About leadership and management

www.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
IITA-HRS
LEARNING SESSION
Echoes from the
AWARD Women’s
Leadership and
Management Course
(WLMC) 2014
Lade Oke
19 February 2015

To share with colleagues lessons learnt from the
AWARD Women’s Leadership and Management
Course, 2014;
To transfer knowledge and skills imparted in the
course of the programme; and
To strengthen each other’s capacity in leading and
managing.
LEARNING SESSION OBJECTIVES

Objective of the WLMC:
To reinforce the skills needed to enhance the leadership
capacity and managerial effectiveness of women
researchers and professionals who work in International
Research Centres and other multi-national organizations.
Major skill areas in focus:
• Sustaining team performance
• Managing conflict
• Building alliances to achieve research and business results
• Working with diversity

“Leadership is both complex and simple. The
complexities of leadership are paradoxical: it is an
art and a science, it involves change and stability, it
draws on personal attributes and requires
interpersonal relationships, it sets visions and results
in actions, it honors the past and exists for the
future, it manages things and leads people, it is
transformational and transactional, it serves
employees and customers, it requires learning and
unlearning, it centres on values and is seen in
behaviours.”
Dave Ulrich

“Tomorrow’s leaders recognize the significance of
the lives of women and men who make up the
enterprise, the value of a workplace that nurtures the
people whose performance is essential to furthering
the mission, and the necessity of a healthy
community to the success of an organization.”
Frances Hesselbein, The Leader of the Future

Organizers: AWARD hosted by ICRAF. AWARD is African Women in
Agricultural Research and Development
The WLMC is held annually. I attended the 27th
edition of the course. It is
an all women programme with an all women facilitators
Venue: Airlie Conference Centre, Warrenton, Virginia, USA
Date: October 5 – 11, 2014
Facilitators: Training Resources Group Inc. USA
Participants mix: scientists, administrators, HR professionals, lawyers,
auditors, communication experts
Number of participants – 33: IITA (2); IFPRI (4); CIMMYT (6); IWMI (2);
CIFOR (2); ICIMOD (2); CIP (1); ICRISAT (2); World Vegetable Centre (1);
IRRI (2); FAO (6); & BMGF (3).
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROGRAMME

“Understanding is living in a house where every room
has a point of view.” – Noah benShea, Jacob the Baker
This means we should:
Make room for differences in opinion.
Make decisions recognizing everyone’s views.
Know that a house is not complete without the other
parts.
Recognize that it is one foundation, one roof for all the
diverse parts of the house. It only makes sense to have
one purpose.
Lessons in Diversity

We interact through three lenses that are closely linked:
the social lens, the cultural lens and the cognitive-functional lens
Your social lens reflects who you are – race, gender, ethnicity, class,
age, sexual orientation, physical/mental capabilities, all these
combining to display differences in power, privileges and access
Your cultural lens is linked to your social identity and shapes your
assumptions about leading and managing. Your cultural disposition
influences your values and beliefs and your approaches to work,
decision-making and problem-solving.
The cognitive-functional lens is about differences in learning styles, in
professional discipline, and MBTI preferences
Lessons in Diversity (contd.)

You have to leverage diversity as a leader.
There will be similarities. There will also be differences.
What is important is:
- Leaving room for expression.
- Promoting inclusiveness
- Understanding and tolerating individual differences
What we should do:
- Change our mindset
- Work towards developing a supportive work environment
- Weave diversity into the fabric of the organization: structures,
systems, processes and procedures
- See diversity NOT as a problem to manage, but an asset and tool
to be used and developed
Lessons in Diversity (contd.)

THE GALLERY OF DIVERSITY

THE GALLERY OF DIVERSITY - THIS IS ME

In most organizations:
Masculine behaviours (independence, individuality, rationality,
aggressiveness) are seen as positive values
Feminine behaviours (interpersonal effectiveness, problem
prevention, coordination/collaboration, attention to “the how”), on the
other hand, are either not seen or undervalued
What makes women different? Research shows that:
(1) There is a difference in the way men and women tend to think.
Women have a web-thinking pattern, integrating more details
faster, taking a broader, more holistic, more contextual
perspective of any issue. Men on the other hand are more likely
to focus their attention on one thing at a time – thinking straight
line.
INTERESTING GENDER DIMENSIONS

