Group dynamics! Behold the different decision pathways:

• Group leader makes decision alone (no influence felt, low conflict, fast time)
• Group leader assigns expert to make decision (little influence felt, low conflict, fast time)
• Group leader consults with group and then makes decision (some influence felt, low conflict, slower time)
• Mathematical computations (some influence felt, low conflict, fast-ish time)
• Voting (some influence felt, low conflict but can alienate minority, fast-ish time)
• Consensus (full influence felt, high conflict, slow time)

So depending on your goals, you may need to choose what method of decision making you use…..

Groupthink was named in 1972 (!!!) by Irving Janis, based on research such as WW2 military planning. A flaw in an otherwise desirable system that has a strong leader and a cohesive group with these features:

• Illusion of invulnerability
• Collective rationalization
• Stereotypes of outgroups
• Belief of the inherent morality of the group
• Pressure placed on dissenters
• Self-censorship
• Illusion of unanimity (created from previous two)
• Self-appointed mind guards (arise in response to previous three)

The dominant response is the phenomenon where someone already skilled at something improves while under observation, and someone unskilled at something decreases their performance. WHAT. Developed by Robert Zajonc, for further investigation.

Also social loafing is covered but I already knew that one.

Social facilitation is also a thing, similar to dominant response.

The question of whether more heads is better depends on whether the tasks can be divided up, and also what the secondary typology of measuring performance outcomes are, such as:

• Additive tasks (such as tug of war – prone to social loafing)
• Disjunctive tasks (the score of the best individual is the group score)
• Conjunctive tasks (the score of the worst individual is the group score, such as in mountain climbing)
• Compensatory tasks (mathematical average of group performance)
• Discretionary tasks (group has autonomy to determine performance measurement)

Conditions for team effectiveness:

• Must have inderdependence
  • Otherwise the “team” is just a co-acting group
• Team must also have clearly delineated authority
• Team must also be stable over time

Hill’s model for team leadership:

Then there’s a segment on leading virtual teams that I’m not going to spend any time on haha

Ok so I’m officially behind now, so time to catch up a little bit! Gonna blitz this chapter RQ

Suggested definitions of innovation:

• Any idea, practice, or material artifact perceived as new by the relevant unit of adoption
  • Innovation is always relative to the group it’s being introduced to

Categories of innovations:

• Goods innovation
• Process innovation
• Service innovation
• Structural innovation
• System innovation

Organizational innovation is fostered and restricted by determinants:

• Managerial determinants
• Organizational determinants (size/complexity/etc)
• Environmental determinants

And that’s the end of our show! Bonk!

Forging change is hard, just like the name, you’re taking something metal and banging on it until it’s something different, which is hard to do. Here are some major obstacles to forging change:

• Lack of management visibility and support
• Inadequate skills of management
• Employee resistance
• Lack of organizational capacity for change
• Changes can easily be zero-sum, benefitting some while harming others

Attempting and failing change can poison the current culture worse than it is, due to the perceived conflict-centered relationship and a perceived loss of control

Different kinds of organizational change:

• Developmental change (natural growth, creating new things where there was nothing before)
• Transitional change (going from one situation to another)
• Transformational change (radical and sweeping changes)
• To avoid a crisis, it is proactive change
• To respond to an existing situation, it is reactive change

Three typical responses to change:

• Resistance
• Ambivalence
• Acceptance

At an individual level, resistance is often framed merely as survival, without interest in how it affects others or the bigger picture. Disposition and neuroticism also have a big effect on receptivity to change

Transformational leadership has an edge over transactional leadership in coping with change, especially as tapping into the big picture and the long game are trademarks of transformational leadership

Interesting tidbit: resistance is actually a beneficial resource during change, by creating a two-way conversation that helps refine and resolve the change. This only works if everyone has good faith and shared goals

Implementation steps: bleh. I’ll do this later

Leaders must select/develop/implement strategy in order to achieve large, ambitious goals. There are four different levels of strategy.

