journey To have you begin considering the next steps

on your leadership journey. Please use a page in your journal to write

personal reflections about your leadership experiences.

Remember: Some of the most important leadership lessons you will learn during “bad” times or from poor leaders.

“They will make you better or bitter.”

There are no right or wrong answers! Be honest, don’t try to second guess the survey. Please take ten minutes to complete it the 32 items.To score the assessment, put the numbers in the appropriate spaces on the scoring sheet. Add the numbers and put the total in the box. We will discuss your results in a few minutes.

The Concept of Frames

Lee Bolman and Terry Deal wrote the book: Modern Approaches to Understanding and Managing Organizations in 1984. Seven years later it was released as Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice and Leadership. The 4th edition was released in 2008.

Frames are views (lenses) of an organization that provide a context for much of the existing theory and research on organizations.

The Four Frames

•The Structural Frame – Factories/Machines

•The Human Resource Frame - Families

•The Political Frame – Jungles

•The Symbolic Frame – Temples/TheatersOrganizations have all four frames! If you don’t

recognize this, you may be unaware of the forces that prevent you from solving problems.

Frames

…“are both windows on the world and lenses that bring the world into focus.”

…“filter out some things while allowing others to pass through easily.”

…“help to order experiences and decide what action to take.”

By the end of this session you will not only know your preference for each frame, but you will also apply these lenses to solve common problems that face faculty leaders every day.

Bolman and Deal 2003

The Harvard Program

Institute for Management and Leadership in Education (MLE).

Two week intensive program. Lee Bolman facilitated four days to using

the frames to solve problems in higher education.

Bolman used a two step process – frame analysis/problem resolution.

Assessing Your Survey

Structural

Human Resource

Political

Symbolic Are you equally strong in all four frames?

Is there one that is move dominant?

My Report Card - 1993

Frame Grade

Structural +

Human Resource

Political

Symbolic

+

-

-

Advantages of Frames

Similar to the StrengthsFinder - when you know your “frame” strengths you can work to enhance your understanding of your dominant frame(s).

You can develop your understanding and abilities in the other frames. The frames can be learned.

Knowledge of frames can keep you out of trouble. Reframing is a critical skill and it can also be

learned. What is reframing?

Reframing The ability to examine the same situation

from multiple vantage points to develop a holistic picture. Given a problem, you should use each of the lenses to see it more clearly.

Effective leaders change lenses when things don't make sense or aren’t working.

Reframing offers the promise of powerful new options to solve problems.

The ability to reframe experience enriches and broadens a leader’s repertoire.

Bolman and Deal 2003

Reframing

“If all you have is a hammer,

everything looks like a nail.”

Format for discussion of Frames For each frame:

Definition of leadership styles that are prominent Example of how the frame applies to higher educationAdvantages of the framePotential problems in the framePersonal reflectionsSharing reflections – personal and group

h team will work together and then share stories with the group.

The Structural FrameEmphasizes goals, rules, formal

relationships and the rational side of an organization.

The Structural FrameA structural leader clarifies goals, attends to

the relationship between structure and environment and develops a structure that is clear to everyone.

A structural leader focuses on tasks, facts and logic rather than personality and emotions.

A structural leader defines roles and responsibilities; clarifies organizational goals.

You must have structure, otherwise organizations misdirect energy and resources!

Structural Frame LeaderAuthoritarian, analyst, architect, military

model, bureaucrats.Frequently believes that organizations

require tight control. However, it doesn’t have to be. In specialized areas where you have higher levels of expertise and performance (professions) a less complex structure works. Here, the structural approach should be broad and more subtle.

The Structural Frame in Education Change strategy: Analyze, design,

implement.Organizations operating in rapidly changing

turbulent times need more complex, yet flexible structures. Leaders must understand the complexity of the organization and create the right structure.

Important elements of the structural frame include: Policies and procedures; organizational chart; departmental structures; job descriptions; accreditation and assessment,

and strategic plans/goals.

