This document provides an overview of a self-study presentation on Leadership 101. After completing the course, participants will be able to identify key leadership characteristics, build trust with employees, promote teamwork, act decisively in crises, and demonstrate leadership. The course covers traits like having and sharing a vision, pursuing excellence, effective communication, trustworthiness, building confidence, enthusiasm, and serving others. Modules will explore leadership lessons from favorite teachers and define and develop key leadership skills and behaviors.
Leadership 101: What Successful Leaders Do—and How They Do ItHRDQ-U
Ask any leader and they can probably name a favorite teacher they would choose to emulate. That’s because great leaders are born through experience and mentoring. But to become great, leaders need more than a positive role model. They need training. And with all of the complex leadership theories, models, and trends swirling around today, sometimes we forget to start at square one. Until now.
Join us for Leadership 101: What Successful Leaders Do—And How They Do It, the back-to-basics webinar that focuses on the what—and the how—of effective leadership. From recognizing the characteristics of effective leadership to behaviors that undermine performance and leading with impact, you’ll leave with a solid understanding of how best to develop both aspiring leaders and seasoned veterans.
Leadership Accelerator: Unleashing Potential in Younger Employees.pptxDennis Van Aelst
We recognize that our young professionals possess immense talent, fresh perspectives, and boundless energy. We believe in their potential to become the next generation of exceptional leaders. That's why we have developed this transformative program designed specifically to harness and amplify their abilities.
You probably had a tough time proving your worth as a true leader during the last appraisal interview. Or maybe you’re a focused professional who’s willing to brush up on the leadership management skills for a successful career graph ahead.
Leadership 101: What Successful Leaders Do—and How They Do ItHRDQ-U
Ask any leader and they can probably name a favorite teacher they would choose to emulate. That’s because great leaders are born through experience and mentoring. But to become great, leaders need more than a positive role model. They need training. And with all of the complex leadership theories, models, and trends swirling around today, sometimes we forget to start at square one. Until now.
Join us for Leadership 101: What Successful Leaders Do—And How They Do It, the back-to-basics webinar that focuses on the what—and the how—of effective leadership. From recognizing the characteristics of effective leadership to behaviors that undermine performance and leading with impact, you’ll leave with a solid understanding of how best to develop both aspiring leaders and seasoned veterans.
Leadership Accelerator: Unleashing Potential in Younger Employees.pptxDennis Van Aelst
We recognize that our young professionals possess immense talent, fresh perspectives, and boundless energy. We believe in their potential to become the next generation of exceptional leaders. That's why we have developed this transformative program designed specifically to harness and amplify their abilities.
You probably had a tough time proving your worth as a true leader during the last appraisal interview. Or maybe you’re a focused professional who’s willing to brush up on the leadership management skills for a successful career graph ahead.
Learning objective: Achieve clarity and confidence as your most authentic self
Authenticity is the harmonious alignment between one's internal values and beliefs and their external behavior. Embracing authenticity in leadership involves aligning professional actions with personal ethics, values, and personality. Trust is built when leaders remain true to themselves, making it easier to achieve goals. In this session, we will explore the authenticity paradox in the workplace, learn to lead authentically, and identify practical ways to embody authenticity in your leadership role.
By the end of this session, attendees will be able to:
1. Differentiate between constructive and detrimental authentic behaviors.
2. Identify your core values and understand their influence on your leadership actions.
3. Establish trust and transparency in your team as an authentic leader while navigating the authenticity paradox.
4. Cultivate a team that embraces individual and collective strengths and authenticity.
Taking Ownership – How to Create a Culture of Accountability in the WorkplaceXenium HR
Want to see your organization reach its full potential? It starts with accountability. Everyone—from manager to intern—has to take ownership of their work. So how do you make it happen? In this webinar we break down the best ways to instill accountability in managers and employees, tactics for reinforcing an accountable company culture, and strategies for building effective, accountable teams.
