Performance Leadership™ is our term for leadership that creates an environment for excellent performance. This is achieved using the Performance Leadership System, a system of performance management that is clear, focused, and easy to use. Without the Performance Leadership System, actual Performance Leadership will not occur. They are interconnecting concepts. One particular aspect of leadership style in this book is a part of the Follett Principle: Power with people is much more effective and efficient than power over people (for more information, see http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Mary_Parker_Follett).
In considering the practical aspects of management, leadership, and performance management, we thought of our own experiences as practicing managers. Therefore, the chapter titles and subtitles are questions, where we try to give the answers that we wished we had known when we began our career as managers. The eight chapters are:
1. How Is Management Success Created?
2. What Is Performance?
3. Are Job Analysis and Job Design Really Necessary?
4. How Are Job Descriptions and Job Specifications Created?
5. Why Use Goal Setting?
6. What Is the Performance Appraisal Process?
7. Why and How Should Feedback Be Given?
8. What Are Major Issues in Performance Leadership™?
The terms management and leadership are used in this book, and both are essential to the running of any department or organization. There is actually some controversy as to whether leadership is a part of effective management, and vice versa!
The difference between leadership and management has been described as similar to the difference between a grape and a raisin: a manager without leadership skills is missing a vital part of effectiveness, as the raisin is missing water (Perrin, n.d.). Leadership without the ability to get things done is useless; management that is totally task driven without any concern for the employee is useless, too (Whetten & Cameron, 2016).
The person in charge of a department is generally given the title of manager, so we use this term to refer to the many different designations that occur in organizational life: director, manager, leader, supervisor, chairperson, chief x officer, etc. Other terms that you might notice is the use of he and she, him and her interchangeably. The convention of he as gender neutral has met with considerable opposition.
The book is straightforward and somewhat detailed, so that each manager can create the commitment and time necessary to create exceptional Performance Leadership. Exhibits include templates and examples of their use. Research findings are discussed, and a reference list is provided, so that managers can explore any of the performance aspects further, if they wish.
Employee and manager perspectives are offered with real-life problems that managers should be able to handle after reading the book. These examples are from actual events, although the names have been changed to protect both the innocent and the guilty. The examples allow us to demonstrate common forms of management problems and some possible solutions. They are “straw men” in the sense that they provide an opportunity to practice solving problems that most of us encounter during the actual practice of management and leadership.
Many people helped inspire the book, including students, managers, subordinates, and colleagues—too numerous to mention here. In particular, our thoughts were heavily influenced by the writings of Herman Aguinis, Professor of Management at the Kelley School of Business in Indiana University, and those of Wayne Cascio, Distinguished Professor of Management at the University of Colorado Denver.
We wish to thank the academics and practicing managers who provided excellent feedback on the book. Their suggestions were of the highest quality, making our book much better for their reviews. They were (in alphabetical order):
Mr. Mo Amani, Vice President, Human Resources, Regional, Performance Foodservice
Mr. Michael Belanger, District Human Resource Manager, Home Depot
Ms. Rachelle Cocks, MBA, PhD Candidate in Management, Lead Engineer
Ms. Erika Hadley, Human Resource Director, Arkansas Food Bank
Ms. Tamidra Marable, Manager of Talent Development, Heifer International
Dr. Ozlem Ogutveren-Gonul, Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship, Drexel University
Dr. Elizabeth D. Scott. Professor of Business, Eastern Connecticut University
Dr. James C. Segovis, Director of Honors Program, Assistant Professor of Management
For more information or for consultation, please contact Performance Leadership Consultants at [email protected].