concepts of leadership

2 Concepts of Leadership Workbook V1.0 Version uncontrolled if copied or printed

Table of Contents

Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 3

Management and Leadership ..................................................................................................... 4

Culture and Climate .................................................................................................................... 7

Culture and Climate - Exercise: ................................................................................................... 8

The Five Positions of Leadership ............................................................................................... 11

Emotional Intelligence at Work ................................................................................................ 13

SWOT Analysis - Exercise .......................................................................................................... 16

Factors of Leadership ................................................................................................................ 18

Determining Your Operational Styles - Exercise ....................................................................... 20

Operational Styles ..................................................................................................................... 23

Operating With Others .............................................................................................................. 34

Assignment ................................................................................................................................ 37


Concepts of Leadership

Introduction

Good leaders are made not born. If you have the desire and willpower, you can become an effective

leader. Good leaders develop through a never ending process of self-study, education, training, and

experience. This course is designed to help start this process.

To inspire those around you to greater success, there are certain things you must be, know, and, do.

These do not come naturally, but are acquired through continual work and study. Good leaders are

continually working and studying to improve their leadership skills; they are NOT resting on their

laurels.

The objectives of this session are:

Define leadership.

Discuss different leadership models.

Explore the transition to a leadership role.

Establish your operating style.

Rather than provide all the answers, this session is designed to make you think about your own

development and how you can make a successful transition into leadership.


Management and Leadership

Leaders have followers. Managers have subordinates. The biggest difference between managers and

leaders is the way they inspire the people who work with them. In general discussion people often

use the terms leadership and management interchangeably to describe someone who looks after

a team.

There are some key differences. Managers usually have people whose output they are responsible

for. They have a positional authority over their subordinates and their output. Alternately, following

a leader is always a voluntary activity. Leadership is often situational rather than positional the

right person in the right place at the right time to lead the troops forward.

You can think about it like dealing with a SWOT analysis. Mangers avoid threats by preparing risk

plans and mitigation strategies. They reduce weaknesses through good recruitment and training, as

well as implementing appropriate systems and processes. Leaders identify opportunities and seize

the moment to take a risk and act on them. They intensify strengths by motivating people to achieve

their best. You need both to move a team in the right direction.

What is a Manager?

Being a good manager is about using the authority attached to your role well and appropriately.

Managers focus on day to day tasks to make sure work is completed. They use rules and processes,

tactical direction and control, to manage others activities.

Being tactical is a vital business skill especially for the fast-paced environments in which most of us

work and live. Being able to organise people to accomplish tasks can be a great asset and is essential

for sound team management.

In many organisations high performers are the ones who eventually get to be the managers.

Certainly understanding what it takes to deliver is important knowledge. This doesnt mean however

that they are ready for the challenge of leading people. To demonstrate solid characteristics of a

manager, these previous high performers must have the knowledge and aptitude to also provide

leadership.

So what is a Leader?

Leaders achieve change. They use ideas and dialogue to influence, inspire, help, and encourage

change in peoples attitudes leading to changes in behaviour.

It is often said: management is doing things right, leadership is doing the right things. Leadership

involves the risk of following new ideas to create opportunities, while management diligence

produces tangible results.

Being a good leader is very much about developing relationships. Sometimes they are personal,

other times they are ideological. Either way followers connect with the leader on a personal level.


The optimum situation is to have mangers who are also capable leaders people who are capable of

leading team members through a situation and managing an operation.

What Do You Need to Be a Leader?

Leaders understand Emotional Intelligence and are adept at applying it in a way that achieves the

best results from their people. While a managers authority comes from their position, a leader

demonstrates authority in their approach. It is more difficult to learn to be a good leader because

leadership skills are more behavioural in nature than management skills and knowledge.

It is easy in many ways to explain to someone how to implement a process using a manual and giving

practical examples from your experience. It is much harder to get someone to change their attitude

to a new process (e.g. dialler) and engage their interest to learn how to use it to improve their

productivity.

Change is about recognising that people can achieve continuous improvement and that their

behaviour can be a great step towards personal and team success. Being able to lead teams through

change, rather than manage them through it has infinite rewards.

Good leadership is innovative, creative and, above all else, proactive. The managers regarded as

effective leaders are the ones who anticipate problems and opportunities; motivate and develop

strategic responses; and actively engage staff to develop action-oriented plans. In contrast,

managers react to whatever situations arise. They respond to problems. The actions they take are

about applying time- tested strategies.

