LeaderSHAPE

38 However, Kocolowski (2010), has succinctly pointed out the potentials of shared leadership which significantly outweighs its limitations. In this regard, many begin to view shared leadership as an important organizational mechanism that allows for active interactions in the decision-making process among individuals in the organization who are able to influence one another for the achievement of shared organizational goals. Therefore, for us to be able to lead effectively, we need to first understand the need for us to relate and collaborate with others in the organization for “joint completion of tasks, mutual skill development, decentralized interaction among personnel, and emotional support” (Wood, 2005, p. 76). We need to create and encourage openness that values diverse perspectives and bold explorations in our attempts to strengthen our problem solving and decision-making capabilities. Although there may be times that we may tend to drift away from our goals due to occurring circumstances, we need to focus back on our organizational values and what they stand for to help us to come back to our organizational aims. This momentary result of fear and insecurity can be overcome when we are sure of what we want to achieve and how to achieve it. In fact, when we look beyond the current situation faced by our team/s or organization, we might foresee the need for us to build strong commitment among our subordinates or team members through team or shared involvement and ownership. Daunting as the challenges are, we can make a difference by taking the right steps in inspiring and building strong teams, to ride through the wave of challenges. We can rise to the challenge by recognizing the need to have shared responsibilities. That said, maintaining our individuality might in fact pose a problem since the organization consists of many people with varied backgrounds, beliefs, competencies and goals. As succinctly pointed out by London (2001), when faced with failures and disappointment, “[s]ome fallen leaders do not make it back emotionally…. Perhaps, they relied too heavily on one of their strengths, not realizing the need to vary their behavior to suit the situation.”(p.84). Thus, if we are true to ourselves, we should step back and listen and understand the circumstances that we are in and acknowledge the limits or liabilities that we may have brought upon our team or organization. It is crucial, therefore, for us to keep the lines of communication open as not everyone is able to see the bigger picture. We need to bridge the gaps in communication styles of different working groups in our organization. While it is important to play on our own unique selves as leaders, we need to understand that in today’s turbulent times we cannot make it all alone. In fact, leadership experience is a great canvas that helps us discover new things about ourselves, about others and

39 the world around us. As leaders, we must act quickly to proactively reposition human and physical assets in times of crisis while giving due attention to stress, burnout, motivation, and productivity among our subordinates or team members. While it may be impossible to plan for every contingency, we need to be able to mobilize our subordinates or team members and have them plan for successful performance when the needs arise. Therefore, developing shared leadership capabilities will enhance the organizational ability to achieve its organizational goals. In a nutshell, we need to embrace the practice of shared leadership and build a good team that is engaged, empowered and can be relied upon. Passing on the torch to our subordinates or team members to strengthen their leadership capabilities will positively impact the organizational outcomes as they will be able to make choices and decisions vital to the success of our organization. Yet, as most members of the organization are anxious to be regarded in their best light, we need to focus the shift on leadership to talented, engaged and skilled subordinates or team members with potential to lead who could motivate others to higher levels of performance. In fact, the ability to bond to a common goal is a crucial leadership practice whereby the others find it easy to share their views for mutual beneficial collaboration. It is important therefore for us to consider the development of leadership talent among our subordinates or team members in order to prepare for the worst of times as they need the necessary competencies to navigate through the VUCA environment. Hence, in a turbulent environment with frequent changes and uncertainties, it becomes more and more crucial for us, as leaders, to collaborate in an effective manner with our subordinates or team members so that the benefits of shared leadership will further strengthen the organizational effectiveness.

40 PART TWO LeaderSHAPE - The framework

41 “To encourage the best work from the people we’re responsible for, we need to consistently provide the kind of leadership we’d like to have for ourselves” Janet Gallant, 1998 Introduction Leaders, as they say, come in various forms and shapes. Some are endowed with natural qualities of being a leader, while others may need to learn how to develop their leadership capabilities. That said, not all leaders are bosses, and not all bosses are leaders. Still, being promoted to a leadership role is a huge accomplishment. Nevertheless, it poses a challenge to have a crucial impact on our subordinates or team members once we formally obtain a certain leadership position or title. By and large, in most organizations, it is not surprising to find that there are those who thrive in leadership roles while some others do not, regardless of their rank or position. In this regard, many are of the view that the authority of a leader comes from their ability to influence others. This inevitably points to the need to build meaningful connections in order to encourage proactive behaviour and collective effort among our subordinates and team members. In fact, many would attest to the fact that leading by influence will garner better results in terms of our subordinates or team members’ opinions, attitudes, choices and behaviors. Generally, the basis of good leadership mostly depends on our character, commitment and selfless service to the team and the organization. This is to say that if we exhibit certain attributes or behaviours that our subordinates or team members find as becoming, it will leave an influential mark on them as well as on their level of trust. For instance, appearing calm and maintaining a positive demeanor while confidently facing unexpected obstacles and tolerating on-going challenges will speak volumes of our capacity and capability as leaders. Thus, our relationship with our subordinates and team members will improve. It will consequently lead to active engagement and wholehearted commitment which will result in the successful attainment of the organizational goals. Having said that therefore, often, subordinates desire leaders who possess deeply rooted, instinctive innate values who would not easily succumb to conflicting responsibilities and emotions. As observed by Marques (2015), today’s leaders “have to be critical and creative thinkers, because they are practically reinventing the entire concept of leadership in a different performance setting” (p.1312). Suffice to say, our subordinates often observe and reflect on our behaviour and it is often during crises that our caliber and behaviour as a leader is tested and

42 manifested. After all, it is a common assumption that as leaders, we need to be able to successfully lead our subordinates or team members, especially in times of rapid changes and varied challenges. It is indeed a challenge to garner cooperation and stimulate encouragement for higher levels of engagement among our subordinates. Yet, if we can engage directly and induce our subordinates or team members to behave in a desired manner, we will be able to help our organization to survive and thrive. For that reason, we may need to be humbled by the fact that we depend on our subordinates’ or team members’ acceptance and support. While there may be no single recipe for us to use in order to grow into an effective, confident leader, there are, however, certain qualities that we could adopt and adapt and activate in ourselves. This is to say that if we are aware of certain attributes that our subordinates or team members find most appealing, we could set our own personal and professional development as leaders. This simply means that effective leadership is the outcome of a successful interplay of different attributes which are enhanced through years of experiential learning. In other words, effective leadership develops from the shaping of our thoughts, emotions and behaviours which manifest themselves in various leadership endeavours. Hence, the essence of effective leadership is the continuous improvement of individual qualities that go well with the expectations and values of the subordinates or team members. This is so as leadership effectiveness depends on our ability to provide for the needs of our subordinates or team members in fulfilling their responsibilities via organizational supportive conditions and leader direction in achieving the organizational goals. Whereas negative traits or behaviours such as ignorance, non-participation, manipulation and selfishness may jeopardize our position of leadership, a shaping of our leadership attitudes, emotions and behaviours that are more acceptable will help us to direct and modify our subordinates’ behaviours to conform to organizational expectations and goals. While we may still need to maintain order within the organization through a command-and-control mechanism, leadership that builds on trust and integrity will inspire the subordinates to comply readily to the organizational expectations. As such, living and upholding the right values and principles while being genuinely authentic in various leadership situations will deeply affect the beliefs and actions of our subordinates or team members to the extent that they will readily offer their full support and effort. For the purpose of clarity, the link between our leadership practices, subordinates’ engagement and organizational success is illustrated as in Figure 2.1. This engagement, however, is arguably contingent upon

43 our character and competencies that are crucial in influencing our subordinates’ willingness to join us in our journey to organizational success and effectiveness. Figure 2.1 The link between leadership and organizational success It is indeed the time for us to reflect on our effectiveness in garnering the commitment and engagement of our subordinates in achieving our organizational goals. Perhaps, at this juncture, a framework on how to shape our leadership characteristics and competencies seem crucial and instrumental. LeaderSHAPE - The framework Leadership is a socio-organizational process and hence, shapes and is shaped by the interactions between the leaders and their subordinates within an organizational setting. As such, we need the social glue that binds us with our subordinates for the greater good we want to achieve for our organization. Of utmost importance, we need to realize that our subordinates need to form strong attachments to us to enable them to invest themselves fully in their work. Having said that, it is indeed worthwhile to explore the importance of these qualities and how they work best in influencing the commitment and engagement of employees in carrying out their organizational tasks. In fact, if we are to understand the notion of effective leadership, it is vital that we need to understand and scrutinize its antecedents. By doing so, it will be possible for us to adopt the principles of effective leadership in our leadership repertoire. Of course, as leaders, we do have flaws and at times experience personal as well as organizational failures. Nonetheless, it is in the way we see ourselves in relation to others as well as of our role and function in the organization that will constitute our leadership behaviours. Indeed, it is in the way we accept our limitations and weaknesses while concomitantly glorifying

44 other people’s success and strengths that will touch the heart of our subordinates. Needless to say, our subordinates or team members are often concerned about what kind of leaders they have and the leadership’s focus and commitment. This is so as many leaders go through their day-in and day-out not in tune with what they are doing, why they are doing it, and how they, and others around them, are feeling. Therefore, rather than commanding and controlling our subordinates through positional hierarchies and authority, we need to instead focus on developing our leadership behaviours that are inspirational and empowering so that our subordinates will attempt to do their tasks to the best of their abilities. For that matter, we need to first have a clearer insight on our identities, roles and responsibilities as leaders. This is so, as we need to be able to self-monitor, self-correct and self-regulate ourselves in order to become more effective. Thus, the LeaderSHAPE framework as proposed in this book (Figure 2.2) looks at a set of attributes, that are instrumental for leaders to reach their strong position of influence and high level of effectiveness – i.e savviness (S), humility (H), achievement-orientation (A), professional conscience (P) and emotional mastery (E) – which clearly relates well with the practice of effective leadership. As a matter of fact, these attributes have received much attention in leadership literature albeit isolatedly. In short, the LeaderSHAPE framework embodies the fundamental qualities that need to be internalized and manifested in order to shape leader effectiveness in various leadership endeavours. Figure 2.2 - The LeaderSHAPE framework

45 That said, this framework is grounded in the belief that leadership can be learned and thus, consciously being shaped and reshaped for better effectiveness. Therefore, these attributes as defined in this LeaderSHAPE framework (Figure 2.2) should be adopted, adapted, developed and demonstrated in our quest to attain our organizational goals successfully. In other words, the framework offers a conceptual understanding of the dispositions essential to effective leadership since such an understanding is critical in transforming our current leadership practices into better performances. In a nutshell, the LeaderSHAPE framework is a conceptual lense that recognizes and describes the essence of leadership dispositions crucial for effective leadership and in doing so, it defines the need for us to shape our attitudes, thoughts, emotions and behaviours as leaders. Savviness To become an effective leader, it is essential to stress the importance of being savvy. In fact, it should be obvious that savviness is crucial in leading an organization towards producing the much-needed change. The smooth running of our organization is predicated upon our ability to coordinate organizational activities that will help to realize the organizational goals. For that matter, we need to examine our own process of leadership development- one that would reflect the dynamic, all-encompassing role of our leadership behaviours in the successful operation of our organization. We need to be able to identify, examine and manage our beliefs and assumptions about ourselves, our teams and our organization. No doubt, in today’s VUCA environment, our subordinates or team members require enormous amounts of information which are accurate, timely and well-organized with sufficient guidance in order to function effectively and efficiently. That said, as leaders, we need to provide crucial information while setting clear expectations that encourage the intended behaviour of our subordinates or team members. Savviness in leadership is about the thinking incited by our knowledge of a wide range of phenomena – social, political, economic, environmental, technological, etc. As such, leading in today’s volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environment, Blocker (2009), contends that leaders need to be “supremely competent in their core proficiencies; broad enough to operate across the spectrum of conflict; able to operate in joint, interagency, and multinational environments” (p.7). In fact, the pace of performance, change, and problem solving as experienced today points to the need for novel and quick thinking to address problems with little or no familiar structure. As leadership is a dynamic and complex phenomenon, so should our

