Leadership

And
People Management
Course Material for Examinations to be Taken
In
Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
For
Membership of the Nigerian Army Resource Centre
(NARC)

By

Dr. Okey Ikechukwu, mni

 Table of Contents

Module One
Introduction to Leadership Issues

1.a. Meaning of Leadership

1.b. Basic Facts about leadership

1.c. Underpinnings of Leadership

1.c. (a) Vision and Mission
1.c. (b) Goal Definition and Motivation
1.c. (c) Capacity Midwifery
1.c. (d) Diligence
1.c. (e) Creative Imagination

1.d. Types of Leadership

1.d. (a) Autocratic Leadership
1.d. (b) Laissez-Faire Leadership
1.d. (c) Transformational Leadership
1.d. (d) Transactional Leadership
1.d. (e) Bureaucratic Leadership
1.d. (f) Charismatic Leadership
1.d. (g) Participative Leadership
1.d. (h) Directive Leadership
1.d. (i) Supportive leadership

1.e. Pattern and Perception in Leadership

1.e. (a) The Authoritarian Profile
1.e. (b) The Participative Profile
1.e. (c) The Free-rein Profile
1.e (d) The Paternalistic Profile

1.f. The Leadership Environment

1.f. (a) The Leader` Approach
1.f. (b) The Led
1.f. (c) The Interplay of Political Forces
 1.f. (d) The Consequences

Module Two
Fundamentals of Leadership

2.a. Basic Leadership Principles

2.a. (a) Leadership is Beyond Position
2.a. (b) Leadership Means Being Exemplary
2.a. (c) Leading Involves Impact
2.a. (d) Leadership is not Just Resources
2.a. (e) Talking is Not Enough
2.a. (f) Leadership is Value-driven
2.a. (g) People-Focused Leadership Works
2.a. (h) Leadership is Not Perfection
2.a. (i) Cohesion Breeds Strength
2.a. (j) Continuous Growth is the Magic

2.b. Approaches To leadership

2.b. (a) Leadership as position
2.b. (b) Leadership as Person
2.b. (c) Leadership as Result
2.b. (d) Leadership as Process

2.c. Leadership Lessons From the Military

2.c. (a) Transferability of Leadership Lessons

2.d. The Role of Trust in Leadership

2.d. (a) Trust and Productivity
2.d. (b) Trust and Employee Turnover
2.d. (c) A Question of Reciprocity
2.d. (d) Benefits of Trust
2.d. (e) The Flip Side of Trust
2.d. (f) Modeling Trust

2.e. Leadership and Change Management

2.e. (a) Leadership as Catalyst
 2.e. (b) Change Management Competencies
2.e.b. (1) Creativity
2.e.b. (2) Communication
2.e.b. (3) Collaboration
2.e.b. (4) Commitment
2.f. People Management in Change

Module Three
Emotional Intelligence as a leadership Tool

3.a. The Notion of Emotional Intelligence

3.b. Essentials of Emotional Intelligence
3.c. Meaning of Emotional Intelligence
3.d. Components of Emotional Intelligence
3.d. (a) Self Awareness
3.d. (b) Self-regulation
3.d. (c) Motivation
3.d. (d) Empathy
3.d. (e) Social Skills

3.e. In Summary
3.f. The Flip Side
3.g. Role of Culture in Emotional Intelligence
3.h. It is Not a Homogenous World
3.i. The Question of In-Built Bias
3.j. Motivation as a Tool in Emotional Intelligence

Module Four
Leadership and Conflict Management

4.a. Introduction
4.b. What is Conflict?
4.c. Positive Conflict
4.d. Negative Conflict
4.e. Sources of Conflict
 4.e. (a) Economic Conflict
4.e. (b) values Conflict
4.e. (c) Power Conflict

4.f. Conflict Resolution

4.g. Approaches to Conflict Management
4.g. (a) Organizational Goal/Vision
4.g. (b) Strategic Timing
4.g. (c) Determine Rules of Engagement
4.g. (d) Unity, Not Uniformity
4.g. (e) Minimize Friction

4.h. Personal and Organizational Conflict

4.h. (a) Types of Organizational Conflict
4.h. (b) Role Conflicts Within Organizations
4.h. (c) Inter-Group Conflicts Within Organizations

4.i. Understanding International Conflict

4.i. (a) According to International Relations Theories
4.i. (b) Other Counter Thesis
4.i. (c) Hard and Soft Power Issues

4.j. The “Conflict is Normal” Approach

4.k. The “Conflict is Abnormal” Approach
4.k. (a) Opposites Are Inclusive
4.k. (b) Opposites Lay the Foundation fro Harmony
4.k. (c) A Question of Complementarity

4.l. Steps to Consensus Building

4.l. (a) Seek Common Grounds
4.l. (b) Promote Complimentary Differences
4.l. (c) Mediation

4.m. The Leader and Conflict Resolution

4.n. (a) Isolating the Causes
4.n. (b) Enablers and Non Enablers
Module Five
Leadership and Change Management

5.a. Introduction

5.b. Relevant Variables in Change Management

5.b. (a) Change Sponsors
5.b. (b) Change Agents
5.b. (c) Change Instruments
5.b. (d) Change Targets
5.b. (e) Change Outcomes
5.b. (f) Change Impeders
5.b. (g) Change Inducers

5,c, OCM as Project Management

5.d. Leadership and Systematic Change
5.e. Qualities of a Sustainable Change Initiative
5.f. Role Definition and Action Points
5.g. Questions to consider in Designing a Change
management Programme
5.h. It is Not a Linear Engagement
5.i. Creating Change-Inclined Organizations
5.g. (a) Objective Performance Management
5.i. (b) Team Inclusiveness
5.i. (c) Reward and Recognition
5.i. (d) Deploying a Tailor-made Workforce
 Leadership and People Management

Introduction

The purpose of this level of professional training in

leadership is to introduce participants and aspiring members

to key issues in leadership and people management for

operations success. It is divided into five main Modules, with

sub-sections. The Modules build on each order and each

Module imparts specific aspects of leadership knowledge and

skills.

The Five Modules

The five Modules contained in this booklet are variously

titled: (1) Introduction to Leadership Issues; (2)

Fundamentals of Leadership; (3) Emotional Intelligence as a

Leadership Tool; (4) Leadership and Conflict Management

and Leadership and Change Management.

The Style

The writing style is deliberately simple and designed for easy

understanding. Though the approach is situated within the

clearly academic norms of exposition and analysis, the

content are designed for easy assimilation, using mostly

everyday expressions. Reading is made easier for the target

public by the emplacement of relevant bibliography at the

end of this booklet, rather than insertion of references within

the body of the text; which would not be ideal for the varied

backgrounds of the target audience.

Expected Outcomes

The expected outcomes, for certification in leadership, as well

as admission to membership, are knowledge of: (1) The

meaning of leadership, the challenges presented by a leader`s

operating environment and the impact of effective

leadership; (2) Basic leadership principles, approaches to

leadership and the role of trust in leadership; (3) The role of

Emotional Intelligence (EI) in leadership tool and team

building; (4) Leadership and conflict management, as well as

approaches to conflict resolution; and (5) How leadership can

be a catalyst for effective change management.

For the Membership examinations, each candidate is to

answer twenty questions on each Module.

 Module One

Introduction to Leadership Issues

1.a. Meaning of Leadership

Leadership may be defined as the ability to provide guidance,

direction or supervisory authority over a team, or an

organization. This conception of leadership exists in the

military, in politics, in public administration and in the

management of business organizations. In all these

leadership contexts, to lead is to influence, guide, organize or

manage human beings and material resources. The goal of

leadership in these varying operational situations is also

always the same: To ensure that certain actions are executed,

or that people act in certain ways, to achieve certain results

based on a vision and goal, or set of goals.

But the persons on top of the leadership pyramid are not

always the only leaders in any operational situation, or

environment. That is because leadership responsibilities

exist at various levels in all spheres of life. A leadership

position or role can be assigned through direct appointment,

as part of professional progression. It may also come in the

form of team leadership and operational oversight functions.

It is in this latter sense that leadership can be a managerial

function that is not limited to chief executives, top military

commanders, and political bosses.

Every leader, no matter his level of authority, must have clear

and achievable goals. He must also have the ability to make

sound, and sometimes difficult, decisions. This is in addition

to being able to provide his followers with the necessary

information and tools to achieve the desired results, for his

leadership vision to survive.

1.b. Basic Facts About Leadership

Every leadership situation is made up of the leader, the led

and the goals to be achieved. It also involves the following: (1)

A vision of what needs to be done, (2) The requisite

knowledge and skills for achieving the goals, (3) The tools for

impact and measurable outcomes, (4) The processes to be

followed in executing specific tasks and (5) the expected

outcomes, or deliverables, targeted from the outset as

leadership objectives.

Thus leadership is not just a matter of title, hierarchy or

position in an organization. It is also not a question of

imposing of views and asking everyone else to keep quiet. It

is, first and foremost, (1) The disposition to transmit and

guide a vision and mission, (2) The deliberate expansion of

ownership of the vision and mission, by getting the buy-in of

others, (3) The setting of clear goals, (4) The Sharing of

convictions and (5) The ability to create the enthusiasm and

optimism that would propel others towards the desired goal.

While some people naturally possess some leadership

qualities and many others have to develop them, even those

with natural leadership qualities can further develop them

through experience and training. These qualities include

strong communication skills, charisma, assertiveness and

empathy. Everyday experiences can sharpen these abilities,

because people can show leadership through their actions,

even when they do not hold positions of authority or

executive titles. This can be seen in the ability to rally people

to act on a vision, or to change a situation.

1.c. Underpinnings of Leadership

There are some major pillars around which every leader rally,

if he is to inspires others and carry them along. Some of the

pillars include the following:

1.c. (a) A Vision and Mission

A leader must have a vision of what he hopes to see as the

result of his decisions and actions. He must also be clear about

what his mission is. For instance, the leader of a new airline

company whose sees himself as creating a platform for self

aggrandizement will fail as a business leader. Another person

in the same line of business who sees himself as setting up an

air transport service company that would create and retain a

stream of well served customers is more likely to succeed.

That is why vision and mission are central to successful

leadership.

1.c. (b) Goal Definition and Motivation

A leader who cannot define his goals and also inspire and

motivate others to focus on them is already a failure. It is the

ability to inspire others, define personal, team, or

organizational goals and make their achievement attractive

that enhances a leader`s effectiveness. This includes creating

a conducing work environment, providing appropriate tools,

giving the right incentives and bridging knowledge gaps.

