Relational Leadership: New Developments in Theory...
Transcript of Relational Leadership: New Developments in Theory...
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Relational Leadership: New Developments in Theory and Practice
Co-Chairs: Jody Hoffer Gittell, Brandeis UniversityAnne Douglass, University of Massachusetts Boston
Presenters:
Relational leadership as collective leadership: Mapping the territory Erica Foldy & Sonia Ospina, NYU Wagner School of Public Policy
D-Leadership and relational leadership: Beginning the conversationDeborah Ancona, Elaine Backman & Kate Parrot, MIT Sloan School of Management
From relational to sense leadership with savoir-relier: Leading in complexityValerie Gauthier, HEC Paris
Developing strategic relational leadershipCarsten Hornstrup, MacMann Berg; University of Tilburg
Leading in coordination: The meta-feedback role of leaders of performative groups John Paul Stephens, Case Western Reserve
Discussant:Joyce Fletcher, Simmons
Potential Sponsors:Organizational BehaviorOrganization and Management TheoryOrganizational Development & Change
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Relational Leadership: New Developments in Theory and Practice
In this symposium we explore relational leadership and related concepts, highlighting
new developments in theory and their implications for practice. Relational leadership is defined
here as a pattern of reciprocal interrelating between workers and managers to make sense of the
situation, to determine what is to be done and how to do it (Gittell & Douglass, 2012). Each
party learns from the other, with workers contributing the more focused in-depth knowledge
associated with their roles while managers contribute the broader less focused knowledge
associated with their roles. Together they create a more integrated holistic understanding of the
situation. This process of reciprocal interrelating involves communicating through relationships
of shared goals, shared knowledge and mutual respect, with mutual respect as an emotional
connection that heightens each party’s attentiveness to the needs and insights of the other,
triggering cognitive connections in the form of shared goals and shared knowledge.
In the traditional bureaucratic organizational form, by contrast, the worker-manager
relationship is defined by norms of hierarchy and power-over rather than power-with (Weber,
1920). At the same time this hierarchy is embedded in roles that provide some protection against
outright domination (Weber, 1920). “Hierarchy without domination” means that a realm of
autonomy exists within the confines of a worker’s job description, protected by formal rules
from outright domination (Weber, 1920). Theories of street-level bureaucracy (Lipsky, 1980) as
well as more recent theories of job-crafting (Berg, Grant & Johnson, 2010, Wrzesniewski&
Dutton, 2001) suggest that workers do have a realm of autonomy even in traditional bureaucratic
organizations, providing them discretion within the confines of their job descriptions and even
enabling them to reshape their job descriptions. This realm of autonomy can be used to withhold
work effort but can also be used to take actions on behalf of customers or to increase the
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meaning of the work. Effective use of this autonomy is limited however when workers lack
understanding of the whole due to their subordinate position in the bureaucratic hierarchy and
their constrained role in the horizontal division of labor.
In the pure relational organizational form, participants exercise influence based on their
personal qualities rather than their roles. The upside of the relational form is that participants
must earn the commitment or loyalty of other organizational participants. The downside is that
the lack of role-based authority means there are no formal limits to the use of that authority,
which can degenerate into despotism or nepotism as Weber argued when making his case for the
superiority of the bureaucratic form.
Relational leadership differs from the leadership found in the pure bureaucratic form and
the pure relational form by being both role-based and reciprocal. Relational leadership builds on
Follett’s (1949) concept of reciprocal control, a form of control that is not coercive but rather “a
coordinating of all functions, that is, a collective self-control” (1949: 226). Achieving this
collective self-control, she argued, requires a form of leadership that is distributed throughout the
organization rather than concentrated in a few positions. Follett observed organizations in which
“we find responsibility for management shot all through a business [and] some degree of
authority all along the line [such that] leadership can be exercised by many people besides the
top executive” (1949: 183). Rather than vesting authority in one person over another based on
his or her position in the hierarchy, authority is shared (Fletcher, 1999). The core characteristic
of relational leadership is the embedding of authority into each role, based on the knowledge
associated with it.
Distributed leadership, carried out by both formal and informal leaders throughout the
organization to facilitate achievement of organizational objectives (Ancona & Bresman, 2007),
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has several characteristics in common with to relational leadership. Distributed leadership is a
form of influence that can be exercised by participants at any level of an organization, and
moreover, leaders are most effective when they can inspire others to engage in the
responsibilities of leadership rather than attempting to carry out all leadership responsibilities on
their own. Distributed leadership thus would appear to require facilitative leadership behaviors
rather than directive leadership behaviors, and transformative leadership behaviors rather than
transactional or passive leadership behaviors. Lending support to this perspective, Carson and
co-authors (2007) found that supportive supervisory behaviors predict greater frontline worker
engagement in shared leadership.
However, relational leadership does more than draw upon expertise and leadership from
participants throughout the organization. It is a process of reciprocal interrelating through which
the expertise held by different participants interpenetrates, creating a more holistic perspective
that is integrative rather than additive. Relational leadership requires facilitating the
interpenetration of expertise among others, which in turn requires the skills to build relationships
among others, creating a safe space in which they can reciprocally interrelate with each other.
According to Lipman-Blumen (1992: 184), facilitating connections among others is a key
attribute of connective leadership:
Connective leadership derives its label from its character of connecting individuals not
only to their own tasks and ego drives, but also to those of the group and community that
depend upon the accomplishment of mutual goals. It is leadership that connects
individual to others and to others’ goals, using a broad spectrum of behavioral strategies.