46 leadership approaches in dealing with these challenges. Thus, savviness matters in today’s disruptive era as it enables us to transform challenges into opportunities and provides hope when things do not look promising. Understanding our organization in depth - what it stands for, how work is done to achieve its goals, its strengths and limitations, its impact to the internal as well as external stakeholders, its sustainability, its performance and many more important contributing factors to its success and effectiveness is what savviness as leaders is all about. By having this deep knowledge, we are able to spot opportunities to create value for our organization as well as for our stakeholders. We are quick to recognize crucial areas for improvement and optimize our strategy to deliver results for the betterment of our organizations. In this regard, we are not easily deterred by limited information that we have as we will seek to pursue organizational interests and find fits to the organizational needs. As such, we can become organizational savvy, context-savvy, technologysavvy, profession-savvy and people-savvy in performing our role as leaders in driving organizational effectiveness. This means that the more we know what works in our organization and what makes our subordinates or team members positively respond to our lead the better we are at leading our organization and our people. While not belittling the significance of seniority and credentials, they are, nevertheless, not a guarantee of a leader’s savviness. This is so, as according to Macdonald and Uncles (2007), being savvy implies that we have a good grasp of “competency and empowerment”. As such, we become competent and empowered when we can carry out our tasks and perform our roles successfully by integrating the knowledge, skills, attitudes and personal values that we have acquired over years of experiential lessons. Suffice it to say, savviness comes from our self-efficacy and vice-versa. For the purpose of clarity and understanding regarding savviness and how it is practiced, the story of “The Ship Repair Man”” (see Table 2.1) is presented in the book for further reflection and deep thinking. Thus, what we can deduce as the moral of the story is that knowledge and skill are important, but knowing how, where and when to apply the knowledge and skill makes the difference between an ordinary leader and a savvy one. In this example, being able to sense what is wrong and to identify the right approach to deal with the problem is the mark of a savvy leader. It is in noticing the small cues but with important implications that we need to develop ourselves on as our subordinates or team members will evaluate our credibility, trustworthiness, confidence and empathy based on these seemingly unimportant gestures. Of utmost importance is for us to have

47 a perfect alignment between what is being said and what is done - what we say we know with how we actually perform. In other words, what we need to realize is that savviness involves incorporating the appropriate approach given the needs of our team members and the situation. Table 2.1: A leadership story - The ship repair man Source : https://medium.com/@oceanbcreative/the-ship-repair-man-story-dd959a4469d8 Being savvy as a leader means we need to be able to have a wide range of skills and not to be bogged down by some knowledge in a narrow area of expertise. In this way, we can use our knowledge and skills that we have, adapt it to the current situation, motivate ourselves to overcome challenges that we identify, and to recognize any unique attributes of professional practices which will help to enhance our leadership practices. We need to be able to be tactful in A giant ship engine failed. The ship’s owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could figure out how to fix the machine. Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was young. He carried a large bag of tools with him, and when he arrived, he immediately went to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom. Two of the ship’s owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would know what to do. After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life. He carefully put his hammer away. The engine was fixed! A week later, the owners received a bill from the old man for ten thousand dollars. “What?!” the owners exclaimed. “He hardly did anything!” So they wrote the old man a note saying, “Please send us an itemized bill.” The man sent a bill that read: Tapping with a hammer…………………. $ 2.00 Knowing where to tap……………………. $ 9,998.00

48 utilizing communication, consultations, and consideration of personal opinions of our team members before making decisions or solving problems. In most circumstances, we need to realize the depth of the impact that our interactions and decisions have on our teams or on the organization. Often, our integrity and consideration are reflected in the way we communicate to and with others in and outside the organization which will reciprocally influence their behaviours towards us. In fact, our networking ability which forms and is formed by our interpersonal influence will enable us to not just lead down and across, but to also lead up. Suffice it to say, as our team members have varied perspectives gathered from varied past experiences, it is crucial that we act with savviness in order to further tap into their potential and to make them fully engaged with their tasks. In fact, their experiences form an important source of information which influences to a certain extent how they carry out their work and from which other members can learn and benefit. Savviness goes a long way in nurturing transparency and creating an aura of trust in a cohesive team where psychological safety thrives, and everyone is not afraid to share their opinions or fear retribution. This is to say that the trust that our subordinates or team members have of us as their leaders will help to enhance their willingness to rely on and disclose information between and among themselves (Lee, Gillespie, Mann and Wearing, 2010) – which is instrumental in building team expertise. At times when contextual contingencies become more challenging and could affect the engagement and commitment of our subordinates or team members, we need to be able to respond swiftly in an appropriate manner and confidently apply the best approach that would result in the best outcomes. In order to do this, we need to understand the impact that the internal and external factors have on our leadership processes and practices. Understanding the motivations and expectations of our subordinates or team members would further enable us to garner the right behaviour from our subordinates or team members in various circumstances. Therefore, we need to learn to recognize our own prejudices and insights, act on them and interact more effectively so that our leadership practices will create a productive culture and conducive climate within our organization. This self-realization and self-awareness will make us a morerounded person who would be able to empathize with our subordinates or team members. Indeed, there is a compelling need for us, as leaders, to be aware of ourselves - our strengths and weaknesses, limitations and advantages, fears and hopes, leadership advantages and disadvantages - as self-awareness is fundamental to being a savvy leader. Of utmost importance,

49 however, we need to lose the fear of something going wrong or of the risks that we may face. We need to manage our negativity well and let our mind be agile to accept novel approaches or new ways of doing things. We should be open to exploring new things. We need not be afraid to jump at opportunities, try them out and be curious of the outcomes. Thus, the more we allow ourselves to explore new experiences that can help our teams work more productively, the more we become savvy at what we do. Although we may not need to be the expert of everything, it, nevertheless, pays to notice opportunities quickly and be surrounded by savvy people who can answer questions, make recommendations and solve problems candidly. As a matter of fact, our willingness to collaborate with curiosity and courage to face the daunting challenge depicts our savvy behaviours. That said, our level of comfort with our leadership roles and our constant readiness to face challenges will help to further build our reputation as a savvy leader. As highlighted by Ashley and Reiter-Palmon (2012), assessing our leadership capacities and capabilities and the developmental gaps that exist in our current leadership undertakings is useful in helping us to evaluate and formulate self-developmental plans that would benefit our organization, both for short- and long-term goals. This is so as our savviness becomes the basis of our intellectual, social and organizational capital. Our savviness, in fact, will manifest itself in our attitudes, beliefs and behaviours as leaders. Suffice to say, we need to continue to learn and progress, to become more people- savvy as it defines our leadership behaviors. Perhaps, the only thing that we as leaders must always bear in mind and to constantly ask ourselves is ‘why’ do we engage ourselves in a leadership endeavor? This question is indeed important as it helps us to console ourselves and to continuously stay on the current course of direction even if it is difficult and distressing at times. Kets de Vries and Korotov (2010), are of the belief that organizations should tap on the potential of their leaders in order to achieve future success. Nevertheless, it is we, ourselves as leaders, who need to rediscover ourselves, i.e our motivation, expectation, beliefs, etc. as we need to understand who we are as leaders. This is so, as leaders, we need to lead ourselves first before we can lead others. In order to do this, we need to take an honest look inside ourselves. This will enable us to fully develop our potential. As we begin to understand more of ourselves and our surroundings and what is expected of us and how the changes affecting our organization and our subordinates are understood, we will become more attentive and readily absorb it in our selfconcepts. Subsequently, we will apply it to change our perspective and behavior appropriately.

50 Of utmost importance is for us to realize that leadership begins when we recognize the pressing need to help fulfill various expectations of different stakeholders. Of course, as leaders, we do and may make mistakes. Nevertheless, errors, as expressed by Hunter, Tate, Dzieweczynski, and Bedell-Avers (2011, p. 1), “make up a substantial portion of the fabric of leadership”. It is crucial therefore, for us to have an acute sense of the dynamic of the moment in order to respond accordingly to the situation. This is to say that we should not be immobilized by our indecisiveness which is due to our fear of doing wrong or making errors. Rather, mistakes should be regarded as learning experiences and as such, we should not be afraid of taking risks and facing failures. It is more satisfying to perform and fail than to do nothing and be disillusioned. In fact, seasoned savvy leaders can exhibit greater levels of expertise in executing their tasks because they accept the fact that there is wisdom in failures. Thus, they allow themselves to make errors while experimenting with novel approaches and inventing new solutions despite negative feedback. In this respect, “knowing what not to do is as important if not more important than knowing what to do” (Bulach, Pickett & Boothe, 1998, p.1). In sum, if we are more ready to accept the challenges that come with accepting our role as leaders and connecting with needs and wants of our subordinates and team members, we will be more than eager to explore opportunities in and out of our organization. This will further enhance our capacities and capabilities in assuming our leadership roles since the ease and ability to tap into many different types of collective intelligences is representative of effective leadership. As things are evolving rapidly within the VUCA environment, our leadership practices will continue to evolve yet remain relevant with time as we are able to create a connected, realistic and constructivist culture through our savvy attitudes, beliefs and behaviours. Hence, our subordinates or team members' expectations on how leaders should lead will not be at odds with our current way of leading as they see it as facilitating their own individual development. They see their own selves in our public organizational image, which speaks volume of our savviness. Humility It is a challenge to understand ourselves as humans as well as the others in the organizations. Often, we find ourselves in difficult situations in understanding others - their motivations, intentions, motives, etc in carrying out the organizational tasks. How then, in these situations should we maintain the strength of interactions with others? How can we ensure the achievement of organizational goals especilly when we have subordinates of diverse backgrounds? As such,

51 it is interesting to note that Owens, Johnson and Mitchell (2013, p.1517), are of the view that “virtues such as humility have been viewed with greater interest and are seen as more essential to the character of those who lead and work within organizations”. In a similar vein, Oyer (2015) and Chen, Liu, Zhang, and Qian (2018), in their research regarding the impact of leader humility and employee proactivity, discover that this so-called virtue subtly determines the success of the leader situated in today’s dynamic and unpredictable environment. This is not surprising as “today’s organizations increasingly rely on employees taking initiatives in solving problems, in searching for ways to change work situations, and in making innovations to improve the organization’s effectiveness” (Chen et al., 2018.p.327) - of which a strict top-down superior-subordinate relationship may not be able to realize the organizational goals successfully. For that reason, we need to be humbly aware of our own leadership strengths and limitations for us to genuinely capitalize on the strengths and overcome the shortcomings. Being open to feedback from various sources and heeding the advice of our peers, coaches and subordinates will help us to be humble by personally reflecting on and engaging in self-critique regarding our leadership behaviours. Having said that, humility can be understood as an attitudinal behavior that we enact as a leader and directed toward our subordinates or team members that is appraised by the subordinate as sincere, authentic and unpretentious. Owens and Hekman (2012), succintly define humility as displaying genuine respect to other team members in various ways such as tolerating their criticism, asking their opinions and encouraging them. This is simply because we may be an expert in certain things, but we may also be a novice in other areas. As such, Hendijani and Sohrabi (2019) stress the importance of humility on personal learning and development, especially that which regards our emotional and social competencies. In addition, Chan, McBey, & Scott-Ladd, (2011), are of the view that humility is necessary for ethical leadership, of which Collins (2001,2005), interestingly labels it as Level 5 Leadership. On the contrary, the opposite of humility, which is arrogance, as claimed by Ready (2005), will lead to our incapability of listening and learning, and thus, make us fail to identify our weaknesses and flaws (Kanter, 2004). Therefore, as we plot our own story for successful leadership, we need to realize that within an organizational setting, leadership is more about the success of the organization and the teams than about our own individual success and glory. This points to the simple notion that leadership is not a life-time fixed position. There will be a time when we must relinquish our power, position and authority as we no longer have the individual and organizational capability to add value to our organization or to influence its outcome in a

