Regis University MSM 602 DL - Week One Leadership: Why Is It Important? 1.0 Overview and Outcomes Topics: The Nature and Importance of Leadership Traits, Motives, and Characteristics of Leaders Introduction: We begin by exploring a framework for understanding the nature and importance of leadership. Emphasis is placed on understanding the meaning of leadership and its impact on the organization. In addition, we'll examine the rhetorical question of whether or not leaders are born, bred, or emerge based on need by identifying the personality, traits, motives, and characteristics of effective leaders. Outcomes After studying the readings and completing the exercises, you should be able to: Develop your own definition of leadership and describe how leadership differs from management. Identify general and task-related traits that contribute to leadership effectiveness. Describe the various roles leaders can assume and identify the major satisfactions and frustrations associated with the leadership role. Describe how leadership influences organizational performance. Recognize how leadership skills are developed. Language Objectives:
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Regis University
MSM 602 DL - Week One
Leadership: Why Is It Important?
1.0 Overview and Outcomes
Topics:
The Nature and Importance of Leadership
Traits, Motives, and Characteristics of Leaders
Introduction:
We begin by exploring a framework for understanding the nature and importance of
leadership. Emphasis is placed on understanding the meaning of leadership and its
impact on the organization.
In addition, we'll examine the rhetorical question of whether or not leaders are born,
bred, or emerge based on need by identifying the personality, traits, motives, and
characteristics of effective leaders.
Outcomes
After studying the readings and completing the exercises, you should be able to:
Develop your own definition of leadership and describe how leadership differs
from management.
Identify general and task-related traits that contribute to leadership
effectiveness.
Describe the various roles leaders can assume and identify the major
satisfactions and frustrations associated with the leadership role.
Describe how leadership influences organizational performance.
Recognize how leadership skills are developed.
Language Objectives:
After studying the readings and completing the exercises, you should be able to:
Write an essay using proper English grammar and syntax.
Understand, analyze and propose a solution in writing, using a variety of
vocabulary in an appropriate manner.
Participate and express your ideas orally using correct grammar and
pronunciation.
Why do you think there are so many perspectives on leadership? Post your answer on the forum.
Demonstrate your oral proficiency and command of English by presenting the
ideas studied in your own words.
Content1.1 What is Leadership?
Learning Activity & Discussion
Should you have any doubts that there is much discussion and even more “expert”
opinions available on just what leadership is, please go to Amazon.com and find out
how many books are available on the subject. And if that is not enough, “google”
the subject of leadership and find out, in addition, just how many articles are also
available on the subject. You may be surprised just how much information is readily
available on the subject. Is all this information necessarily good or even valid?
Forum Posting
1.1.1 Authentic Leadership
Unfortunately, a good deal of the material available treats the subject of leadership
as if it were a set of behaviors to be put on like a piece of clothing - “the 4, 8, 16 or
32 steps to becoming a leader.” In addition, leadership definitions quite often
position leadership as some type of manipulative influencing “outside in” practice
that “bends one to your will.” Authentic leadership is none of the above but rather
an “inside-out” practice through which the leader creates an environment in which
people choose to follow the leader — a noticeably very different set of behaviors.
Positional Power abuse is not leadership. All too often, due to the hierarchical
infrastructures in the business environments in which we operate, there is a
tendency to expect that those in higher positional power roles are leaders.
Unfortunately, as we experience the critical shortage of leadership in American
businesses, quite often nothing could be farther from the truth.
"Leaders are not only stewards of the business charged with generating outcomes, but are also responsible for the health and well being of those they lead."
1.1.2 Leadership vs. Management
Leadership and management are very different roles. Broadly speaking, leadership
deals with the interpersonal aspects of a manager’s job, whereas planning,
organizing and controlling deal with the administrative aspects. Your text does a
very adequate job of identifying the characteristics of leaders versus managers. The
leader is more concerned with strategic activities while the manager is more
focused on tactical maneuvers. The leader is the one responsible for “driving the
bus.”
For the health and well being of the organization, a manager must know how to lead
as well as how to manage. The choice to follow is always in the hands of the
followers and the leader must be able to create an environment in which the
follower chooses to follow the leader to go to places the follower would not go on
their own.
Highly effective leaders make significant impacts on followers that go well beyond
the task or immediate assignment at hand. They are able to create environments
that honor and value the individual and fully engage human beings in the creation
of outcomes that they mutually want to create.
High performance environments are the creations of highly effective leaders. High
performance environments are peak performing experiences. Once a follower has
experienced the power of having been a part of a peak performing experience, they
will spend the rest of their career seeking to replicate the experience.
