Final Exam Articles Goleman Article Primal Leadership The Hidden Driver of Great Performance While leadership skills other than mood matter mood is very important Emotional intelligence improves results those with emotional intelligence finish first Leader s mood plays key role in that dynamic leader s mood and behaviors drive moods and behaviors of everyone else Leader s emotional intelligence creates a certain culture or work environment high levels of emotional intelligence create climates in which information sharing trust healthy risk taking and learning flourish o Low levels create climates rife with fear and anxiety that may be effective in short term but not long lasting life If leader s mood emotional intelligence is so contagious is leader s primal task emotional leadership o Leader needs to make sure he is regularly optimistic which begins with him managing his inner Primal leadership demands more than putting on a game face every day it requires executive to determine through reflective analysis how his emotional leadership drives the moods and actions of the organization and then with equal discipline to adjust his behavior accordingly o Good moods don t have to be nonstop just optimistic sincere and realistic People avoid talking about emotions in the workplace but according to this article it is of the utmost importance Example of an SOB boss is Bill Gates who has been effective as a leader because his employees are competent motivated and need little direction o An exception to the rule not to be followed generally Many studies have shown that an upbeat environment fosters mental efficiency making people better at taking in and understanding information at using decision rules in complex judgments and at being flexible in their thinking More likely to persist despite rejections and thus closed more sales Leaders who create dysfunctional environment emotionally eventually get fired due to poor results Science behind idea o We rely on connections with other people to determine our moods hormone levels cardiovascular functions and sleep rhythm o Genetic component behind emotional skills o Experience effects how genes are expressed ie happy baby s parents die may become melancholy adult Everyone watches the boss so his moods are most important Hard for leaders to realize this in themselves and people don t tell leaders they are having a negative emotional impact on others Important questions for leaders Who do I want to be Who am I now How do I get from here to there How do I make changes stick and Who can help me o Advise leaders to get feedback from subordinates o Identify one s weaknesses and be aware of negative tendencies o Look outside workplace for missing links o Important to practice and experiment with new behaviors o Build support system to help you through changes Kotter Article Leading Change Why Transformation Efforts Fail Changes take place when looking at a company s competitive situation market position tech trends and financial performance Lessons to be learned from successful cases o Change is a series of phases that take a long time and no phase can be skipped o Critical mistakes in any of the phases can have a devastating impact Error 1 Not establishing a great enough sense of emergency o Examine market and competitive realties o Identifying and discussing crises potential crises or major opportunities o Urgency rate high enough when about 75 of management is convinced o Important to get other people on board with transformation and motivate them or effort goes o This is really hard underratedly as people are hesitant to step out of comfort zones and are afraid o Seniority defensive afraid that there will be negative impact of change o Paralyzed senior management often comes from too many managers and not enough leaders o If goal is to transform entire company having CEO is key if only for division division manger o Bad business results are blessing and curse in the first phase easier to get people on board if nowhere of change is key business is bad o A group actually manufactured a crisis to get others to change more urgently Error 2 Not creating a powerful enough guiding coalition o Assembling a group with enough power to lead the change effort o Encouraging the group to work together as a team o Not just people in senior management o Off site retreats help get people together to create level of trust and commitment o Teamwork is key Error 3 Lacking a vision o Creating a vision to help direct the change effort o Developing strategies for achieving that vision o If you cannot communicate vision clearly in five minutes or less you are not yet done with this o Goes beyond numbers in five year plans o Clarify direction in which organization needs to move o Without a sensible vision a transformation effort can dissolve and take organization in wrong phase direction Error 4 Not communicating the vision o Using every vehicle possible to communicate the new vision and strategies o Teach new behaviors by the example of the guiding coalition o Particularly challenging if includes job losses Error 5 Not empowering others to act on the vision o Getting rid of obstacles to change o Changing systems or structures that seriously undermine the vision o Encouraging risk taking and nontraditional ideas activities and actions o Can be organizational structure compensation or performance appraisal o If it is a person it is important that he is treated fairly and in a way consistent with new vision o Action is essential both to empower others and to maintain credibility of change effort as a whole Error 6 Not planning for and creating short term wins o Planning visible performance improvements o Creating those improvements o Recognizing and rewarding employees involved in the improvements o Real transformation takes time so need to celebrate short term wins to keep people motivated o Can take many years till end of transformation Error 7 Declaring victory too soon o Consolidating improvements and producing still more change o Using increased credibility to change systems structures and policies that don t fit the vision o Hiring promoting and developing employees who can implement the vision o Reinvigorating the process with new projects themes and change agents o Celebrating a win is fine but declaring war won is catastrophic Error 8 Not anchoring changes in the corporation s culture o Institutionalizing new approaches o Articulating the connections between the
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