Structural Frame Problems Balance between architect and tyrant. Too rigid structure; ignores everything that

falls outside the rational jurisdiction of structures (P&P).

Red tape, mindless memos and micromanagers.

Cold, heartless; neglect other variables that are critical to organization’s effectiveness.

Organizational problems originate from inappropriate structures and can be resolved by simple reorganization. The terrible secretary!

Personal ReflectionsWhen you are new to an organization, look at the structural problems first. These problems can get you into trouble! Focus on data, logic, plans, policies. Listen for at least the first 6 months. Try not to change anything.

Assess your current structure:. Do you have structural problems – e.g. accreditation, bylaws, policies and procedures, strategic plan, an efficient organizational structure?

3 Tips:

•Don’t compare your new organization’s structure to an old one.

•Be careful that your organization doesn’t becomes too “comfortable.”

•Bring in consultants “prn.”

Personal Reflections

Please put one personal reflection on the structural frame in your journal.

Do you know someone who is a very structural person?


Please share a personal reflection with the

group

The Human Resource Frame

Emphasizes needs, attitudes, skills and the human side of an organization.

The Human Resource Frame

Human resource leaders believe that people are the heart of any organization. When people feel the organization is responsive to their needs and supportive of their goals, you can count on their commitment and loyalty.

Human resource leaders believe there is a synergistic relationship between organizations and people. The fit between the organization and the people must be good. If it is, both benefit, if not, one or both will suffer.

A HR Frame LeaderBelieves organizations exist to identify and meet

human needs.Taps into people’s talents and strengths; is totally

committed to developing his/her people. Works to get, and keep the best people.Recognizes strengths in his/her people; builds

excellent teams. Holds a personal belief in the quality of his/her employees.

Allows people to do important work and make mistakes (occasionally). Please read MacGregor!

Is a servant, catalyst, caregiver, mentor, educator. Knows that change comes from building

relationships, listening, empowering.

The Human Resource Frame in Education

Recruiting – get the right people on the bus in the right seats.

Dealing with difficult issues – get the wrong people off the bus.(Check out Jim Collins Good to Great in the Social Sectors – discusses higher education).

Retaining excellent faculty. Designing faculty development programs.

With the shortage of faculty, number of new schools,

and mobility of junior faculty the HR frame is critical!

Human Resource Frame ProblemsBalance: Catalyst or wimp?Romanticized view of human nature in which

everyone always hungers for growth and collaboration; is too optimistic.

Wishy-washy leadership: Good guys make bum bosses!

Spends too much time on the trouble makers; forgets to reward the good people.

Blinded by people; fails to be fair; plays favorites.

Personal ReflectionsMake the tough decisions; always try

for a win/win in personnel decisions.Hire people who are not completely

qualified.Focus on communications, teamwork.Skinner: “Take no leftovers.”Make it “good to be good.”

“Unless the job means more than the pay, it will never pay enough!”

Personal Reflections on the HR Frame

My Thank You Tree – Servant Leadership


Please put one personal reflection on the

HR Frame in your Journal


Please share a personal reflection with the group

The Middle Management TrapStructural and human resource

approaches may help you build a successful career in middle management.

You will not rise to top leadership positions if you cannot reframe in more than these two.

Warriors and Wizards Bolman and Deal wrote The Wizard and the

Warrior: Leading with Passion and Power.Managers typically rely on two frames

(structural and human resource) when they need four!

Political and symbolic frames are required to make sense of the chaos that exists in organizations today.

These are the two frames that leaders are usually the weakest.

This book focuses on developing leaders as Warriors – to learn to command power, and as Wizards – to learn the mastery of symbols.

Warriors and Wizards Warriors: this role mobilizes strengths, demonstrates

courage and willingness to fight as long and hard as needed to win the battle/fulfill their mission.

Wizards: this role brings imagination, creativity, meaning and magic to the organization.

So let’s find out how to becomeWarriors:

And

Wizards:In Pharmacy Education

The Political Frame

Emphasizes power, conflict, and coalitions among those who have vested interest to protect and advance an organization in a context of scarce resources.

