Global Responsibility

Archives

  • July 2023
  • December 2022
  • October 2022
  • June 2022
  • April 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • July 2021
  • May 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • December 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • May 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • July 2018
  • May 2018
  • March 2018
  • November 2017
  • August 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • October 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • January 2016
  • October 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • November 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • June 2014
  • April 2014
  • September 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • March 2013
  • January 2013
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • August 2011

Categories

  • Blog
Subscribe
Global Responsibility
Global Responsibility
  • Visit GRLI Website
  • Blog

Exploring a New Understanding of Responsible Leadership — Part 2

  • 22 August 2019
  • 6 minute read
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0
Part 2 of 3 explores leadership as a social construction process

Anne Keränen is a management and international business researcher at the Martti Ahtisaari Institute, Oulu Business School, in Finland.

Editor’s Note: This is the second of a three-part series where business researcher Anne Keränen shares her doctoral thesis with the GRLI network , which radically shifted the focus from individual leaders to leader relations. It brings to the forefront the importance of understanding leadership as a shared phenomenon, and as a medium for responsibility integration in business. Within the framework of changing business practice, this perspective can lead to new business change theories, ideas and practices. In this three-part series, Anne explains her proposed approach to leadership as a social construction process, expanding focus from the qualities and competencies of individual leaders to a wider perspective — and why the narrative environment of leadership is important. 

It was through research interviews with business leaders and the narratives shared, that I discovered, somewhat unexpectedly, the importance of considering leadership as socially constructed and relational.

Not thought to be as prominent when the research was initiated, it came to the fore in asking leaders how they considered and defined responsible leadership, social construction and relationships. It wasn’t as much about the leader him/herself, but about the people around them, and the relationships that this created.

Returning to theory after discovering this, it resonated with new arising leadership theories, which also indicated the importance of considering leadership as socially constructed and relational, and leadership as a shared phenomenon.

The role of narrative environment in responsibility construction

The narrative environment is important, as it reveals the context of leadership and responsibility. The individual leaders’ accounts and stories were found to be less important compared to what the individuals tell about the social worlds of which they are part.

Through narrative — language as a means of communication, reflection and stories — we have certain expectations of leadership that are embedded in society, and this narrative is strongly shaping what leadership is about. However, we are not so much talking about this or exploring this when talking about responsible leadership within companies.

In sharing their leadership situations, the leaders interviewed explained that within these societal expectations, reputational leadership had to be earned first. Only after the reputation as successful, good and tough business leader has been earned, do responsibility issues come into play, and are discussed more deeply. Without this progress, the leader could be marginalised. An overly challenging interpretation may be ignored and marginalised.

These societal expectations, which include institutional expectations, require our critical consideration and we need to evaluate how they contribute to or hinders responsible leadership. It also comes down to what is being taught about business leadership in business schools, as well as what is being written in business leadership publications and magazines, and media in general.

Conversations about responsible leadership are lacking enormously and I found that business leaders are cautious about how they initiate responsible leadership discussions. Therefore, dialogue about responsible leadership and what it means to be a responsible leader is key in responsibility construction. Dialogue must be varied. It should open up to viewpoints and different narratives about responsible leadership.

This is why language plays a key role in responsibility construction. Our understanding and meaning of shared responsibility leadership language can be vastly different between companies, business schools and even countries. We use terms that are not necessarily shared in understanding, and this can only be uncovered in practice through dialogue and shared experiences, and through conscious listening on the leader’s part. It does necessitate a time element; the quickest solution is not a guarantee.

Conversations about responsible leadership should also be open discussions involving all stakeholders. Without such a social construction approach, responsible leadership issues will remain abstract. For responsible leadership to succeed, it is critical that the issues across all stakeholder levels are openly discussed and that leadership is co-constructed (ie. shared) among all stakeholders with shared language. Keränen describes this as the social construction of responsible leadership.

Socially constructed among people

From the business leader data gathered, I identified four main stories on how leaders constructed responsibility:

  • Responsibility as something that a leader needs to be involved in/committed to as a person;
  • Responsibility as something that is shared and built through identity. Compared metaphorically to the kind of sharing among family members. This is supported by the long-time perspective of business, from one generation to others.
  • Responsibility as something that people share through a form of community and purpose; and
  • Responsibility as a vision of a larger good for the society as a whole.

From the perspective that responsible leadership is socially constructed among people, I found that based on context, some constructions are more prominent than others. For the small, local company, responsibility construction from a viewpoint of sharing responsibility among personnel may be relevant, but for the large international company, a human rights focus may contribute more significantly to the building of responsibility leadership. Responsibility construction is not the same for all leadership contexts. It means that leaders may need to find and focus on what special responsible leadership issues may be relevant to its specific context.

The leaders who participated in this research have provided examples of their company values — the typical values that one might expect from such companies. However, ways in which these values are effectively put into practice were found to be lacking, especially when complicated by further obstacles such as ethical issues.

To bridge this challenge, the responsible leader has to maintain a very clear presence among all stakeholders and play an active role in facilitating the solving of problems among them. Dialogue and shared stakeholder input were again found to be pivotal in problem-solving under responsible leadership construction. The leaders who participated in this research further expanded this to responsible leadership between multinational corporations and non-governmental organisations across geographical and company-type boundaries.

