The Dark and Light Sides of Leadership

The Dark and Light Side of LeadershipDr. Marilyn Bucknercopyright Hogan AssessmentsThe UCF Leadership Edge Learning Community- 3rd in a Series –Friday, February 13th, 2004Repeated on March 9th, 20041Key Ideas:• Positive Leadership Traits Predict Organizational Effectiveness• Negative Leadership Traits can be measured• People leave organizations because of Jerk Behavior• Positive Leadership Traits can be measured • Most positive Traits can be developed*Based on the Research of Dr. Robert Hogan2Personality and Leadership• The leadership literature is huge. Can be separated into two traditions.o The Troubadour Tradition: Opinions of gurus and former CEOs.o The Academic Tradition: Empirical research from Academia.3Evaluating the Two Traditions• The Troubadour Tradition is entertaining but unscientific.• The Academic Tradition is scientific but often trivial.4How to Define and Evaluate Leadership• Leadership should be defined in terms of the ability to build and maintain a high performing team.• Leadership should be evaluated in terms of the performance of the team relative to the other teams with which it competes.5What Do We Actually Know About Leadership?OUTLINE:• Competency models (Leadership Domain Model)• Implicit leadership themes• Good to great themes• Personality predicts leadership• Bad managers alienate workers • Base rate of incompetent managers6WARREN BENNIS, LEADERSHIP GURUThe ruling quality of leaders, adaptive capacity, is what allows true leaders to make nimble decisions that bring success. Adaptive capacity is also what allows some people to transcend the setbacks and losses that come with age and to reinvent themselves again and again. (Inside the Mind of the Leader, January 2004.7The Leader Domain Model:Competencies• Intrapersonal skills: self-control (employability)• Interpersonal skills: social skill (team work)• Business skills: job fit• Leadership skills: persuading, delegating, inspiring• Increasing levels of trainability8Implicit Leadership Themes• Integrity: keep one’s word, don’t play favorites (Kouzes & Posner)• Decisiveness: make good decisions quickly• Competence: be good at the business• Vision: explain why it mattersWarren Bennis, “Leaders are individuals who create sharedmeaning have a distinct voice, have the capacity to adapt, and have integrity.”Bennis - “Founding chairman, University of Southern California Leadership Institute - Author - On Becoming a Leader”9Good to Great Themes• CEOs of Fortune 1000 companies with 15 years sustained performance:– Amazingly persistent– Humble (Level 5 Leader, Jim Collins)Example: Carly Fiorina, CEO of HP10