People at board and top management typically believe that transforming a company from good to great requires an extreme personality, an egocentric chief to lead the corporate charge. But that’s not the case in 21st century management world, where the basic essence of management is more of human emotions and sentiments centric. The essential ingredient for taking a company to greatness is having a “Level 5” leader, an executive in whom extreme personal humility blends paradoxically with intense professional will. This session will focus on explaining the various aspects of leadership and its levels and will focus on the hardcore aspect of transformational leadership which not only focuses on ‘having jobs done’ and ‘having targets met’ but will transform an organization from ‘good’ to ‘great’. It involves explanation of difference between a manager and a leader and how leadership has become an essential element of modern managing function and what are the competencies relevant to leadership qualities. The core learning that will be transferred during this session is that a leader needs IQ and Technical Expertise for sure, but there is something more important if a leader needs to exercise Level 5 transformational leadership and that is EQ (Emotional Quotient). Various dimensions of EQ a Level 5 leaders should possess will be explained and focus will be put on how such EQ can be developed. The session ends with some strategic suggestions for exercise of Level 5 leadership for taking organization from ‘good’ to ‘great’.
Transformational Executive Coaching
Expands people’s capacity to take effective action.
Challenges beliefs and assumptions that are responsible for one’s actions and behaviors.
Examines what one does, why one does what one does, but also who one is. What are the principles upon which one forms identity?
Leadership Explained (Be, Know, Do model)Aslan Umarov
Short Disclaimer:
Leadership has many different definitions and forms. Your company or circumstances may need absolutely different set up.
This material may be helpful for young leaders, especially in pressing situations, use it carefully.
As basis for this material I used “Be, know, do” formula and U.S. Army field manual “Battlefield Leadership”.
These principles are universal, well tested and work in many situations.
Never stop learning.
If you are interested in more material please contact me at: aslan.umarov@gmail.com
MISSION
Our mission is to create communities of courageous, kind, authentic leaders who inspire, encourage and bring out the best in others.
VISION
We are all born potential leaders. McDonald Inc wants to inspire, empower and create courageous conversations globally. We seek to foster courageous and kind leadership so that the people leave work smiling each day.
BRAND VALUE PROPOSITION
McDonald Inc develops the skills, confidence and leadership of middle and executive managers. They work with individual clients to develop their authentic leadership, gain recognition and promotion. Businesses and organisations who work with McDonald Inc have the added benefit of higher staff retention, improved performance through teamwork and an overall more profitable bottom line.
Learning objective: Achieve clarity and confidence as your most authentic self
Authenticity is the harmonious alignment between one's internal values and beliefs and their external behavior. Embracing authenticity in leadership involves aligning professional actions with personal ethics, values, and personality. Trust is built when leaders remain true to themselves, making it easier to achieve goals. In this session, we will explore the authenticity paradox in the workplace, learn to lead authentically, and identify practical ways to embody authenticity in your leadership role.
By the end of this session, attendees will be able to:
1. Differentiate between constructive and detrimental authentic behaviors.
2. Identify your core values and understand their influence on your leadership actions.
3. Establish trust and transparency in your team as an authentic leader while navigating the authenticity paradox.
4. Cultivate a team that embraces individual and collective strengths and authenticity.
Taking Ownership – How to Create a Culture of Accountability in the WorkplaceXenium HR
Want to see your organization reach its full potential? It starts with accountability. Everyone—from manager to intern—has to take ownership of their work. So how do you make it happen? In this webinar we break down the best ways to instill accountability in managers and employees, tactics for reinforcing an accountable company culture, and strategies for building effective, accountable teams.
People at board and top management typically believe that transforming a company from good to great requires an extreme personality, an egocentric chief to lead the corporate charge. But that’s not the case in 21st century management world, where the basic essence of management is more of human emotions and sentiments centric. The essential ingredient for taking a company to greatness is having a “Level 5” leader, an executive in whom extreme personal humility blends paradoxically with intense professional will. This session will focus on explaining the various aspects of leadership and its levels and will focus on the hardcore aspect of transformational leadership which not only focuses on ‘having jobs done’ and ‘having targets met’ but will transform an organization from ‘good’ to ‘great’. It involves explanation of difference between a manager and a leader and how leadership has become an essential element of modern managing function and what are the competencies relevant to leadership qualities. The core learning that will be transferred during this session is that a leader needs IQ and Technical Expertise for sure, but there is something more important if a leader needs to exercise Level 5 transformational leadership and that is EQ (Emotional Quotient). Various dimensions of EQ a Level 5 leaders should possess will be explained and focus will be put on how such EQ can be developed. The session ends with some strategic suggestions for exercise of Level 5 leadership for taking organization from ‘good’ to ‘great’.
Transformational Executive Coaching
Expands people’s capacity to take effective action.
Challenges beliefs and assumptions that are responsible for one’s actions and behaviors.
