Option 2: Develop a Leadership Strategy

 

This case study will explore an innovative leadership strategy for Gli Sport multipurpose facilities to perpetually generate further value within Gli and continuously increase leadership collaboration.  The Strategy will utilise a transformational leadership approach that strongly invests in people who will ultimately carry the values and culture of Gli. The leadership strategy will be a part of the overall strategy in gaining a competitive advantage.

 

TWO outcomes: 

1. An organisation that self-generates VALUE toward GLI as an organisation.
2. Internal leadership development involves day-to-day activities that will produce culture or self-perpetuating leadership collaboration.

 

Presently Gli Sports leadership is reliant on one charismatic person, which hinders the business from having a scalable leadership development model.  Gli Sport is changing the way the industry utilises and engages in sporting facilities, by using innovative construction to allow multi-use and creating an engaging atmosphere of social interaction.

 

This document will outline innovative ways for leadership to model and articulate the vision and values of Gli Sport. Leaders will operate in such a way that they engage their subordinates and do not just assume they have their intrinsic respect (Llopis, 2015). An integrated communication strategy will also be outlined with drivers that motivate each individual team member, enabling the ability to specifically individualise each person’s needs.

 

A transformational leadership approach entails, by its very nature, a holistic approach to development, considering all the capabilities of the individual and whether they will be effective in a leadership capacity at Gli (Brown, & Moshavi, 2005). Pre-screening specific behavioural traits before employment is essential to ensure Gli acquires the best talent upfront. Changing entrenched behaviours after the employment probation period is extremely difficult, so it’s essential that leaders have the essential traits needed within Gli (Harrison Assessments, 2019).

 

Gli Sports values and vision;

• Empowering customers to meet or exceed their expectations.
• Positive and social interaction to build trust for greater outcomes.
• Reach goals as a collaborative support base to build a supportive community.

 

Gi Sport will utilise the Blue Ocean Leadership strategy process (Kumar & Singh, 2015), which involves all leaders in Gli Sport giving strategic input. Gli will involve front-line managers and senior managers only, due to size, to develop collectively a canvas for effectively achieving Gli Sport’s desired results.

 

 

Contents of this document will include: 

 

• Blue Ocean approach strategy. 

• The What and How of the strategy 

1. Pillar one: Behavioural competency analysis with each staff member.
2. Pillar two: Ensure all frontline managers are engaged and connected.
3. Pillar three: Motivate potential leaders across Gli Sport to lead with passion and innovative thought generating a “Not afraid of failure” culture.
4. Pillar Four: High impact leadership that is cost-effective.

• Conclusion. 

 

Blue Ocean Leadership Strategy 

 

Gli Sport is changing the way we utilise and engage in multipurpose sporting facilities. Success will be in creating new uncontested markets in which to compete (Kim and Mauborgne, 2005). Customers are willing to pay more due to the way the facility motivates, engages, and equips them effectively (Kim & Kim, 1995). Gli Sport will define the uncontested marketplace, create highly profitable growth and continue to add organisational and customer value through its leadership. Through the internal leadership process, Gli sport will set the boundaries and the rules of the new market, which disables all competition from easily copying our valuable leadership culture and service to our customers (Kim and Mauborgne, 2005).

 

Senior and frontline management will meet to collaboratively define the framework, with conscious attention to frontline managers as they face the market realities (Kim & Mauborgne, 2014, p.3). The focus of the meeting will be on the organisational culture needed to meet the vision and values of Gli Sport. We’ll explore what behavioural traits are needed by personnel to meet these objectives. Leadership will set out the specific actions needed in each facility and how they will equip all employees to develop in their leadership.

 

Careful consideration of behavioural collaboration traits, promoting an open environment, is needed to meet the strategic goals and demonstratable values of Gli sport.  It will also determine if they will fit in with the organisation-wide culture of Gli (Kim Jean Lee, & Yu, 2004). On completion of this collaborative planning process between senior and frontline management, a strategic framework will be completed, which is detailed below in the four pillars. Predominately the framework will be action-based focusing on what frontline leadership needs to provide people to motivate quality results for Gli Sport (Kim & Mauborgne, 2014). The framework/pillars will include:

 

The What of the strategy. 

 

Pillar one: Focus on action and acts. 

 

Develop an easy-to-follow leadership profile motivated by actions that can be observed and measured, with a lead-by-example mindset that has a direct correlation to performance (Kim & Mauborgne, 2014). The importance of pre-screening Gli job applicants for collaborative behavioural traits is critical. People can temporarily modify their behaviour easily masking their genuine strongly held behavioural tendencies. Pre-screening applicants’ behaviours/qualities and values which are deep-seated within people and difficult to change will lower the risk of employer/employee mismatch (Yukl & Mahsud, 2010).

 

Pillar two: Ensure all frontline managers are engaged and connected.

 

Gli will ensure that frontline managers are highly engaged in their roles and relationally connected with those around them. These managers are at the coal face of the market’s realities and with their input, Gli Sport will have motivated leaders who are continually adding value through how to best serve customers (Kim & Mauborgne, 2014).

 

Engaging frontline managers in defining the required leadership practices potentially enables them to thrive in their roles. It gives them clarity of their role expectations and connects them to market realism.  This will assist in creating “buy-in” from the leader and develop an organisational culture that produces input where all are respected and valued (Milne, 2007).

 

Pillar three: Motivate potential leaders across Gli Sport to lead with passion and innovative thought.

 

Outstanding performance comes from frontline managers at Gli Sport. Having effective leadership capabilities at the frontline level allows for future investment in employee leadership talent bringing greater motivation and driving employees to become future leaders (Kirkpatick & Locke, 1991). Having a strong, distributed leadership capacity over the whole organisation enhances performance and produces continued value-add through leadership (Mehra, Smith, Dixon & Robertson, 2006).

 

Frontline managers are to lead with clear parameters of responsibility in which they will be fully empowered to make innovative decisions. They will have a clear mandate to operate in a collaborative style and lead with passion (Lambert, 2011).

 

Pillar Four: High Impact leadership that is cost-effective or low cost.

 

Leadership is to focus on acts and activities they need to reduce or eliminate poor behaviours and to elevate and create the talent to pursue high performance at Gli Sport. Leaders are to provide high impact motivation and engagement in employees, to best utilise time and resources to drive growth (Zakaria, Idris & Ismail, 2017).

 

The How of the strategy. 

 

Pillar one: Behavioural competency analysis.

 

To be able to add continuous value through leadership at Gli, pre-screening, and vetting of ill-suited job applicants is crucial. Behavioural tendencies which promote value creation (such as experimenting and open/reflective) and collaboration (such as collaborative intention, openness, and problem-solving) will be analysed and assigned as essential traits for a position at Gli (Harrison Assessments, 2019).

 

Traits that are essential include;

 

• Collaborative Intention.

The desire to establish long-term relationships by taking an interest in people’s points of view, encouraging feedback, and responding in a non-defensive manner without blaming others (Ferren & Stanton, 2004).

 

• Openness.

Inspire open communication by speaking openly and honestly and encourage the same from others. Having a policy of open communication where they create a safe place for people to talk frankly.

 

• Self-Accountability. 

Be accountable for their own actions or inactions rather than blaming others (Bratton, Dodd & Brown, 2011).

 

• Self-awareness and awareness of others

The ability to be self-reflective and have the compassion and desire to understand others’ intentions or motivations (Bratton, Dodd & Brown, 2011).

 

• Negotiating and problem-solving.

Resolve conflicts in a manner that promotes a cooperative atmosphere and positive relationships by finding a solution to the conflict that meets the desired interest of all parties.

 

Once employed, Gli Sport will be able to utilise the information gathered during recruitment for leadership development purposes.  If an employee is hired for a non-management role, and there has been time for them to demonstrate collaborative leadership qualities, a succession plan will be developed for their future promotion into further Gli leadership responsibilities.

 

Pillar two: Ensure all frontline managers are engaged and connected.

 

Leaders are to be on a mission to effect positive change for the organisation by engaging with the people they work with and Gli customers. Their energy and passion, coupled with a collaborative approach, will help fuel cohesion among their peers and team members (Cardon, Post & Forster, 2017), allowing them to have a larger impact than the sum of their parts. They challenge long-held assumptions and don’t accept answers like, “because this is the way we’ve always done it.”

 

Leaders at each facility will be encouraged in their sporting pursuits and continue the passion for sports by still actively training on their own goals and leading the way in the facility by their actions, enabling sense-making to the team (Kramer, 2017). They will engage both employees and customers by being open, in the right contexts, to communicating their strengths/vulnerabilities and experiences. Leaders will build continuous improvement environments, motivate employees to provide exceptional customer care, adding long-term and lasting value for Gli Sport through inspired employees (Sergiovanni, 2005).

