Type of Leadership and Readiness

This edition of the leadership blog focuses on my vision of leadership.  There will be two themes discussed in this blog.  The first theme is the type of leadership that I have a preference for meaning the type of leader that I believe I am.  The second theme in this blog will focus on my readiness to be a leader.  I will discuss each of these themes in greater detail and provide a conclusion as to the current status in terms of where I fall into in being the type of leader I want to be and in being ready to lead other people. 

For me, being a leader means being able to inspire and motivate others into action with the actions of individuals resulting in meaningful impact for teams and organisations.  This view is consistent with some definitions of leadership which presents it as a way of motivating individuals and inspiring people to a specific objective or vision (Mostovicz, Kakabadse & Kakabadse, 2009).  This is my vision of leadership as I feel that leaders should be able to have considerable impact across various factors and elements on the individuals being led and also towards the objective being pursued by the team or the organisation.  

The person who has inspired my understanding of effective leadership is Steve Jobs.  The main reason is the success that Apple experienced under Jobs with the company gaining a reputation for innovation and creativity under the leadership of Jobs.  Jobs was not only a visionary who led Apple to significant success but also an inspiration to many individuals both within Apple and outside the company (Kane, 2011).  The growth of Apple as a technology firm in the 1980s to one of the largest companies globally in the current period is a testament to the vision of Jobs for the company and the impact of his leadership.  This is the type of motivating and inspiring leader that I believe can be very effective in bringing people together to work together towards specific objectives.  The success of Apple would have been truly inspiring to the people in Apple particularly for those who were invested considerably in terms of owning Apple shares and in terms of the commitment to develop and market products. 

One of the reasons that I feel that I am ready to be a leader is the positive feedback and encouragement that I have received from my colleagues.  I have had various opportunities in University activities and requirements to be a leader and a follower.  The specific feedback that I have received from my colleagues include my approach to being a leader, my concern for other people, the contributions and guidance that I provide, and my openness to receive feedback and learn from experience and mistakes.  These are all important components that I believe will help me to become a good leader who can inspire and motivate colleagues and juniors in accomplishing defined responsibilities.  The feedback from colleagues highlighted my weaknesses and development needs but these also provided a view of my strengths and the areas that I can rely on in being a strong leader.  Leadership is a process (Baker, 2007) and I expect that the leader that I will be in the future will be very different from the leader that I am now as I am only starting my career as a future manager in the oil and gas industry. 

As I progress through my MBA programme, there are specific leadership skills that I would like to focus on as these would enable me to have a well-rounded profile and leadership.  Some of the critical leadership skills that have been identified include strong communication skills (Bambacas & Patrickson, 2008).  These are important skills that I would like to work on during my MBA programme. The communication skills are critical as these would enable the interaction with other people whether these are senior managers, colleagues and peers, and juniors and subordinates. 

CONCLUSION 

I am working to be an inspiration and motivational leader.  I still have a long way to go to being one but I feel that I am on the way to being an inspiring leader.  As a future manager in the oil and gas industry, there is still considerable personal development that I would need to undergo and experience.  People continue to learn throughout their careers.  Even Jobs was not effective in his initial foray as leader of Apple and he needed his first experience to learn from his mistakes and be more effective as a leader the second time around.  In the near-term, the skills that I would like to continue to learn and develop as part of my leadership skills are communication skills.  These would be important in my goal to be an inspiring, motivating and effective leader.  

REFERENCE

Baker, S. D. (2007) “Followership: the theoretical foundation of a contemporary construct”, Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, Vol. 14 No.1, pp.50 – 60 

Bambacas, M., & Patrickson, M. (2008) “Interpersonal communication skills that enhance organisational commitment”, Journal of Communication Management, Vol. 12 Iss: 1, pp.51 – 72 

Kane, Y. I. (2011) “Jobs Quits as Apple CEO”, The Wall Street Journal, 25 August 2011, [Online] Available from http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424053111904875404576528981250892702 [Accessed on 5 July 2014] 

Lawler, J. (2005) “The essence of leadership? Existentialism and leadership”, Leadership, Vol. 1 No.2, pp.215 – 231 

Ethical Leadership and Impact on Individual and Organisational Effectiveness

This blog discusses ethical leadership and the impact of this on individual and organisational effectiveness.  This blog discusses the concept of ethical leadership and also provides a discussion of the impact that this could have on the effectiveness of individuals and organisations.