Examines what one does, why one does what one does, but also who one is. What are the principles upon which one forms identity?
Leadership Explained (Be, Know, Do model)Aslan Umarov
Short Disclaimer:
Leadership has many different definitions and forms. Your company or circumstances may need absolutely different set up.
This material may be helpful for young leaders, especially in pressing situations, use it carefully.
As basis for this material I used “Be, know, do” formula and U.S. Army field manual “Battlefield Leadership”.
These principles are universal, well tested and work in many situations.
Never stop learning.
If you are interested in more material please contact me at: aslan.umarov@gmail.com
MISSION
Our mission is to create communities of courageous, kind, authentic leaders who inspire, encourage and bring out the best in others.
VISION
We are all born potential leaders. McDonald Inc wants to inspire, empower and create courageous conversations globally. We seek to foster courageous and kind leadership so that the people leave work smiling each day.
BRAND VALUE PROPOSITION
McDonald Inc develops the skills, confidence and leadership of middle and executive managers. They work with individual clients to develop their authentic leadership, gain recognition and promotion. Businesses and organisations who work with McDonald Inc have the added benefit of higher staff retention, improved performance through teamwork and an overall more profitable bottom line.
3. Leadership 101
After you’ve completed this course, you’ll be able to identify key characteristics of leaders. You’ll
know how to build trust and confidence with employees, and you’ll avoid behaviors that
undermine leadership. You’ll be more skilled at promoting teamwork and esprit de corps, and
you’ll be prepared to act decisively. And last, but not least, you’ll be able to demonstrate
leadership in a crisis.
Introduction
5. Leadership 101
Who was your favorite teacher?
• What qualities or characteristics did he or she have?
• What behaviors did he or she demonstrate?
• What results did he or she achieve?
Many of the traits and behaviors of effective teachers
translate to being an effective leader in the working world.
Who Was Your Favorite Teacher?
“If your actions inspire others to dream more,
learn more, do more and become more, you
are a leader.”
—John Quincy Adams, 6th U.S. President
6. Leadership 101
Leadership is positively influencing others to accomplish a specific goal.
Leadership is a fuzzy concept—you know it when you see it, but it can be difficult to pinpoint the
characteristics and behaviors that will guarantee someone will be a leader. Effective leaders
exhibit the following traits.
They:
• Have and share a vision
• Pursue excellence
• Communicate effectively
• Are trustworthy
• Build confidence
• Show enthusiasm
• Serve others
We’ll look at each of these traits in detail.
Leadership Defined
7. Leadership 101
Leaders have and share a vision.
Vision is the ability to imagine the organization’s future—and inspire others to work toward
achieving that future.
Here are some examples:
• The Girl Scout vision statement is “Girl Scouting builds
girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make
the world a better place.”
• The Cirque du Soleil vision statement is “Invoke the
imagination, provoke the senses and evoke the
emotions of people around the world.”
• A local grocer’s vision is “We help families live happier
and healthier lives by providing the freshest, tastiest
and most nutritious local produce: From local farms to your table in under 24 hours.”
Have and Share a Vision
8. Leadership 101
Answer the following questions to create an inspiring vision. The first question gets at the “what”
while the second question gets at the “how” because effective leaders are concerned with both
the ends (the “what”) and the means (the “how”).
• What is your winning idea?
• What do customers and other stakeholders value most about how your organization will
achieve your winning idea?
• After considering these questions, refine these ideas into a succinct, inspiring statement.
Create Your Vision
9. Leadership 101
Vision matters because it guides (or it should) the ends and the means of your organization: What
you want to accomplish and how you want to accomplish it.
Your vision should guide not only your activities, but those of your employees too. To connect
your vision to their daily activities, involve them in answering the following questions:
• Where should we be?
• When should we be there?
• Where will we concentrate our efforts?
• How will we allocate our resources?
Make certain your vision maintains its relevance by periodically
assessing ongoing tasks and responsibilities to determine if they
support the vision, by looking for new ideas and opportunities
that further the vision, and by ignoring day-to-day “noise” and
staying focused on the goal.
Translate Vision into Everyday Activities
10. Leadership 101
Review what you’ve just learned by completing this quiz. Read each vision statement and
rephrase it so that it inspires others. When you’re ready, click the statement to reveal the
suggested answer.
“To make household cleaners from natural products that smell good, work great, and make
people’s homes lovelier.”