It is leadership that ‘proceeds from a premise of connection’ (Gilligan, 1982) and a
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recognition of networks of relationships that bind society in a web of mutual
responsibilities.
Fletcher’s concept of ”fluid expertise” (1999: 64) in the worker-manager relationship
reflects a co-creation process consistent with relational leadership:
[P]ower and/or expertise shifts from one party to the other, not only over time but in the
course of one interaction. This requires two skills. One is a skill in empowering others;
an ability to share - in some instances even customizing - one's own reality, skill,
knowledge, etc. in ways that made it accessible to others. The other is skill in being
empowered: an ability and willingness to step away from the expert role in order to learn
from or be influenced by the other.
Fluid expertise requires mutual respect, as well as the ability to be caring, responsive and closely
attuned to another through the development of both cognitive and emotional connections. One
characteristic of relational leadership is leading through humble inquiry, described by Schein
(2009) as a form of giving, seeking and receiving help that leaders can use to establish a culture
of reciprocal learning throughout an organization.
Relational leadership (worker-manager), along with relational coordination (worker-
worker) and relational coproduction (worker-customer), are three processes of reciprocal
interrelating that form the core of relational bureaucracy. Relational bureaucracy is a hybrid of
the relational and bureaucratic forms in which reciprocal interrelating enables participants
torespond to each other in knowledgeable and caring ways, while formal structures embed
reciprocal interrelating into roles, thus enabling the scalability and sustainability typically
associated with the bureaucratic form (Gittell & Douglass, 2012).
Structure of symposium
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This symposium explores relational forms of leadership, with participants from multiple
perspectives seeking to articulate the theories behind these forms of leadership as well as their
implications for practice. We start with a mapping of the territory by Foldy and Ospina, arguing
that relational leadership is one of several forms of collective leadership. Ancona, Backman and
Parrott follow with an updated look at distributed leadership and its characteristics – distributed,
decentralized and decoupled from roles, outlining similarities with and differences from the
concept of relational leadership.
Gauthier and Hornstrup each explore relational leadership as a process of sensemaking in
the face of complexity, recognizing both cognitive and emotional dimensions of this process.
We conclude with a study by Stephens that explores how leaders foster coordination among
others through meaning making, a process that involves embodying the whole for diverse
participants.
As discussant, Fletcher will launch the symposium with buzz groups, asking audience
members to discuss with each other what they hope to learn. She will break at two points during
the symposium to allow additional buzz groups among audience members, then will present her
overarching commentary at the conclusion, followed by audience discussion.
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Potential sponsors
The proposed symposium explores the micro-processes of relational leadership, thus
creating a potential fit with the Organizational Behavior Division. We explore the implications of
these micro-processes of leadership for the organizational form itself, and the organization’s
ability to achieve critical performance outcomes, thus creating a potential fit with the
Organization and Management Theory Division. We explore relational leadership as a means for
transforming mechanistic organizations to become more responsive to complexity and
uncertainty, creating a potential fit with the Organizational Development and Change Division.
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Relational leadership as collective leadership: Mapping the territory
Erica Gabrielle Foldy & Sonia OspinaWagner School of Public Service, New York University
As criticisms of traditional leadership theory and research amplify and diversify, a variety
of new terms challenge the notion of leadership as a one-directional relationship between leader
and follower. Scholars have referred to leadership as “shared”, “distributed,” “constructed,”
“post-heroic” and “relational” among other terms (Pearce & Conger, 2003; Gronn, 2002;
Hosking, 2003; Drath, 2001; Ospina & Sorenson, 2006; Fletcher, 2004; Uhl-Bien, 2006). While
they all rest on a basic assumption that leadership does not automatically reside in a single, often
heroic, individual, these conceptualizations of shared leadership vary widely. In this
presentation, we provide a brief map of the territory -- a framework that suggests the basic
dimensions that can differentiate these approaches. We then suggest “collective leadership” as an
umbrella term that encompasses these conceptualizations and position relational leadership
within this framework.
The move away from the single, heroic, leader is not new. Several decades of
scholarship have explored how leadership is practiced – implicitly or explicitly -- as a joint
endeavor (Hollander, 1964; Burns, 1976; Rust, 1991). However, the last decade has seen a burst
of scholarship investigating this phenomenon, along with a proliferation of terminology to
describe it. While many of the terms may appear similar or even interchangeable, in fact they
differ significantly in what they describe. Having reviewed the relevant literature in management
and organization studies, psychology and education, we suggest two basic dimensions along
which the different approaches can be plotted: the “locus of leadership” and the “view of self”
(see Table 1).
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The locus of leadership is where leadership resides; it is the source of leadership or its
“epicenter” (Hiller, Day and Vance, 2006); it is where, as researchers, we look for leadership.
There are three loci: the individual, the relationship and the system. The traditional and still
dominant perspective is the individual as the locus of leadership: leadership is enacted by
individuals who have the appropriate traits, characteristics or styles and engage in measurable
leaderly behaviors (Antonakis et al, 2003). Other work understands leadership as based in the
relationship between leaders and followers: “Leadership is a concept of relationship; it assumes
the existence of some people who follow one or more others… There can be no leadership if
there is just one person” (Pearce, Conger and Locke, 2007, 287). A third approach is to see
leadership as belonging to the collective (Drath et al, 2008) or residing in a system or context –
social, organizational, even a group or team. Spillane et al, scholars of education, suggest
leadership should be conceptualized as “a distributed practice, stretched over the social and
situational contexts of the school” (their italics; 2004; 5). Smircich and Morgan see leadership as
“enact[ing] a system of shared meaning that provides the basis for organizational action” (1982:
258).
