turbulent short-term effect. It basically created chaos
and disrupted the dynamics in the pack. Existing staff
became fearful, frustrated and confrontational. They
developed a victim mentality and created conflict that
disrupted the education of the pupils even more.
However, this didn’t last …
Within a short period of time, key members of staff
began to appreciate what they were being asked to do,
and more importantly ‘why’ the changes were
necessary. They were then nurtured and encouraged to
visit other schools to see good practice. This was a
turning point because the school now had a core of
people committed to improvement, which began a
domino effect among other staff.
The executive head teacher had recognised that he
needed to take an aggressive and potentially
destructive approach at the start. He did precisely what
the school needed and then, by showing strong
uncompromising leadership, he demonstrated the
outcomes he expected. He slowly rebuilt trust among
the staff and helped them recognise the need for
change. Once this happened, the school began to
improve rapidly.
Leadership lessons …
Dogs rarely go out looking for a fight. What we perceive
as aggressive behaviour is often a dog’s way of
claiming and controlling its space or territory. Dogs do
this by projecting energy that psychologically lets others
around know their intention. This is typically
accompanied by body language clues and eye contact
that reinforce the message. Humans work in exactly the
same way but are sometimes not so subtle!
The word ‘conflict’ often evokes images of people in
direct aggression with each other. This needn’t be the
case and in all organisations a degree of conflict is not
only necessary but likely to do some good. For
instance, does having conflicting views mean that you
cannot work with another person? Does having
different, conflicting ideas and opinions automatically
mean that one of you is right and the other therefore
has to be wrong? Conflict simply means that there is a
difference or variance between two things – it needn’t
become a contradiction, argument or dispute if handled
appropriately.
There is no need for conflict to become unpleasant or
unhelpful although it will undoubtedly at times be
uncomfortable. So the message for an effective leader
is to anticipate when, and why, conflict could occur and
to have appropriate strategies in place to handle it and
to manage the situation to ensure that everybody has
the opportunity to air their differing views, opinions and
ideas without any aggression coming to the fore.
A certain degree of conflict is healthy. After all, if we all
held similar views, opinions and ideas then it wouldn’t
exactly stimulate interesting or creative discussions in
the workplace, would it? Imagine a world where
everyone agreed with you all the time. Healthy conflict
is also essential for decision making and problem
solving.
An effective leader will use a situation where conflict
could occur to create a framework in which people can
bounce their own ideas off each other in a non-
threatening, constructive and supportive way. They will
create the environment for this to happen and will also
anticipate the potential outcomes (and potential
objections) from the individuals concerned. The most
effective leaders will have appropriate responses
already prepared to tackle and diffuse any issues that
could escalate into unhealthy and harmful conflict. This
again reinforces the key requirement for a leader to be
able to ‘anticipate’ before they can lead or manage
other people.
Effective leaders anticipate where conflict could
occur and harness this to support constructive
problem solving and decision making.
Damaging and detrimental conflict happens when a
leader simply doesn’t create the correct environment
and therefore allows individuals to take control of the
situation, often leading to disagreement. This is where
personal views, feelings and potential prejudices can
escalate into what is perceived as an aggressive and
detrimental situation. This inevitably leads to the ‘I win,
you lose’ situation where aggressive and competitive
behaviour comes to the fore.
When human beings are brought together for extended
periods of time (e.g. in the typical workplace) there is
an inevitability that a certain degree of conflict will
occur. Conflict is often the end result of clashes in
personality or ‘attitude’ or style or approach, all of which
can very easily be explained in one simple word:
behaviour. So, the more a leader understands the
behavioural characteristics, preferences and styles, not
only of themselves but of the individuals for whom they
are responsible and work with on a regular basis, the
more effective that leader will be in being able to adapt,
modify and change their behaviour to create the most
conducive environment for productive working and to
anticipate and minimise the impact of conflict.
The ability to compromise is a key strength in any
individual, and particularly a leader, although some
people still perceive any situation where they do not
exert their authority to ‘get their own way’ as a potential
weakness. This is a common mistake that
inexperienced leaders often make;; trying to use their
position and perceived status to drive decisions and
actions rather than their skills and behaviours to work
with, and through, their people.
It would be unhealthy if we each got our own way all
the time. Again, imagine a world where you never
disagreed with someone else, didn’t have to justify or
rationalise your arguments, and all your ideas and
suggestions were accepted on face value. Where is the
fun and challenge in that? Clearly, there is a need for
compromise in any situation or organisation where
there is more than one person involved.
