MICHAEL DEMPSEY - Cranfield University

Managing action - leadership
Sadly, it is not possible to test his assertion of the importance of
communication or motivation to him because these do not feature in
the data from his interviews – only in his TUC address.
Another manager suggests that it is in dealings with the members that
‘leadership’ is distinguishable:-
As the leader (I mean, I'm really don't like to use that but you are
regarded by the membership as the union leader) then I would
attend meetings with our equivalents of shop stewards which are
called the Jointly Accredited Reps, JARs, who are jointly
accredited by both the employer and the employees and that is
on a regional basis around the country. In addition to the
national committee, we also have other groups of members who
are particularly responsible for different parts of the bank, like
the branch network, the cashiers, the support areas, the IT
function so we meet with their representatives and I also deal
with members on an individual basis (Interviewee L)
Another manager appears to equate the leadership role as being
decisive with the members:-
The other thing as a manager on the trade union side is on the
leadership side, is actually being potentially outspoken and
saying to people "well, you might have the most glorious vision
of what you have to do but hang on a minute -- we are actually,
whether we like it or not, talking about a business.” A trade union
is a commercial proposition. It may not be like a normal
commercial organisation which shareholders etc but it is a
commercial organisation and it has to take business decisions,
sometimes based on the resources it has got. Sometimes the
leadership side actually needs to be exceedingly strong in
saying -- well we can do that but we can only do it if x,y and z
happens. (Interviewee C
Elsewhere there is a belief that leading people has a relationship to
strategic management, particularly in terms of clarity of purpose:-
If you are the Senior Management Team and you are being
pulled every way by different responsibilities and all the rest of it,
the ability to manage strategically is somewhat limited. The
problem is that you end up trying to please everyone and
leading nobody at all. (Interviewee L)
This discussion reveals that although the Joint General Secretary has
thought seriously about the role of the leader in trade unions, there is
no common understanding amongst managers in UNiFI about what it
comprises, how it relates to the management role or the extent to which
a trade union leader engages in managing action whilst, for example,
seeking innovative change.
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