LEADERSHIP AND INFLUENCE
IN A COMPLEX WORLD
LEARNING PORTFOLIO: STAGE 1
WORD COUNT: 2335 + 332
SAYMAA SELMAN
u5375961
1
Table of Contents
1. Introduction.........................................................................................................3
2. So You Want To Be a Leader! ................................................................................4
2.1 Leadership: It’s More Than Just Influence..........................................................4
2.2 Establishing an Enabling Mindset......................................................................5
3. Setting the Leadership Agenda.............................................................................7
3.1 Leading the Way with S.M.A.R.T+ Goals...........................................................7
3.2 Influential Leadership: Breaking the Barriers of Authority.................................8
4. Getting It Right in Leadership..............................................................................10
4.1 Five Stages of Group Development.................................................................10
4.2 A Multi Faceted Approach to Leading.............................................................11
5. Enhancing the ANU Student Experience...............................................................13
2
1. Introduction
“Only Superman can leap tall buildings in a single bound. The rest of us chip away at our goals
one day at a time, and keep going.”
Andy Johnson
As I reflect on what I have learnt so far in VCUG2002, I realise that many of the
assumptions and value judgements I had coming into this course have been challenged.
Listening to the panellists’ views on leadership has really helped me to think critically at
what is said and consider it from my opinion. The breadth of experience and insight
presented by the guest speakers has gradually helped me move to a more personalised
definition of leadership that goes beyond the primitive definition of a leader as a person of
authority or one who simply has a following. Certainly, increasing self awareness will ensure
that my vision of leadership continues to develop. This portfolio documents my learning
journey over the past 5 weeks as I attempt to devise a comprehensible model of leadership
based on my understanding of leadership and influence.
3
2. So You Want To Be a Leader!
“Inspiring people is simply not enough when it comes to effective leadership. If you have the ability to inspire, then you also have to be able to match that with action. If you cannot deliver,
then you probably shouldn’t be inspiring.”
Ben Duggan
2.1 Leadership: It’s More Than Just Influence
If I have learnt anything in this course so far, it is that learning is about embracing
opportunity, and leadership is no different. The idea of leading to me is both thrilling and
daunting. It is important for a leader to be able to recognise that leadership comprises of
much more than just influence. Tanya opened our Week 3 tutorial by highlighting that
leadership is not about getting people to follow you and instead should be viewed as an
integrated framework into helping people confront reality. This statement however is
based on the value judgement that I as the leader see reality more vividly than others,
which in my opinion is not a skill that comes naturally to most. For me, confronting reality
would involve a conscious attempt to define the situation objectively, without making value
judgements. The five “lessons” on how to diagnose the situation and assess the context of leadership problems in Williams (2005) is one model which really stood out for me as a
practical diagnostic framework. These lessons are summarised as a diagnostic triangle
(adapted from Williams, 2005):
Figure -1-
5. Frame the
principle challenge
4. Get factions interacting
with each other to
develop a richer view of
the problem and explore
possible solutions
3. Detect what aspects of reality the
people are avoiding
2. Diagnose factional dynamics, not personalities
(and foresee possible opposition)
1. Set aside your convictions to see what's there
4
This diagnostic framework is simple but nonetheless meaningful in that it really
defines and embodies the elements needed to successfully identify the problem and devise
a constructive plan on getting people to confront the reality themselves. My interpretation
of the original model detailed in the reading is that this process is a step by step journey.
These steps tackle the terrain over which leaders must identify and construct a plan of
action according to what particular aspect of the problem that people avoid. Applying this
model to my everyday life at first was quite difficult, primarily because I considered steps 1
and 2 as a great challenge and therefore tried (and failed) to bypass these steps entirely.
However, I am starting to see the value of being able to analyse the situation objectively
and this has really given me a greater sense of clarity and direction. Just as many leaders
during week 3 discussed, the ability to take a “birds-eye-view” and see the connections is vital when it comes to leading effectively.