Goal definition and motivation work together to channel

the energies and diverse orientations of individuals into a

single work force. Failure in the area of goal definition is often

the undoing of many leaders.

1.c. (c) Capacity Midwifery

A good leader acts as a midwife, by helping the led to develop

their latent abilities. He helps his followers to “birth” new and

upgraded versions of themselves and what they should do. He

serves the team, but without indulging anyone. He also does

not allow his followers to take anything for granted, as he

must maintains his own self respect. The leader must make

sure that group members have, and feel, his support in subtle

and direct ways.

This will build an invisible psychological bond of group

solidarity, but without allowing unhealthy sentimentality to

arise. It is in this way that effective leadership creates the

right environment for others to develop their skills, self-

confidence and innovative capacities. These are the qualities

they need in order to contribute towards realizing and

enhancing the overall vision and mission of the organization,

or leader.
1.c. (d) Diligence

A leader must be thorough, methodical and resilient. He must

be exemplary in showing how and why everything must be

done well, and on time, despite the odds. The leader who is

exemplary, and who also respects and encourages creativity

in others, will always be outstanding. Leaders must know

when to step back and follow through with the initiative of

competent team members, so that the personal and

professional capacities of team members can flourish.

1.c. (e) Creative Imagination

Good leaders are often ahead of their time, or at least know

what innovations would make a difference. They are also

more likely to see opportunities where others see only

problems and obstacles. They know how to spread

enthusiasm about their vision and goals. They also have the

ability to turn people into agents of their vision and mission,

turning ordinary people into stars with improved relevance

to both the leader and the leadership goal.

In other words, great leaders know how to inspire people,

how to guide people, how to be exemplary when and where it

matters. They also know how to create buy-in and,

sometimes, how to clone themselves in their followers.

1.c. (f) Effective Delegation

It is not the duty of a leader to tighten the screws, or scramble

up the ladder at the slightest opportunity to fix the light bulb.

He can delegate some tasks, outsource others and use

committees where necessary. Executive Time should not be

set aside for cleaning the drains, as an essential element of

efficiency. That is why a leader does not have to be skilled at,

or involved in, the detailed management of every aspect of

what it would take to turn his vision into a reality.

The leader must learn to effectively delegate the oversight of

the tactical steps required to achieve his leadership goals. The

management aspect of leadership does not require the leader

to micro manage everything. His strengths are different from

those of line managers, who focus on the step-by-step, day-

by-day activities involved in all tasks. It is through effective

delegation that the leader uses managers and team leaders to

get feedback and to hold everyone else accountable.

1.d. Types of Leadership

There are different types of leadership and, especially,

leadership styles. Every leader has a particular style, even if

he adopts different styles in different situations; especially as

he adapts to specific situations and individuals. The most

commonly identified leadership styles are (1) Authoritative,

(2) Affiliative, (3) Coaching, (4) Coercive, (5) Charismatic, (6)

Democratic, (7) Innovative, (8) Command and control (or

bureaucratic), (9) Laissez-faire, (10) Transactional, (11)

Servant, (12) Situational and (13) Transformational.

Each of the aforementioned leadership style has its advantages

and disadvantages. A leader who combines different leadership

styles, depending on the context, is likely to be more successful

than one with a single, monolithic approach to leadership and

people management. That is why a leader must vary his style, or

approach, depending on the task at hand, the socio-political

situation, or the types of tools and human resources to be

deployed. Culture, political and professional awareness and

understanding of group goals affect leadership styles and goals

and are, therefore, essential elements in effective leadership.

1.d. (a) Autocratic Leadership

This approach to leadership takes total control of all

processes and decisions, without consulting others and often

without due consideration for cultural and other sensibilities.

The autocratic leader imposes his will and would often micro

manage others and situations. This may yield quick results

and create the organization in the leader`s image, but it also

has the effect of lowering the morale of employees and

undermining institutional memory. This leadership style

does not always bring job satisfaction, or lead to joyful

performance of duties. The future of an organization with

autocratic leadership may be bleak, due to high staff turnover.

1.d. (b) Laissez-faire Leadership

A laissez-faire leader does not go for direct, frontal control of

employees, or the led. He usually a little careless and often

assumes that employees are responsible, experienced and

need little supervision. Such a leader operates with a cheerful,

go-lucky attitude that could bring disastrous results. He may

not ask for, or give, specific instructions on specific issues. He

may also not insist on feedback in his relationship with those

under his supervision. This type of leadership does not really

supervise team members, does not provide continuous and

clear benchmarks and milestones. It could recklessly incur

avoidable losses, promote indiscipline, damage customer

service, enthrone poor quality control and lead to failure to

meet deadlines and targets.

1.d. (c) Transformational Leadership

The transformational leader comes across as the major driver

of change. In this regard, the leader is seen as one who

induces a new way of looking at things and also a new way of

doing things; as he engages with others and with his

environment. The transformational leader is both a motivator

and a morale booster, who alters people`s attitudes and

assumptions as well as individual and organizational goals.

At the same time he builds commitment to new goals by

working out processes and programmes that would anchor

his ideas. He communicates, guides and inspires others to

meet set goals, promote productivity, drive efficiency and

adopt new standards of excellence.

1.d. (d) Transactional Leadership

Unlike the transformational leader, the transactional leader is

largely a routine institutional, or situational, administrator.

He follows the rulebook, adopts a management–by –

exception approach, intervenes by administering prescribed

rules and punishes mistakes as a means of deterrence. He

simply plods on. That is why transactional leaders are not the

best type of people to lead gifted and highly motivated

individuals. It will yield pitiable, if not roundly disastrous,

results.

1.d. (e) Bureaucratic Leadership

This is a variant of transactional leadership. A bureaucratic

leader follows, and believes in, the stated and structured

procedures and processes he met on the ground. It may not

be as bad as transactional leadership, that rarely questions

ultimate outcomes, but it insists that procedures be followed

to the letter.

Bureaucratic leadership does not explore new ways, but

always resolves issues by the book, no matter how outdated

the book may be. Security is often a major consideration in

this type of leadership. That is why you find it dominating

places like hospitals, universities, banks and government

organizations. Energetic and motivated people are usually

frustrated in such establishments.

1.d. (f) Charismatic Leadership

The charismatic leader is visionary and works by infusing a

lot of energy and enthusiasm in his team. He sets new goals

and stands as role model for his team, as he drives others to

show high level of performance. This type of leader is

committed to the organization and believes more in himself

rather than his team. That is why the presence of a

charismatic leader boosts the morale and commitment of

others.

The risk, however, is that he may be a risk to the organization

if he should suddenly leave, or die. It might take lot of time,

and hard work, by the company to win the confidence of its

employees who are beholden to a demised, or dismissed,

charismatic leader.
1.d. (g) Participative Leadership

This leadership style, which is also known as democratic

leadership style, consults stakeholders, subordinates and

even employees and considers their contributions when

making decisions. When a company makes changes within

the organization, the participative leadership style helps

employees accept changes easily, because it gives then the

chance to make inputs in the process. This leadership style is

often useful for tasks that are non routine or unstructured,

where relationships are non-authoritarian and the

subordinate‘s locus of control is internal.

1.d. (h) Directive Leadership

This leadership style provides guidance about what should be

done and how to do it; scheduling work and maintaining

standers of performance as means of control. It is usually

effective where the subordinates have limited knowledge, or

understanding, of the big picture and a great need for clarity

on details. Directive leadership also comes in when the task is

unstructured, or there is conflict between work groups.

1.d. (i) Supportive Leadership

This leadership style shows genuine concern for the needs of

the led, employees, etc. A supportive leader is usually friendly

and approachable. Supportive leadership is ideal for highly

structured tasks, under bureaucratic and formal authority

relationships. A leader with supportive orientation

strengthens subordinates officially, and sometimes

personally, in their personal struggles with the problems of

life.

1.d. (j) Achievement-Oriented Leadership

This leadership style encourages the led to do their optimal

best, by setting challenging goals, emphasizing excellence,

demonstrating confidence in employees abilities and

conspicuously rewarding outstanding performance. This

type of leadership style is ideal for unstructured tasks

requiring quick results, emergencies and other situations

where the subordinates` need for achievement is high.

1.e. Pattern and Perception in Leadership

There is always a pattern to how every leader does what he

does in the process of leading others. This pattern is what you

see, or perceive, when you sit back as an observer to consider

a leaders’ actions follower. It is from this pattern that you

detect the leaders’ basic beliefs, philosophy of life, skills and

attitude to others in everyday life.

A leader`s approach to people, either in order to motivate

them, to make himself understood, or to give directions

regarding various tasks, is often seen as “negative” or

“positive.” An approach that emphasizes patience, attention

to excusable constraints and earned rewards is often

considered a positive approach to leadership. An approach

that emphasizes fear of penalties is however considered

negative leadership. That is why leaders who exhibit negative

leadership qualities are sometimes more often described as

bosses rather than leaders.

We can bring out this point more clearly by looking more

closely at the four supervisory techniques adopted by leaders.

These are (1) Authoritarian, (2) Participative or consultative

(3) Free-rein and (4) Paternalistic style.

1.e. (a) Authoritarian Profile

An authoritarian leader centralizes power and decision-

making in himself. He gives orders, assigns tasks and duties

without much consultation, often exercising full authority,

taking full responsibility and demanding unconditional

obedience, loyalty or compliance.

Authoritarian leadership is considered negative because it is

based on threats and punishment. Subordinates are to act as

directed, and without questions, under this type of

leadership. The authoritarian leader neither cares for the

opinions of subordinates, nor permits them to influence the

decision making process. He alone decides what is best in any

given situation.

The authoritarian leader`s approach rests on close

supervision, clear-cut directives that must not be questioned

and a “commanding order of the superior” approach to

management. It facilitates quick decisions, prompt action and

singleness of purpose and direction, relying very little on

delegation. But this could be counterproductive and could

lead to followership revolt, to strikes and industrial disputes

and to the sudden collapse of a leader`s ability to remain in

charge.

This leadership style cannot be recommended for today`s

world, because (i) We now have a generation that is more

independent, less submissive and more amenable to

consultation rather than directives and rigid control; (ii)

Human development needs a strong element of ego

recognition, job satisfaction and a feeling of authenticity; and

(iii) the only way to have sustainable institutions today is to

make leadership part of the overall organizational process,

rather than a single-entry imposition from the top.

Perhaps we should also note that there are actually three

categories of authoritarian leaders. There is, first, the hard

authoritarian leader who relies mainly on negative

influences, uses threat, force, fear and punishment in

directing his subordinates towards the organizational goals.