• Corporate strategy: strategy implemented by C-suite executives to: “boost combined performance across all businesses and programs and devising wats to innovate new approaches to take advantage of cross-business synergies that can be leveraged to gain a competitive advantage” dafuq this only applies to once an organization is already large
• Business strategy: the approaches, actions, and steps that are devised to produce intended results and achieve goals in one specific line of business or in one particular program
• Functional strategy: the practices and behaviors used in operating specific business processes and activities
• Operating strategy: specific and concrete steps taken to manage key operating units

Strategic planning is the process of setting this all up. It must be developed with buy in from the entire organization because implementing it is everyone’s responsibility.

The individual with the leadership responsibility must undertake strategic leadership and must have strategic vision to do so.

Strategic leaders who tend towards transactional behaviors will work within the existing culture, norms, rules and procedures. By doing so, these leaders reinforce the existing culture, norms and rules that have already been established. Transformational leaders will challenge the existing culture, norms, and rules and make changes to realign these with a new vision. Transformational leaders challenge the existing order and inspiure employees to explore new ways of doing things. The transactional or transformational tendencies of strategic leaders will lead to distinct elements within the organization being emphasized over others, which results in the creation of different cultures and organizational structures. The most effective leaders are those who are able to adopt transactional or transformational behaviors, depending on which behavior fits best the given situation.

Trying a different business model is disruption, which makes you a genius if it works and an idiot if it fails.

Strategic vision differs from mission statement. Such a thing as a vision statement exists, but Nike doesn’t have one, so why did you choose Nike as your example, you ridiculous textbook?

An organization’s values are essential, and identifying them explicitly is nice except that we already know people are bad at knowing what they actually think and are riddled with cognitive dissonance. So this doesn’t feel very informative.

Setting objectives based on the mission, vision and values is the connection to the day-to-day. To do this, DO A SWOT ANALYSIS LOL

This chapter is really underwhelming me.

Implementing and executing strategy is the most challenging and time-consuming step for top executives (sure, if you just made up a strategy). Management is vital in this stage, and organizational skills are critical here.

Situational and personal characteristics of strategic leaders (ooh ok I’m back in):

• Discretion (situational): the ability to make choices and take actions. Interesting nugget, the leader’s perception of their own discretion is a major factor!
• Flexibility (situational): the ability to react quickly to new information
• Managerial wisdom (personal): the capacity to recognize patterns and understand people and their relationships
• Interdisciplinary view (personal): Recognize the impact of departmental decisions on other departments
• Problem-oriented (personal): Inclination to seek out the source of a problem
• Committed to differentiation (personal): Constantly examine what they can do differently to offer unique value
• Student of technology (personal): interested in how new technologies can provide opportunities
• Bottom-line focus (both): Understanding the important role of generating revenue and controlling costs

Successful strategic leaders have five key characteristics: interdisciplinary view, problem-oriented, committed to differentiation, student of technology, and focus on the bottom line.

This whole chapter is probably going to be a huge joke considering how crooked sports can be (the bigger the sport org, the more the problems, and FIFA is the biggest and baddest sport org ever and doesn’t even get a namedrop).

Wait ok I’m back in, it literally goes over essential ethics frameworks.

• Ethics: the distinguishing between right and wrong
• Values: the amount of emotional weight put on a general or specific noun
• Morals: the enactment of ethical principles
• Teleology: the idea that actions are judged based on the consequences of those actions, and therefore actions that are for the greater good are good
• Deontology: the idea that actions are judged based on the moral principle and the consequences are not a factor in judging the actions

Ethical dilemmas are whenever an action has the potential to benefit or harm others.

Ethical conduct flows from leadership, and establishing an ethical code of conduct is vital to help establish an ethical culture.

Ultimately though, I expect that leading by example is the only way to make things happen.

This diagram shows the Issue-contingent model, which is basically like algebra for decisions. Consider each of the following in your decision:

• Magnitude of consequences: how severe the consequences are
• Social consensus: how clear the sides are from a societal view
• Probability of effect: how likely each outcome is
• Temporal immediacy: a multiplier effect based on how quickly the results will be visible
• Proximity: how “close to home” this material hits the decision makers
  • This is the main issue that allows systemic racism and sexism to keep hitting big orgs over and over
• Moral intensity: The manner of decisionmaking. Essential to recognize the moral quandary in each decision. Using moral judgment in doing so is vital.