Political Frame LeaderA political frame leader is an advocate, negotiator,

warrior. A political frame leader recognizes political

realities and knows how to deal with them. Inside and outside any organization there are always a variety of interest groups and coalitions, each with its own agenda. There are never enough resources.

A political frame leader recognizes his/her major constituencies and develops ties to them.

A political frame leader knows that power and conflict are central features of organizational life; accepts the fact that leadership requires managing conflict as productively as possible.

The Political Frame LeaderKey skills:

Agenda settingMapping the political terrain Networking and forming coalitions Bargaining and negotiating to reach compromiseManaging resources effectivelyUnderstanding the many sources of powerAssessing risks and opportunities

Change comes from putting all these skills into play: developing networks, building allies (even with people you don’t like), bargaining, jockeying for power and negotiating solutions.

The Political Frame in Education

Higher education environment: chronic scarcity, diversity and conflict. Resources are especially scarce in universities – but politics are not!

Leaders need to build a base of support.Leaders need to be political and spend time

building networks to key decision makers. It takes time and patience to do this.

May be hard for new leaders to learn!

Political Frame Problems

Balance: Advocate or hustler?Unethical politicians: amoral, scheming

and unconcerned. Spend more time advancing one’s career. Enticed by the perks of leadership

positions.Too diffuse; work doesn’t get done.People are rewarded for political games;

this creates unhealthy competition, and reinforces conflict and mistrust.

Personal ReflectionsIntegrity is #1 – in all actions! Every organization has politics – get over it - you must

learn to play the game. Map your political terrain. Know who has the power.

Build access to key decision makers.Learn to negotiate to win/win.Seek first to understand!! Meet with people you don’t

know, but who have power. Listen to them and learn. Presence is critical and part of the game. If you are not at the table; you lose.Become bilingual.EI issues – social skills/even golf!

Personal ReflectionsBoxing gloves are required occasionally!

Pick your battles carefully

Personal ReflectionsThe story of Gordan Gee and the kitchen

table!

Lucinda MaineAACP EVP Husband: DanTwo sons

Build your network!


Please put one personal reflection on the Political Frame in your journal.

Do you like politics?

The Symbolic Frame

Explores how organizations create meaning and belief through symbols-including myths, rituals, and ceremonies.

The Symbolic FrameA symbolic leader knows what is most

importanabout any event is not what happened, but what it means to people.

A symbolic leader uses dramatic, visible symbols. They create a cultural tapestry of rituals, ceremonies, and stories to help people find meaning, purpose, and passion.

A symbolic leader believes that the most important part of a leader’s job is to inspire. Give people something that they can believe in – a vision! People become excited and committed to an organization that is special.

A symbolic leader knows in the face of uncertainty and ambiguity people create symbols to resolve confusion, increase predictability and anchor hope.

A Symbolic Frame Leader Is charismatic. Is a prophet or poet. Articulates a vision that differentiates the

organization’s unique capabilities and mission. Creates slogans, tells stories, gives awards, appears

where she/he is least expected; MBWA - manages by walking around/riding

lawnmowers! Tells stories, creates drama. Is sensitive to an organization’s history and culture. Is visible and energetic. Is about making his/her organization

the best. Has faith in the future. passionate

Symbolic Frame in Education

Education is tremendously symbolic – think of the ceremonies, academic regalia, special events, tributes, etc.

This is not understood or recognized in many colleges. This failure contributes to many problems.

Walking into a school you can easily diagnose a symbolic frame deficit no

The symbolic frame is especially important in times of rapid change – you can use it to change the culture of an organization – given time.

This is a critical skill for all leaders.

The Symbolic Frame Problems Balance: Prophet or zealot? Symbols only work when they are attuned

to people and place. Meaningless symbols antagonize and empty symbolic events backfire. A good example is the meaningless words in a vision statement that no one owns.

Faced with uncertainty and ambiguity, people create symbols to resolve confusion, increase predictability and provide direction – this may be good or bad!