52 positive way. Nevertheless, the practice of leadership is a continual learning process of becoming a better human being. It is when we embrace this humanistic approach in leading that we would realize that mistakes are part of a learning process, and therefore are more tolerant and willing to forgive our subordinates or team members for making mistakes. After all, we are all humans and prone to make mistakes. Suffice it to say, by being humbled, we become more authentic as humility is not something that we can fool our subordinates or team members with. Our humility or the lack of it will be apparent in due time through the interactions that we have with our subordinates or team members. It is important for us, therefore, to begin to recognize that we can do wrong and make mistakes, and thus, become more in tune with reality. Significantly, this will shape our behaviours, be it cognitively, affectively or spiritually, as we no longer see ourselves as free from making mistakes. As a result, we will allow some space for our subordinates to make unintended mistakes and learn from them. Often, as leaders, we should be the first to admit our mistakes and be the last to receive praise and recognition, as leadership is an ongoing process of growing up and growing wiser. By recognizing and overcoming our shortcomings, it will make us more approachable and relatable to our subordinates or team members. Eventually, this will help us to build strong influence and gain respect from our subordinates and hence, create a conducive working environment. Of utmost importance is for us to realize that we can all learn to become better at what we do. This is what humility is all about - to acknowledge our imperfections and to genuinely devote time to improve on them and not to make it as excuses for our incompetence or carelessness. As Grenberg (2005, cited in Owens, Johnson & Mitchell, 2013, p.5) aptly notes: - “The humble person is one who has achieved a balance of appreciation of [personal] worth and limit, and thereby avoids despair. Humility…would not be a virtuous state unless it maintained just this balance. The humble person takes her awareness of limit as an impetus to action instead of as a warrant for despairing inaction”. In fact, Covey ((1989), cited in Oyer, 2015,p. 690) also expresses the view that:- “The [leader] who is truly effective has the humility and reverence to recognize his own perceptual limitations and to appreciate the rich resources available through interaction with the hearts and minds of other human beings. That [leader] values the differences

53 because those differences add to his knowledge, to his understanding of reality. When we’re left to our own experiences, we constantly suffer from a shortage of data” In a similar vein, Weick (2001), Morris, Brotheridge and Urhansk (2005) and Owens and Hekman (2012), posit that we need to become humble so that we are more open about and willing to accept the limitations in our knowledge and skills. By doing this, we become aware and more focused on how our employees’ strengths can influence the outcome of the organizational tasks and thus, are more ready to recognize their contributions. As we are not the all-knower of things, we need to rely on collective interactive practices between us and our subordinates or team members on how to achieve our collective organizational goals. As Morris et. al (2005, p.1332) posit:- “Authentically humble leaders . . . appreciate that they do not have all the answers and, as a result, actively seek out the contributions of others as a means of overcoming their individual limitations. Simply put, they demonstrate acceptance as well as resolve: acceptance of personal strengths and limitations coupled with a willingness to ask and utilize help from others”. As an organizational role or title has a term limit, we are bound to leave the position or privileges that we once held or enjoyed in the organization. For that matter, we may need to personify the spirit of the group rather than concentrating on our position as the leader. We need to realize the position that we hold should not be regarded as the means for us to boast jurisdiction over others. Rather, it should be seen as the instrument for us to help our subordinates or team members to find complete fulfillment in their job - through our oversight and direction. Given its characteristic as a pro-social behaviour, such an outlook will help us alter our leadership approach in order to become more approachable so that the dedicated activities of our subordinates can be facilitated. We need to check our ego and not let it come in between us achieving the organizational goals and our subordinates’ engagement and commitment to the organizational tasks. This is so as hubris, according to Laker, Cobb, and Trehan (2021), can destroy our effectiveness as leaders, which can further lead to our fall from grace. It is often the case that as leaders in the organization, certain privileges accompany the designation of our top position. While we may bask in the spotlight, we need to ensure that our self-enhancement does not lead to us becoming arrogant, which is disruptive to team functions. As a matter of fact, we should not let it overshadow or belittle the contribution of others in the organization. The many cycles of change and transformation that we have gone through, rapid

54 technological advancements, high stakeholders’ expectations, and the ever changing global and local environments may up to a certain point compel us to reassess and reevaluate how we lead. Hence, in our attempt to understand how to respond to these changes and challenges that happen inside and outside our organization, our leadership effectiveness may in fact be questioned and undermined by our own negative attitude. The reverence that we may have had previously from our subordinates may decline as other members of the organization, significantly, are able to provide independent contribution to the organization. Therefore, humility will make us more open to accept the fact that over time, certain things may change for us as well as others as we experience life changes and challenges. This realization will lead to a change in our way of thinking, doing things, or communicating with others that will increase the motivation of our subordinates or team members. Of this, Gonçalves and Brandão (2017, p.688), succinctly point out that humility is a “crucial virtue allowing organizations to free themselves from the inertia and to become more flexible and open to the continuous necessary transformation, to assure its success or even survival”. In fact, previous research has found that humble leadership significantly influences goal achievements (e.g., Neal, Wood, & Drolet, 2013; Owens & Hekman, 2012; Rego & Simpson ,2018) through subordinates’ or team members’ active engagement and motivation. In this regard, therefore, we need to render ourselves to be more approachable and willingly acknowledge the impactful contribution of our subordinates. It pays a long way if we give careful attention to others, especially in times of need. Our willingness to give our full attention to others during interactions can help them to understand us better by making ourselves present in the moment of crucial need. Therefore, as we establish organizational goals, direct teams, align the team members and communicate our hopes and expectations, we need to display effective personal attributes in order to function optimally as leaders. Although we may at times experience a lack of confidence in ourselves pertaining to the essential leadership skills, a humanistic approach will lead to better reflection of real-world circumstances, trials and tribulations that will lead to better leadership skills enhancement. Our leadership styles, which are the emergence from our personality or temperament may in fact be molded through these vicarious life experiences of uncertainties and challenges. Suffice it to say, a humanistic orientation of leadership practices makes us become more tolerant to a variety of personalities, temperament and attitudes of our subordinates or team members. This will help us to articulate a goal and lead our team in a way that is authentic, meaningful and motivational for the members of the team with a minimization of self-serving ends.

55 Nevertheless, being human and being humble should not be misunderstood as a sign of weakness. It is also not to be taken as a lack of confidence. On the contrary, it takes some inner strength to set aside the ego and ask for help from others in times of need. No matter what rank we are in the leadership position, it is always beneficial to have honest input from people around us, especially from that of our subordinates and team members. We should not be ashamed of admitting the areas in which we may fall short for it will make us more aware of our blind spots. In fact, by being humbled as leaders, we would not be easily dazed by the success we experienced or the position we hold. For that matter, our humility will help us to self-monitor and self-regulate our behaviour and not over-inflate ourselves with false beliefs of our capacity and capability. This will make us become more compassionate and present in our interactions with others in and outside the organization. We will readily appreciate the input given by them and be more ready to collaborate with others to overcome our limitations and vulnerabilities. Apart from that, we need to be able to inspire a productive collaboration among members of the organization through constructive feedback and a focus on the needs of the team members. In order to do this, we need to support open conversations, show respect for the differences of opinion and advocate on the execution of the best ideas, regardless of where the ideas come from, be it from a top executive or a low-level employee. We should not feel uneasiness for the credit received by our subordinates or team members. Rather, we should express appreciation of their success as this will be the best form of feedback that we can provide. Hence, humility needs to be infused in our leadership practices as it can harness dynamic engagement from the people. In this regard, humility is always a better teacher than arrogance and in influencing positive subordinates’ outcomes (Borden, Levy, & Silverman, 2018). In relation to this, Maertz and Kmitta ((2012), cited in Borden, Levy, & Silverman, 2018, p. 345), highlighted the fact that poor management and manager conflicts to be the most frequent reasons that employees decide to leave their organizations. It is crucial therefore, for us to readily listen to other views or possibilities, to seek other alternatives and keep questioning our existing systems and ideas so that we remain teachable and open to new learning. Although we may not need to seek validation from others in order to feel better about ourselves as leaders, we do, however, need to time and again question ourselves of our motivation and passion pertaining to our leadership tasks. This will help us to gain a clearer picture of ourselves as a leader. This is to say that the proper validation should come from our own self-judgment which emanates from a wellspring of positive feelings and mindset. Of utmost importance is for us to let go of the self

56 which does not serve the organization as a collective whole. Only then can we see room for change and betterment in the organization as well as in our leadership practices. In a nutshell, humility, while remaining mostly theoretical, has begun to attract attention among researchers on its validity as an important facet of effective leadership. In fact, it is seen as an important characteristic of strategic leaders for them to cope with rapid change and to ensure that their organizations will be able to sustain their exceptional performance (Reiman, 1995; Collin, 2001). Having said that, it is highly crucial therefore, for us to embrace humility together with intense professional will in order to be highly effective as leaders in and of our organizations. Achievement orientation If the only vision we have of ourselves as leaders is to successfully operate the processes and procedures as laid out in our organizational plan, it is time that we reflect on how the processes and procedures help us in achieving our goals or organizational outcomes. Often, we become the victims of our own meticulous plan whereby we let the processes and procedures dictate every move and decision that we make. We obligingly focus on the minutiae of our organizational tasks. We demand that processes and procedures not be sidetracked for fear that it will jeopardize the whole plan. Little did we realize that these processes and procedures could and would hamper the progress or the outcomes that we want to achieve. This is due to the simple fact that plans change as we face new realities, arduous challenges and changing expectations. Thus, giving too much attention to the processes or procedures will hamper the realization of the benefits or the achievements that we hope to attain from the plan. Regarding this, Srikumar Rao (2010), a tedTalk speaker and the author of Happiness at Work, succinctly illustrate the situation that most of us find ourselves in (cited in Ha-Vikström, 2017, p. 76) :- “We live in a world where what (people) think of, what we invest in, is the (goal). We define our life in the following way: here I am, here is where I want to go, these are the (process) I have to take in order to get from where I am to where I want to go, and if I succeed, life is wonderful. And if you don’t succeed, still wonderful, because now you have a new starting point, and from that new starting point, you select another outcome and keep going”. The above scenario as described by Srivakumar Rao (2010), is all too familiar managerial experiences that we go through in our organizational life. As such, under certain circumstances,

57 it is important for us to stress the importance of results, so that attempts do not get confused with outcomes. What this means is that while our plans may have adjustments, our goals do not. It is crucial therefore, at the outset of our actions or plans, our subordinates or team members understand that expectations should be met for us to be effective. In fact, Bastaman, Riantoputra and Gatari (2017, p.8), in their research regarding leader effectivenss and achievement orientation, concluded that “achievement orientation is a trait that is associated with leader effectivenes”. Panella (2019, p. 3), clearly defines achievement orientation as “setting high goals and working hard to achieve them, calculating – but ultimately taking – the appropriate risks in order for them to be accomplished”. She further elaborates that achievement orientation is the – “….key competence [that] entails striving towards your goal whilst maintaining a standard of excellence, accepting the challenges [we] might encounter en route, not in a blind way but in a calculated way, and at the same time, improving performance to be ready to welcome the opportunities whenever they present themselves (p.3). This simply means that a clear and high expectation will likely evoke a more constructive behaviour of ourselves as well as of our subordinates or team members as we are cognizant of its importance. Similarly, research done by Mwaisaka, K'Aol and Ouma (2019, p.42), also supported the notion that “achievement-oriented leadership style positively and significantly predicted employee job satisfaction as it inculcates an atmosphere of enhanced performance”. As a result, they always attempt to close the gap between what is being done with the actual performance since they consequently become more motivated to take on challenging tasks (Khuong & Dang, 2015). Not surprisingly therefore, it has become a new normal in today’s environment to have our detailed plans scrutinized and adjusted to meet the requirement of the unexpected changes. This is so as being achievement oriented will lead us to direct our focus on the possibility of success rather than the negativity of setbacks. This is inevitable as we need to be responsive in order to deal with more complex and turbulent circumstances which need continuous development and realignment of strategies. Thus, as pointed out by Breu, Hafner and Weber (2002), we need to respond fast to changes in the environment by continuously developing our skills and sharing knowledge in order to adapt to new working conditions. For that matter, we need to constantly make continuous improvement since our mantra should be that the thing we can do, we should do it better.

