NSTP MODULE 10: LEADERSHIP

Objectives:

At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:

1. Define leadership;
2. Identify and discuss key leadership skills, traits, and styles;
3. Assess others’ leadership skills and styles; and
4. Apply leadership strategies, skills, and principles outside of the school environment.

“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way.” – John C. Maxwell

“Good leaders must first become good servants.” – Robert Greenleaf

“Leaders aren’t born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard
work. And that’s the price we’ll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal.  – Vince Lombardi

“Leadership is action, not position.” – Donald H. McGannon

“The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one
that gets the people to do the greatest things.” – Ronald Reagan

“Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.” – Albert Schweitzer

“If there is no wind, row.” – Latin Proverb

CONCEPTS OF LEADERSHIP

The word "leadership" can bring to mind a variety of images. For

example:

 A political leader, pursuing a passionate, personal

cause.
 An explorer, cutting a path through the jungle for
the rest of his group to follow.
 An executive, developing her company's strategy
to beat the competition.

Leaders help themselves and others to do the right things. They

set direction, build an inspiring vision, and create something
new. Leadership is about mapping out where you need to go to
"win" as a team or an organization; and it is dynamic, exciting,
and inspiring.

Yet, while leaders set the direction, they must also use
management skills to guide their people to the right destination,
in a smooth and efficient way.

LEADERSHIP SKILLS THAT MAKE A GOOD LEADER

Leadership skills are some of the most in-demand soft skills. So, what does it take to be a great
leader?

Some agree that some people are born to be great leaders. Others believe that leaders are made.
The truth is, there’s no manual or guide that will give you all the tricks to become a great leader. But
what’s for sure is that leadership involves great soft skills.

In essence, leadership skills are the abilities people have to lead and deliver projects, encourage
initiatives, build a sense of common purpose, and empower others.

Leadership skills also include the abilities people have to steer teammates toward the achievement of
the goals, inspire them, drive change, and deliver results.

Keep in mind that not all great leaders possess the same leadership skills since these skills are
strongly connected with people’s personality traits and communication abilities. In sum, different
people, different leadership skills!

 Honesty and Integrity

The supreme quality of leadership is, unquestionably, integrity. The importance of integrity
should be obvious. Integrity is essential for the individual and the organization. Integrity may
actually be a potential blind spot for organizations. Make sure your team reinforces the
importance of integrity at various levels.

 Ability to Delegate
Delegating is one of the core responsibilities of a leader, but it can be tricky to delegate
effectively. The goal isn’t just to free yourself up — it’s also to enable your direct reports,
facilitate teamwork, provide autonomy, lead to better decision-making, and help your direct
reports grow. In order to delegate well, you also need to build trust with your team.

 Communication

Effective leadership and effective

communication are intertwined.
You need to be able to
communicate in a variety of ways,
from transmitting information to
coaching your people. And you
must be able to listen to, and
communicate with, a wide range
of people across roles, social
identities, and more. The quality
and effectiveness of
communication across your team
directly affects the success of
your strategy, too.

 Self-Awareness
While this is a more inwardly focused skill, self-awareness is paramount for leadership. The
better you understand yourself, the more effective you can be. Do you know how other people
view you, or how you show up at work?

 Gratitude
Being thankful can make you a better leader. Gratitude can lead to higher self-esteem,
reduced depression and anxiety, and even better sleep. Few people regularly say “thank you”
at work, even though most people say they’d be willing to work harder for an appreciative
leader. Learn how to give thanks and practice more gratitude.

 Learning Agility
 Learning agility is the ability to know what to do when you don’t know what to do. If you’re a
“quick study” or are able to excel in unfamiliar circumstances, you might already be learning
agile. But anybody can foster learning agility through practice, experience, and effort.
Explore how great leaders are great learners, with strong learning agility to get started.

 Influence
For some people, “influence” feels like a dirty word. But being able to convince people through
logical, emotional, or cooperative appeals is a component of being an inspiring, effective
leader. Influence is quite different from manipulation, and it needs to be done authentically and
transparently. It requires emotional intelligence and trust-building.

 Empathy
Empathy is correlated with group performance and a critical part of emotional intelligence and
leadership effectiveness. If you show more empathy towards your direct reports, you’re more
likely to be viewed as a better performer by people around you. Empathy can be learned, and
in addition to making you more effective, it will also improve work for you and those around
you.