Views of self are rooted in the researcher’s ontological and epistemological assumptions
about the very nature of human beings, with consequent understandings of “the self” as
individuated and autonomous or connected and co-constructed. When applied to leadership,
these assumptions paint different pictures of how the relationships undergirding leadership
actually work. Positivist and post-positivist approaches understand the self as a distinct entity,
clearly bounded, which then engages with other, similarly autonomous beings (Uhl-Bien, 2006;
Ospina&Uhl-Bien, forthcoming). In this “entity” approach, the leader and leadership are
confounded (Hosking, 1988), with leadership defined as an influence relationship between two
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social actors -- leader and follower -- who exist as such, prior to the relationship. Leadership is
explained by the neo-charismatic school, for example, as a process by which leaders “affect
followers as a result of motivational mechanisms that are induced by the leaders’ behaviors”
(Antonakis, 2011: 270), including “visionary behavior, positive self-presentation, empowering
behaviors, calculated risk taking and self-sacrificial behavior, intellectual stimulation, supportive
leader behavior and adaptive behavior” (271).
In contrast, a constructionist perspective sees the self as self-in-connection, created
through interaction, with no inherent core or status independent of that which is forged through
that interrelationship (Dachler& Hosking, 1995; Ospina &Uhl-Bien, forthcoming). In the
constructionist approach, leadership (and those defined as leaders or followers) emerges in
process as co-constructions that help advance organizing tasks (Hosking, 1988). Leadership
happens in context, it does not exist prior to the relationship: "leaders must constantly enact their
relationship with their followers;" they "must repeatedly perform leadership in communication
and through discourse" (Fairhurst, 2007: 5). In this approach leadership is understood as
relational in that it emerges only in the context of “a particular form of interaction happening at a
certain time and place” (Drath, 2001: 16). In this sense, leadership is not something that the
leader, as one person, possesses, as much as it is something achieved in community and owned
by the group (Ospina& Sorenson, 2006; Foldy et al, 2008).
Plotting each of the two dimensions on a separate axis creates six cells which each
represent a different conceptualization of collective leadership, corresponding to different
degrees or types of collectivity. (In Table 1, we have suggested specific approaches and scholars
whose work illustrates each cell.) We very deliberately choose the term “collective” because it
can encompass all of the quite varied forms in the framework. Terms like “distributed” or
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“joint” leadership suggest that leadership resides in autonomous individuals who then share
particular leadership tasks. Words like “processual” (Hosking, 1988) or “discursive” (Fairhurst,
2007) imply a more disembodied approach, one that investigates the process or work of
leadership rather than the behaviors of individual leaders and followers. The term collective is
elastic enough to provide a broad umbrella, as suggested by this definition: “involving all
members of a group as distinct from its individuals”1.
The place of relational leadership in the framework varies because people have used the
term in different ways. For example, the definition posed for this panel is relational leadership as
“a process of role-based reciprocal interrelating” between workers and managers to negotiate the
work that is to be done. In contrast, Uhl-Bien (2006) defines relational leadership as “a social
influence process through which emergent coordination (i.e., evolving social order) and change
(e.g., new values, attitudes, approaches, behaviors, and ideologies) are constructed and
produced.” (2006: 655) The first definition implies that leadership inheres in independent
individuals who inter-relate across different hierarchical positions. The second locates
leadership in a jointly constructed but disembodied process, not in individuals. Uhl-Bien (2006)
proposes Relational Leadership Theory as an approach that can encompass both individuated and
connected perspectives by explaining both the emergence of leadership relationships (drawing on
traditional individuated views that focus on the nature of the relationship, such as Leader-
Member Exchange), and the relational dynamics of organizing (including various constructionist
views of leadership). In fact, the term “relational” has been used to refer to quite distinct
understandings of leadership, each with different ontological and epistemological assumptions
1 Retrieved from On-line Merriam-Webster Dictionary, December 30, 2011: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/collective
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that result in quite distinct approaches to conducting research (Uhl-Bien &Ospina, forthcoming).
This suggests the timing is right for a symposium exploring relational leadership.
Table 1: A map of collective approaches to leadership
View of “Self”
Locus of leadership
Individuated self Connected self
Individual Co-leadership – Sally (2002); Hennan & Bennis (1999)Leadership couples – Bennis & Biederman (1997); Gronn (1999)
Connective leadership – Lipman-Blumen (1992)
RelationshipLMX – Graen & Scandura, (1987); Graen & Uhl-Bien (1995)Relational Leadership – Gittell & Douglas (2012)Follower Centered Leadership – Meindl (1995); Shamir et al (2007)Shared Leadership – Pearce & Conger (2003)
Relational Leadership Theory - Uhl-Bien (2006)Post-heroic Leadership – Fletcher (2004)
SystemDistributed Leadership – Gronn (2002); Spillane (2006)Shared Leadership in teams- Carson, Tesluk & Marrone (2007); Day, Gronn & Salas (2006)Networks – DeLima (2008); Balkundi & Kilduff (2006)
Constructed Leadership - Drath (2001); Ospina & Sorenson (2006); Foldy et al (2008)Discursive Leadership -Fairhurst (2007)Processual Leadership -Hosking (1988)Complexity Leadership Theory - Uhl-Bien, Marion &McKelvey (2007)
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D-leadership and relational leadership: Beginning the conversation
Deborah Ancona, Elaine Backman & Kate ParrotMIT Sloan School of Management
The purpose of this symposium is to explore relational leadership and related concepts. In
this presentation, we introduce the concept of “D-leadership” which we developed based upon
intensive fieldwork in organizations operating in dynamic, highly competitive industries. D-
leadership refers to leadership that is decentralized, distributed and collective, and de-coupled
from organizational roles. In the presentation, we provide a brief description of our research
questions and methods; present the D-leadership model; highlight our main findings; and identify
three ways that the D-leadership model differs from the relational leadership model developed by
the symposium organizers.