Leaders continually reinvent. They continually set the vision for the team to achieve.

However, having vision and demanding results is not enough. Leaders must be able to sell that vision

and outcome-orientation to people at all levels of the organisation. Leaders need to be able to

consistently present their messages in such a way that the people in the team remain motivated,

progressing, and achieving at the highest levels of performance.

Strong leaders demand results. But its not always plain sailing. Leaders often challenge people in a

way that can make work life more difficult in the short time. Clarity, consistency and effective

dialogue are absolutely essential to making this process move from challenge to reward.


NOTES


Culture and Climate

There are two distinct forces that dictate how to act within an organisation: culture and climate. It is

critical to understand both in order to function successfully as a leader.

Each organisation has its own distinctive culture. It is a combination of the founders, past leadership,

current leadership, crises, events, history, and size. These results in rites: the routines, rituals, and

the "way we do things." These rites impact individual behaviour on what it takes to be in good

standing (the norm) and direct the appropriate behaviour for each circumstance.

The climate is the feel of the organisation, the individual and shared perceptions and attitudes of the

organisation's members. While the culture is the deeply rooted nature of the organisation; climate is

a short-term phenomenon created by the current leadership. Climate represents the beliefs about

the "feel of the organisation" by its members. This individual perception of the "feel of the

organisation" comes from what the people believe about the activities that occur in the

organisation. These activities influence both individual and team motivation and satisfaction, such

as:

How well does the leader clarify the priorities and goals of the organisation? What is

expected of us?

What is the system of recognition, rewards, and punishments in the organisation?

How competent are the leaders?

Are leaders free to make decision?

What will happen if I make a mistake?

Organisational climate is directly related to the leadership and management style of the leader,

based on their values, attributes, skills, actions, and priorities. The behaviour (character) of the

leader is the most important factor that impacts the climate.

The collective vision and common folklore that define the institution are a reflection of culture.

Individual leaders cannot easily create or change culture because culture is a part of the

organisation. Culture influences the characteristics of the climate by its effect on the actions and

thought processes of the leader. But, everything you do as a leader will affect the climate of the

organisation.


Culture and Climate Exercise

Objective: To reflect on the culture and climate at Youi and what can easily be changed and what

cannot easily be changed.

Instruction: Please read and then complete the reflection activity below. Divide yourselves into small

groups and discuss what can easily be changed at Youi, and what would take a full commitment of

the organisation to change.

What things can you easily change within an organisation?

Culture

Changing the culture of an organisation takes the full commitment of every leader within the

organisation. You cannot just tell people, "From now on it is going to be done this way."

For example, when the Armed Forces started to integrate women into what were traditionally male

jobs, a great resistance was put forth by the men who believed that the type of soldiering skills they

were performing could only be performed by men. Many of them believed in equal rights, but the

culture they worked and lived in made them believe that their work was strictly a man's job...they

could not picture a women doing a job that was traditionally performed by males.

Climate

On the other hand, climate is a feeling by the employees on how they perceive that something

should be done at the minute. These feelings can normally be changed within perhaps a few hours,

days or weeks. The workers get these feelings from their both leaders and peers, formally and

informally. Feelings are transmitted to them by how their leaders act and model, and what they

praise and ignore.

For example, you might believe your department needs to provide better customer service. You

then take the necessary actions to help your department start performing customer service better.

In the majority of organisations, your actions will not be met with great resistance throughout the

ranks. Why? Because "not providing good customer service" is not part of the heritage of most

organisations. Thus, if someone wants to change it, it does not really affect others within the

organisation.


Culture and Climate Exercise Cont.

Reflections on the Organisation

Listed below are some of the things almost every organisation does. Next to it are the words

"climate" (feel of the organisation) and "culture" (the way we do things). Think about Youi and

decide if you think the component is part of the culture or climate of the organisation.

Culture Climate

Leadership style of upper management

Leadership style of the manager I report to

Organisational Rules and Policies

The way we reward people

The way we punish people

How we treat our customers

How we treat our supplies and vendors

How we celebrate

How the employees feel they are part of the organisation


NOTES


The Five Positions of Leadership

Leadership is dynamic, and the right to lead must be earned individually with each person you meet.

Which position you lead from depends on your history with that person. According to this model,

your success as a leader depends on being able to move through the positions discussed below.

1. Authority

The first position is Authority. From that place, you have certain rights that come with your title. But

if you lead people only using your authority and you do nothing else to try increasing your influence,

then people will follow you because they have to. They will follow within the boundaries of your job

description.