They give an example to test your moral decision making apparatus with. I feel like I ate that situation like a wood chipper and immediately saw all the way through the different options and the key moves to make. I’m like a fucking chess grandmaster for ethical dilemmas. Or something.

Why are sports orgs so crooked? lol

1. Unethical behavior is rewarded
2. The values of top level management are incongruent with organizational values
3. An organization may appear ethical but its actions indicate otherwise
4. An ethical climate cannot exist where unethical behavior is justified (e.g. goes unreported)

First off, ahem: ARE YOU KIDDING ME??

I’m so tempted to do the critical thinking posts on the current crisis. But it has to be sport related. So I’ll pick something else that works.

The NFL anthem crisis is probably the best way to start off this chapter. Soaking it in!

Types of communication:

• Personal communication
  • Intrapersonal communication: within oneself
  • Interpersonal communication: 1-on-1 (or more….)
  • Small group communication: limited quantity of individuals
• Organizational communication
  • Intraorganizational
  • Interorganizational

Within an organization, communication has a direction:

• Downward communication
  • Sending signals “down” the org chart to subordinates
• Upward communication
  • Sending signals from subordinate to superior
• Horizontal communication
  • Groups on the same level transmit information directly to each other

Leadership communication is “communication that influences others’ actions and attitudes, thus resulting in the fulfillment of a shared purpose or need.” A vital skill which is separate from sport-related skill (e.g. Wayne Gretzky)

Several core competencies are key to success in leadership:

• Knowledge of communication context
  • This involves an understanding of appropriate dialogue in certain situations
• Trust
  • This is needed when any of the following occur:
    • One relies upon another
    • The relationship can result in loss/gain for goal achievements
    • The desired goal may be uncertain
  • So basically always
• Active listening
  • The competency substantiates the precision in which the message is received
  • Displays empathy to the message sender
• Information accuracy
  • Facts
• Cultural sensitivity
  • Recognition of diversity without passing judgment on the benefits or disadvantages of similarities or differences in a group

Leadership communication styles

• Autocratic
  • Dominates decision making and takes pleasure in directing assignment responsibilities
  • Not preferred by athletes and other professionals
• Participative
  • Subordinates are encourages to dispute ideas
  • Best when working with highly capable subordinates
• Consultative
  • Blend of autocratic with participative
  • May be very demanding but also very involved in helping to meet expectations
• Lassez-faire
  • No leadership at all really
  • Just a vast wasteland of abdication
• A leader may also engage in different communication styles in different contexts (e.g. with different employees)
  • Avoidance: a leadership strategy of agreeing with something simply for the sake of avoiding confrontation and discord
  • Vision-setting
  • Goal-setting
  • Meaning management
  • Trust generation
  • Positive regard

Conflict Communication: different strategies

• Avoidance again!
  • Conflict avoidance is a plague
• Competition
  • Viewing conflicts as zero-sum
• Compromise
  • Exchange-based mediation
  • Requires listening as a skill and is preferred
• Accommodation
  • Making sacrifices for the greater good
  • If this is an imbalanced relationship between the employees it’s a big problem
• Collaboration
  • Works with both sides to find the optimal resolution
  • Only possible if everyone has buy-in and productively problem solve

Crisis: “the perception of an unpredictable event that threatens important expectancies of stakeholders related to the health, safety, environmental, and economic issues and can seriously impact an organization’s performance and generate negative outcomes.”

• The unpredictability of a crisis is what makes it unique
• Even the most comprehensive risk management plan cannot possibly foresee all potential crises, as they come from outside the scope of the regularly scheduled issues and disrupt systems that are normally assumed to be functioning regularly (such as city power….)

A sport crisis can devastate an organization at the fundamental level, such as NCAA punishments on university sports also causing decrease in alumni donations.

Crisis planning is kind of an oxymoron since a crisis is by definition impossible to plan for in advance. But that’s what makes it so important! Learning from previous mistakes and crises is the vital first step.

Internal and external communication during a crisis are both vital. Media interaction must be tightly controlled to prevent public perception from being dictated by people and/or other forces outside your control.

Identify a spokesperson during a crisis. Should be someone, above all else, with a high amount of credibility and perceived authority.

