Emerging leaders don’t always know how to initiate the cycle.  If, you would like to assist your Phi Theta Kappa emerging leaders, a good place to start is to help them examine their beliefs about their effectiveness with specific tasks. This is called self-efficacy, and it plays an important role in the general levels of self-confidence.

Review a “job well done” and the specific things necessary to achieve excellence.  Your officers probably have higher level of self-efficacy — belief in their abilities to do these things well –  in these areas than in something that they have never done.  This higher level of self-efficacy in turn leads them to think, feel, and behave in ways that further build those abilities and reinforces the beliefs.  In these areas, they are usually more likely to see challenges rather than obstacles, which creates opportunities to explore creativity and build tenacity and perseverance.  Belief in self-efficacy also leads to the ability to quickly recover from setbacks because attention is on external conditions and circumstances rather than any personal weaknesses, actual or perceived.   In other words, self-efficacy positively affects performance for specific kinds of things, and improving performance in turn builds self-confidence, which in turn creates a mind-set for trying new things — new things that are opportunities for developing self-efficacy in a new area, and the cycle starts again.

Assessing current levels of self-efficacy in a variety of situations can help identify areas for personal growth.

Albert Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy provides a framework to begin. According to Bandura, there are four sources of self-efficacy:

1. Mastery experiences – things you have succeeded at in the past.
2. Vicarious experiences – seeing people who are similar to you succeed.
3. Social persuasion – hearing from others that you’re capable.
4. Emotional status – staying positive, and managing stress.

Three of these areas are within your officers’ personal own control.

Mastery Experiences – create more of these by:

• Connecting success to efforts; what did they do specifically that made a difference?
• Thinking positively, optimistically
• Setting SMART goals
• Creating a motivating environment and working on perseverance and determination

• Asking for or seeking assignments that will be challenging, but involve skills in which there are  high levels of self-efficacy
• Assessing skills and abilities often
• Developing decision making skills and create higher levels of confidence and satisfaction in choices

Observe Others

It’s interesting that Bandura discovered that observing others’ success improves belief in self when they are people who are similar in some ways. The more alike, the greater the influence.  (The opposite can also happen . . . confidence may decline if someone sees others working harder and harder and failing to achieve the desired results.)

This is why tips like the following are so important:

• Observe others and keep mental or actual notes about things that seem to be good habits
• Network and interact with accomplished people (e.g. the Phi Theta Kappa chapter!)
• Ask questions and develop mentoring relationships, especially with people who have similar backgrounds

Emotional Status

Learning to handle stress builds tenacity and an ability to persevere.  Managing stress also contributes to optimism and energy:  if one learns to handle stress (building self-efficacy in this area), one’s strength and confidence to handle anything and everything that might happen increases.

[Monika Byrd, March 2009]

Questions or Comments about Phi Theta Kappa Leading Leaders Briefs may be directed to Monika Byrd, Dean of Leadership Development for the Honors Program Department.

After learning a great deal about the organization to become the expert, acting as a role model, instilling passion, providing direction and guidance, persevering to create consistency and high standards for the chapter, it’s easy to assume that a Phi Theta Kappa advisor is a hero, but this list leaves out some key elements of advisorship that make it servant leadership.   As Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner have noted, leadership “choice is not based on authority, but upon the leader’s perceived capacity to serve a need.”   If you are successful at giving chapter members and officers the stage and seek always to help them become better at what they are doing, building competence, capacity, and confidence — it is the essence of advisorship and servant leadership.  Kent Keith in The Case for Servant Leadership has listed the key practices of servant leadership:

• Self awareness — taking time to reflect, knowing one’s emotional responses and remembering that moods are contagious
• Listening — identify needs
• Changing the Pyramid — broaden the top of the traditional organizational pyramid so that more people have leadership opportunities and the leaders (officers) are “first among equals” and not the sole actors
• Developing colleagues — as Robert Greenleaf wrote, “Do those served grow as persons?  Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?”  which improves the capacity of the organization to perform the mission
• Coaching, not controlling — control to achieve compliance does not create passion
• Unleashing the energy and intelligence of others
• Foresight — this is the “lead that the servant leader has” by reflecting and achieving insight about how the past and present connect to the positive future envisioned

These practices are empowering and make new heroes – what advisors truly seek to achieve.

