introduction to the 2008 nols leadership educator notebook

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LEADERSHIP THEORIES WEUSE TO TEACH LEADERSHIPThere are a variety of theories instructors can use to help teachelements of leadership to students. This section summarizes a fewtools you might want to try out.“Great” Leaders DiscussionBegin by having students name someone they think is or was a“great” leader. (Hint – if you define “great” in the sense that theywould like to be a leader like this person, or would want to be afollower of this person, students are less likely to pick Hitler-esqueexamples.)Ask students to brainstorm a list of traits of great leaders (samplelist provided below).Have students to identify two or three of these traits they thinkthey already have or are good at.Have students identify two traits they want to work towards overthe next couple of days.Follow up with a group or individual check-ins a couple of dayslater to find out how students are doing on their goals.Sample list of traitssense of humor playful open-heartedpersistent courageous flexibleintelligent optimistic skilledself-confident visionary honestshows integrity respectful tolerantorganized empathetic adaptableIdentify a Variety of Leadership StylesDifferent leadership styles are effective under different conditions.Authoritarian styles may be effective for task accomplishment,but they may also encourage dependency of the group over time.Democratic leadership can become pseudo-collaborative rather thanactually collaborative leadership if it gives strength only to the oneswho speak up—i.e. extremists. Laissez-faire leadership works in certainsituations, but a leaderless crowd is also the most likely to panicif something goes wrong. The preferred leadership style is highlyinfluenced by culture.We need to encourage people to develop a variety of differentstyles. Effective leaders exhibit versatility and flexibility that enablethem to adapt their behavior to every situation. Encourage your studentsto think about and discuss the situational appropriateness ofvarious styles. This discussion fits well in hiking/travel group debriefs.Teaching Situational LeadershipSituational leadership is a set of strategies that allows individualsto lead successfully by varying their behavior from one situation tothe next, so as to provide appropriate leadership actions at appropriatetimes (Hersey, 1993). Leadership is specific to a particular groupin a particular situation, and behaviors that work wonders in onegroup or situation may fail miserably in another. It’s complex.highsupportive behavior(relationship)lowlowSituational Leadership(adapted from Blanchard, 1999)DelegatingSupportingCoachingdirective behavior (task)DirectinghighIdeas for Teaching Situational LeadershipReview the above progression of situational leadership with yourgroup. Ask students to identify what type of leadership they thinktheir group currently needs most.Have the students discuss what the role of the student is in thisstage, and what the role of the instructor should be.Discuss what kinds of information, opportunities, coaching, etc.the students need and can expect from you as instructors at thispoint in the course.A new group (or an existing group with a new task) needs directiveleadership and less in-depth, two-way dialogue. The leader tellsthe group members what they have to do and defines everyone’sroles. The first few days of a NOLS course are like this, when studentsare novices. Key leadership actions include directing, establishing,structuring, and guiding. Role-modeling and letting peopleknow what is expected of them is critical at this stage.After the group has settled in and has a basic idea of what everyoneis supposed to be doing, a group needs a different type of leadership.Group members are still unable to do many things on theirown, but they’re trying. It is important to support their motivationand commitment to tackle the tasks. This is often called the coachingstage. Group members still need a lot of direction and instruction,but they also need to understand what the leader is trying toachieve in the long run. This means that leaders must clarify theirreasoning and ask for the group’s input.On a course, this stage may be when you start practicing Leaderof the Day, or LOD. You are teaching students, encouraging themand correcting them, while also listening to their experience, reactionsand desires. Key leadership actions here are explaining, listening,clarifying, correcting and reinforcing.As group members become more comfortable with their skillsand each other, their readiness to take on responsibility usually increases.However, they’ve just developed their ability and haven’t hadan opportunity to gain confidence working on their own. Othertimes, they are not motivated to do a task on their own. In thisstage, called supporting, key leadership actions are discussing, collaborating,participating, encouraging, and facilitating. The leadersteps way back in telling the group what to do and how to do it. Theleader needs to set up a structure that encourages the group to takeDefining Leadership 122008 NOLS Leadership Educator Notebook