To negotiate “win-win” deals that allow our clients to feel secure and pursue their dreams.”
Test Your Knowledge
“To be the number one leader in cleaning products.”
“To provide high quality legal services to our clients.”
11. Leadership 101
Effective teachers pursue excellence, and so do effective leaders. They serve as role models for
ongoing self-improvement.
Set high expectations for yourself, and identify ways to go the extra mile for employees and
customers. Integrate the following behaviors into your daily activities:
• Do it right the first time.
• Look for opportunities for improvement, however small.
• Seek new ways of doing things.
• Be open to other suggestions.
• Be willing to take risks.
• Solicit feedback from employees, peers, customers
and clients in order to keep improving.
Pursue Excellence
12. Leadership 101
Another way to pursue excellence is to set expectations. People are motivated by challenges
when they believe they can succeed, and they remain motivated when they can see the results of
their efforts. So, set high, but attainable, targets for performance.
• Make targets clear, specific, and understood by all.
• Set targets that are directly related to employees’ daily tasks. Consider these categories:
Time: How long does it take to produce the product or
service?
Cost: How much money does it take to make the product
or service?
Satisfaction: What will customers experience with the
product or service? What will employees experience in
creating or providing the product or service?
Financial: What is the bottom line benefit generated by
producing or providing the product or service?
Set Expectations
Time
Cost
Satisfaction
Financial
13. Leadership 101
Effective leaders are effective communicators. If your skills are lacking, take training on public
speaking or making presentations.
There are many ingredients of effective leadership communication:
• Show passion.
• Voice ideas and opinions in a clear, logical, and
convincing manner.
• Use plain language; eliminate jargon and
euphemisms.
• Make it memorable by sharing a story, personal
anecdote, or analogy.
• Check for understanding with your listeners.
• Use all available channels to communicate:
presentations, meetings, email, intranet, blog, etc.
Communicate Effectively
14. Leadership 101
You can improve your communication skills by developing a story. Stories are a powerful
communication tool. They help make your message memorable and meaningful. The best stories
are generally those that are surprising or inspiring.
Follow these tips to make the most of your stories:
• Know the point you want to convey.
• Make others the hero.
• Take a risk; share a personal story that makes you
vulnerable.
• Focus on something you have learned and can share
with others.
• End with a call to action.
• Keep it short.
Develop a Story
15. Leadership 101
The next leadership trait is to be trustworthy. Your favorite teacher was undoubtedly someone
you could trust. Likewise, a leader who positively influences others is trustworthy.
The origins of trust are:
• Being dependable: being able to predict how a leader will behave
and knowing you can count on the leader for support
• Being proficient: Being able to deliver expected results – doing the
job you are asked to do
• Showing compassion: identifying with another’s experience – being
able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and view the situation
from his or her perspective
Note: Psychologists identify four elements to establishing trust which serve as the basis of the three we have identified here.iii
Be Trustworthy
16. Leadership 101
Behaviors that Build Trust Deposits
• Keep your promises.
• Communicate directly and openly.
• Be honest about problems.
• Don’t circulate rumors.
• Praise more than you criticize.
• Practice what you preach.
Behaviors that Withdraw Trust
• Blame others.
• Shoot the messenger.
• Equate mistakes with failure.
• Overextend yourself and your followers so
you can’t meet commitments.
…Avoid these behaviors!
Trust Deposits and Withdrawals
Your behaviors either build trust or erode it. Concentrate on demonstrating behaviors that build
up your trust account and eliminate behaviors that withdraw from your trust account.
17. Leadership 101
Read each pair of statements and decide what point on the line best reflects your team or
organization’s current level of trust (i.e. closer to the statement on the left or right).
Trust Assessment
Power and control are in the hands of a few
individuals.
Employees at all levels feel they have ownership in
the organization.
“Turf wars” among teams or departments are
common.
Teams and departments across the organization
work collaboratively.
Employees hold back their thoughts and feelings. Employees express their views openly, even when
they are not in agreement with their boss or leader.
Employees and leaders blame others and don’t
take responsibility for their mistakes.
Employees, and especially leaders, are open about
their mistakes and learn from them.
Employees feel micromanaged. Employees are given freedom and flexibility to do
their jobs.
Employees don’t feel valued or appreciated or
understood in the organization.
Employees feel valued, appreciated, and cared for in
the organization.
Overall, employees don’t trust each other in the
organization.