[Monika Byrd, October 2008]

Questions or Comments about Phi Theta Kappa Leading Leaders articles may be directed to Monika Byrd, Dean of Leadership Development for the Honors Program Department.

Dante was not even a mediocre poet and wrote his self-help, classic masterpiece “The Divine Comedy” only after consciously seeing his life through a comic rather than a tragic lens — he changed his mindset to achieve success.  His work addressed the importance of a leader’s mindset too.  In a key section when Dante examines leadership (“Inferno 26″), he uses his vivid language to contrast two kinds of leaders — those who use their skill and knowledge for personal gain, and those who use their skill and knowledge to create a climate of success for all by promoting and celebrating the virtues to which everyone could aspire.  The first kind is engulfed in flames and trapped in the Inferno; the second kind can scale the difficult purgatorial mountain and ascend to Paradise.

In the Harvard Business Review article, “Leadership that Gets Results,” Goleman explains research showing that up to 30% of a company’s financial results are determined by the climate of the organization.  And what drives climate?  The leaders do.  Goleman’s research, more fully described in his book Primal Leadership:  Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence, showed that 50 – 70% of how people perceive their organization’s climate comes from the actions and behaviors of their leader. Susan Scott puts it more visually and calls the effect that a leader’s mindset and actions can have on an organization The Emotional Wake that spreads out and continues to have an effect far away from the leader’s initial actions, just as a boat’s wake can. 

What are some of the specific kinds of actions and behaviors that create a positive climate, and positive mindset for more people?  Leaders cannot accomplish a positive climate by being upbeat and chipper all the time.  Goleman says that a leader’s mindset and actions must stay in tune with what’s going on in the organization — what he refers to as dynamic resonance.  “Good moods galvanize good preformance, but it doesn’t make sense for a leader to be as chipper as a blue jay at dawn if sales are tanking or the business is going under.  The most effective executives display moods and behaviors that match the situation at hand, with a healthy dose of optimism mixed in.  They respect how other people are feeling — even if it is glum or defeated — but they also model what it looks like to move forward with hope and humor.”  Besides reading the climate and adjusting appropriately, effective leaders remain positive about the future, calm and relaxed, no matter what the current climate is.  Consistently modeling optimism and doing things such as eliciting and spreading good ideas rather than criticizing and blaming eventually pay off with an improved climate.   

As Napoleon Bonaparte put it, “Leaders are dealers in hope.” 

Sources:   

Alighieri, Dante, and John Ciardi (translator).  The Divine Comedy.  New York:  Penguin, 2003.  

Goleman, Daniel.  “Leadership That Gets Results.”  The Harvard Business Review, March – April 2000.  This article also appears in the text book, Phi Theta Kappa Leadership Development Studies:  A Humanities Approach, Fourth Edition in Unit 10 “Empowering Others,” pp. 462 – 474. 

Goleman, Daniel, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKee.  Primal Leadership:  Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence.  Boston:  Harvard Business School Press, 2002.

Scott, Susan.  Fierce Conversations:  Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time.  New York:  Berkely Publishing, 2002.

[January 2008, Monika Byrd]

Questions or Comments about Phi Theta Kappa Leading Leaders Briefs may be directed to Monika Byrd, Director of Leadership Development Programs.

The time you devote to effective delegation does “triple duty” and contributes to all three by freeing some of your time to focus on those things that really do require your attention, freeing some time for you to devote to your own development, and by transferring some decision-making authority and responsibility to others you enable them to further develop their knowledge, skills, and abilities. Everyone concerned can develop a greater sense of accomplishment and effectiveness resulting in new levels of “ownership” and commitment to the group and its success.

Delegation Resume
The first step is to assess yourself as a delegator. Do you already delegate a lot? How effectively? A Delegation Resume can help you begin to take stock. Make a “To Do” list on the Delegation Resume of the tasks, goals, projects, and regular activities for your job or organization, or transfer your “To Do” list to the Delegation Resume. Then indicate for each item on the list if you have already delegated it, could delegate it, not sure about delegating it, or can’t delegate it. Ask the members of your group to discuss your list for the purposes of determining if you have been delegating effectively and to determine what else you might be able to delegate.

