Leadership

My students and I would like to write a text for use in a course on "Leadership". To get it started, we submit the following draft.

1.1 Introduction

The foundation for the Odyssey Leadership model was based on the premise that for an organization to compete globally, its leaders must apply leadership strategies that challenges mainstream models and practices by embracing a model that transcends borders and integrates diverse groups. Effective leadership is not only dependent on the leader, but the followers, the situation, or any combination of these factors. The globalization phenomenon in fact, is not new but has existed for more than a decade. Globalization increasingly creates challenges for leadership and there is enough evidence to support the need for a comprehensive and strategic approach to global leadership. One of the lessons of cross cultural management is the role culture plays on norms and values and it is quite evident that domestic leadership models from one part of the world generally do not work in other parts of the world.

More than ever, change is constant and present in society and its organizations. Change in organizations consists of new technologies, globalization, merges and acquisitions, reorganization, right-sizing, reengineering, centralization, decentralization, and achieving six-sigma quality standards. This is where the leaders are pressured to improve quality, be more global, better utilize capital, maximize resources, improve shareholder wealth, and create new products and services. To successfully lead change every organization needs to create its own unique template that would correspond to its specific needs or issues.

Empirical research has indicated that no single leadership model is good for every organization. Identifying and classifying the organization in terms of global or local business entity, a governmental entity, or an educational institution is the first step in determining what leadership model would be applicable. A model good in one organizational type if followed in another may turn out to be a total disaster in another.

This paper has addressed all of the above concerns by defining a new model for leadership that works for all organizations, the Odyssey Leadership Model. The Odyssey Leadership Model acknowledges that there is no one “template” that fits organizations and therefore encourages an organization specific approach. Our model was developed after a preliminary in depth analysis of the current leadership theories including their pros and cons, comparisons, applications and case studies. The Odyssey Leadership Model encompasses a combination of their merits dependant on the situation and also addresses the assumptions, constraints and applications of its model.

Let us first examine the history of leadership models that leads to the natural evolution of the Odyssey Leadership Model.

1.2 The Evolution of Leadership

Figure 1.1 – The Evolution of Leadership Theory 1.2.1 Trait Theories Studies of early trait research by Stodgill (1948) Mann (1959) identified physical or personality characteristics that appeared to differentiate leaders from followers and assumes these attributes are keys to leadership success. This theory further assumes that Leaders are born not made. The problem with the trait approach was that many traits were uncovered and although some traits were identified in a considerable number of studies:

1. The results were generally inconclusive. 2. Ignored situational context. 3. Certain traits are more effective than some in different context or situation.

Later studies by the University of Michigan and Ohio State re-examined the trait theory and their results each showed 2 categories of behaviors. However, the main limitations in both theories of these behavioral approaches were its lack of finding a dependable quantifiable formula for effective leadership.

The Odyssey Leadership Model revisited the trait theory, and found that these traits can be either cultivated or simulated and although they appear not quantifiable, our model will show that they were measurable, measurable in terms of importance to the leadership style, to organization and/or its goals and could be used in the MCDA process. The situational context, which will be discussed in detail later, is an integral part of the Odyssey Leadership Model. Our model supports the theory that certain traits are more effective than some when used within different contexts. We have therefore incorporated an adaptation of the trait theory into our Odyssey Leadership Model by first the extracting the more common leadership traits then focusing on its importance exemplified in the specific desired leadership style.

1.2.2 Behavioral Theories Between the 1950’s to the early 1960’s researchers shifted their focus from trait theories to leadership behavior, especially toward followers. The study of leadership patterns of behavior grouped together and labeled as styles. Regardless of its names the styles fit into four basic categories. • Concern for task – A focus on productivity. • Concern for people – A people centric approach. • Directive Leadership – Leaders make all the decisions. • Participative Leadership – Shared decision making. Initially it was believed that people centered leadership created greater satisfaction amongst followers, however Sadler (1997) reported inconsistencies between studies. Although the people factor is an important element to the Odyssey Leadership Model, the model did not just stop there but takes all other factors into account. Beyond this limitation, the main problem with behavioral theories in the past is that researchers did not consider the context or environment in which the style was used. The Odyssey Leadership Model has recognized that leadership styles are affected by the followers and other environmental factors and suggests a particular style of Leadership based on its situational context by verifying and validating the chosen style against its extensive OLS Knowledge Base.

1.2.3 Situational Theories

Situational theories propose that effectiveness of a particular style of leadership behavior depends on the situation. The most well known situational theory is Fiedler’s contingency model. Fiedler argued that leadership was dependent on a mix of factors. Effectiveness depended on two interacting factors: leadership style and the degree to which the situation gives the leader control and influence. The premise is that leader effectiveness is contingent upon an appropriate match between the leader’s style and the degree to which the leader controls the situation.

There are three important factors that constitute this theory. • The Leader-follower Relationship – the more well-liked and respected they are the more likely they’ll have the support of their followers. • The Task Structure – If the task is clearly spelt out as goals, methods and standards of performance then is more likely that leaders will be able to exert influence. • Position Power – If an organization or group confers powers on the leader for the purpose of getting the job done, then this may increase the influence of the leader. Theories like these helped us to construct our Odyssey Model. There was a lot of evidence to support the theory that cultural factors (situations), influence the way that people carry out and respond to different leadership styles. For example, some cultures are more individualistic, or value family against bureaucratic models, or have different expectations about how people interact with each other. These are all factors that affect the leadership approach. However our analysis of the current situational models implied that they were more of a task management approach than a leadership style. The Odyssey Leadership Model has piggybacked on the basic situational model by expanding the basic three situational factors to include situational attributes from all People, Group and Organization (PGO) levels of the Organization.

1.3 The Odyssey Leadership Model The Odyssey Leadership Model is a Multi-Criteria, Case Based Reasoning, and Interactive Approach to effective Leadership.

It has been mathematically proved using binary vectors that if in a team environment every member of the team is assigned a job that he does best, with the assumption that one of the team members plays the lead role, the team should produce the best results. However the success story unfortunately did not move along those lines. It was observed when the team leader role in the team was rotated and given to different members the performance of the team fluctuated, conclusively proving that it is not enough to just have people do jobs they are best at, other variables need to be accounted for.

The idea of our model of Leadership was taken from a (2004) publication in the Leadership Quarterly on team leadership cycle called the I-P-O model. Contrary to this model which focuses only on team leadership our model will incorporate most of the current leadership models and represents “Input-Process-Output” [I-P-O].

To validate our Odyssey Leadership Model theory we utilized a grounded theory research strategy that included a preliminary a leadership survey. The purpose of the survey was to measure attitudes towards current leadership styles in the global arena and to validate the need for a new Leadership Model through primary research. Our target audience represented twenty six individuals either already in a leadership role or individuals aspiring to be part of the leadership process.

For the preliminary baseline survey, focus was placed on justifying the need for a new OLM and less on the actual design of the OLS. Additional and subsequent in-depth surveys will be conducted after we have established a stable prototype of our Odyssey Leadership System to measure its usefulness in its application.

Method Our anonymous web-based survey included managers and non-managers of fortune 500 companies, medium sized business, educational institutions, non-profit organizations and graduate students in leadership programs.