Research background
There are two largely separate but parallel literatures documenting the fact that both
organizations and leadership practices have changed dramatically over the past three decades. On
the one hand, macro-organizational scholars have provided evidence that organizations have
become flatter; more reliant on the use of teams; less formalized with fewer work rules and less
detailed job descriptions; and characterized by more porous boundaries (DiMaggio 2003). On the
other hand, micro-organizational scholars have found that in many sectors, there has been a
move away from “command and control” leadership in which leadership is exercised
individually by those in formal positions of authority in a clearly defined hierarchy, toward
“shared leadership” (e.g. Carson et al, 2002), “distributed leadership” (e.g. Gronn 2002) or
“complexity leadership” (e.g. Uhl-Bien et al 2007) in which leadership is exercised by multiple
leaders throughout the organization -- some in formal positions of authority and some not --
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working collaboratively across organizational levels and boundaries. This research brings these
two literatures together by: 1) providing detailed, empirical descriptions of how collaborative
leadership is being practiced in organizations considered exemplars in this new leadership form,
and 2) identifying what organizational structures, practices and cultures support it. We employed
a theory-building, comparative case study methodology (Eisenhart & Graebner 2007) using the
following data sources:
A study of leadership practices at two R&D labs at a Fortune-500 business equipment and
services company, one with a long history of collaborative leadership practices, the other
which operated in a “command and control” manner. We studied two product development
projects in each lab relying on extensive interview data augmented by archival data,
observation of on-site meetings, and feedback sessions with study participants.
A study of leadership practices in a mid-sized, privately held company that develops and
manufactures high-tech products in consumer and business markets considered an exemplar
of collaborative leadership. We studied two product development teams, two process
change efforts, and two strategic change initiatives, relying on extensive interview data
augmented by archival data, observational data from site visits in the U.S, China and
Germany, and feedback sessions with study participants.
Secondary data from five other companies known as exemplars of collaborative leadership
to fill in gaps and add external validity to our case study findings.
Findings
1. “D-Leadership”
In analyzing leadership patterns in organizations identified as exemplars of collaborative
leadership we found that they are characterized by three inter-related factors:
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Leadership is more decentralized than in command and control organizations, with
many change initiatives initiated and led by individuals and teams operating at lower
organizational levels.
Leadership is designed to tap the distributed and collective intelligence of
organizational members in making leadership decisions. Thus, leadership is often
shared among individuals with different forms of knowledge and expertise.
Leadership is more decoupled from formal leadership positions than in traditional
command and control organizations. Many individuals in non-managerial positions
initiate, champion and lead change initiatives.
In short, we found that leadership in these settings was decentralized, distributed and
collective, and decoupled from formal roles, hence we call our model “D-leadership”
We were also struck by three additional findings. First, we found very high levels of
leadership self-efficacy at all organizational levels. Many individuals drive change within these
organizations and have confidence in their ability to step into leadership roles. Second, we found
employees in these settings shared a broad awareness of the business goals and strategies of their
organizations, a phenomenon we call a “global mindset.” This meant that, regardless of their
formal roles, individuals could exert leadership informed by the broader goals and guiding
principles of their organizations. Third, we found these organizations had routines for vetting
ideas, creating teams, conducting experiments and accessing organizational resources in a timely
manner that were widely-known and accessible to members throughout the organization. In
short, there were interwoven sets of dynamic capabilities that facilitated leadership within
innovation and change processes.
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2. Organizational practices and policies that support D-leadership
The following organizational structures, practices and cultures appeared to support D-leadership:
Hiring for leadership self-efficacy and collaborative ability
Long on-boarding processes and ongoing socialization to sustain strong understanding of
organizational goals and principles as an aid to decision-making
Organizational managers operating as coaches, not bosses
Orchestration of, and rewards for, creative, cross-functional interaction and collaboration
Well developed processes for collective vetting and selection of new initiatives
Just-in-time structures and flexible resources available for new initiatives
Mechanisms for coordinating and aligning individual and team efforts
Widely shared mechanisms and norms that support risk prevention and mitigation
A culture of perceived fairness and transparency
Relational leadership and D-leadership
In their conceptualization, Gittell and Douglass define relational leadership as “a pattern
of reciprocal interrelating between workers and managers regarding what is to be done and how
best to do it” (Gittell & Douglass 2012). This form of leadership, they argue, allows
organizations to fuse the more focused, in-depth knowledge of workers with the broader, less
focused knowledge of managers to create a “more integrated, holistic understanding of the
situation” (Gittell& Douglass 2012). Finally, they note that relational leadership is one of three
key processes in role-based interrelating, along with relational coordination (worker-worker) and
relational coproduction (worker-customer). The D-leadership model differs in a number of
important ways:
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1. In the D-leadership model, leadership decisions arise not just from worker-manager
interactions, but from worker-worker and worker-customer interactions as well. In fact,
our case data suggests that these decisions most often involve intertwined sets of
recursive interactions involving all three types of agents. Thus the level of analysis shifts
from the dyad to the system or network of relationships.
