In our first unit of LRNT525 – Leading Change in Digital Learning, we have been reflecting on our own leadership styles and experiences and sharing learning. I personally have leadership roles in two related fields with unique relationships to change: I am a Coordinator and Professor in higher education, an industry with challenges responding to change; and Creative Director in a software development company, an industry driving and constantly responding to rapid change. Through the reflective exercises in this unit, I have drawn on these experiences to identify elements of my leadership style to be proud of, and things I could improve. Both the good and the bad come from values, beliefs, upbringing, and socialization. Understanding the roots of these behaviors is key to improving my leadership style and moving my teams, in both worlds, forward.

In reading Notes Toward a Definition of Values-Based Leadership, I recognized my own leadership style in the last 3 of the cited 10 leadership styles; Transformational, Shared, and Servant-Leadership (O’Toole, 2008); particularly Transformational. When reflecting on my motivations for employing these styles, it was clear to me they arose, in part, from my lived experiences as a woman. To understand this better, I looked for research on women in leadership roles and found my experiences very much echoed in the research. For example, in Ways Women Lead, Rosener explores how women in conventionally feminine roles “are supposed to be cooperative, supportive, understanding, gentle, and to provide service to others” (1990). In a meta-analysis of leadership styles of men and women, Eagly et al. (2003) found people reacted more unfavourably to women than men who adopted an autocratic approach to leadership. The authors found that “women can be disliked and regarded as untrustworthy in leadership roles, especially when they… use a dominant style of communication” (see reviews by Carli, 2001; Eagly & Karau, 2002 as cited by Eagly et al., 2003). The authors suggest that these influences contribute to women’s adoption of a transformational approach to leadership. Based on this research and my own experiences, it likely the feedback I receive from my colleagues continues to contribute to and shape my leadership approach. It is well known that there are not a lot of women in tech startups. 7% of partners at top 100 venture firms are women (Desmond & Teare, 2016). This may largely be due to the lack of women in maths and sciences, as well as how welcoming or accepting some spaces are for women. Whatever the cause, companies would do well to overcome the barriers as the skills and values women bring to leadership roles have been shown to help companies succeed. Connecting their analysis of men’s and women’s leadership styles with analysis of effective leadership styles, Eagly et al. found that “female leaders are somewhat more likely than their male counterparts to have a repertoire of the leadership behaviors that are particularly effective under contemporary conditions.” Though there is an imbalance in the standards held for female and male leaders, the results are strengths that could be harnessed.

Beyond my lived experience as a woman, I was raised to routinely examine my actions, and their impact, through religious practice. In addition, I have studied and practice the discipline of mindfulness as self-care. Though my beliefs and values have evolved throughout my life, I have a continued in the habit of reflecting on and renewing my values and strategies toward achieving goals. This is in line with reflective leadership which requires conscious and purposeful reflection (Castelli, 2016). John Gardner (1989) spoke of the need for renewal practices in institutions in fast-paced environments, stating that “Continuous renewal is necessary” and suggested transformational leadership approaches that may renew and reinterpret values thereby re-energizing institutions. This encourages me to continue to develop practices that connect me to my values and help me examine my actions to find room for improvement and to extend these exercises to encompass the values and goals of my teams.

In Notes Toward a Definition of Values-Based Leadership, O’Toole (2008) discusses two themes; leading from authentic values and uniting the disparate values of others. This may seem like an impossible task at times and it is not a wonder that, according to O’Toole, there are not many leaders who do this consistently (2008). This is an area where I could improve; I can easily fall into the trap of thinking in terms of “us” and “them” or become distracted by defending my perspective. Again, I have found that I can look to my experiences and habits to find tools that could be developed further to help me to improve in this area. One practice that dates to my childhood is actively meditating on the feelings and motivations of others and considering their intentions by praying for their wellbeing. Doing this helped me to align my values with others and overcome conflicts by showing authentic concern for them. In a review of the literature on reflective leadership, Castelli (2016) found that “followers respond most favourably to what they perceive to be honest and authentic dialogue that reflects the true feelings of the leader.” This encourages me to spend more time listening and empathizing with my team and to continue to develop practices that authentically bridge the gap between my personal values and theirs. Not only could this mindful approach have a positive impact on my personal mental health (Grossman et al., 2004), it may improve organizational performance (Castelli, 2016).

Through our readings and reflective activities, I have discovered ways I might reinterpret and draw on my lived experiences, and my habits of mindfulness and reflection, to embrace and improve my leadership style. Persisting in these practices can help me help my teams succeed in changing times.

References

Desmond, N., Teare, G., (2016) The first comprehensive study on women in venture capital and their impact on female founders, Tech Crunch. Retrieved from: https://techcrunch.com/2016/04/19/the-first-comprehensive-study-on-women-in-venture-capital/

Eagly, A. H., Johannesen-Schmidt, M. C., & Van Engen, M. L. (2003). Transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles: a meta-analysis comparing women and men. Psychological Bulletin, 129(4), 569.

Grossman, P., Niemann, L., Schmidt, S., & Walach, H. (2004). Mindfulness-based stress reduction and health benefits: A meta-analysis. Journal of psychosomatic research, 57(1), 35-43.

O’Toole, J. (2008). Notes toward a definition of values-based leadership. The Journal of Values-based leadership, 1(1), 10.

Revkin, A. (2001) John C. Lilly Dies at 86; Led Study of Communication with Dolphins, New York Times Obituary Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/07/us/john-c-lilly-dies-at-86-led-study-of-communication-with-dolphins.html

Rosener, J. B. (1990). Ways women lead. Harvard business review, 68(6), 119-125. Retrieved from: http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/10107957

Slagter van Tryon, P. J., & Bishop, M. J. (2009). Theoretical foundations for enhancing social connectedness in online learning environments. Distance Education, 30(3), 291-315.