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Exploring the topic of leadership from all angles with our Master of Science in Leadership Community
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
November Newsletter
The Boston University in Brussels November Newsletter is out! Click on the image below to access the full pdf:
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Basic Leadership Skills- Learning from Experience
One of the texts that MSL students use in class is Hughes, Ginnett, and Curphy's Leadership: Enhancing the Lessons of Experience. From this text is adapted this week's blog topic: Basic Leadership Skills in regards to Learning from Experience.
Create Opportunities to Get Feedback. Even for (especially for) the most powerful leaders, feedback is critical. We all need to know not only how we're doing objectively (through performance metrics and goal achievement), but how we're doing subjectively (how do other see our performance). A leader who loses his followers is no longer leading anyone. Leadership is a function of the leader, the followers, and the situation, so that means two-thirds of leadership has to do with elements outside of the leader herself. For this reason it is important to solicit feedback from multiple sources.
For instance, a small business owner may measure his own performance on year end profitability and sales numbers. But he should casually gather feedback from employees on their satisfaction, customer comments and interactions, and ways the organization might be run more smoothly. It's usually the front-line people that have the best ideas for how to improve the customer experience and reduce redundancies, because they have to deal with both every day.
He could also discuss the business with his spouse (whether she works there or not) and see what her observations are on how it's run and how it might be improved. She might be ready to tell him his own areas for improvement as well (as husbands and wives usually like to do).
A third way to solicit advice is from a Trusted Advisor. Much like the "in the family but not of the family" idea in the Concigliere role, the Trusted Advisor is one who is close enough to see the inner workings of the organization and personalities involved, experienced enough to know how to improve it, and trusted enough to speak plainly and truthfully to the owner (without fear of bias). Many leaders benefit from the incorporation of a Trusted Advisor.
Take a 10 percent stretch. No matter where you are today, and in what direction you want to head, the journey begins with taking a step forward. As much change is daunting, keep in mind that you don't have to change everything at once. Shoot for a 10% change, define it in real, measurable goals (so that you can hold yourself accountable later), and start working towards it.
Maybe you want to increase gross sales from $10M to $11M next year. Say you want to reach 10% more customers, or expand your network by 10% (say from 200 to 220 connections on LinkedIn). This can be as simple as wanting to post five more posts for the weekly food blogger or as complex as wanting to rate 10% better on your annual 360 degree review.
Keep a Journal. Now this one I think can be taken literally (have a journal that you write in regularly to reflect upon- and get perspective on- issues that you are dealing with), or it can be taken figuratively (remember to take time regularly to look back and think about your progress, issues with the organization, challenges, and successes).
The key to either approach is to revisit events so that you can (a) get a better perspective on them and (b) learn from them so that you are better prepared for the next time around. Too often busy business owners rush from one crisis to another simply putting out fires without any chance to look back and consider events, performance, and meaning.
Create a Development Plan. This is simply a matter of asking "Where am I going with all of this?" It may seem obvious to say you need to know where you want to go before you try to get there, but many times we rush towards a vague notion of "better" without having clear, articulated, and measurable goals along the way. This isn't to say that a plan can't change along the way, just that having it written down will help focus efforts towards real results.
This can be applied on many levels:
Create Opportunities to Get Feedback. Even for (especially for) the most powerful leaders, feedback is critical. We all need to know not only how we're doing objectively (through performance metrics and goal achievement), but how we're doing subjectively (how do other see our performance). A leader who loses his followers is no longer leading anyone. Leadership is a function of the leader, the followers, and the situation, so that means two-thirds of leadership has to do with elements outside of the leader herself. For this reason it is important to solicit feedback from multiple sources.
For instance, a small business owner may measure his own performance on year end profitability and sales numbers. But he should casually gather feedback from employees on their satisfaction, customer comments and interactions, and ways the organization might be run more smoothly. It's usually the front-line people that have the best ideas for how to improve the customer experience and reduce redundancies, because they have to deal with both every day.
He could also discuss the business with his spouse (whether she works there or not) and see what her observations are on how it's run and how it might be improved. She might be ready to tell him his own areas for improvement as well (as husbands and wives usually like to do).