Then there is the benevolent authoritarian leader who

relies mainly on positive influences, by using rewards and

incentives in directing his subordinates towards

organizational goals. He may use praise, pats on the back and

subtle indications of the consequences of noncompliance to

secure the loyalty of subordinates who accept his decisions.

Finally, there is the manipulative autocrat who makes the

followers feel that they are participating in decision-making,

though he has taken all the decisions.

1.e. (b) Participative Profile

A participative or democratic leader consults with

stakeholders and subordinates in decision-making and

general administration. He decentralizes authority and

invites participation in the formulation of plans and policies.

Be also works on subordinates mainly through consultation,

persuasion and personal example rather, than the use of fear

and force. He may sometimes come across as a moderator of

the ideas and suggestions from his group.

This approach fosters enthusiasm, making the led to feel that

the leadership is interested in them as well as in their ideas

and suggestions. The advantages arising from this include the

following: (i) Higher motivation and improved morale; (ii)

Greater co-operation with the leader; (iii) Improved

performance; (iv)Reduction in workforce frustration and

grievances and (v) Lower records of absenteeism and

employee turnover.
1.e. (c) Free-Rein Profile

The free-rein leader avoids the exercise of power and

responsibility. He is the perception-determined equivalent of

the laissez-faire or non-interfering leader who passes on the

responsibility for decision-making to his subordinates. He

exercises very little initiative in administration, gives no

direction and allows the group to establish its own dynamics

and goals and work out its own problems; with the leader

playing only a minor role.

His presumption is that every member of the group, when left

to himself, will do his best and that maximum results would

be achieved in this way. He forgets that where no clear

direction is given, or where no control is exercised over a

group, goals would suffer and the organization would

flounder.

An authoritarian leader is more likely to rouse antagonism,

and attract hostility, in the group he is leading. Productive

work is also likely to decline in a workplace, or an operational

situation, once the authoritarian leader is not there to

monitor and manage everyone. That is why such a leadership

style is not likely to win ready loyalty.

1.e. (d) Paternalistic Profile

The leader assumes the role of a father in this approach to

leadership. He is fatherly or paternal, meaning that “papa

knows best.” The relationship between the leader and his

group is the same as the relationship between the head of the

family and the members of the family. The leader guides and

protects his subordinates as members of his family.

As the head of the family he provides his subordinates with

good working conditions and fringe benefits. It is assumed

that workers will work harder out of gratitude. This

leadership style was admirably successful in Japan with its

peculiar social background. It is also still been widely

prevalent in small firms in India.

But a paternalistic approach to leadership does not work so

well with mature adult employees in some cultures. There are

people who do not like their interests to be looked after by a

“godfather.” That is why paternalistic leadership may

sometimes generate antagonism and resentment, instead of

gratitude.

1.f. The Leadership Environment

The leader who swishes to succeed must understand the

interplay of forces around him and also demonstrate the

capacity to handle the, and handling them means being

attentive and flexible enough to select the right leadership

tools, techniques and processes. This is important, because

every leadership environment has critical variables that a

successful leader must consider in planning for effective

action. These critical elements include:

1.f. (a) The leader`s approach

The approach of the person responsible for the vision, group

goals, final strategy template, as well as all action and results

matters. It is one of the vital variables in every leadership

environment.

1.f. (b) The Led

This refers to those the leader is responsible for; and whom

he guides, directs and superintends. Their level of maturity,

cultural values, ideological orientation, etc., matter more than

anything else.

1.f. (c) The Interplay of Political Forces

There is always power play in any sociocultural environment.

The many unique variables that influence a leader’s decisions

and methods, such as culture, political economy, leadership

objectives, conditions, resources, competing influences, and

other variables are often very decisive factors. Leaders who

pay scant attention to the interplay of forces in his leadership

environment is bound to run into unanticipated hitches.

1,f, (d) Consequences of Leadership Actions

These are always short, medium and long-term impacts, or

consequences, of leadership actions. Some leaders may have

a short term focus, concentrating on the immediate gains of a

desired line of action, without thinking through its wider and

more lasting implications and impacts.

Module Two

Fundamentals of Leadership

2.a. Basic Leadership Principles

Every leader, no matter whether he is leading a political, a

military establishment, a religious organization, or just

guiding a Project Team, is assessed by some fundamental

principles. He must be able to maintain a constructive

relationship with the led, take the initiative on most issues

and remain the beacon at all times. The following principles

are to be borne in mine by any leader who wishes to succeed.

2.a. (a) Leadership Is Beyond Position

It is not just your position, or title, that makes you a leader. It

is “what you do and how you do it”, as you guide a group, that

matters. It is the leader, not the followers, who must take

responsibility for goals, decisions, goal implementation, tools

for achieving the goals and evaluation of final outcomes. That

is why it takes more than title, an executive position by name,

or even the designation indicated on your identity card, to

make you a leader. The leader must act the part, or nothing

will happen for him as a leader.

2.a. (b) Leading Means Being Exemplary

The leader should strive to be the best of his team in terms of

believing in, and pursuing, its mission. That is one of the best

ways for a leader to get the best out of his team. This means
showing others how everyone how to be on track by being on

track himself. Thus, beyond just telling team members what

to do, the leader should show it by example. The people will

all the more easily stand strong and loyal during hard times,

and before daunting odds, when giving up is a very appealing

option.

2.a. (c) Leading Involves Impact

Leadership without impact is like salt without the taste of salt.

It goes beyond setting goals and talking about them, because

the purpose of setting goals is to achieve them. To achieve set

goals you must plan the details and execute them

successfully. Impact comes from successful execution of set

goals, in line with a vision. Every great leader is called great

because he made some kind of impact on his environment.

This impact is the accomplishment of some results in line

with the leadership goals he set for himself. That is why it

takes more than a good Concept Document and exhilarating

public speaking skills to be a leader of impact.

2.a. (d) Leadership is Not Just Resources

It takes a vision to set out on a leadership mission. It is around

the vision, not money or other resources, that a leader makes

his plans. The vision provides the coherent framework for all

other plans, if they are not to be just meaningless reflexes.

That is why there must be a common thread tying both the

various tasks and their implementation together. Resources

on their own do not inspire people and lead to results.

Leadership vision and focused implementation does. The

person who discovers his unique vision and coordinates

others, and their activities, towards its realization is offering

leadership.

2.a. (e) Talking is Not Enough

Talking is not leading. A lot of talking, with little or no action,

breeds ineffective leadership, poor followership and collapse

of leadership vision and mission. The led need to see

something that will affect both their thinking and their

behavior. That is why the leader must focus on a vision,

specific actions, specific and measurable steps to goal

realization and stipulated outcomes. Continuous discussion,

endless consultations and volumes of what “ought” to be done

is not real leadership. Leaders should not waste all their, and

other people’s, time on endless conversations about their

plans.

2.a. (f) Leadership is Value-Driven

Every leader must be guided by some core values, even as he

remains flexible in his communication and approach to

managing people and situations. A leader who changes his

core values with changing situations will create a reputation

of inconsistency for himself. The leader`s every decision must

be seen to derive from, and be based on, the core value system

that underpins his vision. The trust, respect and loyalty of a

leader`s followers are better guaranteed when his actions are

value-driven.

2.a. (g) People-Focused Leadership Works

There is no leader who leads himself and no one else. A

commander cannot command an empty field, or march into

battle with a rabble. Effective leadership involves managing

people and managing them well, using people who are,

themselves, schooled on the vision and the tools for realizing

a vision. The leader must communicate, influence and engage

in the right way. Once a leader is attentive to how what he

does affects his relationship with the in his leadership

aspirations.

2.a. (h) Leadership is Not Perfection

The only person who never makes mistakes is the person who

does nothing. A leader could make mistakes sometimes

because he is human, active and faced with varying odds. He

needs to pretend to be, or present himself as, perfect.

Development, deeper analysis and increasing maturity as a

leader in the filed can come through operational missteps and

administrative mistakes. You do not become a bad leader

because you made a mistake, or because you admit your

mistakes. Instead you are seen, and even more respected,

when you come across as a human being who knows his limits

and constantly works to go beyond those limits.

2.a. (i) Cohesion Breeds Strength

A leader must unify his forces. He must create a Team out of

disparate forces. That is because his team is one of his most

important resources. The unity, cohesion and common focus

of a leader`s team is often what could make a difference

between success and failure. That is why the leader has to

create and emphasize unity of purpose, over tools and

equipment, at all times.

2.a (j) Continuous Growth is the Magic

At no time should a leader tell himself that he has reached

perfection. Such a time will never come. There is always

something to learn. There is also always something the leader

needs to improve upon. This could be the sharpening of his

vision, his approach to resource allocation or even his overall

management of his leadership goals. The leader who keeps it

constantly in mind that growth is necessary and inevitable is

more likely to be abreast of the times, and achieve more

lasting results, than one who does not. Remember: “The more

you are aware of what leadership means the more likely you

are to improve your own leadership skills.” That is perhaps

why leadership involves knowing yourself, having a vision,

communicating your vision, building trust, taking action and

taking responsibility.

2.b. Approaches to Leadership

There are four broad perspectives on leadership, in terms of

how one perceives leadership roles in any given situation.

Although they are not mutually exclusive, the main notions

are:

• Leadership as position,

• Leadership as person,

• Leadership as result, and

• Leadership as process.

2.b (a) Leadership as Position

We speak of Position-based leadership when we assume that

it is where people operate from, or what roles they play, that

makes them leaders. This is best seen in situations when we

think of authority in a formal organizational hierarchy.

Position-oriented leadership focuses more on the position

you hold than on your character and suitability for that

position. The real engine of power may lie elsewhere with

other persons, or combinations of forces, while you hold an

empty position. It is in such situations that one could become

a “nominal” leader.
2.b. (b) Leadership as Person

Another conception of leadership focuses on a person`s

character as the basis for his being termed a leader. The

essence of person-based, or character-based, notion of

leadership is the belief that that it is who you really are that

makes you a leader and not the title you hold. This could be

due to some emotional stability as demonstrated in your

approach to issues, or your demonstrated capacity (and will)

to face great odds, inspire confidence and rally men and

resources for a common purpose. That explains why a

military general could “lose command” to a junior officer at

one point or another in operational situations.

2.b. (c) Leadership as Result

This approach to, or perception of, leadership focuses on the

results of leadership action in determining who is a leader.

The essence of the results-based conception of leadership is

that it uses the results arising from your words or actions to

determine whether you can be described as a leader or not. It

is within the context of this notion of leadership that you find

definitions of leadership as change, influence, non-obtrusive

impact, etc.

