GAMAA Workshop Explores Australian Culture & Leadership
At the October GAMAA Residential Workshop – Change Management New World New Rules – participants will have the opportunity to work with international management consultant John Gibney, an organisational consultant specialising in Leadership, Team Development, Globalisation, Organisational Performance and Transitions.
Gibney’s session will focus on Australian culture, leadership and performance. He talked to Proprint about what participants can expect from this workshop.
“Aussies don’t like or accept authority for it’s own sake,” states Gibney. “So how do we lead our teams successfully through change in a culture of anti-authority?”
Australian Management Approach - Captain Coach Model
He says the results of an Australian archetype study conducted with Telstra in 1993 are as relevant today as they were when they were released.
Using a sporting metaphor, the study described the Australian management style as that of ‘Captain/Coach’. Gibney, a former Australian Rules football player and coach, explains that a Captain Coach gives feedback on the run as the play or the situation is unfolding.
“It occurs in context as part of an experience the Captain/Coach is sharing with the players, so this type of feedback is seen as supportive and relevant rather than authoritative, and can be corrective and positive.
“A captain is likely to be respected by the players as an experienced player, a first amongst equals, rather than because of his or her position alone. On the sporting field and in the workplace, good managers who are also seen as ‘good blokes’ [sic] can leverage their authority much more effectively.”
Thus, says Gibney, successful Australian leaders often display a self-deprecating manner, have a good sense of humour and an egalitarian philosophy – to a point. And they surround themselves with managers who have the right qualities and skills. Gibney says in the workplace those in leadership roles know they need to downplay the significance of their role. “If you don’t big note yourself, then you will be able to maintain good relationships with each of your team members.”
Gibney argues the Australian sense of anti-authority is part of the way many of us develop as children. He cites research from Australian schools where inexperienced teachers regardless of their positions of authority in the classroom are quickly challenged and even ridiculed by children. “In other societies you will see that in a few specific schools, but here you see it across the board in various forms. Anti-authority is a strong message that we seed into our kids and as a consequence they believe they have every right to challenge or dismiss an authority figure they deem to be inadequate”.
Hub and Spoke Model
The default model of leadership in “Australian organisations works on the principal of mateship and resembles a hub and spoke,” explains Gibney. “The leader is at the centre of everything and is connected to each individual in the team. This connectedness allows the leader to have close, one-on-one relationships with his managers, and to also communicate directly to discover what team members – the spokes – are really doing.”
The hub and spoke model, says Gibney, is often more evident higher up the Australian corporate ladder. “The lower ranks tend to work towards an egalitarian, open approach, but the higher the stakes the more dysfunctional the form.”
“The hub and spoke is a highly micromanaging approach. It is still relationship based, similar to the captain coach model but with the added requirement of directly accessing all the team members. This ultimately allows the leader to divide and conquer the team if he or she feels their position is being challenged. Unfortunately it also caps the growth of the organisation.”
Change Management – New World New Rules
During the GAMAA workshop Gibney will take participants through a series of role-plays and simulations. “I’m keen to get everyone involved and have the group explore questions about running a business in the Australian context. I want them to articulate what Australian culture is and how it operates for them”.
“From there we will work on how we can improve our management style in our cultural environment. If we are anti-authority – whether it be anti-intellectual or anti-the-expert telling us what to do - then we have to set those tasks for ourselves. This means spending time looking at how to get Australians to think about change and developing a framework to introduce that change.”
Gibney, who facilitated the design and delivery of a Leadership Development programme for Telstra’s top 200, says there will be lots of Australian content in his session. “Much of the literature that comes into business schools in Australia is American material”.
Referring again to the sporting analogy, Gibney describes American teamwork as ‘structured individualism’ involving planned and articulated plays for each member, as exemplified in their football code. In comparison, Australian teamwork operates much more spontaneously, capitalising on opportunities ‘on the run’, as characterised in Australian Rules football.
Gibney argues that our culture is quite unique. We have to understand our own environment, and the cultures within which we operate – professional, head office, national – and manage them consciously.
“When you are aware of the roots of the culture, you are then in a position to negotiate them and move forward far more effectively,” he concludes.
GAMAA Change Management New World New Rules
23 – 24 October 2009 - Sydney
Book now on the website, via email or phone (02) 9869 0010