 Courage

It can be hard to speak up at work, whether you want to voice a new idea, provide feedback to
a direct report, or flag a concern for someone above you. That’s part of the reason courage is
a key skill for good leaders. Rather than avoiding problems or allowing conflicts to fester,
courage enables leaders to stepup and move things in the right direction. A psychologically
safe workplace culture encourages speaking the truth.

 Respect
Treating people with respect on a daily basis is one of the most important things a leader can
do. It will ease tensions and conflict, create trust, and improve effectiveness. Respect is more
than the absence of disrespect, and it can be shown in many different ways. Explore how you
can cultivate a climate of respect.

LEADERSHIP STYLES

Did you know there are four leadership styles? Often, a leader doesn’t just adopt one of these
styles, but all four are present in their methods of management. And, did you know that their style
changes based on a number of factors? That’s right; leaders are a little more calculated than one
might expect, but it’s for the good of the team and the vision and that strategic approach ultimately
part of the characteristics of a leader.

These four styles of leadership determine the level of decision-making authority you, as the leader,
give to individuals in your team. Each individual will be given different levels of ‘authority’ when it
comes to decision making, and this is based on the nature of the task at hand, and the individual’s
role, experience and emotional maturity.

Leadership style #1: Directing

True leadership skills are not required when one is telling another what to do; how to do it and when it
needs to be done. This makes this style more of a management tool than a leadership tool.

The ‘directing’ style is useful when you have a clear idea of what you need done; and what the
outcomes should be, you would use a ‘telling’ style. In this case there needs to be a clear direction (in
order to communicate what you want), however, there needn’t be a high level of support.

The ‘directing’ style would not be useful when managing a direct team, as it would hinder growth and
prevent the development of an inspiring team culture.

Leadership style #2: Coaching 

Leaders are visionaries; they build a vision, and direct their team to achieve the vision. However, in
order to successfully direct their team and accomplish the objective, they first need to sell their idea
and vision to all those involved in bringing it to fruition. This is not only done to effectively
communicate the objectives, but to also excite, motivate and get team members believing
wholeheartedly in the endeavor.

The ‘selling’ style is useful when you, as the leader, are introducing a ‘new’ or refined vision. Although
the vision was not formed by the team members; you need their buy-in to ensure they’re motivated to
perform, and achieve the end goal.

Leadership style #3: Supporting

Collaboration is about working together: sharing ideas, suggestions and solutions within a group; but
having the final say, as the leader. This is a rather inspiring leadership approach, as each team
member is considered, and feels they are contributing in the decision-making process. Because the
style is low on direction (from the leader), it gives the individual space to prove themselves and lead
the process; and because there’s a lot of support, they are not held directly accountable for the
outcome, should it fail.

The ‘collaborative’ style is useful when: a task needs to be carried out but does not need the initial
involvement of the leader until a decision needs to be made. For example: when one of your team
members are trying strategies to make the task come into fruition – they have full control over the
process, but you as the leader have the final say, based on their input, ideas or suggestions.

Leadership style #4: Delegating

‘Delegating’ is yet another leadership style best used when leading a team because there is little
direction or support, the leader gives full authority to the individual or team to make the final decision.

The ‘delegating’ leadership style is useful when: you fully trust the decision-making abilities of the
individual or group.

HUMAN BEHAVIOR
Human behavior is the potential and expressed capacity (mentally, physically, and socially)
of human individuals or groups to respond to internal and external stimuli throughout their life. While
specific traits of one's personality, temperament, and genetics may be more consistent, other
behaviors change as one moves between life stages—i.e., from birth through adolescence, adulthood,
and, for example, parenthood and retirement.

Behavior is also driven, in part, by thoughts and feelings, which provide insight into individual psyche,
revealing such things as attitudes and values. Human behavior is shaped by psychological traits, as
personality types vary from person to person, producing different actions and
behavior. Extraverted people, for instance, are more likely than introverted people to participate in
social activities like parties.

11 Main Aspects of Human Behavior

Aspect # 1. Psychology:
Psychology is the science of human behavior; behavior of an individual refers to anything an
individual does. An act of behavior has three aspects:

 Cognition – to become aware of or know something

 Affection – to have a certain feeling about it
 Conation – to act in a particular way or direction after the feeling

Human behavior may be covert (expressed inside) or overt (expressed outside).

Aspect # 2. Personality:

Personality is the unique, integrated and organized system of all behavior of a person. Personality is
the sum total of one’s experience, thoughts and actions; it includes all behavior patterns, traits and
characteristics that make up a person. A person’s physical traits, attitudes, habits and, emotional and
psychological characteristics are all parts of one’s personality.

