Academic Work Showcase: My Leadership Behaviors

Introduction

            Leaders should consider themselves the benchmark for the type of behavior within an organization that helps to build cohesive teams and fosters effective organizations. As a leader it is important to set the tone for success. Positive and constructive behaviors that leaders embrace and demonstrate through their words and actions set the example for subordinates to emulate and create a climate within an organization where stress, uncertainty, and failure can be mitigated. The right leader behaviors help build more resilient followers and more resilient organizations. It also leads to greater efficiency and effectiveness within organizations, as well as building greater trust in the abilities of leaders. Certain key concepts and traits I have learned in my graduate studies in leadership have highlighted important behaviors that I have utilized in my professional career in the military. Some of the concepts and traits that have helped drive my behaviors as a leader are reframing and emotional intelligence.

Reframing and Leadership Behaviors

            One of the core ideas associated with reframing is viewing leadership situations and solutions from four different perspectives or frames. These four distinct frames are the structural frame, human resource frame, political frame, and symbolic frame. The structural frame can best be summarized as how to allocate work and how to coordinate work. The human resource frame focuses on what people and organizations do for each other such as the interpersonal relations within an organization.  The political frame is about the power processes and related decision making in organizations. Finally, the symbolic frame pertains to the rituals, ceremonies, and symbols that create a sense of culture within organizations. As a leader, being cognizant of these four distinct frames serve as a reminder that each challenge or situation can be viewed from more than one angle (Bolman & Deal, 2021). This has impacted my own leadership behavior regarding reframing by forcing me to not assume that an issue is caused by only one catalyst, or the best solution to a problem is always the most apparent or easiest approach.

            When decisions as a leader go wrong or the intended outcome is not met it can be easiest to blame this on the incompetence or defiance of subordinates. For most leaders, this is the easiest and most easily explained reason behind failure, but as Bolman and Deal (2021) state,” Relatively modest changes in how a problem or decision is framed can have a dramatic impact on how people respond” (p. 41). In my own leadership development and professional experience this statement has been particularly true. For example, there have been times in my professional career in the military when I viewed the inability of subordinates to execute my directives successfully as a type of power struggle and conflict between my decisions as a leader and the obligation of subordinates to follow those decisions and guidance. I have learned that these issues are not always about this type of political frame dynamic in which subordinates unsuccessfully following guidance is defiance against me as a leader. I’ve learned that the problem is often caused by other factors. In the case of new subordinates, I’ve learned that often structural components within the organization are causing issues, not a political frame of power struggle and competing interests. This has led to my own “reframing” of these types of scenarios.

            Developing standard operating procedures (SOPs) to ensure more predictable and consistent results has helped in addressing many of these types of situations. Much of the ambiguity of how to do things is eliminated when a more concise and appropriate SOP is developed for the tasks faced in different echelons and “departments” within my organization. I have used this process in standardizing the processing of enlistment (employment) applications for enlistment in the U.S. Army. When developing SOPs for this process I have often included the input of subordinates to help develop dialogue and understanding, as well as draw a consensus when appropriate. In this manner a more efficient and effective process has been developed because how things are done is predictable to everyone. Also, this process has helped to create procedures that are about doing things “our” way as a team and not just “my” way as a leader. No longer were these types of situations perceived by myself or subordinates as a political frame type of power struggle between my way as a leader or their way as a subordinate trying to do what they thought was best.

Emotional Intelligence and More Effective Leadership

            Northouse (2019) describes emotional intelligence as a trait-based approach to leadership consisting of personal and social competencies related to the perception, management, and understanding of emotions. Empathy and conflict management are examples of social competencies, while self-awareness and self-regulation are examples of personal competencies. In my own personal leadership journey, I have applied these principles of emotional intelligence to guide my behaviors towards showing greater empathy towards others and in the decisions I make that affect others. It has also impacted my behavior as a leader by increasing my awareness of how my own emotions impact my decision making or actions. Specifically, I have greatly adapted my behaviors by not allowing my initial reactions based on emotion to cause unproductive interactions with subordinates. As a leader I make a conscious decision to never act out of anger or frustration. Goleman et al. (2013) highlight the destructive nature of this when they state,” if a leader resonates exclusively in the negative emotional range, the effect will be to eventually burn people out” (p. 23).

            Showing empathy is another aspect of emotional intelligence that has helped me tremendously in building trust with subordinates and building more cohesive teams. The U.S. Army is a mission focused organization with many unique challenges when it comes to balancing a mission focused mindset with the wellbeing of organizational members and family. In many situations I have experienced, showing empathy helps subordinates understand that my concern for them extends beyond their use to me as a leader to just get the mission accomplished. Simple acts like allowing for unscheduled time off for taking care of sick family members or taking time for conversations about interests outside of organizational concerns has helped me as a leader to meet the emotional needs of subordinates and build trust. I’ve noticed the application of empathy, as well as other behaviors associated with emotional intelligence, has led to happier subordinates that are more effective and committed.

Conclusion

            How people act and behave is often an accurate measure of their values and motivations. This is the same for leaders. Leaders that exhibit the “right” behaviors will often make the best decisions when it comes to the well-being of their organization and subordinates. Leaders can make these decisions that lead to more effective organizations through leadership behaviors that are more decisive, well informed, and account for managing their own emotions and considering the emotions of others. These same behaviors allow subordinates to trust in the ability of leaders and the decisions they make.

References

Bolman, L.G., Deal, T.E. (2021). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership.

            Jossey-Bass.

Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2013). Primal leadership: Unleashing the power of  

            emotional intelligence. Harvard Business Review Press.

Northouse, P.G. (2019).  Leadership: Theory and practice (7th ed).  Sage publishing.