Personal Reflections on the Symbolic Frame


Rod M’s Story: “Where is the most important place

for me to be right now?”

OROR


You are the cheerleader; there are a lot of anthropologists in higher education


Events/metaphors/symbols are importantLook at constituent groups:

Students: White Coat Ceremony, Hooding Ceremony, Dinners with the Dean, Nickel for a Name.

Faculty/staff: Crock pot, Throw Down, Decorating Days, CQI.

Alumni: reunions, tailgates, etc.

Please refer to your handout and help me get to 200!

Personal ReflectionsPlease put one personal reflection on the Symbolic Frame in your journal

Discussion Questions

Is there a frame that you don’t understand, don’t like?

Is there a frame you would like to explore in greater detail?

How many frames do you use? How many frames should you

use?

Research by Bensimmon:

In a study of 32 university presidents:

1 frame

2 frames

3 frames

4 frames

13

11

7

1

Bolman and Deal: Modern organizations are so complex they cannot be understood from a single-frame perspective. Leaders who use only one or two frames may be extremely vulnerable to changes in climate or competition.

Four Frame Leaders

Work to understand the situation by looking at it from the perspective of all four frames – this involves a combination of analysis, intuition and artistry.

They take the most appropriate action(s) to resolve the situation.

Developing a Team

You don’t have to be good in all four frames. You can build a team using the concepts and recruit people with strength(s) in the frame(s) where you are weak.

Think of the incredible organization you can have if you have team strength in all four frames.

Assignment: In the space on your assessment instrument place the names of your team members and their scores in the boxes.

Case Study Question….

You are the new dean/assistant or associate dean/department chair in a school/college of pharmacy. As you build your team, are there any frames you could not delegate to someone else? If there are any, why?

Structural?

Human Resource?

Political?

Symbolic?

Now let’s think about your school/college….

If you had to rate your college/school would you say it is primarily structural, human resource, political or symbolic?

Is your supervisor (department chair/dean) more developed in one of the frames? Does he/she operate in more than one frame?

If your supervisor (department chair/dean) uses only one frame, how will you “manage him/her?”

ReframingReframing is the ability to view the same

thing from more than one perspective.One of the most important parts of the

concept. When you use frames as lenses that bring your world into focus, you can use the frames to help you see what needs to be done to solve problems.

Each frame/perspective has a unique, comparative advantage. Each is likely to be more salient and illuminating in some circumstances than in others.

Reframe each situation to determine what is going on by looking at the problem through each of the four

frames, or lenses. What frames are the most important? What do the frames show you? What steps should you take to solve the

problem?

Exercise: Reframing

Case #1 Your state’s financial resources are extremely

poor; your faculty has not had a raise for two years. You don’t want to lose talented faculty.

Case #2 You just received a call that one of your

brightest P4 pharmacy students has died secondary to a drug overdose.

Case #3 You are the new department chair in a

college with very low faculty morale. Faculty members hide in their offices, backstab each other, and have developed “alliances.”

When You Go HomeLook/observe/listen.Make a list of the people in your organization.

Understand what frame(s) they use.Are there any frames that are overly dominant

in your college/school? Are there any that are missing? If so, how can

you correct the problem? Always ask yourself: “Where is the best place for you

to be?”

When You Go HomeReflect on your progress in becoming a

leader and list the areas you want to develop.

Write your observations in a leadership journal.

Read B&D: The Wizard and the Warrior:Leading with Passion and Power.

Read MacGregor and the Monkey. Send ideas to get to 200 Symbolic tips.

LeadershipWise leaders understand their own strengths,

work to expand them, and build teams that can provide leadership in all four frames-structural, political, human resource and symbolic.

Leadership Lessons

Leadership is a wonderful, lifelong journey.

References – Please see Bib

Special Thanks

Lee Bolman

Brad, Emily, Ruth

and….

Special Thanks to You!

reframing leadership

Documents

frames of leadership

leadership role

leadership studies

leadership junkie

leadership experiences

personal leadership

study of academic leadership

personal leadership