Leadership 101

Leadership 101Exploring Leadership through Self-

Exploration

Tim Valton II

Career Assistant, Prehealth Advising

[email protected]

Overview

• Learning Outcomes

• Style of the Presentation

• Introduction to Leadership

• Trait Approach to Leadership• Lecture-Based Description

• Self Assessment & Discussion

• Skills Approach to Leadership• Lecture-Based Description

• Self-Assessment & Discussion

• Questions, Comments, Concerns

Learning Outcomes

• Identify key traits of leadership from a macro-level perspective

• List key skills of leadership from a macro-level perspective

• Examine the difference between “traits” and “skills” in reference to leadership development

• Assess their own leadership through the lens of trait and skills approach and identify areas for improvement

• Compile list of individualized leadership traits and apply them to their resume*

• Construct list of leadership skills and be able to effectively articulate them*

*Accomplished after the session through self-reflection

Style of Presentation

• Four styles to accommodate different learning styles:• Rapid fire discussion: High participation needed; no wrong

answers in rapid fire, all responses are valid

• Lecture-Based Discussion: Low participation needed; I’ll provide some information about the different approaches; Feel free to take notes or listen, all information will be provided to you

• Group Discussion: High/Low participation needed; I’ll ask you to chat with someone next to you during assessment instruments, feel free to report back to large group

• Reflection after presentation: Low participation; I’ll send you some materials that you can either share with me for feedback or keep for yourself

• Participation is crucial to learning experience• Intra-participation

• Inter-participation

Rapid Fire Discussion #1

What is leadership?

Remember: There are NO incorrect answers! Anything counts! Words, feelings, phrases, people, anything that comes

to your mind!

Rapid Fire Discussion #2

What “skills” are associated with

“good” leadership?

Remember: There are NO incorrect answers! Anything counts! Words, feelings, phrases, people, anything that comes

to your mind!

Introduction to Leadership

• Two questions are the beginning of your journey through self-exploration of leadership• Trait Approach to Leadership

• Skills Approach to Leadership

• Basic level of leadership theory which is centered around the traits and actions of the leader

• Limitations: There are more developed leadership theories out there (in my opinion “better”) but this is a good place to start your exploration

Trait Approach to Leadership

• One of the first theories of leadership development

• Focuses exclusively on the leader, not on the follower or the situation the leader is in

• Concerned with what traits the leader exhibits and who has these traits within a group setting

• Various studies of leadership traits and characteristics, but we’re going to focus in on “Big Five”

Five Leadership Traits

• Intelligence- Strong verbal ability, perceptual ability, and reasoning

•Self-confidence- Certain about one’s competencies

•Determination- Desire to get the job done

• Integrity- Quality of honesty and trustworthiness

•Sociability- Inclination to seek out pleasant social relationships

Five Personality Factors

•Neuroticism- tendency to be depressed, anxious, insecure, vulnerable, and hostile•Extraversion-tendency to be sociable and assertive and to have positive energy •Openness- tendency to be informed, creative, insightful, and curious•Agreeableness- tendency to be accepting, conforming, trusting, and nurturing•Conscientiousness- tendency to be thorough, organized, controlled, dependable, and decisive

Strengths of Trait Approach

• Intuitively appealing- clearly fits within notion that leaders are the individuals out front and leading way in society*

•Century of research to back it up- no other theory has the breadth of research compared to trait theory

•Highlights the leader component in the leadership process- deeper meaning of what it means to be a “leader”

•Benchmarks of what it means to be a leader  

Self-Assessment Tool: Trait Approach

• Read all instructions carefully

• Answer honestly and with your “gut”

• Once everyone has finished, pair up with someone next to you to briefly discuss and share:• What were some similarities? Differences?

• Where were you the strongest? The weakest?

• What is your most “important” trait?

• Share with large group if you feel comfortable

Skills Approach to Leadership

• Again, leader-centered perspective on leadership

• Shift from focus on personality characteristics to skills and abilities that can be learned and developed

• More tangible approach to leadership:• Skills can be defined as job descriptors in

many ways

• Critical to develop ability to talk about your skills effectively and efficiently

Basic Leadership Skills (Katz, 1955)

• Technical Skill- Ability to work with things

• Human Skill- Ability to work with people

• Conceptual Skill- Ability to work with ideas

• Leadership / Management structure has different needs of skills

Skill Based Model(Mumford, et. al., 2000)

Individual Based Attributes

•General cognitive ability

•Crystalized cognitive ability

•Motivation

• Personality

Competencies

• Problem solving skills- ability to solve complex issues which stimulate organization growth

• Social judgment skills- Capacity to understand people and social systems; Being multicultural competent; Ability to be perspective

• Knowledge- Inextricably related to the application and implantation of problem-solving skills in organizations; Accumulation of information and the mental structures used to organize the information

Self-Assessment Tool: Skills Approach

• Read all instructions carefully

• Answer honestly and with your “gut”

• Once everyone has finished, pair up with someone next to you to briefly discuss and share:• What were some similarities? Differences?

• Where were you the strongest? The weakest?

• What is your most “important” skill?

• Share with large group if you feel comfortable

Discussion and Questions

• The “So what”: Importance of leadership exploration from a career development perspective

• Next steps: Look for an email from me with all of the resources used in this presentation

• Any questions, comments, or concerns?