The topic was “Firm Leadership” and the panelists were very qualified to speak on the subject. Our guests included Mark Wolf, AIA, principal with JHP, Nunzio De Santis, FAIA, LEEP AP, principal with HKS and Ron Wommack, FAIA, president of RWA. The guests fielded questions and discussed the topic of Leadership and its role in architecture, notably its impact on the respective size of their individual firms.
Leadership is… “Being effective, innovative, responsible, accountable and able to respond to tough situations.”
“A Leader must have a fearless attitude, be able to listen and communicate succinctly.”
“Leaders must be risk takers and be investigative and curious.”
The speakers shared stories of how they arrived at their current leadership positions while giving insight into their deep rooted passion for architecture.
After our panel discussion the floor was turned over to Pete DeLisle for another informative talk on Situational Leadership Theory. The Emerging Leaders were asked to fill out a questionnaire with a series of business situations and were asked to select the most appropriate action to be taken based off of a series of prewritten responses. These responses were then compared to a chart that categorized the responses to a specific behavioral leadership style. The responses were analyzed and grouped into low to high Task or relationship based behaviors. High Task/Low Relationship behavior exhibits the ability to define and solve problems independently while focusing on the task with less importance on group interaction, also known as S-1 Leadership style. High Task/High Relationship tries to put more emphasis on achieving goals but also in a team environment, known as S-2. Low Task/High Relationship leaders are good using their relationships with others to agree on a common goal and will not make decisions until all are in agreement, S-3 . Low Task/Low Relationship leaders are more comfortable with traditional methods and focus on tasks that are well defined with clear rules, S-4.
This exercise was very inciteful as everyone gained a new awareness about their behavioral leadership style.