Ethical leadership is effectively leading by knowing and doing what is perceived to be right in the perspective of the public’s viewpoints (Hassan et al, 2013).  There seems to be an increase in the clamour for ethical leadership from the public in recent memory particularly in the case of how senior executive leadership manage and lead companies.  However, it could be that the recent scandals and accounting irregularities have changed the perspective of the shareholders with the greater pressure from the public including the shareholders of companies being the ethical leadership and management of the companies.  This pressure from the public and the shareholders in particular have had an impact on the resulting actions of senior management.  Is the norm to continue to pressure managers to deliver strong performance or is the norm now to ensure that managers operate ethically?  This could be considered to be two sides of the debate.

Senior leadership in companies including the Board of Directors have critical roles in ensuring the ethics established as the norm in the companies (Coulson-Thomas, 2013).  A conceptual framework for sustainable leadership ethics in companies is presented by Svensson & Wood (2007) to depict the process the sequence and the seamless interdependence of the factors in establishing sustainable ethical leadership (see this link for the graphical representation of the process).  The terms ethics and leadership taken separately form two of the four key elements that have been identified as part of corporate responsibility (Mostovicz, Kakabadse & Kakabadse, 2011).  Ethical leadership is therefore critical in having a company that is not only ethical in approach but also socially responsible with ethical leadership driving the corporate social responsibility actions of companies.

In the oil and gas industry, there is considerable pressure for leadership to follow ethical approaches with ethical leadership increasingly expected not only in the presentation of financial performance of companies but also in the operations of the oil and gas industry companies.  One of the most well-known financial scandals in the corporate world involved Enron, an energy and commodities trading company, with the fraud relating to the presentation of ‘bloated’ financials to depict, from an accounting perspective, a strongly performing company despite increasing threat of failure (Doost & Fishman, 2004).  This is an example of the unethical approach taken by a company in order to ‘fool’ the public, the shareholders, and previously potential investors that the company was performing well.  In terms of the operations of the oil and gas industry, ethical leadership is also needed given the significant and complex human rights-related considerations that are needed to be recognised in the execution of operations by oil companies.  The challenges in addressing human rights-related issues is discussed extensively by the International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association in one of the published reports of IPIECA.  Given the need for an ethical approach and the increase in corporate social responsibility by companies in general and oil and gas industry firms in particular, ethical leadership has now become a requirement and a driver of good performance by these companies.

The impact on individual and organisational effectiveness is dependent on the communication achieved by senior management in ‘rolling out the ethical approach in companies driven by senior leadership.  Top management teams can then define the ethical values and standing of the company with the leadership driving the motivation and commitment of the work force, and the resulting performance of each individual in support of organisational objectives (Houldsworth & Machin, 2008).  The ethical leadership in companies impacts the employee engagement as the increased trust in companies enables the employees to work more closely with senior managers with the increased commitment seen likewise providing support to a more collaborative and cooperative work environment (Anitha, 2014).  The result is that ethical leadership effectively and positively influences the performance of individuals which leads to better performance from the individuals and, ultimately, the teams and the organisation that the individuals are involved with.

CONCLUSION

Within the company, ethical leadership can bring about positive changes to the performance of individuals resulting in greater effectiveness, commitment and satisfaction from the employees.  Outside the company, ethical leadership that drives the decisions of the companies, including oil and gas companies, will bring about interest from investors who have a preference for socially-responsible companies.  The result is that ethical leadership is the future as this will enable better performance for individuals in the company and also improve the reputation and position of the company in the market place and in the industry.  This applies to most industries in general and the oil and gas industry in particular.