• What are the knowledge, skills, and abilities required of the person who has the responsibility for an item on the list?
• Have you already delegated the right things to the right people?
• Who could complete an item that has not been delegated?
• What are the reasons that there is uncertainty about delegating an item or that an item can’t be delegated, and does everyone agree?
• Do the people to whom you have delegated have the information and other resources and support they need?
• Do you know what the status or progress is?

Delegation Register
The discussion about the items on the list will help you complete a Delegation Register that helps ensure effective delegation. On the Delegation Register you can record the knowledge, skills, and abilities required, the person or people responsible for a task, goal, or project, the deadline, and the resources and support you will provide. The Delegation Register should include space — a reminder to you — to update each of these things as time passes and as circumstances change.

It’s important to remember that delegation doesn’t free all of the time that you might have spent on a task or project by doing it yourself. Some of that time will go to monitoring progress, offering support, and keeping communication channels open for the exchange of ideas and feedback.

It’s also important to reserve time to fully review delegated work because it can be counter-productive to accept delegated work that is not done well or completely; you will end up overloaded with new things to “fix” and less time for those things that couldn’t be delegated. Don’t accept products or reports of delegated work as “complete” until you review it, and let your group know that you will all determine together if things are satisfactory and complete. If it’s not, then the time spent reviewing is like an additional update or briefing on the status of the delegated item. Remember that the people to whom you have delegated may be new to the things the job requires and may take more time than you would. The reviews and updates are part of the growth process for them. With more delegation, the group members become increasingly competent and the whole group benefits. When an item is completed satisfactorily, recognize and reward the effort and good work, and mark it “Done” on the Delegation Register!

For additional information about effective delegating, see the other Phi Theta Kappa Leading Leaders Briefs on Delegating, and the Phi Theta Kappa Leadership Briefs on Delegating and Empowering.

[Monika Byrd, May 2007]

Questions or Comments about Phi Theta Kappa Leading Leaders Briefs may be directed to Monika Byrd, Director of Leadership Development Programs.

• Recruit members – the more members you have, the more to share in the work. Start recruiting even before students are eligible to join – set up a provisional membership program for students who were members of the National Honor Society or received scholarships.
• Reuse previous successful programs that your chapter has had or programs that International has developed. Don’t reinvent the wheel.
• Fully utilize all students who want to be involved. Survey them for their interests and plan programs around their passions.
• Spending time on effective officer training will save time later. During the training, set definite chapter goals, plan activities, and develop a schedule for officers to work in the chapter office. Having an officer retreat is the best way to accomplish effective training.
• Set definite chapter goals, post them for all to see, and plan activities around them.
• Ask your college for some support staff time. Have a good working relationship with your Information Technology staff.
• Use PAM – PAM will help you keep track of upcoming deadlines, show your progress for the Five Star Chapter Development Program and Pinnacle Award Program, and help you with managing membership.
• Schedule your chapter officers to each work for two hours per week in the chapter office; have the Officer of the Month work four hours each week. If you don’t have a dedicated Phi Theta Kappa Office, ask your administration for one or to share one with another group.
• Put information on every activity in a packet, label and organize as activities are completed.
• Use e-mail for communication. Develop group email lists – one for officers, one for all members. Then one message can go to all. Train your officers in using correct email etiquette.
• Plan projects that encompass more than one Hallmark.
• Train officers to keep good records – the chapter can use them for planning activities, reporting requirements, and Hallmark Award entries.
• Use online software, such as Blackboard or WebCT, to disperse information or hold virtual meetings.

If you have additional time-saving tips, email them to Barb Murray, Phi Theta Kappa Advisor Education Specialist.

[Barb Murray, June 2007]

Comments or questions about Phi Theta Kappa Leading Leaders Briefs may be directed to Monika Byrd, Director of Leadership Development Programs.

“To every person there comes in their lifetime that special moment when you are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to you and your talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds you unprepared or unqualified for work which could have been your finest hour.”
~ Sir Winston Churchill

The leader’s responsibilities are to do the shoulder-tapping, bringing the opportunities to the table for individuals that match their talents, strengths, skills, and passions, as well as to help ensure that individuals have opportunities to become better prepared and qualified for future work by challenging them to learn broadly. The others whom leaders would empower must seek opportunities to learn and improve their qualifications so they are ready to act, as well as remain receptive to that figurative tap on the shoulder.