58 Hence, we should keep working and self-correct ourselves until our mistakes become rare or insignificant in relation to our goals. Nevertheless, this is not to say that processes or procedures are not important - rather, “they are at the very heart of every organization because they are the means through which companies create value for their customers” (Vanhaverbeke & Torremans, 1999, p.3). Yet, we need to bear in mind that although the processes and regulations should be followed according to organizational policy and objectives, we need to establish rules that will allow creativity to flourish so that new ideas will flow in freely. This is important if we are to achieve what we set our organizational goals to be. Furthermore, if we are to achieve our organizational aims, we need to be able to respond to high-velocity situations which could threaten to diminish the motivation and engagement of our subordinates or team members. Therefore, as an achievement-oriented leader, we need to aim for growth of our organization and the development of the levels of skills that every member of the organization currently possesses. As leaders, we also need to provide our team members with sufficient resources to carry out their assigned tasks. This is crucial as we need to keep increasing their level of achievement and help them attain what they never thought they were capable of. That said, however, we need to be realistic in setting our goals. In fact, as proposed by Loeb and Kindle (1999), our goals should not be so low that they undermine our subordinates’ capabilities, and not so high that the inability to achieve them will be seen as failures which can be demotivating and demoralizing. Of utmost importance is for us to realize that the goals that we set for our team should give them the clarity and direction that they need about what we want to achieve and how to go about achieving it rather than a mere plan of routine action for day-to-day operations that is meaningless. For that, we might need to set our own goals and not let others set them for us. In doing so, we need to be critical and honest in evaluating our subordinates’ or team members’ capabilities as well as in our ability to provide the resources needed. This is so as we need to bring out the drive and commitment of our subordinates or team members and not let them be burnt out on wasted effort and false expectations. As leaders, it is crucial that we “seek continuous performance from [our] employees and expect high standard performance” (Mwaisaka, K'Aol & Ouma, 2019, p.43). In doing this, we are showing to our subordinates or team members our level of confidence in their ability and that we value their contributions. As a result, it will speak volume of our own leadership capabilities and reliability.

59 In relation to this, Ashraf et al. (2012) and Titko and Lace (2015), postulate that our subordinates or team members' satisfaction at work will be enhanced when our goal setting is done right. This is to say that our expectations should be realistic in accordance with the dynamics of the time and setting. Therefore, our subordinates or team members need to know what the organization expects of them and how their role fits within that frame, and whether there are changes occurring due to the changes in the environment. Suffice to say, being achievement-oriented helps us to provide clear directions to our subordinates that will motivate them to enhance their performance. Besides, our organization is dynamic with multiple but intertwined dimensions - structural, organizational, social. Therefore, life as we know it in the organization is not necessarily of a linear cause and effect relationship – whereby “a cause precedes effect in a sequential pattern with clear beginning and end” (Smith & Karam,2018. p.1704). In fact, relying on this path dependency may lead to organizational inertia as the potential for disruption is so high in today’s volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environment. Ignoring this will eventually put us in peril. Therefore, we need to be able to adapt to the changing and challenging situations as they unfold themselves. Hence, an outcome-focused mindset will help us to be better at dealing with task change by having “a better basis for reframing and changing our approach” (Woolley, 2009, p. 503), to suit the context of need. In other words, aligning this mindset with the processes and procedures will help to determine successful attainment of organizational goals. Undoubtedly, in our years of working experience going through various assignments we may have come across situations where we may need to make hard and fast decisions that will significantly affect the plans that we already have decided upon. Not surprisingly, therefore, many have started to adopt an agile mindset and way of doing things in order to face the uncertainties of the environment. As asserted by Rzepka and Bojar (2020, p. 383), “the increasing pace of innovation, technological development, and increased customer expectations…. lead to turbulent changes…. [of which] agility has become one of the ways to cope with unpredictable market events”. In fact, “in this age of our fourth industrial revolution, rapid technological and social change mean an increasing number of sectors are approaching a tipping point at which companies must become agile to compete and survive” (De Smet, Lurie & St George, 2018. p. 5). As cross-functional collaboration becomes the norm in a volatile and unpredictable environment, being agile helps us to respond accordingly as the situation arises and to ensure the successful attainment of our organizational goals. Being agile also allows us to grasp an unforeseen emergent opportunity for us to create something new for our teams or the organization. Suffice to

60 say, agility has become important in team and organizational success in today’s VUCA environment. Therefore, “to develop teams and organizations with the level of agility demanded by today’s turbulent business environment, companies need leaders who embody a corresponding level of agility” (Joiner & Josephs, 2007. p.36). With regards to this, Malik and Azmat (2019, cited in Akkaya & Yazici, 2020, p. 1459)), are of the view that “a leader is supposed to have the ability not just to manage or control the people, but also to inspire them; not only meeting goals and targets, but also able to create new goals and modify the existing ones according to the changing time, needs and challenges'' (p.24). As a matter of fact, De Smet et. al (2018, p.9), strongly argues that “leaders wishing to transform their organizations must begin by transforming themselves, starting with their mind sets”. He further stresses that we need to develop an agile mindset as it allows “diversity of thoughts, embracing [of] risks, and fostering creative collision” (De Smet et. al, 2018.p.10). This is to say that in order to successfully achieve our organizational goals, we need to be able to view things in the right perspective. We need to be able to think through a problem logically and come up with a viable course of action. It is indeed a mindset as well as practices of agility that we need to employ and develop in order to successfully achieve our aims. Therefore, we need to be in tune with reality and be aware of how current situations can affect our effort by impacting the processes that we have set to achieve our goals. Obviously, leading in today’s VUCA environment is totally different from the predictable environment that we are accustomed to where we can anticipate the future with high degrees of precision. As such, this undoubtedly poses a challenge to us as the working world as we see it is changing. Hence, there is a need to build a cooperative environment that encourages our subordinates or team members to get along together as pursuing incompatible goals will further lead to individual or team disputes. This is so, as conflicts may occur between and among our subordinates or team members, as they may not readily accept the changes made. Yet, conflicts are inevitable in our teams as different people bring their own mindsets to the team and how to go about doing their work in achieving the organizational goal. For this reason, the eventual success criteria that define our goal and focus need to be established for the purpose of team and task clarity. The criteria will provide us and our team/s with a strategic mindset vital for the successful achievement of organizational aims. As our organizational goals are spawned from our vision, mission and organizational purpose, we need to understand that at times we might need to be able to abandon our well-thought-out processes if or when they

61 become a hindrance to achieving our organizational goals - rather than the means by which the goals are attained. As such, to think outcome-based will drive us to focus on the strengths of our team members and tap on their skills to solve problems creatively. As a result, it will empower attitudes that are constructive and productive through accountability, freedom and trust. Together with the right skills and attitude, we will be able to bring out the best ideas from our diverse talent pool, formulate the best strategy and inspire others to pursue a common vision so that our tasks will be meaningful and purposeful. At times, nevertheless, we may need to step back and let our team members work without supervision and use their own discretion to plan, organize, make decisions, tackle problems, and successfully complete the assigned projects. As a matter of fact, being achievement-oriented does not in any way point to the need for us to tightly control how the work is done by members of the organization. Rather, as leaders, we should allow some freedom so that our subordinates or team members are much more inclined and encouraged to practice and apply their creativity as they will appreciate the latitude, we are giving them. However, to avoid our teams or subordinates from doing things completely different from our expectations we need to develop mutual trust and accountability regarding the assigned tasks. We need to clearly and constantly express our expectations and push them consistently until our work goes through a considerable improvement. As such, appropriate coaching and guidance to get through challenging tasks would be instrumental in achieving mutual organizational aims. In a nutshell, the major tenet of an achievement-oriented leadership is to accomplish the given organizational aims. By setting clear goals and targets, we are expressing our expectations of our subordinates or team members’ performance. Nevertheless, we need to be cognizant of the fact that events happening within a VUCA environment may have an impact on the performance of the organization. Failure to adapt to the changing circumstances may result in our leadership effectiveness and organizational inertia. Thus, an achievement-orientation on our part will help us to keep focus on the organizational aims in our leadership practices. For that, we might need to adopt a different mindset and behavior in order to face the ongoing changes and challenges and to gravitate more towards achieving the organizational tasks.

62 Professional-conscience There is nothing wrong with having personal goals. In fact, it might be the motivation that we need to reach higher stations in our career or in our personal life. Armed with ambition and ability, our journey to success seems within reach and rightly so. Nevertheless, “leadership means collective and concerted activity with a common purpose and a set of rules and norms for how to behave and perform” (Kooskora, 2012.p.4), and for that matter, we need to have the ability to inspire our subordinates and team members through our leadership behaviours. As further stressed by Kooskora (2012), leadership is one of the facets of human life and social affiliations in which moral character matters most. In fact, research conducted by Monzani, Seijts and Crossan (2021, p. 19) also stresses on the fact that a leader’s character aka leadership behaviour has a significant relationship with followers’ positive outcomes as well as in enhancing “the habits of virtuous behaviors that lead to sustained excellence”. Interestingly, Mastrangelo, Eddy, and Lorenzet, (2004, p. 3), claim that “[e]ffective leaders engage in both professional leadership behaviors (e.g., setting a mission, creating a process for achieving goals, aligning processes and procedures) and personal leadership behaviors (e.g., building trust, caring for people, acting morally)”. They further stress that our actions and behaviours are important determinants of our effectiveness as leaders which is instrumental for organizational viability. In other words, they are of the view that “appropriate ways to handle tasks and treat people can and should be institutionalized in high performing organizations” (Mastrangelo et al. 2004, p.3). In a similar vein, Max DePree ((1993) cited in Kooskora, 2012, p.24), advocates three things to be of utmost importance in leadership – i. “a comprehension of the fiduciary nature of leadership, a broadened definition of leadership competence and the enlightenment afforded by a moral purpose”. Integratedly, these three aspects of leadership point to the importance of professional conscience among leaders - the elements that define our leadership practices. That said, professional conscience refers to the outlook that we embrace as a lens to look at everything, specifically that concerns how we behave as leaders - cognitively, emotionally, spiritually, physically - within a socio-organizational context. Hence, as a professional, we need to set the right tone for our subordinates or team members to follow regarding our organizational practices. Our thinking or behaviours should be able to create a difference in how our subordinates or team members see us professionally and in their roles in a larger organizational setting which will then enhance their engagement and performance. In other words, we need to

63 set the performance standard that others would want to emulate through our behaviour and mindset. For instance, it is not surprising that many look at accountability - a professional dedication to honesty and responsibility - as an important leadership practice that needs to be maintained in the organization as it emphasizes the primacy of the goals of the organization as well as the interest of the stakeholders. Needless to say, as leaders, we might have had some effects on other people - i.e our subordinates or team members - either positively or negatively. Nevertheless, an interesting fact as pointed out by Blanchard and Miller (2012), is that it might be the case that we got promoted because of the potential that others see in us (which may revolve around technical aspects rather than our visionary qualities). Yet, if we do not keep up with the leadership demands of today’s challenging globalized VUCA world and take on the leader's responsibilities, our true potential as leaders may not materialize as they should. As expressed by Li, Lai, Wan, and Chen (2022), professionalism matters especially in responding to issues in a high stakes context and in maintaining ethical leadership discretions. Having said that, therefore, to have a professional conscience is to recognize the need to have a good grasp of knowledge of our field, and understand the trends and movements related to our industry- be it in the past, present or estimate future - and what is expected of us, as leaders of and in the organization. This will enable us to deliver an excellent performance through the mastery of the important skills and behaviours necessary to maintain a good standing. In fact, our professional conscience will ensure that we will deliver on our commitments wholeheartedly regardless of the circumstances, and this in fact, will set the pace for our leadership effectiveness. With regards to the present context, the growth of the information technology (IT) industry has transformed the way we work and live and brings with it unexpected opportunities and challenges. In order to keep up with the ongoing demands, therefore, we need to develop necessary skills and knowledge to excel in the field. This is especially crucial if we are to influence the engagement (i.e physically, cognitively, emotionally) of the younger generations - the millennials and iGeneration - in our organization so that they will increase their level of discretionary efforts. Still, worthy of note, as leaders, we may not need to be an IT expert or dealing with complex technical problems. Yet, we do need to have a vision concerning IT integration in our organization and be competent enough to be a role model to support our subordinates or team members in their professional development.

