Presentation led by Dr David Pendleton from Edgecumbe Group at the APM Conference 2015

1. The myth of becoming a complete leader
David Pendleton DPhil
Associate Fellow
Saїd Business School and Green-Templeton College, University of Oxford
Executive Chair
Edgecumbe Consulting Group, Bristol
Visiting Professor in Leadership,
Walker School of Business and Technology, Webster University, St Louis, USA

2. Business Fads 1950 – 2000
(Richard Pascale)
Business Process Re-engineering
Continuous Improvement/Learning Organization
EmpowermentWorkout
Visioning
Cycle Time/Speed
Benchmarking
One Minute ManagingCorporate Culture
Intrapreneuring
Just in Time/KanbanMatrix
MBWAPortfolio Management
Restructuring/Delayering
“Excellence”
Quality Circles/TQM
Wellness
Decentralisation
Value Chain
‘Theory Z’
Management by Objectives
Conglomeration
T-Group Training
‘Theory Z’
Brainstorming
Theory X and Theory YSatisfiers/Dissatisfiers
Managerial Grid
Decision Trees
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990
Self Managing Teams
Core Competencies
Horizontal Organizations
Zero Base Budgeting
Strategic Business Units
Diversification
Experience Curve
InfluenceIndex
2000

3. The shift in ideas about leadership in the 20th century
I decide
You decide
Early 20 C Middle 20 C Late 20 C
Hierarchy
and
authority
Co-option
through
vision
Partnership
and co-
leadership

4. Leading only by consent in the 21st Century?
• On March 24, 2014, Eich was promoted to CEO
of Mozilla Corporation.
• His appointment sparked controversy over a $1,000
political donation Eich had made in 2008 to a
California campaign for heterosexual marriage only
(Proposition 8).
• After his appointment to CEO, the controversy re-
emerged.
– OKCupid and two gay application developers
called for a boycott of the company.
– A number of Mozilla employees asked him to
step down, while others spoke out on their
blogs in his favour.
• On April 3, 2014, Eich stepped down as CEO and
resigned from working at Mozilla. In his personal
blog, Eich posted that "under the present
circumstances, I cannot be an effective leader."

5. We need a leadership model and approach that are:
• Evidence based
• Reflective of 21st century society and needs
• Coherent
• Simple
• Memorable

6. The argument in a nutshell
The effect of leadership is indirect.
Leadership
Culture (what
we do)
Climate (how
it feels)
Discretionary
Effort
Productivity,
Creativity etc.
(Results)

7. Combining who they are with what they do
Leadership
Traits
Intelligence
Emotional Stability
Extraversion
Openness to Experience
Agreeableness
Conscientiousness
Leadership
Behaviours
Task oriented
Relationship oriented
Change oriented
(Passive leadership)
Leadership
Effectiveness
Leader effectiveness (58%)*
Group performance (31%)*
Follower job satisfaction (56%)*
Satisfaction with leader (92%)*
* Proportion of each measure of leadership effectiveness explained by a
combination of leadership traits and leadership behaviours.
DeRue, Nahrgang, Wellman and Humphrey, (2011) Trait and
Behavioral Theories of Leadership, Personnel Psychology,

8. Employee satisfaction, employee engagements, and business outcomes
A meta-analysis of 198,514 employees in 7,939
Business Units, found:
– That employee engagement was directly
linked to profitability, customer
satisfaction, loyalty, sales, employee
retention, productivity, and safety.
– That employee satisfaction and
engagement were mainly determined by
satisfaction with immediate supervisor
Hunter, Schmidt and Hayes, Journal of Applied Psychology, 2002

9. Further evidence of engagement’s impact on the bottom line
Towers-Perrin 2006 studied 50 companies (664,000 employees)
for a year across the globe. They found:
– Operating income.
• Companies with highly engaged employees +19.2%
• Companies with below average engagement -32.7%.
– Net income growth.
• +13.7% compared with -3.8%
– Earnings per share.
• +27.8% compared with -11.2%

