Leadership Skills
Basic Theory
John Sweeney

Last Week
1. John Adair
2. Leadership
3. Teambuilding
This Week
4. Motivation and People Management
5. Decision Making

Recap Adair Quiz
1. At which University did John Adair become Professor of Leadership
Studies?
2. What are the Top 5 attributes most valuable at the top levels of
management?
3. What are the three ‘Needs’ a leader must address?
4. There are 8 functions of Leadership – NAME 4!

Making Decisions

Key Elements of Effective Thinking and
Decision-Making
Other useful
Analysis Synthesis
approaches
• Establish the • ‘Take a view’ • Imagination
relationship between • Combine parts or • Recall events easily
the parts and the elements to form a and visually
whole whole • Foresee, be
• Finds the route cause • Wholes produced by inventive, fantasise
of problems grouping various units the future
• Identifies the issues at together where it is • Conceptual thinking
stake, the ‘either/or’ difficult to analyse • ‘something
them into their parts conceived in the
without losing the mind’
‘wholeness’
• Intuition
• Originality and
innovation

Value in Decision-Making
• With analysis and synthesis, valuing is the third
essential in effective thinking and decision-
making
1. Establish the truth or true facts
2. To know what to do
• With experience you will recognise people who
– Tell you what they think you want to hear
– Express a view thinking it might agree with your own
– Are watching their backs
– Try to hide things

Decision-Making and weighing up the
options
• Which are the possible options?
• Which are the feasible options?
• How to reduce feasible options to ‘either/or’?
• Which one to choose?
• Is any action necessary at all, now later ?
Limiting Factors
1 . Time
2. Information
3. Resources
4. Knowledge

Team-building

Adair’s Theory of Team-building
Team-building is part of the leadership ‘holy’
trinity of Task, Team and Individual

Leaders in teams provide the functions
of:
• Planning
• Initiating
• Controlling
• Supporting
• Informing
• Evaluating

The main result of good leadership is a
good team
Good Leadership Team Outcomes
Characteristics
Enthusing Team Members are Purposeful busy and have a basis
to judge priorities
Lives values Gives a sense of excitement and achievement with
people willing to take risks and higher work loads
Leads by example Consistency is knowing leader’s values
Generates good Is trusted
Leaders from
followers

The main result of good leadership is a
good team
Good Leadership Team Outcomes
Characteristics
Aware of own Aspire to leader’s example
behaviour and
environment
Intellect to meet job Confidence in Leadership
Needs
Aware of individual The led start to lead being delegated to, coached and
and team needs supported
Exhibits trust Inspires confidence and performance
Represents the Confidence of contribution to aims and commitment to them
organisation to the
team and vice versa

1. Task
Purpose Objectives Resources Responsibilities
Programme Target Authority Training
Priorities Progress Supervision Example

2. Building & Maintaining Team
Team
Standards Objectives Team Spirit
Members
Size of Team Discipline Grievances Consultation
Priorities Briefing Represent Support

3. The Individual
Targets Induction Achievement Responsibilities
Authority Training Recognition Growth
Performance Reward The task The person
Time/attention Grievances Security Appraisal

Motivation and People
Management

Adair’s 8 Rules for Motivation
1. Be motivated yourself
2. Select people who are highly motivated
3. Treat each person as an individual
4. Set realistic and challenging targets
5. Remember that progress motivates
6. Create a motivating environment
7. Provide fair rewards
8. Give recognition

The 50:50 Rule
50% of motivation comes from within a
person
&
50% comes from his or her environment,
especially from the leadership
encountered therein

Theories of motivation
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (1954)
Self-actualisation
(growth, personal
development)
Self esteem (self-
respect, status)
Social (belonging, acceptance
Safety
Physiological

Theories of motivation
McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y (1960 , The Human Side of Enterprise)
Theory X Theory Y
• Human dislike work and will • Physical and metal work is
avoid it natural as play or rest
• People must be coerced, • People will exercise self-
controlled and directed to direction and self-control to
achieve organisations objective bring about effort towards
• Average human prefer to be organisational objectives
directed, wants no • Average human being seeks
responsibility, little ambitious responsibility
and wants security • Commitment to objectives is a
function of the rewards
associated with their
achievement

Managers/Leaders and Motivation
Recognise that individuals are
1. Individuals but need other people and meaningful
work
2. Creative and imaginative (in team and solo)
3. Driven by achievement (but achieve more as a team)
4. Self-motivated and self-directed (but need
management/leadership)
5. Distinguish between financial and ‘other’ value
rewards
6. Interested in leaving work/the world a better place

Bibliography
• Adair John, 2007, Leadership skills 2007, London, IPD
• Adair John, 2003, Adair on Leadership, London, Thorogood
Publishing