64 Furthermore, as leaders in a social institution, we become a part of society and the environment that surrounds it. Thus, we need to value and respect our profession and take responsibility for the activities happening in our organization - especially those which concern our organizational tasks. Our way of feeling and behaving should exhibit the image that we want to portray of our organization and what it stands for. Apart from that, we also need to enhance our organization's ‘public values’ - quality public services, socially desirable outcomes and development of public trust in government - through our act of professionalism as it will compel us to provide better and efficient services to the public in professional ways (Sami et al., 2018, p. 584). As succinctly highlighted by Armstrong. (2000, p.1), who notes that:- “These values and norms are better reinforced if there exists a system of administrative policies, management practices, and oversight agents that provide incentives and penalties to encourage public servants to professionally carry out their duties and observe high standards of conduct”. He further stresses that “[w]ith the advent of the modern state, government officials have been and are seen as stewards of public resources and guardians of a special trust that the citizenry has placed in them. In return for this public confidence, they are expected to put the public interest above self-interest” (Armstrong, 2000, p.3). Therefore, we need to take into consideration the impact or effects of our activities to those within and outside our organization. In doing so, we are constantly assessing our own practices and our performance in leading or facilitating our subordinates and teams or the organization. This act is significant for a simple reason - for us not to be derailed by competing priorities or personal desires that would jeopardize the successful attainment of our organizational goals. As a matter of fact, as leaders, we need to be able to balance both personal and organizational goals or to wisely prioritize one over the other when there is a crucial time to decide what matters most. This means that how we handle matters of interest will determine the level of trust that our subordinates or other stakeholders have in our professional discretions. Of course, this will define who we are as leaders of and in the organization. Of utmost importance is for us to let the quality of our work and decisions be the standard against which our performance should be measured professionally. In fact, the commitment to the organization’s mission – its reason for existing– in achieving forward-looking goals reflects our willingness to sacrifice personal interests in support of the organizational aims. With professional conscience, we will find the meaning, value and purpose

65 in and of the organization and then share that commitment with everyone else. Anything less than a total commitment is likely to be picked up by the others, which could easily lessen our effectiveness. Perhaps, at this juncture, it could be argued that professional conscience is needed for us to transform ourselves according to our roles and functions within a leadership setting. As a matter of fact, when we exude a high level of professionalism, our subordinates and team members will work well together as well as with us, as they will feel that their hard work is duly recognized and rewarded. In fact, the manifestation of our professional behaviour is that if we go the extra mile and allow the credit to be rightly given to the other members of the organization and not claim ownership of other people’s work, it will eventually win the trust of our subordinates. Hence, when talking about professional discretion in leadership practices, we should not shy away from talking about trust, accountability and integrity. This is so as our worthiness as leaders in and of the organization is reflected in our professional behavioural dispositions. Since trust “is a judgment of confident reliance on another (a person, group, organization or system) based on positive expectations of future behaviour” (Hurley, Gillespie, Ferrin, & Dietz, 2013, p. 76), we may need to model the right behaviour that corresponds well with the organizational values and the expectations of our subordinates and other stakeholders. Our subordinates or team members will begin to have faith and rely on us and on each other. Morale will improve, efficiency is enhanced, and satisfaction of everyone increases. Thus, it is important that we develop a professional conscience that will guide us to the right behaviour as a leader and pay close attention to the effect of our actions on our subordinates or team members. Demonstrating professionalism and ensuring it in others involves the inculcation of organizational values as well as in knowledge sharing so that our subordinates or team members know what to expect of them and how to behave in certain situations. Our role as leaders, therefore, is to create a culture where our subordinates or team members act professionally according to organizational values. In fact, being wedded to professional values will help in providing us with the agility needed to adjust our behavior in response to certain emerging situations. Often, as leaders, it is up to us to make the right decisions although at times the decisions may turn out to be unpopular with the other members of the organization. Therefore, we should seek professional means such as the use of data and metrics to come to a decision about something. In this sense, work deadlines and expectations are much more realistic, and our subordinates or team members can relate better with us.

66 Additionally, in complex and unpredictable situations, we should be able to adapt our leadership behaviour to suit all levels of organization while maintaining a high degree of professionalism. In order to do this, we must allow our subordinates or team members access to objective information and some space for them to express their point of view and ask questions. Suffice it to say, in a collaborative and consultative communication style where each team member has an opportunity to contribute to the direction of ongoing projects, creativity and engagement of subordinates or team members will be encouraged. Besides, being open and transparent are two of the most important behaviours that we can demonstrate to maintain our professionalism. Of utmost importance is for us to realize that for leadership practice to be successful in creating meaningful change, we need to have professional conscience, be it in spiritual, emotional, physical or intellectual well-being. In order to do that, we may have to critically analyze and evaluate our performance or our inclination in relation to our roles, tasks and functions in the organization. This is perhaps the best time to let down our ego and admit the mistakes and errors that we make that fail to contribute to the successful execution of our task. We need to promote transparency and be honest with our team members when things are not working out as planned. We need to be on the lookout for new experiences inside and outside of our organization. Suffice to say, our capacity to grow determines our capacity to lead professionally. For that matter, we might need to discard our dogmatic view when it comes to developing ourselves to be effective in our role as a leader. We need to build strong relationships, grow functioning networks and take charge of our professional development. In sum, we need to bear in mind that, as leaders, we will need not only push and improve our own skills, but also boost initiatives that will also improve the capabilities and knowledge of the others in the organization. In this way, the organization’s talent pool grows, which makes it easier for the organization to meet current demands and keep abreast of the latest trends and challenges abound. Consequently, this helps to foster a stronger collaborative and cooperative spirit among members of the organization, thus generally making them much more motivated to work and be productive while maintaining a high level of professionalism.

67 Emotional Mastery Daft (2022, p.175), makes an interesting remark that “People cannot be separated from their emotions, and it is through emotion that leaders generate employee commitment to shared vision and mission, values and culture, and caring for the work and each other”. He further notes that, apart from skills competence, leaders in today’s organization need to go “beyond learning the skills for organizing, planning and controlling others” and instead, to further develop their knowledge on how to “give people a sense of meaning and purpose when major shifts occur daily, how to make employees feel valued and respected in an age of downsizing and job uncertainty, how to keep morale and motivations high in the face of uncertainty and the stress it creates” (p.174). This is so as research (e.g Grobelna, 2019; Moin, et al., 2020; Wan, et al. 2022), has shown that emotion significantly impacts work performance. As leaders, we are always confronted with conflicts and issues in our attempt to encourage our subordinates’ motivation, build productive relationships and inspire trust among them. As a matter of fact, in today’s volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environment, it is natural to expect conflicts to arise between and among members in the organization. This is so as the “VUCA environment has changed the decision-making process and parameters within companies and has resulted in conflicting situations where none existed earlier” (Sharma, 2017, p.402). As such, conflict is “a natural consequence of interactions between persons with differing personality traits, values, needs and desires’ (Erzen & Armağan, 2015, p. 225). Not surprisingly therefore, as leaders, we are challenged to manage conflicts that occur interpersonally or within groups. More than ever, we need to develop the capability to handle a diverse workforce in order to grow and transform our organization. In this regard, we need to understand interpersonal differences and the ability to successfully resolve conflicts that arise due to opposing characters and various perspectives in a team. Apart from that, there will also be other triggers, be it of personal or professional nature that will negatively have an impact on our emotional being as “our emotions are [also] dependent on situational factors” (OECD, 2017, p. 4). These triggers will affect our moods and impair our judgments. Hence, in order to be able to handle conflicts and other significant adversities that we face, we need to develop emotional mastery. We need to be able to manage our moods so that it will not interfere with our judgements and actions. We need to be able to set our mind as to what matters most regarding our organizational tasks so that priorities take precedence over trivialities

68 or insignificance. We need to stay calm and bring our inner strength to deal with unexpected events or difficult people so that our leadership capabilities are enhanced. At times, we need to suspend our judgment and be compassionate when dealing with our subordinates so that they will constructively develop their potential. In other words, to be effective in today’s challenging environment, we need to be able to problem-solve with our emotions. Thus, emotional mastery, according to Mayer and Salovey (1997), points to our ability to monitor our own feelings and perceptions and to know how to appropriately respond to a specific situation. In essence, it points to our ability to control and regulate our emotions and not so easily be affected by negativity or adversity. Having emotional mastery speaks volume of our ability to lead and plan our action ahead despite criticism and negative feedback. This means that we need to be able to take a step back and reflect on our own mental state in order to improve our emotional control. This is crucial for us to react and respond effectively. As emphasized in leadership literatures ( eg Goleman, Boyatzis, & McKee, 2002; Hur, van den Berg, & Wilderom, 2011; Rajah, Song, & Arvey, 2011), individuals with emotional mastery or intelligence can help avoid errors, cope with stressors, increase the collegiality of the workforce and adopt a more innovative perspective which will lead to better decision making and problem solving. Suffice it to say, emotional mastery “accounts for how effective leaders monitor and respond to subordinates and make them feel at work” (Palmer, Walls, Burgess, & Stough, 2001.p.9). Given the many rapid changes that we must face in today’s performance environment, our leadership approaches should predominantly rest on the foundations of harmony and concern for the feelings and opinions of our subordinates or team members. It is important for us to realize that everyone in our team or organization has the essential skills and strength that will help the team to realize their goals. Hence, we need to be able to balance between hard skills and soft skills for it will leave a strong impression on our subordinates or team members’ opinion regarding our leadership effectiveness. For that matter, we should avoid jumping to conclusions and make haste decisions for fear that we will regret them later. In this regard, we need to be able to remain emotionally attuned to ourselves, team members, and the environment in observance of the fact that our leadership approaches may not work well all the time. As emotions can be regarded as motivators, emotional mastery will speak well to the expectations and needs of our team members, who are looking for role models to look up to. A good rapport with our team members or subordinates is, therefore, vital. As claimed by Cottrill, Lopez, and Hoffman (2014), constructive and open communication will increase our subordinates’ or team

