A633.9.3.RB - Polyarchy Reflections

I found this particular assignment interesting because when applied to my field of coaching, oligarchy is still in place with few leaders over many followers. We have coaches, usually 2 or 3, and then captains, usually just 1 or 2, who lead 16 players. But, as a coach it is our job to get ALL of our players prepared for life after school basketball in the real world, a world, which is quickly transitioning to a society of polyarchy. This makes our job tricky because we want to remain a successful team with our same principles in place, but yet develop the leadership skills necessary in all our players, not just our captains.

            With our need to develop all of our player’s leadership skills even more, as they venture off into a new world of polyarchy, it changes how we will need to lead as coaches. In the past, in our team meetings or talks after practice, the captains are always encouraged to speak up if something is on their mind. Whether it is something heavy or just a couple comments about a particular drill. Prior to games, halftimes, as well as after, the captain is called upon to do the same, usually more formal and inspirational during a game. All of these acts develop leadership for the captain. Now the problem is it is only developing his abilities, much more than the others. As a coach in the future, I will have to develop many more opportunities for the rest of the individuals on the team to step up as a leader and address the team with whatever insight they may have. This will help prepare everyone even more for their life after school and basketball.

            I do believe polyarchy is fast replacing old oligarchy assumptions, but I don’t believe this makes the old models redundant. There is still much to be learned from the old models that will help leaders strive forward in whatever organization they may be in. I do also think that there could be small changes made however to models, which show the movement we are making towards polyarchy.

A633.9.3.RB - Polyarchy Reflections

I found this particular assignment interesting because when applied to my field of coaching, oligarchy is still in place with few leaders over many followers. We have coaches, usually 2 or 3, and then captains, usually just 1 or 2, who lead 16 players. But, as a coach it is our job to get ALL of our players prepared for life after school basketball in the real world, a world, which is quickly transitioning to a society of polyarchy. This makes our job tricky because we want to remain a successful team with our same principles in place, but yet develop the leadership skills necessary in all our players, not just our captains.

            With our need to develop all of our player’s leadership skills even more, as they venture off into a new world of polyarchy, it changes how we will need to lead as coaches. In the past, in our team meetings or talks after practice, the captains are always encouraged to speak up if something is on their mind. Whether it is something heavy or just a couple comments about a particular drill. Prior to games, halftimes, as well as after, the captain is called upon to do the same, usually more formal and inspirational during a game. All of these acts develop leadership for the captain. Now the problem is it is only developing his abilities, much more than the others. As a coach in the future, I will have to develop many more opportunities for the rest of the individuals on the team to step up as a leader and address the team with whatever insight they may have. This will help prepare everyone even more for their life after school and basketball.

            I do believe polyarchy is fast replacing old oligarchy assumptions, but I don’t believe this makes the old models redundant. There is still much to be learned from the old models that will help leaders strive forward in whatever organization they may be in. I do also think that there could be small changes made however to models, which show the movement we are making towards polyarchy.

A633.8.3.RB - How Do Coaches Help?

Being a basketball coach myself and having played the sport dealing with coaches all of my life, it is very similar to the job of an executive coach. There is a coaching theory (for sports coaches at least) that says for every 1 piece of negative criticism you should give 7 positive ones. This sort of defines the meaning and job of being a coach. A coach is there to provide confidence and guidance in the client, to let him know he cares and is willing to adjust behaviors but mostly to encourage through his/her experience the right way to handle the situation and to empower the client to bring the best out in himself.

Coaching and leadership go hand in hand because a leader must truly care about the personal and professional growth of subordinates. I heard once that good leaders don’t make good followers they make other good leaders and that statement says everything about a leaders responsibility to coach and grow the people around them. Coaching and mentoring is crucial to the development of people in organizations, inexperienced members need that attention and guidance or they can become lost and unaware of their role and true potential.

The right leadership and coaching can have a huge positive impact on an organization, its internal chemistry, its employee engagement, its productivity, and its success. Coaching and leadership taps into the individual potential of the people of the organization and the true potential of the organization. A culture in which peers learn from each other in no specific hierarchy makes for the most successful of organizations.

In our organization we have such a culture, people treat others with respect and have for the most part positive learning work relationships. Our leaders are humble and truly care about the successes of all of us from the coaches, support staff, to the student athletes. This is our culture, our culture of building leaders out of our coaches and players, so they may have the best student athlete experience and be prepared for a successful life after their sport.

