Sezona za slovenske smučarske skakalce je zaključena in to izjemno uspešno. Kdo so ljudje v ozadju tega kontinuiranega uspeha? Kako voditi zvezde in iz njih oblikovati tim srčnih ljudi? O tem in še marsičem, sva se z Anjo Hlača Ferjančič na Valu 202 pogovarjala s trenerjem slovenske reprezentance Robertom Hrgoto. Naša korespondenca se začne nekako takole “Kje pa sta mene našla?“. Beri, “ kaj lahko jaz povem o vodenju? “ – Veliko, zelo veliko! Recimo: “Ni problem, če te drugi hvalijo. Problem je, če to začneš verjeti sam.” ali pa o tem, kako ga je izkušnja prejetega zaupanja pripravila tudi za vlogo vodje, ki je to postal skozi krizno situacijo.
Welcome to read the article about leaders’ idea championing and followers readiness to change, just published in Journal of Change Management by dr. Antonio Sadarić and myself.
Change agents influence employee attitudes in order for organizations to change. In an effort to unravel this influence mechanism, we examined the change leader-recipient relationship. More specifically, how change leaders’ championing (independent variable) relates to recipients’ readiness to change (dependent variable). Our conceptual model of change leaders’ prosocial sensegiving is based on adult attachment theory operationalized through storytelling. To test our model, we surveyed 164 change recipients undergoing organizational change in various industries. Results confirm the first part of our model: psychological need satisfaction partially mediates the relation between change leaders’ championing and recipients’ readiness to change. In other words, prosocial change leaders act as attachment figures alleviating anxiety caused by ambiguity addressing change recipients’ proximity-seeking behaviour. Despite what has been described in scholarly works, change leaders’ methods of persuasion seem to be a more accurate indicator of recipients’ readiness for change. Part two of our hypothesized model could not be confirmed: moderation effects of leader influence and narrative intelligence could not be confirmed. We conclude that prosocial change leaders’ who demonstrate narrative intelligence use stories to elicit an emotional response from change recipients, effectively increasing their perceived psychological need satisfaction, ultimately affecting their readiness to change.
Welcome to read the paper dr. Antonio Sadarić and myself wrote about sensemaking and change leadership. Recent studies on change agency and organizational change failure have signicantly broadened the organizational behavior perspective on individual change experiences, however, the underlying mechanism for change leaders’ infuential behavior remains a relatively underspecied area. Our central theoretical contribution focuses on the ways in which linking the finndings from different research areas that deal with storytelling and persuasive communication can contribute to understanding the underlying mechanism of change leaders’ influential behavior. We examine the various strands of research in management concerned with change leadership and persuasive communication, and propose a multidisciplinary perspective from a variety of perspectives. Our approach draws on the key theoretical perspectives from the social cognitive theory and commensurable interdisciplinary findings as the basis for a narrative-based process model of change leaders’ in uential behavior. Our model includes propositions about the change leader’s interpretation of ideological change as well as the change leader’s process of sensemaking and sensegiving. We argue that the change leader’s persuasive communication efforts are based on the leader’s narrative intelligence and in uence, which promote the change recipient’s attachment formation.
Keywords: Change leadership, Persuasive communication, Narrative-based process model, Social cognitive theory
Early this month, I had an incredible honoring opportunity to act as guest speaker at the leadership podcast with Anita Krohn Traaseth, famous Norwegian multiple CEO, entrepreneur, board member, spiritus agens in European innovation ecosystem, and incredibly sincere leader as well as Hege Janson Skogen, young and aspiring leader that co-hosts the podcast. It is part of the conversations with leaders about leadership on the podcast Godt nok for de svina (Good enough for bastards). Even though I do not see myself anywhere close to the flattering description below, I also utterly enjoyed our conversation and welcome you to listen to it at Podimo.
Abstract We examine idea championing as a key intermediary process of the idea journey linking idea generation and idea implementation in teams. Building upon multilevel framework of emergence we theorize about how compositional and compilational emergence of idea generation along with idea championing behaviors translate team members’ creative ideas into team-level innovative solutions. We adopt a two-study research design including a two-wave two-source field study (309 employees nested into 92 teams with direct supervisors) and an experimental study (423 students nested into 79 teams) to test our conceptual model. The results of field study show that team innovation process featuring strong compilational (selected actor-maximum) idea generating followed by compilational idea championing leads to best team-level innovative solutions. Using a sociometric approach as a part of an experimental study, we further show that individuals exhibiting the strongest idea generating activity are also significantly more likely the ones engaging in most intense idea championing behavior. While having team members exhibiting such exceptional behaviors is relatively more effective in an unstructured team innovation setup, structured idea journey setups result in better team-level innovative solutions, when idea championing behaviors are more equally distributed among team members. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Pri zbirki Maksima Ekonomske fakultete Univerze v Ljubljani je izšla knjiga Postherojsko vodenje: kontekst, proces in rezultati. Gre za slovenski prevod angleškega izvirnika. Monografija obravnava kontekst, proces in rezultate postherojskega vodenja. Zahtevnost sodobnega poslovnega okolja, vključno z reševanjem problematike, ki jo prinaša covid-19 v vseh svojih dimenzijah, in z upoštevanjem osnovnega delovanja človeške psihologije, od nas zahteva spremembo paradigme pri dojemanju in izvajanju učinkovitega vodenja. Zapletene naloge v svoji definiciji od nas zahtevajo neodvisno strokovno znanje in prinašajo negotove posledice. Prav zato moramo narediti premik stran od dominantnega vodje in egocentričnega vodenja proti sodobnim oblikam vodenja, ki v ospredje postavljajo nalogo in kolektiv.
