Leadership in Practice

Theory and Cases in Leadership Character

Gerard Seijts, Karen MacMillan, Gerard Seijts, Karen MacMillan

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781315405605
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

Recent financial crises and other high-profile mismanagement cases have brought a spotlight to the quality of leader character in the business sector. Leadership in Practice is the first book to provide an authoritative collection of cases to engage students interested in the importance of the character of business leaders.

The authors have compiled a collection of cutting-edge cases and readings, situating them within a theoretical landscape, so students are familiarized with the concepts as they move through the text. The cases cover a wide range of successful businesses—from the NFL to Apple—and include notable controversies, such as those surrounding Enron and Volkswagen. Alongside exclusive interviews and insights into the value of leadership character at individual, team, organizational and societal levels, the book includes learning objectives and discussion questions to facilitate lively debate and interaction in the classroom.

This volume will be a valuable supplement for students and instructors in any leadership class as well as researchers and practitioners interested in exploring case studies that illuminate the nature of leadership in a business setting.

Part I

Leadership at the Individual Level

We start the casebook with a series of cases focusing on the individual. Key topics that will be addressed include self-awareness, leadership development, career transitions, leadership derailment, mentoring, leader voice, communication, and power. We open the part with two readings: “The Cross-Enterprise Leader” and “Developing Leadership Character.” These two readings articulate, in a fair amount of detail, our views of leadership and how leadership, and leader character in particular, can be developed. For example, we explain that there are four critical areas of leadership competencies: organizational, strategic, business, and people; and that without one or more of these competencies leaders are either ineffective or their effectiveness is limited to a narrow range of situations. We also unpack leader character and explain the 11 dimensions that make up character. The article “Developing Leadership Character” emphasizes that individuals can develop their own character, leaders can help followers develop their character, and organizations can and should enable character development to take place.¹ Both articles are foundational in that many of the cases throughout the casebook touch on the concepts introduced in the articles.

In the Introduction to this casebook, we explained that character shapes many things: what we notice in the context within which we operate; how we engage the world around us; what we reinforce through rewards and punishments; whom we engage in conversations and how we conduct those conversations; how we interpret feedback; how we deal with conflict, disappointments, and setbacks; the goals we set for ourselves; and so forth. The first set of cases illustrate this particularly well. For example, transitions and change are a constant challenge for professionals working at all levels in organizations today. Being aware of and prepared for the challenges that accompany transitions can help make the difference between success and failure. Regardless of the extent of change – whether it be a promotion within the same business at the same location or a complex shift involving a new geography, culture, and a new business – a leader’s ability to navigate the inevitable challenges that arise depends in a large part on his or her personal and professional preparation.

The Bob Franklin case showcases a number of career decisions the case protagonist faces. In “Bob Franklin: Fish or Cut Bait?” Franklin discovered that the year-to-date financial statements were incorrect and that instead of running a profit, the organization was in fact running a sizeable loss. Franklin was scheduled to review the statements with the organization’s president the next morning. He was expecting the president to be unpleasantly surprised. But Franklin’s primary concern was determining whether he wanted to stay with his employer to help them deal with the financial crisis that was clearly about to start, or should he “cut bait” and get out to avoid the mess. The case highlights which dimensions of Franklin’s character will most influence his thinking and help or hinder him in meeting the challenges he faces.

In the Sophia Tannis case, a 32-year-old professional accepted a tremendously challenging role that demanded she learn novel skill sets while working in a new business, in a different geography, and in an environment where she was not at first welcomed. In addition to the professional challenges, Tannis had to balance her personal priorities including supporting her dual-career husband, who had made some major changes in his professional life to enable his wife’s transfer. Together, they also had to deal with two young children under the age of five who would require help in adapting to the family’s new situation – thousands of miles away from family, friends, and any form of a support structure. In her new job, Tannis dealt with age, gender, and cultural-fit challenges. Posing a threat to the existing modus operandi, power structure, and status quo, she was in a position to make a significant leap in her career, but there was a clear risk that she might also fail in this high-profile role. Among the many objectives of the case is to illustrate how a leader’s competencies, character, and commitment play a key factor in success or failure during times of intense change and transition.