• College setting: school president or athletic director
• Pro setting: owner, president or general manager
  • Coach may be an option but coaches normally report to higher authorities

Media interaction strategies:

• Employ as much honesty as possible given other constraints
• Anticipate difficult questions
• Be mindful of the use of “no comment”
  • Is meant to be a tool to buy time to ascertain the correct answer but can be interpreted as buying time to build a plausible lie
• Assess the public’s stance prior to initiating contact

TYPES OF CRISES: (god I love this book)

• Physical Plant:
  • Example: power outage during Super Bowl
  • Suggested response: Clearly communicate as soon as info is available
• On-Field:
  • Example: brawl between players and fans
  • Suggested response: Work with event managers to rectify breakdown that led to crisis
• Public Tragedy:
  • Example: death of Jose Fernandez
  • Suggested response: Determine accuracy, then connect that info to appropriate crisis team members
• Corporate/Internal:
  • Example: FAU considered selling naming rights to GEO Group
  • Suggested response: Leaders must communicate and apologize where appropriate
• Player Personnel:
  • Trade of Isaiah Thomas to team rival
  • Suggested response: Accept outside criticism but also make an effort to support and communicate with incoming player(s)

Response Strategies:

• Denial
  • Scapegoating
  • Evasion of responsibility
    • Provocation
    • Defeasibility
    • Accidental
  • Reducing the offensiveness of the event
    • Bolstering
    • Differentiating
    • Transcending
    • Compensating
    • Mortifying
    • Offering corrective action

Motivation is a collection of factors internal and external to oneself that determines the direction and sustainability of a person’s behavior, a person’s level of effort, and the level of persistence.

Growth is connected to self-actualization, the peak of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

Personal initiative:

• Consistent with the organization’s mission
• A long-term focus
• Goal-directed and action-oriented
• Persistent in the face of obstacles and setbacks
• Self-starting and proactive

Rewards expectancy is a part of motivation, includes both extrinsic rewards and intrinsic rewards

Role perception is a part of motivation, in setting expectations that can be met

Intrinsic motivation is linked to creativity (see also TED Talk)

Type I behavior is the seeking of autonomy, mastery and purpose, as opposed to Type X behavior which is extrinsically motivated

Shoutout to fixed mindset vs. growth mindset

Grit is the tenacity in working through obstacles and finding new motivation.

Leadership that motivates:

Leaders create an environment of autonomy, mastery and purpose. The medium for this is the leader-member exchange (LMX).

Empowering leadership is leadership that helps employees have motivation and in turn become their own leaders.

Motivating Millennials…. sigh…. motivating Generation Z is also in here!

Big Five personality traits listed, neuroticism is negatively correlated with leadership (big surprise). Agreeableness is much murkier.

Humility required to lead! I hope… also the desire for dominance is a balance thing as well…

MOTIVATING VOLUNTEERS IS A SECTION HOLY CRAP

Factors motivating volunteers:

• Event image
• Congruity with personal values
• Development of personal contacts
• Community involvement
• Personal growth

Six areas likely to motivate volunteers:

• Values
  • Express concern for others through helping those who need assistance; volunteer is motivated by altruistic or humanitarian concerns
• Understanding
  • Gain learning experience while sharing one’s knowledge, skills and abilities
• Social
  • Motivated by the opportunity to work with others
• Career
  • Prepare for new career
• Protective
  • Reducing guilt related to being more fortunate
• Enhancement
  • Obtaining satisfaction related to personal growth

INDEED.

There are three different views about management vs. leadership:

• There is no difference, these are synonyms, and distinguishing between them is at best a practice of semantics
• They are intertwined, but distinct on some level
  • Leadership could be a form of excellent management
  • Leadership is a function of management
• They are different things (this textbook’s view)

Management as we understand it now was developed during the industrial revolution:

• Scientific management movement
  • Concerned with extrinsic motivation and organizational outcomes
• Human relations movement
  • Concerned with intrinsic motivation, in response to above
• Organizational behavior
  • Considering efficiency and human relations to examine organizational success

Management is a mechanistic process, while Leadership is a social process, because establishing values is a social activity.

