Post on 03-Oct-2020
Leadership in Turbulent Times
Zubin R. Mulla
School of Management & Labour Studies
April 30, 2020
1
“Leadership” is not the same as “management”.
➢ Leadership ≠ Exercising authority, Technical expertise
➢ Leadership = influencing others to work willingly for a joint purpose
➢ Leadership is a dynamic relationship with three components….
FollowerLeader
Context
Nye, J. (2008). The powers to lead. Oxford University Press.
• Depending on the context, anyone may exercise leadership
• The test of a leader is whether a group is more effective in both defining and achieving its goals because of that person’s participation.
2
Crises are low-probability, high-impact events that threaten the viability of the organization.
Normal Accidents Abnormal Accidents Natural Accidents
Personnel crises
Physical crises
Economic crises
Criminal crises
Information crises
Reputational crises
Natural Disasters
• Strikes• Exodus of
key employees
• Workplace Vandalism
• Industrial accidents
• Supply breakdowns
• Product failures
• Recessions• Stock
market crashes
• Hostile takeovers
• Product tampering
• Kidnapping or hostage situations
• Acts of terrorism
• Theft of proprietary information
• Tampering with company records
• Cyberattacks
• Rumour mongering or slander
• Logo tampering
• Earthquake• Floods• Fires• Pandemic
Pearson, C. M., & Clair, J. A. (1998). Reframing crisis management. Academy of Management Review, 23(1), 59-76.
Mitroff, I. I., & Alpaslan, M. C. (2003). Preparing for evil. Harvard Business Review, 81(4), 109-115.
Crises are characterized by ambiguity in…• Causes• Effects• Means of resolutionAnd a belief that decisions must be made swiftly.
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Existing response strategies & routines do not work in a true crisis situation.
Routine Emergency True Crisis
Kind of work Technical Adaptive
Problem Definition Clear Requires learning
Solution &
Implementation
Clear Requires learning
Responsibility Managers > Team Managers & Team
Heifetz, R. (1998). Leadership without easy answers: Harvard University Press, p. 76
Leonard, H. B., & Howitt, A. M. (2012). Leading in Crisis: Observations on the Political and Decision-Making Dimensions Response. W: I. Helsloot,
B. Jacobs, A. Boin (red.) Mega-Crises. Understanding the Prospects, Nature, Characteristics and the Effects of the Cataclysmic Events, 25-34.
Can be addressed through authority or expertise
Can only be addressed through leadership
4
The manager’s role in a true crisis if far more complex.
Routine Emergency
(Can address by Authority or Expertise)
True Crisis
(Requires Leadership)
Define problems & provide solutions Identify the adaptive challenge & frame
key questions & issues
Shield the organization from external
threats
Let the organization feel external
pressures within a range it can
understand
Clarify roles & responsibilities Challenge current roles & resist pressure
to define new roles quickly
Restore order Expose conflict or let it emerge
Maintain norms Challenge unproductive norms
Heifetz, R. A., & Laurie, D. L. (1997). The work of leadership. Harvard Business Review, 75, 124-134.
5
A common mistake by managers is to treat a “true crisis” like a “routine emergency”.
This may address the crisis, but may seriously harm the
organization in the long term.
Heifetz, R. (1998). Leadership without easy answers: Harvard University Press,
➢ Individuals crave for a
charismatic leader during a crisis.
Fulfils the team members’
need to give up responsibility
& remain passive
➢ Managers may also display
“heroism” rather than
“leadership”
Fulfils the manager’s need for
attention & control
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At times, too much of managerial control in crisis may reduce performance.
➢ Manager’s charisma may adversely affect performance during a crisis,
when followers have…
High self-direction values
High professional identity
➢ CEO power is negatively related to firm performance in crisis, when…
Firm innovativeness is high
Markets are competitive
Executives’ discretion is high (N = 3724 CEOs over 17 years)
Wegge, J., Jungbauer, K. L., & Shemla, M. (2019). When inspiration does not fit the bill: Charismatic leadership reduces performance in a
team crisis for followers high in self-direction. Journal of Management & Organization, 1-18.
Kamble, R. A., & Mulla, Z. (2019). Professional identity neutralizes charismatic leadership tactics in a crisis. Journal of Indian Business
Research.
Gupta, V. K., Han, S., Nanda, V., & Silveri, S. (2018). When crisis knocks, call a powerful CEO (or not): Investigating the contingent link
between CEO power and firm performance during industry turmoil. Group & Organization Management, 43(6), 971-998.
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Those who “take charge” in a crisis may refuse to let go even after the crisis is over.
➢ “Taking charge” (or being in control) may distort managers’ perception
of reality, such that they are more likely to…
• Perceive incivility in others
• Act impulsively
• Taking undue risks
• Treat human beings like objects
➢ In the manager’s mind, the crisis never ends
O’Toole, J. (1996). Leading Change: The argument for values-based leadership, Ballantine.
Foulk, T. A., Lanaj, K., Tu, M.-H., Erez, A., & Archambeau, L. (2018). Heavy Is the Head that Wears the Crown: An Actor-centric Approach
to Daily Psychological Power, Abusive Leader Behavior, and Perceived Incivility. Academy of Management Journal, 61(2), 661-684.
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Charismatic Bond
Reciprocal & mutually reinforcing forces make emergence of charisma more likely during a crisis.