2. The relational model rests upon the assumption that managers and workers have very
different knowledge bases. In the organizations we studied, however, there was a great
deal of overlap in the knowledge base of workers and managers.
3. Finally, in the D-leadership model, leadership behavior emerges from the interaction of
leaders, teams and contexts. Leadership cannot be viewed in isolation but must be seen
as an emergent process.
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From relational to sense leadership with savoir-relier: Leading in complexity
Valérie GauthierHEC Paris, MIT Sloan
In the concept of savoir-relier, we address two dimensions of leadership: relational and
sensible. We define savoir-relier as the capacity and will to build sensible, trustworthy and
sustainable relationships across boundaries (i.e. between entities that are inherently different,
opposite or antagonistic), hence encouraging and valuing differences to engage in positive and
mindful innovation. To do so, savoir-relier enacts sense (meaning, sensibility, vision) out of
complexity for both the individual and the organization in their relation to the world as they
become relational sense-builders who are capable of embracing complexity with efficiency as
well as respect and humility.
This article is based on three assumptions: 1) Following Morin’s theory on complexity
(from the Latin Complexus: “that which is woven together”), we argue that the world’s
complexity cannot be filtered through the lens of rationality or specialized and isolated scientific
disciplines alone; thus organizational theory needs to bind psychological and sociological
perspectives and open to subjective sensibility as a complement to objective rationality and to
transdisciplinarity as a new way to address this complexity. 2) Secondly we argue that the savoir-
relier process for leaders and organizations is analogous to the process of poetic translation as
presented in the poetic translation theory (Gauthier, 1994): by translating the unexpected
associations between heterogeneous constituents (as in the sounds, images and meaning in a
poem) and by re-creating a new and dynamic ensemble that builds mindful and sensible sense for
the new environment in which it thrives. 3) This understanding of complexity and poetic
metaphor applied to leadership opens the door to a new way of approaching leadership where the
relational sense-building capacity of individuals and organizations as living systems functions
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effectively in complex settings that carry a multiplicity of paradoxical constituents and
uncertainty factors. We will address the role of the SR leader, manager or function in the
organization with reference to three different settings. In so doing, we will thus link to existing
research and lay foundation for future research in organizational theory, leadership, decision-
making or any other area touching upon complex thinking where the savoir-relier perspective
can be further exemplified and strengthened.
Savoir-relier as a response to complexity
We understand complexity as posing the paradox of the one and the many, of order and
disorder, of subject and object, of reductionism and holism. Facing complexity in this way
requires a paradigm shift where relationship and sense building play a central role. At the level
of organizations, large and small, anywhere in the world, we argue that the need for sense to
perform at complex global levels involves savoir-relier capacity. It is translated into
organizations that face and address complexity as “a fabric of heterogeneous constituents that are
inseparably associated” (Morin, 2008) by developing a savoir-relier that builds sense out of
mindful connections between those constituents and fosters positive innovation. Complexity is
“the fabric of events, actions, interactions, retroactions, determinations, and chance that
constitute our phenomenal world” (Morin, 2008).
Organizations as living systems
The complexity theory of Morin draws from a wide range of domains where savoir-relier
already applies, such as natural sciences and human sciences and we open the door to different
possible applications and research to further demonstrate the relevance of this concept for
thriving businesses and people in our 21st century world of complexity. For instance, the science
of ecology was born out of the central concept of ecosystem: “the organizational ensemble that
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constitutes itself by means of interactions between living beings and the geophysical conditions
of a specific place… ecosystems are themselves part of the biosphere which has its own life and
regulations” (Morin 2008: 88).
To further explain what subtends Morin’s vision of complexity we illustrate the three
principles it relies on: dialogic, recursive and holographic. The dialogic principle emphasizes a
special kind of link where the elements are necessary to each other, both complementary and
antagonistic. The second principle is called recursive as individuals produce society that
produces individuals. This cycle of production is itself self-constitutive, self-organizing and self-
producing, hence producing a relational circuit. The third principle surpasses both reductionism
and holism by relying on the image of the hologram where the sociologist is part of the society of
which she is not the center, but a part and possessed by all society. In the end, the holographic
principle binds with recursive logic, which is linked to the dialogic idea so that knowledge of the
parts is enriched by knowledge of the whole, which in turns draws from knowledge of the parts,
producing a single productive movement of knowledge.
Relational leadership as a sensemaking process
While building upon Morin’s theory of complexity we make a positive link with the use
of the basic evolutionary epistemology process assumed by the organization concept of
sensemaking (Weick, 1993). In this sensemaking process, we see a transition between the
complex thinking process and the savoir-relier process through the retrospective interpretations
that are built during interdependent interaction (Campbell, 1965, 1997). Sensemaking can be
treated as “reciprocal exchanges between actors (Enactment) and their environments (Ecological
Change) that are made meaningful (Selection) and preserved (Retention). We will call this model
“enactment theory,” as has become the convention in organizational work” (e.g., Jennings and
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Greenwood 2003in Weick, 2005: 414). While this retrospective process differs from the
recursive principle in Morin’s theory, the reciprocal interrelations and the notions of
ambivalence in the use of previous knowledge can be linked to the complex and dynamic
holographic and dialogic principles.
