Leadership and Innovation Characteristics - Transforming Your STEM Career Through Leadership and Innovation - page 73

in the organization is what will give you the impetus to work for it in the most
difficult, challenging, and uncertain times. You have to believe in its reasons for
existence; in its modus operandi; in the work ethics; in the goals and its projects.
If there are any differences of opinions in any of these areas take some time for
organizational evaluation and personal introspection. In some cases, this will
mean we need to compromise on some of our expectations (for those that do not
violate our values), gain differing perspectives, and negotiate with the others to
support the ultimate vision.
Being a leader without conviction and commitment to the organization is
a sure road to disaster. If you're not passionate, totally committed and enthu-
siastic about the mission of your organization it will be much more difficult to
convince others to follow you. In the absence of a high level of demonstrated
commitment, your team is likely to sense hesitation on your part, and in many
cases this can lead them to mediocrity, putting forth less than ultimate effort and
half-hearted support of the organization.
Conviction is important, but blind conviction, without regard for others,
is dangerous. Remember that there are many others working towards change
and improvement, especially when these achievements can largely impact the
world around you. For example, suppose you are working towards a more
rigorous process for product evaluation and introduction while another group
within the organization is trying to introduce procedures to get innovative
products to market faster. These two objectives support the organizational
vision but may conflict on some levels. In situations like this don't give up
on your convictions, but re-evaluate your circumstances, the perspectives of
others, and the environment as it relates to the mission. The willingness to
give genuine consideration to changing situations and to adapt strategies and
approaches in order to accommodate new realities should be in the game plan
of all visionary leaders.
Ability to Empower Others
So what does it mean to empower others? What is an empowering leader? This
concept may vary across cultures, organizations, and genders, and, as such, a
brief review of the literature will be beneficial here. A recent article by Srivas-
tava et al. [10] provides an historical perspective on empowered leadership that
is summarized in the following discussion.
According to several leadership scholars, [11,11a] empowerment was ini-
tially conceptualized as an aspect of the relational or power-sharing view. There
are several academic roots of this perspective of empowering leadership, includ-
ing the Ohio State leadership studies [12] on “consideration” (e.g., showing con-
cern for subordinates' needs); work on supportive leadership; [13] participative
leadership studies [14] and the coaching, participating, and delegating behav-
iors encompassed in situational leadership theory [15] . Many of these charac-
teristics or behaviors are aligned with what are typically considered “feminine