A633.5.4.RB_BorutyAlan_Circle of Leadership

Circle of Leadership

Obolensky (2014) does not include enough information to draw any conclusion about the vicious circle for leaders.  I believe that the illustration represents a possible situation that could happen in any organization, but if it did the organization is most likely having major problems in leadership and followership.  Obolensky (2014) spent the entire chapter discussing followership development in detail to include component interactions, communication, and he need to embed the 4 + 4 principles into followership development.  And then, in the last five or six lines of the chapter and one simple illustration he seemingly contradicts everything else in the chapter.  Based on the discussion of follower development, nothing about the vicious circle makes sense.  The illustration does depict a vicious circle for leaders, but it should not happen if a functional process is in place in the organization.  Additional information would have helped me understand what actually generates a vicious circle.  The below items are a few of the things that would have let me determine what causes the vicious circle and how to prevent it.

No assumptions provided to interpret the illustration

The illustration represents skill/will in isolation from the 4+4 principles

The leader and the follower aren’t communicating, they are reacting

It implies that if the leader changes as a result of follower behavior a vicious circle is always the result when, in fact, it is just as easy to illustrate a desired result.  For example, if a Level 4 follower began demonstrating Level 5 maturity, the leader’s response in the same circle would drive improving behaviors.  The leader would soon move the follower to Level 5.     

    

If this vicious circle did happen it could indicate a breakdown in the relationship between leadership and followership. “The two combine into a dynamic which can get better results in a more sustained way than the typical oligarchic approach” (Obolensky, 2014, p. 163).  The result would be a break in the dynamic relationship allowing old oligarchic behavior into the organization.  Oligarchic and polyarchic behaviors would clash.  The organization would at minimum would experience operational disruptions. 

If I were able to create a new circle, it would illustrate the entire followership development process.  The Input/Output Tables below describe the data necessary for Followership Development.

I did not create tables for input and outputs for the organization.  The leadership/followership line to the organization from leader and follower outputs are meant to represent the combined dynamic to the organization.  The only other connection is 2-way communication from the leader.

Follower Outputs:

Skill/Will to the leader Level 5 Followership to the leader 2-way communication to the leader the Followership Maturity to leader Followership/Leadership to organization

Follower Inputs:

Leadership Behavior 4 + 4 Principles from the leader Motivation from Leader

Leader inputs:

Skill/Will from follower 2-way communication from follower and organization Level 5 Followership from follower Followership Maturity from follower

Leader Outputs:

Leadership Behavior to Follower 4 + 4 Principles to Follower Motivation to Follower Leadership/Followership to organization

The process is simple enough.  Determining the cause of skill/will issues get complicated because any number of things could cause the same problem.  Unclear objectives, poorly stated purpose, and undefined boundaries are common barriers to motivation (Obolensky, 2014). The 4 + 4 principles are important to follower skill/will development and Level 5 followership advancement.  But, Level 5 Followership is almost entirely based on leadership behavior changes that maneuver individuals through the five levels.  The optimum followership level is Level 5 and high skill/high will.  This is also be called followership maturity. 

It may sound mechanical but when the process is right and leaders get to know the followers it becomes intuitive for the leader determine needs and make changes to help the followers. While it is not overly complicated, it takes time and simply cannot be rushed. 

This process is the preferred circle between leader and follower.  The process is universal in application. It will provide consistent results regardless of the follower’s primary skill set.  Developing followership skills to include willingness to take the lead are critical for polyarchy to thrive.

~Pete

Reference:

Obolensky, N.,(2014).Complex adaptive leadership :Embracing paradox and uncertainty (2nd ed).  Surrey, England. Gowan Publishing Limited.