The lower your stated position, the less positional authority you posses.

Note: The good news is that you can increase your influence beyond your title and position in fact

you may have already done this. You can move into the other stages of leadership.

2. Permission

If you move to position two, you begin to lead beyond your title because you have built relationships

with people you desire to lead. You treat them with dignity and respect. You value them as human

beings. You care about them, not just the job they can do for you or the organisation. Because you

care about them, they begin to trust you more. As result, they give you permission to lead them. In

other words, they begin to follow you because they want to.

Authority Permission Execution Development Legacy


3. Execution

The third position is execution. You move to this phase of leadership with others because of the

results you achieve on the job. If the people you lead succeed in getting the job done because of

your contribution to the team, then they will look to you more and more to lead the way. They

follow you because of what you have done for the organisation.

4. Development

To reach the fourth position of leadership, you must focus on developing others. Your agenda is to

pour yourself into the individuals you lead, mentor them, help them develop their skills, and sharpen

their leadership ability. What you are doing, in essence, is leadership reproduction. You value them,

add value to them, and make them more valuable. At this level, they follow you because of what you

have done for them.

5 Legacy

The fifth and final position is legacy. Achieving a leadership legacy depends upon you excelling in

leadership from the first four positions for an extended period of time. Others within the

organisation will hold you in high regard as a leader. You have created a legacy.

NOTES


Emotional Intelligence at Work

To be a credible leader, a person needs to explore the inner self first. A person must ask him/herself

the following questions and be able to answer with certainty:

Who are you? What do you stand for? What do you believe in? (Kouzes & Posner)

Emotional Intelligence embraces and draws from numerous other branches of behavioural,

emotional and communications theories, such as NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), Transactional

Analysis, and empathy. By developing our Emotional Intelligence within the framework discussed

below, we can become more productive and successful at what we do, and help others to be more

productive and successful too. The process and outcomes of Emotional Intelligence development

also contain many elements known to reduce stress for individuals and organisations, by decreasing

conflict, improving relationships and understanding, and increasing stability, continuity and

harmony.

The Emotional Intelligence Framework

The Intrapersonal Realm concerns your ability to know and manage yourself.

It embraces:

Self Awareness The ability to recognize how you're feeling and why you're feeling that way and the impact

your behavior has on others

Assertiveness The ability to clearly express your thoughts and feelings, stand your ground and defend a

position

Independence The ability to be self-directed and self-controlled in your thinking and actions and to be free

of emotional dependency. Independent people are self-reliant in planning and making

important decisions.

Self-Regard The ability to appreciate your perceived positive aspects and possibilities as well as to accept

your negative aspects and limitations and still feel good about yourself

Self-Actualization The ability to realize your potential capacities. This component of emotional intelligence is

manifested by becoming involved in pursuits that lead to a meaningful, rich and full life.


The Inter-personal Realm concerns your "people skills" your ability to interact and get along with

others. It is composed of three scales.

Empathy The ability to understand what others might be feeling and thinking. It is the ability to view

the world through another person's eyes.

Social Responsibility The ability to demonstrate that you are a cooperative, contributing and constructive

member of your social group.

Interpersonal Relationship The ability to forge and maintain relationships that are mutually beneficial and marked by

give-and-take and a sense of emotional closeness.

The Adaptability Realm involves your ability to be flexible and realistic, and to solve a range of

problems as they arise. Its three scales are :

Reality Testing The ability to assess the correspondence between what's experienced and what objectively

exists. It is the capacity to see things objectively, the way they are, rather than the way we

wish or fear them to be.

Flexibility The ability to adjust your emotions, thoughts and behavior to changing situations and

conditions. This component of emotional intelligence applies to your overall ability to adapt

to unfamiliar, unpredictable and dynamic circumstances.

Problem Solving The ability to identify and define problems as well as to generate and implement potentially

effective solutions.

The Stress Management Realm concerns your ability to tolerate stress and control impulses. Its two

scales are :

Stress Tolerance The ability to withstand adverse events and stressful situations without falling apart by

actively and positively coping with stress. Stress tolerance includes having a repertoire of

suitable responses to stressful situations. It is associated with the capacity to be relaxed and

composed and to calmly face difficulties without getting carried away by strong emotions.


Impulse Control The ability to resist or delay an impulse, drive or temptation to act. Impulse control entails a

capacity for accepting your aggressive impulses, being composed, and controlling

aggression, hostility and irresponsible behavior.