10. Towers Watson Global Workforce study 2012
• N=32,000 full time workers from 29 countries on all
continents
• Key Findings
– Security of employment is key in recruitment and retention
– Stress is rife
– Retention is more to do with the quality of the work experience
overall: relationship with line manager, trust in senior leadership,
ability to manage stress on the job
– Doubts about level of interest and support from above
“Businesses appear to be at a critical tipping point in their ability to
maintain engagement over time”
Sustainable engagement is based on traditional engagement +
enablement + promotion of well-being

11. The argument in a nutshell moves on… and on
Leadership
Culture
(what we do)
Climate
(how it feels) Discretionary
effort
Employee
retention
Employee
Engagement
Intention
to stay
Productivity
Whole-person
Creativity
(Results)
Rational
Commitment
Emotional
Commitment
…and we can measure and/or estimate the size of the effects. EG moving from disengagement to strong
engagement decreases the probability of leaving by 87%
Source: Corporate Leadership Council 2004

12. Conclusions from the evidence…
• Leadership makes a difference to performance
• It makes more of a difference in tougher times when
opportunities are scarce (like now!)
• The effect is indirect and mediated largely through the
effect on people
• The impact is largely to do with the power of engagement
and the effect on discretionary effort
• The effect is a mixture of who we are and what we do. We
will explore both.

13. A new theory of Leadership
Leadership is creating the conditions for people and organisations to
succeed and achieve significant goals:
Four propositions

14. Leadership proposition 1: The Primary Colours® of Leadership
…and Coping with Pressure
Delivering
results
Building and
sustaining
relationships
Team
working
Ref: Pendleton and Furnham 2012

15. Think of this as body parts and capabilities
Thought/Figuring out
which way to go
Feeling/Emotional
Intelligence
Action/Getting things
done

16. So what is LEADING?
Delivering
results
Planning and
organising
Setting Strategic Direction
Creating
Alignment
Building and
sustaining
relationshipsTeam
working
Leading
Strategic Domain
Operational
Domain
Interpersonal
Domain
• The nervous system
– Sensing
– Connecting
– Balancing
– Co-ordinating
Leading

17. Leadership proposition 2: Incomplete individuals, complete teams…
• It’s hard to be world class in all areas.
• There are sound psychological reasons why this may be so and
empirical evidence to support it.
• Rather than trying to be good in all areas, it may be better to
be great in one or two and work with others who are great in
other areas.

18. The Heptathlete
• Javelin
• Shot
• 800 metres
• 200 metres
• High jump
• Long jump
• Hurdles

19. Summarising data from many years and thousand of leaders…
Gallup (2008)
“While the best leaders are not well-rounded, the best
teams are.”
“Effective leaders surround themselves with the right
people and build on each person’s strengths.”

20. In praise of the incomplete leaders
“Rarely will a single person be skilled in all …. areas. That's why it's critical that
leaders find others who can offset their limitations and complement their
strengths. Those who don't will not only bear the burden of leadership alone but
will find themselves at the helm of an unbalanced ship.”
Deborah Ancona and colleagues HBR 2007

21. Don’t try to be a duck
According to an Argentinian saying…
The duck walks, flies and swims
…..but none very well!

22. Leadership proposition 3: Choose carefully what to develop
Resistant
limitation
Fragile
strengthPERSONALITY
HINDERS
Potential
strength
Natural
strengthPERSONALITY
HELPS
LIMITATIONSTRENGTH
Work ON
Work ONWork WITH
Work AROUND

23. Leadership proposition 4: Complementary contributions
Resistant
Limitations
STRENGTH LIMITATION
PERSONALITY
HELPS
PERSONALITY
HINDERS
Fragile
Strengths
Potential
Strengths
Natural
Strengths
Fragile
Strengths
Potential
Strengths
Natural
Strengths
Resistant
Limitations

24. So I cannot become a complete leader… But we can be complete together
Pendleton, D and Furnham, A (2012) Leadership: all you need to know London, Palgrave Macmillan

25. Thank you