What makes women different? Research shows that:
The capacity for web thinking has to do with the female brain
having more nerve cables connecting the two brain hemispheres,
while the male brain is more compartmentalized, operating more
independently.
(2) Women’s brain’s capacity for web thinking allows them to
demonstrate mental flexibility – having higher ratings on
adaptability (in emotional intelligence), being able to see different
worlds/possibilities
(3) Women also have executive social skills, can read complex
emotions in faces and hear slight changes in tone of voice.
Women leaders are typically described as more friendly, pleasant
and socially sensitive, demonstrating more concern for others.
(4) Women have remarkable facilities to networking, collaboration,
empathy, inclusion and sharing power. Men view power as rank
and status.
INTERESTING GENDER DIMENSIONS (contd.)

• Management is coping with complexity. Leadership, by
contrast, is about coping with change. - John Kotter
• Leadership and management compliment each other
• While leadership qualities are desirable, we cannot ignore the
benefits of strong management
• Leadership is normally about:
- establishing direction
- aligning people
- motivating and inspiring
• Management focuses on:
- planning and budgeting
- organizing and staffing
- controlling and problem-solving
LESSONS IN EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

• Leadership produces adaptive change and moves people to where
they and the organization are genuinely better off
• Management keeps complex organization accurate on time and
budget
• Women leaders need to be smart – don’t’ be blind to politics or you
suffer the consequences
• Know when to take front and rear positions as a leader
• Gain credibility outside to also establish your credibility inside
• The qualities that make a leader, according to Daniel Goleman are
“soft” and unbusinesslike.
• Truly effective leaders are not only distinguished by intelligence,
toughness, determination and vision, but also by a high degree of
emotional intelligence which includes self-awareness, self-
regulation, motivation, empathy and social skill.
• Emotional intelligence can be learned. It also increases with age.
LESSONS IN EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT (contd.)

1. “Leaders are usually people of vision, effective communicators, effective
decision maker, …”
2. “The ability to “artfully listen” and use what you have heard in a
facilitative manner is the mark of an effective leader.”
3. Two core communication skills include (i) facilitating productive
conversations and (ii) providing feedback.
4. Four very important facilitation skills are: (i) Questioning; (ii)
Paraphrasing; (iii) Summarizing; and (iv) Encouraging.
5. In providing feedback, remember BIC (Behaviour-Impact-
Consequences) – giving someone information about their behaviour and
its impact on you (or the team) – both negative and positive – and the
consequences.
6. Understand feedback as a gift having the intent to help and not hurt you
and receive it with thanks
SOME KEY LEADERSHIP SKILLS - Facilitation

• I experienced a different approach to administering and
analyzing the MBTI, a tool assists organizations to: solve
people problems, manage and resolve conflict, communicate
more effectively, improve teamwork through improved
understanding of ourselves and others.
• Extended time was spent on an overview of the two broad
natural preferences – extroversion and introversion (E/I)
• There were lessons and role plays on:
- Approaches to gathering and generating information (S/N)
- Approaches to decision-making (T/F)
- Approaches to tasks and deadlines (J/P)
• The two MBTI extremes were noted to be ESTJ and INFP.
ANOTHER DIMENSION OF MBTI – Understanding Ourselves & Others

• Done as a pre-course work, the results were presented during the
training – very revealing for many of us.
• Some took the constructive feedback graciously. Others felt
uncomfortable about some of the assessment
• I sincerely appreciate colleagues who completed the report on
my behalf. One supervisor, 2 peers and 4 direct reports comp,
making 8 responses including my self-assessment.
• We were assessed in 6 critical areas of leadership performance
and attributes, namely (i) Setting direction and aligning others; (ii)
Motivating and inspiring; (iii) Managing performance; (iv)
Interpersonal competence and communication; (v) Problem-
solving and decision-making; and (vi) Influencing others.
Receiving Feedback - 360 Degrees Feedback

For me the summary was:
• (i) Setting direction and aligning others – 85% score;
• (ii) Motivating and inspiring – 90% (apparently my strongest
point);
• (iii) Managing performance – 78%;
• (iv) Interpersonal competence and communication – 75%;
• (v) Problem-solving and decision-making – 82%;
• (vi) Influencing others – 78%
Write-in responses (comments) were also very helpful for me. It helped to
see clearly areas of strength to reinforce and areas where I need to make
changes to improve my effectiveness.
360 Degrees Feedback (contd.)

