A five page leadership memo assignment is due for SHRM this coming week, where we’re supposed to imagine ourselves in the position of being appointed as the new leader of a public or nonprofit organization and address the employees of the organization with an explanation of how we intend to improve the organization and HR. The instruction from Professor Jay is to digest all of the material from the first four weeks and draw upon that for this exercise. So, I’m starting with going through the class notes and reading summaries that I’ve already posted and distilling them down further to identify a handful of specific concepts to work from. And here’s what that yielded:

Becton and Schraeder (2009)

• importance of a need for a “fit” between HR strategy and overall business strategy

Allen (2015)

• Leadership is also something we expect of all our employees
• Goal is to help shape management decisions rather than make them
• HR best serves the company’s interest by analyzing and sharing data, building skills, and developing leaders

Carey (2016)

• Discussion of people should come before discussion of strategy

Sterling (2013)

• HR professionals well-positioned to reframe diversity and work-family practices in terms of the former’s interests

Frick (2011)

• Distinction between employee motives and work motivation. Motives are the rewards workers would like to receive. Motivation is defined as the drive workers have to perform their jobs well
• Leaders cannot force motivation. Leaders can mold an environment that allows workers to motivate themselves
• The monumental challenge for today’s leaders is to abandon the management practices of the last 50 years

Schramm (2003)

• Four issues which come up frequently in studies on job satisfaction:
  • communication with management
  • work/life balance
  • relationship with immediate supervisor
  • career development

Moxley (2000)

• leadership as partnership. Basic concept of two or more people sharing power and joining forces.
• In partnerships, leadership is understood more as a verb than a noun
• vision cannot be imposed, that instead must emerge from the interaction of team members
• In authentic partnerships and communities, individuals flourish
• For partnership to work, ownership, authority, and accountability must be felt at every level, by every person

Class notes

• When you change CEOs, you change leadership approaches
• HR should take the lead in knowledge and change management
• Empowerment means you’re also accepting responsibility.
• Harvard research, early 2000s: satisfied employees = satisfied customers = better revenues
• Leadership isn’t about positional equity or authority, it’s about developing people and creating more leaders
• You can get more innovation by keeping good, innovative employees happy and encourage them. Not by putting out a suggestion box.
• The point is not to become a leader, point is to become yourself in order to make your vision manifest. You must withhold nothing, become the person you started out to be and enjoy the process of becoming.
• Ambition is a choice
• Lead from your strengths and be who you are
• To call up on the best from others, you need to understand them
• Motivation is intrinsic. A leader creates an environment in which people’s intrinsic motivation emerges.
• We oftentimes try to turn people into saviors when we shouldn’t. It’s not possible to be people’s greatest hopes.
• Humility is a key trait of successful leaders
• Make leadership more process-centered than executive-centered