REFERENCE

Anitha J., (2014) “Determinants of employee engagement and their impact on employee performance”, International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Vol. 63 Iss: 3, pp.308 – 323

Coulson-Thomas, C. (2013) “Integrity and the boardroom”, Strategic Direction, Vol. 29 Iss: 6, pp.32 – 34

Doost, R. K., & Fishman, T. (2004) “Beyond Arthur Andersen: Searching for answers”, Managerial Auditing Journal, Vol. 19 Iss: 5, pp.623 – 639

Hassan, S., Mahsud, R., Yukl, G., & Prussia, G. E. (2013) “Ethical and empowering leadership and leader effectiveness”, Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 28 Iss: 2, pp.133 – 146

Houldsworth, E., & Machin, S. (2008) “Leadership team performance management: the case of BELRON”, Team Performance Management, Vol. 14 Iss: 3/4, pp.118 – 133

Mostovicz, E. I., Kakabadse, A., & Kakabadse, N. K. (2011) “The four pillars of corporate responsibility: ethics, leadership, personal responsibility and trust”, Corporate Governance, Vol. 11 Iss: 4, pp.489 – 500

Svensson, G., & Wood, G. (2007) “Sustainable leadership ethics: a continuous and iterative process”, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 28 Iss: 3, pp.251 – 268

Managing change

This leadership blog discusses the statement of Mullins (2010: 753) there is minimal influence that management could have in the resistance to change of individuals as this is reflective of the preference of individuals. This blog will discuss the arguments for and against this statement and also present organisational examples related to this debate. The blog will conclude with views on how change could be managed in the oil and gas industry.

According to philosopher Heraclitus states that change is the only constant in the world (Chaharbaghi, Adcroft & Willis, 2005). Organisations is therefore exposed to the need for change given the dynamics and developments in the industry and the external environment. The support of the statement that individuals will not change and will always resist change would mean that organisations should not take the time to try to effect changes in organisations as this would be futile. In some ways, this exists in organisations that includes the oil and gas industry indicating the failure of companies to change their approach and processes which have led to crisis and disasters. An example is the Texas City refinery explosion in 2005 with the facility owned by British oil company BP already noting safety and process deficiencies but failing to implement the necessary changes in the facility to address the weaknesses and gaps (NBC News, 2007). A worse disaster at an oil facility, also owned and managed by BP, occurred in 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico and which is the US’s worst offshore oil disaster (Borenstein, 2014). This provides an indication of the unwillingness of the BP as a company and the individuals in BP to change given similar safety failures in the processes in the company in both incidents.

However, while this may be the case for the example provided, there has been a reduction in the oil and gas incidents across the major oil companies with these companies increasingly improving their safety record with the implementation of changes in the companies (Keteyian, 2011). There are various examples of companies in the oil and gas industry pursuing changes in organisational processes and systems in order to achieve greater efficiency and safety in the organisation and its facilities and subsidiaries (Moreno Trejo, Kumar & Markeset, 2012; Aoudia, Belmokhtar & Zwingelstein, 2008). These case studies and organisation examples indicate that change in individuals is possible and the statement that management cannot do much in influencing and effecting change is not defensible. Change is a constant in the business environment and organisations which continue to change are the organisations which are able to adapt to the needs of the market and are able to be successful in a business environment (Millar, Hind & Magala, 2012). This is true for many industries and is also true for
the oil and gas industry where leading companies have adapted to change with those being able to change having greater success in their operations and performance (Urciuoli et al, 2014).

Managers have an important role in overcoming the resistance to change of individuals in the company. Managers are able to influence individuals and managers have the tasks of ‘selling’ the needed organisational change to the employees by providing the benefits of organisational change and the need for the organisation to make the changes (Diefenbach, 2007). The resistance of employees to organisational change is not without value as this resistance leads to managers and the organisation in general building the case for organisational change and ensuring that change is indeed needed by the organisation and is the right approach to take (Saka, 2003). The challenge placed by employees with their resistance to change therefore enhances the validity of change in the organisation and ensures the robustness of the case for pursuing organisational change.

Conclusion

As a future manager in the oil and gas industry, the understanding from this debate highlights the importance of ensuring that the change is well justified and that employees are brought into the change programme as part of the buy-in process. The support of individuals in the organisation is necessary to have effective change in the organisation and this knowledge equips future oil and gas managers with the understanding that managing change requires pursuing change because these are needed to improve processes, enhance safety, meet regulatory requirements and improve performance in an increasingly competitive industry.