Overall, employees do trust each other in the
organization.
18. Leadership 101
The next leadership trait is to build confidence in your employees. This is an area where you can
really take a page from effective teachers—they always build the confidence of their students. Be
dedicated to supporting, encouraging, and mentoring employees to reach their full potential.
• Provide opportunities for employees to succeed. Include a variety of challenges, not just a
single focus.
• Build on success. Celebrate victories, no matter how small.
• Make it safe to fail. Treat mistakes as learning opportunities.
• Don’t compare employees. Find each employee’s strengths and
weaknesses; build on his or her strengths, and minimize his or
her weaknesses.
Build Confidence in Your Employees
19. Leadership 101
The next leadership trait is to be enthusiastic.
There are many benefits of being enthusiastic:
• Others naturally follow you
• People deliver more; they are more likely to go the extra step
• You create energy, both physical and emotional
• You become “contagious;” you become a role model that others want to learn from
• You build a reputation as a person who inspires others to overcome challenges and succeed
Be Enthusiastic
20. Leadership 101
Let’s discuss some ideas for how to be more enthusiastic.
• Cultivate a more positive attitude by examining where you’re already enthusiastic and trying
to do more of that.
• Spend time with enthusiastic people.
• View problems as challenges: focus on what you can do, not what you can’t.
• Smile! Sometimes, attitude follows behavior—in others words, sometimes you have to act
enthusiastic to feel enthusiastic.
If you are enthusiastic, authentic, inspirational to others and have a reputation for getting results,
then personal success will follow.
How to Be More Enthusiastic
21. Leadership 101
The last leadership trait is to serve others.
Serving others sounds very touchy-feely, but you will ultimately achieve more success when you
adopt an attitude of serving others, which emphasizes trust, collaboration, and the ethical use of
power.
Behaviors that signal you’re serving others:
• Listening: not just hearing, but understanding
• Responding: this is how people know they were heard
• Asking: find out what people are thinking and feeling
• Engaging: taking initiative to develop relationships with
employees
• Caring: treating every person with respect, compassion, and
kindness
Serve Others
22. Leadership 101
Take a few moments to complete this quiz to review what you’ve just learned. Identify the
leadership trait indicated by the following examples:
TRUSTWORTHY EXCELLENCE
COMMUNICATE ENTHUSIASM
VISION CONFIDENCE
SERVE OTHERS
Test Your Knowledge
Keep your promises. Do it right the first time.
Use memorable stories.
Inspire others to work toward a common
goal.
Treat every person with respect and
compassion.
Focus on what you can do, not what you
can’t.
Make it safe to fail.
24. Leadership 101
Just as there are traits that make you an effective leader, there are behaviors that can make you
ineffective. To get you thinking about behaviors that undermine leadership, recall a teacher who
wasn’t very good.
• What didn’t you like about the teacher?
• What was the result?
• How did you do in their class?
Teachers Gone Wrong
25. Leadership 101
Lack of transparency is one of the main complaints of employees about poor leaders. Whether
the motive is an innocent desire to protect employees, or a less innocent desire to control the
work environment, the outcome is the same: employees have a negative perception when they
are kept in the dark.
Here are the drawbacks to leaders who keep employees in the dark:
• They are assumed to have a hidden agenda.
• They are perceived as inconsistent and unpredictable.
• They are perceived as having double standards: they show
favoritism or they ask employees to do something they
wouldn’t do themselves.
Lack of Transparency
26. Leadership 101
• Changes that are planned in your area and
other areas of the organization
• Current and projected financial
performance
• New competition or changes with
competitors
• Current and projected productivity or
service levels
• Business plan highlights
• Customer/client information—updates on
new or lost customers
• What you learn after you’ve asked for
feedback
Become More Transparent
You can be a more effective leader by becoming more transparent. Keep employees informed by
sharing information about these activities:
27. Leadership 101
It’s difficult to imagine an effective teacher neglecting his or her students. Likewise, effective
leaders don’t neglect their employees. In the absence of contact with their boss, employees tend
to think the worst. Surveys, workshops, and motivational speakers are no substitute for active
involvement of the leader.
Here are some warning signs of neglect:
Would your employees say any of the following?
• “I only hear from my boss when there’s a problem.”
• “My boss spends all their time pleasing upper management.”
• “I never hear information first from my boss.”
• “My boss has no idea what I’m interested in or capable of.”