Management is about the present, leadership is about the future. Management is about efficiency, leadership is about vision.

Managers are people who do things right, and leaders are people who do the right thing.

Transactional leadership maintains the status quo and is closer to management than transformational leadership.

Different kinds of definitional differences:

• Authority versus Influence relationship
  • Coercive directives are more efficient and practical and more of a management tool
  • Non-coercive directives like democratic processes are tools of leadership, using other sources of power besides authority
• Manager/Subordinate vs. Leader/Follower
  • A subordinate does as told and a follower takes action, inspired by leadership
  • Managers also lead and leaders also manage which explains all this blurriness
• Produce and Sell Goods/Services versus Intend Real Change
  • Creating a specific product within the parameters of the organization’s resources is management
  • Intended change requires leadership and vision, because there are many possible outcomes rather than just two: success (on-time and under-budget) or failure
• Coordinate Activities versus Establish Mutual Purpose
  • Managers must coordinate the different activities of the different subordinates
  • Leaders generate and clarify the essential purpose of the organization

Management oversees, Leadership motivates (next chapter)

Leadership is an influence relationship aimed at moving organizations or groups of people towards an imagined future that depends upon alignment of values and establishment of mutual purpose.

Transformational, Transactional, and Servant Leadership

Transformational leaders try to motivate followers to change or to transform themselves. They are responsive to the individual needs of the followers; inspire followers; align the goals of the organization, leader, group, and invididuals.

Transactional leaders try to motivate followers by providing resources and offering payment. Considered “old style” leadership.

Transformational leadership has four dimensions:

• Idealized influence
  • Part 1: The charismatic behaviors of the leader
  • Part 2: The elements of leadership attributed to the leader by the followers
  • AKA the emotional component of leadership
• Inspirational motivation
  • Leaders set high expectations and inspire the followers to meet these expectations
• Intellectual stimulation
  • Encouraging creativity and innovation
  • Creating a space that is safe to try new things in
• Individualized consideration
  • Creating a supportive environment
  • Providing mentorship

There is also pesudotransformational leadership that violates ethical foundations, and demands unconditional loyalty from subordinates

Transactional leadership also has four dimension:

• Contingent reward
  • Receive this benefit for completing this task (bonuses, etc)
• Active management by exception
  • Monitoring work of subordinates and intervene to correct issues
• Passive management by exception
  • Solving problems as they happen rather than preventing them
• Laissez-faire
  • Absence of leadership entirely

There’s a two-page section of examples that I will probably try to read later

Servant leadership: primary objective is to help others

• Developing people
• Humility
• Authenticity
• Interpersonal acceptance
• Providing direction
• Stewardship

The goal is self-actualization!

Anytime chapter 1 is titled anything with Theories in it, you know this book is gonna be good.

Sun Tzu, Plato, and Dan Rooney are named as philosophers of leadership. I mean…… not wrong.

Leadership is a prolific area of study with several theories, many reaching back decades.

Common elements of oft-quoted leadership definitions:

• “A process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal” –Norhouse 2012
• “Interpersonal influence exercised by a person or persons, through the process of communication, towards the attainment of an organization’s goals” –Russell 2005
• “The ability to influence people to willingly follow one’s guidance or adhere to one’s decisions” –Rue and Byars 2009
• “An influence relationship aimed at moving organizations or groups of people toward an imagined future that depends upon alignment of values and establishment of mutual purposes.” –this text

Power: French and Raven (1959) describes five sources of leadership power, plus a sixth added later.

• Reward power: The power to grant benefits to subordinates (the famous carrot)
  • Financial bonuses, etc.
  • Especially effective on employees who are extrinsically motivated
• Coercive power: The power to distribute punishment
  • The threat of punishment is common in sport, for the players as well as coaches and administrative personnel
• Legitimate power: The power granted by societal norms, such as a job title or org chart that shows that one person has authority over another
• Referent power: AKA charisma, this is based on personal qualities and characteristics exhibited by the leader. The subordinate receives satisfaction by avoiding the discomfort of the boss’s displeasure
  • This is probably the power I wish I had but I’m pretty sure I don’t
• Expert power: The power that is derived from having great knowledge or skill. This power materializes when a subordinate is in a position of need, and the leader has desirable information.
  • May be a formal or entirely informal relationship.
  • A doctor has this power over their patients.
• Informational power: The leader explaining how a job or task should be done differently. This is fueled in part by the referent or reward power but also by the logic employed to reinforce the need for a different way to do something.
  • In Moneyball, Billy Beane asked his scouts to use new sources of information such as OBP instead of the Five Tools

