Transcript

JEAN HARTLEY:

Well practical experience is really useful in becoming a better leader. But if you don't have theory, and you don't have concepts, then you're always going to be struggling to really try and understand what's going on in a situation, or how you're behaving, or how other people are reacting to you.

So, theory sometimes sounds a bit of a fancy approach to thinking about leadership. But, if you are able to use certain theories, draw on them really. So it isn't that you use theory and you apply it rigidly in any situation. That won't help you at all. But if you've got a set of theories or ideas or concepts that you can draw on while you're actually practicing leadership, then often, it will really help you.

For example, are you in a situation where you're expected to be the single, heroic leader? Or are you in a situation where it's really helpful to know about shared and distributed leadership? If you know some of the research, some of the theory about shared leadership, then you can try- try out some of the ideas from that, and understand how you can draw other people into your leadership.

There's many other examples of where theory or where concepts will really help you. It's almost like having a deck of cards in your hand. And in any situation where you're trying to exercise leadership, or you're trying to get followers to be engaged and attracted to what you're proposing, then, from your pack of cards, you can draw on a particular theory. And think, yes, OK. So this is a transformational leadership situation. So, how am I going to increase the energy and commitment of followers here?

Or alternatively, well this mainly seems to call for transactional leadership. So how am I going to make sure that all the tasks are done, and that people who clear about purposes? And so on.

I think theory is also useful, not only for understanding your own behaviour and your own tasks, but also thinking about how people are reacting to you or how people are behaving towards you. If you've got ideas about, for example, different types of follower, or the different ways in which people can be mobilised to engage in work with you, then the better able you will be to either encourage people to engage you in the task, or to help you deal with people whom you experience as more difficult in your team. And really be thinking about how can I draw them in? Or how can I understand their perspective? And why they feel angry or disengaged or overburdened and don't want to get involved in your particular leadership work.