Neglect
28. Leadership 101
Instead of neglecting employees, actively engage them.
• Don’t hide in the office.
• Work with employees to understand their individual career goals and align them with the
organization’s goals. Ask them:
o When do you feel in control of your work environment, tasks, and responsibilities? When do
you not feel in control?
o What do you want to achieve in each key aspect of your work?
o How can I help you achieve your goals?
Develop relationships with employees. Ask questions such as:
• What is one recent personal success you’ve had?
• What are one or two of your favorite hobbies outside of work?
• What is one thing you’re hoping to accomplish outside of work?
Instead of Neglect: Actively Engage Employees
29. Leadership 101
Another behavior that undermines leadership is unwillingness to change and motivate. Effective
leaders ask hard questions: “What am I (we) doing wrong?” and “How can we get better?”
Phrases such as “stay the course” and “my way or the highway” are not in their vocabulary.
Watch out for these behaviors that indicate an unwillingness to change or innovate:
• Focusing on past successes rather than future challenges
• Unwillingness to change in the absence of a “do or die” situation
• Concern with internal politics and efforts to support the status quo and entrenched interests
• Underfunding new ideas in the name of sustaining current efforts
• Inhibiting employees’ attempts to innovate by micro-managing or being overly involved in the
process, or in continually rejecting ideas and proposals.
Unwillingness to Change and Innovate
30. Leadership 101
It’s always easier to say and do the right things when you’re not under stress. However, nobody
works in a stress-free environment, especially leaders. Take time to reflect on your typical
behaviors when under stress and identify those that undermine your leadership skills.
When under stress, I tend to do more or less of these:
• Talk
• Agree
• Want my own way
• Demand
• Apologize
• Rationalize
What negative behaviors do you need to replace?
What Do You Do When Stressed?
• Compromise
• Argue
• Blame others
• Blame myself
• Take risks
• Shut down
31. Leadership 101
Review what you’ve just learned by completing this quiz. Read each statement and choose the
action that is the best way to counteract or overcome a lack of transparency.
Lack of Transparency
Test Your Knowledge
Wait to communicate until you know the full story.
Withhold negative financial numbers so you don’t worry your employees unnecessarily.
Ask for feedback from your employees.
Participate in water cooler gossip so you show you are part of the group.
32. Leadership 101
Review what you’ve just learned by completing this quiz. Read each statement and choose the
action that is the best way to counteract or overcome neglect.
Neglect
Test Your Knowledge
Don’t bother your employees so they can get their work done.
Make sure your employees hear important information from you first.
Assume that employees don’t want you to be interested in their lives outside of work.
Assume “no news is good news.”
33. Leadership 101
Review what you’ve just learned by completing this quiz. Read each statement and choose the
action that is the best way to counteract or overcome an unwillingness to change.
Unwillingness to change
Test Your Knowledge
“Stay the course” in order to maintain stability and security.
Focus on past successes rather than future challenges to bolster morale.
Be open to a variety of perspectives.
Overlook new ideas in order to sustain current efforts.
35. Leadership 101
It’s not enough to possess the characteristics of leaders; you have to do something with them.
Leadership impact is what you do with the leadership traits and behaviors you’ve developed. So
far, we’ve focused on the “how” of leadership; now we’ll focus on the “what”:
• Influencing others
• Promoting teamwork
• Acting decisively
• Demonstrating leadership in a crisis
Leadership Impact
36. Leadership 101
Leadership is all about influencing. The ability to persuade employees, colleagues, and top
managers is critical to having leadership impact.
Here are some tips for increasing your influence with others:
• Clearly communicate your vision.
o Support it with facts and figures for analytical people.
o Tell a story to connect emotionally.
• Anticipate resistance to your vision, idea, or change.
o Don’t ignore the resistance, address it.
o Show understanding for the anxieties and concerns of employees and others involved.
• Focus on the key behaviors you want to change.
o Pick the one or two that will have the most impact.
o Encourage voluntary, public commitment to the change.
Influence Others
37. Leadership 101
Here are more tips for increasing your influence with others.
• Be patient: It will likely take others longer to arrive at the same conclusion you reached.
• Start small, gain commitment to make a small change and then build on it.
• Be flexible: If a change in strategy or action allows others to save face or overcome resistance,
go for it.
• Examine your motivation: Self-interest will kill your ability to influence others. Your motivation
should be to improve the good of the department, organization, and individuals in it.
