Leadership:a Subject

What it takes to be a leaderBuilding your leadership muscles

Loeb M, Kindel S. Leadership For Dummies. For Dummies; 1999.

Leadership:a Subject

Building Your Leadership Muscles

• Objectives– Using your head– Keeping people in the loop– Being driven– Getting it done today– Getting to the bottom of things– Making sound decisions– Doing it every day– Trusting and being trusted– Learning and helping others learn– Finding the middle ground

Building Your Leadership Muscles

Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.

- John F. Kennedy

Building Your Leadership Muscles

• Why is it that some people seem to become leaders naturally and effortlessly?– References to the natural leader– Some people have to work hard at it

Putting your brain to work

– Using what you have– Responding to situations flexibly– Taking advantage of fortuitous circumstances– Making sense of ambiguous or contradictory messages– Ranking the importance of different elements– Finding similarities in apparently different situations– Drawing distinctions between seemingly similar

situations– Putting concepts together in new ways– Coming up with novel ideas

Communicating Effectively

• First and foremost, a leader has to keep the vision in the minds of his followers– Speaking begins with listening– Eliciting the cooperation of others

Driving yourself

• Aggressiveness• Self-confidence• Communication

Developing a Sense of Urgency

• Don’t wait• Form a “Kitchen cabinet”

Being Honest & Searching for the Truth

• Being Honest • Searching for the Truth– Resist your own bias, especially when

you think you know the answer

Displaying Good Judgment

• Avoiding extremes when possible• Keeping the best interests of the group

in the forefront

Being Dependable and Consistent

• Dependability is itself a form of good judgment

• Consistency means that you follow the rules of leadership in a regular way

Creating an Atmosphere of Trust

• Trust is achieved by listening and considering the needs of others

Encouraging a learning environment

• Promote group learning• When the group gets smarter the leader

makes better decisions– This is done though communication and

information

Looking for Common Ground

“Type O” Personality

• Generally likable• A poor leader will push opponents until they

are forced to respond

Recap- Building Leadership Muscles

• Using your head• Keeping people in the loop• Being driven• Getting it done today• Getting to the bottom of things• Making sound decisions• Doing it every day• Trusting and being trusted• Learning and helping others learn• Finding the middle ground

Leadership:a Subject

What it takes to be a leaderBuilding your leadership muscles

Loeb M, Kindel S. Leadership For Dummies. For Dummies; 1999.