2.b. (d) Leadership as Process

A conception of leadership that is process-based focuses on

the relationship between the leader and the specific things

people do in practice to realize set goals. Once leadership is

seen as the process of influencing others, whether an

individual or a group, toward goal achievement in any given

situation the idea of “process” is a major underlying notion.

2.c. Leadership Lessons From the Military

The history of leadership shows that great military leaders

are usually not your average person who is kitted out like

every other soldier. Average people avoid difficult, challenges

or risky engagements; and this is the exact opposite of what

great military, political and religious leaders do. That is why

it is said that the courage, character and confidence to swim

upstream is not for people who wish to generally take life

easy. It is for people who have the motivation to grow, to

become better versions of themselves and “turn out” sharp

and compelling for battle. The professional, competitive,

operational and other advantages that have made

outstanding war generals throughout history have never

come as a blind gift from the gods. It is always a daily grind

that few people are able and willing to undertake. That is also

why those who take on such odds have well earned accolades

in military circles.

2.c. (a) Transferability of Leadership Lessons

There is a transferability of lessons learned from military

leadership, special operations, security briefs, business

operations and even religious leadership throughout history.

The major lessons (or, if you like, driving theses) are:

• Yesterday`s victory doesn't count

• Prioritize your goals and manage yourself well

before focusing on others;

 • Identify and open the windows of opportunity

yourself, instead of waiting for it;

• Make your “leadership workout” a daily routine,

instead of using an old vision that is out of date;

• Be satisfied with always getting better, instead of

waiting to be the best before you act;

• Always look for those who can do the job, not those

who come highly recommended, as skill may come

without will;

• Hire for character, train for competence, coach for

performance;

• Be humble enough to admit the ability of others,

patient enough to hear everyone out and smart enough

to know what lessons to learn and when to apply them.

2.d. The Role of Trust in Leadership

Leadership is as important to a successful organization as

trust is important to leadership success itself. Thus it would

be wrong to think that creating and sustaining a high-trust

orientation in leadership and organizational culture is a “soft

skill” that does not really matter so much. It is sometimes a

desperate necessity, because the must raise, build and sustain

morale, encourage individual growth and initiate actions that

would drive his leadership vision. Trust impacts

organizational, operational and even business results, as it

imbues confidence, breed loyalty and improves efficiency.

When trust goes up costs come down. Low trust will make

you to pay some penalty, while high trust gives you the

dividend of better overall performance and bottom line.

“Trust penalties” and “trust rewards” are real. They are also

essential indicators that leaders should pay attention to

building trust, if the wish to succeed. Trust between

employees and management is a major factor in determining

the ideal workplace and career environments. A good leader

should work with the essential element of trust, in order to

carry ore of the led along and make them act in accordance
with his vision, mission and ethos, or that of the organization.

Trust must be a two-way traffic transaction between the

leader and the led. Increased leadership trust boosts positive,

goal-directed behavior of the led. It increases the positive

discretionary effort of followers; that is the maximum effort

someone (perhaps and employee or a follower) could give if

motivated to do so without expecting or demanding a reward.

This has to do with people going above and beyond the basic,

minimum requirements of their role in any given situation.

Positive reinforcement through trust is one of the most

significant motivators of positive discretionary effort.

2.d. (a) Trust and Productivity

There is a direct relationship between trust, focused

leadership, the reputation and productivity of high-

performance organizations. Genuine trust creates an

atmosphere wherein a general willingness to cooperate with,

and even endorse, the leader, team, or the organization is

obtained easily. Person who trusts their leadership, and

believe in the managers and the policies of an organization

will be committed to ensuring a great future for an

organization. They are also likely to express and share their

good opinion of their workplace or leader with others. This

will give added perception advantage to the leader, or the

organization and will strengthen reputations and facilitate

future Third Party Endorsements.

2.d. (b) Trust and Employee Turnover

Trust leads to lower employee turnover in business and other

organizations. When employees have confidence in their

leader and the management he has put in place, they feel

involved and somewhat less worried about immediate gains

and their future. Because they feel involved and are well

treated, they are more likely to remain in the organization

and with the leader. People who feel trusted and protected

have very strong desire or reason to remain good

“organization citizens” whose voluntary commitment to tasks

and responsibilities will often go beyond their contracted

roles.

2.d. (c) A Question of reciprocity

While it is true that a leader`s followers need to trust him, and

have faith that the organization or team as they are being

steered along the right path for all concerned, the leader must

also reciprocate the trust. Since trust is hard to measure, its

intangibility can be easily invoked as an excuse by leaders

who focus on only results. knowing “why” trust is important

is essential to working out “How” to creatr it.

2.d. (d) Benefits of Trust

it is during sticky and critical situations that a leader, or an

organization, that has invested in trust would reap the

benefits. This includes times of operational tension, industrial

downturns and touchy change management. That is when the

leader, or the organization, reaps the benefits of its

investment in trust. To have your followers embrace and

implement new ideas simply because they trust your

leadership and believe in your ability to take care of them is a

rare attainment in leadership. That is must better than being

surrounded by followers, or employees, who try to sabotage

every form of innovation for fear of either losing their jobs or

of being made somewhat less relevant.

2.d. (e) The Flip Side of Trust

A leader, or an organization, that does not create trust will

harvest undesirable outcomes and undermine loyalty,

efficiency, morale, business efficiency and company morale.

This could breed a blame culture, refusal to accept

responsibility, failure to learn from mistakes, desire to take

credit for other people’s ideas and work, back-stabbing, office

politics, lack of collaborative engagements, refusal to build on

each other’s ideas, fear of bold decision-making and high staff

turnover. To retain the best hands the leader must adopt a

leadership culture that shows trust, allows staff to thrive,

prosper, bring up their own ideas to be heard and tried.

2.d. (f) Modeling Trust

A leader should embody trust in his dealings with the led if he

expects same from them. At the core of creating trust in

leadership is the modeling of it. This has to be drilled down

the entire organizational hierarchy and made part of the

processes of every department and unit. Successful political,

business and military leaders all admit that a lack of trust for

the led may sometimes present a harder operating

environment than full-blown “enemy action”. But trust must

not translate into divulging strategic information or plans at

inappropriate levels of the leadership hierarchy. But

remember: “Fail to create trust, trust that you will fail”

2.e. Leadership and Change Management

Notwithstanding the fact that change is inevitable in life, it is

about the most resisted of human realities. Successful change

has always been one of biggest problems facing leaders and

modern organizations. Change, particularly fast-paced

change in our fast-paced world of today, means that leaders

and organizations are under greater pressure to do many

things differently. Many organizational change initiatives fail

because they are poorly managed at the level of leadership.

This is in spite of the enormous amount of resources put into

creating them.

2.e. (a) Leadership as Catalyst

“Change-capable leadership” is central to successful change

management. Certain leadership competencies are need by

anyone who hopes to be a successful change manager.

Otherwise a change programme may sound the death knell of

an organization, or a leadership trajectory. That is why

change management should always be assigned to people

who are aware of the steps they should take to ensure that

followership behavior does not contribute to the failure of a

change programme.
2.e. (b) Change Management Competencies

Successful change management requires some critical

leadership competencies. These competencies may be

termed “the 4 C’s of change leadership”, namely, (1)

Creativity, (2) Communication, (3) Collaboration and (4)

Commitment.

2.e.b. (1) Creativity

Creativity means being attentive enough to the “Mood” of

your environment and your followers, in order to know what

specific steps to take to reduce resistance to any new ideas

you may have.

2.e. (c) Communication

Communication boils down to knowing how to go beyond

telling the people “what” what is about to happen, and

showing “why” it has to happen and “in what way it will

happened” such they need not be worried. The leader who

presents change in this way, and who also links it to the vision

and core values, will show the benefits, create stronger buy-

in and urgency for the change and attract very limited

resistance – if any.

2.e. (d) Collaboration

To manage change effectively, the leader must collaborate

by bringing people together to share a vision, plan and

execute change in such a way that “ownership” is spread

across the board. It is only good leaders who can work across

boundaries and encourage others to leave their comfort

zones. It is often because some leaders fail to share a clear

vision about the need for change, fail to engage the led on time

an din clear terms, have poor implementation strategies for

the envisaged change that the change processes they initiate

collapse in their faces.

2.e. (e) Commitment

The role of commitment in effective change management lies

in leaders making sure that they are seen to be committed to

the change by their behavior and other indices of

commitment. With resilience and persistence, especially if

this is also indicated in the leader`s “air”, it is possible to

successfully resilient navigate people outside of their comfort

zones. It is unsuccessful leaders who fail to adapt to

challenges and who storm around complaining about non

compliance, instead of trying to find out what they are not

doing right.

2.e. (f) There is a Process

There is always a process associated with change. This is

particularly so with strategic change, which is neither an

accident nor something that happens on its own. Only an

effective leader can guide and midwife the process of

deliberate change through and through. To achieve this the

leader must follow a three-stage process of (1) initiating), (2)

strategizing and (3) executing the change.

The leader Initiates change by making a case for it. This

includes evaluating the operating environment, ascertain the

feasibility of the desired change and have a clear vision of the

desired outcome. He also Strategizes, or develops a strategy

and action plan, including step by step priorities, timelines,

tasks, structures, and resources to drive the change. His

strategy must identify what needs to change, what would stay

the same and how the desired change fits into a sustainable

vision and meaningful outcomes.

Further still, no leader can succeed as a change agent unless

he moves from vision and strategies to execution. This

includes getting the right people into key positions. Removing

round pegs from square holes and developing clear matrices

and monitoring systems for measuring the degree of goal

attainment.

2.f. People Management in Change

The human side to change is usually the most critical. Even

when a formal change involving modifications in processes

and goals is well understood intellectually the “human” side

of a change programme may not be understood at all. A leader

who neglects this all-important aspect of change has already

failed, even before he starts. The ideal leaders and change

managers devote quality time and effort to stakeholder

engagements. This is one way of ensuring that grey areas are

ironed out and everyone carried along.

A successful change leader offers Support when he removes

barriers to followership compliance. These may be personal

psychological barriers presented by fear of the unknown,

wounded egos, a sense of loss by those who are sentimental

about the old. It may also be professional barriers presented

by knowledge gaps, or even the time and resource gaps that

may bring uncomfortable economic pressures on everyone.

That is why the leader must not focus exclusively on results,

if he wants to lead a unsuccessful change. To do so would be

to deny your followers the support they need in order to come

out full blaster in support of his change initiative.

Once a leader conceives of a necessary change, he must

identify key stakeholders whom he must sway to his thinking

for buy-in and endorsement. Only unsuccessful change

leaders avoid stakeholders they consider “troublesome,” in

the wrong belief that there is no need to try to influence them.

