Two Leadership Principles that spark a Company
In their book, The Leadership Challenge (Kouzes and Posner, 2002) the authors, through their extensive research, have correlated five fundamental practices that leaders exemplify. The principles include; challenge the process, inspire a shared vision, enable others to act, model the way and encouraging the heart. These principles were arrived at based on data studies of thousands of managers from 1983 through 1997 (Shields, 2001).
Of these five leadership principles, this paper analyzes the first two principles; challenge the process and inspire a shared vision. Challenge the process will look at breaking cumbersome routines or overcoming major obstacles that impede an organization. Inspiring a shared vision will show the importance of documenting that vision and correctly communicating the vision to all involved. Leaders who practice these two principles could spark their companies or organizations to new heights.
Kouzes and Pozner (2002) define challenging the process as a commitment to seek challenging opportunities that spur growth and innovation that involves taking risks, making mistakes and learning from those mistakes. The principle of challenging the process can in some ways be defined as "poking the box". Most everyone has heard the phrase "think inside the box" and the reciprocal "think outside the box". When a person thinks inside the box he/she is making decisions based on known practices, industry standards or even company adherences. The sides of the box are the barriers or constraints that form or contain a team’s decisions or processes. But unique leaders, leaders set apart, will begin "poking the box" and questioning why they do the things they do. Chances are likely that the leader’s constituents have even raised an issue with the box. So a leader, who is a good listener, should begin to investigate and labor on their behalf (Kouzes & Posner, 2002, p 48, 54). Maybe a side of the box needs to come down to spur growth or foster a friendlier work environment.
To challenge a process is a huge risk in itself. Merriam-Webster (1998) defines risk as a possibility of loss. In other words a leader may challenge the process and that leader could lose. What could be lost by taking a risk; respect, job, promotion, bonuses? How about the loss of an opportunity if you do not take the risk? There is a motivational plaque with a basketball court in the background that says "OPPORTUNITY - You’ll always miss 100% of the shots you don’t take". But leaders have taken risks and have lost, it is the great leaders who learn from their mistakes and try again. To quote Shields (2001) "Leaders rebound and keep moving. They make their failures the foundation of their successes" (p.8). Where would the United States of America be if our fore-fathers had let their latest failure be their last attempt? The ironic thing about risk is the potential for reward is generally greater. Personal rewards could entail; respect, promotion, bonuses, stock options, ball tickets or even greater responsibilities within the company. The corporation could benefit from increased brand recognition, leader in the industry, happier employees and even greater profitability.
In the engineering business there are numerous processes involving the production of engineering drawings that tend to "box up" people and even teams in the organization. These cumbersome and somewhat old school processes can become a burden on the people doing the work. Generally these tasks require more time then allowed, may not be needed due to the changes in construction industry or are not even the expectations of the client. The following reasons are why the processes are still the same; "that is the way it has always been done" or "if it is not broke do no fix it". Yes, challenging these antiquate procedures is risky, but the rewards are great. More time to provide a quality product since more time would be available to perform quality checks. Greater efficiencies or freedoms for workers to produce the work using alternative processes. Maybe even a happier place to work with fewer employee turnovers.
The second company changing principle involves sharing a vision. Most companies have vision statements that define the company, their values and the people. However, more emphasis could be placed on team or group visions that are available for everyday consumption. In the Bible, the book of Habukuk, chapter 2 verse 2 says "Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads its" (Maxwell, 2002). A vision is meant to provide a hope for a new or better destination, but vision without buy-in from the team or group is no more than a dream. Kouzes and Pozner (2002) explain sharing a vision as a commitment to envisioning a positive future and appealing to others, through their values, hopes or dream, to help them get there.
A great leader provides a clear vision and gets his people on board for the trip. Most employees or volunteers want to believe they are working toward a noble cause. Just as Tubbs (2004) noted in his chapter on leadership, people want a "worthplace" not a "workplace". A "worthplace" provides higher employee satisfaction and products at a higher quality. One key to getting buy-in for any vision is appealing to people’s sense of worth. If the vision includes them, benefits them, aligns with their values and/or provides them a sense of security chances are good for bringing them onboard. In some instances the vision may need to be communicated or pitched to the workers via; promotions, flyers, rally’s, logos, videos, mission statements, or even banners (Shields, 2001).
Leroy Eims put it this way. "A leader is one who sees more than others see, who sees farther than others see, and who sees before others do" (Maxwell, 1998, p. 37). Vision and buy-in alone are not complete without a roadmap to get there. Maxwell (1998) refers to this as charting the course and discusses it under "The Law of Navigation" in which "Anyone can steer the ship, but it takes a leader to chart the course" (p. 33). When charting the course, identify the destination, inform others of the decision, make preparations for the journey as well as contingency plans and maintain focus the entire way.
For a leader in the engineering business, vision is important in conveying the end product to the team members. If the leader fails to be clear in the vision the end product could suffer in quality. If the leader fails to plan correctly or even dismiss his teams input for charting the course the leader may have a difficult time keeping his team members onboard for completing the vision. Good vision and charting are the keys to delivering a quality engineering product.
These two leadership principles are exemplified in the Bible through numerous stories of leaders stepping out of their comfort zones and challenging the obstacles (processes) or even through the prophets providing a vision to the people who want hope in a better future. Jesus was always challenging the process. Take the story in John chapter 6 (Maxwell, 2002), where five thousand people had just followed Jesus up the mountain after a day of preaching and healing the people. Jesus asks his disciples where is there bread to feed these people? Philip replied we do not have enough money or food but only five loaves and two five fish from a small boy. So picture the disciples running the process through their head, "Okay, that will barely feed us let alone the people, and the bread store is a day’s travel, and of course someone will have to pass the hat to get enough money to feed all the people". So Jesus challenges the process by first giving thanks (for what they did have) and then multiplies the food. Now the people in the story took a risk in going up the mountain to follow someone they barely knew but they were all greatly rewarded, and not just filled with food but also witnessing a very great leader who challenged the process.
In the book of Exodus, Moses provides a great example of a leader who shares a vision with his people. The vision is to bring God’s people out of slavery and into the land of milk and honey. At one point the tribes are stuck up against the Red Sea with the Egyptian army closing in. So Moses uses a rod to miraculously part the Red Sea and the people pass through unharmed but the army is drowned. Now Moses had just appealed to the people’s sense of security and their sense of feeling worthy of this journey so the people bought-in to this leader and his vision.
The leadership principles "challenge the process" and "share the vision" is necessary to spur movement, growth, innovation or elitism in any company or organization. Next time try "poking the box" instead of conforming to the antiquate standards. Be innovative, embrace change, try, fail, try again and reap the rewards upon success. Lay out the vision for others to clearly see so they are on the same page and can run the same race. Get buy-in as well as input for charting the course to reach the vision. Sometimes employees are looking for a new hope in their company, nurture that hope through visions that appeal to the team or groups. These two principles alone can spark a company to a greatness defined in better products, increased efficiencies, clear direction, enjoyable "worthplace" and happier employees.
References
Kouzes, J., Posner, B. (2002). The Leadership Challenge. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass
Maxwell J., (2002). The Maxwell Leadership Bible, New King James Version. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers
Maxwell J., (1998). The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers
Merriam-Webster. (1998). Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster Inc.
Shields, S. (2001). A Leadership Primer. Retrieved February 28, 2006, from
http://www.faithmaps.org/LeadershipPrimer.htm
Tubbs, S. L. (2004). A Systems Approach to Small Group Interaction, 8th Edition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill
