Leadership and Communication

Week 1

Anna Trunina, PhD

Anna.trunina@szu.edu.cn
13620974225

2024.03
Course Overview
Part 1 – Leadership
Part 2 – Communication (oral talks and business writing, CV+CL workshop)

Study approach – “Learning by doing”

Each class will include:

- Lecture
- “Understanding yourself” – questionnaires
- Case-study / Game / Discussions

Evaluation:
- Attending the class and work in class - 80 %
- Final exam - 20%
- No Homework
Role of Leadership and Communication as disciplines
Question

What is leadership?
Who is a leader?
Over 100 definitions of leadership
 Examples of leadership

Liu Chuanzhi Helen Greiner

Founder of Lenovo Co-founder iRobot

Sandy Lerner
Co-founder Cisco Systems
Herbert Boyer
Co-founder of Genentech
 Leadership is a Trait

Defining leadership as a trait means that each individual brings a certain qualities that influence the
way he or she leads. Some leaders are confident, some are decisive, and still others are outgoing and
sociable.

The trait approach suggests that organizations will work better if the people in
managerial positions have designated leadership profiles. To find the right
people, it is common for organizations to use trait assessment instruments. The
assumption behind these procedures is that selecting the right people will
increase organizational effectiveness. Organizations can specify the
characteristics or traits that are important to them for particular positions and
then use trait assessment measures to determine whether an individual fits their
needs.
Leadership is a Trait

Although there are many important leadership traits, what is most important for leaders is having the
required traits that a particular situation demands.
 Leadership is a Trait

Chaotic emergency room at a hospital Teacher who is

requires a leader who is • inspiring
• decisive • creative
• can bring calm to the situation.

Effective leadership results when the leader engages the right traits in the right place at
the right time.
 Leadership is an Ability

A person who has leadership ability is able to be a leader—that is, has the capacity to lead.
While the term ability frequently refers to a natural capacity, ability can be acquired.

Some people are naturally good at public Some people have the natural physical ability to excel in
speaking, while others rehearse to become a sport, while others develop their athletic capacity
comfortable speaking in public. through exercise and practice.

In leadership, some people have the natural ability to lead, while others develop their
leadership abilities through hard work and practice.
 Leadership is a Skill

Conceptualized as a skill, leadership is a competency

developed to accomplish a task effectively.

Skilled leaders are competent people who know the

means and methods for carrying out their responsibilities.

Describing leadership as a skill makes leadership available

to everyone because skills are competencies that people
can learn or develop. Even without natural leadership
ability, people can improve their leadership with practice,
instruction, and feedback from others.

Viewed as a skill, leadership can be studied and learned. If

you are capable of learning from experience, you can
acquire leadership.
 Leadership is a Skill

• In the mid-1990s, two graduate students received part of a $4.5

million digital libraries research grant from National Science
Foundation (NSF), seeking to better understand, sort, and find
information using the Web.
• They used the funding to develop the BackRub algorithm, precursor
to the Google search engine.
• Today, Google has 74,000 full-time employees, and is worth $370
billion.
Sergey Brin and Larry Page
Founders of Google

Skills:
• Software expert (PhD students → knowledge)
• Fund raising
• Product (MVP) development
• Management / Organizational
 Leadership is a Behavior

It is what leaders do when they are in a leadership role. The behavioral dimension is concerned with how
leaders act toward others in various situations.

Unlike traits, abilities, and skills, leadership behaviors are observable. When someone leads, we see that
person’s leadership behavior.

Research on leadership has shown that leaders engage primarily in two kinds of general behaviors: task
behaviors and process behaviors.

1. Task behaviors are used by leaders to get the job done (e.g., a leader prepares an agenda for a meeting).

2. Process behaviors are used by leaders to help people feel comfortable with other group members and
at ease in the situations in which they find themselves (e.g., a leader helps individuals in a group to feel
included).

Since leadership requires both task and process behaviors, the challenge for leaders is to know the best way
to combine them in their efforts to reach a goal.
 Leadership is a Behavior

Blake and Mouton’s

Managerial
(Leadership) Grid
Leadership is a Behavior

Link for Video (Youtube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vz5hgX2MYbE

 Leadership is a Behavior

Ohio State Studies

Results - Two general types of leader

behaviors:
1) Initiating structure – Leaders provide
structure for subordinates
▪ Task behaviors- organizing work, giving
structure to the work context, defining role
responsibility, scheduling work activities

2) Consideration - Leaders nurture

subordinates
▪ Relationship behaviors– building
camaraderie, respect, trust, & liking between
leaders & followers
Leadership is a Behavior

Video (from Youtube) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfCsgjy5Cjs

 Leadership is a Relationship

• From this perspective, leadership is centered on the communication between leaders and followers
rather than on the unique qualities of the leader.
• Thought of as a relationship, leadership becomes a process of collaboration that occurs between
leaders and followers.
• A leader affects and is affected by followers, and both leader and followers are affected in turn by
the situation that surrounds them.
• This approach emphasizes that leadership is not a linear one-way event, but rather an interactive
event.
• A leader needs to be fully aware of the followers and the followers’ interests, ideas, positions,
attitudes, and motivations.
• In addition, this approach has an ethical overtone because it stresses the need for leaders to work
with followers to achieve their mutual purposes.
Leadership is a Relationship

Video (from Youtube) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cwOYvEEeXA

Leadership is an Influence Process

Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal.