Compromise is about finding a ‘win-win’ situation,
particularly when speed is concerned or the issue itself
is of low risk or value to you and others involved.
Compromise is about finding the middle ground.
Therefore, a leader who can create opportunities for
win-win situations without conceding their own position
will be skilled in the art of influence and persuasion.
They may well be perceived as being accommodating
and lenient, which in itself brings potential strengths or
perceived liabilities. However, the art of compromise is
a fundamental skill for any leader to get the best from
their people.
One of the biggest mistakes a leader can make is to
assume that everybody around them thinks, processes
and works in exactly the same way that they do. The
most effective leaders appreciate the significant
differences among their people and capitalise on these
to get the best out of each individual. This can often
mean adapting their own views or approach to meet the
needs of others, i.e. to give and take (compromise).
In the 1970’s, Kenneth Thomas and Ralph Kilman
identified five basic ways of addressing conflict and
subsequently developed their TKI Conflict Mode
Instrument6, which is widely used to assess an
individual’s behaviour in conflict situations. Their work
centred around the concept that a person’s behaviour
will be governed by two basic factors: ‘assertiveness’
and ‘cooperativeness’. Depending on the balance of
6 Thomas-Kilman Conflict Mode Instrument, 1974, Xicom Incorporated, CPP Inc.
these two dimensions, Thomas and Kilman
characterised five conflict handling modes, each of
which has its uses. For a leader, the important
message is that we are capable of using all five modes
but are likely to have natural preferences;; consequently
we will tend to rely more heavily on some behaviours
than others when facing a conflict situation. The
effective leader will recognise the situation and adapt
their mode of behaviour accordingly to achieve the
correct outcome.
Collaboration is the ultimate situation where people
work together to find a solution that satisfies all their
needs. Genuine collaboration can reap massive
benefits for an organisation but is hard to achieve.
People will not work together effectively if they do not
have a shared understanding of the common goals they
are trying to achieve and if their individual needs
outweigh the group outcome. Crucially, true
collaboration will only be effective when the individuals
concerned have ‘shared’ values.
The whole area of values is one that a leader needs to
consider very carefully. Put simply, values are the
things that drive each individual and make them take
the decisions and actions they do. If something goes
against your values, it will feel wrong and you will be
uncomfortable. When people have shared values, there
will be a degree of congruence and compatibility. They
probably can’t define it and don’t know why – that is the
power of your values.
Conflict
Anticipate and have strategies in place to make conflict
healthy and beneficial.
Compromise
Accept other’s similarities and differences and adapt
your behaviour to get the best win-win solutions.
Collaboration
Make sure there are shared values and understanding
so that everyone can contribute in their own way.
Intuition – Influence – Intention
This school was a small 11-18 Academy that had been
open less than a year when I made my first visit. It had
previously been a Community Secondary School that
had been placed into special measures in its last
inspection and had subsequently undergone
conversion to Academy status.
The staffing situation was interesting – just under half
the staff were from the original school and the
remainder were new staff, many of whom were newly
qualified teachers (NQTs) undergoing their induction.
The assistant principal was designated the head of
teaching and learning, and her main concern was that
internal monitoring had indicated that both these areas
would be considered ‘satisfactory’ at best. Many
leaders that I have worked with in the past would have
reacted to this by bringing in additional support,
providing a raft of staff training and continuing a
programme of rigorous monitoring to drive
improvement. Her response was different …
The assistant principal’s instinct was to take a longer
term view and start by introducing a culture of coaching
through the senior leadership team and heads of
departments. By implementing this from ‘the top’ she
planned to illustrate how coaching can be a powerful
force for change without creating a threatening
judgemental focus that could stifle creativity in the
classrooms. Many staff criticised this decision and it
was an uphill struggle for a while but she persevered.
Terriers won’t give up once they are focused on a goal
and, by perseverance and trusting her original gut
instinct, the assistant principal slowly but surely
influenced her critics. In the last 12 months, I have
worked with this school to train and qualify their senior
leaders as management coaches and the impact is
already showing in the quality of provision and
students’ performance and achievements.