69 members’ perceptions of inclusion, thus giving them a sense of value, importance and trustworthiness. This will help to advance our team members’ or subordinates’ ‘organizational citizen behavior’ - an important component of successful organizations (Igbinomwanhia & Akinmayowa, 2014). In fact, “emotional [mastery] has a strong significant positive impact on a number of organizational outcomes as a whole and specifically on organizational citizenship behaviour” ( Omobude, & Umemezia, 2020,p.12). For that reason, we need to recognize that we need to constantly self-monitor our emotions in order to create a conducive and productive work environment. By virtue of emotional mastery, our relationship with our subordinates or team members will become deeper. Despite trials and tribulations of today’s environment, our emotional mastery will win the hearts of our subordinates. Consequently, it will help in producing remarkable and excellent results as our sense of calm can boost the sense of confidence in our subordinates or team members. That said, our behaviour is a sign of how well our thoughts and emotions match up to our experiences - be it good or bad. Undoubtedly, our ability to hold an open mind and seek to understand what is happening reflects our state of emotional maturity. In relation to this, we need to remain authentic and composed by not giving too much concern to our personal gains, but act largely for the well-being and needs, advancement, and autonomy of the others in our teams or organization. Without doubt, as leaders, we need to implement plans and strategies to accomplish fundamental objectives while concomitantly accounting for stakeholder expectations and our subordinates’ wellbeing. Thus, when we can maturely and intelligently handle our emotions despite disagreements and clashes, we will gain the respect of our subordinates and team members. In fact, subordinates who have trust in us are more likely to follow through with our instructions over and above the expected. When they are allowed to speak freely to air their views concerning matters of significance and not afraid of the repercussions, they will accomplish their set goals. This is to say that our behavioral approach which reflects our emotional maturity will enable us to influence, motivate, and direct our subordinates. Nevertheless, such mastery in handling our emotions during trying times is tough to put into action, especially when the communication with and among our subordinates or team members become retrogressive. Disgruntlement may occur when the decisions made are not in our subordinates’ or team members’ interests. Confusion and chaos can quickly ensue if our subordinates or team members lose focus on the organizational goals. As such, our reliability as

70 a leader in handling difficult situations is therefore seen as vital. It is important that we learn to deal with pessimism, anxiety, depression and emotional distress of others and of us. Being emotionally intelligent and mature regardless of the situations faced helps us to manage our moods and build the resilience needed to face change and adversity—and succeed. In short, emotional mastery helps us in building strong relationships with others as well as in achieving our common organizational goals. When we master our emotions, employee engagement will increase which then helps to strengthen team effectiveness. Obviously, emotional mastery helps in the improvement of the process of communication and collaboration with and among our subordinates and team members. As noted by DePree (1998, p.7), our ability to master our emotions expresses “a sense of self-worth, a sense of belonging, a sense of expectancy, a sense of responsibility, a sense of accountability, and a sense of equality”. Hence, our leadership capacities and capabilities become noticeable and recognised by our subordinates or team members. Our leadership effectiveness becomes evident in the organization which leads to recognition and deference which will curb fierce resistance especially when it comes to proposing new, innovative initiatives. As a matter of fact, when we maintain respect for differing values and priorities, we form realistic expectations and develop authentic optimism as we will not let our emotional state get in the way of creating desired results. It is crucial therefore, to not let negative feelings sap the energy and erode the motivation of our subordinates. In most circumstances, we should not be easily overwhelmed by the unpredictable, complex and even chaotic environment that we presently are experiencing. This is so as the more we are in tune with our emotions the more we can manage them in facing adversity and be deliberate in our practices – either to readily accept what we cannot control, or control what we can. Rather than blaming others or the circumstances, we need to focus on bouncing back from setbacks and learning from failures. We should therefore focus on achieving our organizational aims albeit in different ways. That said, our inability to master our emotions will likely produce negative outcomes or no outcomes at all. In fact, our lack of emotional mastery will result in us being anxious and worried when it comes to taking risks and facing failures. While leadership can be a lonely job, mastering our emotions is crucial as we will likely be motivated by the learning opportunities that come with taking risks and failures. In sum, we need to be able to identify, use, understand, and master our emotions in constructive ways to relieve stress, communicate effectively, overcome challenges, empathize with others, and handle conflict.

71 PART THREE – LeaderSHAPE Enhanced

72 “What effective leaders understand is that there is no difference between becoming an effective leader and becoming a fully integrated human being.” Bennis, 2002 Introduction Leadership is not a practice done in isolation but contextually based, with “the leader bears most responsibility for the obtained results” (Drewniak, Drewniak & Posadzinska, 2020, p. 400). Needless to say, “(l)eadership is extremely important for the organizations in terms of achieving certain common goals because the leaders have a strong influence on the behaviours and performance of individuals and groups” (Ertosun & Adiguzel,2018, p. 53). As such, much research carried out into leader or leadership development has its main objective in the discovery and description of factors or important elements that are instrumental to an individual’s greatness in terms of his or her leadership performance. Though the findings provided valuable information concerning leadership development, a leader’s concern, especially within an organizational setting, is first and foremost with the organization that he or she represents and the other members in the organization that form part of the organization. Therefore, in our role as educational leaders, our focus, undoubtedly, is to successfully execute the organizational tasks in order to achieve the organizational goals vis-à-vis individuals, teams and groups in the organization. It is, however, not always easy to realize this aim fully and effectively in practice, for it implies that as leaders, we need to take pains to study thoroughly and intelligently our organizational makeup and behavior in order to understand how to best utilize the best brains or to draw the right kind of energy and attitude from the other members in the organization. That said, there is no singular meaning that best describes this phenomenon, and no one model that could account for how leadership is experienced both by the leaders and their subordinates. Nevertheless, many equate the meaning of leadership as the process of influencing others to act in ways that are instrumental in achieving organizational goals. In this regard, they see leaders’ behaviour and personality as playing an important and influential role in building collegial relationships through which the organizational goals are realized. Suffice to say, to understand the essence of leadership is equal to understanding how we can lead effectively in various leadership endeavours in today’s changing and challenging times. In order to do this, we need to draw on the integration of our knowledge and experience. As such,

73 critical reflection is needed for us to act accordingly to suit the situational needs. In doing so, we may need to abandon conventional wisdom and embrace a new paradigm in our quest to provide the right guidance and direction. Having said that, the success or the failures in executing the tasks to achieve organizational goals points to the importance of leadership in providing clear directions to the members of the organization. In situations where the expectations are clearly explained and support rightly given, leadership is seen as effectively executed. To this view, London (2001, p. 85), succinctly points out the importance of leader, whereby: “Leaders are role models, visionaries and decision makers. They are responsible for their entire organizations – both for achieving outcomes (i.e revenue, profit, positions in the market place) and for how the outcomes are achieved ( i.e safely, legally, ethically, efficiently)”. Therefore, it is crucial at this juncture to note that enhancing LeaderShape is important for improving our leadership effectiveness. In fact, the more we relate effectively in and outside the organization, the better we become as leaders. As such, LeaderSHAPE provides the focus into areas of leadership that we need to improve on. As we head towards the unknown in a VUCA world, it is more important than ever to understand how to set us apart from others and how to leverage our strengths. If we are not already fully living the attributes as embedded within the LeaderSHAPE framework, it is time to consider aligning them to our personality, strengths and values in order to become more authentic and effective. In this sense, our intrinsic sensitivity is more powerful in seeing our leadership practices as more of a source of meaning and fulfillment in our work. For that matter, we need to embrace LeaderSHAPE and give room to its enhancement by tailoring for our developmental needs. For that, we need to be in tune with our feelings and thoughts that are influential to our leadership behaviours. Perhaps, the one sure way of becoming effective with purposeful leadership behaviours is to consistently be aware of how our leadership practices impact our relationships with others and their growth as well as ours. The key to making LeaderSHAPE works is to be aware of it as encompassing four distinct yet related processes, namely, i. to have a positive outlook, to engage in reflective thinking, to be mindful and to be culturally competent (Figure 3.1). In other words, we need to be aware of how we can lift ourselves up to become better leaders. This knowledge can serve as our springboard to the successful execution of our leadership tasks.

74 Thus, explanation of the elements essential to enhancing our LeaderSHAPE dispositions will encourage us to explore authentic issues in our immediate environment and be more reflexive, especially in thinking about how our behaviours, mindset, emotions and attitude affect our team and organization. Ultimately, it will lead to significant steps in enhancing our leadership repertoire. Figure 3.1 : Paradigm and qualities that enhance LeaderSHAPE Have a Positive Outlook Khan ( (1990), cited in Xu and Thomas, 2011), posits that subordinates or team members who have positive working experiences will garner better outcomes that will have benefits to the organization. In fact, as claimed by Cameron et al. (2011, p.7, “[e]vidence exists that positivity and organizational outcomes are related” ( e.g.Cameron, Bright, & Caza, 2004; Losada & Heaphy, 2004). Not surprisingly therefore, interests in positive aspects of organizational behaviour gradually gain popularity within a research circle especially where it relates with positive leadership and organizational growth and sustainability in challenging times. In a similar vein, Yousef and Luthan (2013, cited in Stander & Coxen, 2017), concluded in their research that positivity is especially important for leaders facing difficult times. Suffice to say, with regards to team and organizational performance, we need to commit ourselves to particular sets of behaviour and values that help to inspire, enable and encourage our subordinates. In order to do this, we need to look for the good aspects and opportunities in every situation and not let problems and obstacles be distractions to achieving our organizational goals.

75 Stander and Coxen (2017, pp. 51-52), in their review of the relationship between positive leadership styles and psychological ownership of the employees postulate that positive leadership behaviours will: - (1) generate a higher level of belongingness towards the target; (2) have a personal identification with the target of ownership; (3) take responsibility for the target and feeling responsible for what happens to the target ; (4) enhance self-confident in owning the target ; and (5) regulate the self in the ownership of the target and (6) feel more secure. This simply points to the fact that cultivating subordinates or team members' engagement is crucial and it starts with a positive mind. According to McCreaddie, Payne and Froggatt (2010), positive thinking emerged as a concept in psychology against the backdrop of dealing with health issues (specifically in cancer care) in the 1990s, which includes psychological constructs such as optimism and hope. Since then, it has been promoted as a fundamental psychological tool in the maintenance of our well-being and the uplifting of our performance in many areas of our lives. Within an organizational setting, positive minds should start with us, as leaders. Either we choose to be leaders or are chosen to be leaders, the fact remains that we need to develop and shape our leadership abilities in order to influence positive outcomes. Regardless of the levels of leadership that we are at, we need to be able to exhibit our professional acumen, constructive behaviour and emotional strength that could inspire motivation and dedication among our subordinates or team members. Having climbed the leadership ladder, we may have come across some obstacles, barriers, setbacks and challenging situations that have impacted us in one way or another. No doubt, there will be times when the challenges seem insurmountable that we may have lost our self-confidence and optimism along the way. Yet, we should not let it cause severe collateral damage to our teams or our organization. It is upon us to find ways to ensure that our subordinates or team members remain dedicated and energized. Thus, we need to bring hope, efficacy, resilience and optimism in our day-to-day leadership practices as these are the elements of a positive outlook that we need to adopt to enhance our performance as a leader. As such, being positive is more than just a thought. It is also an attitude, an emotion and a behaviour. This means that how we think, how we feel and how we behave will create our sense of being which is reflected in our ways of doing, either as an individual or as a leader and it will have a great impact on the people around us. Leading in today’s VUCA environment is without a doubt, a challenging feat and may take a toll on our well-being - psychologically, emotionally, physically. This points to the importance of hope as a vital component in our leadership repertoire. Hope is an essential part of a positive mindset.

