Leadership Skills

Effecting positive change in an organization

“The successful organization has one major attribute that sets it apart from unsuccessful organizations: dynamic and effective leadership.”

P. Hersey and K. Blanchard

Who Are Ideal Leaders?

• Leaders I admire:

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• Leaders society admires:

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What Are The Qualities of Ideal Leaders?

• Qualities I admire:

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• Qualities society admires:

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Leadership Defined

• Leadership is the ability to influence others, either positively or negatively.– Positive: facilitation of task

accomplishment– Negative: task

accomplishment is inhibited.

• Emergent vs. appointed/hired

Management vs. Leadership

• Management: – control of existing operations/functions

• Leadership:– strategic and visionary

• The primary role of the leader:– guide the team towards a future– strategically defined goals and objectives.

Managerial and Leadership Circle

Leadership: The Experts Have Spoken

• Trait • Functional• Situational

Trait Theory

• Genetics, Mother Nature alone, is responsible for leadership qualities

 

Functional Theory

• Task & Relationship– Leader emerges

depending upon needs of the group

 

Task Leadership

• Keeps the members on-task. • Initiating• Coordinating• Summarizing • Elaborating on ideas 

 Maintenance/Process Leadership

• Tension release

• Gate keeping

• Encouraging

• Mediating 

 

 Situational Leadership Styles

• Adaptation of leadership style

• Accurate assessment of the situation

• React appropriately.

 

True leaders recognize that teams:• inhabited by humans• learned behaviors• capacity for risk-taking• linked to internal controls• …can be frustrating, stressful, and even

unstable when initiative, creativity, and productivity are being expressed by team members.

Group Exercise

• Split into three equal teams• The team process is important to this

exercise, so everyone must participate.• Follow the instructions of your leader

carefully.• Using the provided Tinker Toy sets, your

team will have five minutes to build something that works…does something…has a purpose.

Leadership Styles

• Autocratic/controller• Laissez-faire• Democratic leadership• Kuhnert and Lewis’s

Transformational Leadership Theory– Type X The Performer– Type Y The Transformer

Autocratic/Controller Leader • ALL controlling

– ensures predictable results.

• Individual assignments limited, specific in nature• Team needs secondary• Responsibility not shared. • Decisions? Leader only. • Motivation= fear/intimidation• Highly productive team

– BUT when leader is away, no work occurs

• Sabotage • Member reaction = aggressive, or apathetic Generals/Admirals Size of group

Laissez-faire Leader • Minimum/No of leader participation

• Supplies/materials only when requested

• Infrequent, spontaneous comments on member activities

• No attempt to regulate events

• Often uses “hallway delegation” to assign tasks

• Teams less satisfied (leader & product)

Democratic Leader • All participants have equal voice. • Information is freely shared. • Authority is delegated• Responsibility is shared by all members.• Assignments are complex• Feeling of contribution • Work occurs at all times • Teams report more satisfaction Best in small group situation

 Situational Leadership Styles

• Which style appropriate?– New employee– 10 year employee– Absentee problem– Product development– Product release  

Kuhnert and Lewis’s Transformational Leadership Theory

Type X - “The Performer”Type X - “The Performer”–A “transactional” leader

Type YType Y - - “The Transformer”“The Transformer”–A risk taker

Transactional vs. Transformational Leadership Styles

• Transactional:

– Reactive leadership that responds to problems in a punitive manner

• Transformational: – Proactive– Charismatic

leadership that inspires exceptional performance

 

Type X Leader • A leader who does not trust team

members to work and is unconcerned with the personal achievement of team members.– Does ALL of the work – No confidence in the ability of the group.

• group failure to perform = no promotion/bad grade

• group lacks confidence • reactive leadership= punitive

Emergency situations require performers

Type Y Leader

• Transformational leaders: – risk takers– display trust in team members– concerned with member achievement.– Proactive-not reactive– Charismatic leadership

• inspires exceptional performance

Meyers & Briggs Personality Profile

• Which profile fits the visionary leader?

Does Leadership Style Really Make a Difference?

• Superman-style outdated– one person saving the day

• Today’s leader – leads a team – decisions are made

collectively– common good of the

organization key

The key role for the leader– setting the context– Incorporation of organization’s

strategic goals and objectives into all aspects of the daily work, and team activities.

Key Role for the Leader

Leadership Exercises

defining the difference– leadership and

authority

– technical and adaptive work.

Authority• A degree of power

and influence over others– goals and objectives

– Authority impacts technical and adaptive work environments

• The proper use of authority = adapting to situation

• decisions need know-how– beyond the issue of

technical knowledge– wisdom to adapt and

meet the challenge

Authority and Trust

• The proper use of authority requires:

Consistency Congruity: walking the talk Reliability Integrity