A633.7.3.RB - Leader Follower Relationship

After taking the assessment on chapter 10, my results were 5 for strategy 1, 2, and 3 and only once did I use strategy 4. This shows that I have a diverse opinion on different situations and when to use each strategy. I believe that this gives me an advantage as a leader because I am able to adapt to the specific situation and deal with it how I see best fit. I don’t think it is advantageous for a leader to rely solely and always on one strategy. Every situation and individual calls for the right way to approach and solve it. These results also reassure me that as a leader I have a good balance of people focus and goal focus. This means that as I assess each individual situation I read and see if it calls for me to mentor the person or for me to be more goal-oriented.

I would have to say that my thinking has not changed, but evolved as I learned about new concepts and theories on leadership. Complexity theory and the role that complexity plays in organizations and leadership was something that I never truly considered a factor. Chaos and complexity are inevitable and should not be something negative all of the time. Organizations should establish cultures ready to adapt and embrace chaos and complexity. Another concept that I learned about is the leadership charade. This is something that is very important for good leaders to be aware of and not fall into. We should establish open communication in the workplace and not ever pretend to know something simply based on our position. These concepts and theories have not changed my thinking about leadership but expanded it and increased my factual knowledge of leadership. One of my favorite learning points is that of upward leadership and how great leaders should establish an organization that allows for leadership from the bottom up, where people’s voices are heard and considered.

These are all things that I will take on with me as I continue striving to be a better leader. I will have better theoretical understanding of leadership techniques, methods, and concepts. This will give me the knowledge foundation to make better-informed decisions. This knowledge alone will not make me a great leader. That will come with the application of such contents and the personal experience of leading every day in a real working organization. Having a self-critical approach and being open to following and learning from others all around me. This knowledge has provided a great foundation for my leadership and it will continue to guide and help me grow as a leader.

A633.6.5.RB - Circle of Leadership

Reflecting on the leadership circle it is a very interesting cycle of underachieving. I can see how many organizations and leaders experience this without even realizing it. One of the harder things for leaders to do is to step back, follow, and delegate to and empower others. A leader is in a position of high visibility and the responsibility for subordinates can create a fear of letting others do things. A leader must make subordinates feel empowered and be ready to be responsible no matter the outcome. If a leader always takes work away from them and does it himself/herself the confidence of the subordinates will be affected and it will turn into the vicious cycle. There is certain power in a leader showing trust in someone who maybe even did not trust them. I speak from experience when I say that when my coaches gave me a chance as a walk on to start and be a team captain it gave me so much more confidence than I had in myself.

In our organization this circle is not existent and it is not by accident. Our leader purposely gives people the freedom to do things and empowers them even if they fail. More can be learned personally from a failure rather than have someone else do something for you. This creates trust and promotes personal and professional growth. People do not feel intimidated by our leaders but rather supported by them and overall makes people more engaged and more productive. It allows for people to bring their individual unique skills to the table making our organization more effective and diverse.

My proposed circle is very similar because it begins with one opposite action and it becomes a domino effect of positive results.

A633.5.3.RB - Reflections on Chaos

Reflecting on the video’s chaos exercise and chaos theory I found something very interesting. I had never seen such exercise done, but as the speaker was explaining it my brain began working trying to predict what would happen. Maybe like most people (or maybe not) I thought that it would literally be chaos, that people would not be able to accurately split the difference between their two points without messing someone else’s distance and I thought therefore it would almost become an endless chaotic loop. To add a little bit of humor, I do not know why but I pictured them trying to run to their places and them physically running into each other. Anyways, after the 2 or three seconds where all of this was going through my head the people began moving slowly, and in a very controlled fashion. They knew whom they had picked and no one else did, and as time went on they moved less and less until they all found their spot in under a minute. Assuming that they all ended up in fact, half way between their two references they accomplished this effectively and rather quickly in my opinion. They (the volunteers) became a system working together towards a final state seemingly disorganized but in fact did so in a very rhythmic manner. They were like gears turning and moving until they came to a stop. So what did this teach me? It is a real life demonstration of chaos theory in many ways! Obolensky (2010) tells us that chaos theory “shows how chaos has an underlying order and patterns which can be used to good effect”.  He also quotes the book Nature’s Numbers in saying that “to an untrained eye it looks pretty much random”. Now let’s think about the exercise. First of all was there an underlying order? Yes, although they did not move in predictable paths each person had a goal and it depended on all of the other people and that is what created their path. Those paths that each person moved probably looked completely random and unordered to someone if they were to walk in without hearing the instructions. “They are just moving around aimlessly and then stopped” is what someone might say. This is chaos theory, chaos looks chaotic because so many factors internal and external affect the underlying patterns that are occurring. These patterns actually have a bit of order and purpose but to an outsider or an “untrained eye” chaos is scary. This fact that the patterns are very hard to see and understand presents the biggest implication for organizational strategy. It is nearly impossible to predict chaos before or during it, and that makes strategizing difficult. In its nature, strategy is based on a future state and chaos theory is there to let organizations know not to get too far ahead because you don’t know or understand what I am doing or what will happen