• Use a variety of approaches.
o Tell with verbal persuasion—that is, make a convincing argument.
o Show with personal experiences—that is, create an opportunity for people to experience
the vision or change, even vicariously through a story.
Influence Others Part 2
38. Leadership 101
In most situations, you will not have the opportunity to build a team from scratch. Therefore, you
will need to work with an existing group and use your leadership skills and influence to encourage
collaboration and teamwork.
To do that:
• Be accessible. Maintain an open door policy. Even better, go hang out where your employees
work.
• Observe what’s going on before you act. This is especially important if you are new to a group
or team.
• Create project teams to build trust and cooperation.
• Encourage cross training to minimize cliques or a
“that’s not my job” attitude.
• Pitch in and work alongside team members.
• Have regular gatherings with a non-work focus.
Promote Teamwork
39. Leadership 101
You can increase team effectiveness by increasing the effectiveness of individual team members.
• Make sure each employee’s work is meaningful and challenging to him or her.
• Give consistent feedback on performance.
• Be tolerant about an occasional bad day or high-stress situation.
Promote Teamwork Part 2
40. Leadership 101
The next area of leadership impact is to act decisively. Acting decisively doesn’t necessarily mean
acting quickly or unilaterally. As long as you present a framework for making your decision and
sticking to a timeframe, you will be seen as decisive.
One way to act decisively is to have and use a system for making decisions.
• Ask the right question: What is it that you need to decide?
• Decide what you need to know: What information do you need to make your decision?
• Gather the information: What reliable sources will you use?
• Turn information into knowledge: What does the information
mean?
• Make a decision: What does your judgment tell you?
Act Decisively
41. Leadership 101
The last area of leadership impact is demonstrating leadership in a crisis. A leader’s reputation is
often made or broken during a crisis. Learning from the experience of others is the best way to
increase your skills to avoid making mistakes in a critical situation. Pick a historic leader you
admire and read about him or her. See what you can learn. Here are some ways to demonstrate
leadership in a crisis.
• Show complete confidence in a positive resolution.
• Communicate frequently.
o Give employees a reality check: Be honest about the situation while maintaining a positive
outlook.
o Ask your employees for support.
o Gather input and ask for feedback from a variety of
sources.
o Give staff plenty of time to get used to unpopular
decisions.
Demonstrate Leadership in a Crisis
42. Leadership 101
Here are more ways to deal with a crisis:
• Develop several options for resolving the situation in detail.
o Assess the pros, cons, and consequences of each option, staying focused on the vision and
goal.
o Once you choose the best option, take charge and make certain everyone knows what it is.
o Involve everyone in the solution, if possible. It helps keep employees focused on the goal.
• Keep in close touch with adversaries and whiners.
o Resist the urge to avoid them and instead, spend time with them and try to gain their
support.
Demonstrate Leadership in a Crisis Part 2
43. Leadership 101
Here are more ways to deal with a crisis:
• Let go of the past.
o Don’t waste time or energy regretting mistakes or things that can’t be changed.
o Defuse tension with (appropriate) humor.
o Maintain perspective.
• Pay attention until the crisis is over. Even if others are handling the implementation of the
solution, check back and make sure everyone has what they need to get through the crisis.
Demonstrate Leadership in a Crisis Part 3
44. Leadership 101
You are likely to feel stress and pressure during the crisis. Here are some tips for weathering the
crisis with resilience:
• Persevere; know that leaders find a way to succeed.
• Remain anchored in your core personal and organizational
values; courage comes from being clear about what matters
most.
• Believe you have a role in making change happen.
• Focus on recovery behaviors: those actions that will most
quickly enable you to get back on track.
• Use your energy (mental and physical) wisely.
Weather the Crisis with Resilience
45. Leadership 101
Review what you’ve just learned by completing this quiz. Read each strategy and decide which
leadership impact it corresponds with. When you’re ready, click the statement to reveal the
answer.
Influencing others
Promoting teamwork
Acting decisively
Demonstrating leadership in a crisis
Test Your Knowledge
Clearly communicate using a variety of approaches.
Encourage cross-training to minimize a “silo” mentality.
Develop a framework and stick to a timeframe.
Show complete confidence in achieving a positive resolution.
47. Leadership 101
Read the case study and answer the questions that follow in order to put your leadership skills
into practice.
Organization: A large chocolate factory in Chicago.