Genetically influence on personality is seen clearly in the effect of physiology on physique and
temperament, their interaction, and the role of nervous system in the acquisition of personality traits.

The cultural influence commences at birth with the infant’s response to environment and continues
throughout life as the influence of the home, community and society increases during growth and
maturity of the individual. Parents, teachers and friends exercise great influence on the formation of
attitudes and of the personality as a whole.

Some commonly used personality types are introverts and extroverts. According to Guilford (1965),
the introverts are people whose interests are turned inward upon themselves and their own thoughts,
whereas the extroverts are those whose interests are turned outward upon the environment.

The introvert generally shuns social contacts and is inclined to be solitary, whereas the extrovert
seeks social contacts and enjoys them. Lying in between are found people who are neither extrovert
nor introvert, they are called ambiverts.

Aspect # 3. Interest:

An interest is a preference for one activity over another. The selection and ranking of different
activities along a like- dislike dimension is known as expressed interest. An interest is made manifest
(visible), when a person voluntarily participates in an activity.

There is no necessary relationship between expressed interest and manifest interest, though in many
situations they tend to coincide or overlap. Many individuals engage in some activities which they
claim to dislike and just on the reverse, many people may refuse to engage in activities which they
claim to enjoy.

Aspect # 4. Attitude:

Allport (1935) defined attitude as a mental state of readiness, organized through experience, exerting
a directive and dynamic influence upon the individual’s response to all objects and situations with
which it is related.

Attitudes have certain characteristics:

1. Attitudes are formed in relation to objects. Attitudes are not innate, but are formed as a result
of individuals contact with the environment.
2. Attitudes have direction: positive or favorable, negative or unfavorable. They also vary in
degrees.
3. Attitudes are organized into a system and do not stand loosely or separately.
4. Attitudes are rooted in motivation and provide a meaningful background for individual’s overt
behavior.
5. Attitudes develop through a consistency among responses. They are more stable and
enduring than opinions.
3. Attitudes are prone to change. Changes in attitude may be brought about by training and,
other instructional methods and aids.

Aspect # 5. Emotions:

Emotions denote a state of being moved, stirred up or aroused and involve impulses, feelings and
physical and psychological reactions. A negative emotional response may lead to non-cooperation
and non-participation in programs, stoppage of work or even destruction of the work done.

Guilford (1965) suggested the following rules for emotional control:

a. Avoid emotion provoking situations.
b. Change the emotion provoking situation.
c. Increase skills for coping with the situation.
d. Re-interpret the situation.
e. Keep working towards the goal.
f. Find substitute outlets.
g. Develop a sense of humor.

Aspect # 6. Wishes:

According to Chitambar (1997), a wish is a pattern of behavior which involves:

a. Anticipated future satisfaction,

b. Which the person believes is reasonably likely of attainment, and
c. Towards which the individual usually relates some of his/her present behavior.

While wish-goals are oriented toward achievement in the future, what is significant is its influence on
behavior in the present. Wishes are based on subjective judgment which may at times be irrational
and otherwise faulty. At any one time, a person may have several wishes and it may become
necessary to set priorities for their achievement.

Aspect # 7. Prejudice:

PREJUDICE means pre-judgment. Judgment before due examination and consideration of facts, and
based on certain assumptions generally lead to the formation of prejudice. Prejudice is normally
negative and difficult to reverse. Prejudices may lead to hostile attitude towards persons or objects.
Expressing ill feeling or hostility towards some minority or caste groups, or an innovation are
examples of prejudice.

An effort in reducing prejudice must start with the understanding about its origin. Personal contact,
use of mass media, suitable enactments having penal provision, economic changes resulting in
greater security etc. may help in reducing prejudice.

Aspect # 8. Stereotype:

Stereotypes are fixed images formed in one’s mind about people, practices or various other social
phenomena on the basis of experience, attitudes, values, impressions or without any direct
experience, Stereotypes help in knowing how people perceive various groups of people or practice or
various other social phenomena.

Stereotypes have certain characteristics:

 Uniformity – members belonging to a particular group share the stereotype.

 Direction – may be positive or negative.
 Intensity – indicates strength of the stereotype.
 Quality – refers to content, the kind of image provided by the stereotype.

Aspect # 9. Thinking and Reasoning:

According to Garrett (1975), thinking is behavior which is often implicit and hidden, and in which
symbols (images, ideas, and concepts) are ordinarily employed. Group thinking, in which a number of
persons participate in the solution of a problem, is usually more efficient than individual effort and is
often more satisfactory.

