Leadership Style in Professional

Service Firms: The Leader as Coach or

Supportive Leadership Style
Senior Researcher Ragnhild Kvlshaugen,
Knowledge and Strategy
Managerial position duties and
responsibilities the traditional view
Supervising
Training, developing skills, scheduling work, setting performance goals, scheduling their work
Planning and organizing
Formulating short time plans, resource allocation, budgets, plan, developing operational policies
and procedures, translating long range plans into short-term operational goals
Decision making
Monitoring indicators
Performance indicators, market conditions, culture, social and political climate
Controlling
Cost estimates, tracking productivity, quality assurance
Representing
Outside the organization, figurehead, spokesperson, information monitor
Coordinating
Communicating with others, mediating conflicts, maintaining smooth working relationships with
peers
Consulting
Introducing new techniques or technologies, acting as expert advisor, consultant
Administering
Locating information on company practice and procedures, analyzing routine information,
maintaining detailed and accurate records and documents
What about professional service firms?
The leadership function:
Recruiting the best professionals
Obtaining interesting clients and projects
Characteristics of professional services:
Characteristics of output: Intangible, idiosyncratic and innovative
Leader challenges: Problems with controlling and monitoring
Challenges resulting from the interaction: Simultaneity, information
asymmetry, double moral hazard
Leader challenges: Problems with administering, planning and organizing,
supervising, micro decision making
Characteristics of input: Invisible assets and individual professionals
Leader challenges: Problems with planning and organizing, controlling,
administering, consulting
Sources: Lwendahl, B. R. 1997. Strategic Management of Professional Service Firms.
Copenhagen: Copenhagen Business School Press.
Carlsen, A., Klev, R., & von Krogh, G. (Eds.). 2004. Living Knowledge. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
Whats left?
Supervising
Planning and organizing

Macro decision making

Macro decision making
Monitoring indicators
Controlling

Representing
Representing

Coordinating
Coordinating
Consulting
Administering
What do we need? Supportive leadership
style (leader as coach)?
The leader facilitates the enhancement of the employees
performance and empowers the self-directed learning,
personal growth and achievements of employees
Empowering leadership behavior
Support development of employees
Positive reinforcements
Support co-operation
Facilitating leadership behavior
Determined
Follow up
Happy employees improve organizational
performance
Employee satisfaction
Empowering
Leadership Style
Support co-operation
Facilitating
Leadership Style
Economic performance
Determined
Customer satisfaction
Discussion Questions
Are my assumptions of the managerial duties and
responsibilities in professional service firm right?
Have we identified the right indicators when it comes to
describing the leader as coach in professional service
firms?