A633.4.3.RB - Changing Dynamics of Leadership

Organizations have experienced a change in leadership from generations before us for several reasons. I believe one of the reasons is the complexity of organizations and the market in which they operate. A few generations before us, organizations were smaller, simpler, and operated in limited environments, in which case top management knew the answers and was in charge of making them. In todays workforce people are more and more educated and subordinates are no longer just workers taught to do one thing. This along with organizations who operate in complex and uncertain environments has caused for our leaders to be less informed about the right decisions to make. The problem arises when in our new environment we carry the old way of thinking, subordinates knowing that top management does not know all of the answers but not saying or doing anything about it, and top management pretending to know the answers because of the pressure from the organization to know.

I believe that my current organization (Athletic department at Embry Riddle) has embraced the new way of thinking under the leadership of our former Athletic Director Steve Ridder. He was a leader that believed in and created a culture of empowerment and honest communication. Our current culture of leadership is a leader that does not fall into the charade of pretending to know the answers but rather a leader that asks the right questions and engages the right people when decision-making is necessary. One of the terms that we hold close to our culture is “servant leadership” which in itself flattens our hierarchy to show that everybody’s role is just as important as the person next to them.

The second reason is because the relationships in our department and our culture allow for anybody to raise their concerns about an issue. No one is “scared of the man” that thought does not even exist here and it creates an environment where everybody feels heard and valued.

Lastly is the lack of water cooler talk that speaks volumes about our culture. The success that we have endured over 26 years has been with the right people who believe in our vision as an organization or department. Our workforce is not people who are being told what to do, they are individuals who are passionate about our mission as an organization and enjoy working towards that together.

This culture has made strategy easier because our people are engaged therefore we make better decisions. We have underwent a lot of changes to our organization and our environment successfully the latest being our transition to the NCAA. Our structure has allowed for this transition although tough to be rather smooth and viewed as a challenge. This sort of culture in which the majority of decisions do not necessarily come from the top could present the implication of personal egos from leadership positions but for our organization that is not a concern.

A633.3.3.RB - Complex Adaptive Systems

An organization that reflects the image of a Complex Adaptive System is actually the one I currently work for, our athletic department at Embry Riddle. Our department is its own entity under the university umbrella because we have our own cultural norms, processes, and people working towards our mission as an athletic department. In the last couple of years our department has been undergoing drastic change as we make the transition from the NAIA to the NCAA. This process is long and rigorous and has tested our organization deeply. There are different rules and requirements that our new governing body has brought upon us and an organization unable to adapt would have failed. According to Obolensky (2010) in a CAS “people are very flexible and systems are open so information is shared and total transparency is gained”. In our organization we illustrate just that. Our hierarchy is rather flat and all of our coaches while having their own freedom, abide by our cultural norms and communicate freely with one another. The past year we have spent learning and communicating about the new procedures required with the NCAA, and we want to make sure that EVERYONE is well informed and prepared for these changes. “There are some clear and strictly followed processes, specially around recruitment”. This statement again describes perfectly our values and procedures that our organization follows. We recruit coaches who have high character and truly have a passion for developing young men and women, winning games is just a plus. Even further than the recruiting of our organizational members, we have a philosophy that our coaches believe in and that is that we recruit the “TOTAL PACKAGE…. The student, person, player… “This means that our coaches recruit student athletes that are great students first, great people with great character second, and lastly great players. This has allowed for us to find our niche in recruiting the best student athletes at the small college level. It has allowed us to enjoy that reputation and maintained our culture because of the people we bring into our family. Our organization has already been adaptive to change for over 20 years. We began as an athletic department with no athletic scholarships to one of the most decorated small college athletic programs in the NAIA. We have never been stagnant and are always growing and looking ahead. Our infrastructure and culture has allowed us to be dynamic and flexible at the hands of change, and in fact we embrace it. Moving forward I don’t think much has to change for our organization. We must continue to hold the norms that have gotten us this far and continue looking ahead to growth and change. We will continue to strategize fluidly about the future state of our organization and remained prepare for any change the environment may require.

