Developing Leadership Capacities - Essay Example

?Running Head: Business Theory U: Developing Leadership Capacities Essay Introduction In order to understand the central principles of Theory U and before applying it to cross-functional team leadership, it is important to specify its similarities and differences as compared to other major leadership theories, namely situational leadership, contingency theory, transactional theory, and transformational theory. Theory U Leadership Theories Comparison Contrast Situational Leadership Gives importance to the role of situation in effective leadership Focuses on the situation rather than on how the involved people can understand their present reality and move to an entirely new one Contingency Theory Puts emphasis on the situational factors which best determine the best leadership approach Too focused on the effect of situational factors on the success of leadership styles rather than on the impact of people on how a situation unfolds Transactional Theory Focuses on the relationship between leaders and followers Sees the leader as the one who commands loyalty from followers by granting rewards rather than seeing the leader as a co-equal of followers Transformational Theory Gives emphasis on the role of leadership in initiating and implementing change Attaches too much importance to the leader as a catalyst of change rather than to all the stakeholders as creators and performers of change Applying Theory U to Cross-Functional Team Leadership One theory of leadership which can help leaders positively transform cross-functional teams is theory U. The first step, going down the U’s left part, is referred to as ‘sensing’ or building up a perceived image of the organization’s present reality that should be understood and transformed (Scharmer, 2009). In a cross-functional team, it is important to develop highly committed members. It is vital that all the members understand their differences as well as the diversity of their organization’s customers and other stakeholders and dedicate their selves to specific projects or carrying out comprehensive tasks over a given time duration. In order to do this, the members of the cross-functional team should be assembled for the drafting of a plan that would clarify the goals of the team. The important questions to answer are: (1) what the team desires to create, (2) why it is important, (3) how to accomplish this, (4) who is responsible, and (5) when and where to perform this. By employing ‘sensing’, the leader of a cross-functional team is able to achieve its goal of improving service to key customers by (Kahane, 2010): (1) discovering shared ideas and perspective by sharing the story and situation that brought highly diverse people together in one team; (2) motivating and being an inspiration to the team; (3) training in deep-dive (‘do what you love, love what you do’ principle) processes and discussion interviews; (4) recognizing key stakeholders that have to be visited and known. Apparently, when relating to the team and the environment, a leader should set in motion and bring in the ‘four channels of listening’: “(1) listening from what you know, (2) from what surprises you, (3) from empathizing with the interviewee, and (4) listening from her or his authentic source or highest future possibility” (Anonymous, 2012, p. 10). Through ‘sensing’, a leader will be able to uncover the highest potential of every member of the cross-functional team with an open heart and mind. The second step is ‘presencing’, or a more profound understanding of one’s duty and function in the organization; after profoundly engrossing oneself in the perspectives and situations that are appropriate to a setting and its greatest future prospect, ‘presencing’ concentrates on tapping on a more profound source of understanding (Scharmer, 2009). In order for a leader of a cross-functional team to carry out the ‘presencing’ step successfully s/he should form circles where in s/he commits one another in the greatest future goal. Building the ability to work from the void of the present moment, the capacity to identify and go to the next pace in circumstances where traditional practices have collapsed and new practices have not yet surfaced, is possibly the key benefit of exploring work and life in a cross-functional team. For instance, the leader may encourage the different members of the cross-functional team to abandon their traditional understanding of their task in the organization and empower them to reflect on their new roles as a team. The leader could initiate circle meetings as a way to get to know the potentials of each member and eventually identify their role in future intentions. The third step is ‘evolving’. Through ‘sensing’ and ‘presencing’, the leader may be able to help the team innovate ecosystems that unite and restore by enabling individuals to perceive from the surfacing whole. A cross-functional team that aims to improve key customer services has two forms of integration requirements (Anonymous, 2012, p. 24): (1) efficiently incorporating the demand supply chain into a specific course and (2) incorporating this form of productivity/efficiency tool into the capacity to innovate, restore, and recreate. So as to cope with the inherent complexity of a cross-functional team by means of these two forms of integration, a leader has to modify his/her leadership practice from the three conventional management approaches to a newly developed one. The original three conventional leadership approaches are already established and indispensable, namely networking, hierarchy, and markets (Anonymous, 2012, pp. 24-26). However, these three are never adequate to address the complexity of a cross-functional team in a service-oriented industry. To address such challenges successfully, another leadership approach is needed – perceiving and working in terms of the surfacing entirety. Even though markets and hierarchies contribute to the efficient coordination of complex structures by integrating superimposing plans and policies, viewing in terms of the whole implies forming a strong connection to the system. A strong connection to the system is needed especially within cross-functional teams that are comprised of people with different tasks, roles, functions, and goals. An example is a leader, who, when talking to the members of his/her cross-functional team, concentrates on that which is to be offered by the distinct members, such as their suggestions on how to improve their key customer services. The leader is in harmony with the members and the ideas that are likely to appear as a result of this discussion from the present moment, and then takes steps in full coordination with the surfacing existence of such ideas to satisfy the customers more (that is, implements them). Conclusion One major feature of these U-Process steps that are discussed here is their focus on binding the innovative leader, not only with the members of the cross-functional team but also with other stakeholders (e.g. customers), with the bigger setting, and with the leader’s greater self. For instance, the numerous hours that the members of a cross-functional team will invest in creating a shared perspective or design of their context – sharing views, experiences, and knowledge, working together with resourceful individuals and groups, coordinating their perspective into a cluster of situations, and attending team buildings, circle meetings, or field trips – make up their ‘co-sensing’. Through their exploration of their reality and particularly of the role that each of them has in its actualization, the cross-functional team is ‘co-presencing’. Ultimately, the comprehensive sequence of activities that the members of the team perform for a given duration of time is their ‘co-evolution’. After a given period of time, this cross-functional team members will be self-assured that their new system and process for co-creating new realities, such as emerging needs and wants of customers, are sufficiently developed for them to advance to the next stage of their mission, which perhaps will be to design a value-added chain that will meet new demands from their customers. The most important aspect of theory U with regard to its application to leading cross-functional teams is moving with one’s heart and mind and having compassion to, and understanding of, all stakeholders and the larger community. References Anonymous (2012.). Twenty-four Principles and Practices of Presencing for Leading Profound Change. Retrieved June 20, 2012, from http://www.inclusive-solutions.com/pdfs/24_principles.pdf Gill, R. (2006). Theory and practice of leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. Kahane, A. (2010). Power and love: A theory and practice of social change. San Francisco, CA: Berret-Koehler Publishers. Northouse, P. (2009). Leadership: Theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. Scharmer, C.O. (2009). Theory U: Learning from the future as it emerges. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Winkler, I. (2009). Contemporary Leadership Theories: Enhancing the Understanding of the Complexity, Subjectivity and Dynamic of Leadership. New York: Springer. Read More