some risks, succeed a bit, and maybe fail some or at least stretch abit. However, the leader can’t step back from supporting the group.NOLS students in this stage need a lot of active listening, feedback,coaching and help with tough spots. They don’t need you todo their work for them. On a course, this is when students are leadingmost aspects of travel days.The final stage, delegating, takes place when the group membersare both ready and willing to do the task. They are ready and confident.They’ve had enough opportunity to practice and they feelcomfortable without the leader providing direction. This is wherethe leader gives them the ball and lets them run with it. The leadermust grant group members considerable independence regardinghow they do their tasks and how they organize themselves asa group. The leader must step back from directing and decidingthings for the group, except in very specific circumstances, so asto respect the group’s autonomy. Still, observing and monitoringare important leadership activities. The leader must keep a pulse onwhat’s going on.This includes NOLS’s Independent Student Group Expedition,or when students run a ration period, or any time instructors are lettingstudents run the show. You are more or less an observant guest,who doesn’t step in unless parameters have been crossed (i.e. safety)or the group meets a situation they are not yet ready to deal with.If this is what we actually do with students, should we also try toteach our students how to do this with their peers? Explaining thetheory may be useful to them later on, especially when they go homeand start leading friends and family. They don’t need to verbalize thestages to their friends—but keeping the theory in mind may helpthem to figure out when they should be giving more help and directionand when they can give less.Ideas for Teaching About PowerHave your students brainstorm a list of different ways that a personhas or can get power on a NOLS course (e.g. designated leaderof the day, lots of experience, very loud voice, etc.)Ask your students to discuss how people lose power (being bossy,pretending to know things that they don’t, etc.)Allow your students to think for themselves and articulate howthey hope to gain and use power throughout the course.Power and LeadershipDifferent types of power work best with different styles of leadership.Here are some examples of different types of power held byleaders:Expert power: the perceived extent of relevant knowledge and skillof a personReferent (greatness) power: the extent to which others want to beclose to a personAuthorized (legitimate) power: the right of a person to be influentialgiven their positionReward power: the extent to which a person is viewed as having theability to give rewardsCoercive power: the extent to which a person is viewed as being ableto punish othersInformational power: the amount of insider information a personhas about the history, culture and customs of a groupConnection power: the number of close relationships a person haswith other key members of a groupThe most influential leaders were seen as those having expert, referent,informational and connection power. The least effective powersfor influencing others were found to be authorized, reward andcoercive power, although these were not unimportant. This studyalso demonstrated that to be an influential leader over time, sharingpower and influence with the group are vital. It also says that powerstruggles can erupt when a group member has more referent andconnective power with the group than the authorized leader. I thinkwe have all seen this happen in peer leadership on courses.Teaching Leadership through Authority:Designated LeadershipThe theory of designated leadership can be viewed as a subset ofauthorized power. Some even believe that just putting someone ina leadership role can help them to become a good leader. Studentswho are “Leader Of the Day” are leaders by virtue of that title, thetasks that we authorize, and their level of accountability. NOLScourse leaders are designated leaders. The NOLS executive directoris a designated leader. These people have legitimate power given tothem and thus also have great responsibility. See the “Leaders of TheDay” section in this book for teaching suggestions.Transformational/Visionary LeadershipTransformational leaders project a vision, motivate and inspirefollowers, engage followers in actively seeking new solutions to oldproblems and seek to raise aspiration levels among followers (Deluga,1992). Teaching notes for this topic can be found on page 55.If a student is fortunate enough to arrive at NOLS with the characteristicsof a transformational leader, the best gift we can give heror him may be support in seeking greater self-knowledge and encouragementto use their skills wisely. We should also support thestudent in using collaborative leadership tools so they help createmany leaders in the group. But with beginning outdoor leadershipstudents, visionary transformational leadership seems an impracticalgoal for the average individual. Many people do use it as a vision ina transference discussion.StewardshipOn a NOLS course, stewardship means downplaying pointsourceleadership. The whole group discusses and agrees on whatleadership will look like and how everyone will support leadershipas a group. The student leader’s goal is to not only to get the groupfrom place to place, but to also make sure everyone has an opportunityto learn and grow.Class SuggestionsStewardship can be taught as followership or through classes onexpedition behavior.In stewardship, leadership does not emanate from a point source.Instead, it is part of everyone involved. Designing an environmentthat encourages learning and leadership in everyone is the primarytask of a steward. Personal responsibility, personal accountabilityand self-awareness are the keystones of this model.How does stewardship look at NOLS? The instructors are akin tothe architects of a ship, not captains. Every student and instructor isresponsible for designing the course through discussion. The groupworks together to figure out how and what they will be. A certainamount of chaos is inevitable in this model. Students and instructorsfeel accountable for the success or failure of any venture. The philosophyis: “People learn what they need to learn, not what I may thinkthey need to learn.” (Block, 1993) Students take responsibility fortheir evaluation and growth into their own hands. There is a strivingfor absolute honesty at all levels and the truth is not avoided for social2008 NOLS Leadership Educator Notebook 13Defining Leadership
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