Aspect # 10. Frustration and Adjustment:

A common pattern of human behavior involves hopes for future achievement. Such ambitions and
goals are generally termed as wish. Frustration is a condition in which an individual perceives the wish
goal blocked or unattainable. This creates some tension in the individual. When faced with such a
situation, the individual tries to make several kinds of adjustments in the behavior pattern. This is
achieved through defense mechanism.

A defense mechanism is a device, a way of behaving, that a person uses unconsciously to protect
oneself from ego-involving frustrations. This helps the individual to reduce tension. Following
Chitambar (1990) and Krech and Crutchfield (1984) some adjustment patterns i.e. defense
mechanisms are presented in brief.

Rationalization occurs when a person unconsciously explains the situation to oneself by reasoning
that after all, the individual never did really wish to achieve the goal. Example, ‘grapes are sour’.
Rationalization differs from alibis and excuses in that the first one is unconscious in nature, while the
latter two are conscious.

Rationalization makes an individual feel comfortable by helping avoid unpalatable situations by

justifying one’s own behavior in conformity with the existing social practices and values. Hence,
rationalization functions as one of the major obstacles to change.

Aggression is caused by frustration of dominant motives. Aggression may be turned outwards i.e.
directed towards other persons, or directed inwards i.e. makes oneself responsible for whatever has
happened, or may be repressed without any overt expression.

Aggression may be expressed in the form of anger, actual physical violence against objects and
people, verbal attacks and fantasies of violence.
Identification is a common form of adjustment in which the individual lives through the achievement
of others, participating vicariously (as a substitute) in their success. Parents could receive genuine
satisfaction from their children’s success, which they themselves could not achieve.

Projection means transferring one’s emotion and ascribing the source of emotion to another object.
Projection is a tendency to ‘push out’ upon another person, one’s own unrealized frustrated ambitions,
or to attribute to another one’s own faults.

Projection may take two forms-(i) in order to escape from facing the reality that a person has failed,
the individual may blame another or even a non-existent person or factor. In another type, (ii) the
individual reasons that one’s own faults are also found in others to an even greater degree.

Fantasy or Day dreaming is a common form of adjustment to frustration. The individual enters an
imaginary world in which the person’s all wish goals are realized. Compensation is a reaction to a
feeling of inferiority. The inferiority feeling may be based on real or imaginary deficiency, which may
be physical or otherwise, and compensation is an attempt to overcome or neutralize the deficiency.

Aspect # 11. Deviant Behavior:

Some individuals’ personality traits and behavior differ considerably more than others’ from the norms.
Such behavior is termed as deviant behavior and the individuals are known as deviants.

Three essential aspects of deviant behavior:

1. Deviation is culturally defined. The same behavior considered as deviant in one culture, may
be regarded as normal or highly valued in another culture.
2. Deviation develops through the process of socialization, in the same way as normal behavior
does.
3. Deviation is a matter of degree. If the personality traits and behavior of individuals in a society
are placed on a continuum, the majority would be near the centre, which would represent the
area of accepted social norms.

On one side – the ‘high side’ – will be those social deviants whose deviancy not only is approved by
society, but also secures for them status, high recognition and praise. These ‘desirable’ deviants can
bring about rapid social change.

On the other side, lie those deviants who by virtue of the extreme difference of their personality traits
and behavior are conspicuously set apart and disapproved by the society. They are considered as
‘undesirable’ deviants.

LEADERSHIP AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR

As a leader, you need to interact with your followers, peers, seniors, and others, whose support you
need in order to accomplish your objectives. To gain their support, you must be able to understand
and motivate them. To understand and motivate people, you must know human nature. Human nature
is the common qualities of all human beings. People behave according to certain principles of human
nature. These principles govern our behavior.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Human needs are an important part of human nature. Values, beliefs, and customs differ from country
to country and group to group, but all people have similar needs. As a leader you must understand
these needs because they are powerful motivators.
Abraham Maslow felt that human needs were arranged in a hierarchical order (Maslow, 1954). He
based his theory on healthy, creative people who used all their talents, potential, and capabilities. At
the time, this methodology differed from most other psychology research studies in that they were
based on observing disturbed people.

There are two major groups of human needs:

 Basic needs are physiological, such as food, water, and sleep; and psychological, such as
affection, security, and self-esteem. These basic needs are also called deficiency needs
because if they are not met by an individual, then that person will strive to make up the
deficiency.
 The higher needs are called meta needs or being needs (growth needs). These include
justice, goodness, beauty, order, unity, etc. Basic needs normally take priority over growth
needs. For example, a person who lacks food or water will not normally attend to justice or
beauty needs.

