Action Centred Leadership <RXU *XLGH

Transcription

1 Action Centred Leadership <RXU *XLGH

2 Published by Adair International Ltd Adair International Ltd Hazelwell Court, Bar Road, Lolworth, Cambridge, CB23 8DS. Telephone: +44 (0) enquiries@adair-international.com

3 Action Centred Leadership The Action Centred Leadership (ACL) framework is one of the best known and most effective leadership frameworks available to organisations. Not only does it provide a blueprint for managers, it also enables organisations to structure and implement organisation-wide management and leadership development strategies. ACL is best known for its three circles: Task, Team and Individual The leader s role is to get the right balance between these three areas of need in order to:

4 As the name of the framework implies, this requires actions in each circle. These might include: For the Task Setting a vision, defining aims, creating purpose clarity around the task Ensuring adequate resources, systems, processes are in place Devising a plan with milestones, outcomes, measures of success Standards of behaviour and output are clear Responsibilities for the task are established Control processes are in place Reporting, management information, feedback are all generated, are useful and are used Plans are reviewed, adjusted and fine-tuned as results become apparent For the Team Work group standards are established performance, quality, behaviour Cultural characteristics of the team are established how we do things around here Building a team cooperation, esprit-de-corp, morale Build in a collective discipline, with routines and rituals to support this Help the team to be able to deal with conflict both internally and with other teams Build leadership capability in others within the team Support the team help when necessary, coach, organise training and learning activity Give feedback to the group and encourage team members to do the same For the Individual Enable individuals empower them for action Delegate Engage in the performance management and appraisal process, including a development plan Coach and train Give recognition, praise and feedback Get to know team members their type, their preferences, their strengths, their needs, their concerns Look for the talents for tomorrow ACL uses leadership functions to describe these responsibilities at three levels. Its value lies in the interactions between these three levels of leadership how the top team of Strategic leaders works with and enables Operational leaders to organise and empower Team leaders to deliver with high levels of success.

5 The functions at each level are:

6 The framework is based on research carried out by John Adair in the 1960s when he was a civilian instructor at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst. As a lecturer in military history, John had spent much time studying great leaders, successful leaders and leaders who achieved great things, from the Greeks and Xenophon to more modern leaders such as Slim and Montgomery. He also identified the failings of many leaders who were less successful. His research was not limited to the observation of military leaders. The ancient philosophers and teachers give much insight also. Plato, Socrates and Confucius all provide insight into the field of leadership. The research did not stop here. Understanding the language of leadership was also important. John took his studies back to the roots of the words we use to describe a manager, management, leader and leadership. John s research identified three approaches to leadership 1. The Qualities approach Of the three, this is perhaps the more traditional view - that leaders are born not made. There is some truth in this, however it was soon identified that there was little agreement from organisation to organisation, institute to institute, on what the qualities of a good leader are. Some lists were very long. One military list included 141 qualities of a good leader. Courage and initiative were the only two which seemed common to all. Whilst leadership qualities are clearly important, it is easier to use them during the selection process than it is to develop them through training and development. Today we distil the list to seven generic qualities, many of which can be developed through effort and over time. They are: Enthusiasm passion, zest Integrity the bedrock of good leaders Toughness and fairness often demanding and not easily satisfied Warmth being human Courage to face difficult things Resilience not giving in easily Humility a lack of arrogance It should be noted that this is not a definitive list. It is however a list on which many people agree. 2. The Situational Approach This approach focuses on the relationship between people in a given situation when leaders will naturally emerge; builders will lead when building is needed, strategists when strategy is required, and communicators when communication is called for. For example, the committee which runs a village fete will comprise a group of people who are all driven by common goals: a successful fete which raises money for the village.

7 Along the way leaders will emerge to take on certain aspects (and the Chairperson will welcome this) organising caterers, recruiting volunteers, financial management, and on the day of the fete, crisis management when generators fail and the tearoom runs out of milk. Technical expertise is what matters here; we will defer to the one who knows best. 3. The Functional Approach This was based on more scientific research than the other two approaches. Laboratory and field studies led to what might be called the theory of group needs. This focuses more on what leaders choose to do in a variety of situations, and includes the balancing of three areas of need: 1. Those created by the task at hand 2. The needs of the group 3. the needs of individuals With this as a backdrop, John then looked to the work of other, more contemporary academics and writers who had made useful comment on the practice of management, leadership, and group psychology Maslow, Herzberg, Fayol, Tannenbaum & Schmidt. Putting this all together led John to the formation of the most famous part of the ACL framework the three circles.

8 John s thinking led him to realise that a leader s role is driven by the needs created in these three circles, and that a leader needs to respond appropriately. The leader then has responsibility in each circle: The circles are interdependent. In John s words, they overlap. We now show them as interlinked and inseparable. Either way, the responsibility of the manager is to get the balance right; paying sufficient attention to each, and neglecting none. Neglect of any of the three areas will have a negative impact on the others. For example ignoring team dynamics may disenfranchise individuals and so jeopardise success in the task circle.

9 John s work at Sandhurst, and his first book on the subject, Training for Leadership (Macdonald, 1968) deals with the question can you select and train for effective leadership? The answer was yes, with some caveats: Selection criteria are important you need to be looking for the right characteristics for the leadership role in question. John was working at Sandhurst, and a British Army officer needs to be able to deal with the Army s ways of working, and in some pretty stressful situations. The criteria would be different for a scientific research organisation in the UK, a food manufacturer in Brazil or a retailer in Europe. The training process needs to focus on the leadership role this is the second, if less well known part of the ACL framework. The process of developing leaders. The training needs to be practical. It should not be overly concerned with job-related know-how, but rather focus on developing the ability to apply the functions of leadership across the three circles. The functions of team leadership were then developed The original Sandhurst six were: Planning Initiating Controlling Supporting Informing Evaluating Whilst the armed forces stuck to these original six, in the commercial world, the framework evolved in partnership with the Industrial Society and ICI, and the functions expanded to 11. By the time John wrote the seminal book Action Centred Leadership in 1973, many organisations were using ACL as their main training framework. This book lists 84 of them, including the Ford Motor Company, John Lewis Partnership, Sainsbury s and Cadbury Schweppes. Today, much leadership training is based on the principles of ACL, sometimes un-knowingly.

10 A framework for the whole organisation The ACL framework has evolved, focusing on eight team functions. John published the strategic functions (2002) and the operational functions were then developed by David Faraday in The reach of ACL Sectors as diverse as insurance, farming, scientific research, retail, finance, education, government inspection, the NHS, and manufacturers are utilising ACL to good effect increasing employee engagement and productivity, creating efficiency and new ideas, and improving results. In 2016 the armed services re-committed to the principles of ACL, and now include operational and strategic functions. This is a highly effective leadership framework. It is well tested, it has endured, and it has evolved. It has been called simple but not simplistic and indeed this is ACL s beauty. It provides the basic framework for all leadership and leadership development the generic role of a leader. ACL in your organisation If you would like to talk about ACL for your organisation, do get in touch. +44 (0) enquiries@adair-international.com