Prelims

Half Title Page

LEADERSHIP

Title Page

LEADERSHIP

The Current State of Play

BY

W B Howieson

Edinburgh Napier University, UK

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK

First edition 2019

Copyright © 2019 Emerald Publishing Limited

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-78769-788-1 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-78769-785-0 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-78769-787-4 (Epub)

Dedication

To my father

James McMillan Howieson: 1933 – 2018

An honest and good man.

List of Figures

List of Tables

List of Vignettes

About the Author

W B Howieson, PhD MPhil MBA BSc FRSA, is a Business and Management academic. He entered academia – mid-career – via a Foundation for Management Education/Economic and Social Research Council Senior Fellowship at Stirling Management School, the University of Stirling, Scotland. Between 2013 and 2018, he was the Head of the Management and Marketing Division at the University of Dundee School of Business. At present, he is a Professor and Head of the Management Division in the Business School at Edinburgh Napier University. He has taught and presented in North America, the Americas, Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Australasia.

Prior to entering academia, he had a 23-year career with the Royal Air Force (United Kingdom Ministry of Defence Fellow (2002)) and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons. As a Regular Officer in the Royal Air Force, he served on 51, 55 (R) and 206 squadrons and undertook flying operations worldwide (Nimrod MR2 and Nimrod R aircraft) with extensive experience in the Middle East Theatre of Operations, Mediterranean, Europe and Atlantic Ocean area. His active service included the Gulf War (1991), the Kosovo War (1999) and United Nations Air Operations in Northern and Southern Iraq (1999 and 2000).

He remains very interested in the education, training and professional development of doctors and dentists in the UK. In addition to working for a UK medical Royal College, he was a former Non-executive Member of the Medical Directorate within NHS Scotland (Former Board Member of the Anaesthesia and Emergency Medicine Specialty Training Board and the Surgical Specialty Training Board (2010–2016)).

His current research covers the broad spectrum of Leadership including its history and the current state of the field. In detail, he is very interested in developing contemporary models of leadership, particularly in the areas of Mission Leadership and Empowerment. Sectors of interest include the public and third sectors and elite professional football (he teaches on the Scottish Football Association’s UEFA Professional Diploma).

He is a member of the Chartered Association of Business Schools Executive Education Committee, was a Council Member of the Foundation for Management Education and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Contributors

Bernard Burnes is Professor of Organisational Change at Stirling Management School, University of Stirling. Before that, he was Professor of Organisational Change at the Manchester Business School at the University of Manchester. He is one of the leading international authorities on organisational change. His research covers organisational change in its broadest sense: in particular he is concerned with the way in which different approaches to change promote or undermine ethical behaviour in organisations.

Laurence Clarke, after starting his career as a researcher in Education at the University of Glasgow, went on to manage and lead several organisations such as an Advertising Agency, a Bakery and an Engineering Works before joining Stirling University as a Senior Lecturer and Deputy Head in the Scottish Enterprise Foundation. Over the next four years, he transferred to Taylor Clarke, a Leadership and Organisational Development Consultancy where he was involved in developing and delivering large-scale leadership development programmes for the likes of DWP, Sun Microsystems, Social Services in Scotland and the Wood Group. He now concentrates on coaching senior leaders in Leadership.

Andrew I Edwards was born in Dundee where he qualified in dentistry in 1987. A period of junior positions in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery followed. He then gained FDS from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow in 1993. He went to medical school qualifying MBChB from the University of Aberdeen in 1998. Basic surgical training was in the West of Scotland, and he was admitted as FRCS in general surgery of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow in 1993. He went on to his higher surgical training in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in the North West of England gaining the Intercollegiate Fellowship in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in 2006. He spent a period working in South Africa as Visiting Registrar at the University of Pretoria gaining valuable experience in facial trauma. He is currently Consultant Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon at The Royal Preston Hospital specialising in the surgical correction of facial deformity and facial trauma. He has presented nationally and internationally on education and on his own clinical practice forging links in India and recently China. Within the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, he is currently Director of Dental Examinations and will take up the position of Vice President and Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery from October 2019.

Amanda Giles was commissioned as an Officer in the Royal Air Force in 1980 and enjoyed a varied career spanning 33 years. Initially employed in air traffic control and airport management specialisations, she moved across to leadership development and education management roles by way of an MSc in Defence Leadership with Cranfield University. Amanda spent several years designing and directing strategic leadership programmes for senior MoD leaders at the Leadership and Management Division of the Defence Academy. Latterly, she transferred to the Royal Air Force Leadership Centre where she was responsible for overseeing the leadership curriculum for all RAF staff and command programmes from airman initial entrant up to senior officers. As Fellow of both the Institute of Leadership and Management and the Chartered Management Institute, Amanda is currently the Head of the Centre for Staff and Educational Development at the University of East Anglia, where she leads a team responsible for the delivery of generic and professional training and development for a work force of over 3,500 staff. Amanda continues to research, write and advise on leadership development matters; her particular areas of interest include Ethical Leadership, Spiritual Leadership and comparative approaches to Just War Theory.