The General Mood Realm concerns your outlook on life, your ability to enjoy yourself and others

and your overall feelings of contentment or dissatisfaction. It has two dimensions.

Happiness The ability to feel satisfied with your life, to enjoy yourself and others and to have fun.

Happiness combines self-satisfaction, general contentment and the ability to enjoy life.

Happiness is associated with a general feeling of cheerfulness and enthusiasm. It is a by-

product and/or barometric indicator of your overall degree of emotional intelligence and

emotional functioning.

Optimism The ability to look at the brighter side of life and to maintain a positive attitude even in the

face of adversity. Optimism assumes a measure of hope in one's approach to life.

NOTES


SWOT Analysis

An emotionally intelligent leader needs to look within before they can build trust and gain

permission to lead. A useful way to organize your personal analysis is by using a SWOT template.

Use the following questions as stimuli for mind mapping your current traits and behavior. This

information can then be organized into the SWOT template on the following page.

How do you deal with feedback?

Do you know/concentrate on your strengths?

Do you work on improving your strengths?

Does your intellectual arrogance cause disabling ignorance? Can you overcome it?

Do you know how you perform best and work to improve the way you perform?

Do you know how you learn?

What are your values?

Do you understand where you belong?

What should you contribute? Do you?

Do you take responsibility for relationships?


SWOT Analysis Continued

Organise the information the information just gathered in the template below.


Factors of leadership

So far, we have looked at the leaders place within the culture and climate of an organisation, their

emotional intelligence and performed self analysis through SWOT. However, it critical to realise that

the leader themself operates within another larger framework. There are four major factors that

influence effective leadership:

Follower

Different people require different styles of leadership. For example, a new employee requires more

supervision than an experienced employee. A person who lacks motivation requires a different

approach than one with a high degree of motivation. You must know your people! The fundamental

starting point is having a good understanding of human nature, such as needs, emotions, and

motivation. You must know your employees' be, known, and do attributes.

Leader You must have an honest understanding of who you are, what you know, and what you can do. Also,

note that it is the followers, not the leader who determines if a leader is successful. If they do not

trust or lack confidence in their leader, then they will be uninspired. To be successful you have to

convince your followers, not yourself or your superiors, that you are worthy of being followed.

Communication

You lead through two-way communication. Much of it is nonverbal. For instance, when you "set the

example," that communicates to your people that you would not ask them to perform anything that

you would not be willing to do. What and how you communicate either builds or harms the

relationship between you and your employees.

Leader

Situation

Communication

Follower


Situation All situations are different. What you do in one situation will not always work in another. You must

use your judgment to decide the best course of action and the leadership style needed for each

situation. For example, you may need to confront an employee for inappropriate behaviour, but if

the confrontation is too late or too early, too harsh or too weak, then the results may prove

ineffective.

Various forces will affect these factors. Examples of forces are your relationship with your seniors,

the skill of your people, the informal leaders within your organisation, and how your company is

organised.

NOTES


Determining Your Operational Style

Use the following descriptions to determine your degree of transmission and reception behaviour

and place yourself on the human antenna axis.

Transmission Behaviour

People with a high degree of transmission behaviour:

Speak quickly and with a lot of animation and/or volume.

Use a lot of hand and facial gestures when speaking.

Are highly active and always on the go.

Take action when something needs doing.

Tend to fill silent pauses in conversation with their own words.

Laugh loudly and heartily (everyone knows it!).

Think out loud when considering options.

Enjoy performing or presenting in public.

People with a low degree of transmission behaviour:

Speak less quickly, with less animation and volume.

Use few hand and facial gestures when speaking.

Tend to be reflective and carefully consider their words.

Take longer to take action when something needs doing.

Tend to leave silent pauses in conversations.

Are more conservative or reserved when they laugh.

Keep their thoughts to themselves when considering options.

Are less eager to perform or present in public.


Reception Behaviour

People with a high degree of reception behaviour:

Listen very carefully to what is said.

Also listen to how things are said (tone of message) and other messages between the

lines.

Are highly observant and pay attention to body language and other expressions.

Pick up on the atmosphere of a situation.

Are highly intuitive and tend to sense things even when they have not been heard or seen.

Tend to tune in to peoples feelings.

Practice a lot of active listening in conversations.

People with a low degree of reception behaviour:

Only listen to what is said and take things on face value.

Tend to think ahead and may not appear to be giving 100% attention to others in conversations.

Dont tend to listen to how things are said and may miss messages between the lines.

Dont tend to pay attention to body language, gestures and other signals.

