Leadership is a group and organisational issue. The managerial call to arms requires the display and application of behaviours which are deemed to be effective in leadership terms.

Perhaps your boss wants you to be more of a leader. Your work team - without actually giving you feedback on how they see you "leading" them - will have their expectations. They will indeed talk to each other about you as their appointed leader !!

How well are you doing?

• How are you to know, with reasonable precision, what the behavioural expectations are?
• How best may you identify and acquire required behaviours which - after all - may be different to those you normally adopt in various group situations?

The problem is that others themselves will be self-centred, voicing expectations about someone elses perceived behaviour. What are the boundaries of reasonableness in relation to their expectations? The rational, managerial imperative that functionally necessary behaviours must fit the logic of the situation (whoever owns this) also requies evaluation. If we accept the situational and functional management imperative then the answer to the question "what makes a good or effective manager (two questions)" will still be a moving feast.

Is there really an ideal style of leadership or supervision?

Action-centred Leadership

• direct the job to be done (task structuring)
• introduce, support and review the individual people doing it
• coordinate and foster the work team as a whole

His trefoil model (three circle diagram), as a simplication of the variability of human interaction, is a first step device for thinking about what constitutes an effective leader/manager in relation to the job he/she has to do.

The effective leader/manager carries out the functions and exhibits the behaviours depicted by the three circles.

• The leaves -- of course -- overlap as, according to the specifics of the task/situation, the demands of role performance overlap (functional interdependence).
• the effective leader, situationally responsive, "brings into play" those leadership behaviours that enable the demands to be met.
• the problem imperatives and the variables will range across timing, quality, costs, the experience and capacity of the individuals and the team that have to do the work.

Thus - if budding team leader/managers can be given training and coaching to develop these situationally relevant skills (their repetoire of leadership competence) then -- or so the prescriptive argument goes -- they will be better placed to be effective leaders.

Situational and contingent elements call for different responses by the leader. Hence imagine that the trefoil leaves may be bigger or smaller as the situation varies i.e. the leader will give more or less emphasis to the functionally-oriented behaviours according to what the actual situation involves.

One expectation typical of most organisational society is that loyalty, shared values (reflecting organisational values) and team spirit need to be cultivated. Can you think of any business organisation - private, public or voluntary where this is not the case? Individual members of the organisation and work group (close or dispersed team) need to know what is expected of them e.g. the standards and tasks they must achieve to get the job done.

However the individual is not a mechanical predictable thing - having wants, preferences, aversions, behaviours, attitudes and ambitions and needs. The organisational leadership expectation is that each person needs encouragement and support to be an active member of the team.

The functional orientation of the ACL account indicates the types of activity that a team leader may need to carry out in their role according to the nature of the situation they face. Examples may be expressed as follows:

A range of questions (not an exhaustive checklist) can be asked - in relation to Task, Group and Individual. Explore these in relation to your own work situation.

TASK

• What is the task ahead? Am I clear as to what has to be done - when. where, how. by whom. why?

• Am I clear what the purpose is? Are my responsibilities and authorities ambiguous? How can I clarity these? What or my objectives? What results am I expected to achieve? Have I agreed these with my boss for my group? Have I a well-defined programme to achieve the objectives? Do working conditions, arrangements and facilities support the the demands of the job that must be done? Are the resources adequate - staffing, budget. time, skills, information systems and communication infrastructure etc.

• Has each member of my staff clearly defined and agreed (with me) targets? Does everyone know to whom they are accountable and for what? Is my supervisory structure correct within the group? Are there experience and skills gaps in the team?

• Are we achieving the right standards? Have they been set properly?

• How does my behaviour compare against expected standards?

• Are we vulnerable to change? Are the priorities right given the risks? Is progress being checked regularly and evaluated?

INDIVIDUAL

• Are targets - quantitative and qualitative understood? Does he/she know the organisational relationships?

• Is the job understood clearly - contribution, results and expected behaviours?
  
• Does he/she have the competencies todo the work? Has training been sufficient & supportive?

• Is he/she recognised enough for on-going motivation and commitment. Is the individual given feedback on progress and improvement areas?

• Does the individual room to grow? Does the opportunity really exist? Are work capacities (efforts and results) and pay in balance? Is performance reviewed regularly? Is the person in the right job?

• Do I know the person well enough for a sound relationship? Do I spend enough time with him/her - listening, developing, advising? Are gripes. complaints. grievances dealt with promptly? Do I support staff in all aspects of personnel management - promotions, transfers, welfare etc.

TEAM

• Do team members understand the objectives? Do we have shared values and ambitions? Are expectations clear and standards of performance understood? Does everyone know the consequences of failure, safety and security breaches?

• Is the team at full-strength? Where is it vulnerable? Are the right people working together? Are jobs and communications structured well enough to encourage team spirit? Are the rules on conduct clear and reasonable? What approach must I take on discipline?

• Am I objective and impartial? Are staff moans & groans dealt with promptly and reasonably? Are my efforts at consultation genuine - do I really welcome ideas and suggestions? Are my briefings regular and thorough enough? Does everyone understand the company's approach to XYZ? Do I represent the feelings of the group to my manager properly?

• Do group members see me as an effective manager?

Reading

1. Adair J, 1988, Effective Leadership, Pan
2. Adair J, 1987, Effective Team Building, Pan
3. Conger J, Kanungo R, 1998, Charismatic Leadership in Organizations, Sage