People: Matt is a shift manager. Matt oversees up to 50 employees, depending on the season,
who work the second shift. Turnover is low, employees are generally satisfied and tend to stay
with the company for many years. Matt’s group reflects that; several of his employees have
worked at the company for almost 40 years, and even people who have worked there for several
years are considered “new.”
Situation: It is November, one of their busiest times of the year. During Matt’s shift, a wire shorts
and a small fire breaks out at a holding vat. Matt moves quickly to make sure all employees are
safe and the fire is put out. However, the vat and its pump are disabled, reducing production
capacity during this busy time.
In the days following the fire, Matt is either in his office or gone a lot, meeting with other
managers and technical experts trying to figure how to get the vat back up and running, and how
to make up lost production time.
CASE STUDY—Apply What You’ve Learned
48. Leadership 101
Employees are concerned because their year-end bonus depends on the company doing well in
this time period. Furthermore, although they are all still being paid, they don’t have enough work
to keep them busy. This is causing rumors to fly.
Matt has heard the rumors and is perturbed with the people spreading them. But he hasn’t taken
any steps to address the rumors or the people spreading them
because he doesn’t have any answers yet, even though he’s
been working long hours and is exhausted from dealing with
this problem.
CASE STUDY—Apply What You’ve Learned Part 2
49. Leadership 101
1. Clearly, Matt is struggling to demonstrate leadership. What mistakes has Matt made in
handling this crisis?
2. Has Matt done anything well? If so, what?
3. Was Matt correct in waiting to talk to his employees until he has an answer?
4. What could Matt do to increase his resilience during this crisis?
Review the ideas and suggested answers provided on the following slides.
CASE STUDY—Questions to Consider
50. Leadership 101
1. Clearly, Matt is struggling to demonstrate leadership. What mistakes has Matt made in
handling this crisis?
Matt isn’t communicating with his employees. They don’t know what’s going on, and with
their longevity, they could probably offer some valuable ideas for overcoming the situation, if
Matt would ask them. Not involving them is probably his biggest mistake. He also isn’t
reaching out to adversaries and whiners, which is contributing to the rumor mill. He hasn’t
addressed their concerns, or projected an attitude of confidence that there will be a positive
resolution to the situation.
2. Has Matt done anything well? If so, what?
He is treating it like a crisis, and not just taking it for granted. He looked out for his employees
and made sure everyone was safe when the fire occurred. He seems to have a good
relationship with his employees and there is probably a good level of trust he could call on.
CASE STUDY—Suggested Answers
51. Leadership 101
3. Was Matt correct in waiting to talk to his employees until he has an answer?
No. Although he may feel he has nothing to tell his employees, they need a chance to talk to
him and share their ideas for dealing with the situation. And, he needs to project confidence
and optimism in the outcome.
4. What could Matt do to increase his resilience during this crisis?
Matt is exhausted; he needs to use his mental and physical energy wisely. We don’t see any
evidence that he believes he can positively affect the outcome, which would increase his
resilience. However, from how much he is working, he does seem to be persevering and
finding a way to succeed.
CASE STUDY—Suggested Answers Part 2
52. Leadership 101
By now you should be able to:
• Identify key characteristics of leaders.
• Build trust and confidence with employees.
• Avoid behaviors that undermine leadership.
• Promote teamwork and esprit de corps.
• Act decisively.
• Demonstrate leadership in a crisis.
Congratulations!
54. Leadership 101
Badaracco, Joseph L., Jr. Leading Quietly: An Unorthodox Guide to Doing the Right Thing. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing,
2002.
Farr, Steven. Teaching as Leadership: The Highly Effective Teacher’s Guide to Closing the Achievement Gap. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass,
2010.
Morrell, Margot and Stephanie Capparell. Shackleton’s Way: Leadership Lessons from the Great Antarctic Explorer. New York: Penguin Books,
2002.
Patterson, Kerry, Joseph Grenny, David Maxfield, Ron McMillan and Al Switzler. Influencer: The Power to Change Anything. New York:
McGraw-Hill, 2008.
Phillips, Donald T. Lincoln on Leadership: Executive Strategies for Tough Times. New York: Warner Books, 1992.
i Neal, P. J. “Leadership: A Bedrock of Trust” last modified April 2016. https://thestrategybridge.org/the-bridge/2016/4/2/leadership-a-
bedrock-of-trust
References