Dont tend to pick up on the atmosphere or a situation and are less affected by the environment around them.

Focus on concrete facts and the here and now, and like to touch and feel things rather than conceptualise.

May not pay attention to the people factor when making decisions.

Come to conclusions quickly, and tend to stick with their decisions when they have made up their mind.


Use the descriptions to place yourself on the Human Antenna axis below.

What is your operational style?

Higher Degree

Higher Degree

Lower Degree

Lower Degree


Operational Styles

The Connector

(High Transmitter, High Receptive)

The name of this Operating Style reflects the ability to connect with people and ideas.

The key to this style is Relationships. Connectors will use the status of their relationship with the other party as the

fundamental measure of success or failure.

E.g. The most important part of a successful project to a Connector is not the

result, the process used, or the remuneration they may receive, it is how they are

regarded by others around them that matters most.

Connectors need recognition from others, like to be thanked, enjoy being

applauded, want to be completely trusted, love a new challenge but all in the

context of these things reflecting how they are regarded in their relationship with

the people involved.

Key Strengths

Very conceptual, creative and big picture.

Enjoy others company and are often life of the party.

Tend to be enthusiastic and animated presenters.

Tend to be popular with others, who often gravitate towards them.

Get excited by new opportunities and ideas.

Quite intuitive and perceptive in dealing with others.

Give trust to others and expect it in return.

Dont hesitate in making decisions, but will readily involve others.

Sensitive to others feelings and try to keep everyone happy where possible.

Tend to be highly visible, often loud, often laughing a lot, often walking around interacting

with others in the work environment.

Like to get involved with others socially and enthusiastically promote events, functions etc in

the work scene if involved in them.

Quick to volunteer for things.

Often pressed for time and have a lot of things on the go.


Consequences of Strengths Overplayed

May not focus enough on the detail things may slip through the cracks.

May take on too much and deliver less than optimal results.

Can be quick to jump in with ideas without thinking through the consequences of these

ideas.

Can get too close to staff and find it difficult to have corrective performance management

conversations with them.

May be seen as a show off and be perceived to engage in negative politics.

May look only the positives of a persons character and overlook the downsides.

May over-trust people and fail to adequately monitor their progress/performance.

May not consider enough of the detail when making decisions.

Can get defensive if own performance or performance of own team or business is

questioned.

Can get easily distracted and may procrastinate on important matters.

Time and priority management can be a major challenge leading to missed deadlines, always

running late, and failure to achieve key results.


The Driver

(High Transmitter, Low Receptive)

The name of this Operating Style reflects the ability to both communicate directly and clearly when necessary, and to roll up their sleeves and pitch in to get the job done.

The key to this style is Results. Drivers will use the achievement of a result as the fundamental measure of success

or failure.

E.g. The most important part of a successful project to a Driver is not the how

everyone feels about them, the process used (how it was done), or the

remuneration they may receive, or even how efficiently the job was done, it is that

the result was achieved and/or output was generated.

Drivers need to feel things are moving forward as quickly as possible, like to be in

control, like to give instructions and have them followed, like to do things

themselves, like to knock down obstacles, and are active (sometimes in the

extreme) but all in the context of these things helping to achieve the desired

result.

Key Strengths

Make things happen.

Eliminate obstacles to success.

Communicated directly, concisely, and clearly.

Happy to roll up their sleeves and get involved at the coal face if that helps achieve the result.

Not intimidated by people or challenges relish the opportunity to overcome.

Get excited by progress and results.

Make quick decisions even when others around them may be hesitating/confused

Take responsibility and dont blame others.

Learn from practical experience rather than theory.

Will take risks in order to overcome obstacles and achieve the result.

Not afraid to confront situations that others might find uncomfortable.

Have a thick skin and dont really care too much about negative comments as long as the result is being achieved.

Highly achievement oriented and love to challenge themselves.


May make the wrong things happen - crash or crash through!

May not be aware of collateral damage caused by their direct approach.

May come across as harsh or abrupt in their communication.

May get too involved at the coal face and lose their helicopter perspective.

May offend people when attacking blockages to the process.

May rush to a solution without considering all of the alternatives and choose a less than optimal solution.

Others may feel left out of the decision-making process.

May listen without hearing the true message of peoples communication.

May dismiss new concepts or models as too airy fairy.


May take high risks to achieve progress which create significant negative impact if they turn out the wrong way.

Can be seen as cold and unfeeling and as a bully.

