What about the problems that can’t be solved with our technical expertise? What about the problems that do not follow “If A then B logic? Workplace challenges like team conflict, burnout, or lack of communication aren’t like a computer crash that can be handed off to an expert to fix.
This article is the fourth entry of a blog series showcasing Third Floor Research’s findings. In this entry, we present the results of a study which highlights the specific needs of high-tech companies in their work environments that can be addressed through the application of leadership skills.
Over 2019-2020, Third Floor Research conducted a study on a five-week leadership development program at the Kansas Leadership Center, involving approximately 230 employees from a high-tech company across five global sites. Phase 1 of the study, utilizing a survey-based qualitative approach, explored the challenges faced by organizations and their teams in the workplace, as well as the ways peers, employees, and superiors should address these challenges. Researchers Tim Steffensmeier and Tamas Kowalik from Kansas State University, along with Tim O’Brien from Harvard University, point our attention to these challenges in their published report Leadership Development for Global Organizations in the High-tech Industry. The findings revealed a significant need for companies and corporations to saturate their workplace with leadership concepts and skills.
The study identifies eight pressing challenges reported by high-tech industry participants in their companies:
- Managing change and innovation
- Managing growth and competition
- Synchronizing organizational culture across units
- Poorly communicated and unclear vision, priorities, and goals
- Barriers to improving operations and processes
- Lack of engagement, specifically collaboration between teams
- Managing scaling, growth, and productivity effectively
- Dependencies between teams
“I’ve been with this company coming up on two decades. And it’s very much the case that whenever we would have an issue we would throw more process at it or try to solve it in a very technical way, typically without considering all of the actors in play,” commented a participant.
“I know I’ve been involved with many projects where it’s like well that’s the right thing to do. Let’s go do it without considering all the factions that work or the factions that may have values that may be negated or challenged by those changes.”
The participants identified a series of actions that superiors, peers, and employees should take to improve both individual and organizational outcomes. For example, “improving communication” and “empowering the staff” were highlighted as key priorities for superiors. Additionally, they emphasized actions for peers such as “collaborating and aligning on purpose” and “stepping out of their comfort zone.” For employees, the participants envisioned several crucial actions, including “active listening,” “engaging in difficult conversations,” and “considering multiple perspectives.”
The second phase of the study concentrated on a specific business site where Kansas Leadership Center training had been implemented across the organization for two years. Twelve senior employees were interviewed and asked about the changes they observed during the leadership training. They unanimously reported improved communication among employees, which positively influenced workplace relationships. They also highlighted instances where colleagues practiced active listening, considered diverse perspectives, and collaborated effectively to solve complex problems.
Here’s what one employee had to say:
“So right now our organization is trying to shift focus to be more solution oriented, which is very different [to] the classic engineering work of [where] you give me a requirement, I go implement that requirement and we’re done. This is more of you know we’re targeting these markets or to these verticals and we aren’t actually quite sure what those markets and verticals need, or want, or what the right approach is. And so really we’ve been challenging the organization to kind of move away from the old approach of you know the technical directors come down from the mountain with stone tablets and that’s what we go do.”
In the final phase of the study, Third Floor Research hosted a Data Talks event, bringing 100 participants together both online and in person, including industry professionals and leadership developers, to discuss the research findings and their implications for the industry. One of the key themes that emerged from these discussions was the recognition that leadership training helps develop skills the high-tech industry often lacks. While the high-tech sector excels in technical expertise, addressing complex challenges requires a workforce equipped with adaptive leadership skills. Finally, the study emphasizes that companies, particularly those in technical sectors, should integrate leadership concepts and skills throughout their organizations. This can be accomplished by benefiting from tools and programs designed to cultivate the soft skills essential for driving change and adaptation.
Data Talks, March 2020, Kansas Leadership Center
Third Floor Research is an applied research partnership between the Kansas Leadership Center and the Staley School of Leadership. It is an international research initiative that fosters innovation in the exercise and development of leadership in a rapidly changing world. Third Floor Research contributes to a global understanding of leadership, adaptation and change management. Individuals, communities, and organizations that are interested to know more about our work can contact us at Research@kansasleadershipcenter.org
About the author
Keyhan Shams, Ph.D., is a research assistant professor at the Staley School of Leadership and assistant director of Third Floor Research. He holds a bachelor’s degree in urban planning and design from the University of Tehran and a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from Iran’s Shahid Beheshti University. Recently, he earned his Ph.D. in leadership communication from Kansas State University.
His research revolves around studying the impact of leadership development programs and community engagement efforts. Using mixed-methods, he is particularly focused on developing assessment tools and methodologies to measure the impact of leadership interventions. Moreover, as a former urban planner and current leadership scholar, he is also interested in studying how leadership emerges in the public sphere, particularly urban spaces.