2.2 Establishing an Enabling Mindset
The main focus of weeks 1 and 2 revolved around self awareness- that is, reflecting
on our strengths and weaknesses in terms of how they influence our leadership decisions
and styles. I must admit that I was rather confronted when we were made to reflect on our
leadership qualities using the Zenger and Folkman’s Competencies Questionnaire, because
like most evaluations, there is that fear of personal failure. However, if listening to the
guest lecturers in the past weeks has taught me anything, then it is to practise evaluating
my performance in a non-threatening way. As Geoff highlighted in our tutorial facilitation
workshop, being an effective leader predominantly revolves around self-leadership. Geoff
termed this positive approach to self-coaching as an “enabling mindset”, which
encompasses self discovery through reflecting on your past experience, evaluating your
current situation and more importantly, not being afraid to question your previous
decisions and assumptions.
My transition from a restrictive to a more enabling mindset has not been a
straightforward one. Indeed there is a fine line between analysing leadership performance
constructively and making pessimistic evaluations which undermine confidence. However, I
am slowly starting to realise that being a self-leader is not about being right all the time,
but being able to change when you realise that you have made a mistake. I am finding that
5
adopting an enabling mindset has been quite useful, and I am starting to notice when my
perfectionist traits come at the expense of speed and efficiency. This mindset has also
enabled me to offer praise in situations where I respond to leadership dilemmas with
diplomacy, empathy and communication. I have come to believe that all effective leaders
should adopt this mindset, as it promotes organisational performance by allowing the
leader to see what they are doing right and head in that direction whilst amending
strategies that may not be working early on. For me, I have found that this mindset has
been very effective in helping me to develop as an active leader of change.
6
3. Setting the Leadership Agenda
“It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But
above all, try something.”
Franklin Roosevelt
3.1 Leading the Way with S.M.A.R.T+ Goals
Geoff Mortimore introduced S.M.A.R.T+ goals in Week 2 and highly recommended
that we use them regularly to monitor progress and maintain momentum. Being the
organised and target-oriented person that I am, setting goals is familiar territory. I use
them in both my study and personal life, and have found them to be very successful in
getting me to where I want to go. It is tempting to assume that any type of goal-setting is
just as effective as the other, but I have come to believe that even my method of setting
goals has room for improvement. In listening to the leadership panels over the weeks, I
have realised that goal-setting, especially in leadership, requires specificity. To best
appreciate what this means, you must understand that generating specific, meaningful
goals allows us to learn from mistakes and failures more effectively. This makes sense
because having a clear sense of direction is futile if leaders are unable to review and analyse
the effectiveness of their previous performance.
The acronym S.M.A.R.T attempts to summarise the main outcomes of framing
leadership (and everyday) goals, where these goals are specific, measurable, achievable,
relevant and time bound. What I really found useful is that this simply-articulated
framework incorporates criteria which can be used to assess the quality of performance,
progress and achievement within a specific period of time.
Figure -2Specific
•Research effect
of
pantotheinase
activity on
Vitamin B5
analogues
using pubmed,
and start ASC
introduction.
Measureable
•Obtain 5
credible journal
articles.
•Write 500
words of
introduction.
Achievable
•Friday is
research day only have a 2
hour lecture in
the morning.
•Use journal
article sent
from
supervisor as
starting
reference.
Relevant
•Analogues will
only be
effective as
antiplasmodials
if they can
withstand
breakdown by
pantotheinase.
Time-bound
•Find and read
articles for 1
hr.
•Write
introduction
for 1hr and
research more
sources if
needed.
7
After much reflective thinking, it has become obvious to me that this framework can
be used in all aspects of my life, and I have used this model to control my perfectionist
impulses which come at the expense of study efficiency when tackling assessment pieces
with no immediate deadline, such as my Advanced Studies Course Research Report due at
the end of this semester. In this way, I can make sure that I am on track and making
reasonable levels of progress without constantly revisiting my work to make sure that it is
perfect.
3.2 Influential Leadership: Breaking the Barriers of Authority
A significant proportion lectures and tutorials have revolved around the extent to
which leadership and authority are interrelated. Is influential leadership the same as
influential authority? If so, what makes leadership any different from the practise of
authority? These are some of the questions which puzzled me when we first began
discussing this issue.