These needs are listed below in hierarchical order. The basic needs on the bottom of the list (1 to 4)
must normally be met before the meta or being needs above them can be met. The four meta needs
(5 to 8) can be pursued in any order, depending upon a person's wants or circumstances, as long as
the basic needs have all been met.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

8. Self-transcendence – a transegoic level that emphasizes visionary intuition, altruism, and unity
consciousness.
7. Self-actualization – know exactly who you are, where you are going, and what you want to
accomplish. A state of well-being.
6. Aesthetic – at peace, more curious about inner workings of all.
5. Cognitive – learning for learning alone, contribute knowledge.
4. Esteem – feeling of moving up in world, recognition, few doubts about self.
3. Belongingness and love - belong to a group, close friends to confide with.
2. Safety – feel free from immediate danger.
1. Physiological – food, water, shelter, sex.

Maslow posited that people want and are forever striving to meet various goals. Because the lower
level needs are more immediate and urgent, then they come into play as the source and direction of a
person's goal if they are not satisfied.

A need higher in the hierarchy will become a motive of behavior as long as the needs below it have
been satisfied. Unsatisfied lower needs will dominate unsatisfied higher needs and must be satisfied
before the person can climb up the hierarchy.

Knowing where a person is located on this scale aids in determining an effective motivator. For
example, motivating a middle-class person (who is in range 4 of the hierarchy) with a certificate will
have a far greater impact than using the same motivator to effect a minimum wage person from the
ghetto who is desperately struggling to meet the first couple of needs.

It should be noted that almost no one stays in one particular hierarchy for an extended period. We
constantly strive to move up, while at the same time various forces outside our control try to push us
down. Those on top get pushed down for short time periods, i.e., death of a loved-one or an idea that
does not work, while those on the bottom get pushed up, i.e., come across a small prize. Our goal as
leaders therefore is to help people obtain the skills and knowledge that will push them up the
hierarchy on a more permanent basis. People who have their basic needs met become much better
workers as they are able to concentrate on fulfilling the visions put forth to them, rather than
consistently struggling to make ends meet.

Characteristics of self-actualizing people

  Have better perceptions of reality and are comfortable with it.
 Accept themselves and their own natures.
 Lack of artificiality.
 They focus on problems outside themselves and are concerned with basic issues and eternal
questions.
 They like privacy and tend to be detached.
 Rely on their own development and continued growth.
 Appreciate the basic pleasures of life (e.g., do not take blessings for granted).
 Have a deep feeling of kinship with others.
 Are deeply democratic and are not really aware of differences.
 Have strong ethical and moral standards.
 Are original, inventive, less constricted and fresher than others

MOTIVATION: DIRECTION AND INTENSITY

Ability refers to the knowledge, skills, and receptiveness to learning that a person brings to a task or
job. Knowledge is what a person knows. Skill is their capacity to perform some particular activity (like
welding or accounting), including knowing what is expected of them (called accurate role perceptions).
Receptiveness to learning is a function of how quickly a person acquires new knowledge. Some
people have more ability than others, and high-ability people generally perform better than low-ability
people (although we will see that this is not always the case).

Accurate role perceptions refer to how well an individual understands their organizational role. This
includes the goals (outcomes) the person is expected to achieve and the process by which the goals
will be achieved. A person who has accurate role perceptions knows both their expected
outcomes and how to go about making those outcomes a reality. Incomplete or inaccurate role
perceptions limit one’s capacity to meet expectations, regardless of their abilities and motivation.

The performance environment refers to those factors that impact one’s performance but are
essentially out of his/her control. Many environmental factors influence performance. Some factors
facilitate performance, while others constrain it. A word processor who works with a defective
personal computer is certainly not going to perform at peak levels, regardless of ability or desire.
Students who are working full time and carrying a full load of classes may not do as well on an exam
as they would if they could cut back on their work hours, despite the fact that they have high ability
and high motivation.

