Leading with Vision

1. Leading with Vision

2. Leading with Vision
Dr. Tim A. Mau
Associate Professor of Political Science
University of Guelph
Guelph, Ontario Canada N1G 2W1
tmau@uoguelph.ca
Workshop on Developing the APO Public Sector Leadership Framework
Manila, Philippines
Monday, November 14, 2016 (14:45-15:45)

3. Management vs. Leadership
 Are they different—what do you think?

4. COMPONENTS MANAGERS LEADERS
Goals Cope with complexity while producing and selling goods
and/or services
Affect real change
Support the status quo; promote consistency and order Challenge the status quo; create constructive change
Limit organizational choices Develop new options
Tasks Plan and budget Set a direction or vision
Organize and staff Align people
Control and problem solve Motivate, energize and inspire
Manage subordinates Lead followers
Characteristics Impersonal; passive; reactive Personal; active; proactive
Low emotional involvement with people Intuitive; empathetic
Focus on rules and procedures Innovative; risk-takers
Performance achieved as a result of contractual
relationship with employees
Performance achieved through empowerment of
employees
Primarily transactional – use rewards, sanctions and
formal authority to ensure compliance
Use transformational influence – foster change in
values, attitudes and behaviour
Focus Short term planning; operational Long-range thinking; strategic
Unit or group being managed Larger organization; external environment; global trends
“Doing things right” “Doing the right thing”
“Know-how” “Know-why”
Created based on the work of Henry Mintzberg. “The Manager’s Job: Folklore and Fact” in Harvard Business Review on Leadership. (Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing), 1998, 1-36; Kotter, “What Leaders
Really Do,” 1998; Zaleznik, “Managers and Leaders,” 1998; Conger and Kanungo, Charismatic Leadership, 1998; Rost, Leadership, 1991; Gardner, On Leadership, 1990; and Bennis and Nanus, Leaders, 1985.

5. Management vs. Leadership
 Rejection of the industrial
paradigm of leadership as
good management (Rost,
1993)
 Management – foundation
upon which leadership grows
 Leadership complements (not
replaces) management
 Need is for organizational
leader-managers (Kotter,
1990; Kent, 2005)

6. Leadership Styles
 One aspect of leadership theory, which focuses
on what leaders do
 Task-oriented; people-oriented; change-oriented
 Directive – tells the followers what to do and how to
do it; specifies standards of performance; set
deadlines; initiates action.
 Consultative – still tell followers what to do, but only
after consulting with them first.
 Participative – decisions are made by the group as a
whole; followers participate as equals.
 Delegative – leaders describe the problem or need
and make suggestions, but leave it to the followers to
determine what to do and how to do it.

7. Exemplary Leadership
 Kouzes & Posner (1995) identified 5
fundamental practices of exemplary
leadership

8. Mission, Vision & Value
Statements
 Key components for high-
performing private-sector
organizations
 Embraced by public sector
organizations as part of the
NPM revolution
 Terminological confusion
 Must be well crafted
statements – interrelated,
but distinct, concepts

9. Defining Key Terms
 Mission
 Oriented to the present
 What the organization
currently does – the unique
purpose or the reason for its
existence
 Fundamental driving force of
the organization
 May depend on the vision,
but can also provide the
basis for the vision

10. Defining Key Terms
 Vision
 Oriented to the future
 Aspirational – identifies
what or where the
organization wants to be
(“true north”)
 Driving force for
organizational change
 Inspirational
 Realistic, but slightly out
of reach

11. Defining Key Terms
 (Core) Values
 Enduring beliefs that
influence our attitudes and
actions
 Should inform and support
the vision, mission and
strategies of the
organization
 Unique public sector
values (broad) and specific
values associated with
particular public sector
organizations

12. Characteristics of a Good Vision
 Imaginable – portrays a picture of the future
 Desirable – must be appealing to the long-
term interests of all stakeholders
 Feasible – realistic and attainable
 Focused – clear so as to provide guidance in
making decisions
 Flexible – allowing for differing responses in
the face of change
 Communicable – easy to communicate
(Kotter cited in Gill, 2011)

13.  Mission – “to make people happy”
 Vision – “is to become the leading
entertainment company in the world”
OUR MISSION
 “The mission of The Walt Disney Company is to be one of the
world’s leading producers and providers of entertainment and
information. Using our portfolio of brands to differentiate our content,
services and consumer products, we seek to develop the most
creative, innovative and profitable entertainment experiences and
related products in the world.”
https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/about/

14. Leading with Vision
 Literature typically ascribes the creation of
vision to leaders
 A clear and compelling vision can drive
change in an organization
 Key issues
 Must the leader create the vision?
 In the public sector, who provides the vision—
politicians or public servants?

15. Conclusion
 Leadership and management, although
conceptually distinct, are fundamentally inter-
related
 All organizations, including those in the public
sector, require individuals who can both manage
and lead
 Helping to formulate and communicate the
organizational mission, vision and values are
critical leadership tasks
 Leading with vision is not a solitary exercise

16. Questions?

17. Dr. Tim A. Mau
Associate Professor of Political Science
University of Guelph
Guelph, Ontario Canada N1G 2W1
tmau@uoguelph.ca
THANK YOU!