Obolensky, Nick. Complex Adaptive Leadership: Embracing Paradox and Uncertainty. Farnham, England: Gower, 2010. Print.

A633.2.3.RB - Butterfly Effect

Prior to the readings, I did not know much about complexity science, relativity theory and other theories about the world that we live in. Taking away from them I can conclude that complexity is inevitable in an organization and it is something that has to be planned for and managed. Complexity can at the same time have simple components and solutions and it is a constant balancing act just as it is in the natural world. For organizations the environment is highly unpredictable and the more external and internal factors that a company is interconnected with the more complex and more unpredictable the environment. The butterfly effect, which ultimately states that a simple, seemingly insignificant event in a complex system can yield large changes, is a fascinating phenomenon to grasp. The Law of the Conservation of Energy states that the effort you put in will dictate the result you get out (Obolensky, 2010), but the butterfly effect negates that and shows that that sometimes small actions can yield large results. In an organization this is particularly true.

I can think of several times in our organization and my coaching career when a small change has yielded big results. In an athletic department and in sports team this happens quite often. A team sport such as basketball is one of the most interconnected sports. All 5 players are in close physical proximity, they all play defense and offense, and they are all in charged of scoring. This interconnection brings in a different dimension to the game and what it takes to be successful. The more talented team does not always win and there is a fine line between the correlation of talent and intangibles such as chemistry. In my six years at ERAU as a player and coach I have experienced many small coaching decisions that have made a huge impact. One that stands out is a story told to me by our head coach about a player he had a few years before me. Luis was one of the best players in the country, a prolific scorer and superior athlete who played both ends of the floor. There was only one problem with Luis, none of his teammates enjoyed playing with him, he never was engaged in huddles, and displayed selfish body language all too often. Coach made the decision to limit his playing time, which not only seems like a small decision but in the eyes of some, benching your best player seemed like the wrong decision. Luis went on to sit the rest of the season until a national tournament game when he had learned his lesson. But during the time without him the team won the conference and earned a bid to the national tournament all without their best player. They were playing together and inspired without the cancer of a teammate they once had. This is an example of a seemingly small decision such as  a single players minutes having a huge impact on team morale and success.

Another example can be seen in the administrative side of athletics. We often see coaches who come into a losing program and turn things around. A new coach who comes into a program with already existing players (and maybe recruits one or two new players) can have a huge impact on the success of the team. One may ask how one-person change can bring success to a team with the same talent or very similar? Well I believe it is attested to the butterfly effect and that small decision to hire an new coach who changes little things about the program the team and the culture that lead to big things in the long run.

This can be the case in an organization who makes a small personnel or organizational change that yields huge results. I believe in my organization the implications of complexity are just the unknowns and unpredictables that it brings forth, but with good assertive leadership and the right culture complexity does not have to be something we fear but rather something we thrive in.

A633.1.2.RB - Leadership Gap

When I reflect on my attitudes towards leaders I feel as if not much has changed. I always considered myself a leader whether it was in youth sports or with my younger brother, I always felt the need to do things the right way and set the example. Growing up I always looked up to people who I considered leaders such as my parents or my coaches, people who had a positive impact in my life. This admiration drove me to want to be a leader by example and I have continued to do so in my college basketball career and life. I believe the only thing that has changed about my ideas of leadership would be the scope of impact that a leader can have. As I came to college and played four years for my head coach Steve Ridder I came to realize what leadership is all about, serving others, empowering others, and doing things the right way for the right reasons. I realized just how impactful a single leader can be to so many people around them and it made me want to become a better leader who impacts other people positively.

I do not know much about my grandparents generation or even my parents but I believe that their views on leadership where a bit different. Leader’s in their eyes and generations were more likely positional leaders such as bosses and you listened to them because of their position. Nowadays I believe that things have shifted to a more meaningful form of leadership in which people do not want to be told what to do, now leaders inspire action. I believe this trend is continuing but it is a balance of the two as we lean more toward the substance of leadership such as inspiring action, empowering others, and leading by example.

I believe this has occurred partly because of the shift in our society and culture that everyone is becoming more and more educated in the workplace. People who have dedicated many years of their lives to mastering their craft in school do not want to come into a place of work where their boss just bosses them around. They want someone with experience that will motivate them and help them grow. This calls for leaders who want to build relationships and help grow the people and the organization they are a part of.