Organizational Leadership

Transcription

1 Organizational Leadership Terminal Learning Objective: Understand how selective elements of organizational leadership develop, manages and assesses agency effectiveness. Everything an organization does or fails to do starts with leadership. Without competent leaders an organization cannot be successful in facing the challenges of the current community action landscape. Community action leaders have to be adaptive, receptive to change and multi-skilled. Lessons learned have to be incorporated into organizational strategic planning and decision making and new challenges must be addressed. Organizational leadership is the process of pursuing actions, focused thinking and decision making for the greater good of the organization. It is a process because we can learn and improve our leadership abilities. Organizational leaders in today s environment must be proficient in three essential skill sets. Interpersonal Conceptual Technical Interpersonal skills are the abilities of understanding staff. Good organizational leaders understand the human dimensions of their personnel. They use this knowledge to motivate staff members and to encourage initiative. They understand that motivation means more than an individual willingness to do what s directed. It imparts a desire on the part of individuals and organizations to do what s needed without being directed. This collected desire to accomplish organizational goals and objectives underlies good organizational attitudes: A good staff adheres to standards because they understand that doing so, even when it s a nuisance or hardship, leads to success. Another key element of interpersonal skills is the ability to communicate information, ideas, objectives and intent. Communication is a process of delivering the essential elements of information to staff members in an organized, usable and timely manner to ensure clarity, receive feedback, make adjustments and accomplish tasks, goals and

2 objectives. To be effective in organizational leadership the leader must be an expert at all methods and systems of communications. Organizational leaders deal with a great deal of information. They make decisions based on information given to them. Organizational leaders need the ability to sort through great amounts of information, key in on what is significant, and then make decisions. We must understand that our decisions are only as good as the information we have available to us. Analysis and synthesis are essential to effective decision making and program development. Analysis breaks a problem into its component parts Synthesis assembles complex and disorganized data into a solution Critical Information Requirements (CIR) filter what is important must know information to the organizational leader- it pertains to the environment, the situation and the organization Organizational leaders must establish critical information requirements and train staff on information filtering and management. Understanding Systems Organizational leaders think about systems in their organizations: how they work together, how using one affects the others, and how to get the best performance from the whole. Effective organizational leaders must develop a systems perspective Organizational leaders integrate, synchronize, and adjust systems Organizational leaders monitor and evaluate outcomes If organizational leaders can t get something done, the flaw or failure is more likely systematic than human. Being able to understand and leverage systems increases a leader s ability to achieve organizational goals and objectives. Organizational leaders must know how to effectively apply all available systems Organizational leaders make sure that systems for personnel, administration, logistical support, resourcing and training work effectively Organizational leaders must evaluate critical parts of the system to ensure they function properly Organizational leaders analyze systems and results to determine why things happen the way they did. Performance indicators and standards for systems assist them in their analysis. Performance indicators measure the rate and effectiveness of project completion

3 Standards measure the performance of tasks essential to project completion Technical skills Organizational leaders have fewer opportunities to practice many of the technical skills they mastered as program directors. However, that doesn t mean they can forget them. In every organization there are certain skills in which all members must be proficient. Staff members know what they are and expect the organizational leader to perform them. To make full use of their organization s capabilities, organizational leaders must continue to master technical skills outside their original area of expertise. Resourcing In addition to using the technical skills they learned as program directors, organizational leaders must also master the skill of resourcing. Resources-which include: Time, Equipment Facilities Budgets People Organizational leaders must effectively manage the resources at their disposal to ensure their organizations success. The organizational leader s job grows more difficult when unprogrammed cost shift priorities. Organizational leaders in community action are stewards of the people s resources. They don t waste these resources but skillfully evaluate objectives, anticipate resource requirements, and effectively allocate what s available. They balance available resources with organizational requirements and distribute them in a way that best achieves organizational goals, objectives and mission and complies with stated rules, regulations, laws, etc.. Team building Interpersonal skills involved in creating and sustaining ethical and supportive climates are required at the organizational and program level. The organizational climate describes the environment in which the staff works. Program leaders focus their motivational skills on individuals or program staff. While program leaders are responsible for their organizations climate, their efforts are constrained or reinforced by the overall organizational climate. Organizational leaders shape the larger environment. Their primary motivational responsibility is to establish and maintain the climate of the entire organization.