Can be perceived as lacking emotional intelligence and struggling with people issues.

May set the bar too high for others who dont have same drive.


The Detailer

(Low Transmitter, Low Receptive)

The name of this Operating Style reflects the ability to evaluate all options available and then focus on the detail necessary to reliably, repeatedly and predictably implement the chosen solution.

The key to this style is Detail and Process. Detailers will use the quality of the process and the efficiency of its implementation

as the fundamental measure of success or failure.

E.g. The most important part of a successful project to a Detailer is not the how

everyone feels about them, the result achieved, or the reward/recognition they

may receive, it is the efficiency of the process and how it was implemented.

Detailers need to feel things are ordered, like things to be in control, like

predictability, like to do research and learn new things, like to enforce rules, and

are careful and particular when making decision (sometimes in the extreme) but

all in the context of these things helping to create an efficient process that will be

reliable, repeatable and predictable.

Key Strengths

Excellent researchers and analysts.

Always consider all possible scenarios and options.

Tend to be very self-motivated and prefer their own company low maintenance.

Like to delve into the finer details to ensure everything is covered.

Focus on turning theory into practical solutions.

Excellent risk managers and will protect the organisation from hazards.

Very careful and considered and wont give advice unless they are completely sure it is correct.

Deal well with concrete facts and proven methods.

Will find the fatal flaws in proposals or theories.

Will challenge propositions that are not based on solid evidence.

Not particularly concerned with other peoples opinions of them only interested in facts.

Tend to know their area of responsibility extremely well and wont venture outside this .


May get bogged down in detail and fail to see the strategic bigger picture.

May delay taking action due to need for more and more information.

May delay deciding on something without 100% certainty, even when this is never going to be possible.

May seem distant and unsociable if always locking self away.

May appear inflexible due to unwillingness to deviate from the rules or standard processes.

May fail to pick up on the sensitivities around a subject due to pure attention to facts and details.

May not appear to be team players if wont venture outside own area of expertise.

May see risks that arent really there and appear too conservative to others.

May not engage proactively with other people unless there is a specific need to do so around an issue.


The Humanist

(Low Transmitter High Receptive)

The name of this Operating Style reflects the ability of Humanists to consider people and strongly empathise with their situation.

The key to this style is Environment. Humanists will use the quality of the environment or atmosphere and its impact on

people as the fundamental measure of success or failure.

E.g. The most important part of a successful project to a Humanist is not the result

achieved, the process used, or even the reward/recognition they may receive

personally, it is the environment in which the project was conducted and how

everyone feels as a result of this.

Humanists need to feel things are peaceful and calm, like things to be unstressed,

like wellness, safety and happiness, like to work with people who like people, like

to focus on feelings rather than facts, and are careful to consider the impact on

others when making decision (sometimes in the extreme) but all in the context of

these things helping to create a positive and happy environment for people to be

in.

Key Strengths

Excellent listeners.

Use all five senses when receiving information (sometimes even seem to have a sixth sense).

Ask excellent, probing questions when communicating and listen intently to answers.

Pick up on the underlying tones, messages and feelings in communication.

Highly considerate of others and very rarely offend others.

Generally considered very nice, well-mannered people.

Very intuitive in making recruitment decisions (may pick up issues that others dont see).

Avoid taking risks if people impacts are involved.

Have a strong sense of empathy to others feelings and may even reflect these feelings in their own state of being.

Enjoy dealing with concepts and theories if not pressured by deadlines.

Will challenge propositions that have a negative impact on people.

Are very protective of positive cultures and will strive to change negative cultures.

Like to be liked by others and in turn generally like people.

Will go out of their way to avoid creating conflict with others.


May not offer own input enough in discussions.

May read too much into things and pick up messages that werent really there.

People can feel like they are being analysed when talking to a humanist.

May think people are playing the man and not the ball when they actually are not.

Find it hard to manage and/or reprimand unacceptable performance.

Can be considered push-overs by more aggressive people.

May take too long to make decisions or not make them at all when a touch people call is required.

Can become wounded by aggressive behaviour and may stay that way for some time.

Can seem to be on an emotional rollercoaster, with very high highs and very low lows.


Can be perceived as lacking business pragmatism.

Can become hamstrung by culture and fail to push on in less than optimal conditions.

Can become very despondent if people are expressing negative emotions.

Tend to withdraw completely rather than engage in any form of conflict.

May stifle debate due to an avoidance of conflict.


