Sei sulla pagina 1di 3

MNGPEO Module

Week 4
DQ
Akin Thompson
30 May 2009

Leadership can be defined as a process through which a person tries to get


organizational members to do something that the person desires (Vecchio, 2006,
p.146). In identifying examples of true and genuine leadership however, the
definition of the transformational leader is more appealing for this purpose.
According to Bass (1990, p.21), “transformational leaders… stir their employees
to look beyond their own self-interest for the good of the group”. It is the example
of transformational leadership that I have encountered that will be identified in
this submission.

At a time when the interests of self-serving leaders were a hindrance to the


effective roll-out of Base stations on the MTN Network in Nigeria, Christopher
Serjeant (Chris) was employed by the organization in May 2004, as the Capital
Programs Group Executive, responsible for accelerating the pace of the Base
Station roll-out and cutting the cost at which the traditional base stations were
being built (average costs of a Greenfield base station site was $250,000). Chris
swung into action immediately, collaborating with the Human Resource
department to restructure the unit so it would be fit for the purpose of an
accelerated roll-out and also be a cost-effective structure. These objectives
seemed quite unattainable at the time, given the absence of transformational
leadership and the self-serving interests of the managers. Chris was able to
quickly build a team of collaborators and identify the ‘grain and the chaff’ in the
organization; proceeded to weed out the chaff, and entrust the ‘grain’ with the
responsibility of being partners in achieving the daunting objectives of integrating
at least 100 Base stations a month into the Network. Prior to this time, the
highest number of Base stations integrated in a month since 2001 had stood at
67 base stations per month. There were also a lot of levels in the organization
structure, which only meant that the ‘real performers’ had more people to report
to, creating a clog in the system’s progress and slowing decision-making
processes. Chris introduced tools for managers and engineers which were
immediately effective in reducing the average time to build a Base station from
about 16 weeks to 7 weeks. In retrospect, it could not be said that Chris had a
particular leadership style; he simply adopted whatever decision was thought to
be the best in achieving the objectives and is in agreement with Rost (1993,
p.95) who states: “the facts are that styles don’t count for much in the course of
human affairs, especially when transformational change is involved”. There was
a great degree of collaboration with the entire team from Senior Managers to the
Site Engineers, and we all felt we had a responsibility for the achievement of the
objectives. Almost everyone felt they were important to the process of achieving
the numbers, even though almost everyone admitted they did not believe they
were able to achieve the numbers. There were also increased levels of ethical
and moral conduct, and decisions relating to Site Build activities were not
frequently based on the self-serving aims as they had been in the past. The
change in the unit was effective and truly transformational; in 2005, the unit
began to achieve an average number of 110 Base stations integrated into the
network per month, and a peak of 126 Base stations by May 2005.

Chris Serjeant’s leadership was definitely transformational, and is in line with the
definition of leadership that Schwarzkopf (1994) gives: “Leadership is the ability
to motivate people to willingly perform on a sustained basis to levels which
they’re ordinarily not expected to perform”. Although Chris was fired by the MTN
management due to a conflict with another senior executive, his leadership
formed the basis for the transformation of the Capital Programs Group in MTN; In
2009, the number of Base Stations integrated per month average 130, a peak of
160 Base stations integrated in a single month, and the average cost of building
a base station is $150,000, down from $250,000 in May 2004 when Chris
resumed. It is evident that Chris did not just have followers, but collaborators who
have continued to use the tools he introduced, and adopt his methods of
management.
Reference List

Bass, B.M. (1990)’From Transactional to Transformational Leadership: Learning


to Share the Vision”. In: University of Liverpool/Laureate Online Education
(2009). Lecture notes from Managing People Seminar Lecture 4 [Online].
Available from: University of Liverpool/Laureate Online Education VLE.
(Accessed: 28 May 2009).

University of Liverpool/Laureate Online Education (2009). Lecture notes from


Managing people seminar lecture 4 [Online]. Available from: University of
Liverpool/Laureate Online Education VLE. (Accessed: 28 May 2009).

Schwarzkopf, N.H. (1994). ‘Interview: H. Norman Schwarzkopf’. Journal of


Leadership Studies, 1 (3), June, p.1. (WRONG)

Vecchio, R.P. (2006). Organizational Behavior: Core Concepts. 6th edition.


Mason, OH: Thomson- South-Western.

Potrebbero piacerti anche