A third way to solicit advice is from a Trusted Advisor. Much like the "in the family but not of the family" idea in the Concigliere role, the Trusted Advisor is one who is close enough to see the inner workings of the organization and personalities involved, experienced enough to know how to improve it, and trusted enough to speak plainly and truthfully to the owner (without fear of bias). Many leaders benefit from the incorporation of a Trusted Advisor.
Maybe you want to increase gross sales from $10M to $11M next year. Say you want to reach 10% more customers, or expand your network by 10% (say from 200 to 220 connections on LinkedIn). This can be as simple as wanting to post five more posts for the weekly food blogger or as complex as wanting to rate 10% better on your annual 360 degree review.
Keep a Journal. Now this one I think can be taken literally (have a journal that you write in regularly to reflect upon- and get perspective on- issues that you are dealing with), or it can be taken figuratively (remember to take time regularly to look back and think about your progress, issues with the organization, challenges, and successes).
The key to either approach is to revisit events so that you can (a) get a better perspective on them and (b) learn from them so that you are better prepared for the next time around. Too often busy business owners rush from one crisis to another simply putting out fires without any chance to look back and consider events, performance, and meaning.
This can be applied on many levels:
- personal (I am going to master these skills this year);
- organizational (a plan to increase employee satisfaction by 25% and reduce turnover by 10%);
- performance-driven (a monthly detailed budget to plan for $40M in sales and $500K in profit by fiscal year end).
Monday, October 17, 2011
An Interview with Theodore Trefon
This month we sat down with Dr. Theodore Trefon. He a Congo expert specializing in the politics of state-society relations and has devoted the past 25 years to Congo as a researcher, lecturer, author, project manager and consultant. He heads the Contemporary History Section of the Belgian Royal Museum for Central Africa and is Adjunct Professor of International Relations at Boston University Brussels.
The main problem facing Congo today is precisely the lack of responsible leadership. In a country where political authorities do very little for their constituents, when officials do just a little, they are venerated. But this is populism and not real leadership. There are few outstanding figures on the political landscape with vision, those who are able to bring an end to corrupt government, reduce poverty, solve the country’s security problems or improve the well-being of ordinary people. This would require the talent of being able to mobilize people around shared objectives, the power to deal forcefully and pragmatically with regional and international partners and the capacity to manage the macro-economic challenges facing what has unfortunately become one of Africa’s notoriously failed states. President Kabila does not have these leadership credentials; ex-dictator Mobutu had the charisma and flair of what is sometimes expected of an African ‘big man’ but he used it against the interest of the people; the first democratically elected prime minister, Patrice Lumumba, was assassinated before having the chance to deploy his leadership skills.
Congo is one, but plural at the same time. Again, the country is diverse and fragmented so it is impossible to expect a consensus on anything, let alone on leadership. This is a very hot question because presidential and legislative elections will take place at the end of November. Perceptions of political leadership in Congo have to be understood in terms of social issues. People are very frustrated by the lack of progress in the government’s development program known as ‘cinq chantiers’. There is a lot of justifiable grumbling about lack of water, electricity, roads and access to health services. Kabila has strong support in some provinces but faces heavy opposition in others. The fact that he was able to amend the constitution, to have a single round of voting instead of the two-round system is a distinct advantage for him so he is likely to win the elections. Winning the elections is one step, transforming it into legitimate authority based on respect and transparent negotiation is something else. People have become very skeptical about how much government can really do for them and have consequently come to rely on their own home-grown systems to survive.
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| Dr. Trefon |
Dr. Trefon, thank you for spending some time with me. One of the topics that BU students in the MSL program tackle is the definition of the term "leadership." It is a concept that seems simple at first, yet grows more complex the more you probe it. You have spent the past 25 years studying the politics and anthropology of state/society relations in Congo/Zaire. With that breadth of experience, how have you come to understand what it means to be an effective leader?
The situational model of leadership focuses not only on the leader personally but also the context in which the leader operates. In Congo Masquerade, you focus on the ingrained political culture of corruption among the Congolese elite. What situational challenges do leaders (both within and external to the Congo) face in trying to improve the quality of life of the ordinary Congolese? In other words, besides being a strong leader in and of himself, what must a politician know about the Congolese system in order to be effective?