The idea of influential leadership was first introduced to us by Richard Baker, who in the
first lecture talked about an Indigenous elder who was crippled however highly respected
because of his rich knowledge about the environment. His positional authority as an
Aboriginal elder was directly related to his vast experience of the landscape. It makes sense
that a leader should have a high level of expertise in the field that they are leading, and in
some ways positional authority reaffirms this. Areti pointed out in the second week that
ANU has a very hierarchical leadership system, so as a person of influence, if you wanted to
bring about change, you have to appeal to people ‘at the top’. Listening to Karrie Graf speak has also taught me that in some contexts (such as sports coaching), influential and
positional leadership are synonymous, however even then it is critical to know the people
you are leading to know how best to influence positively.
With that said, restraining the definition of leadership to legitimate authority for the sake
of experience to me seems overtly reductionist, since people such as teachers exercise
influence regularly without actually ‘being leaders’. So this is not to say that influential
leadership cannot challenge the system or go around it. The vital involvement of Australian
high school students in the Montreal treaty is a classic example of how positional leaders
(e.g. head of the Australian Conservation Council in partnership with various
8
telecommunications companies) and influential leaders (students) working together can be
very effective agents of change. The climate change debate is, on the other hand, an
example where conflict between positional and influential leaders has hindered progress,
making the science appear as fragmented and invalid. I think at the end of the day, Taufiq
captured the interaction between leadership and authority perfectly when he said that
“dismissing authority will only be detrimental to what you want to do but giving into it
wholeheartedly will also defeat the change you are trying to fight for.” Certainly, acknowledging this relationship is critical to all those who lead.
9
4. Getting It Right in Leadership
“At the end of the day, people are going to tell you if you’ve done a crappy job”
Aleks Sladojevic
In this section, I present two models that in my opinion are sound frameworks for
effective leadership which offer implementable strategies that can serve as a basis for
dimensional approaches to leading as well as group work dynamics.
4.1 Five Stages of Group Development
Coming from a Science background, my experience with group work was relatively
shallow, and my mindset was fixed in such a way that I felt uneasy putting my fate in team
member’s hands. Learning the value of group work in leadership and how it can be applied
to the Sciences has been very thought-provoking for me, and has invited me to reconsider
my approach to group work. Tuckman’s five stages of group development nicely
summarises the main stages encountered in group work.
Figure -3-
Forming
•Personal relations characterised by dependence.
•Members rely on safe, patterned behaviour and depend on group leader guidance and direction.
•To progress, members must risk the possibility of conflict.
Storming
•Stage characterised by competition and conflict stemming from member's attempts to contribute to the project.
•Reflects conflicts over leadership, structure, power and authority.
•To progress, members must evolve from a "testing and proving" to a problem solving mentality.
Norming
•Members engaged in active acknowledgment of other members and willing to change preconcieved ideas about
each other.
•Leadership may be shared, and group interactions characterised by openness and sharing of information
•Not reached by all groups, and is the msot productive stage characterised by enhanced capacity, range and depth of
group interactions.
Performing •Group loyalty is intense, and overall goal is productivity through problem solving and work.
Adjourning
•Involves termination of task behavious and break-up from group relationships.
•Members say personal goodbyes and recognition given for participation and achievement.
With all that I have learnt about leadership so far, it stands to reason that the primary
aim of a group leader should be to fast-track the sequential development of the group to at
least the norming stage. Clearly, the leader will play different roles in each stage as the
10
group’s reliance on leader instruction changes over time, and the leader’s performance may even be judged as part of the storming phase. In trying to grasp my own understanding of
what it means to be a group leader, I realised that the time spent in each stage may be
dependent on the type of leadership challenge faced. This idea came to me as I was
reviewing my Williams (2005) reading and re-examined the “six domains of leadership challenge” which has allowed me to see the interplay between group productivity and
context. I would anticipate a larger storming phase in activist challenges when convincing
members to face some aspect of reality than in a maintenance challenge for example.