76 It embraces the possibility of positive outcomes. Hence, it directs our attention to things that we can do right rather than wasting time focusing on the things that we cannot impact. Nevertheless, as our leadership development entails that we create and curate our own learning paths by leveraging on our strengths and to put them to better use in developing our teams and subordinates, it provides us with the hope that we need to prevail. In this regard, we will become more aware to direct our focus to look forward to investing in the success of our team and subordinates. However, we need to realize that there is a fine line between positive attitude and overconfidence as the latter may lead to a false self-identity. Suffice it to say, overconfidence may lead us to believe that we are better than we actually are. That said, a positive mindset will help us to see various perspectives to a problem and be more open to suggestions on ways or new approaches to solve problems and make decisions. At the very least, it may make us aware of our own fears, uncertainties or indecisiveness. While we may be overwhelmed with the demand and expectations that our subordinates or team members have of us, we still need to grow and progress in our leadership endeavours. Adopting a positive outlook will help to create better solutions for the achievement of organizational tasks. Our focus would be directed on finding new approaches or better solutions than finding people to blame on. In most instances, our optimism is what is needed by our subordinates or team members especially when things do not go according to plan, or new things materialize unexpectedly. Hence, a positive mindset helps us to adjust ourselves to what is happening around us as well as what is happening among our teams or subordinates. It provides us and our teams with the inner strength to bounce back when we face setbacks and failures. In facing daunting environmental challenges, we need to keep being optimistic despite the challenges that we face so that our subordinates or team members will continue to have hope and faith in us. If we flounder, all is lost as to the motivation and attention that our subordinates or team members bring with themselves in executing the tasks. The satisfaction and dedication of our team members will suffer and they will lose interest in the tasks. In short, it is crucial for us to have the willpower to prevail in today’s dynamic and continuously evolving environment. It becomes apparent that the challenging situations. that we encounter will not likely diminish but it may in fact grow as changes emerge. Thus, often, we need to rely on our sense of positivism to get through the difficult times. It is contagious that our positivism or the lack of it will determine the level of productivity and morale of our subordinates.

77 Engage in Reflective Thinking Walk a mile in our subordinates’ shoes, think about the learning processes that take place within and outside our organization and understand the kinds of internal and external resources and the organizational support that our subordinates or team members have. In other words, think of the approaches that we use to develop our subordinates or team members’ current skills and knowledge in order to improve their performance both as individuals as well as team members. Reimagining how we want our subordinates or team members to want to know more, continuously, keeping the organizational aims in mind. Reflect on the right person, the right task, the right time, the right place and the right resources. All these will boil down to three fundamental aspects that will influence our leadership effectiveness - subordinates’ learning/training needs, the goal of the learning/training, how the learning/training is delivered. This is reflective thinking on our part, as leaders. Reflective thinking is indeed integral to a deep approach to transformational learning, as it “involves questioning what is taken for granted and addressing life’s problems” (Hammond, 2021). As such, it is important for personal and professional development. In fact, Kirkham ((1997), cited in Wain, 2017, p.662), claims that “[r]eflection supports life-long learning by cultivating insight into professional practice, increasing self-awareness and allowing for deeper understanding of analysis and evaluation to strengthen critical inquiry and inform practice”. Hence, reflective practice as proposed by Kolb (1984), through his 4-phases model (see Figure 3.2) - concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, active experimentation - is an essential tool for us to develop our leadership capabilities by using our own experience as the learning point. In other words, we learn and progress by consciously reflecting on our experience through this learning cycle. Nevertheless, some may see this experience as “frightening and can cause feelings of vulnerability” (Urdang, 2010, cited in Helyer, 2015), as it may challenge our feelings of biasness, action of inequalities, or taken-for-granted assumptions.

78 Figure 3.2 - Kolb’s learning cycle Still, as leaders, it is worthwhile to engage in reflective thinking as it allows us to evaluate the significance of our leadership experiences and how we relate with our subordinates’ or team members’ experience. That said, reflective thinking should begin within us whereby we reflect on our values, priorities and commitment. We need to determine what we stand for and look deep into ourselves to establish our individual standard that defines the criteria by which we will be accountable. The voice within ourselves will help us to find our unique capability as leaders. As leaders, we need to “take the initiative, with or without the help of others, in diagnosing [our] learning needs, formulating learning goals, identifying human and material resources for learning, choosing and implementing appropriate learning strategies, and evaluating learning outcomes” (Knowles,1975, cited in Nesbit, 2012, p. 204). In doing so, we are taking control of our knowledge acquisition and skill development in our quest to enhance our leadership effectiveness as we have better knowledge of ourselves. Suffice it to say, reflective thinking provides us with the inputs that we need to learn from our experiences and become better leaders. It gives us the understanding of our actions, thoughts, feelings, beliefs, values as well as identity in various leadership contexts. Hence, when we replay past events or past processes in our mind for better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses, what and what nots, the dos and don’ts, the should and the should have not of the past events or processes, we are actually trying to comprehend how we could improve on the processes. In today’s time where our society has become more complex in an environment which is volatile and unpredictable, many unprecedented things are happening at an alarming rate that we seldom have ample time to think on the spur of the moment. Hence, it becomes extremely important for us, as leaders, to apply reflective thinking in our day-to-day activities in order to improve our leadership practices.

79 Nevertheless, for us to engage in reflective learning, Dewey ((1933), cited in Densten & Gray, 2001), asserts that three attributes must be present for effective reflection, namely: openmindedness; responsibility; and wholeheartedness. Of these attributes, Yost et al. ((2000), as cited in Densten & Gray, 2001, p.120), provides further interpretation - “open-mindedness as the desire to listen to more than one side of an issue, to give attention to alternative views, and to recognize that even the firmest beliefs may be questioned; responsibility as the desire to actively search for truth and apply information gained to problem situations; and wholeheartedness as the attitude whereby individuals can overcome fears and uncertainties to make meaningful change and to critically evaluate themselves, organizations and society’. In this regard, therefore, our own leadership development should be seen as the means in which our transformational learning derived from reflective thinking helps us to meet the challenging work conditions while concomitantly supporting our personal and professional growth. Obviously, in today’s VUCA technological environment with the expansion of the knowledge community beyond organizational boundaries, it is imperative that as leaders, we strive to equip ourselves with sufficient and essential organizational knowledge and skills as well as the right attitude in order to remain relevant. Having said that nonetheless, as leaders, we need to first be the emblems and exemplars that represent the leader model of the day, who possesses a wide array of knowledge while exuding distinct and vibrant vibes that could easily influence other people’s perceptions or views. Undoubtedly, leadership practices and leader attributes come hand in hand in building one’s leadership repertoire. In fact, to manage an organization that would run smoothly daily would certainly require certain sets of skills and knowledge. Hence, engaging in reflective thinking will enable us to identify new areas of competency that we need to develop as leaders in and of the organization. In facing today’s insurmountable organizational challenges, as leaders, we need to be able to relate our new knowledge to previous experiences, to engage ourselves in both lower and higher order thinking in order to apply the right strategies for different tasks to achieve different organizational aims. It is naïve to believe that incompetency could be compensated for or that the others in the organization should tolerate our lack of competency or ineffectiveness. If we reflect on our lack of knowledge or skill to be truthful to ourselves, it will be apparent to us that our incompetence in executing our tasks may be detrimental to the health of the organization, both in the short and

80 long term. Thus, we need to be bold in acknowledging our weaknesses and improve on the areas we need to tackle. That said, it is through reflective thinking that we can establish the crucial leadership points that we need to develop and then, to attempt at mastering the knowledge regarding our areas of expertise and needs. Gradually, we will be able to interact with a wide variety of materials or resources concerning our specific field of interest. Consequently, these learning experiences will provide the knowledge that we need through the thought process that we engage in. Although we might be uncomfortable when self-realization seeps in, being self-aware of ourselves as leaders is crucial if we want to grow and this is a fact that we need to truly acknowledge. For that matter, we need to be aware of our own reactions when faced with challenging circumstances and not let it interfere with our thinking or decisions. We need to reflect and realize that it is the solution that we need to focus on and not to waste time thinking about the problem. It is crucial that we are fully aware of what is going on around us and to listen with genuine curiosity to what our subordinates or team members are saying about our leadership practices. The importance of insights into ourselves and our environment and how we need to take responsibility for our own development in various leadership endeavors, is to say the least, vital. Apart from that, reflective thinking will also provide us with the support we need in our transition from being a novice to an expert leader in meeting the demands of contemporary modern society. The ability to adapt to the changing landscape of leadership and management in our organization will help to develop in us a sense of empowerment. By engaging in reflective thinking, we are ensuring that our knowledge and skills as well as those of the others in the organization are up-to-date and relevant with the changing times. This is important for us, as leaders, and our teams to maintain high competence and continuously improve on our organizational activities and practices. Also, it is through self-reflection that we come to know what works and what does not for us, our team/s or the organization. We will begin to understand the people we are working with, i.e their aspirations, intentions, motifs, agendas, beliefs and so on, to see whether they could relate to our vision or goals, both short-term and long-term. This understanding is beneficial to us as it helps us to better understand the factors that are critical to effective leadership. Perhaps, this will make us become aware of the attributes that we should be focusing on to meet the demand of today’s changing workforce. As such, transformation of ourselves into becoming more effective as leaders could be said to begin with these two fundamentals i.e realization and expectations. That said, until we realize the expectations that come with our multiple roles, functions, tasks etc, we would

81 not be able to hold other people to be accountable for their own actions and decisions that affect the organization. As far as learning is concerned, reflective thinking is crucial in transformational learning as it helps to develop our critical awareness of ourselves, teams and organization. We become more aware of the potential that resides in ourselves as well as in others. Our ingrained and deep-rooted thinking, attitude and behaviour embedded within a conservative structure which form our dogmatic perspectives may be transformed as a result of reflective thinking that we engage in. The challenge is for us to envisage better outcomes than the ones that we have already experienced and to interpret and reinterpret our experiences so that new meanings could transpire and form new understanding. For that, we need to optimize our reflective thinking and reap the immediate benefits of the new knowledge and fit it into our practices so that our subordinates and team members would feel and know that their needs and interests are supported and taken care of. In a nutshell, the importance of reflective thinking for personal and professional development is clear. Apart from learning from our own experience, we can also reflect on other people’s experience to avoid making the same mistakes. Most importantly, upon reflection, we can recognize that we do not have all of the answers all of the time, but to rely on our subordinates’ best of judgments. For that reason, we need to be able to self-critique and encourage open debate as well as involve in more thoughtful decision making. In the face of adversity, our personal and professional values will help to provide the support that we need. Reflecting on our skills, knowledge and experiences will help us to internalize in our minds and make careful considerations on how best to behave as leaders. It serves as our personal link to learning. As Reed and Koliba (1995, p. 3), succinctly note: “Most of what we know about the world and our place in it is derived from learning through our experiences”. Embrace mindfulness Mindfulness and leadership practices are said to be inextricably and interdependently connected and there is a need to perform a synergy between them in our attempt to enhance our leadership effectiveness. As proposed by Stedham and Skaar (2019, p.2), “mindfulness facilitates a person’s ability to engage in behaviours that create trusting relationships and by that enhance leader effectiveness”. Kabat-Zinn (2014, cited in Monteiro, Compson &

