Leadership Skills Flashcards
What are the 5 leadership skills?
Team building Coaching and Mentoring Driving performance Motivating and inspiring Change management
What are the six steps involved in building an effective team?
1) Appoint a good team leader
2) define team objectives, roles and procedures
3) Recruit appropriate members
4) Train and develop staff for their roles
5) Establish communication amongst the team
6) Give feedback and praise success
What are the 6 steps involved in setting goals for a team?
1) Identify the core outcomes for the team’s work (what is it responsible/accountable for)?
2) Identify the crucial tasks that the team must perform
3) establish the team’s purpose or mission statement
4) eliminate anything that does not fit the team’s purpose
5) create objectives and performance assessment methods to enable the team to achieve its purpose
6) celebrate successful attainment of the teams are objectives, which builds morale and bonds of the team
How can a leader go about improving team motivation?
1) make sure objectives are clearly identified and communicated
2) Set performance measures, i.e.: budget targets, delivery times, service quality targets
3) Payment and reward systems - incentive bonuses, non-financial benefits (flexible schedules, time off, health and pension)
4) Give recognition for effort to both individuals and team (parties, time off)
5) Address Factors causing low motivation, such as poor supervision, unnecessary rules, job insecurity, conflict
Describe coaching and mentoring
Both coaching and mentoring seek to improve motivation and performance thru encouraging personal development.
Coaching - Involves one on one meetings with coach to encourage reflection and self discipline and removal of blockages for better performance
Mentoring - periodic meetings with more senior person from same function/career. Person being mentored shares work problems, and mentor makes suggestions on how to overcome them. Mentor acts as a role model, encouraging reflection on experiences, personal learning and motivation
What are the 3 stages of change management?
1) Unfreeze - getting staff to accept changes - making the need for change so obvious, it can be accepted.
2) Change - mainly concerned with identifying what the new norms should be - may involve establishing new reporting relationships, new reward/incentive schemes, new managerial style- staff participation and involvement is necessary so they feel ownership of change
3) Refreeze - making sure staff doesn’t slip back into old ways - involves reinforcement of new patterns by larger rewards (salary promotion bonuses) for staff that fully embraced new culture and recognition, i.e. Employee of the Month, etc
What is the 8-step process of change leadership?
1) Establish a sense of urgency - helping staff see the need for change and that it should be implemented promptly
2) Create the guiding coalition - leader can’t do it alone, needs to assemble a group with enough power to lead the change process
3) Develop a change vision - the change leader needs to create an overall vision of the future illustrating the outcome of the change and the benefits. Failure to do so can cause staff to lose focus and goal congruence.
4) Communicate the Vision - clear communication to as many stakeholders as possible will maximize buy-in
5) Empower broad-based action - remove obstacles to change and encourage staff to get involved
6) Generate short term wins - plan for interim achievements to be recognized and rewarded
7) Never let up - maintain the change process, monitor to make sure staff doesn’t slip back into old habits
8) Incorporate changes into the culture- continually reinforce and reward
What are some factors that would cause resistance to change?
1) Misunderstandings or lack of trust - staff making more out of it than what it really is - i.e. starting rumors that we’re all being dowsized
2) Different assessments- each group at differing levels of the organization will see change differently
3) Narrow self interest - when one believes change may cause them to lose money power or status
4) low tolerance for change - some people struggle with stress and anxiety when faced with change