Reference

Aoudia, M., Belmokhtar, O., & Zwingelstein, G. (2008) “Economic impact of maintenance management ineffectiveness of an oil and gas company”, Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering, Vol. 14 Iss: 3, pp.237 – 261

Borenstein, S. (2014) “BP oil spill report cites risks for blowout preventers”, USA Today, 5 June 2014, [Online] Available from http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/06/05/bp-oil-spill-safeguard-failure/10025591/ [Accessed on 27 June 2014]

Chaharbaghi, K., Adcroft, A., & Willis, R. (2005) “Organisations, transformability and the dynamics of strategy”, Management Decision, Vol. 43 Iss: 1, pp.6 – 12

Diefenbach, T. (2007) “The managerialistic ideology of organisational change management”, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 20 Iss: 1, pp.126 – 144

Keteyian, A. (2011) “Oil & gas industry spills happen “all the time””, CBS Evening News, 12 April 2011, [Online] Available from oil-gas-industry-spills-happen-all-the-time [Accessed on 27 June 2014]

Millar, C., Hind, P., & Magala, S. (2012) “Sustainability and the need for change: organisational change and transformational vision”, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 25 Iss: 4, pp.489 – 500

Moreno-Trejo, J., Kumar, R., & Markeset, T. (2012) “Factors influencing the installation and maintenance of subsea petroleum production equipment: A case study”, Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering, Vol. 18 Iss: 4, pp.454 – 471

NBC News (2007) “Report on BP refinery blast cites safety failures“, 16 January 2007, [Online] Available from http://www.nbcnews.com/id/16653673/ns/business-oil_and_energy/t/report-bp-refinery-blast-cites-safety-failures/#.U65wvxtOVMs [Accessed on 27 June 2014]

Saka, A. (2003) “Internal change agents’ view of the management of change problem”, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 16 Iss: 5, pp.480 – 496

Urciuoli, L., Mohanty, S., Hintsa, J., & Boekesteijn, E. G. (2014) “The resilience of energy supply chains: a multiple case study approach on oil and gas supply chains to Europe”, Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, Vol. 19 Iss: 1, pp.46 – 63

Most effective leadership style to managing the work of subordinates

Leadership and management are two different concepts that future oil and gas managers would be well placed to learn more about.  This blog will detail these two concepts and provide examples to accentuate the differences between these two terms and their roles the performance of organisations and impacts on the work force.  While there are differences to the two concepts, there are also many similarities and this blog will show that these two concepts are intimately linked and that effectiveness in one concept will necessitate effectiveness in the other concept and vice versa, a good leader now needs to be a good manager and a good manager will also need to be a good leader.  The blog will argue that there is no specific ideal for a leader or a manager as the most appropriate and effective leadership and managerial approach will vary depending on the specific situation and requirements. 

It is probably best to provide key words that link to leaders and managers in order to differentiate the two concepts.  The concept of a leader is typically considered to be linked to inspiration and motivation while the concept of a manager is linked to planning, organisation and coordination (The Wall Street Journal, 2014).  A leader will typically have longer-term views and visions for the team and organisation while a manager will have near-term objectives for achieving specific objectives and goals that have been defined (Papalexandris & Galanaki, 2009).  Whereas these two concepts can have different terms attached to define the concepts, there are many similarities with each needing a part of the other to be effective particularly in the current period and market environment.  Leaders and managers need to do the right thing always, achieve objectives and goals, and rely on the contribution of other individuals to do so (Banutu-Gomez, 2002).  This means that leaders need to be managers and managers also need to be leaders in order for the approach of leaders and managers to be effective in leading and managing teams and organisations (Marques, 2011).  There is increasingly an overlap between these two concepts with leaders who inspire and motivate now needing to also organise and assign people specific objectives while managers who organise and administer activities needing to develop people and motivate teams (The Wall Street Journal, 2014). 