82 Musten, 2017, p.137), defined mindfulness as “the awareness arising from paying attention, on purpose in the present moment, non-judgmentally, in the service of self-understanding, wisdom, and compassion”. Expanding from this earlier definition of mindfulness, van Beekum (2016, p. 45), clearly points out that:- “Mindfulness is increasingly seen as a mode of being which can be practiced anywhere, including the workplace….[as it] involves using one’s senses to help focus one’s attention on the present…and has become more pragmatic than philosophical, varying from mindfulness as a mental state, to mindfulness as a set of skills and techniques….[and] is mainly used as a tool for individual health, personal development and spiritual healing, applicable in almost every context”. Perhaps, an interesting and rewarding way of studying our behavior, thinking and emotion towards others and the organization and vice versa is through the use of mindfulness approach. Nothing is more welcoming than a theory which is practical and comprehensible in helping to understand the complexities and ambiguities that surround the world of organizational behaviour especially in a VUCA environment. Since the VUCA environment is affecting the effectiveness of our decision-making and problem-solving capabilities, it consequently affects our mental, emotional, spiritual and intellectual well-being in the same way it affects our subordinates. What is interesting about the mindfulness approach, as highlighted by Chaskalson (2011) and Khoury, Sharma, Rush and Fournier (2015), is that it not only focuses on reducing these negative effects but also in building positive qualities in individuals. Of relevance, Gilbert, Myrtle, and Sohi, (2015), contend that the positive relational behavior resulting from this mindfulness approach is significantly associated with leadership effectiveness. As noted by Grandy and Holton (2013), positive behavior allows for leadership practices which are grounded in self-awareness, transparency and trust. In fact, as far as leadership development is concerned, Baron, Rouleau, Grégoire, and Baron (2018), determine the fact that this approach is highly consequential in the enhancement of leadership flexibility which is important in responding to paradoxes. In other words, leadership flexibility allows us to adapt our leadership style to the demands of different situations that we come to encounter. Suffice to say, as leaders, we need to be mindful of our words and actions in our day-to-day interactions with other people. We need to be mindful and to think before we communicate our

83 ideas and thoughts and make a conscious decision on how best to deliver it in a manner that suits the social norms and individual values, even if it is a difficult process. For this reason, we might need to be mindful of the power that is vested in us so that it would not limit the active involvement of our subordinates. In other words, how we talk to others, to ourselves, to our subordinates or team members, matters. When we recognize the value our words have, it is the first step that we take in improving our leadership practices. Apart from that, we need to also be mindful of our intentions and aware of the expectations that may or may not be met. It is important to highlight one pertinent issue at this juncture - If we are only interested in our own agendas and well-being, we may not be able to garner the right responses that we want from our subordinates or team members. Thus, being mindful enables such awareness and creates an opportunity for us as leaders to consistently align our purpose and intentions with more useful actions. In fact, the key for us to become more successful in our leadership endeavours is in being able to cope with such demands and keep improving our leadership performance, regardless of the adversity we encounter, of which mindfulness becomes an essential approach to be employed in our leadership practices. This is so mindfulness helps us to have a stronger focus, stay calm under stress, better memory, and good corporate citizenship (Goleman, 2017). In contrast, if we display mindlessness in our leadership behaviour, it will affect the mood and behaviour of our subordinates or team members negatively, which may create a culture of fear and disinterestedness. Creswell (2017), views mindfulness as a skill that we bring to attention to experiences occurring now, since mindfulness, according to Tohme and Joseph (2020), allows authenticity to set in. Likewise, Bunting (2016, p.xvii) defines mindfulness as “maintaining an open-hearted awareness of our thoughts, emotions, bodily sensations and environment in the present moment”. Interestingly, Glaser (2006), claims that the application of mindfulness approach at interpersonal level has been shown to aid in developing respect and empathy for others as well as increased appreciation that consequently enhance relationships and communications. Apart from that, Sternberg (2000), Wallace, (2006) and Wallace and Shapiro (2006) determine the effectiveness of mindfulness approach in increasing self-understanding and the ability to have a clear sense of one’s life purpose and choices. As we may struggle to find our own self as leaders and to pave the way for better organizational outcomes, mindfulness will help us to become fully aware of our current state of being, and thus, to function accordingly. This conscious insight of ourselves as well as our sense of purpose, perceptions, thoughts, and emotions will connect us

84 better with our leadership behaviours, which may in fact, be purposeful and intentional. With regards to this, Bennis (2005, p.2), succinctly describes that “What effective leaders understand is that there is no difference between becoming an effective leader and becoming a fully integrated human being”. Almost like a norm, we tend to bring our past experiences to interpersonal interactions pertaining to current events. While we may need to learn from our past mistakes, it should not be done at the expense of enhancing current performance. We should not be caught up in the glory of the past and neglect the need to better ourselves with regards to the current situations. Regardless of how change is classified, the crucial thing is that as leaders situated within a dynamic environment, the ability to adapt to novel challenges and new demands rests upon the capabilities of us to employ the appropriate type of thinking, being and doing that suits the situation. Without doubt, efforts need to be made to enhance our performance as well as that of our subordinates in order to cope with more challenging and novel situations. In doing so, we need to put the needs and interests of our team members or subordinates as our priority at that present moment. This will encourage a healthy workplace and constructive relationships. In most leadership endeavours therefore, we need to balance between the cultivation of our ‘being’ and ‘doing’ impactful leadership practices. As a leadership practice, mindfulness helps us to improve our balance, confidence, focus and adaptability while at the same time releasing our worries. In fact, Reitz and Chaskalson (2016, p.32), are of the view that “mindfulness training produces an improvement in three capacities that are key for successful leadership in the 21st century: resilience, the capacity for collaboration, and the ability to lead in complex conditions”. Since it helps us recognize our thoughts and feelings, mindfulness allows us the ability to selfcontrol and to act toward our individual, team and organizational goals. In this sense, we become empowered to create the leadership impact we desire of ourselves and inspire other people to do the same. Nevertheless, it takes practice, effort, and work to make mindfulness work for us, but it is worth all the effort. In sum, Brendel and Bennet (2016, p.2), see mindfulness: “......as a means of developing ways of being that results in leaders who are resilient, resourceful, and capable of inclusive and collaborative relationships...(whereby) leaders learn how to expand awareness to receive real-time insights, critically reflect upon these insights to inform new actions and behaviors and transform their way of being so that it grows their authentic capacity and is better aligned with their needs and intentions”.

85 Hence, as leaders, we are obligated to employ different sets of thinking and behavior in order to sponge the impact of changes that occur within the organizational realm as well as to initiate changes wherever and whenever needed. It is crucial, therefore, that we have an open mind to expand our creative capabilities. This, as proposed by Brendel (2016), will help us to learn on how to be aware, monitor and regulate our actions from a clearer state of mind for greater performance. This is so as mindfulness allows us to ““see clearly” without distortions, are aware of [our] own emotions and filters, have empathy, and can create and manage relationships that result in community and synergy” (Stedham & Skaar, 2019, p.6). Be culturally competent Workplace diversity is a norm in today’s globalized technological world. Within an organizational context, the shifts in societal and workforce composition as a result of changing demography, advancement of technology and globalization is inevitable. Simply put, diversity points to the differences that exist between people in the organization which encompasses differences in race, gender, ethnic group, age, personality, perspectives, abilities and many other more. As established by Zaballero and Kim (2014, p.172), diversity refers to the existence of “a wide variety of cultures, ethnic groups, languages, physical features, socioeconomic backgrounds, opinions, religious beliefs, gender identity, and neurology within a one population”. As such, our roles as leaders in and of the organization are instrumentally important in making sure that the diverse workforce would be able to successfully work through their differences in executing the organizational tasks since “value sets and behavioural norms differ widely between different socio-cultural contexts” (Eryilmaz & Sandoval Hernandez, 2022, p. 5). In other words, as leaders, we need to adapt our leadership behaviour to suit the culture and values in respective socio-cultural settings. For that matter, we need to ensure that “different cultural beliefs and attitudes are respected and valued by all members of the organization” (Molinari & Shanderson, 2013, p. 57). In other words, we need to be aware of differences and similarities that exist in multiple cultures inherent in our team/s or organization and how they may affect the team or organizational outcomes. Of utmost importance, however, is for us to be aware of our own attitudes, stereotypes and expectations and not let our short-sightedness and prejudices influence the integration of multiculturalism throughout our organization. Monitoring and regulating our communication will help to lessen

86 expression of biasness or insensitivity. Offensive remarks should be avoided while overgeneralization or stereotypification based on race, age, gender is unnecessary. Therefore, we should be aware of the cultural assumption inherent in our statements and not let it cloud our judgments of our subordinates’ capabilities. Inevitably, different individuals in our teams may bring with them their own culture and perspective into the organization. Hence, we need to be adept at managing our subordinates or team members since this is a key factor in successful leadership and relationships with subordinates or team members. Our role as a leader, therefore, is to understand these different cultures and the values they bring to the team/s or organization. Indeed, we may need to learn how to tap on these strengths and to avoid dwelling on the weaknesses that will jeopardize the harmony within the team/s or organization. By and large, as pivotal leaders, we need to guide, educate, train, communicate, motivate and empower our subordinates of different cultural backgrounds so that they would be able to achieve shared organizational aims. While there may be some challenges in leveraging this diversity among our subordinates or team members, it nevertheless is beneficial for the health and betterment of our organization. As leaders, we play an important role in ensuring that these differences that exist among our subordinates or team members will not jeopardize the smooth running of our organization or the successful execution of our organizational tasks. This is so as a diverse workforce naturally develops anxiety and tension which may result in conflicts. Therefore, we need to develop an environment of inclusion which is conducive to diversity - a safe, open and nurturing environment, where everybody is free to express their own thoughts without being afraid of repercussions due to their cultural background. For this, as leaders, we need to accept and acknowledge the fact that diversity is the order of the day, and it is crucial for the success of our organization. In order to build a productive and inclusive culture that is harmonious, we need to be culturally intelligent. As posited by Ang and Van Dyne (2015), cultural intelligence is important if we are to embrace multicultural diversity among our subordinates or team members as it is the force for convergence among these different individuals. That said, we need to be able to develop knowledge and understanding of different cultures and backgrounds which will make our subordinates or team members feel accepted, respected and valued. Our role then,as leaders, is to build collaborative and mutually beneficial working relationships with our subordinates and team members through better ways of communication that are instrumental in retaining a high quality workforce.

87 Similarly, the diverse perspectives that originate from the diverse workforce are beneficial for the organization's survival and sustainability. As such, we need to be able to maintain and create a positive work environment to maximize the contributions of our subordinates and team members to generate innovative solutions and ideas. The interdependency between and among us, as leaders and our subordinates or team members, should be internalized so that we could chart our team-development and progression. There are, of course, a myriad of cultural elements that we could reflect on to understand the fundamentals that could act as catalysts for certain strategic actions within our organizational setting. Consistent self-reflection and situational understanding would be of benefit to us in taking the right course of action in performing our tasks as leaders in order to sustain dedicated and committed subordinates or team members. We need to be clear about our organizational goals and not let our cultural prejudice or personal biases influence and cloud our decision making. Hence, as effective leaders, we should responsibly project the growth of the organization and our people regardless of their cultural background for future expectation so that the right kind of growth would further make the organization thrive. As a leader of and in the organization, we should continue to grow spiritually, emotionally and intellectually by making ourselves culturally intelligent. Obviously, we all bring our own set of cultural norms and values. Nevertheless, understanding and respecting other people’s cultural norms and values would go a long way in building a trusting and meaningful relationship with our subordinates and team members. This will have a strong influence on our capacity to cope with organizational setbacks and challenges. It can be difficult and uncomfortable at times to find mutual agreement between and among our subordinates and team members with different cultural backgrounds, and hence, needs to be carefully treaded on for shared commitments. As such, careful consideration needs to be taken to ensure cultural conflicts do not hamper the progress that we attempt to achieve. In sum, we ought to look at how different cultures enrich the potential of our subordinates or team members rather than seeing it as obstacles that we need to overcome. Performance, along with culture differences may need to be seen in a more positive light.