Tag: 2017

NORDP 2017 Conference Notes: Leadership Without Authority

This post is the first in a series that capture the take-home points from a variety of sessions presented at the NORDP Annual Meeting in Broomfield, Colorado. 

Leadership Without Authority

Presenters:

Shay D. Stautz, Associate Vice President for National Policy, Arizona State University
Brian C. Ten Eyck, Assistant Dean for Research Development, University of Arizona College of Engineering

Notes written by Susan Lodato.

Key points from the session:

  • No scientific definition of “leadership without authority”
  • “If you lead well, you will not need your rank.” (Developing Leaders: A British Army Guide, p. 74)
  • You need people to WANT to work with you to achieve your goal.
  • Leadership without authority is about engagement, credibility, and cooperation.
  • All relationships should be win-wins.

What did you hear at this presentation that surprised you?

There is a secret to leadership without authority: intentionality.

What resources did you discover at this presentation?
Samuel B. Bacharach. The Agenda Mover: When Your Good Idea is Not Enough. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2016.

Charles Duhigg. Smarter Faster Better: The Transformative Power of Real Productivity. New York: Random House, 2016.

David Goleman. Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. New York: Bantam Dell, 2006.

Sylvia Ann Hewlett. Executive Presence: The Missing Link Between Merit and Success. New York: HarperCollins, 2014.

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Developing Leaders: A British Army Guide. 2014

What was the most interesting question asked by an audience member, and what was the response?

Comment: We must remember that there is a cultural aspect to leadership. Presenter: Absolutely. You need to understand the audience with whom you are about to engage.

Question: You discussed the importance of choosing your team carefully. What if you cannot pick team members? Presenter: Even if the leader is unable to pick his or her team, the leader must establish the norms of the group and determine the rules for interaction and trust-building.

What else from this session should NORDP members know?

Leadership Without Authority is leadership that you exert on your own without the traditional hierarchical support systems of your institution. It is leadership in an area outside of your job description, strengths, background, etc.

Leadership needs to be applied to getting something done. It’s about doing things. Why should people work with you?

  1. You need to ask them.
  2. You need to have a mission – a broader one for your unit or institution.
  3. You need to have credibility. Elements of credibility:
    1. Sound judgment
    2. Presence
    3. Integrity
    4. Competence
    5. Emotional intelligence

The Virtuous LWA Cycle

  1. Establish credibility
  2. Build and nurture alliances on a systematic basis through continuous, systematic professional activities (meeting/working with people outside of your unit)
  3. Establish the public good that you want to accomplish (this public good often comes from these relationships)
  4. Build your team
  5. Deliver!

Leading Teams

  1. Establish psychological safety for teams
  2. All team members speak and contribute

 

NORDP Book Club is Forming

A NORDP Book Club is forming with enthusiastic readers and thought-provoking books. The concept of a book club started to solidify at the NORDP 2017 Conference on Twitter. Conference-goers, specifically those attending the Leadership Without Authority session with Brian Ten Eyck and Shay Stautz, collected some titles to begin reading after the conference.

A virtual book club has begun to take shape. Anyone can join at any time. The majority of the book discussions will take place online. The NORDP Book Club, like any book club, will have many options, based on your preferences:

  • Read with the group’s pace and engage in group discussions about insights and actions you might take in your work.
  • Read with the group, but keep insights to yourself.
  • Read at your own pace, using the book list as inspiration for your next read.

Facilitation

The book club will be facilitated based on the preferences of the group. A few options have been created to offer as starting points. We can add and delete from this list of options as we move forward with the book club:

  • Goodreads Group: This is nice because it offers an easy way to make a book list, link to user’s desired book format (even audiobook and public libraries), and have discussion. It requires that all participants have a Goodreads account. (https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/219569-nordp-book-club)
  • Slack Channel: Maybe more people are on Slack than on Goodreads? Readers can have discussion and side convos pretty easily. Of course, if you’re not on Slack, this would also be another sign-up. I have it currently integrated with an Airtable database to keep a running list of books. (https://nordpbookclub.slack.com/signup)
  • NORDP Book Club Circle in the members area of the NORDP website. This could easily be done, too. The downside of this option is that there may be people who are not NORDP members that want to participate.

Booklist

A booklist has been created on Goodreads.  It can also be found by clicking on “bookshelf” from the NORDP Book Club Goodreads page. Anyone can add books to this list. There are tags (called “shelves”) that can be used to show which books are “to-read,” “read,” and “currently-reading.” This list automatically updates a #booklist channel on the NORDP Book Club Slack.

Groundrules

There have been several suggestions for format, frequency, and facilitation. These have been shared in Slack. Generally, though, we are looking at a monthly discussion of a title chosen by the group. To participate in the discussion, you won’t need to have read the book. All books should be generally applicable to research development, higher education, or professional development.

As the NORDP Book Club develops, we’ll post updates on the NORDP Blog. Please send any feedback and ideas to Jessica Brassard (jnbrassa@mtu.edu).