Leadership Is Hard: Recent Episodes
Carl and Kimberly Zunker
The idea of leadership is complex because leadership is hard. A quick search can take you down an endless rabbit hole about leadership, management, behaviors, traits, books, courses, skills, approaches, definitions, examples, models, theories, personality tests, and a host of other topics. So how do we get "good" at leadership? Not just as a senior executive, but at every stop along the way. From humble beginnings at the start of your journey to the highest levels of leadership. We need to step away from pop-psychology leadership and look at the big picture. By exploring what academia has to offer and translating that information into something practitioners can actually use. This podcast (and the associated website https://leadershipishard.com/) will tackle topics ranging from mental fallacies, principles and effects to ideas about why self-help books don't solve all our problems, current academic theories, construct proliferation, context, and what you can do to become a more effective leader today. We will also have guests on the podcast to talk about a wide variety of topics such as gender and race impacts on leadership, some takes on pertinent news stories, and even explore how leadership impacts other facets of our lives. We aim to present these topics in an unbiased, entertaining, and understandable way. Nobody has all the answers, but we look forward to simply sharing some knowledge and having a conversation with you. There is also an opportunity for our listeners to contribute, by sending questions, comments, and concerns for us to discuss. It's time to realize we don't know what we don't know and do something about it. Join us on this journey as we try to solve the riddle of leadership. Leadership is hard, but it doesn't always have to be.
In this episode, Carl and Kim discuss assigned and emergent leadership, the six bases of power in leadership, six commonly accepted leadership styles (actually 9), and the big five personality traits. All these ideas are discussed to see how they all impact your personal leadership style.
Intro: 0:15
Assigned and Emergent Leadership: 1:30
Six Bases of Power in Leadership: 6:30
-Referent power – based on follower’s identification and liking for a leader (a beloved teacher)
-Expert power – based on perception of competence (knowledgeable tour guide in a foreign city)
-Legitimate power – Status in a formal job (a judge)
-Reward power – has capacity to give rewards to others (a supervisor giving time off work)
-Coercive power – has capacity to penalize or punish others (coach who makes you run laps)
-Information power – possesses knowledge others want or need (boss who knows promotion criteria)
Commonly Accepted Leadership Styles: 16:30
-Visionary – lays out a long term vision, successful with buy-in from subordinates
-Directive – authoritative, my way or the highway, low morale and not effective long term
-Affiliative – leader wants to be part of the team, difficult to make hard decisions when you are friends with the team members
-Participative – democratic, ask for team member input. Can lead to confusion, cedes too much power, especially if team does not buy into vision…employees may have positive reaction to this style, but companies often flounder
-Pacesetting – common in sales, leader leads by example and sets a pace no one else can maintain...often high burnout rates
-Coaching – creates a positive environment, leaders invest in growth. Leaders may not recognize line between more training required and replacing ineffective subordinates.
- Laissez-Faire, Transactional, Delegative
The Big 5 Personality Traits: 46:45
- Openness – Practical vs Curious
- Conscientiousness – Impulsive vs Dependable
- Extroversion – Quiet vs Outgoing
- Agreeableness – Uncooperative vs Helpful
- Neuroticism – Secure vs Anxious
Wrap Up: 1:01:25
In this episode Kim and Carl lay the groundwork for expectation management. They cover what's in it for the listener, and discuss rules of thumb, or axioms, that have been useful to them and may be useful to you. These axioms include Parato's Principle, Parkinson's Law, The OODA Loop, Occam's Razor, Quing Theory, and The Dunning Kruger Effect. Real life examples are shared in this episode, and listener feedback from episode one is covered. There is also an overview of what's upcoming on the next podcast (spoiler alert, it will be about some basic leadership styles for new leaders to consider). Check it out, and share your feedback at leadershipishard.com!
00:15 Intro and feedback from episode 1 and what's "in it" for the listener
05:40 Axioms - rules of thumb
06:50 Parato's Principle - 20 percent of the population owns 80% of the land
10:00 Parkinson's Law - tasks expand to fill your time
13:35 OODA Loop (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act)
16:52 Occam's Razor - the simplest answer is often correct
18:50 Quing Theory - faulty assumptions in mathematical formulas regarding wait times
25:00 Dunning Kruger Effect - the least skilled are the most likely to overestimate their abilities
34:45 Gun Control, Racism, and Leadership
38:37 More listener feedback from episode 1 - followership, knowing your people, team building
39:27 Next Episode - understanding some basic leadership styles and expertise
40:12 Closing up
Thanks for listening!
This episode gives some background on the hosts and questions why you should trust them. Carl and Kim talk about different leadership philosophies, how they got good at leadership, what makes them experts, discuss successes and failures, and talk about what the future podcasts from Leadership Is Hard will cover. Leadership is hard, but it doesn't always have to be!