Coming towards the end of LRNT 525, I do not believe that my leadership style has changed, but my views toward leadership have evolved somewhat. I still believe that adaptive and shared leadership is the way to go with most situations, but I have learned that actually going about enacting change in a leadership role is much more harder than it looks. The many stakeholders, organizational readiness, and other factors can be quite overwhelming. This may explain my general aversion to taking on leadership tasks, as I feel I have a lot to live up to. My expectations are now even higher for a good leader.
As I had mentioned in my initial post, my role as a research analyst is not officially a leadership position. Over time (even during the short period of this course) I have been afforded with a number of projects which have required me to display a degree of leadership. My view on shared leadership has prompted me to contribute more to the decision making even if I am not in the direct leadership position. I believe team input strengthens the decision making process which makes stakeholders and team members feel more involved and valued.
Enabling change in a digital learning environment can be difficult, especially for a large organization. Every facet must be treated like it is in an ecosystem where one modification can have implications on other aspects of the organization. In the future I will maintain the need to stakeholder consultation, and have a way to determine organizational readiness. While we must be vigilant throughout the process, by having stakeholder buy-in and a team that is prepared to enact the transformation; in my view half the battle is already won.
“I believe team input strengthens the decision making process which makes stakeholders and team members feel more involved and valued.”
I liked this statement, George. I thought of participatory leadership and how that aligns with your thinking. For years, the standard textbook for leadership courses has been “Leadership in Organizations” by Gary Yukl. In the chapter on participative leadership, Yukl says,
“Participative leadership offers a variety of potential benefits. It is likely to increase the quality of a decision when participants have information and knowledge the leader lacks and are willing to cooperate in finding a good solution to a decision problem. Moreover, the opportunity to have some influcence over a decision usually increases commitment to it, and the more influence people have over a decision, the greater their commitment is likely to be.” (1998, 4th edition, p. 124)
Congrats on taking a participative stance in your organization!
Hi Carrie, unfortunately depending on who’s in the room, participatory leadership is not always welcome. At times there can be a power struggle among different stakeholder groups. I think Yukl describes the benefits best and I’ll be sure to bring up his words to leadership. Thanks for sharing Carrie!