After 32 years of dictatorship, violent conflict and machinations orchestrated by Rwanda and a very difficult – but still unsuccessful political transition towards democracy, everything on the state-building agenda is priority. Public health, education, road infrastructure, providing people with water and electricity, re-engineering public service provision, creating the enabling conditions for political participation, etc. are all priorities. But there is no master plan shared by the Congolese authorities and their international partners. While many programs appear to make sense at the theoretical level, implementation is a real problem. The country is also vast (the size of Western Europe) and diverse (in terms of distribution of natural wealth, ethnicity and population density). Managing a country that is fragmented in this way is an additional challenge. Probably the most important thing for a Congolese politician or international partner to bear in mind is the only thing that is predictable in Congo is the unpredictable.
How does the ordinary, everyday Congolese citizen view the leadership of his or her country?
How does the ordinary, everyday Congolese citizen view the leadership of his or her country?
Congo is one, but plural at the same time. Again, the country is diverse and fragmented so it is impossible to expect a consensus on anything, let alone on leadership. This is a very hot question because presidential and legislative elections will take place at the end of November. Perceptions of political leadership in Congo have to be understood in terms of social issues. People are very frustrated by the lack of progress in the government’s development program known as ‘cinq chantiers’. There is a lot of justifiable grumbling about lack of water, electricity, roads and access to health services. Kabila has strong support in some provinces but faces heavy opposition in others. The fact that he was able to amend the constitution, to have a single round of voting instead of the two-round system is a distinct advantage for him so he is likely to win the elections. Winning the elections is one step, transforming it into legitimate authority based on respect and transparent negotiation is something else. People have become very skeptical about how much government can really do for them and have consequently come to rely on their own home-grown systems to survive.
Students learn in class at BU about leader emergence, or how one individual rises out of the crowd and assumes a meaningful leadership role. Often this emergence is due not only to the individual's traits, but to the perception of the individual by the others in the group. Have you witnessed any instances where an otherwise ordinary individual rises up from the ranks and assumes a leadership role, no matter how small?
As people expect relatively little from government, new forms of social organization emerge. Congo, however, remains a very hierarchical society, perhaps something that is a spillover from Belgian colonialism. Religious leaders, civil society activists, traditional chiefs, diaspora representatives, successful businessmen and women and even musicians are leaders and opinion formers that political authorities have to deal with.
I know that everyone at BU Brussels is very happy to have you join the team. Turning to your role at BU, what do you feel are the most important lessons that students can learn about leadership? What new understanding and knowledge do you hope to pass on to them in your class?
I know that everyone at BU Brussels is very happy to have you join the team. Turning to your role at BU, what do you feel are the most important lessons that students can learn about leadership? What new understanding and knowledge do you hope to pass on to them in your class?
I’ve devoted the past twenty-five years to Congo/Zaire as a researcher, project manager, professor and consultant. My approach is policy oriented and I have tried to narrow the conceptual gap between political science theories on development and state-building and a grassroots, anthropological understanding of very local-level social dynamics.
My course at BUB accordingly focuses on international development. Specifically, the discourses, practices, strategies, pitfalls, challenges - and when relevant - success stories of this vast agenda. I try to avoid over conceptualizing or theorizing about these issues because at the Master’s level, students seem to be more motivated by pragmatic examples and case studies. Are the Millennium Developments Goals attainable? How does micro-finance work? How do you carry out stakeholder analysis in the field? What are the links between access to natural resources and well-being? The main messages that I try to convey are one, development is a very complex issue so we have to be culturally sensitive and humble, two, be open-minded – bringing in the private sector in development strategies, for example, is something that I explore with students and three, be prepared for the unexpected – the role of social media in the Arab spring is a good case in point.
Thank you for your time, Dr. Trefon.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
The BUB Newsletter - October
Boston University in Brussels is pleased to introduce the second of our monthly newsletters. Every month we will be taking an in-depth look at the events, people, and partner organizations that shape our BUB community.
This month we take a look at the book Congo Masquerade, by BU professor Theodore Trefon, and discuss both transition from professional to student life and student to professional life (job hunting in today's economic environment). Additionally you can find out more about our partnership with BeCommerce, e-commerce classes, and our entrepreneurial workshops series.