Leadership can be one of the most fulfilling and yet one of the most frustrating
growth opportunities that one can experience. First of all, it is always a choice. In
addition, it is a moral choice that makes one ultimately responsible for the human
spirit that is entrusted to your care. Leaders are not only stewards of the business
charged with generating outcomes but are also responsible for the health and well
being of those they lead. As to be expected, having a much greater responsibility
for the outcomes of an organization and being responsible for all that has to be
done to generate those outcomes as well as the human spirit entrusted to their care
“The leader is more concerned with strategic activities while the manager is more focused on tactical maneuvers”.
can be an overwhelming proposition. It is definitely not a career for the faint of
heart.
1.1.3 Leaders in Practice - What is Leadership
1.2 Roles and Responsibilities of Leaders
Leader's in Practice
MSM602_W1_1_2_Video Now let's take a look at some of the roles that leaders play.
As you watch the video, think about the following question and discuss it in the forum: Where and by whom is leadership exercised in an organization?
MSM602_W1_1_2_Transcript for "the roles that leaders play."
1.3 Characteristics of Leaders
Leader's in Practice
MSM602_W1_1_3_Video for What characteristics must a leader demonstrate?
Leader's in Practice
MSM602_W1_1_1_3_Video Now let's ask: What is Leadership?
As you watch the video, think about the following question and discuss it in the forum: Which definitions of leadership presented by the leaders in the video most resonate with you and why?
MSM602_W1_1_1_3_Transcript for "What is Leadership?"
As you watch the video, think about this question and discuss it in the forum.
MSM602_W1_1_3_Transcript for "What characteristics must a leader demonstrate?"
1.4 IQ vs. EQ
Bottom line - a leader is someone who is very unmistakably authentic and very
clear about who they are and what they intend to accomplish with and through
others. They are those individuals who are very adept at knowing how to “use
things and love people rather than some of their peers who, perhaps, are much
more proficient in the practice of loving things and using people.”
Leadership is an “inside out” process and is resident in one’s ability to create high
trust, high integrity environments. Environments in which respected and valued
individuals can fully utilize their gifts and talents to work collaboratively to create
outcomes that they really care about.
There are many valuable tips and techniques to enhance task skills and technical
proficiencies to help leaders develop and become more effective. However,
authenticity, integrity, and the ability to create high trust environments are the
foundational characteristic traits of highly effective leaders that are not trainable or
negotiable. These traits are only identified and enhanced through very intense and
on-going honest introspection and reflection.
While I.Q. is important and is the major contributor to both task proficiency and the
attainment of creditability, emotional intelligence (E.Q) is also equally important.
Often, positional power abusers, masquerading as leaders, are those who may have
high I.Q’s. but very low E.Q’s.
1.5 Are Leaders Born or Made? While there continues to be a great debate over whether leaders are born or made,
the truth more than likely lies somewhere in the middle. We are all by-products of
Leadership is an “inside out” process.
our genetics, environments and our life experiences. If it were relegated strictly to
determining that it is heredity or environment then how is one able to explain
scenarios in which only one leader emerges from a family of nine produced by the
same parents and raised in identical environments. To what degree each of these
realties might override the other and become the predominant factor has never
been adequately proven. Perhaps, it is timely to entertain the possibility that
leaders, affected and impacted by both heredity and environment, emerge as a
result of being called to address outcomes that they really care about. It’s an idea
worth considering.
Discussion Forum: Questions
Si usted tiene alguna pregunta, le invito a que acceda a la carpeta Written
Discussion Forum/Foro de Discusión Escrito y seleccione el enlace
Communication/Comunicación.
En este espacio podemos aclarar cualquier inquietud. Para participar presiona New
Post o seleccione el foro de discusión de su interés
Activities / Tasks: Week One
Task 1.1 Icebreaker activity
Instructions:
1. The facilitator will go to the voice discussion forum and verbally introduce
him/herself using the voice and video tool available.
2. The e-lab tab contains information about how you can record and submit
your participation in the Voice Discussion Forum.
3. Facilitator will create a new thread for students to introduce themselves. The
facilitator may choose to include the following information: name, occupation
or professional interests and aspirations, e-mail address, and course
expectations. (The facilitator may choose to use other prompts or questions)
4. The student will select the Voice Forum/Foro Oral tab. Navigate to the
discussion forum called T1.1“Icebreaker activity” to post verbally his/her
message. The discussion forum appears on the screen. Select the New Post
hyperlink (in the toolbar located in the top frame) to post a new message.
5. Listen to your classmates and respond to at least two of your classmates’
introductions.
Task 1.2 Voice Discussion Forum: Videos
Instructions
1. Based on the answers to the “Leaders in Practice videos, Web
research and your Personal Leadership Journal, describe: