myths & truths about leadership & your leadership development
DESCRIPTION
UPA International Conference 2012 June 4, 2012 Opening keynote by Professor Ron RiggioTRANSCRIPT
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!