the expert as leader - stories from our latest research - webinar
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The Expert as Leader Stories from our latest research
Margi Gordon and Jonny Gifford
Roffey Park
www.roffeypark.com
Welcome to the Roffey Park webinar Experts as Leaders
Margi Gordon Jonny GiffordgDirector of Tailored Programmes
yPrincipal Researcher
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Some of our clientsSome of our clients…
The Expert as Leader – agendaThe Expert as Leader agenda
Research approach
Stories and examples on:Do we need technical experts to be leaders?– Do we need technical experts to be leaders?
– What sort of leaders do technical experts make?
H ‘ t l d hi ’ b d l d?– How can ‘expert leadership’ be developed?
Q&A
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Case study research ARM – semiconductor
manufacture
BAM construction BAM – construction engineering
‘Bioscience Research’
Cmed – clinical services and technology
‘C t id F d ti ‘Countywide Foundation Trust’
RBS Insurance
Syngenta – agriculture research and technology
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Do we need technical experts to be leaders?
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Do technical experts need to be led by experts?
“Th l i it ti i h ’ t h i ll d t“The classic situation is someone who’s technically good at their job becomes the manager. For those who are the most technically good at their job are often not the besttechnically good at their job are often not the best managers, I’ve seen that so many times.”
There are two options: Employ professional managers Employ professional managers
Develop experts to become good leaders
Why have experts as leaders?
Experts have career expectations and deserve opportunities
They have credibility with their peers and reportsy y p p
They can be role models for others
Th i t it f i l i There is opportunity for succession planning
Technical knowledge is an enabler of leadership
(rather than an essential)
But it does wane over timeBut it does wane over time…
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What is the motivation to become a leader?
“I meet a lot who will say, ‘I’d never want to do your job for all the tea in China, you know’, and y j ythey’re quite certain about that.”
However leadership does provide opportunities for:
Broadening one’s sphere of influence Broadening one s sphere of influence
Supporting others’ development and achievements
What sort of leaders do technical experts make?
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Areas of development for expert leaders
Emotional Leading
Thinking
Intelligence
Impact and
gchangeDefining
directionPeopleSkills
gstrategically
Impact and influence
SelfPolitical
awarenessCommon purpose
Self awareness
Developing i di id l
Managing f individuals
Working with teams
performance
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Delivering results
© Roffey Park, 2011
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Moving beyond specialismsMoving beyond specialisms
St id tifi ti ith i li Strong identification with specialisms
Used to being deferred to (or deferring to others)
As strategic leaders: – Step outside field of expertise
– Listen to others’ views on your expertise
– Make sense of complex information
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Just the facts, if you pleaseJust the facts, if you please
Strong reliance on facts
Paralysis of analysis
“It just takes twice as long to get anything done … They have toIt just takes twice as long to get anything done … They have to argue about everything. Well, of course they do, because that’s what they do, they test the hypotheses”
Ambiguity, risk, instinct
“[It’s] mind rather than heart, so a lot of them will find it very difficult t t th l i l th ' t h d t dto come to the conclusion unless they've got enough data and enough hard analytics.”
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Influencing peopleInfluencing people
Win an argument or win people over? Win an argument or win people over?
“Once they have [their] conclusion … they will tend to shut down other people who might have another idea becausedown other people who might have another idea because they've got the answer backed up by the numbers.”
Emotional side of change g
“It can be a bit confusing, because if it made sense, why wouldn't you do it?”
Networking & working in large groups
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IndividualismIndividualism
“Either as leaders orEither as leaders or [followers], they’d rather tell you the answer or expectanswer or expect you to work it out yourself. If you
’t ’can’t, you’re probably not able to do the job anyway.”
Strong value placed on individual thinking and ability
Developing others
Styles of developing peopleStyles of developing people
Tell(di i )
Teach Faking it(directive)
eac a g t
AskAsk(non-
directive)
Mentor Coachdirective)
Know Don’t knowKnow(expert)
Don t know(non-expert)
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Individualism #2Individualism #2
Strong value placed on individual thinking & ability
Developing others
Collaboration
Organisational commitment is situational
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Managing performance“‘Why do you not see that? Why do you not understand that's a better way of doing it?’ It b ‘I d 'tit?’ … It becomes: ‘I don't understand you, therefore it's very difficult for me to deal with you ’”with you.’”
Critical thinking & deficit orientation
Feedback is robust
Having difficult conversations
Understanding poor performance
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How can ‘expert leadership’ be developed?
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Leadership development programmes
High level, delivered by experts
Experiential learning Experiential learning
Practically relevant
Feedback & self awarenessFeedback & self awareness
“What I started to realise was that actually I could be a lot more effective in my dealing with people if … [ I resisted] putting on the mask thinking ‘Now I’m at work I need to be serious’ I stood back fromthinking, Now I’m at work I need to be serious’ … I stood back from that and said, ‘No, I actually need to be a bit more myself.’”
Thought leadership
A natural way for experts to develop as leaders A natural way for experts to develop as leaders
“The people right at the top of that technical expert space to be the ones defining what the organisation needs to know; and g g ;giving them accountability for teaching that into the organisation.”
Make sure the role of leadership is valuedp
Culture clash: ‘experts’ vs ‘leaders’
Embed in performance management
R l d l Role models
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Overseeing leadership developmentOverseeing leadership development
Selection
Motivation Motivation
Parallel career structuresstructures
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email: [email protected] www.roffeypark.com/reports
Email: Email: [email protected] +441293851644
Thank you for listeningThank you for listeningQuestions…?
Thank you for listeningQuestions…?
margi gordon@roffeypark com jonny gifford@roffeypark [email protected] [email protected]
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