Leadership lessons …
The higher you get up the leadership ladder, the worse
the vulnerability gets. I have lost count of the number of
times some of my clients in senior leadership positions
have expressed their fears and concerns, such as, “I’m
just waiting for the day when I get found out. You know,
the day when someone realises that I don’t know it all
or have all the answers.” The first lesson for them to
learn is that leadership is often lonely;; the second is
that nobody has all the answers!
Call it intuition, instinct or sixth sense, the outcome is
often the same. Think back to a decision or an action
that you took which turned out to be a particularly good
one, and the chances are there may not have been any
specific rationale behind it. It probably simply ‘felt right’
at the time. This is because every decision or action we
take has a ‘kinosomatic’ response sitting behind it. This
is basically an emotional response which acts as a
trigger and stimulus for a physiological pattern, which
we otherwise know and recognise as behaviour.
As a leader, sometimes just knowing that things ‘feel
right’ is sufficient, particularly if that kinosomatic
response drives a learned behaviour that we know will
get the results we want and need. This becomes
particularly powerful if the response can be consciously
replicated to create the actions and outcomes
whenever needed. This is the basic concept of
‘modelling’.
We all have role models at some stage in our lives and
typically try to emulate their achievements and success.
But we generally tend to do this by trial and error,
whereas a systematic process of modelling is simply
taking this to the next level to identify what it is
precisely that makes one individual more successful at
something than another.
Effective leaders recognise patterns of
behaviour that signal and indicate other
people’s intentions.
When someone is particularly successful in a certain
activity, they often can’t explain or articulate what it is
that they do. This is a fairly typical pattern and is why
the modelling process itself requires significant skill and
practice. Modelling is therefore a process where an
individual’s emotional and sensory response is
calibrated, analysed and mapped against their
behaviour and the subsequent strategies they put in
place to achieve the outcomes they desire.
This concept of modelling was originally harnessed by
Richard Bandler and John Grinder in the 1970s through
their observations and recognition of patterns in the
language and behaviours of three respected ‘master’
psychotherapists. Following this discovery, their work
exploded onto the scene under the catchy and
memorable acronym of NLP (neuro-linguistic
programming)7, which has spawned an industry of its
7 Bandler, Richard & John Grinder (1975). The Structure of Magic I: A Book About Language
and Therapy. Palo Alto, CA: Science & Behavior Books.
own in recent years. Despite being perceived by many
as a ‘self-help’ series of techniques, the core principles
in NLP, and modelling in particular, are fundamentally
aligned with the skills and attributes of effective
leadership.
What is the difference between influence and
persuasion? They are both about converting someone
else to your way of thinking but influence has the key
element of knowing what the outcome should be, i.e.
the impact. Impact is such an important concept for a
leader to understand. Rather than being taken literally
to mean ‘crash’ or ‘collision’, it is as simple as
understanding the effect or outcome of an event. Every
decision and action should be judged and measured
against the impact it is likely to have so that everyone is
clear about the outcomes that can be expected and
why this would be of benefit.
The easiest way to assess impact is by asking a simple
question: “So what? If I take this course of action, then
so what?”. If the answer is unclear or cannot easily be
expressed then there is more thought needed before
moving on. Effective leadership is about not only
assessing risk prior to taking decisions and actions but
is also about having sufficient mechanisms, controls,
checks and balances in place to be able to measure the
impact of those decisions and actions.
Crucially, by mapping out (and articulating) the
expectations in advance, leaders will be better placed
to recognise when things are not progressing as
planned and therefore be able to intervene and change
direction more effectively. Unfortunately, too often
leaders embark on courses of action because “that’s
the way it’s always been done around here” and then
miraculously express surprise that they get a similar
result or outcome to the last time!
If influence is about being able to sell your ideas, views
and concepts to others, and being in a position to
anticipate and articulate the outcomes that can be
expected, it is therefore about listening to, and soliciting
others’ ideas and opinions, while putting forward a
convincing argument. The ability to influence requires
the key skill of being able to listen – not just being able
to hear, but to listen actively at a range of levels.
Effective leaders understand the power of
questions and active listening.
Leaders need to listen to the words, to the meaning, to
the feeling, and to the intent. Only when you
understand the emotion sitting behind somebody’s
behaviour and words will you fully understand what it is
that is motivating them. The most effective leaders then
exert influence by hitting the correct motivational ‘hot
spots’, balanced with the integrity to avoid each
individual’s inherent fears.