Accordingly, using an analogy with the poetic translation process (Gauthier, 1994) we
argue that the following skills are necessary for effective relational leadership: 1) An intuitive
mind to perceive the unique and complex forces that build sense out of a system. It is the same
intuition that, pushed by the desire to innovate and combined with creativity, will help in the
final act of re-creation and sense-building in line with decisions made on the way. 2) An
analytical mind to get a deep understanding by decomposing and decoding complex situations
and problems. This refers to the capacity of a leader to discern patterns, understand different
viewpoints, listen and empathize with people’s diverging and heterogeneous ideas before and in
order to forge a vision and before making any decision. 3) The ability to integrate uncertainty
and chance in assimilating the complexity of the environment where the situation lies and
where it goes (vision) thanks to the holographic principle. The leader here needs to capture the
sum of contradictory and ambiguous pieces of information both as part and as a whole to build a
vision for the organization to move forward. To be effective, such assimilation of uncertain
chance events requires a high degree of self-awareness and introspection in order to identify and
accept the role of the subjective in the objective so as to build a sound and responsible vision for
the organization. 4) A capacity to “decenter” oneself and create a movement from the original
situation in its living system to the new one, which encompasses agility. Here the leader proves
again her capacity to adapt but also to weave between antagonistic environments or living
systems embedded in their language, space, culture and time. In leadership, this can be
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exemplified by strategic thinking (versus programming or planning). 5) Finally, the courage,
creativity and drive to make choices, decisions, and take calculated risks in the act of creative
translation so as to communicate them effectively. This final act of re-enunciation or re-creation
is what really distinguishes the savoir-relier leader from others by integrating timely, mindful
change and innovation with a sense of humility.
Applying savoir-relier to examples from recent research
We will finally explore how the savoir-relier concept can apply to organizations, using
three examples from recent research: 1) case managers in hospitals working across functional
boundaries as shown by Kellogg, 2) HR systems and helping in organizations as shown by
Mussholder et al and 3) brokers’ role in building creativity and innovation in the music industry
as shown by Long Lingo and O’Mahoney. These three examples will be presentedto
demonstrate how savoir-relier contributes to further understanding relational leadership as a
process of sensemaking.
Conclusion
To survive the 21st century’s rational, specialized, individualistic and complex world,
organizations need to resolve the tension between the necessary agility to adapt to a fast
changing complex environment and the need for sense reflected in their ability to foster
innovation with vision, sensibility, mindfulness and ethical values. Whether this tension is
positive or negative, the resulting challenges and paradoxes require a new approach to
leadership, which involves two essential building capacities: one with respect to relationships
and the other with respect to sense.
22
Developing strategic relational leadership
Carsten HornstrupMacMann Berg/University of Tilburg
The aim of this research project is to develop a relational approach to strategic leadership
and organizational communication. In the initial face of the project the focus has been to develop
a coherent theoretical framework, inspired by systemic and constructionist ideas. The ambition is
to use his frame as a thinking tool (Hornstrup et.al. 2012) as a source of inspiration for
developing fruitful practices. The basic idea is that modern organizations are facing two key
challenges. Building on interviews with 1500 CEO’s from public and private organizations, the
conclusion is, that the increasing complexity and an increasing change rate is by far seen as the
two biggest challenges for managers. To be able to exist and thrive in these circumstances,
organizations must be able to exploit complexity and change. One of the key elements in doing
so is by developing their ability to change or innovate their management and organizational
processes. In other words, the challenge is to get from change management to creating
organizations that develop their adaptability or changeability.
Background
Increasing complexity and speed of change are two of the key challenges we face in
strategic leadership of modern organizations (Hamel 2007, IBM 2010). One of the key obstacles
to meeting these challenges is the use of out-dated mental models, built on a rational and
mechanical understanding of organizations and human communication (Pearce 2008, Gergen
2010). These mental models have much more in common with the early 20thcentury thinking
with its focus on solving very simple problems – creating frameworks for turning human beings
into “semi programmable robots” (Hamel 2007). As Hamel argued: ”To a large extent, your
23
company is being managed right now by a small coterie of long-departed theorists and
practitioners who invented rules and conventions of ‘modern’ management back in the early
days of the 20thcentury. They are the poltergeists who inhabit the musty machinery of
management” (Hamel 2007: ix). When considering the images often used to describe
organizations, the mechanistic view can be seen in the charts and diagrams that tend to dominate
our thinking about organizational design. “They are the product of the static understandings
generated by a mechanical view of organizations” (Morgan 1997: 6).
An important difference between a mechanistic and a systemic-constructionist approach
to organizational communication is that the former is based on an epistemology that assumes we
can transmit information, knowledge, experiences from one person or one consciousness to
another (Weick 1995, Pearce 2004, 2008), while the latter is based on the notion that each group
constructs its own image of the world (Maturana & Varela 1987, Maturana &Poerksen 2004).
This socially constructed image guides people’s perception of themselves and the world around
them and guides the way they communicate and create relationships within and outside their
group (Gergen 2009, 2010).