Motivation is the fourth major factor that determines whether a person will perform a task
well. Motivation is a force within or outside of the body that energizes, directs, and sustains human
behavior. Within the body, examples might be needs, personal values, and goals, while an incentive
might be seen as a force outside of the body. The word stems from its Latin root  movere, which
means “to move.” Generally speaking, motivation arises as a consequence of a person’s desire to:

1. Fulfill unmet needs or

2. Resolve conflicting thoughts that produce anxiety (an unpleasant experience).

There are many ways in which we describe and categorize human needs. Certain needs are
fundamental to our existence, like the need for food and water. When we are hungry, we are
energized to satisfy that need by securing and ingesting food. Our other needs operate in a similar
manner. When a need is unfulfilled, we are motivated to engage in behaviors that will satisfy it. The
same is true for situations in which we experienced conflicting thoughts. When we find ourselves in
situations inconsistent with our beliefs, values, or expectations, we endeavor to eliminate the
inconsistency. We either change the situation, or we change our perception of it. In both cases,
motivation arises out of our interaction with and perception of a particular situation. We perceive the
situation as satisfying our needs, or not. Motivation is thus a result of our interacting with situations to
satisfy unmet needs or to resolve cognitive dissonance.
Work motivation is the amount of effort a person exerts to achieve a certain level of job performance.
Some people try very hard to perform their jobs well. They work long hours, even if it interferes with
their family life. Highly motivated people go the “extra mile.” High scorers on an exam make sure they
know the examination material to the best of their ability, no matter how much midnight oil they have
to burn. Other students who don’t do as well may just want to get by—football games and parties are
a lot more fun, after all.

Motivation is a matter of effort. This is only partially true. Motivation has two major components:
direction and intensity. Direction is what a person wants to achieve, what they intend to do. It implies
a target that motivated people try to “hit.” That target may be to do well on a test. Or it may be to
perform better than anyone else in a work group. Intensity is how hard people try to achieve their
targets. Intensity is what we think of as effort. It represents the energy we expend to accomplish
something. If our efforts are getting nowhere, will we try different strategies to succeed? (High-
intensity-motivated people are persistent!)

It is important to distinguish the direction and intensity aspects of motivation. If either is lacking,
performance will suffer. A person who knows what they want to accomplish (direction) but doesn’t
exert much effort (intensity) will not succeed. (Scoring 100 percent on an exam—your target—won’t
happen unless you study!) Conversely, people who don’t have a direction (what they want to
accomplish) probably won’t succeed either. (At some point you have to decide on a major if you want
to graduate, even if you do have straight 100s.)

Pursuing your favorite hobby (your target) on a school day (your team’s target) is a conflict in
direction.

There is another reason why teams’ targets are sometimes contrary to their leader’s – sometimes the
leader does not ensure that his/her teammates understand what the former wants to convey. A leader
can have great intensity but poor direction. It is the leader’s job to provide direction. Leaders may
flounder without direction. Clarifying direction results in accurate role perceptions.

TEAMWORK

Teams don't work well without teamwork! Teamwork is important for the success of all organizations.
To have a meaningful and lifelong career, you need to work well with others which is why teamwork is
so important in the professional world.

It brings new ideas. Organizations need new, fresh ideas to succeed in the competitive world. You
have a unique perspective to bring to the table which will benefit the team overall. Organizations thrive
when they have a diverse team of people who can contribute individual ideas.

Teamwork helps solve problems. Collaboration within a group can help solve difficult problems.
Brainstorming is a good opportunity for the team to exchange ideas and come up with creative ways
of doing things. By working together, teams can find the solutions that work best.

It's supportive. Teamwork creates a system to ensure that deadlines are met and that there's high
quality work. When one team member falls behind, there's another to pick up the pieces. When work
is divvied up among members of a team, it gets done faster, making the overall team operate more
efficiently. Your team will develop a sense of camaraderie as you work toward a common goal.

Teamwork builds morale. You'll feel that your work is valued when you contribute to something that
produces results. If you offer an idea that helps improve productivity, such as a new system,
confidence and trust is built within the team. Each team member has something special to offer. By
working together, members of a team feel a strong sense of belonging and deep commitment to each
other and the common goal.
It's one thing to have a team; it's a whole other thing to have teamwork. A team that works well
together can succeed together and produce great results.

Together Everyone Achieves More!

TIME MANAGEMENT

Time in the organization is constant and irreversible. Nothing can be substituted for time.
Worse, once wasted, it can never be regained. Leaders have numerous demands on their
limited time — time keeps getting away and they have trouble controlling it. No matter what
their position or role is, they cannot stop time, they cannot slow it down, nor can they speed
it up. Thus, time needs to be effectively managed to be effective.
On the other hand, you can become such a time fanatic convert by building time
management spreadsheets, creating priority folders and lists, color coding tasks, and
separating paperwork into priority piles that you start to waste more time by managing it too
deeply.

In addition, time management techniques may become so complex that you soon give up
and return to your old time wasting methods.