The human brain processes information faster than our
mouths work, which means that we can think much
faster than we can speak. Although this is a useful trait,
it typically means that we are busy thinking about what
the other person has said and are likely to be
formulating what we are going to say next, while they
are still speaking. The danger here is that we then don’t
listen carefully enough and only pick up part of their
message. Active listening involves slowing down the
process where our personal filters, assumptions,
judgements, and beliefs can distort what we hear. The
simplest way to do this is to ask questions, which
requires a conscious effort to reflect on what has been
said and to check for understanding.
Having the ability to understand the intention behind
someone else’s words or actions is a critical skill for a
leader to develop. The good news is that people are
signposting their intentions all the time, through the
language they choose to use and the way they express
their emotions through their behaviour. Like modelling,
learning to ‘read’ and interpret the cues in someone’s
speech patterns, facial expressions and body
movements are skills that can be learned and
developed over time.
Intuition
Learn to trust your gut instinct – if it feels right there is a
good reason why.
Influence
Understand the impact of your actions and adapt your
behaviours accordingly.
Intention
Listen for the intention and motivation rather than what
you want to hear.
The Pack Leader Principles
Principle 1 focuses on the leader understanding that
assuming the position of pack leader requires flexibility
in behaviour. The leader must know what they are
trying to achieve and must be able to adapt the way
they work if they want to get the best response from
their followers.
Position Power Persuasion
Always be the ‘pack Be flexible and
leader’ Know what you are adaptable in your own
trying to achieve behaviour
and believe in it
and yourself
The focus for principle 2 is on the leader understanding
their own role in relation to what they are trying to
achieve, and recognising the roles and responsibilities
of others who will make a contribution. The
communication of these responsibilities, expectations
and each individual’s boundaries is fundamental to
maintaining relationships.
Roles Responsibilities Relationships
Be clear about Anticipate factors
each individual’s Communicate that could affect
purpose, function responsibilities (and relationships and
and contribution to boundaries) clearly
to everyone in the clarify your
the team expectations
team
Principle 3 draws attention to a leader’s need to be able
to distinguish behaviour from the emotional response
the behaviour elicits. Understanding behaviour at this
level will help a leader to anticipate and act
appropriately in different situations.
Attitude Anticipation Action
Accept that it is your Plan carefully and
behaviour (and your Learn from past know when to take
response to others’ action and convert
mistakes and
behaviour) that is proactively use this planning into
being perceived knowledge to develop outcome
strategies, identify
and recognise
potential future
scenarios
Principle 4 considers a leader’s mindset, self-belief and
subsequent behaviour. A successful leader should
have sufficient self-awareness and self-regulation to
adapt and modify their own behaviour to achieve the
outcomes they need.
Firmness Fairness Flexibility
Have the self-belief Be consistent in Adapt and modify
and resolve to stand your dealings with your own behaviour
your ground without others – set clear to suit the situation
resorting to boundaries and and get the best
aggressive expectations outcome for
behaviour
everyone concerned
Principle 5 places a focus on a leader’s ability to use
learning from previous experiences to form and
programme their patterns of behaviour, leading
ultimately to positive and resourceful habits.
Recall Repetition Resilience
Apply your
previous Practise until the Manage your own
knowledge, skills emotional state and
and understanding skills and
to current competences you learn to bounce
situations require are instinctive back from
and habitual disappointment
Principle 6 concerns a leader’s interaction with others
and the consequent inter-personal and group
dynamics. To be successful, a leader needs to be
aware of the behaviour and preferences of others as
well as how their behaviour is perceived and the impact
it has.
Conflict Compromise Collaboration
Anticipate and Make sure there are
have strategies in Accept others’ shared values and
similarities and understanding so
place to make differences and that everyone can
conflict healthy and adapt your behaviour contribute in their
to get the best win-
beneficial win solutions own way
The final principle focuses on aspects of a leader’s
behaviour that are difficult to measure but underpin
their effectiveness and perceived credibility. Successful
leaders typically trust their instincts and understand
what motivates others.
Intuition Influence Intention
Understand the
Learn to trust your gut impact of your Listen for the
actions and adapt intention and
instinct – if it feels your behaviours motivation rather
right there is a good than what you want
accordingly
reason why to hear
L Leadership essons
Dogs need strong leadership – they need rules and
boundaries to be set so that they know precisely how
they are expected to respond and behave – people are
no different. In fact, the parallels between canine and
human needs are remarkable and if you look around
you will see that people also behave in a similar way to
dogs. Give them too much latitude and leeway and they
will take advantage of it;; control them too tightly and
they will rebel and fight against the oppression they
perceive.