Strategic relational leadership
In developing the concept of strategic relational leadership, I address three different
domains of leadership communication (Lang, Little & Cronen 1990, Hornstrup et. al. 2012).
Together these domains can open us to seeing organizations as not just as “systematic (rational)
systems” but also as “ecologies of relationships and communication” (Bateson 1972, 1979).
These domains include both the domain of production, the domain of aesthetics and the domain
of explanation. The domain of production focuses on how the more rational aspects of
relationships and communication influence organizational coordination through clarity and
24
transparency while the domain of aesthetics focuses on how the more emotional side of
relationships and communication influence organizational coherence and coordination through
culture, emotions, beliefs and attitudes. Finally the domain of explanation includes curiosity,
reflexivity and irreverence (Cecchin 1987, Tomm 1988, Cecchin et.al. 1992, Barge 2004,
Hornstrup, Tomm & Johansen 2009).
Looking at the different domains in a more practical light, each contributes to our
understanding and ability to work with strategic organizational issues. The domain of production
invites us to develop organizational patterns of stable relationships and communication in a way
that creates clarity and transparency – clarity about goals, roles, directions and relations and
transparency about what, why and why not. Transparency is a way of addressing the things we
can be relatively certain about while admitting that there are unforeseen or unknown issues that
will influence us as we move into the future. In this way transparency is a vital part of creating
more distributed strategic competences because it invites everyone to be aware of uncertainty
and thereby invites everyone to pay attention to the fact that things very well might change
(Pearce 2008).
The domain of aesthetics, with its focus on culture, emotions, beliefs and attitudes, is
important both as a condition for and an obstacle to change. Very often organizational cultures
and values work as a hindrance for change. Using the iceberg metaphor, the largest and heaviest
part of organizational culture is below the water line and pulls in the direction of stability. We
must be aware of the effects of cultures and values and look at them with both appreciative and
irreverent eyes (Cooperrider & Srivastva 1987, Cooperrider & Withney 1999, 2000). To look at
them with appreciative eyes means to look at them as an underlying logic that guides the way we
see, understand and act (Hornstrup & Loehr-Petersen 2003). If we don't appreciate the value and
25
the culture, very often people will take it as criticism of something dear to them. In other words,
before moving in the direction of changing the organizational system, we should be aware of the
positive aspects of any culture. At the same time we need to look at cultures with irreverent and
challenging eyes – or rather, invite people to be active participants in taking an irreverent look at
their own culture. If we don't involve people in this process, and do it with a high degree of
transparency, we often end up with even more change resistant organizations (Steensen 2010).
To keep the awareness and ability for change, the domain of explanation is vital. It is by
keeping a reflexive open mind and keeping our curiosity alive that we create organizations with a
high degree of flexibility. If we connect these capabilities (curiosity, reflexivity and irreverence)
to the domains of production and aesthetics, we can open up space for more flexible structures
and procedures and create cultures where change is a natural part of organizational life.
Together, I propose, these three domains allow leaders to bridge the hard-core and soft-core
aspects of leading and organizing.
26
Leading in coordination: The meta-feedback role of leaders of performative groups
John Paul StephensCase Western Reserve University
Recent research on coordination has had little to say about the role of leaders. Rather,
organizational scholars have focused more on the practice of coordination amongst
organizational actors. Specifically, scholars have focused on how various qualities of
communication and feedback influence coordination, such as speech, actions, and systems that
reflect more mindful consideration of the relationships amongst actions within and between
workgroups (Bechky, 2003; 2006; Dougherty, 1992; Gittell, 2002; Hargadon & Bechky, 2006;
Kellogg, Orlikowski, &Yates, 2006; Weick & Roberts, 1993). All of these studies have provided
detailed knowledge of how individuals use symbols, language, and routines to successfully
interrelate their actions at work. However, we know little about the involvement of those in
leadership positions (as managers or centralized coordinators) who must surely be present in
these contexts.
The place of leaders in coordination at once seems important, but may understandably
have been left as secondary to organizational scholars. Leadership is important because
coordination has been defined as the "management of interdependencies" (Malone &Crowston,
2000), and calls for the examination of coordination at the managerial level of analysis were
made over thirty years ago (see Van de Ven, Delbecq, & Koenig, 1976). On the other hand, the
role of supervisors, managers and leaders may be readily downplayed in coordination research
given the decreasing importance of hierarchy in modern work organizations that rely more on
virtual collaboration and networked designs. However, even the more recent accounts of
coordination that examine post-bureaucratic, less-hierarchical organizational contexts, hint at the
27
role of those in senior management positions concerned with "different groups of people with
different skills, backgrounds, and experience, education, career expectations, expectations about
what their work day will be like" (Kellogg, Orlikowski, & Yates, 2006: 26). In a similar context,
the CEO of a modern design firm was aware of how important it was to "pick two people, with
different experiences and maybe even different training and put them together and you’ve got
that kind of a synergy, an exchange of ideas" (Hargadon & Bechky, 2006: 489). Thus, the fluid
self-organization of organizational actors that took place in these contexts was at least partly
overseen and understood by someone in a managerial or leadership role. Accounting for the
mutually-reciprocal influence between those who must lead groups of people interrelating their
actions, and those performing coordination should enhance and make more robust our
explanations of how coordination works and why it might sometimes fail.
