A beaming David Wilson walked out of the six panel interview room at Wagga Wagga CSU campus on the 28th of March 2019 with confirmation received to proceed with his PhD titled “Effective leadership in Community-based informal groups”. Under the supervision of Drs Pamela Lockhart and Larissa Bamberry. David has been developing his proposal for a study in informal leadership in the context of the CHIP environment for a PhD at Charles Sturt University (CSU). His PhD will focus on exploring the impact of the relational leadership of the CHIP facilitators and the participants. His study will make a contribution to leadership in informal groups and would highlight the significance of the voluntary leaders in critical life-changing and life-saving decision making.
David Wilson took up a Lecturer position at Avondale College in 2014 teaching in the Avondale Business School (ABS). He teaches across Accounting, Management and Marketing Units. He also has the Course Convenor responsibility for the Bachelors of Business Degree course. He enjoys working with the ABS team comprising of Associate Professor Lisa Barnes, Dr Warrick Long, Dr Peter Williams and Diane Smith. He previously worked in New Zealand as a Business manager at the Institute of Information Sciences, Massey University and then as a Senior Accountant at the North New Zealand Conference and New Zealand Pacific Union Conference. Prior to that he worked as a Retail, Transport and Operations Manager with Diary Farms International based in Singapore.
David is looking forward to the challenges ahead that is associated with the PhD studies in CSU and other research projects with his team at Avondale.
Silos or swarms – which is best for your business? A recent paper by Deloitte (read it here) uses the analogy of silos and swarms to describe how organizational network analysis (ONA) can help leaders better understand the formal and informal networks in the company which can assist in organizational redesign efforts. The article cites nine out of 10 companies as exploring organizational redesign – a huge number. The idea of the silos and swarms is depicted in the diagram below:
When thinking about organizational redesign, failure is all but guaranteed if the informal networks of the organization are ignored. These informal networks and structures are how work actually gets done in the organization, irrespective of the formal structures. Such structures can be formalized in adaptable networks of teams, which work best for interactions with the external environment, such as sales and product development, being cross0-functional and decentralized. However what is a little surprising in this article is that traditional hierarchical models are often better for teams that internally support an organization, that are execution-focused like finance and more of a centralizes shared-services function.
Using data collected from the organisation through either active measures (e.g. surveys) or passive methods (e.g. emails, calendar invites), both the visible and invisible communication networks are revealed in ONA, which shows you who is actually working with whom to get jobs done. This enables seeing where potential breakdowns might occur and for leaders to respond more proactively rather than reacting.
Using this information and seeing how people actually work together, shortcuts and informal collaboration can be supported in order to have greater efficiencies. And importantly, the article emphasizes that there is no one-size-fits-all model and to consider using multiple methods within your organisation.
Thinking of doing some organizational change or redesign? Avondale Business School (ABS) can help you, to find out how, contact Dr Warrick Long on [email protected] or 02 4980 2168
What does it take to move a good board to becoming a great board? A recent publication from the PWC governance Insights Center (read it here) provides a series of questions that guides you through this very process.
This excellent article is easy to read and provides great guidance and explanations as to what boards can do to address these questions.
The 9 questions are listed below, but the document expands on these so to get the maximum benefit, it is highly recommended you follow the link to the whole article.
Think about your board, and how you might use these questions to move from good to great. The Avondale Business School (ABS) can also help you and your board become greatt, simply contact Dr Warrick Long at [email protected] or 02 4980 2168.
If it’s not one thing, it’s another – either technology is changing, structures are changing, or the economy, or all three at once, or something else again. So when leadership announces to employees another organizational change, is it any wonder there is usually a collective groan from change-fatigued workers who get defensive at the idea.
Patti Sanchez in her excellent article ‘The Secret to Leading Organizational Change is Empathy’, (read it here), addresses this touchy issue and offers leaders some sound advice: how information is communicated to employees during a change matters more then what information is communicated. Sanchez builds a strong case for communicating empathetically, while being honest enough to admit most leaders don’t know how.
Following are the headline three strategies leaders can implement to make the next change process smoother:
These look so common sense, and yet few leaders actually take the time to put them into practice, thus stymieing their transformation process. Do you think you could at least try these the next time you are involved in change? And the Avondale Business School (ABS) can help you with this, just contact Dr Warrick Long [email protected] to find out how.
Creating his own word, Visioneering, Andy Stanley provides an excellent process for finding your own vision and translating that into a leadership context in his revised book Visioneering: Your guide for discovering and maintaining your personal vision (2016, Multnomah).
Stanley is emphatic on the importance of personal vision as a part of leadership. Without having a ‘True North’ perspective, leaders have nothing to guide them through the treacherous waters of leadership. What is particularly of interest is that Stanley does not pull any punches on how difficult the process and maintaining the course can be. Refreshingly he is open about the challenges and provides some guidance on working your way through them.
As the book is written in a Christian context, Stanley draws on scriptural stories to illustrate the Visioneering process. With particular reference to the story of Nehemiah, the author gives a relatable process that is easy to translate into one’s own life and experience.