The Moderator

(Moderate Transmitter, Moderate Receptive)

The name of this Operating Style reflects the fact that Moderators display a flexible operating style, often operating in any one of the previous four styles, but never showing extremes of behaviour.

The key word to describe this style is Calm. Moderators will take a balanced and steady approach and will use a balance of

result, process, relationship and environment as measures of success or failure.

It is very important to realise that the Moderator is not a combination of the other

styles, but a completely separate style of its own.

It is also very important not to immediately assume that the Moderator style is the

preferred style for executives to be - like all other styles, it has its strengths and

weaknesses.

Moderators tend to act as natural mediators, need to feel things are calm, like

things to be in control, like respect, like to apply themselves steadily to the task,

like to operate within the rules, and make decisions based on common sense but

all in the context of a calm and steady approach and definitely no extremes of

behaviour.

Key Strengths

Always calm and very rarely flustered.

Able to naturally flex style to suit other people.

Very low maintenance people who get on with business with a minimum of fuss.

Generally well-liked by everyone, though not in a stand out way.

Make very good chair people in meetings.

Good mediators and negotiators.

Take a balance view when expressing opinions.

Deal with crisis very calmly and steadily.

Will both question and contribute to concepts and theories.

Very reliable people whose opinion is valued by others.

Tend to naturally gravitate to manager positions due to steady approach.


Can come across as lacking passion and a little dull.

May be seen as sitting on the fence and holding back true opinions.

May lack presence and may not be noticed or thought of a top achievers.

Can be seen as being politically correct by others.

May rush to consensus too quickly and stifle robust debate.

May frustrate others with calm approach to crisis, appearing to lack urgency.

May not express opinions enough and end up missing out on contributing.

Can fail to create a sense of urgency and inspire others to action.

May be overlooked for senior executive positions due to lack of visibility.

Good work may go unnoticed by others or become simply taken for granted.

May struggle to deal with people who do show extremes of behaviour.

May avoid dealing with unacceptable behaviour from others.


The Creator

(Unpredictable Transmitter and Receptive)

The name of this Operating Style reflects the fact that Creators are constantly searching for the big idea that creates a Quantum Leap.

The key to this operating style is Original Thought. Creators will use the size, originality, creativity, and impact of a new idea or

concept as the primary measures of success or failure.

Like the Moderator, it is very important to realise that Creator is not a combination

of the other styles, but a completely separate style of its own.

It is also very important not to assume that the Creator style is the only style

capable of coming up with ideas the name simply reflect the importance of ideas

and concepts to people who demonstrate this style.

Creators tend to look at things from a completely different viewpoint, will endlessly

explore ideas and concepts, will constantly look for the big breakthrough, love

variety and new challenges that need solving, love to offer hypotheses, and

capable of displaying behaviour in all of the previous styles but all in the context

of the constant search for original thought and breakthrough ideas!

Key Strengths

Extremely creative thinkers left field ideas.

Able to flex to whatever style will support the generation of new ideas and concepts.

Often interested in unusual or less mainstream things.

Seen as interesting by others certainly not boring.

Able to overcome obstacles in creative ways that others would not think of.

Capable of coming up with ideas that can revolutionise the business certainly create new opportunities.

Like to spice things up and will often challenge what they perceive as poorly thought through ideas.

Can display any of the key strengths of other styles at any particular time.

Are not concerned with crises prefer to keep focused on current idea.

Will ensure all options are investigated and then try to create new options.


Many of their ideas may be impractical or lead to nothing.

Behaviour can be highly unpredictable and others find it hard to read them.

People may not trust their behaviour and thus not risk involving them or offering their own opinions and/or ideas.

Can be loners and pay little attention to social pleasantries or political correctness.

Can be highly distracting to others and hold up progress due to endless stream of ideas and options.

May try to re-invent the wheel when it is not necessary.

May pay too little attention to day-to-day business as find this boring.

Can offend people who have come up with their own ideas.

Can display any of the issues relating to overplaying the strengths of other styles at any particular time.


May let crises get completely out of hand by ignoring them.


Do You Agree With Your Operational Style?

If you dont agree that your plot is accurate, try to reposition yourself based on the

description that best suits.

Try to list down the aspects of the description that you most agree with and any you dont

agree are accurate for you this information makes great fuel for a discussion with your

coach or manager.

NOTES


Operating with Others

Now that you have established your operating style, it is crucial that you are able to recognise the

operational styles of those that you are leading. People with different operating styles can cause

natural tensions usually people with operating styles in opposite corners. As a leader, you have to

be flexible enough to overcome this.