Contact us directly to be added to the newsletter distribution list, and be sure to check us out on Facebook and Twitter as well!
Click on the image below to view the full newsletter:
note: this link will be active until November 5th, 2011. To view older newsletters, contact us at brussels@bu.edu.
This month we take a look at the book Congo Masquerade, by BU professor Theodore Trefon, and discuss both transition from professional to student life and student to professional life (job hunting in today's economic environment). Additionally you can find out more about our partnership with BeCommerce, e-commerce classes, and our entrepreneurial workshops series.
Contact us directly to be added to the newsletter distribution list, and be sure to check us out on Facebook and Twitter as well!
Click on the image below to view the full newsletter:
note: this link will be active until November 5th, 2011. To view older newsletters, contact us at brussels@bu.edu.
if clicking the image doesn't bring you to the newsletter, go to http://freepdfhosting.com/b7a71919d1.pdf
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Charisma and the Leader
Today Bank of America announced it will be cutting 30,000 jobs. This is due, in large part, to a problem with charismatic leadership in the organization. Not only has B.o.A. suffered from the result of over-charismatic leadership, it is now feeling the consequences of lack of charisma at the top levels.
During the 2008 US financial crisis, Bank of America was doing alright. A history of strong organizational structure and leadership had positioned it so that the brunt of the mortgage fallout missed it. But the then-CEO Ken Lewis decided - in an act of hubris that could be considered over-charismatic - decided to purchase Countrywide. This horrible decision led to organizational complexity and inefficiency, millions in bad loans, Lewis's departure, and eventually the drastic 30,000 person cut announced today.
Lewis's charisma had contributed to his ability to push through the Countrywide deal (and his desire to show Wall Street just how powerful B.o.A. could be). It was arguably the worst decision in the company's history.
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| Ken Lewis |
Now the bank is paying the price for a paucity of charisma at the top ranks. The current CEO, Brian Moynihan, is not showing enough charisma to convince investors that he is in control of the company. Stock prices are down 50%. This latest move can be seen in part as a way to send a signal to Wall Street that Moynihan will, in fact, be able to do what is necessary to turn the bank around.
But one wonders if the drastic cuts would have been needed if Moynihan had possessed enough charisma to be able to charm investors into confidence. On the other hand, perhaps the ability to charm investors is exactly what we want to avoid as we seek to get a clear picture of a company's financial situation. No one claims that Wall Street is rational, after all.
Charisma is one of the personal traits that is examined in the study of leadership. It appears when discussing the characteristics of transformational leaders. It has been suggested as a legitimate alternative to traditional power structures (there are those who lead because of their position, and others who are carried into power on the momentum of their charisma). Students see its influence in the Five Factor Model of Personality, where it influences surgency, dependability, agreeableness, adjustment, and intelligence. Charisma is even important in the follower, as it is in the followers' eyes that a leader is seen as charismatic.
As the Bank of America case shows, there are positives and negatives to the charismatic leader, and the trait is only one of many that all interact to determine leader effectiveness.
Join our students in the study of this and many other aspects of leadership in our Masters of Science in Leadership program. Contact us today to learn more.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
The BUB Newsletter - September
Boston University in Brussels is pleased to introduce the first of our monthly newsletters. Every month we will be taking an in-depth look at the events, people, and partner organizations that shape our BUB community. Contact us directly to be added to the newsletter distribution list, and be sure to check us out on Facebook and Twitter as well!
Click on the image below to view the full newsletter:
note: this link will be active until October 8th, 2011. To view older newsletters, contact us at brussels@bu.edu.
Click on the image below to view the full newsletter:
note: this link will be active until October 8th, 2011. To view older newsletters, contact us at brussels@bu.edu.
BU Brussels September Newsletter
Friday, August 5, 2011
Congratulations to the Class of '11!
Boston University Brussels's Class of 2011 graduated in style. This marks the first class predominantly comprised of Masters of Science in Leadership graduates. Others graduated with Masters of Science in Management and Masters of International Relations.
As we do not have room to post the dozens of happy pictures of the event, a few key shots are included below. Congratulations and best of luck to the class of 2011!
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