Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Ed Admin 835
How to take charge in any situation March 24th, 2007
How to lead others at your level Dr. Keith Walker
How to use seven influential strategies
How to develop confidence as a leader yourself
The six ways to get the yourself and those who work
combat model to work for for you. The more you be-
you includes the following lieve someone can accom-
points: plish, the more you will actu-
1. Be willing to take risks ally see completed. Keep
these high expectations of
2. Be innovative yourself too.
3. Take charge The world is attracted to peo-
4. Have high expectations ple with a positive attitude
5. Maintain a positive and a smile. Employees will
attitude relate better and more readily
accept you if they see you as
6. Get out in front you really are.
(p. 17). Cohen also identifies the diffi-
Sometimes a wrong deci- culty of leading from behind
sion made is better than no deci- the pack. Get out in front
of a situation, you may find an
sion at all. Cohen challenges effective way to solve a problem where your followers can see
leaders to ask themselves “What that has not been used before. you.
is the worst that can hap- Use these ways of the combat
pen?” (p. 17). Eventually you In this chapter, Cohen chal-
lenges leaders lead by example. model as much as you can and
will succeed. evaluate your progress at the end
Walk the talk and the rest will
Innovation is an amazing con- follow. of the day. Start using this con-
cept. By providing a new view cept today.
Have high expectations for
“If you want others Four Ways to Get People to Follow You
to follow you, you
must have vision There must be a reason for (p.36).” Leaders soon
too, and you must anyone to follow a leader. It find out that they cannot
is up to the leader to clearly delegate responsibility to
communicate it to
identify these reasons and their followers. Lead-
others (p. 35).” make them specific to each ers sometimes forget
person in the corporation. that they are responsible
1. Make others feel impor- for the actions of the
tant. Learn and use eve- ones they lead as well as
ryone’s name, listen to their own actions. Hap
their stories, let them Arnold, a five-star Com-
make decisions, do not ing general of the Army
dominate conversations, Air Force during World
and provide employees War II was accused of
with a positive feeling of being drunk at a night
worth. like to be treated yourself. club on two different occa-
When was the last time you sions before he realized that
2. Promote your vision...have followed someone who he was being blamed for the
a vision. If the group treated you like dirt? After actions of the squadron he
knows where they are go- people see that leaders put commanded. “If you try to
ing, they are much more others first, leaders will see foster this responsibility on
effective at attaining their them follow. to others, you are no longer
goals. “Where there is no the leader (p. 41).”
vision, the people will per- 4. “Once you take on the lead-
ish” (Proverbs 24:18). ership of a group, you and
you alone are responsible
3. Treat others as you would for reaching the objective
ED ADMIN 835 Page 3
Influencing How to Lead Anyone Using the Four Basic Influence Strategies
Strategies include:
1. Persuasion What do you think of when you Cohen identifies as influential same level of power.
2. Negotiation drive your vehicle on a warm factors for leadership include: 3. Involvement—includes giving
sunny afternoon in the spring? 1. Persuasion—you may choose ownership to the people
3. Involvement
Do you worry about the but- to use it when you have no you are trying to influence.
4. Direction tons, levers, pedals, and naviga- other way of rewarding or Trusting them with impor-
tion? Sometimes leaders may punishing someone. This tant information may influ-
find that they have led a group may include your best at- ence them to participate.
to a goal without consciously tempt to convince someone
thinking about the process they 4. Direction—use this when
through logic. Be sure to leaders are limited for time.
use. Successful leaders should give them a reason for your
not rely on this “automatic” In order for this to work,
request. leaders must have more
leading ability as an obstacle may
unexpectedly get in their way. 2. Negotiation—frequently used power then those who fol-
when the people leaders are low.
The four basic techniques trying to influence have the
To develop
teamwork within How to Build your Organization Like a Winning Football Team
your organization,
leaders must guide In this chapter, Cohen when a pride is developed
explained there is a within the membership of
the group to work small correlation be- the organization. Working
toward a common tween individuals be- together and playing to-
ing successful at gether go hand in hand
purpose (p. 108). sports and eventually when developing a cohesive
becoming successful team. As a leader, you need
leaders. He also iden- to assign tasks that you
tified that academics know the group will per-
are not an indicator form well at. As their skill
of successful leader- and pride of accomplish-
ship. ment increases, they will be
Leaders who have able to handle progressively
experienced sport at a more difficult tasks.
competitive level un- To develop teamwork
derstand that there are a few key within your organization, leaders
nesses
factors to creating a winning must guide the group to work
team. These factors include: High moral or creating a toward a common purpose (p.
feeling of inner well-being 108). As schools review their
Cohesion of members and
Esprit de corps is a French mission statements and recreate
the ability to put the success
term which has to do with their vision as a staff they start
of the group first
the moral of the organiza- to internalize their work as edu-
Teamwork to maximize the cators and understand why they
tion as a unit (p. 101).
strengths of each individual are doing what they are doing.
and minimize their weak- All of these factors will result
ED ADMIN 835 Page 5
It is essential that the leader of 1. Times when the problem 4. Times when those who
the organization is not the only pertains to the leadership of follow you are stuck.
person who solves problems. the organization. Leaders need to ensure that they
Let others solve their own prob- 2. Situations in which only the are focusing on the actual prob-
lems or you will receive more leader has unique expertise, lem and not something that is a
problems on your doorstep than knowledge, or experience result or spin-off from the root
you can handle. necessary to solve the prob- of the problem. This takes pa-
In some situations the leader lem. tience, understanding, and the
must be the problem solver. 3. Emergency situations that ability to analyze situations from
These situations include (p.193- require immediate action. different angles.
194.):
W illiam A . C o h e n
a i s e i n p ublic, ples pertain to military scenarios, he does a fine job of identifying the potential to
Pr r ivate.
iz e i n p transfer these concepts to almost any organization. He clearly indicates that if leaders
critic can exist and perform effectively in the military where almost every decision leaders
make may cost the life of someone they know, then certainly leaders should be able to
lead in organizations that do not have the threat of a casualty as a consequence for an
incorrect decision.
NESD Cohen’s clearly defined step-by-step processes to effective leadership techniques pro-
vides opportunities for leaders to select the models that will most fit most effectively
into their organization. In order to effectively use this book, leaders would benefit
Educating for the future from selecting a specific number of models or processes and implementing them into
their organization over a large period of time. While many of the examples that Cohen
discussed were experienced by leaders the hard way, this book may save a leader from
the misfortune that exists when mistakes are made.