It is vital to note that different sources of power can exist simultaneously in a single individual. An athletic director can have multiple sources of power at once:

1. Ability to reward coaches with contract renewals
2. Able to punish malfeasance and incompetence with early termination
3. The authority and expectations of their title
4. Having charisma
5. Expertise in coaching and administration
6. Attending conferences and getting information on how to be a more effective AD

The effective leader uses these sources of power dynamically as the need changes for different leadership styles. Very key.

When considering what leadership style to employ, consider these factors:

• The Leader
• The Subordinates
• The Situation

The leadership style must be adapted to the target group. An executive leads their executive staff differently than their interns. The position of the group itself also dictates differences in leadership style.

Paths to Leadership:

• Appointment
  • Appointment suggests a relationship, responsibility, and shared values
• Election
  • Leader has appealed to the electorate, which is still a relationship that is formed
• Emergence
  • Spontaneous and nebulous in new or informal organizations
• Charisma
  • This type of leadership depends on personality, not knowledge, experience or skill
  • This is the most dangerous type of leadership to wield

LEADERSHIP THEORIES:

• Great Man Theory
  • The idea that a few are born to lead
• Trait Theory
  • Five factors that prepare one to lead (modern list):
    • Intelligence
    • Self-confidence
    • Determination
    • Integrity
    • Sociability
• THE Ohio State Studies (kek)
  • Two dimensions of measuring leadership:
    • Initiating structure
      • Developing goals, outlining tasks, setting expectations
    • Consideration
      • Leader-subordinate relationships and fellowship
• UMichigan Studies
  • Leadership behaviors can be more employee-oriented or product-oriented
• Likert’s System of Management
  1. Exploitative authoritative (no trust in subordinates, driven by threats and coercion)
  2. Benevolent authoritative (low trust, but uses rewards to achieve motivation)
  3. Consultative (enhanced trust in subordinates and calls on them to provide input, group is motivated by ability to be involved in decision making, has agency)
  4. Participative team (The leader has high trust in subordinates, motivation comes from shared achievement)
• Situational Theory: Leadership styles are dependent on the environment in which a leader needs to act.
  • Essential key: there are two dimensions that coexist to change the leader’s behavior: supportive behavior and directive behavior.
    • Supportive: showing socio-emotional concern for subordinates
    • Directive: the need to delegate tasks and watch over subordinates
  • If the workforce is more mature and responsible, need fewer of both types of gestures
    • An immature, insecure or inexperienced workforce needs more supportive and directive behaviors
• Lewin, Lippitt and White studies:
  • Leadership behavior studied in boys’ hobby clubs. Three types were found:
    • Authoritarian: dictator-style, the leader is separate and distributes all praise and criticism.
      • Led to enhanced aggression and domination.
    • Democratic: Leader facilitated group’s activities with input from group.
      • Led to development of collective planning and individual decision-making
    • Laissez-faire: Lack of adult participation with little praise or criticism from leader.
      • Less productive, but productivity continued without leadership input.
• Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid
  • Rate 1-9 on concern for people
  • Rate 1-9 on concern for production
  • Team management (9.9) feels possible only with the right people in place
  • See picture

Four approaches to leadership that match up with Path-Goal Leadership Theory:

• Directive Leadership: Clear expectations and goals
• Supportive Leadership: Showing concern for well-being of subordinates
• Participative Leadership: Leaders who consult with subordinates
• Achievement-Oriented Leadership: set high expectations to motivate subordinates

Path-Goal Theory of Leadership:

Leaders will change the path to attain a goal based on the motivation of their subordinates. Something is wrong with this page, I’m not sure what went wrong but you get the idea.

Ok well that was fun but kind of unsettling there at the end. But we have a lot of great theories now!