The document discusses boundary spanning leadership. It defines boundary spanning leadership as leadership that bridges boundaries between groups in service of a broader vision or goal. It notes that while physical boundaries are breaking down, new psychological boundaries based on social group membership are emerging. It discusses challenges of boundary spanning leadership, such as being pulled in different directions and pushed to one group. It also discusses tactics for practicing boundary spanning leadership, such as suspending group identities and activating shared identities. Finally, it proposes areas for future research, such as exemplary boundary spanning leaders and initiatives.

1. The Challenge and Practice of Boundary Spanning Leadership Jeffrey YipPresented to:International Leadership Association Conference, Los AngelesNovember 14, 2008

2. Center for Creative LeadershipWhatWhat is boundary spanning leadership?WhyWhy is it needed?How How can it be put into practice?What’s NextSteps for future research

3. Center for Creative LeadershipLeadership Across DifferencesQuestion - How can leaders bridge boundaries across divergent or conflicting groups? 2803 survey respondents239 interviews12 countries

4. Question 1: What is boundary spanning leadership?© 2008 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.

5. Center for Creative LeadershipLeadership often stops where boundaries start…

6. Center for Creative LeadershipToday, the opposite is required – leadership that builds bridges across boundaries

7. Center for Creative LeadershipBoundary Spanning LeadershipLeadership that bridges boundaries between groups in service of a broader vision or goal.Group XGroup YIntergroup ContextLeader Ernst, C. and Yip, J. (2008) Bringing Boundaries: Managing the Challenge of Workplace Diversity.Leadership in Action, Vol 28, No. 1, Jossey-Bass.

8. Center for Creative LeadershipChallenges for Boundary Spanning#1: Leaders are often pulled in many directionsbetween conflicting intergroup values, viewpoints, and beliefs

9. Center for Creative Leadership#2: Leaders are commonly pushed to one side. By definition, a leader is a member of some groups and not others. Groups will form perceptions of a leader based solely on social identity grouping. Challenges for Boundary Spanning

10. Center for Creative Leadership#3: Leaders are all too frequently caught out of the loop. This is in part due to information filtering, but also in part due to the leader’s lack of critical awareness concerning social identity dynamics. Challenges for Boundary Spanning

11. Question 2: Why do leaders need to span boundaries?© 2008 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.

12. Center for Creative LeadershipThe world is flat.-Thomas Friedman, The World Is Flat© 2007 Center for Creative Leadership

13. Center for Creative LeadershipWe live in a new, borderless world.-Kenichi Ohmae, The Next Global Stage© 2007 Center for Creative Leadership

14. Center for Creative LeadershipThe borderless company will remove all the barriers among the functions... knock down external walls…eliminate the walls of race and gender.-Jack Welch, Jack – Straight from the Gut© 2007 Center for Creative Leadership

15. Center for Creative LeadershipThe Rhetoric and the RealitySilos | Rifts | Turf Battles | Fiefdoms | Glass Ceilings | Gender Gaps | Fragmentation | SeparationDiscrimination | Stovepipes | Mother Ships | SatellitesDivisions | Departments | Units | Segments | SharesSplinter | Splits | Culture Clash | Distrust Ethnocentrism | Tribalism | Ingroup/OutgroupLine-Staff |Native/Foreigner | Faction | Bloc Clan | Walled Off | Closed Doors | Barriers ©2008 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.

16. A ParadoxA different type of boundary, rooted in human relationships, emergesAs physical & technological boundaries are dismantled worldwide© 2008 Center for Creative Leadership

17. Intergroup BoundariesInvisible, psychological lines that are rooted in group membership, charged with emotion, and mark the edge between…UsThem © 2008 Center for Creative Leadership

18. Concepts from Social PsychologySocial Categorization Theory(Turner, 1985)We categorize the social world into groups to which we belong and those to which others belongSocial Identity Theory(Tajfel & Turner, 1979)Our identity is in large part defined by our membership in social groups© 2008 Center for Creative Leadership

19. Question 3:How can boundary spanning leadership be put into practice?© 2008 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.

20. Center for Creative LeadershipWhat are the boundaries that leaders have to work across?

21. A typology of organizational boundariesVertical BoundariesGeographic Boundaries Across stakeholders (i.e., partners, customers, communitiesAcross regions, nationalities & culturesAcross levels & ranksExternal BoundariesHorizontalBoundariesAcross functions & unitsDemographic BoundariesAcross diverse groups (i.e., gender, religion, race, age, ethnicity, and class)(Adapted from Ashkenas et al, 1998)

22. Boundary Spanning TacticsSuspending:Create a neutral zone where social interaction is person-based rather than identity-group basedReframing:Activate a shared or superordinate identity that is inclusive across social groupsNesting:Embed groups within large wholes so that groups have both distinct and interdependent identitiesWeaving:Cross-cut work group roles with social group membership in a systematic wayErnst, C. & Yip, J. (2009, in press). Boundary spanning leadership: Tactics for bridging social boundaries in organization. In T. Pittinsky (Ed.) Crossing the divide: Intergroup leadership in a world of difference. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

23. Question 4:Next Steps for future research?© 2008 Center for Creative Leadership. All Rights Reserved.

24. Organizational Challenges Calling Forth Spanning Boundaries…Cross functional collaboration

25. Drive for innovation

26. Managing diversity

27. Crossing cultures