4 Successful organizations evolve within a positive organizational climate. An organizational climate is developed from the organizational leader s attitudes, actions, communications and priorities. Organizational leaders set the climate of their organization through personal example that demonstrates organizational values. An organizational climate that promotes positive values and fosters effective performance encourages learning, and promotes creative performance within the organizational or program intent. The foundation for a positive organizational climate is a healthy ethical climate, but that alone is insufficient. Characteristics of successful organizational climates include: Clear, widely known intent Well trained and confident staff Self-discipline/organizational discipline Cohesive teams Trusted, competent leadership To create such a climate, organizational leaders recognize mistakes as opportunities to learn, create cohesive teams, and reward leaders of character and competence. Organizational leaders value honest feedback and constantly use all available means to maintain a feel for the environment. Program directors and staff members often are a source of straight forward feedback. Methods may include town hall meetings, surveys, council meetings and personal observations-getting out and talking to community members, partners and stakeholders. This bring organizational leaders face- to- face with people affected by their decisions and policies. Organizational leader s consistent, sincere efforts to see what s really going on and fix things that are not working can result in mutual respect throughout their communities and organization. Organizational leaders who are positive, fair, and honest in their dealings and who are not afraid of constructive criticism encourage an atmosphere of openness and trust. Their people willingly share ideas and take initiative to get a job done well because their leaders strive for more than compliance; they seek to develop staff with good judgment. When people are part of a disciplined and cohesive team, they gain proficiency, are motivated and willingly fulfill organizational needs. People who sense they re part of a competent team, well trained team act on what the team needs; they re confident in themselves and feel part of something important and compelling. They know that what they do matters. Assessing

5 The ability to assess organizational and programmatic capabilities and effectiveness is a critical skill required of organizational leaders. It requires a feel for the reliability and validity of information and its sources. There are several different ways to gather information: Asking staff for feedback Conducting meetings Checking operational plans Electronic databases Reports Direct observation Program directors and staff manage and process information for the organizational leader, but this doesn t relieve the leader from the responsibility of analyzing information as part of the decision making process. Leaders obtain information from various sources so they can compare and make judgments about the accuracy of sources. A leader s preconceived notions and opinions (such as technology undermines basic skills or technology is the answer ) can interfere with objectives analysis. It s also possible to be too analytical, especially with limited amounts of information and time. When analyzing information, organizational leaders guard against dogmatism, impatience, or overconfidence that may bias their analysis. The first step in designing an assessment system is to determine the purpose of the assessment. While purposes vary, most fall into one of the following categories: Evaluate progress towards organizational goals, program goals, proponent objectives (funding sources) Evaluate the efficiency of a system, that is, the ratio of resources expended to the results gained (VITA) Evaluate the effectiveness of a system, that is the quality of the results it produces Compare the relative efficiency or effectiveness against standards. Compare the behavior of individuals in a program with prescribed standard. (master guidelines) Evaluate systems supporting the organization (legal, payroll, medical insurance, etc.) Organizational leaders consider the direct and indirect costs of assessing. Objective cost includes manpower required to design and administer the system and to collect, analyze, and report the data. Cost may also include machine processing times and

6 expenses relating to communicating the data. Subjective cost include possible confusion regarding organizational priorities and philosophies, misperceptions regarding trust and decentralization, fears over unfair use of collective data, and he energy expended to collect and refine the data. Organizational leaders ask themselves these questions: What s the standard? Does the standard make sense for all concerned? Did we meet it? What system measures it? Who s responsible for the system? How do we reinforce or correct our findings? It follows that organizational leaders who make these evaluations everyday will also hold their organizations to the highest standard. Summary Organizational leaders direct operations by setting the example, empowering their staff and supervising them accordingly. Organizational leaders concern themselves with building effective and efficient organizations. They also improve conditions within the organization by sustaining an ethical and supportive climate, building strong, cohesive teams and programs, and improving the processes that work within the organization. This lesson covered some of the processes organizational leaders use to effectively train and lead organizations. The elements of organizational leadership that were discussed represent best practices from various leadership doctrinal sources and publications.