CMI (2013) argues that there has been a move from the ‘command and control’ approach to management and leadership that is more consultative and participative with employee engagement underlying the ideal approach to organisational success.  In terms of an approach, CMI (2013) argues that there is no specific, prescriptive and ideal approach as the best method varies based on the situation.  This point of view is acceptable as research supports this argument with evidence noting that different leadership and management approaches are needed to address organisational issues and requirements (Sidani, 2007).  Leaders and managers should therefore be flexible in their approach to ensure the most effective tactic and solution for organisational requirements (Hunsaker & Hunsaker, 2008).  This supports the view that there is no specific leadership and managerial style that applies to all situations with leaders and managers needing to ‘flex’ their styles to have an approach that fits the needs of the situation (Rubin, Munz & Bommer, 2005).  Nevertheless, a similarity in the leadership and managerial themes is the emergence of employee engagement as an approach that aligns organisational objectives with individual goals (Millar, 2012). 

Conclusion

As a future oil and gas manager, the knowledge of the concepts of leader and manager is helpful as it enables a focus on skills and capabilities that individuals can seek to develop.  In particular, this will also highlight the importance of how individuals want to be managed or led.  The emergence of employee engagement as a model is an indication of the need of individuals to be part of the discussions and development of solutions, and a reflection of how employees value their participation in the leadership and management of teams.  Future oil and gas managers should incorporate how they want to be managed and led in their development as leaders and managers.  Furthermore, future oil and gas managers, while having a preference in leadership and managerial style, should also be flexible in their approach as there is no specific approach that applies to all situations.

REFERENCE

Banutu-Gomez, M. B. (2002) “Leading and managing in developing countries: challenge, growth and opportunities for twenty-first century organisations”, Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, Vol. 9 Iss: 4, pp.29 – 41 

Hunsaker, P. L., & Hunsaker, J. S. (2008) “Virtual teams: a leader’s guide”, Team Performance Management, Vol. 14 Iss: 1/2, pp.86 – 101 

Marques, J. F. (2011) “Leadership: a matter of perception”, Development and Learning in Organizations, Vol. 25 Iss: 2, pp.4 – 6 

Millar, G. (2012) “Employee engagement – a new paradigm”, Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 20 Iss: 2, pp.3 – 5 

Papalexandris, N., & Galanaki, E. (2009) “Leadership’s impact on employee engagement: Differences among entrepreneurs and professional CEOs”, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 30 Iss: 4, pp.365 – 385 

Rubin, R. S., Munz, D. C., & Bommer, W. H. (2005) “Leading from within: the effects of emotion recognition and personality on transformational leadership behavior”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 48 pp.845 – 858 

Sidani, Y. M. (2007) “Perceptions of leader transformational ability: The role of leader speech and follower self-esteem”, Journal of Management Development, Vol. 26 Iss: 8, pp.710 – 722 

The Wall Street Journal (2014) “What is the Difference Between Management and Leadership?“, [Online] Available from http://guides.wsj.com/management/developing-a-leadership-style/what-is-the-difference-between-management-and-leadership/ [Accessed on 27 June 2014]

Diverse teams produce better results

This leadership blog will argue managing a diverse team is the most important skill in the oil and gas industry.  As companies have become global and multinational, the positive impact of diversity in the organisation on the performance has been duly noted and highlighted (Yeager & Nafukho, 2012).  It has been recognised that diversity is not only a driver of improved performance in organisations but also a critical component of organisational competitive advantage versus other industry players (Muethel & Hoegl, 2010).  The reason for this necessity is because the best performing companies have embraced diversity and have benefitted from this approach in their organisation.  The result is that diversity in the organisation has led to high performing companies thereby leading to a requirement for companies to pursue diversity in order to be able to compete effectively in the industry.  To a reasonable extent, research has been conducted and has confirmed the positive impacts of diversity in organisations in general and in top management teams in particular (Carson, Mosley & Boyar, 2004). 