Finally, the effective change leader must continuously learn,

rather than assume that he has all the answers. He must ask

lots of questions, get formal and informal feedbacks, try out

new perspectives, do scenario building and input the

feedback into his plans. The leader must make continuous

adjustments in the process of managing change, instead of

thinking that his initial ideas are sacrosanct. Unsuccessful

change leadership will always be the lot of leaders who ask

no questions, seek no feedback work with inaccurate

information and limited knowledge of their operating

environment.

Module Three

Emotional Intelligence as a Leadership Tool

3.a. The Notion of Emotional Intelligence (EI)

Being smart, an academic guru or a successful stock broker is

not enough to make you a good leader. That is because

leadership goes beyond being Book smart” and beyond being

street smart. The best leaders with lasting impact are very

often also leaders who are “people smart”. This means being
emotionally conscious and sensitive in the management of

people and situations.

This quality is important for creating and maintaining loyalty,

fostering strong personal relationships and being in charge in

an unobtrusive and reassuring manner. It was John Mayer of

the University of New Hampshire and Peter Salovey of Yale

who coined the term “emotional intelligence” (also called EQ)

for this leadership skill. The term was further popularized

when a New York Times science reporter, Dan Goleman,

made it a central theme of his book of the same title in 1996.

The year that Mayer and Salovey coined the term emotional

intelligence was the same year functional magnetic resonance

imaging (fMRI) was invented. This was a technological insight

that made it possible for the first time to see what was

happening in the brain while it was in action. Goleman’s work

is infused with these insights and opened new vistas of

intellectual knowledge.
3.b. Essentials of Emotional Intelligence

The twelve elements later identified and associated with

notion of EI are:

1 Emotional self-awareness

2 Emotional self-control

3 Adaptability

4 Achievement orientation

5 Positive outlook

6 Empathy

7 Organizational awareness

8 Influence

9 Coach and mentor

10 Conflict management

11 Teamwork

12 Inspirational leadership

3.c. Meaning of Emotional Intelligence

From the foregoing section, the meaning of EI can be

summarized as the ability to recognize emotions; the ability

to harness and apply your emotions; and the ability to

manage your emotions and those of others to achieve certain

results. Thus emotional intelligence actually boils down to a

person`s ability to manage and control his emotions as well

as the emotions of others, such that an understanding of

emotional states helps improve interpersonal relations. This

means a leader`s ability to use psychological insights to

manage himself and, at the same time, influence the emotions

and behavior of others.

3.d. Components of Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence is an important leadership skill, with

five main elements; namely, (1) Self-awareness, (2) Self-

regulation, (3) Motivation, (4) Empathy, and (5) Social skills.

3.d. (a) Self-awareness

This means being aware of one`s strengths and weaknesses.

The person who at the moment of experiencing anger is able

to hold himself for a moment to think of what made him so

angry is working on his self-awareness.

3.d. (b) Self-regulation

Self-regulation refers to the fact and practice of thinking

things through before speaking, or acting. This means

regulating yourself and checking how you could impact

others in a positive or negative way by what you do; or what

you fail to do. It also means holding yourself accountable in

case you make a mistake, and trying to remain in control in

every situation.

3.d. (c) Motivation

As an element of emotional intelligence, motivation means

doing things that inspire and prepare your to influence, or

manage others, as they perform the same tasks, or other,

tasks. This is an essential element of EI, as a hands-on way of

showing how things should be done. It is also a way of leading

by example.
3.d. (d) Empathy

This simply means a leader`s ability, or disposition, to put

himself in other’s shoes and thinking about their situation

and what they are going through. This leads to better

understanding, more patience wit particular individuals in

the workplace and even modifications to the work

environment, or to some work tool. Empathy is important fro

every leader who desires understanding and lasting

respected from those he is leading.

3.d. (e) Social skills

Social skill as an element of EI boils down to effectively

communicating your vision, mission and point of view on ay

issue in order to create buy-in. This helps the leader to build

rapport and create a comfortable working relationship across

all social classes.

3.e. In Summary

Emotional Intelligence is a key element of effective and

people-focused leadership. It enables the leader tune in with

himself, his emotions and his environment, for sound

situational and people awareness. Here leading involves

knowing, understanding, and responding to the emotions,

stress and other challenges of the hour in such a way that

satisfactory results are achieved despite the these challenges.

It includes paying attention to how certain words and actions

affect others and using the insights to lead through

“emotional intelligence”, rather than academic intelligence.

3.f. The Flip Side

A leader lacking in emotional intelligence cannot effectively

gauge the needs, wants and expectations of those he is

leading. Leaders who react emotionally, or on first instinct,

without filtering and using their perceptions can create

mistrust and seriously jeopardize critical working

relationships. Reacting erratically is detrimental to an overall

sustainable leadership culture. It promotes the wrong

attitudes and diminishes positive feelings of loyalty toward

the leader, or the organization. That is why a good leader

must be self-aware and understand how his verbal and non-

verbal communication can affect his team.

3.g. Role of Culture in Emotional Intelligence

A leader must be sensitive to cultural nuances if he wants to

succeed. This means the ability to adjust to different

contexts. This “Contextual Intelligence,” or “cognitive

empathy” is an the aspect of emotional and social intelligence

that enables a leader to note, understand and respond to,

implied norms, subtle reflexes and other behavior patterns

that indicate attitudes or moods in various cultures.

An aspect of a leader`s self-regulation involves a process for

recognizing and rechanneling negative emotions. These

emotions and their interpretation differ from one cultural

environment to another. The identified variables that are

open to diverse interpretations across cultures include:

• Kindness

• Self-Knowing
 • Self-Confidence

• Self-Reliance

• Straightforwardness

• Self-Actualization (work/life balance)

• Relationship Skills

• Empathy

• Adaptability

• Self-Control

• Optimism

3.h. It is Not a Homogenous World

There is something that in all these variables that is

interpreted differently inform one cultural environment to

another. But in all of them the following are necessary:

Relationships (being connected with others in one way or

another), Empathy (compassion), Broad mindedness

(openness and letting go of hang-ups), Optimism (a sense of

positivism, or well being) among others.

Notwithstanding the fact that the world has become a global

village, despite globalization, increase in world trade,

migrations, tourism, and the influence of multinational

corporations, the world still acknowledges the fact that

humanity is best defined by its heterogeneous and more

multicultural reality. It is against this background that the

notion of an ‘‘ideal’’ EI profile sometimes described as context

dependent. This is another way of saying that ‘‘appropriate’’

or ‘‘effective’’ emotional behavior is often dictated by the

cultural origin of the persons concerned and the criteria used

in the measurement. The extent to which such instruments

and construct portray a reality that can be seen across

cultures is the issue here.

3.i. Dimensions of Emotional Regulation

Every culture has its sense of propriety, etiquette and Rules

of Social Engagement. This means that it is the “regulation of

emotions” across various cultural landscapes that gives

emotional reactions and responses its unique dimension

from one part of the world to another. That is what

determines what people consider appropriate, or

inappropriate, in circumstances that are clearly similar

across cultures. That is also why people from different

cultural backgrounds understand, manage, interpret and

react to emotive issues differently and experience emotions

and situations of stress differently. Yes, emotions are often

culturally conditioned.

For instance, the average Americans may show happiness and

feelings of optimism more freely and openly in public than the

average Japanese. This means that effective measurement of

emotional expression when you are dealing with people from

different cultural backgrounds will always have issues. Some

cultures endorse spontaneous and unrestrained display self-

expression under all circumstances, while others do not.

The essential point to note here is that cultural values differ.

Therefore, the concept and definition of appropriate and

adaptive emotionally intelligent behavior also differ across

cultures. This why cultural differences make cultural bias

inevitable whenever valuations of emotional intelligence

involve a cross-cultural element.

3.i. The Question of In-Built Bias

Event the methods, instruments, matrices and theoretical

constructs for measuring Emotional intelligence differ across

cultures. For instance, most inventories, or questionaires, for

measuring emotional intelligence in places like and Africa,

Latin America and Asia are based on independent of Western

norms and values. Meanwhile researchers need to develop

“indigenous” paradigms for measuring emotional intelligence

across cultures and even among various people within the

same cultural setting.

This approach will reveal many aspects and permutations of

emotional intelligent and behavior patterns that are culture

specific. These culture specific variables also have very strong

predictive validity within each culture, may be valid in other

cultures and maybe found to have been wrongly ignored in

the past.

3.j. Motivation as a tool in Emotional Intelligence

The leader who shouts at his team when he is under stress is

likely to demotivate people. The opposite is the case for a

leader who controls his emotions and calmly assesses

situation before making constructive and objective

interventions. Thus the more a leader is able to manage his

own responses to situations the more he is likely to also

better manage others.

To remain consistently focused on the right impact as a

motivator, the leader may actually need to keep a “personal

journal” of his thoughts, motives and reactions. This will help

him deepen both his self awareness and his personal

awareness of how things may affect others in the same

environment.

In the process of doing this, the leader slows down a bit and

moves from a judgmental attitude in correcting others to one

of understanding. The benefit of this is that he learns when

people need advise, a kind word, empathy and

encouragement, instead of a reprimand. This will make him

more of a motivator than a battle commander. His followers

will also fell supported to do more work, face greater odds

and not give up when others who are not thus motivated do

so.

The leader who reflects when he feels anger will realize that

others also feel anger, probably for the same reasons. If his

anger was caused by the way people spoke to him, he must

also then consider that how he speaks to people may anger

them, or make them happy. With this insight, he would be

constrained to advise himself on how to speak to people. In

doing so, he is using the benefit of an aspect of emotional

intelligence to be a better leader.

With that, the leader makes self-control, self-understanding

and the internalization of sound interpersonal relations the

foundations of his leadership style. He would rarely attack

others verbally, make hurried emotional decisions,

stigmatize people for one-off mistakes, judge people based on

stereotypes, or compromise situations based on

preconceived ideas.

That is why a leader who wants to use emotional intelligence

as a motivational tool must know his own core values and be

clear about where he will never compromise. His "code of

ethics" must include a commitment to not undermining

anyone by word or action. This means that he must hold

himself accountable at every given time. He must think things

through before he ventures to blame anyone when things go

wrong. In other words, he must be willing to admit to his

mistakes, accept and face consequences and stand firm on

principles.

One of the major advantages that would arise from the

foregoing is that the leader will be calm and collected most of

the time. When he is confronted with a challenging situation,

and he is aware that his action will send a signal to others on

how to behave, he will not just let himself go. This actually

translates into self-motivation for the leader as well, if he

works consistently towards ensuring that he maintains the

right sense of responsibility, while not compromising on the

high standards for the quality of their work expected of his

subordinates.

