Leadership In Context

During the past couple of months, the class has been the impetus for reflections on what has been

successful (and less so) for me personally, along with contrasts of leaders that have been held in high

esteem for their performance(s) and those that have not. A leader excelling in one position or scenario

doesn‟t automatically transfer that success to a different scenario. The selected company for the group

project was an excellent example of how success in one industry / company life cycle stage /company

culture doesn‟t necessarily translate to success in another.

There are several exercises that provided me with insights through introspection that, in the end, provided

me with a new frame of reference. Of these, the exercises revolving around teams and motivation in

week five were the most eye-opening. I‟ve often thought I was more of a „lone wolf‟, but after doing the

exercises, it became apparent that my style is more team-oriented, and socially centered than I‟d

originally thought. Coupled with the Social Style Assessment, I‟ve become more aware of my style, and

have now redoubled my efforts toward becoming more effective at leading not just teams at work, but

also within my family and community.

My style is really a reflection of my personality. I‟ve fought it, tried to cover it up, and attempted to

become something I‟ve envisioned what a leader is supposed to encompass. This class, and specifically,

the “What Style of Leader Are You or Would You Be?”, again, coupled with the Social Style Assessment

have brought into focus my bias toward the people side of things rather than a more analytical view of the

world. I‟ve been on projects where I‟m the only resource from my company, and it gets a bit tiresome.

Though I‟ve readily developed relationships with people, there is a certain „arms length‟ that‟s typically

present in client/consultant relationships. The client trusts me to do what is right by their company, but is

usually somewhat wary about my motives, so is guarded, causing the relationship to be somewhat stilted.

In other words, there‟s less camaraderie, and more circumstantial mutual participation in the given

mission. When there is a significant team of same company people, or even sub-contractors, the
engagement is more enjoyable. Relationships are built, trust is gained, and there‟s a common goal. I‟ve

learned to embrace my natural communication styles over the years, mostly on a trial by fire basis. These

exercises have reinforced my thinking that I oughtn‟t be expecting myself to just turn into a task master,

or drill sergeant; it‟s just not in my tea leaves. Rather, I need to leverage what comes naturally to me, and

make sure I attempt to influence the situations in which I‟m asked to lead. I‟ve built a pretty solid core of

people that I know I can trust, whose own styles can be utilized in situations that are best answered with a

style in which I‟m less likely to pull off. It‟s really not that different from a team sport: you could have a

team of all really good quarterbacks, but you‟re not set up for success. A team consisting of people who

can fill roles is the one most likely win in the end.

In doing some further research, I‟ve found that some support to the notion that not every leader (in the

research, leader = project manager) is a good fit for every type of project. While there are some constants

(i.e., communication skills), other skills, like the need to be „emotionally resilient‟ are of varying value

across different types (complexity, contract type, and level of change to the organization) of projects. (

(Ralf & Turner, 2007)

What the exercises taught me about myself has been that while I‟ve always taken some pride in being

analytical, my capabilities with leading are more intuition based as far as where my associates are on a

continuum of sorts along several axis‟: comfort level with their tasks, not so much do they know how to

do the task, but do they feel capable; what is their ability to interact with the client and connect with the

right people to execute their tasks; how are the intra-team dynamics playing out? I‟ve somehow (I

suspect a lot of credit is due my wife on this one) connected with my emotional side and become more

receptive to others‟ needs after having a tin ear to this for too long. I‟ve probably been sensitive to this

side of a social setting for most of my life, but repressed when it became seemingly inconvenient to my

own perceived needs.

An area where I‟ve noticed that I have vast room for improvement is taking into account cross-cultural

differences. In my line of work, I‟ll often interact with people from other countries either as members of

my team, or on the client side, particularly in IT. I‟ve thought I‟ve been deferential and respectful of

other cultures, but it‟s been primarily a passive process. The many nuances of the differences between

the cultures can cause harm in these relationships, and I‟m surprised at just how little I know. I‟ve been

trying to get abroad, but have yet to make it off the continent.

As I‟ve mentioned, the Social Style Profile had a marked impact on my outlook on my leadership skills.

While my respondents and I were fairly well aligned, I think I was surprised to see how far from

analytical I‟m both perceived externally, as well as by my own hand. I relish the puzzles that systems

design can present when clashing with business requirements. However, as I put it in the context of the

results of the study, I‟m realizing that I prefer to pursue the answers collaboratively, rather than off in a

corner.
Based on the graph above, I‟ve noticed that I need to shift my mindset from one where I‟d relied on my

analytical skills where I was stuck in a leadership problem, and collaborate with others to assist. Case in

point, I‟ve recently been trying to spreadsheet my way out of a resourcing issue to build a strong case for

why we need more resources with a particular skill set. I‟d consumed many hours trying to figure out the

best way to format the information that conveyed my thoughts. In the end, conversations with my peers

and manager provided me with a venue for understanding circumstances and communicating my projects

needs. In hindsight the document (which I never finished) would have been quickly overwhelmed by the

facts of which I was unaware. This exercise has provided me with insights into my own strengths, and

causes me to pause when my first reaction (key word, reaction) is to go away and attempt to graphically

(or statistically) depict the situation as I see it. By working through it in conversation, rather than coming

in with a rigid approach to the situation, I‟m more likely to get others to understand my position.

As a whole, the exercises in the text, combined with my journaling and the Social Styles Assessment,

significantly expanded my scope of thought, not so much as to the need for solid leadership, but more

around the variety of leadership types. It‟s also created some curiosity as to the matching of leadership

styles to individual situations, especially how those situations are project based, as my personal

experience is so rooted in projects.

Bibliography
Ralf, M., & Turner, J. R. (2007). Matching the project manager's leadership style to project type.
International Journal of Project Management , 25 (1), 21-32.