It seems relatively easy when forming a group to simply choose peers who you implicitly
get along with and just leave it at that. However, many of the panellists have emphasised
time and time again that the best members to have in a group are not necessarily your best
friends. In fact, sometimes having highly experienced people who you do not necessarily
get along with can be very beneficial in achieving the outcomes of the group as different
people bring different things to the table. Essentially, this means that being a leader
sometimes means that you have to remain open to the idea that when forming a group,
you have to think of what is in the best interests of the group as opposed to who you feel
will best agree with your opinion of what should be done. In Karrie’s words, “putting the ten best shooters in a team will probably not help you win.” This holistic view of group leadership has encouraged me to think beyond my previous beliefs and assumptions
related to group cohesion and efficiency.
4.2 A Multi Faceted Approach to Leading
Figure -4External Operating
Environment
Personal
mastering
* Factors in which you
have no control over
Levers
Systems
thinking
Enabling
Environment
* Understand the
range of levers that
could be drawn on
for the
circumstance
* Factors where
you have some
control or
influence
Team
learning
11
A major theme that has come across in the past five weeks is the unbreakable will
and passion of each of the speakers for their particular purpose. What has varied greatly,
however, is the leadership approach taken by each of these leaders. Week 5 panellist Vicki
Woodburn presented the Venn-diagram above and described it as an effective framework
for leading effectively. The model presented really resonates with me as it offers a simple,
yet thorough guideline that can serve as a sound starting point in learning to lead
effectively. For me, however, the best way I could rationalise this framework was by
incorporating three of Andrew Podger’s ‘disciplines required in a learning organisation’ which are personal mastering, systems thinking and team learning. These additions to
Vicki’s original model stem from my realisation that I cannot be a leader in a vacuum, and it
is almost inevitable that I will be working in a team if I want to be an active leader of
change.
Being an effective leader requires that you are able to formulate a set of core values
and understand how they drive you. For me, these include values such as communication,
empathy, risk taking, open mindedness, humility and determination. Furthermore,
effective leading often involves identifying what you practically can and cannot do, and
dedicating your energy into understanding the connections that can best help bring about
the desired change. Surely, understanding the dynamics of the systems and organisations
you are dealing with is crucial in building meaningful and favourable networks and
relationships. I recognise the value of teamwork in leading effectively and this model has
changed the way I involve subordinates in the decision-making process, which will
hopefully allow the team to learn from the experience collectively. Indeed, I have learnt
that it is inspiring a shared vision within a team through active involvement that truly leads
to influence. I can only hope that other leaders take this on board as well.
12
5. Enhancing the ANU Student Experience
How can the ANU student experience be enhanced? One method of enhancing the
ANU student experience is by considering what is missing and what areas can be improved
both practically and efficiently. In my opinion, 3 main areas can be addressed in this way.
Firstly, all students should have the opportunity to interact with the community at a
grassroots level through some form of volunteer work. What I mean by this is that all
students have the ability to lead and foster a cohesive community spirit (be it the ANU
community or the broader community) however may require an initial push to do so. This
can be achieved by mandating that all students complete at least 25 hours of communitybased volunteering as part of all ANU degrees. Students can have the freedom of choosing
what volunteering opportunities they would like to participate in and may or may not be
related to their degree. Such an initiative encourages students to build connections and
contribute positively to the ANU long before they are set to graduate.
Expanding the opportunities available to students to access counselling in an
informal setting is another proposed area of change. Despite the increase in mental health
awareness in recent times, mental health is still stigmatised enough to put people off trying
to access mental health services. When this is coupled with the apprehensiveness
associated with what type of services counselling entails, seeking help may quickly become
intimidating to students. Having the option to meet a counsellor at a cafe for their first
session may help alleviate some uncertainties and concerns some students face when
deciding to seek help.
The final area of change involves enhancing the quality of ANU lectures by ensuring
that researchers receive adequate exposure to effective lecturing alongside a 3 hour public
speaking workshop before lecturing themselves. New lecturers may benefit from attending
3 lectures of a senior lecturer who has consistently received high SELT scores over the
years. This in my opinion will better equip researchers to present quality lectures which are
both informative and engaging, in line with ANU’s 2020 vision to increase the number of quality academic staff that are also highly research-active.
13