Paul Grice is Clerk and Chief Executive of the Scottish Parliament. In this role, he is the head of the Parliamentary Service as well as being the Principal Advisor on procedural and constitutional matters. He has a strong interest in public policy and in promoting links with academia. Paul has served as an ESRC Board Member and University Governor and is currently an Advisory Board Member of Policy Scotland as well as an active Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Edel Harris joined Cornerstone, one of the Scotland’s largest charities, as Chief Executive in May 2008 having previously been Deputy Chief Executive of Aberdeen Foyer. A former Metropolitan Police Officer, Edel’s background is in health promotion, holding a first class honours degree in Health and Social Care. She spent eight years working for NHS Grampian and has significant experience in setting up and leading successful social enterprises and in developing new social care services. Edel is a Director of the Aberdeen Football Club Community Trust, Director of Scottish Council for Development and Industry (SCDI) and of Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, having served as the first female President in the history of the organisation. She was one of the first Directors of Opportunity North East (ONE), the former Chair of The Life Changes Trust and the former Chair of the Scottish Government’s Social Investment Fund. Among many achievements of Edel, she was awarded the 2015 IOD North East Director of the Year accolade and in 2017 became the Scottish EY Entrepreneur of the Year. On International Women’s Day 2018, Edel was awarded an honorary doctorate from Robert Gordon University for her contribution to charity and business in Scotland.

John Lauder is National Director of Sustrans Scotland, the charity making it easier to walk and cycle. He is passionate about improving how we travel for the better and believes that the way we choose to get around shapes how happy we are as individuals and as a society. John leads a team supporting the Scottish Government to realise its vision of making Scotland’s towns and cities more pleasant and safe for walking, cycling and wheeling. Since joining Sustrans in 2005, John has led the organisation through a sustained period of growth, both operationally and in the role it plays nationally. Sustrans Scotland manage a multi-million-pound active travel budget for Transport Scotland, acting as an administrator and quality control for multiple funding programmes to generate matched funding from recipients. Projects include the Community Links Grant Programme and Community Links PLUS Design Competition, I Bike in Schools, Active Travel Hubs at Transport Interchanges and Active Workplaces. Sustrans design and build projects on the National Cycle Network includes the celebrated Caledonia Way through the West Highlands and Great Glen. John is a regular contributor to national policy development, a frequent guest at Scottish Parliament committees and is often sought as a commentator in the Scottish media. He was born in Coldstream, Berwickshire, in the Scottish Borders where the walking and cycling habit took hold. He is a lifelong cyclist and a public transport enthusiast.

Sophia Looney has worked in and around the public sector for more than 20 years, starting as a Youth Worker, working in different roles in strategy, policy and operational delivery working in some of the most interesting, dynamic and cutting-edge local councils in the country. She often leads change and transformation, using innovative and creative methods to support radical thinking about how local services can be better. Throughout her work, she has been deeply committed to thinking differently about relationships that public services have with citizens and local people.

Sophia is now self-employed, working with a variety of mostly public-sector organisations to think through how they interact with the people they serve, the relationships they build with other organisations operating locally and how they can improve both these things through redesigning their approach and thinking differently about the role they can play. Most of this work is happening in London and the South-east of England.

David Nish is a Senior Board Director and former FTSE 50 Chief Executive and CFO. He is a Non-executive Director of Vodafone Group plc (Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee), HSBC Holdings plc, London Stock Exchange Group plc and Zurich Insurance Group. He served as Group Chief Executive of the global life insurer and asset management group, Standard Life plc, having joined the group as Chief Financial Officer. He was previously Chief Finance Officer at Scottish Power plc, the global energy group. He spent his early career with Price Waterhouse where he was a partner in audit and transaction support covering several sectors including manufacturing and financial services. He is a graduate of Glasgow University and is a member of the Scottish Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Previously, he was a Non-executive Director of UK Green Investment Bank plc, HDFC Life (India), Northern Foods plc, Thus plc, Royal Scottish National Orchestra and was Deputy Chairman of the Association of British Insurers.