What most people actually need to do is to analyze how they spend their time and
implements a few time saving methods that will gain them the most time. The following are
examples of some of the biggest  time wasters:

o Worrying about it and putting it off, which leads to indecision

o Creating inefficiency by implementing first instead of  analyzing first
o Unanticipated interruptions that do not pay off
o Procrastinating
o Making unrealistic time estimates
o Unnecessary errors (not enough time to do it right, but enough time to do it over)
even though it would have been faster to do it right the first time)
o Crisis management
o Poor organization
o Ineffective meetings
o Failing to let others perform and grow
o Doing urgent, rather than important tasks
o Poor planning and lack of contingency plans
o Failing to delegate
o Lacking priorities, standards, policies, and procedures

The following are examples of time savers:

o Managing the decision making process, not the decisions

o Concentrating on doing only one task at a time
o Establishing daily, short-term, mid-term, and long-term priorities
o Handling correspondence expeditiously with quick, short letters
o Throwing unneeded things away
o Establishing personal deadlines and ones for the organization
o Not wasting other people's time
o Ensuring all meetings have a purpose, time limit, and include only essential people
o Getting rid of busy work
o Maintaining accurate calendars; abiding by them
o Knowing when to stop a task, policy, or procedure
o Delegating everything possible and empowering subordinates
o Keeping things simple
 o Ensuring time is set aside to accomplish high priority tasks
o Setting aside time for reflection
o Using checklists and To-Do lists
o Adjusting priorities as a result of new tasks

A Simple Management Plan

Effective time management is crucial to accomplishing organization tasks as well as to

avoiding wasting valuable organizational assets. The following nine rules  (Butler, Hope
1996)  will aid you:

Get Started – This is one of the all time classic time wasters. Often, as much time is
wasted avoiding a project, as actually accomplishing the project. A survey showed that the
main difference between good students and average students was the ability to start their
homework quickly.

Get into a routine – Mindless routines may curb your creativity, but when used properly,
they can release time and energy. Choose a time to get certain task accomplished, such as
answering email, working on a project, completing paperwork; and then sticking to it every
day. Use a day planning calendar, as there are a variety of formats — find one that fits your
needs.

Do not say yes to too many things – Saying yes can lead to serendipity, but the mistake
we often make is to say yes to too many things. This causes us to live to the priorities of
others, rather than according to our own. Every time you agree to do something else,
something else will not get done. Learn how to say no when needed.

Do not commit yourself to unimportant activities, no matter how far ahead they are –
Even if a commitment is a year ahead, it is still a commitment. Often we agree to do
something that is far ahead, when we would not normally do it if it was in the near future.
No matter how far ahead it is, it will still take the same amount of your time.

Divide large tasks – Large tasks should be broken up into a series of small objectives. By
creating small manageable tasks, the entire task will eventually be accomplished. Also, by
using a piecemeal approach, you will be able to better fit it into your hectic schedule.

Do not put unneeded effort into a project – There is a place for perfectionism, but for
most activities, there comes a stage when there is not much to be gained from putting extra
effort into it. Save perfectionism for the tasks that need it.

Deal with it for once and for all – We often start a task, think about it, and then lay it
aside. This gets repeated over and over. Either deal with the task right the first time or
decide when to deal with it.

Set start and stop times – When arranging start times, also arrange stop times. This will
call for some estimating, but your estimates will improve with practice. This will allow you
and others to better schedule activities. Also, challenge the theory, “Work expands to fill the
allotted time.” See if you can shave some time off your deadlines to make it more efficient.

Plan your activities – Schedule a regular time to plan your activities. If time management
is important to you, then allow the time to plan it wisely.

Keep the big picture of what you want to achieve in sight. Checklists normally have such
items as, “group meeting at 2:00” and “complete the report on Tuesday.”
In addition to these small tasks, ensure you set quality time for the important tasks, for
example:

o Develop a relationship with Miss Serrano, who may be helpful to me in the long run.
o Meet with my team on a regular basis. (It is your team who determines if you are a
great leader, not you!)
o Read the new novel by my favorite writer that just came out.
o Coach my team on providing excellent community service because that is where my
vision is pointing to.
o Set aside time for interruptions. For example, the 15 minute coffee break with Sir
Paul that may lead to a great idea.

In other words, do not get caught up in short term demands. Get a real life! One quarter to
one third of the items on your To-Do list need to contain the important long range items that
will get you, your team, and your organization on its way to excellence.