Jungbauer, K.-L. (2016). Leading in Times of Crisis: Examining the Effectiveness of Different Leadership Styles across Stages of the
Crisis Lifecycle. Technische Universität Dresden,
Crisis
Leader Followers
Increased Charismatic Opportunity
Increased Follower Readiness
Influence
Evaluation
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The paradox of short-term wants vs. long-term needs can be addressed by temporal splitting.
Phase Emergency Phase Adaptive Phase
Manager’s task Stabilize the situation & buy
time
Tackle the underlying cause of the
crisis & build the capacity to thrive
in the new reality
Manager’s
relationship
with team
members
• Charismatic
• Heroism
• Self-sacrificing
Leadership i.e., mobilizing people to
tackle the tough challenges that
they face & thrive
Heifetz, R., Grashow, A., & Linsky, M. (2009). Leadership in a (permanent) crisis. Harvard Business Review, 87(7/8), 62-69.
Organization culture & governance systems must prevent a state of “permanent
emergency.”
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Leaders must first address these four questions.
Edmondson, A. (2020). Crisis Management for Leaders. https://www.alumni.hbs.edu/Documents/events/HBS_Crisis_Management_for_Leaders_Program5_Chilean_Mine_Rescue_Teaming_in_Crisis_Apr2020.pdf
1) Who are ”we”? (Am I part of this “we”) [Identity]
2) What things that we that we care about are at risk?
[Values / Purpose]
3) What happened / is happening? [Situational awareness]
4) What do people like us, with values like ours, do in a situation like this?
[Action]
If people don’t hear this from their leaders, they will find their own answers to
these questions.
See: New Zealand's PM Jacinda Arden's speech on Friday, March 15, 2019 during the
Mass Shootings at two mosques in Christchurch during Friday Prayers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REkcKkctdJY
11
The leader’s communication must balance realism & optimism.
➢ Be honest about the most brutal facts of the current situation
➢ Maintain unwavering faith that you can and will prevail in the end,
regardless of the difficulties
➢ Show empathy
➢ As crisis is addressed, transition to more long-term visionary messages
Collins. J. (2001). Good to Great: Why some companies make the leap and others don’t. Random House, p. 13.
König, A., Graf-Vlachy, L., Bundy, J., & Little, L. M. (2020). A Blessing and a Curse: How CEOs’ Trait Empathy Affects Their
Management of Organizational Crises. Academy of Management Review, 45(1), 130-153.
Hunt, J. G., Boal, K. B., & Dodge, G. E. (1999). The effects of visionary and crisis-responsive charisma on followers: An experimental
examination of two kinds of charismatic leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 10(3), 423-448.
(Stockdale Paradox)
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Guidelines for navigating adaptive challenges…
1. Restrain your desire for control & need for importance / Don’t become the “answer-giver-in-chief”
2. Recognize that all crises have moral implications
3. Affirm the core values & be a role model for desired values/behavior
4. Consult experts from diverse areas
5. Have multiple teams working in parallel
6. Guard against cognitive biases
7. When sacrifices are needed & where possible, ask people to volunteer
8. Create psychological safety & encourage dissent (Prof. Amy Edmondson)
9. Remember that attacks are reactions to your professional role, not to you personally
10. Anchor yourself, have a few confidants
Heifetz, R. A., & Linsky, M. (2002). A survival guide for leaders. Harvard Business Review, 80(6), 65-74.
Leonard, H. B., & Howitt, A. M. (2012). Leading in Crisis: Observations on the Political and Decision-Making Dimensions Response. W: I. Helsloot,
B. Jacobs, A. Boin (red.) Mega-Crises. Understanding the Prospects, Nature, Characteristics and the Effects of the Cataclysmic Events, 25-34.
“Leadership in troubled times is defined by the values it preserves, not by the ability
to get all the operational decisions right”
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Why Have Women Leaders Excelled At Fighting The Coronavirus Crisis?
“Mounting a successful defense against a crisis of this magnitude takes
more than a single person. Effectively developing a strategic response
depends on a leader who is both willing to listen to public health experts
and scientists and also willing take decisive action as needed. The
approach is obvious in theory but so hard to do in practice. And these
leaders have this unique cross-section of skills in common.”
Denning, S. (April 25, 2020). Why have women leaders excelled at fighting the Coronavirus crisis? Forbes. Accessed from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephaniedenning/2020/04/26/why-have-women-leaders-excelled-at-fighting-the-coronavirus-crisis/#5f7b7545543e
14
Leaders engage in collaborative “sensemaking” with team members.
Weick, K. E., & Sutcliffe, K. M. (2015). Managing the unexpected: Sustained performance in a complex world (Third Edition): John
Wiley & Sons, Jossey-Bass, p. 3 & 39.
Perception ofReality
Concepts & Theories
Sensemaking
1) Situation : “Here’s what I think we face”
2) Task : “Here’s what I think we should do”
3) Intent : Here’s why I think this is what we should do”
4) Concerns : “Here’s what we should keep our eye on because if that changes, we’re in a whole new ball game”
5) Calibrate : Tell me if you…(a) don’t understand(b) can’t do it, or(c) see something I don’t
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Resources for further reading…
Thank You!
Prof. Venkat R. Krishnan Prof. Noel Machado Prof. Virajanand Varma