The Michael Boulos case focuses on career derailment. A strong-willed, talented financial professional excels in every role he takes on as a subject-matter expert, and he is confident of a long-term career full of growth and accomplishment. Through the years, his skill, expertise, work ethic, delivery, and sheer intellectual capacity are recognized and noted by company leaders. After about a decade in the same company, and after masterfully showing off his project leadership skills during a significant manufacturing shut-down and refurbishing, Boulos is eager for what he sees as real recognition. He wants to be a manager in a high-profile part of the business and have the prestige of running a department and managing people. Not wanting to lose his expertise, the organization promotes Boulos. Within a year, however, the challenges mount and Boulos struggles to make the transition and meet the expectations of his new role as a manager. This case provides an opportunity to explore the challenges of moving from being a subject-matter expert to a people leader, and highlights the importance of the changing nature of leader competencies as well as leader character in job transition. The concept of “what got you here won’t get you there” (introduced in the book, What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful, by Marshall Goldsmith) comes to life, and the importance of leader character dimensions such as humility, humanity, collaboration, temperance, and judgment become evident. At the same time, this case creates an opportunity for discussion around the responsibility of senior leaders to engage and help an otherwise capable individual slow down and adapt before the wheels come off. The case is akin to a Greek tragedy: the company lost a great talent and Boulos lost a great career opportunity. This would not have happened had the company’s leadership and Boulos approached the planning for promotion differently. The company leadership should have mentored Boulos and provided him the assignments to develop both his natural talents and the skills and temperament needed to do the job. As for Boulos, he would have been wise to seek feedback; to have the humility to understand that he would have to develop additional skills in order to do well in his new job and to take ownership of his career.

Two readings follow the Michael Boulos case: “Good Leaders Never Stop Learning” and “Why Vulnerability Leads to Great Leadership.” The articles show that individuals, to a great extent, learn to become leaders over time and that leadership development stems from facing uncomfortable and difficult experiences. The first article identifies ten clear pathways for learning to lead – performing, risking, stretching, learning, self-awareness, trusting, adapting, mentoring, observing, and integrating. The second article emphasizes that for any development to occur, leaders must be able to demonstrate vulnerability. Lessons from these two articles can be applied to the cases included in the book.

Next, the Donglegate case focuses on a host of issues including but not limited to candor, employee voice, social media, communication, and gender and racial diversity. In 2013, controversy arose over the actions of Adria Richards, a “developer evangelist,” who complained via a Twitter post about remarks she overheard made by two male attendees seated behind her at a technology conference. After Richards reported what she believed to be sexist remarks, attaching a picture of the alleged offenders to her tweet, the two men were asked to leave the conference session. Both acknowledged their behavior and apologized. Several days later, one was fired from PlayHaven, the company for which both men worked. A firestorm ensued during which Richards’ actions were subjected to scrutiny. Richards and her employer, SendGrid, became the targets of online attacks, many of which derogated her on the basis of her race and gender. It was not long before she was also fired. The incident fueled a great deal of debate over the larger question of whether sexism hinders women’s participation in the tech industry.

Employee voice is a hot topic – both in the practitioner press and in academic circles. There is evidence that employees can affect organizational functioning by speaking up about both threats and opportunities. Candor is important. Organizational leaders rely on employees to let them know about issues related to products, processes, etc. When employees do so, that behavior is called employee voice. Voice has been described as “the discretionary provision of information intended to improve organizational functioning to someone inside an organization with the perceived authority to act” (Detert & Burris, 2007, p. 869). The implicit motive behind employee voice is to improve organizational functioning and/or help the collective. Voice is often difficult to elicit from employees because it is perceived as risky. People may be penalized when they raise issues that challenge the status quo. It is often considered safer to stay silent. While voice from employees can improve the performance of the organization, it can also be damaging when done publicly. This case raises a host of issues around leadership and employee voice including what organizations can do to encourage constructive employee voice. The article “Deconstructing Donglegate: Lessons from an HR Fiasco” discusses the HR implications of voice and the use of social media for organizations.

The final case in this part – “Somebody Stop the Radio Star: Jian Ghomeshi at the CBC” – highlights abusive supervision, the bases of power within an organization, employee voice, organizational justice, and leader character. The case describes a crisis at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Two CBC managers involved with the hit radio show Q – Arif Noorani, executive producer of the show, and Lina Groen, the director of network talk radio – faced employee complaints against the show’s star host, Jian Ghomeshi. The employees alleged that Ghomeshi’s treatment of employees was problematic and contrary to the corporation’s values and policies. This was not the first time that complaints had surfaced against the show’s star. A few years earlier, a female employee alleged that she had been mistreated by Ghomeshi, and had already resigned. Groen and Noorani knew they faced some difficult decisions because Ghomeshi had strong support amongst the CBC executive, including from their boss, Chris Boyce, executive director of CBC radio. The case raises a number of key questions. For example, how was Ghomeshi able to get away with the negative behavior for so long without being reprimanded, despite being employed in an organization that had stated values and policies in place to protect employees? What are the options for Groen and Noorani? What are the risks and expected outcomes of each option? What does the case teach us about leader character?

This case is important because it compellingly shows that employees’ character is relevant, not just their performance related to their job responsibilities. Employees who perform their roles well but do so in a way that damages or undermines others can have a detrimental effect on other people...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Endorsements
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Contributors
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Part I Leadership at the Individual Level
• Part II Leadership at the Team Level
• Part III Leadership at the Organizational Level
• Part IV Leadership at the Societal Level
• Conclusion
• Index
• About the Authors