 In the oil and gas industry, diversity has become a requirement for companies.  Diversity is needed because of the benefits that it brings to the organisations.  Organisational benefits resulting from diversity in the organisation include enhanced decision making, greater motivation and satisfaction among the work force, increased commitment from the people, and greater leverage of varied experiences and exposure to different challenges and innovations(technologies and vast research) (Pitcher & Smith, 2001). Despite these key organisational benefits, companies in the oil and gas industry stand to gain advantage from diversity because of the necessity to do so as part of its operations of the oil and gas firms.  The largest oil and gas firms globally operate internationally and it is only natural and a part of organisational evolution that the company’s work force is diverse.  A look at the world’s largest oil and gas companies indicate a presence in an extensive number of countries worldwide providing an indication of the need for the oil and gas companies to have an approach that values diversity in the work place.  Shell is in 70 countries and territories (Shell, 2014), BP is operating in around 80 countries (BP, 2014), and Chevron has a presence in more than 180 countries (Chevron, 2014).

 For companies in the oil and gas industry, managing diversity is an important skill set that is needed for leadership to be effective and for companies to be successful.  Other companies such as those in different sectors may disagree given their own set of criteria and requirements.  However, companies in other industries would be impacted by the need for managing diversity in the work force.  Globalisation as a trend and phenomenon continues and managing diversity is not only an offshoot of this development but also a necessity for companies wanting to leverage and take advantage of the varied experiences and background of its work force (Berg & Holtbrügge, 2010). 

 A manager with the knowledge of diversity and its impact in a working environment can show improved performance from teams.  A cross-cultural and diverse team with mixed global experiences can be put together by managers to bring about collaboration which can lead to a larger range of perspectives on company issues, better innovatives and creative ideas, and better quality solutions for organisations (Mitchell, Boyle & Nicholas, 2011).  Furthermore, a diverse team will also benefit from the challenge that individuals will place on the ideas and solutions put on the table with, specifically, the “divergent preferences, interpretations and values sufficient to trigger behaviour that aims to challenge others’ opinions and justify alternative approaches” (Zollo & Winter, 2002: 95).  There is therefore more than adequate reasons for managers to build diverse teams to improve team and company performance.

Conclusion

The discussion in this blog showed that diverse teams lead to improved performance.  The diversity in the make-up of a team can lead to better ideas, increased challenge and improved results from the team and the organisation.  This is particularly true for oil and gas companies which, naturally, operate in many countries globally and would therefore not only require but also benefit from the pursuit of diversity in the organisation.  Diverse teams produce better results and future oil and gas managers would do well to develop this skill as part of being an effective leader and manager.

 REFERENCE

 Berg, N., & Holtbrügge, D. (2010) “Global teams: a network analysis”, Team Performance Management, Vol. 16 Iss: 3/4, pp.187 – 211

 BP (2014) “BP at a glance“, [Online] Available from http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/about-bp/bp-at-a-glance.html [Accessed on 26 June 2014]

 Carson, C. M., Mosley, D. C., & Boyar, S. L. (2004) “Performance gains through diverse top management teams”, Team Performance Management, Vol. 10 Iss: 5/6, pp.121 – 126

 Chevron (2014) “Chevron Worldwide“, [Online] Available from http://www.chevron.com/countries/ [Accessed on 26 June 2014]

 Mitchell, R., Boyle, B., & Nicholas, S. (2011) “Cross-cultural group performance”, Learning Organization, The, Vol. 18 Iss: 2, pp.94 – 101

 Muethel, M., & Hoegl, M. (2010) “Cultural and societal influences on shared leadership in globally dispersed teams”, Journal of International Management, Vol. 16 No.3, pp.234 – 246

 Pitcher, P., & Smith, A. D. (2001) “Top management team heterogeneity: personality, power, and proxies”, Organization Science, Vol. 12 No.1, pp.1 – 18

 Shell (2014) “About Shell“, [Online] Available from http://www.shell.com/global/aboutshell.html [Accessed on 26 June 2014]

 Yeager, K. L., & Nafukho, F. M. (2012) “Developing diverse teams to improve performance in the organizational setting”, European Journal of Training and Development, Vol. 36 Iss: 4, pp.388 – 408

 Zollo, M., & Winter, S. G. (2002) “Deliberate learning and the evolution of dynamic capabilities”, Organization Science, Vol. 13 No.3, pp.339 – 351