A follower who feels understood by his leader will be

motivated to do more and not give up in challenging

situations. An empathetic leader is likely to have a more

successful team or organization than one who is not. Empathy

means putting oneself in someone else's situation. This

motivates people, makes them stretch themselves and also

strengthens loyalty. Constructive feedback, attentive

listening and encouraging words are useful in this regard.

Above all, your body language should not suggest a

perfunctory attentiveness that does not really care what the

other person is saying.

To use emotional intelligence as a motivational tool, you must

learn to respond to people`s true feelings. In asking a staff,

maybe your assistant, to work extra hours and go home late,

you should note the joy or disappointment in his voice as he

says “Yes sir”! So do not pretend that all is well. Instead,

respond to the “note of distress” or even the “protest” you

heard in his voice. You could respond to his feelings by saying

that you have never liked working extra hours and that you

appreciate that he may have already made other plans for the

rest of his day.

Make the point that extra hours aren’t really fun, but that they

are sometimes made inevitable by unforeseen circumstance.

You may even go so far as to find ways of making such

burdens look less punitive, for the person concerned. For

example, there may be occasions that you would give him a

morning off, or deliberately ensure that he handles a very

light workload.

The emotionally intelligent leader must therefore build social

skills, learn conflict resolution, always upgrade their

communication skills and know when to apportion blame and

when to praise and generally inspire loyalty. This, at the end

of the day, means having very good understanding of how

people are affected and moved by their circumstances and by

what others say and do to them. Using such insight for

positive leadership results is what self-awareness, self-

regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills are all about

for the leader who would use emotional intelligence as a

motivational tool.
 Module Four

Leadership and conflict management

4.a. Introduction

When conflict is managed effectively new levels of

understanding, empathy and trust arise between parties.

That is why every leader needs conflict management skills, or

the ability to address and resolve the contradictory interests

of two or more parties in any given situation. This may

involve high-emotion, low-trust exchanges between

individuals and groups. It may also be a question of managing

a well-organized environment, where violation of rules, or

conflicts of interest, need to be resolved.

Some leaders adopt a hands-on, consultative, integrating,

collaborative and obliging style approach to conflict

management. Others opt for a more evasive approach,

sometimes trying to avoid it, or by pretending that it does

not really exist at all. This later approach is a very

dangerous path for any leader to take in handling

interpersonal relations, whether in the workplace

environment or not.

4.b. What is Conflict?

Conflict simply refers to differences of ideas, opinions or

interests between individuals and groups. These may be

employees within an organization, different organizations

operating within the same environment, or sector, or even

differences between nations.

Conflicts arise because every human setting, team or

corporation is made up of people from different

backgrounds. These people also have different skills,

attitudes, interests and expectations. It is these different

that could sometimes, in fact very often, lead to one form of

conflict or the other. Thus conflict is inevitable in human

affairs. But conflict is always either positive or negative.

4.c. Positive Conflict

When there is a conflict of ideas or opinions in a group, the

result may be new and better ways of doing something. This

is positive conflict, because it leads to creative solutions,

innovations, new perspectives on old problems, etc. The

beauty of positive conflict is that it can lead to better

understanding between team members in pursuit of group

goals. It can also clarify long misunderstood issues and

improve relationships and workflow.

4.d. Negative Conflict

Conflict is negative when the clash of opinions or ideas is not

productive, but distracting and destructive. Negative conflicts

often lead to team members becoming frustrated, or intra-

institutional competition between members that could create

a win-lose situation, rather than a win-win situation. Some of

the consequences of negative conflict include stress, low

morale, low levels of job satisfaction, increased staff turnover,

resentment between team members, ineffective working

relationships, anger in the course of normal duties and work

processes, bitter exchanges, a gossip culture and cliques

within a team.

4.e. Sources of Conflict

Conflict may arise due to economic, political and other

reasons. This usually occurs when the resolution of

disagreements in these areas present some challenge to

attempts to move things forward.

4.e. (a) Economic Conflicts

These are conflicts arising from competition for limited

resources, or contestation over economic interests. The

individuals or groups caught in this type of conflict come into

the conflict with a mindset that often wishes to attain the

most of these resources. It is this mindset, rather than the

substantive situations on the ground, that leads to hostile

ideas, words and actions.

4.e. (b) Values Conflicts

These are conflicts that arise when individuals or groups with

different ideologies, or value sets, find themselves trying to

make their value preferences stick. These conflicts may be the

simple ones of cultural differences and cultural practices to

the far more serious and dangerous ones of religious beliefs

and political and ideological face offs.

4.e. (c) Power Conflict

Power conflicts occur when parties wish, and try, to maximize

whatever political or other influences they have in a given

social setting.

4.f. Conflict Resolution

While it is true that conflict is inevitable in human affairs, it is

not true that every conflict must degenerate into outright and

open hostility. The process of bringing conflicts under control

to ensure positive outcomes through the implementation of

some processes is what is called “conflict resolution.” That

means creating the opportunity new levels of understanding,

for learning and for acknowledging and appreciating

individual and group differences. Effective and responsible

conflict management/resolution enables leaders create

stable social/workplace environments where people are

productive and able to function harmoniously despite

ontological conflicts.

4.g. Approaches to Conflict Management

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to conflict management.

That is why efforts at managing conflicts must operate with

full knowledge of the overall operating environment and the

forces at play. This is particularly important in a workplace

setting, where motives, interests and other variables may be

guided by an underlying, and sometimes overlooked, political

economy.

Leaders must act responsibly in all conflict situations, if they

wish to achieve lasting results and also enjoy the respect of

everyone. An important aspect of this is ensuring that the

process of conflict resolution, and the criteria for decisions

connected with it, are clear and understood by all parties

concerned.

Leaders who, in an attempt to please everyone, ignore,

downplay or whitewash conflict end up with disastrous

results. Harmony cannot be invoked by a speech, or by a

leader`s declaration that there is no conflict. Leaders are

expected to notice, monitor, understand and neutralize

potential conflicts. That is the only way leaders can avoid

creating artificial peace and harmony over a layer of seething

discontentment and friction.

Leaders should be able to ascertain whether it is the

operating environment, pride, selfishness, lack of team spirit

or simply inherent personal feelings of insecurity that makes

some people prone to one form of conflict or the other. A

leader who wants to succeed in conflict management should

be guided by the following principles.

4.g. (a) Organizational Goal/Vision

Every leadership and followership environment depends on

a vision and some set goals. The duty of the leader is to

reinforce whatever would be an obstacle to the realization of

that vision. This may be knowledge gaps, resources and

interpersonal relations in the workplace. Thais where conflict

management comes in. once the leader fails to make his

ultimate leadership goal, or the ultimate goal of an

organization, the focus of all his actions and decisions, he is

already a failure

4.g. (b) Strategic Timing

The leader must detect potential conflicts on time, intervene

on time and also resolve same on time. Once he gets any of

these wrong, in terms of timing, minor budding conflicts may

lead to major conflagrations that could disrupt everything.

There is no room for procrastination here. To wait is to put

manure on a tree of death, so the right thing to do is: take

action, and take on whatever the issues may be, before it

becomes too late to do so.

4.g. (c) Determine Rules of Engagement

If leaders set down clear Rules of Engagement, and make

clear the boundaries of accepted conduct on all matters,

potential conflict situations would be minimized in team

activities. That is why some organizations hold their

employees to a pre-employment Conflict of Interest contract.

It is also for the same reason that there is Organizational

Culture in corporations and House Style in some media

houses. These measures help the staffers of organizations and

a leaders` followers at various levels to know there limits and

keep within those limits. With that, everyone is put on notice

that actions that could easily lead to conflict have unpleasant

consequences.

4.g. (d) Unity and Not Uniformity

People and their motivations differ in many ways. This is a

reality of life that every sensible leader must understand and

respect. This means leading by cultural and other

sensitivities, rather than maintaining an imperial air that sets

the same expectations for everyone. People must see,

understand, or at least respect, their individual differences,

since many things in life do not come in black and white.

Once a leader sees that each employee, or follower, offers him

a unique variable or building block for his leadership vision,

he will value all and treat all with dignity. That way he will not
create tension, of reinforce the wrong attitudes in his

operating environment.

4.g. (e) Minimize Friction

The effective leader must work very hard to eliminate, or at

least minimize friction, tension and potential conflict

situations from turning into full-blown conflicts. He simply

must rise to the occasion, rather than wait until he is forced

to do so. This means ensuring that the operating environment

does not routinely create psychologically and emotionally

unsettling states for everyone. He must distinguish between

perception and reality and also ensure that no one`s

jaundiced emotional state, personal problems, or point of

view is allowed to create problems for the team. It all boils

down to: (1) Watching out for the unexpected; (2) Not

complicating matters by not acting on time, not acting at all

or acting in the wrong way; and (3) Ensuring that your

interventions are not whimsical; and (4) seeing opportunities

where others see only problems.

4.h. Personal and Organizational Conflict

It is possible for situations of conflict to arise between

individuals, groups, or even between an individual and a

group. The following can lead to conflict between the

individual and a group, or between the individual and an

organization of which he is a part: (1) Divergence between

personal culture and group, or organizational, culture; (2)

Unclear definitions of roles responsibilities; (3) Conflict of

interest; (4) Poor resource management; (5) Unstructured

interpersonal relationships and insensitivity.

4.h. (a) Types of Organizational Conflict

There are therefore different types of conflict within an

organization. They could be inter-personal, intra-

departmental, inter-departmental, power tussles among

senior management staff, etc. interpersonal conflict plays a

major role in conflict within organizations because individual

perception of organizational goals, and ability and

willingness to face those goals differ from one person to

another. People who ordinarily do not socialize or interact

much outside the work environment feel forced to deal with

others in close proximity in the workplace. It is from this that

friction may arise.

4.h. (b) Role Conflicts Within Organizations

But there are conflicts between employees that have nothing

to do with their personalities, or background. These are

conflicts arising from the circumstances of their roles and

duties in the workplace. A hospital administrator may direct

a nurse not to run a particular test on a patient because the

patient cannot pay. But because the nurse knows the patient

needs the test, as ordered by the physician, she will not be

comfortable with the position of the hospital administrator.

This is because her obligation by code of ethics and licensing

regulations is to the patient, while the administrator has a

business focus in the hospital. They may run into conflict

here, whereas they are good friends under other

circumstances.

