myths & truths about leadership & your leadership development

Myths and Truths About Leadership and Your Leadership Development

Ron Riggio, Ph.D.Kravis Leadership Institute

Claremont McKenna College

1. Are Leaders Born or Made?

Thank You.Have a Great Conference!

Studies of identical twins suggest that leadership is

about 2/3 “made” and about 1/3

“born”

If not, then we are wasting our time on leadership development.

Made

Made

Born

Made

…But, what about?

Taller candidates winning the election?

Extroverts are more likely to be chosen as leaders?

Males are more likely to be chosen as leaders?

Charisma? Don’t some people have a “gift” for leadership?

2. True or False?

Leadership and Management Are Fundamentally Different.

Managers have supervisory

responsibilities that demand

leadership and effective

leaders need to manage.

Effective leadership is about

both managing and leading.

“Managers do things right, leaders do the right things”

False

3. True or False?Leaders Lead and Followers Follow

Both leaders AND followers together create

leadership

The best leaders are

also the best followers

Exemplary followers share

in creating leadership– the co-production of leadership

False

4. Who Leads Better: Men or Women?

Women tend to have: Women

More “transformational”

qualities (esp. relationship-

building skills)

More concern for ethical leadership

Greater participation in

higher education

5: True or False?

Most Leadership Development Programs Don’t Really Work.

A recent analysis of 100 years of leadership development programs

shows that they work

Some approaches are better than others, but improvement typically

occurs

The key is motivation to develop and time invested

False

Developing Your Leadership3 Steps to Making You a Better Leader

Developing Your Leadership

Step 1: Motivation to Lead and to Develop

– Many elements apply to both leaders and exemplary followers

– Commitment: Realize that leadership development is hard work

Transformational leadership occurs when one or more persons engage with others in such a way that leaders and followers raise one another to

higher levels of motivation and morality.-James MacGregor Burns

Two meanings:Includes an element of ethics/morality

1. Transforming organizations / groups

2. Transforming followers (into leaders)

Step 2: A Model to Guide Your Leadership Development: Transformational Leadership

What is Transformational Leadership?

Components

1. Inspire

2. Be a Positive Role Model

3. Connect & Communicate

4. Challenge

Components of TransformationalLeadership

Components of Transformational Leadership

1. Inspire (Inspirational Motivation)The best leaders are inspirational.

KEY: The Power of Positive Expectations & the Pygmalion Effect

KEY: Inspire Commitment to the Shared Mission

Components of Transformational Leadership

2. Be a Positive Role Model (Idealized Influence)

KEY: “Walk the Talk”

Components of Transformational Leadership

3. Connect & Communicate (Individualized Consideration)

KEY: Determine Feelings & Needs

KEY: Check-in Regularly

Components of Transformational Leadership

4. Challenge (Intellectual Stimulation)

KEY: Challenge Assumptions

KEY: Encourage Innovation

RECAP: Transformational Leadership

1. Inspire

2. Be a PositiveRole Model

3. Connect & Communicate

4. Challenge

Transformational Leadership

Inspire

Role ModelC & C

Challenge

Step 3: How to Develop Your Personal Leadership

Self-Awareness is CRITICAL– Self-Analysis: What do you want to develop?

• Get Feedback (either formal or informal)• Build in Self-Reflection Time Throughout the Process

– Set Clear and Measurable Self-Development Goals• Assess Goal Attainment; Celebrate “Small Wins”

– Choose Methods That Fit YOU!• (e.g., Formal Courses; Mentoring/Coaching, etc.)• Consider Finding a Learning Partner

KEY POINT: Personal vs. Team

Leadership Development

• Developing yourself as a leader is different from developing your team’s leadership capacity

• Realize that leadership – at the team level – involves the co-production of leadership

• Realize the strength of the transformational leadership model (developing your personal leadership and your followers/colleagues)

Leadership & Ethics:“Effective” Leadership vs.

“Good” Leadership

Good Leaders…(as opposed to effective leaders)

• do the right things vs. simply getting things done

• are “responsible leaders”• limit “collateral damage”• develop followers• leave the team and the organization

better off than they found it

How to think about “good” or “ethical” leadership?

Virtue ethics: Aristotle

PRUDENCE

• Or WISDOM

FORTITUDE

• Or COURAGE

TEMPERANCE

• Or MODERATION

JUSTICE

• Or FAIRNESS

4 Cardinal Virtues:

• Good Leaders Possess Wisdom:

– They consider different sides or viewpoints

– They solicit advice and counsel

– They deliberate and use good judgment

Prudence

Fortitude• Good Leaders (and Followers) are

Courageous– They have passion

– They persevere and persist

– They have a strong sense of right and wrong

– They aren’t afraid to stand up for or to their leaders

Temperance

• Good Leaders are Temperate and Practice Moderation:– They have emotional intelligence (they rein

in their emotions, and express appropriately

– They possess HUMILITY

– They know their deficiencies and limitations (important for leader development)

Justice

• Good leaders are Fair and Just:– They give credit when credit is due

– They don’t take credit for others’ ideas or efforts

– They are unselfish

– They treat others well

Summary & Conclusions

• Leadership is complex, but critical to effective organizations (and careers)

• Both leaders and followers need leadership (co-production)

• Leadership CAN be developed

“Leadership is a journey… …not a destination”

Your journey begins today.

“Leadership is a journey… …not a destination”

Your journey begins TODAY.

Conclusion

Thank You.Have a Great Conference!