Drew Pryde, for the past 15 years, has been Founder and Chairman of the Scottish Institute for Business Leaders (SIBL). SIBL is a Community Interest Company (CIC) – a business, organisational and leadership development membership organisation focused on advancing well-being in people, organisations and profits. In an earlier life, Drew worked in finance, sales and marketing, and operations. He has experience in the UK as a CEO in Consumer Products and Textiles, and also worked as a coach for BP on the drill-floor in the North Sea in Oil and Gas. He has previously worked internationally across Europe for five years with ITT Inc, mainly in troubleshooting based out of Brussels and two years in the USA. Drew is a prize-winning qualified accountant by background and was the very first person to complete an MBA (first-place dissertation) part-time at Edinburgh University. He subsequently lectured in business-related subjects at Edinburgh, St Andrews and Dundee universities before becoming a founder director of the St Andrews Strategic Management Institute, partly funded by Shell International.

Jack Ross is a former professional footballer, playing almost 400 games across Scotland and England. Since his retirement from playing, he has worked in professional football coaching as an Assistant Manager at Dumbarton FC, Player Development Manager at Heart of Midlothian FC, Manager of both Alloa Athletic FC and St Mirren FC. He is currently Manager of EFL side Sunderland AFC.

Jack has worked with PFA Scotland and the World Players Union FIFPro, leading projects in areas of the sport such as Career Planning and Transition, Mental Health and Sports Betting Integrity. He has an MA (Hons) in Economics and is a UEFA-licensed Coach.

Foreword: Laurence Clarke

I first met Brian some 10 years ago after a colleague recommended that I meet this ‘very interesting man’. I was not disappointed. I was struck by his down-to-earth approach to academia and his ability of moving easily from an academic discussion into a practical one. We enjoyed exchanging stories about leadership and its development and application. It was, therefore, with great pleasure that I agreed to write a foreword to this book which exemplifies Brian’s easy movement between the academic and the practitioner’s viewpoints.

As one who has tried over the last 30 years to bridge the gap between academic theory on leadership and its application in the workplace, I admire that Brian has attempted to take on this herculean task. But take it on he has with his usual deftness. I, particularly, find his matrix helpful in trying to sort out the many theories and approaches to leadership development. I remember reading an article on Organisation Development that tried to make a connection between theory and practice. The author argued that the two factions spoke different languages and that any attempt to reconcile the two would require both to spend time in the other’s domain and to concentrate on finding a way to translate between the two. He also argued that much was to be learned in either discipline from the time spent on the other. This book neatly bridges that gap and helps us spend time on both the domains.

I remember having a debate with one of my academic-leaning colleagues that we simplified things too much for our leadership development programmes. My argument then, and now, is that leaders don’t have the time to wrestle with the complexities of the theory and the situational vagaries that face them. They need us – as Leadership Development Practitioners – to synthesise the theory into useable tools and templates that will work most of the time. This can feel like the antichrist to many an academic but life is too short for most leaders even to read the theory, let alone work out how to apply it. So, the act of translation from academic theory to practical tool is the work of the Leadership Development Practitioner and this book.

Change is the crucible on which leadership is wrought. A typical example from this area of leadership theory is the Kubler Ross Curve, which leadership science has taken as the curve to represent the emotions we go through as we experience the change. There is no doubt that we do experience some of these feelings as we lose what we treasured of the past. However, Kubler Ross’ research plots the emotions of 30 patients that were told they were dying of incurable cancer, from the point of being told through to their eventual acceptance of the inevitable. Leaders want change to be experienced more positively than that and they want to know what to do to help people through the change. The work of Catford and Ray, The Path of the Everyday Hero is also based on research that the average leader would reject – An Analysis of Fairy Tales! However, its curve is similar to those of Kubler Ross and allows the Leadership Development Practitioner to present a model of change that has hope (there is a happy-ending) and purpose (there are things you can do to get through your change adventure). Not only does the leader have a model to help them intervene during change, it may also be that the model can also be presented to the leader that this is their journey and that by responding to the ‘call’ of change they are growing and so might their people. So, the Practitioner of Leadership Development has to find research and models that will help the leader and, in this case, make sense of their journey and give them some practical tools to help them guide their team.

As pointed out in the book, leadership is difficult to tie down as a concept. As Keith Grint points out, it is a contested concept. Therefore, finding ways to make sense of leadership in a particular situation is vital. This book has many practical examples of leadership to give colour to the practitioner’s part of the book. Leaders love to hear about the exploits of other leaders in similar situations, hence the plethora of ‘How I Lead […]’ books nowadays. The use of vignette stories in this book is particularly helpful if you are reading it as a potential or existing leader. It also helps those studying leadership from an academic viewpoint get a sense of the reality of being a leader.

So as Brian puts it, the ‘What’ needs translated into the reality of the leadership practitioner’s context and simplified to make it digestible and useable for the leader.