4.h. (c) Inter-Group Conflicts Within Organizations

Besides role conflict, there is also inter-group conflict in

organizations. Such conflicts usually arise because of the

roles and functions of teams and departments. Both may just

be doing their jobs, but they end up in conflictual situations

with each other. For instance the marketing department of an

organization may need more operational vehicles, but the

procurement department will not approve because of limited

resources and other competing demands. This will naturally

breed tension between the two departments, which is really

not the fault of the individuals manning the departments.

Where such is allowed and seen as part of the dynamic or

culture of the workplace, it ay damages the organization and

mare interpersonal relations between staffers of the

concerned departments.
4.i. Understanding International Conflict

There are two popular approaches to understanding

international conflict, namely, the one is provided by the

mainstream international relations discourse and another

from dialectics.

4.i. (a) According to International Relations Theories

Mainstream International relations (IR) theories, realism,

liberal institutionalism, and new leftism for example, tend to

understand conflict as normal. This view is that the normal

conflict in our everyday life is also what sometimes translates

into international conflict, or even wars between nations.

This position comes from the dialectics of Imanuel Kant and

Friedrich Hegel, two German philosophers. Hegel, in his

dialectics, maintains that the world is full of opposites, which

eventually cancel out each other, in other to create new

realities. This is the “thesis, antithesis, synthesis” paradigm of

his philosophy. It sees social progress in the conflictual

interaction of the contradictory forces in a thesis-versus-

antithesis competition.

4.i. (b) Other Counter Theses

While IR theories argue that conflict is like the Hobbesian

state of nature of international life, Realism argues that

struggle for power has always been the central theme of

international relations, Liberal institutionalism believes

that conflict exists as something normal, though it is more

optimistic about conflict resolution through international

institutions. New leftist scholars, using the Hegelian

dialectics, place special emphasis on conflict between

different socio-economic classes and try to identify the key

contradictions in world political economy; as triggers for

conflict.

Once two actors, whether they are individuals, groups, or

nation-sates, are different, they tend to be in conflict with

each other. In other words, difference causes or reflects

conflict. The logic of this is reflected in many well-known

political and philosophical works. It was the ideological

difference between the US and the Soviet Union that would

eventually led to the inevitable conflict and Cold War between

the two nations.

4.i. (c) Hard and Soft Power Issues

Eliminating the enemy is one way of approaching

international conflict. This calls for the use of “hard,”

materially effective, power. The resolution of potential

serious conflict can be viewed from the angle of whether one

country has more menacing facilities than the other. Another

approach is to use “soft” power, which is to co-opt the enemy

into a unified perspective on the issues at stake. Once you and

the potential enemy now wish to do the same thing about the

issues in dispute, your differences are minimized and the

possibility for conflict dims. Creating “shared values” is the

issue here.
4.j. The “conflict-as-abnormal” approach

There is another view of conflict that uses the harmony we

see in nature to argue that conflict need not exist anywhere

in the scheme of things. Without denying the bipolarity, it

argues that the interaction of the polar forces is the prime

mover for progress everywhere. The major idea here is that

the polar forces are related in a complementary interaction

that creates inclusive harmony. Things complement,

empower, and give life to one another; creating and

maintaining a “co-theses”, rather than the Hegelian “thesis,

anti-thesis and synthesis”. It is within this context that

“conflict” is seen as abnormal and that harmony, therefore, is

the state of nature

4.k. (a) Opposites Are Inclusive

Two opposite tendencies are thus seen to be inclusive of the

conditions for harmony, because they work together to

generate dynamics for progress and growth. Conflict of

interests, of desires, of preferences, and of values, must

therefore be subjugated to the overall demand for harmony.

Conflict emerges when people deviate from the right it is

potentially possible to create common grounds in all things,

as opposite forces are also potentially complementary.

4.k. (b) Conflict Lays the Foundation for Harmony

This view of conflict also rejects the belief that conflict is

caused by difference, taking difference as the foundation and

the necessary condition for harmony. An example of this can

be seen in how the different notes on the piano, when played

well together, make beautiful music. It is also in the same way

that different ingredients, some of them very diametrically

different from each other, make a delicious pot of soup when

mixed together in the right proportions. Thus there is beauty

in difference, in heterogeneity, in plurality and in multiplicity.

4.k. (c) A Question of Complementarity

Male and female are different, but the come together to create

a harmony that sustains our humanity. They are able to do

this precisely because they are very different from each other.

Thus the world should be richer, more meaningful and more

appreciated by us in its plurality of cultures, civilizations, and

lifestyles; rather than be seen as conflict prone because of the

apparent differences.

It is against the background of the foregoing that

international conflict and conflict resolution is not seen

simply as the elimination of difference. It is seen here as

nothing more than finding ways for different elements to

work in complementarity and cooperatively together. The

process of getting them to work together, and sustaining

them in that working together, is the essence of conflict

resolution.

4.l. Steps to Consensus Building

4.l (a) Seek Common Grounds

The first step towards nonviolent management of potential

international conflicts is to seek common grounds, as there

are bound to be common ground for any two opposite forces.

This is because there must be inclusive of and complementary

elements, as well as shared interests between them. Where

there seems to be no common grounds, it is because the

common ground has not yet been found. Thus, to solve

conflict, the first step is usually to carefully and accurately

find where the common ground is. Mortal enemies like the

United States and the Soviet Union, for example, still have a

common ground in their desire for self-survival in the event

of a nuclear war.

4.l (b) Promote Complimentary Differences

Promoting Complementary differences between opposing

parties focuses them on what they can gain from the

continued existence of each other. If they see that the

solutions to there conflict lie in the very differences between

them, and not in the elimination of that difference, there

would no incentive for violent exchanges. International trade

and regional integration, for instance, depend on

“complementary” differences.

2.l. (c) Mediation

Mediation provides a channel, or channels, for navigating

difficult issues, while admitting and maintaining differences.

Since we cannot totally abolish conflicts in human affairs,

being that it is normal and natural, elimination through

mutual understanding, assimilation through soft power and

the pursuit of complimentary offer good conflict resolution

paradigms. Conflicting parties must be made to from their

extreme positions, closer to each other, by adopting some

kind of middle ground as basis for a level of engagement.

When mediation is deployed effectively, differences may be

seen in new light and a basis for cooperation established.

4.m. The Leader and Conflict Resolution

Leadership plays a very critical role in conflict resolution. It is

the job of an effective leader to mediate, counsel and, where

necessary, punish in order to maintain group cohesion and

drive the team goals and vision. That is what makes him a

leader. Where conflicts arise, he may adopt any of two

approaches to its resolution. One approach is eliminate the

differences, or issues, promoting and projecting conflict. The

other is to see difference as a necessary condition growth and

promote is in ways that make their value clear to everyone.

This can be done mediation, but without being unrealistic in

our expectations. That is why, today, intercultural dialogue

and cross-cultural studies are coming increasingly under

focus for as essential tools for leaders who desire sustainable

resolution of conflict outcomes.

Every leader must be fully aware that wars are caused by all

manner of forces: technology, psychic shocks, social

upheavals, political theories and much more. Peace is simply

a state of equilibrium attained between diverse forces. Once

there is a change in any of the relevant variables a form of

temporary disequilibrium is engendered, what promotes

peace at a particular time may lead to war under different

circumstances. That is why no leader who wants to remain

relevant and effective should dismiss the probability of war

on the basis of conditions of peace obtained under different

circumstances.

4.n. Isolating the Causes

International conflicts are caused by (1) Ideological

differences, opposing economic interests, (3) Sociocultural

differences and disagreements, (4) Changes in the balance of

powers, (5) Changes in Balance of terror, (6stage managed

perceptions, (7) Wrong demands and expectations, arbitrary

desire for control and dominance and ambitious military

expansionism.
4.n. (a) Enablers and Non Enablers

While the possibility of international conflict is sometimes

aggravated by military ambition and coercive use of state

power, it is also true that sociocultural similarity, dialogue,

and a mature and process-driven use of state power

minimizes it. The conflict-enabling factors, with regard to

international conflicts, are (1) perception of opportunity, (2)

perception of threat, (3) reaction to unjust acts and (4) quest

for survival in the face of dire economic challenges, (5)

authoritarian, or totalitarian regimes, (6) sudden disruption

of the “international pecking order” by the discovery of

natural resources, (7) class conflict and (8) national honour.

 Module Five

Leadership and Change Management

5.a. Introduction

Change Management, or Organizational change management

(OCM), refers to measures taken to ensure that change does not

undermine an organization. It includes, but is not limited to, steps

taken to:
 • Introduce new business, or other, processes;

• Sustain new business, or other, practices;

• Minimize the potential negative effects of changes in

organizational structure;

• Ensure that culture change within an establishment, or

enterprise, does not become disruptive of leadership or

organizational goals.

5.b. Relevant Variables in Change Management

Change, particularly Organizational Change Management

(OCM) is very often the result of orchestrated factors designed to

impact it for different results. The factors in questions here are:

5.b. (a) Change sponsors

Every change has its promoters, or sponsors. This may be the

military high command or a concert of officers in a military

context, management in the case of corporations, government, or

club executive; as the case may be.

5.b. (b) Change Agents

Every change also has its agents, facilitators or drivers. These

change agents may not be the sponsors of the change in question.

They are “tools” in the hands of the initiators and promoters of

the change. Certain calibre of military personnel, Senior staff in

corporations, team leaders and their members can be deployed as

change agents by change promoters.

5.b. (c) Change Instruments

No change can take without the “implements for change”. These

are tools, processes, policies and programmes that would anchor

and actualize the change in concrete terms. It may be new

knowledge, arms and ammunition, new rules for strategic

engagement, greater, mew policies, etc.

5.b. (d) Change Targets

Whoever, or whatever, is to be influenced, altered or in any way

to be affected by the designed and desired change is a “change

target”. These may be middle and junior level officers, employees

of organizations, the citizenry, etc.

5.b. (e) Change Outcomes

For change to occur in any meaningful sense of the term, the

planned, or expected, results of any change management

programmes are called “change outcomes”. This may be target

capture or decimation of the enemy, bigger market share, urban

development, etc.

5.b. (f) Change Inducers

Several factors are responsible for change. Deliberate,

compelling change may be induced by any, or all, or the

following factors: (1) New Knowledge; (2) Virtualization; (3)

Mergers and acquisitions; (4) Changes in International Relations;

(5) military conflict; (6) Developments in E-commerce; (8)

Digital convergence; (9) Privatization; (10) Political

expediencies; Developments in Research and Development.