Contexts and relations

While recognising that there are global phenomena that drive responsible leadership, responsibility in leadership has to be a locally interpreted construction that builds on the historical roots of local business.

From the perspective of Finland, there were local differences in responsible leadership, in comparison to global responsible leadership. But besides context differences, both equally serve the responsible leadership purpose. What this means is that the blueprint for responsible leadership has to be fine-tuned for the context to which it will be applied, and it requires in-depth understanding on the leader’s part.

In the research I distinguished between visible and invisible leader relations. Visible relations are the obvious connections, such as between the leader and the stakeholders. But at the same time, there are institutions that are perfecting what responsible leadership is about and how this plays out in business — this is an invisible relation. This is offering a field of higher variety of influence factors, all shaping our understanding of responsibility leadership.

A good way to gain a broader understanding of responsibility, according to the business leaders who were involved in this research, was the opening of organisational boundaries and participation in social settings. On a practical front, this encourages both informal and formal ways of broadening social interactions in order to promote responsible leadership.

Integration in business

Through this constructionist perspective on responsible leadership, more inclusive responsibility integration in business can be promoted. A central role is given to language by adopting a socially constructed approach to leadership. In opening up to this new approach to leadership, Anne says experience based dialogue — the sharing of experiences — can guide the promotion of responsibility integration.

From the perspective of business, this means that we should balance formal ways and approaches of enhancing responsibility — i.e. strategy, process, tools and report with new approaches including:

  • Creation of shared understanding, which is embedded in culture;
  • Communication and dialogue, giving voices to as many as possible;
  • Relationships with people, knowing people;
  • Leaders acting and being among people; and
  • Demanding from leaders to deeply sense, listen, and discuss.

Responsibility construction

What is apparent from this research is that meaning generated from social interaction is what constructs responsible leadership. It is not merely a property inherent in individual leaders. It is also this interaction and construction that gives meaning to responsibility, while the interpretation of responsibility among people adds to the relational element of responsibility construction.

The business leaders interviewed reported that they have learned responsibility through challenging work, which has prompted the courage for responsibility, through the stories of others (family, colleagues, personal or other relations) but also the difficulties from these relations, and thought-expanding experiences across countries, cultures and networks. Formal training in responsibility construction was never mentioned by these leaders — which again critically points to the fact that we need to question how we think responsible leadership is constructed.

The constructionist perspective if my research adds a critical understanding to responsible leadership. The final Part 3 of this series will explore responsibility integration, and how this new approach to responsibility leadership can form part of everyday leadership.


Anne Keränen

Anne Keränen is Responsible Leadership and HR Teacher/Specialist at the Martti Ahtisaari Institute, Oulu Business School, in Finland. Reach Anne at anne.keranen@oulu.fi and follow her on Twitter at @AnneMariaKerane.

Total
0
Shares
Tweet 0
Share 0
Share 0
Previous Article
  • Blog

Exploring a New Understanding of Responsible Leadership — Part 3

  • 22 August 2019
View Post
Next Article
  • Blog

Exploring a New Understanding of Responsible Leadership — Part 1

  • 22 August 2019
View Post
You May Also Like
View Post
  • Blog

 Peter Møllgaard appointed chair of the GRLI

  • The GRLI
  • 15 July 2023
View Post
  • Blog

A message from our Chair

  • The GRLI
  • 9 December 2022
View Post
  • Blog

Is insistence on growth the elephant in the room?

  • The GRLI
  • 12 October 2022
View Post
  • Blog

A Call to Prospective GRLI Guardians and Board Members

  • The GRLI
  • 26 June 2022
View Post
  • Blog

Outcomes: Responsible Leadership Reimagined Conference

  • John North
  • 1 April 2022
View Post
  • Blog

Teaching Responsible Leadership, Moral Imagination and Stakeholder Dilemma Reconciliation:

  • The GRLI
  • 26 January 2022
View Post
  • Blog

A Message from GRLI Foundation Chair Claire Maxwell

  • The GRLI
  • 21 December 2021
View Post
  • Blog

What Transformation Catalysts Do to Catalyze System Change

  • The GRLI
  • 24 November 2021
Featured Posts
  •  Peter Møllgaard appointed chair of the GRLI
    • 15 July 2023
  • A message from our Chair
    • 9 December 2022
  • Is insistence on growth the elephant in the room?
    • 12 October 2022
  • A Call to Prospective GRLI Guardians and Board Members
    • 26 June 2022
  • Outcomes: Responsible Leadership Reimagined Conference
    • 1 April 2022

Subscribe

Subscribe now to our newsletter

The Global Responsibility blog hosted by the GRLI provides a record of the ongoing collaborative inquiry into the development of global responsibility in how we learn, live and lead.

The Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative is the leading incubator for innovation and new practice in business schools and for collaboration with business in the space of ethics, responsibility, and sustainability.

https://grli.org

  • About GRLI
  • Events
  • What’s important now
Global Responsibility
https://responsibility.global

Input your search keywords and press Enter.