Stanley does a good job of providing a convincing argument for the importance of vision and aligning one’s personal vision with the organisations.
I found the book to be easy to read without being condescending, and very logical and well organised. I would highly recommend this book for new leaders, or leaders who need to re-calibrate and check they are on course.
Reviewed by Dr Warrick Long, Avondale Business School
Slow down! That essentially is the advice from author Brooke McAlary in her book Slow: Live Life Simply (2017, Allen &Unwin). I was pleasantly surprised how much I related to this book.
Drawing on her own experiences, McAlary outlines well the difficulties of modern life, including the myth of ‘work-life balance’, and the pointless aim of ‘keeping up with the Joneses’. Offering a smorgasbord of strategies to deal with these pressures, McAlary is honest about the challenges and openly admits her own failings in striving to slow down.
Primarily using her own experience, McAlary outlines what strategies have worked for her in trying to balance work, family and personal well-being. What I really appreciate in this book is how the author also outlines what hasn’t worked for her and takes pains to stress that there is no one right way, and each of us needs to experiment to find what works best for us.
I found her strategies very relatable (although not all work for me), particularly the concept of ‘Wobbly Balance’, when referring to work-life balance. By the time I got to the end of the book, I was already trying new things, making small changes to my life, and enjoying the benefits. And the stress had already started to disappear.
The book is really well organised, and very easy to read.
It would appeal to a wide range of readers, and leaders would benefit greatly from many of the strategies. I highly recommend this book.
Reviewed by Dr Warrick Long, Avondale Business School
A recent article by Nicholas Barnett for Governance Institute Australia deals with the role of Boards and senior leaders in create culture in the organisation (read it here).
He refers to ‘Tone at the top’ which he notes as, “being a high bar for honesty, integrity and ethical behaviour noting that it is a foundation stone for forming and shaping a robust, resilient and ethical culture”. While typically thought of as being the board and CEO, it also includes executives, audit and risk committees, etc. By setting a high bar, research has shown that both character and performance make for more trusted and higher performing organisations.
Recent exposure of poor culture in the financial services insider in particular has highlighted the need for organisations to ensure they are caring for their culture, and that it is being developed from the very top.
You will need to read the entire article for the full explanations, but a summary of the key behaviours to form a good culture include:
How does you organisation compare to these practices? Is it time for a culture check? The Avondale Business School (ABS) can help you. To find out how, simply contact Warrick Long via [email protected] or 02 4980 2168.
Dr Peter Williams recently had the opportunity to present some of the findings from his Faith-based School Leadership Succession research to Adventist Schools Australia (ASA) NSW School Principals and Administrators (to view the PowerPoints click here). The findings presented centred around the leadership aspirations levels of ASA employees, as well as the factors influencing the willingness and unwillingness of ASA employees to apply for school leadership positions. Peter’s presentation concluded with a number of practical implications for these school principals that could assist leadership development at the local school level. This presentation was very well received, and further discussions have led to an active partnership being entered based around researching and strengthening the leadership supply pool within the Adventist education sector.
To have more control, give it to employees! This is the thrust of a very interesting article by Ranjay Gulati (read it here). In the article, Gulati highlights the tensions between employee empowerment and operational discipline. Leaders typically fluctuate between giving too much freedom and not enough.
To address the fluctuations, Gulati proposes implementing well designed and well implemented guidelines to both support and nurture employees. When done well, these provide a “clear positive, galvanizing, sense of where the organization is trying to go”. Essentially this is a “freedom within a framework” approach.
What does this mean? As Gulati says, “it means trusting employees to thank and act independently on behalf of the organisation”. Does that sound dangerous? Yes it is, but what Gulati points out very clearly is that “people now enjoy innumerable channels for sharing concerns and ideas in their personal lives. Compared with these expansive platforms for self-expression, the work-place can feel downright stifling. The freedom of the outside world is banging at the corporate door, demanding to come inside.”
The challenge for leaders is to open that door!
Using some very relevant and interesting case studies as examples, Gulati summarizes the change in a simple model involving:
When leaders and employees are clear on what these mean for the organisation, the opportunity exists for a framework which cares less about control and more about empowerment. And when that happens, everyone wins.
The Avondale Business School (ABS) can help your organisation become a winning one, simply contact Dr Warrick Long via [email protected] or 02 4980 2168.
When is the best time, how to meet, and what most frustrates professionals about meetings was the subject of a major research project by Doodle, the online scheduling company (Read it here), who surveyed over 6,500 professionals involved in over 19 million meetings. The report makes fascinating reading, and should be mandatory for all people responsible for organizing meetings.
Some key highlights include:
The good news is that there are some characteristics identified of good meetings also, which included:
Any organisation that can transform their meetings into effective processes will be a step ahead of their competitors. How does your organisation shape up? Maybe the Avondale Business School can help your organisation transition to more effective meeting practices. To find out how, contact Dr Warrick Long [email protected] or 02 4980 2168.