• Key leadership functions and qualities needed for effective teams
have been emphasized
• Also essential are the team member’s actions/attitudes
• Such team member’s core competencies include:
- Openness – promoting open exchange of ideas, willing to deal
with problems
- Supportiveness – desire and willingness to help others succeed,
putting the team’s goal above any individual agenda
- Action orientation – making a deliberate effort to make
something happen
- Positive personal style – energetic, optimistic, enthusiastic, and
fun to work with
We had some team building activities to practice and learn these.
They include: Helium Pole, Kaizen and Crater Game
The Sine Qua Non of Effective Teams

• Make powerful connections
• Use your power bases effectively. The power bases include:
Authority, Reward, Discipline (these are positional, provided by the
organization); and Information, Expertise, and Goodwill (these are
personal, developed by the leader)
• Act assertively, not aggressively or submissively. To be assertive, be
self-aware, self-regulated, empathetic and work effectively with
others (remembers the components of EQ)
• In being assertive, differentiate between what is relevant and what is
irrelevant; be honest about what is not negotiable and stick to your
bottom line. Negotiate as equals
• Assertiveness can’t guarantee that you’ll get what you want, but
gives you the chance of getting it.
• Be honest with yourself and others. Peter Drucker says, “ A leader
without integrity is a menace.”
SOME KEY LEADERSHIP SKILLS – Being Assertive

• Use strong alliances. Identify your allies, your bedfellows, your
opponents, your adversaries and the fence-sitters.
• Your allies will be high on agreement and high in trust (you can depend
on them to flow with you)
• Your bedfellows will be high on agreement, but low on trust. They may
have hidden agenda, and may not fully commit to the cause.
• Your opponent may be low in agreement, but high on trust. Your
opponent most times actually brings out the best in you because they
will give you honest opinions. You can bring them to your side by
building support and through dialogue.
• Your adversaries are clearly low on agreement and low on trust. Don’t
confuse them with opponents.
• The fence-sitters never commit. You may never know where they stand.
SOME KEY LEADERSHIP SKILLS – Influencing Others

• Understand the circle of influence – that is, areas where you have direct
control, indirect control and no control.
• DIRECT CONTROL – You must be able to change yourself and then
proceed to inspire others, motivate others and influence them through
loving feedback (INDIRECT CONTROL)
• NO CONTROL – here is the space of unchangeable realities. You don’t
have influence over them, e.g. hierarchy, authority, etc.
SOME KEY LEADERSHIP SKILLS – Influencing Others

• Conflict is often a result of misplaced assumptions. It arises when
two people have different wishes, needs, ideas and opinions.
• Conflict is neither good nor bad in itself. The outcome is either
positive or negative based on how it is managed.
• Know that it is all about perceptions – no right or wrong. Just
different
• Keep your emotions
• Watch your voice, tone
• Watch your body language
• Know when your energy is being wasted and when you need to walk
away.
• Good conflict management will ensure that (i) conversation between
parties move towards resolution; (ii) issues are dealt with; (iii)
minimum of negative feelings are generated; (iv) agreements are
meant and parties do what they say
SOME KEY LEADERSHIP SKILLS – Managing Conflict

• Leading and managing
• Facilitating
• Identifying preferences
• Working with diversity
• Working with emotional intelligence
• Learning assertiveness
• Conflict management
• Influencing others
SUMMARY OF LEADERSHIP SKILLS LEARNT

Can women leaders excel?
http://agilelion.com/drupal-terrace/what-should-we-do-be-successful-women-project-managers
YES, WE CAN!

PHOTORAMA

I appreciate the HHR who nominated me
for the course.
I am grateful to the DDG-CS who
sponsored me (providing the funds).
I appreciate my colleagues who
contributed to identifying my strong
and weak points.
I also acknowledge Sylvia Oyinlola who
also attended the course, making two of
us from IITA on the programme.
I appreciate the HHR who nominated me
for the course.
I am grateful to the DDG-CS who
sponsored me (providing the funds).
I appreciate my colleagues who
contributed to identifying my strong
and weak points.
I also acknowledge Sylvia Oyinlola who
also attended the course, making two of
us from IITA on the programme.

It is a privilege to
share the beautiful
experience with you. I
count on your support
on my improvement
journey.
It is a privilege to
share the beautiful
experience with you. I
count on your support
on my improvement
journey.

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