Some exploratory theoretical and empirical work begins to describe how leaders may be
involved in the coordination of workgroups. First, while Weick and Roberts' (1993) description
of how coordination occurs through heedful interrelating focuses primarily on how individual
crew members relate their efforts, they also describe how the bosun, or the ship's central
coordinator envisages the work of the collective. They describe how the bosun thinks "about the
kind of environment he will create on the deck that day, given the schedule of operations...he
represents the capabilities and weaknesses of imagine crewmembers' responses in his thinking,
when he tailors sequences of activities so that improvisation and flexible response are activated
as an expected part of the day's adaptive response" (Weick & Roberts, 1993: 370). They
continue: "the bos'n does not plan specific step-by-step operations but, rather, plans which crews
will do the planning and deciding, when, and with what resources at hand."
This picture of a leader's involvement in coordination suggests that he or she would be
28
responsible for designing and being continuously aware of the mental map of the group's
operations. Such knowledge would be based in situation awareness, where actors are mindful of
the elements in the environment within which they are coordinating, e.g. the actions and needs of
others (Endsley, 1988; Weick, Sutcliffe, & Obstfeld, 1999). In the course of performing
coordination, this situation awareness is based on dynamic mental models of the state of the
group, which is continuously updated based on the changing needs and actions of group
members (Rico, Sanchez-Manzanares, Gil & Gibson, 2008). While a ship's bos'n may tend to
check on the progress of tasks as they are completed, an example from another unique case of
collective work - a choir and its conductor - better describes how the leader continuously guides
and re-presents for the group the state of its coordinated activities. In an exploratory
ethnographic study, the conductor was observed to plan out the sequence of actions in a
rehearsal, and to modify the musical notation prescribed for each vocal section (Stephens, 2010).
The conductor's gestural and verbal expressions that accompanied the choir's performance not
only guided the tempo, volume and pitch of performance, but also helped individual singers to
recognize whether their interrelation of sounds was beautiful or not. Unlike the bos'n, the
conductor served as a continuously accessible source of feedback for the entire group as its
members coordinated and not just before or after the performance of coordination.
Out of the myriad theoretical perspectives on leadership found in the organizational
studies literature, these examples of leaders in coordination within groups are best linked to
social identity perspectives on leadership. Such a perspective is most relevant since it explicitly
deals with leadership as a quality of group membership, rather than as a quality of the individual
traits a leader might possess (Hogg & Van Knippenberg, 2003). In short, these perspectives
describe how, when the salience of group membership is high, individuals emerge as leaders who
29
seem to possess the qualities that are most desirable or prototypical of the group, such as
aspirations, values, and behaviors. The social attractiveness of these characteristics makes others
readily conform to the behaviors and beliefs of these individuals (Hogg, 2000; Hogg & Terry,
2001). However, in coordination, leaders must be simultaneously representative of the multiple
divisions of labor under their purview, be they firefighting, mechanics and cargo rigging in the
case of a bos'n, or singing the notes for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass sections in the case of a
conductor. These individuals would not be effective leaders if they were not adept at developing
the "syntax" needed to communicate effectively across multiple boundaries (Kellogg, Orlikowski
& Yates, 2006). This quality of leadership is important since the context of coordination causes
members of various sub-groups to encounter each other raising the salience of their unique
memberships (Dougherty, 1992; Heath & Staudenmayer, 2000); the research so far would
suggest that an effective leader needs to knowingly represent the superordinate system to each
individual sub-group or specialty in order to circumvent bias and discrimination.
This brief review suggests multiple questions ripe for exploration. First, we do not know
about the generalizability of this perspective on leaders in coordination: are managers and others
in leadership positions generally concerned with effectively representing the system to various
sub-groups? Second, we do not know how this representation would occur: while a bos'n may
possibly assign tasks for the day via verbal or written orders, and a conductor uses speech,
gesture (and even writing) to communicate the quality of the group's coordination, are these the
only effective media, and when are they best employed?
Method
In this paper, I will present data from in-depth qualitative interviews with leaders of
performative groups, viz. orchestral and choral conductors, and leaders of formal work
30
organizations, viz. managers and team leaders. Large musical ensembles present unique contexts
in which mechanisms of coordination are readily accessible for study. Research on orchestral
conductors suggests that their involvement in coordination is readily apparent (Marotto, Roos &
Victor, 2007), since “expressive signs which fail to communicate a sum total of information
which allows members to engage in lines of action and interaction can have little, if any,
authoritativeness within the orchestra” (Faulkner, 1973: 150).
Potential contributions
This research can potentially make at least three main contributions to our understanding
of leadership and coordination. First, the current study takes a different stance from a relational
view of leadership in which there is reciprocal interrelating between workers and managers
regarding what is to be done and how best to do it (Gittell & Douglass 2012). Rather, instead of
having the responsibility of leadership shot through the entire group or organization, the current
perspective explores the extent to which a leader can encompass the entire group in her thoughts
and actions. Second, this study should add to our understanding of the role of leader as boundary
spanner in coordination, and the role of communication. Those in managerial roles may find
themselves as boundary spanners, but this research suggests that developing an aptitude for
communicating clearly across multiple groups (and not just between two) is especially important
for coordination. Finally, this research re-specifies the applicability of social identity-based
theories of leadership to organizations. Successfully embodying the entire system or organization
for various kinds of group members would involve being most representative of multiple groups
simultaneously, which would require unique skills and contextual factors.
31
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