DECISION-MAKING

Leaders with a well-developed decision-making ability can make quality, informed choices from a
number of options. Decision-making uses other skills such as conceptual thinking, planning and
organization, and problem-solving. Tomorrow’s leaders will have increased pressure to quickly make
effective decisions in an increasingly ambiguous environment. Effective decision-making requires
making the best decision while considering the needs and interests of the group.

Leadership requires exceptional decision making skills 

 
Decision makers must create clarity out of ambiguity.

Decision-makers must evaluate risks and opportunities and make a commitment to achieve their
goals.  How does a leader keep the leadership team on goal? Each decision may be reasonable. But
a leader still needs assurance their decisions maintain group vision.

Facing high pressure, complex circumstances, opportunity deadlines, too much, too little, or
conflicting information is the reality of being a leader.

Decision-making in complex situations is never easy and a leader can’t afford to get it wrong.  Here
are the top five critical leadership decision-making skills:

1. Identify critical factors which will affect the outcome of a decision.

Being a strongly skilled decision-maker requires having excellent analytical and interpretive
skills. These are used to determine the issues that must be addressed and accounted for in
the deliberative and implementation phases.

2. Evaluate options accurately and establish priorities.

Effective leaders can assess the quality of alternatives and explain the reasons behind that
evaluation.

3. Anticipate outcomes and see logical consequences.

Adept strategists draw logical inferences in precisely defined and tightly structured contexts.
This allows them to see the applications and the implications of all factors that shape and
constrain decision making. School and other related organization regulations, policies, basic
assumptions, core principles and protocols should be considered.
 4. Navigate risk and uncertainty.
The most accomplished leaders judge the most probable and best justified inferences to draw
in uncertain contexts. Information given may be uncertain or ambiguous, and the best
inference is not a foregone conclusion.  The future is always unknown.

5. Reason well in contexts requiring quantitative analysis.

Leaders must be able to analyze, interpret and evaluate vital information as presented in
charts, graphs, text or tables.  They must understand what the numbers mean and how this
impacts their options.

Ways for Leaders to Make a Decision

Leaders are faced with dozens of decisions that need to be made every day when decisions generally
become more frequent, more complicated, and have more serious ramifications. Sometimes it’s not
about making the right decision, but just making a decision at all. The most successful people and
leaders in the world will tell you they have made many wrong decisions throughout the lifetime of their
careers, but those failures always lead to valuable learning experiences, so above all, it’s important to
find ways to make the tough decisions.

Similarly, they must also master the ability to make good decisions quickly in order to keep the team
moving forward. The best leaders, however, know when they need input from the team. Good leaders
surround themselves with trusted advisors and subject matter experts, so that they can access a
constant flow of data to make better decisions.

There are four basic decision-making styles that leaders can use:

 Command decision-making is where leaders make decisions without consulting their teams.
This is an effective style, especially when things are moving quickly and the team is looking
for immediate guidance.

 Collaborative decision-making is just what it sounds like. Leaders gather their teams and
request feedback and insight. The leader still makes the final call, but is armed with the proper
data to make a more informed decision. This can also be referred to as evidence-based
decision-making. With this style, and really in all organization decisions, avoid surrounding
yourself with people that always agree with you. You need people who are able to strongly
argue the other side. Whether you use their advice or not, it will help clarify your decision.

 Consensus-based decision-making is done more like a democratic vote. Leaders gather

their teams and everyone votes. Majority rules. This process can work well when the outcome
of the decision affects the entire team, and generally won’t immediately affect the bottom
line. In a quick-moving team environment, this is not the most efficient way to make a decision,
but there are still some decisions that can be made this way. Just remember you generally
can’t please everyone.

 Convenience: When surrounded by trusted peers, sometimes the best decision a leader can
make is to not be the one to make a certain decision. Complete delegation (convenience
decision-making) has many benefits including measuring the decision-making abilities of your
teammates, empowering your team, and maintaining your own sanity! By handing over some
decision-making responsibilities, leaders are also building a better management team and
giving them the confidence they need as their responsibilities increase. And, convenience-
based decision-making is a great way to avoid the decision trap of “we’ve always done it this
way.” New decision makers take fresh approaches to solving problems.

People sometimes think that they had made the hardest decisions in their life. They didn’t at all. In
fact, those were just one of the easiest decisions they have ever made. The hardest decision was to
leave the cause while others continue the fight. Every day you are faced with more tough decisions. 
 The key is to remain calm under pressure, trust the team you have

built, and use the data available to make the best possible

decisions.  Having a little faith

doesn’t hurt either!

Thus: following are…