I have been particularly struck over the years how leadership can pop up in the most unlikely places. Distributed leadership suggests that everyone can be a leader and that the role of the leader is to create an environment where these small acts of leadership can take place and flourish. When I was running a cooperative advertising agency early in my career, I observed one of these small acts of leadership. We were extremely strapped for cash having taken on a deficit from the previous agency that several of us had worked for, which had gone bust. This meant that in order to function as an agency we had to be able to pay the media within the payment terms and without a cheque bouncing. It rapidly became clear that we needed an overdraft which I negotiated with the bank. I argued, as a cooperative, that all 18 of us would need to give personal guarantees or none, expecting the bank to waive this requirement. However, they said they would take them from us all. I called for a meeting of the cooperative and gave them the good news that the bank had agreed to support us (and, therefore, keep us trading) but the bad news that we all had to give personal guarantees. There was a deathly hush! At last, the most junior member of the staff, who had just completed her probationary period and was barely 17, asked what was involved in a personal guarantee. I explained that if we failed to pay back the overdraft on demand then the bank would ask each of us for £1,000. She hesitated and then said ‘I’ll do it’. A moment later another member raised his/her hand and said they were in and soon everyone had agreed to the personal guarantees. A little act of leadership.

The ‘How’ we have seen is often brought into focus by leaders telling their stories and getting reactions from others to these. Also hearing the stories of other leaders helps leaders calibrate their approach and validate it. The ensuing discussion helps leaders form a view of their strengths and weaknesses as leaders and helps them decide what style and approach best suit them in their particular situation. Feedback helps with this. But the ‘How’ also includes the manner in which leadership is displayed. How often have we been party to an e-mail being misinterpreted or even when we have the advantage of seeing and/or hearing the other person, offence is taken when none is intended? Hence, a leader has to consider how ‘the What’ is delivered. Think of how many ways the phrase ‘Please give me the report’ can be delivered, from sarcastic to angry and from meek to assertive. Hence, leaders have to be able to read the reactions in others to what they say and enquire if they have not been picked up correctly or modify if it is not having the desired effect. A ‘shouty’, aggressive leader may get compliance but they rarely get commitment and discretionary effort. I am still bemused that so many leaders believe that the best way to get action is to tell people with increasing amounts of emotion until compliance is achieved. But leadership is not about compliance. It must be about inspiring, motivating and engaging your team to commitment to the goals you set as a leader.

Some time ago I came across some research on teaching that suggested that the best teachers were the ones that cared about their subject and cared about their pupils. I think this is also true in the leadership arena. People will forgive a leader for pushing too hard or making mistakes if they believe that the leader cares deeply about them and what they are doing together. I remember Norman Schwarzkopf, ‘Storming Norman’ of the First Gulf war, who epitomised my view of the ‘shouty’ leader, give a speech at his retirement passing out parade of 2,000 troops. At the end of the speech he said ‘I’ll never forget you. I love you all!’ Clearly, he cared deeply about his people and this was what made them want to follow him through thick and thin despite his bombastic approach.

There would be no Leaders if it were not for followers. Goffee and Jones in the December 2001 issue of the Harvard Business Review ‘Followership: It’s Personal, Too’ set out three emotional responses that followers want to get from their leaders. First, a sense of significance, that you really matter no matter how small you contribution. Second, is a sense of community that somehow you belong to something bigger than just you. And thirdly, followers want to feel a ‘buzzy’ feeling when the leader is about. Goffee and Jones argue that this means leaders need to be extroverted and energetic. This would rule out half the population and, as an introvert myself, seems to limit the pool of leaders too much. I think the care I mentioned before is what makes the difference. Whether you are outgoing or retiring, we all can evidence a deep care for what we are doing and for the people that join us in the quest.

Brian is an introverted leader, who through his obvious passion for the subject of leadership and his deep care for those that try to carry it out, galvanises followers to be better leaders. This book adds to this quest.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Kimberley Chadwick, Niall Kennedy, Kerry Laundon, and Sophie Darling at Emerald. Kimberley ‘got’ this project immediately and handed the idea over to Niall (ably supported by Kerry and Sophie) who made it happen.

In addition, I would like to thank the 11 contributors to this book: Bernard, Laurence, Andrew, Amanda, Paul, Edel, John, Sophia, David, Drew and Jack. I am most aware how incredibly busy these people are; therefore, I place on record my sincere gratitude to them for taking time to write and to share their thoughts with me (and you). They were also a pleasure to work with and I do hope that this relationship can continue well into the future.

Last year my ‘life path’ crossed with that of a well-known British cancer charity. This organisation has a clear strategic purpose. Of note, they do what I have, for many years, considered to be the singular purpose of leadership, namely to make community. I was – and continue to be – hugely impressed with everything that they stand for and achieve. Any royalties from this book will, therefore, be donated to this organisation.

Finally, thank you to you – the reader – for considering reading this book. If you read it, I do hope that it may be of interest to you.

WBH

December 2018