What is it that Nordic leaders can teach the rest of us? This is the overall question journalist Sally Percy at Forbes asked Rebecca Piekkari (Alto University, Finland), Magnus Larsson (Copenhagen Business School, Denmark), and Miha Škerlavaj (having both perspectives from BI Norwegian Business School and University of Ljubljana through our numerous leadership interactions). We argue it is pragmatism, systemic view, as well as empowerment that makes the difference. Hope you will enjoy the read.
Slovenian Sovereign Holding, d. d. (SSH) has published the Guide for Supervisory Boards of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) entitled “Governing Corporate Culture”. A direct goal of this paper is to equip Supervisory Boards with key guidelines, questions and tools to be considered, asked, and used when exercising their duties in terms of governing corporate culture. An indirect goal of this Guide is also to empower companies to operate effectively and efficiently by giving culture an appropriate focus within corporate governance practices.
The Guide was developed in cooperation with experts from the Centre of Business Excellence of the Faculty of Economics, Prof. Dr. Miha Škerlavaj and Luka Eržen, external experts, and SSH’s employees. The content of the Guide was also supported by the Managers’ Association of Slovenia and the Slovenian Directors’ Association.
Sound corporate culture governance is important for a healthy culture and more successful business performance and should therefore be a priority topic for the Supervisory Boards of companies. We also claim that “corporate culture can best contribute to business performance if it is consistent with the context, strategic goals, leadership, structure, actual treatment of people at work, and other determinants of business performance”.
Welcome to read the English translation of the manual Governing Corporate culture (originally published in Slovenian language).
Slovenski državni holding, d. d. (SDH) je objavil priročnik za nadzorne svete družb s kapitalsko naložbo države z naslovom Upravljanje korporativne kulture, ki sva ga pripravila avtorja prof. dr. Miha Škerlavaj in Luka Eržen v v sodelovanju s strokovnjaki Centra poslovne odličnosti Ekonomske fakultete, zunanjimi mednarodnimi in slovenskimi eksperti ter zaposlenimi SDH. Priročnik sta podprla tudi Združenje Manager in Združenje Nadzornikov Slovenije.
S tem pripomočkom smo želeli opremiti nadzorne svete družb s kapitalsko naložbo države (in tudi poslovodstva družb) s ključnimi usmeritvami, vprašanji in orodji za njihovo delovanje z vidika upravljanja korporativnih kultur (angl. governing corporate culture). Posreden namen priročnika je tudi zagotavljati uspešnost in učinkovitost poslovanja družb s tem, da kultura dobi ustrezno mesto v okviru praks korporacijskega upravljanja. Vabljeni k soustvarjanju zdravih organizacij za zdrave posameznike.
Thrilled and excited about the fact that my brand new book Post-Heroic Leadership. The book sets out to categorize the context, process, and outcomes of post-heroic leadership. Complexities of the modern business environment along with the fundamental functioning of human psychology require us to make a paradigm shift in the way we perceive and practice effective leadership. I argue that in order for businesses to succeed in the times to come, leaders need to move away from ego-centered leadership toward post-heroic leadership – a leadership that emphasizes servant and shared practices puts task and collective front and center and leaders’ ego in the background. Providing a deeper understanding of the post-heroic leadership across industries and disciplines, the book starts by elaborating on the zeitgeist and need for a new type of leadership. It highlights the process and elements of post-heroic leadership in action, such as post-heroically leading change, developing a culture of trust with feedback, and sustainable and responsible post-heroic leadership. Finally, the book focuses on the outcomes of post-heroic leadership, including resilience and innovation. Featuring mini-case studies from leaders in healthcare, family entertainment, ICT, haute cuisine, and manufacturing to name a few, this book provides a thorough understanding of this new wave of leadership and a platform for further research.
For those interested, the book can be acquired at https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-90820-1#toc with 20% discount by entering the following coupon code at checkout on link.springer.com PAt5ID7y6k1GqS (Valid Jan 7, 2022 – Feb 4, 2022).
prof. dr. Miha Škerlavaj 
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