Advisors who are effective at facilitating empowerment of officers and members:

• observe carefully for individuals’ strengths, skills, and passions;
• target the challenges, biases, and prejudices they may have in order to grow their preparedness and qualifications;
• act on signs that officers and members are ready and desiring to take on new responsibilities;
• and seek to unlock and inspire their confidence with a tap on the shoulder for a prime opportunity.

[Monika Byrd, November, 2005]
Questions or Comments about Phi Theta Kappa Leading Leaders Briefs may be directed to Monika Byrd, Director of Leadership Development Programs.

Delegation is a leadership skill that can motivate members to get involved and give them a sense of purpose for their involvement in the organization and ownership of the chapter’s activities and success. It distributes the workload for better utilization of your resources and will allow you to get more done. Delegation can also promote leadership development in members and contribute to building new leaders.

Effective delegation tips:

• When delegating, first ask for volunteers for a project. Members who are interested and willing will be more effective than those who have simply been assigned to a project.
• Give the members the whole task to do whenever possible. Make sure they understand the whole picture and where the task fits in to the Mission and Goals of the chapter and the specific intentions and purpose for the task.
• Communicate clearly. Make sure members know exactly what is expected from them. Ask questions and ask for feedback to make sure they are on the right track.
• Share information. What resources will be available for a project? What steps need to be taken? Who needs to be contacted? What authority for making decisions will the person have?
• Set up a time-line beginning with the event or project and work backwards to the planning and implementation. Ask the members to report on progress periodically, perhaps at chapter meetings.
• A key point about delegation is that even though you have delegated a task to someone else, you are still responsible for making sure the task is done correctly and in a timely matter. Do not pass the blame if a task fails. If you delegated, you need to follow up and provide additional support, guidance, and help if necessary.
• Acknowledge, thank, and reward the members for their successful completion of the project.

Successful delegation takes time and energy, but it’s worth it to enable your chapter to accomplish more, and also to help chapter members succeed and develop as leaders. You build the members’ self-confidence and people who feel confident usually are successful too.

[Barb Murray, July 2006]

Questions or Comments about Phi Theta Kappa Leadership Briefs may be directed to Monika Byrd, Director of Leadership Development Programs.

When you empower members, you delegate responsibility (not specific tasks with detailed, “how to” instructions), clarify expectations, and give members the autonomy for doing a project. This encourages the members to set goals for their project, holds them accountable, values their creativity, and rewards their achievements and efforts. Is that all it takes? There are three additional things that are important to facilitate empowerment.

To empower means, “to put power into,” or it can also mean, “to bring energy and enthusiasm out of.” Appreciation, Approval, and Attention are important things that you can add to increase the likelihood that real empowerment happens.

Appreciation – Every person has a need for self-esteem, the sense of being important, worthy, and valuable. The easiest way to make another person feel good about himself or herself is to express appreciation for what they do. The more you thank the members for doing things for you and/or the chapter, the more they will want to do. Every time you express appreciation to a person, you raise their self-esteem and improve their self-image. You make them feel like a valuable asset to the team and you empower them.

Approval – Another way to make your chapter members feel empowered is by the generous use of praise and approval. Perhaps the most valuable lesson in Ken Blanchard’s book The One Minute Manager is his recommendation to be giving “one-minute praisings” at every opportunity. When you give genuine and honest praise to members for their accomplishments, you will be amazed at how much more they are willing to help you and the chapter. When you look for opportunities to do and say things that make chapter members feel good about themselves, you will notice, not only how good you feel, but also that members become empowered and start taking on additional tasks and roles for themselves.

Attention – The third way to empower chapter members is to pay close attention to them when they talk. This will build their self-esteem and make them feel valued. Too many people are so busy trying to be heard that they become impatient when others are talking. Listening intently to your chapter members shows that you care about them.

Your ability to enlist the knowledge, energy and resources of others enables you to become a catalyst for synergy — where the group is more than the sum of its parts. Empowering members will help them become more enthusiastic, creative, active, and successful. The members will learn leadership skills and will be stretched beyond what they previously thought they could achieve.

[Barb Murray, August 2006]

Questions or Comments about Phi Theta Kappa Leadership Briefs may be directed to Monika Byrd, Director of Leadership Development Programs.