• Trying to ‘manage’ won’t work. Leadership and
management are different and, to be a leader
requires a completely different set of skills from a
manager.
• A leader’s expectations must be clear at all times.
• Anticipation is the key factor in effective leadership.
The ability to anticipate gives an edge and allows the
leader to plan and prepare accordingly.
• A leader’s emotional state has a huge influence on
their behaviour and response to situations, which
affects how others respond to them (even if they
don’t realise it at the time).
• All the information a leader needs is there in body
language, habits and patterns of behaviour – they
just have to recognise and interpret it to make it work
for them.
• There is no such thing as ‘attitude’ – only behaviour
that you either like or don’t like.
• Modelling is marvellous! After all, why reinvent the
wheel? If someone else is effective at something
then we can learn from them.
We can learn a lot about effective leadership from our
canine companions … but the most important lesson of
all is to apply this learning … remember to Challenge
Choice Change.
Challenge
Look at each individual chapter in turn, ask yourself
how that principle could apply to you and your
leadership colleagues then consider the impact of your
current behaviour and actions.
Choice
Think about a particular situation that is current in your
school and now consider how you could behave
differently. Instead of reacting in one way – what other
choices do you have – use the principles to guide you.
Change
Make a conscious decision to do something different.
A L Hbout esley unter (aka. The Pack Leader)
Lesley is a professional speaker and coach specialising
in developing
leaders and leadership behaviour. She
works with senior leaders in business and education to
help them understand how behaviour lies at the heart of
effective leadership, communication and performance.
She is an international public speaker. Her seminars
and workshops are renowned for motivating people
from all walks of life, and for provoking change that
turns managers into leaders.
Lesley’s expertise is internationally recognised and her
doctorate research is leading the way in developing a
behavioural framework to support the development of
authentic leaders.
Lesley is a qualified teacher and also worked as a
senior
lecturer in one of the largest
Colleges in the
UK. Her
education career developed further during her
time in a Local Education Authority with a range of
responsibilities linked to school improvement, teaching
and learning, and leadership development.
In 1994, Lesley left behind the comfort and security of
full-time employment to set up her first business,
working predominantly with senior leaders in education
whilst fulfilling the demanding role of lead inspector of
schools. She developed this business to be one of the
largest Ofsted inspection contracting agencies in the
UK at the time, with over 120 inspectors working across
all educational phases.
Expanding further with international clients, Lesley’s
reputation for challenging leadership thinking began to
take shape. Since then she has been involved in the
operation and development of several business
ventures through which she has amassed a wide range
of leadership skills. Lesley has therefore learned the
practical aspects of the impact of leadership on
organisational performance from her own personal
experience. This includes making some pretty
impressive mistakes along the way!
In 2005, Lesley decided there was more to life than
being “the boss” and made a conscious decision to
radically change her lifestyle. She walked away from all
her business interests at the time and immersed herself
in a programme of personal development, including
coaching, mentoring, psychology, emotional
intelligence (EI), psychometric analysis and neuro-
lingusitic programming (NLP). She also bought a
puppy! This high spirited, independent and stubborn
German Shepherd called Keno (Kee’no) is the
inspiration for this book and her subsequent work
based on The Pack Leader metaphor.
Lesley currently works in her own business – Pack
Leader International – speaking at international
conferences and providing high value coaching and
support for leaders in business and education. As well
as her interest and expertise in using metaphor to
support leader learning and development, Lesley’s
doctoral research has led to her being recognised as a
thought leader and expert in the field of authentic
leadership. She also teaches modules on creativity,
innovation and enterprise, and managing innovation on
MBA and MSc programmes through Edinburgh Napier
University and Hong Kong University.
C Iontact nformation
If you have any comments or feedback on the contents
of this book (good, bad or otherwise) I would love to
hear from you.
If you would like to receive my weekly tips and insights
on leader development then please visit the website
and subscribe free of charge. You can also join ‘The
Pack’ and gain access to a wide range of free
resources and materials to support your personal
development as a leader.
www.lesleyhunter.com
[email protected]
@lesleyhunter
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/lesleyhunter/
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