What do we mean by Flexing? What are we trying to do?

To achieve superior results from others, your goal is to make them feel more comfortable when dealing with us.

If they feel more comfortable, they are far more likely to engage with you, and will probably even flex towards your own style more than they would otherwise.

Indeed, with good flexing on your own behalf, you are likely to find a zone that is comfortable for both parties to work in and hence we make yourself more comfortable as well.

Failing to do this can result in both parties moving away from each other in terms of operating style.


Flexing Refer back to the Human Antenna axis there are 4 basic flexes and only 2 will ever apply to you

depending on your own style. In order to break the natural tension you will have to move along one

of the axis to reach a neutral zone. The following section outlines some techniques used to move

along the Human Antenna axis.

How can we increase our reception behaviour Your goal here is to try and signal to the other party that you are interested in what they are saying

and really want to understand what they think. Some suggestions on how you might achieve this

include:

Asking follow up or qualifying questions and really listening to the answers.

Fully focus on the other person and do not think ahead while they are speaking.

Summarise what youve heard to both ensure youve heard correctly and to signal that youve been listening.

Ensure your body language is open and suggesting you are welcoming what theyve got to say.

Ask their opinions before suggesting your own answer.

Make questions as open as possible to invite more information.

How can we decrease our reception behaviour

Your goal here is to try and signal to the other party that you are very calm and unemotional and

that you are purely interested in receiving the facts of the situation. Some suggestions on how you

might achieve this include:

Using imagery to prepare ourselves before the meeting E.g. Suit of Armour to protect us from any arrows fired in our direction.

Fully focus on the words they are speaking, not the way they are speaking them

Summarise what youve heard (calmly) to both ensure youve heard the facts correctly, to overcome any incorrect impressions they may have given you, and to show that you are in control.

Ensure your body language is neutral and suggesting you are confident and in control.

A good idea is to take notes as this indicates that you want to get your facts and details correct. It also indicates that you consider what they are saying is important and you dont want to forget it.

Use more closed questions to confirm facts and eliminate any unnecessary additional information.


How can we increase our transmission behaviour Your goal here is to try and signal to the other party that you have something to say and have

opinions that are worth listening to. You also want to indicate that you are engaged in the

conversation. Some suggestions on how you might achieve this include:

Speaking up more often and with more volume and speed.

Dont allow yourself to be interrupted or spoken over until you have finished what youve got to say. E.g. Use phrases like Hang on, just let me finish this point before it jumps out of my head and I forget it. or, Hold on a sec, just let me finish as I think this point is really worth knowing.

Dont allow the conversation to move on until you are ready to let it do so E.g. Ask for a moment to think about whats being suggested and its implications. (This is a great way to show you are engaged in the conversation even though you may not have said much to this point.)

Ensure your body language is open and suggesting you are welcoming what the other person has to say. In particular, nod and retain eye contact with the other person/people to let them know that you engaged in the conversation (even if you are not saying anything).

If you have nothing to add, say Ive got nothing to add rather than remaining silent (which can look like you are not engaged in the discussion).

How can we decrease our transmission behaviour

Your goal here is to try and signal to the other party that you are interested in what they have to say

and that their opinions are worth listening to. Some suggestions on how you might achieve this

include:

Speaking less often and with less volume and speed.

Dont interrupt or speak over the other person until they have finished what they have to say.

Dont fill in the silent pauses the other person might leave.

Allow the other person time to think through what they want to say and let them be the one to break the silence. (This takes a lot of patience and practice).

Ensure your body language is neutral and suggesting you are welcoming what the other person has to say.

In particular, nod and retain eye contact with the other person/people to let them know that you engaged in the conversation and interested in listening to them.

Avoid being distracted by things outside the conversation. The fact that the conversation is slower than youd ideally like makes this a risk of occurring. You must practice maintaining complete concentration.

Try and speak less than 50% of the time in the conversation. He or she who speaks the most is less in control.


Assignment

Before the Coaching & Feedback module, you must develop an action plan for successfully leading a

member of your current team. Use the information in this workbook to:

Select someone with an opposing operational style to your own.

Identify potential challenges you may face when leading this person.

Develop techniques that will help to resolve the natural tensions and help to build a

productive working relationship.

You are encouraged to use any of the models, theories and concepts discussed today in your action

plan. Has the exercise challenged your own view of yourself as a leader?

This exercise is theoretical and you will not be required to tell the team member that they are the

subject of your task.

concepts of leadership

Documents