5.e. Change Impeders

Every planned change management programme is faced with the

possibility of a backlash. Anything, or anyone that constitutes an

obstacle to change is a change impeder. The following can

impede any planned change programme: (1) Forcing change on

people; (2) Setting unrealistic and non measurable goals; (3)

Failure to outline expected outcomes; (4) Inattention to possible

negative impacts of a change progamme; (5) Poor stakeholder

analysis and engagement; (6) Failure to ascertain human and

material costs of change; (7) Poor intra-organizational

communication; and (8) Taking “marketing” for granted.

5.c. OCM as Project Management

Adopting a Project Management approach to OCM is always

preferred, for lasting and sustainable results. That is because

effective change management must be guided by clear goals,

specific steps and measurable outcomes. Some of the steps to be

taken in this regard include: (1) Vision of the change; (2) Terrain

analysis, (3) Designing an intervention template; (4)

Disaggregation of forces for change into technical and human

factors; (5) Managing the transition; and (6) Sustaining the

momentum
5.d. Leadership and Systematic Change

Leaders have a critical role to play in ensuring that a change

effort is successful. It takes leadership to think through a

change management initiative and make it the structured

approach to moving an organization, individuals, teams, and

operational forces from a current state to a desired end state

in the implementation of a vision and strategy. It takes

leadership to make this formal process for organizational

change systematic, by adopting strategies, structures,

procedures, and technologies that would deliver the

envisaged transformation into the new.

5.e. Qualities of a Sustainable Change Initiative

A well thought through and properly structured change

management programme must be conceivable, or

meaningful, at least as a possible line of action. It must also

convey a picture of what the future it is working towards

would look like. Such an envisaged future must also appeal to

the long-term interests of employees, customers,

stakeholders. This is in addition to its being feasible, realistic

and clear enough to provide guidance. A change programme

must also be communicable and easily understood within

minutes.

The desired change must be linked to overall leadership or

organizational performance and goals. The relevant publics for a

change programme must be properly identified and treated

appropriately. Effective communication and capacity building

must be handled well. This is in addition to securing e Third Party

endorsement, presenting change as evolution and doing system,

process and personnel review for lasting results.

5.f. Role Definition and Action Points

The following points should be noted by a leader when designing

a change management programme:

• Responsibility for managing change does not lie with

the people;
• Workshops can be used to drill down on actions,

objectives and processes, so that they are well understood

by all;

• Hiding behind memos and middle managers is a

recipe for trouble in future;

• Senior managers and directors do not, as a rule, fear

change;

• Staffers down the line find change threatening;

• Staffers` fear of change is as great as the leader’s fear

of failure;

• Resistance to change is often rooted in deeply

conditioned or historically reinforced feelings;

• Patience and tolerance are required for long term

impact;

• Conservative, habit/process-oriented personality

types find change unsettling;

• Health services, administration, the military, the

public sector and government departments, utilities and

 services; have staff with character profiles that find change

difficult;

• Age increases inertia;

• The more you understand people's needs, and fears the

better you will be able to manage change.

5.g. Questions to Consider in Planning a Change

Programme:

The leader should ask and answer the following questions

with regard to any change programme:

• Have I thought through proposed changes, their

impact, rationale and benefits?

• Can I explain my vision of change to anyone in a

concise manner?

• Is this change worthwhile and will it have long-

term benefits?

• What other variables can negatively, or positively,

impact the change programme?

 • How will the change be sequenced to minimize

workflow disruption?

• What are the responsibilities of various

stakeholders in the planned change programme?

• Are there historical antecedents from which

lessons can be learnt for the current change initiative?

• What are the things to be accomplished, and in

what order?

• How do we move from the current state to the

desired state?

• What messages should I send out, to whom and

with what frequency to secure buy-in?

• Should I pretend to have answers when I don't?

5.f. It is not a Linear Engagement

Leaders of change must be fully aware that people always

need information, support and encouragement at every stage

of the change process. The transition is not easy, not smooth

and not linear for almost everyone. People impacted

sometimes find themselves confused, going back and forth

between their old ways and the new. Thus the leader should

expect and anticipate that it wont be an easy ride and that

people would have uncomfortable transitional phases to deal

with. The Leader`s vision, communication skills, empathy,

and coaching abilities would be doubly critical for the change

process.

5.i. Creating Change-Inclined Organizations

Individual development opportunities within an

organization, through training and other means is one way of

preparing people for change, even when there is no change in

sight. Developing new skills and keeping abreast of new

issues in a sector is half the job for any future change

programme. Performance management, building effective

teams, reward for excellence and:

5.i. (a) Objective Performance Management

A leader`s followers, and employees of corporate

organizations are likely to be trustful of new ideas if they see

their individual growth and development in positive light

over time. A culture of reviewing and discussing their

professional growth, specific performance on major

assignments creates an atmosphere of trust and objectivity

that disposes people to accept new ideas.

But where leaders only pay attention to major operations and

ignore internal relationship processes and administrative

bottlenecks that could inspire or demoralize others, new

ideas will always be suspect. Yet many leaders and managers

avoid performance related discussions; preferring to deal

with such things via memos and notes. It lays the foundation

for workers to see any training, or self-development

opportunities as a day off work, since no real conversation

went into how the planned training would impact their job

performance or career growth. Meanwhile a tradition of

performance discussions would have provided the context

for every self-development initiative.

5.i. (b) Team Inclusiveness

a leader who involves their team members in decisions about

their development and who assist in solving problems and

provide input into organizational issues create opportunities

for general group growth and development. There is no team

member who would not Team member who will not

appreciate being more involved. This will even make difficult

assignments more bearable, lead to increased output and

increase both job satisfaction and trust in the leader and the

organization.

5.i. (c) Reward and Recognition

Reward and recognition for initiative, hard work, resilience

and initiative disposes people to do more and to remain loyal.

Leaders who know this and who deploy it consistently are

usually more listened to when they propose new ideas that

may lead to fundamental changes. It is the same with

organizations. A busy, well paying and highly-rated

organization where, however, performance is neither

rewarded nor recognized in any special way, presents a very

fertile soil for resistance to change.

5.g. (d) Deploying a Tailor-made Workforce

When individuals are put on the jobs they are best suited for,

performance is high, along with job satisfaction and loyalty to

the leader or the organization. The opposite is also the case,

most of the time. This is because some people are equipped

by their endowments and other skills to do better at some

jobs than others. That is why leaders must try to make their

team members play roles, and take on responsibilities, that

they are relatively well equipped to handle.

Test Questions

For Leadership and Change Management

1. Change Management is also known as:

a. Organizational change management (OCM);

 b. Measures taken to ensure that change does not

undermine an organization;

c. National transformation;

d. Objections to the introduction of new ideas.

2. Change management can be carried out in the following

circumstances;

a. To Introduce new business ideas;

b. To promote new processes;

c. a, b and d

d. To minimize the potential negative effects of changes

in organization.

3. The following are change variables:

a. Change Sponsor;

b. Change agents;

c. Change outcomes;

d. All of the above.

4. Change inducers include:

 a. New technology;

b. Change of business focus;

c. New leadership vision;

d. a, b, and c.

5. Adopting a Project management approach is always

preferred, because:

a. It will then guided by clear goals;

b. It is a project of doubtful value;

c. It offers room for planning;

d. It contains avoidable challenges.

6. Leaders have a critical role to play in ensuring that a change

effort is successful, because;

a. It takes leadership to think through a change

management initiative;

b. It takes leaders to structure change effectively;

c. Change can occur on its won;

d. There is little basis for leadership involvement in

change.
7 A sustainable change initiative must be:

a. Conceivable, or meaningful

b. Designed in the West;

c. Without initial problems;

d. Have a pyramidal authority system

8 Effective communication and capacity building are:

a. Important for effective change management;

b. Unimportant for effective change management;

c. Taken up at the end of a change management

initiative;

d. Doing system, process and personnel review for

lasting results.

7. Do you agree that rresponsibility for managing change does

not lie with the people?

a. Yes;

b. Not sure;

c. Undecided;

d. It depends.
10 Workshops can be used to drill down on actions, objectives

and processes of change management, because:

a. It is tangential to the objectives of any change

management;

b. It could be critical to proper communication of a

leadership and change vision;

c. It is meant for top management only;

d. It serves as a change impeder.

11 “Hiding behind memos and middle managers during a

change management programme is a recipe for trouble”, do

you agree?

a. Not at all;

b. Yes;

c. None of the above;

d. All of the above.

12 The following workers have staff with character profiles

that find change difficult:

 a. Health services and general administration workers;

b. The military, the public sector and government

departments;

c. Utilities and services workers;

d. All of the above

13. Which of these questions is unimportant for a leader who

is planning a change programme?

a. Have I thought through proposed changes, their

impact, rationale and benefits?

b. Can I explain my vision of change to anyone in a

concise manner?

c. Is this change worthwhile and will it have long-term

benefits?

d. All of the above.

14
13Leaders of change must be fully aware that people need

information, support and encouragement at every stage

of the change process.” How?

a. Because transition is not easy, not smooth and not

linear for almost everyone;

b. Because people impacted by change shrug it off

very easily;

c. Because change does not have lasting impact in

real terms;

d. Because the only thing that is constant in politics is

change.

15“Change-prone organizations can be created by

providing opportunities within an organization, through

training and other means, for personal and professional

growth” Is this true?

a. Yes;

b. Perhaps;

c. Not all;
 d. A and B

16 A leader can be achieve team inclusiveness by;

a. Not involving his team in working details;

b. Involving team members in programme planning and

decisions about project development;

c. Allowing team members to take all decisions on his

behalf;

d. Stifling personal growth.

17 “Reward and recognition for initiative, hard work,

resilience and initiative disposes people to do more and to

remain loyal.”

a. This statement was made by Michael West

b. This statement is the major thesis of Donald Trump`s

campaign;

c. This statement has no epistemic value, or

significance;

d. None of the above.

18 Organizations that give individuals the jobs they are

best suited for:

a. Performance very high, when assessed along the

lines of job satisfaction and loyalty to the leader or

the organization;

b. Ensure that people equipped by their endowments

and other skills become round pegs in round holes;

c. A, B, and D;

d. Do no arbitrarily assign duties and responsibilities.

19 A fundamental requirement for lasting change

management does not include one of the following:

a. A clear vision of the change;

b. Capacity to drive the change;

c. Public endorsement before the change is

conceptualized;

d. Tools for facilitating the change.

20 “There is no meaning deliberate change without a

vision, strategy, resources and determination.”

a. This statement is true;

b. This state would be true without the word

“determination” in the sentence;

c. This state would be true without the word “vision”

in the sentence;

d. This state would be true without the word

“strategy” in the sentence.