 

Leaders will didactically share their experiences with staff, so they can make sense of their training methods and become inspired to learn while also recognising that sporting pursuits are not always easy, needing dedication and discipline. This form of leadership is transformational and an example of sensemaking (Pye, 2005), which not only inspires staff toward their own sporting pursuits, in collaboration but also adds value to the facility by an increased motivation to succeed. Gli Sport will be renowned for not only their facilities but the quality staff they employ, making it a place where staff becomes inspired by its leaders.

 

Leadership will cultivate an environment of empowerment where employees will achieve the strategic vision and express the value each employee’s contribution to Gli Sports makes for its future (Meir, 2017).  Leaders will demonstrate Gli’s beliefs and reinforce these beliefs and behaviours.

 

Pillar three: Motivate potential leaders across Gli Sport to lead with passion and innovative thought and experience a “Not afraid of failure” culture.

 

Leaders will be given clear parameters of responsibility in which they will be fully empowered to make innovative decisions for effective outcomes and engagement (Wiley, 2010). There will be a mandate for each leader to continually operate in a collaborative style.  If leaders make decisions outside of their delegated areas of responsibility or in a way that impedes collaboration, they will be held accountable.

 

The first response to a seemingly poor decision is a style of accountability of ‘curious questioning’ to ensure they did not have a good reason for their actions.  For example, “I’m always curious, so I’m wondering what criteria you used to make that decision?” (McIntyre, Harvey & Moeller, 2012). The feedback can be used to either applaud their efforts or reinforce Gli values.

 

Innovation is much more than inventing new products and services, it is about how you can continue to add differential value. Frontline managers will engage and collaborate with all staff, whilst developing a genuine sincere understanding of them and having a deeper awareness on a passionate level (Tucker, 2017). Gli Sports leaders will continue to learn and unlearn new skills by being innovative in what training methodologies are current and ones that are not getting results. By leaders acting in this way, it puts innovation in the forefront for all staff at Gli Sport making it everyone’s responsibility (Tucker, 2017), which encourages collaborative intentions.

 

Gli sports leaders will continue to develop empathy for staff, they will seek to understand their emotional/physical challenges and what inspires them to accomplish their own personal goals, both internally and externally. A culture of motivating and constant interaction will be enforced (Skinner & Spurgeon, 2005).

 

Pillar Four: High Impact leadership that is cost-effective or low cost.

 

To continue to add value to the facility and provide a product differential in sporting facilities, leadership will create high impact with low cost (Lindič, Bavdaž & Kovačič, 2012). Frontline managers will walk the facility providing professional advice to all customers as part of regular session payment. This is a product differential in sporting facilities as one receives specialised tuition at no extra cost. This is not normally offered in multipurpose facilities.

 

This differential practice will enable leaders to use time effectively as the advice is quick and concise, but high impact on the client. This not only adds value to the client but also adds value to the growth of the facility. This form of leadership not only leads staff but also engages the customers in a collaborative way with genuine intentions to help their sporting endeavours. In this leadership process, it is also collaboratively cultivating a culture of positive and effective communications (Smith & Leonard, 2005).

 

Frontline managers will communicate in a way that is visionary, coaching, and consultative when speaking to both customers and staff. They will also be affiliative when communicating as this creates harmony by connecting people to each other (Barrett, 2008). This high impact with low-cost initiatives ensures that Gli Sports continues to create value through leadership, which inspires in a collaborative way employees and staff to be active in their behaviours for greater growth.

 

The atmosphere at Gli Sport is another differential in multipurpose sporting facilities. Providing an atmosphere that is socially engaging, alongside very positive communications between all, creates another low-cost differential. Leaders will provide music and facilitate positive interactions between both staff and customers. The atmosphere created by leaders provides a place where staff are treated as customers and this ensures lasting positive atmospheres at Gli Sport. This differential has a high impact on staff and very limited cost (Vieira & Ferreira, 2016).

 

Conclusion 

 

By utilising Blue Ocean Leadership, Gli Sport will focus internally on its people and not only on the sale. By leading and motivating employees in a collaborative way to be successful in their role with the possibility of becoming leaders themselves, in turn, creates more customers (Madison, 2019). Gli Sports will view their employees as internal customers not just workers, offering leadership as a service to them.

Operating in “Blue Oceans,” compared to survival in “Red Oceans”, where competition is high, gives Gli Sport the leadership strategy to pursue a high impact product differentiation at limited cost, thereby making our own market that is uncontested and competition irrelevant (Edwards, 2018).

 

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