• Defining leadership as an influence process means that it is not a trait or an ability that resides in the
leader, but rather an interactive event that occurs between the leader and the followers. Influence is
central to the process of leadership because leaders affect followers.

• Leaders direct their energies toward influencing individuals to achieve something together.
Ingredients of a great leadership - Attributes

The GLOBE (Global Leadership and

Organizational Behavior Effectiveness)
studies drew on the input of 17,000 people
in 62 countries in determining how
leadership varies across the world. Among
the many findings generated by the GLOBE
studies was the identification of positive and
negative leadership characteristics that are
universally accepted worldwide

In video, historian Nancy Koehn explains the

ingredients of great leadership
Ingredients of a great leadership - Attributes

historian Nancy Koehn explains the ingredients of great

leadership: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F86dZlJTnp8
Statistics – are leaders born or made?

361 people who took the Center for

Creative Leadership’s (CCL) World
Leadership Survey (WLS) answered
they were at the “Top” level of their
organization (Chief Executives,
Operating Officers, Presidents)
Summary: Concepts of leadership

Traits

Leadership Concepts
Ability
Personal
Skill

Behavior

Relationship
You and others
Influence
Explore yourself

Conceptualizing Leadership
Questionnaire
Explore yourself

Think about your own leadership.

Identify one trait, ability, skill, or behavior that you could
develop more fully to become a better leader.
Leadership and Communication
Week 1, Class 2
Leadership Concepts and Traits

2024.03
 Theories of Leadership
describes leadership as a process
that changes people and
organizations.
how leaders help people address
problems, face challenges, and
adapt to change.

high-quality relations generate more

positive leader outcomes than low-
quality relations

Different situations demand

different kinds of leadership.
What leaders do and
how they act

Qualities and characteristics

possessed by great social,
political, and military leaders

Development of Leadership Theories Through History

 Concepts of leadership

A distinguishing personal quality that is often inherited (e.g., intelligence,

Traits confidence, charisma, determination, sociability, integrity, …)
Leadership Concepts

Ability A natural or acquired capacity to perform a particular activity

Skill A competency developed to accomplish a task effectively

Behavior What leaders do and how they act

Relationship Behaviors used by leaders that help subordinates feel comfortable with
themselves, with each other, and with the situation they find themselves in

Influence interactive event that occurs between the leader and the followers
Case study
 Case study
Questions
1. What leadership traits account for Denny Hill’s success?
2. How would you describe Denny Hill’s leadership abilities?
3. Leadership includes administrative skills, interpersonal skills, and conceptual skills. How does Denny Hill stack up on these skills?
4. How does Denny Hill integrate task and relationship behaviors in his leadership?
5. From a relational perspective, how would you describe Denny Hill’s leadership?
6. In what way does Denny Hill’s coaching exemplify leadership as an influence process?

Passion , determination, confident, considering, creativity , charisma homour ,

Trait empathy
Creating training system
Ability
Set-up and execution of annual event
Skill Talking and bonding
Team efform
Task – understaning roles
Behavior Passing leadership roles
Swimmers—coach
Relationship
No pressure ! Don’t worry about to win – be prepare.
Influence
Difference between Management and Leadership
 Difference between Management and Leadership

• To manage → to accomplish activities and master routines, whereas to lead → to influence others and
create visions for change.

• “Managers are people who do things right and leaders are people who do the right thing”

• Whereas leadership is concerned with the process of developing mutual purposes, management is directed
toward coordinating activities in order to get a job done.

• Leaders and followers work together to create real change, whereas managers and subordinates join forces
to sell goods and services
Simonet and Tett (2012) explored how leadership and management are best
conceptualized. They found a large number of competencies (22) descriptive of both
leadership and management (e.g., productivity, customer focus, professionalism, and
goal setting), but they also found several unique descriptors for each. Specifically, they
found leadership was distinguished by motivating intrinsically, creative thinking,
strategic planning, tolerance of ambiguity, and being able to read people, and
management was distinguished by rule orientation, short-term planning, motivating
extrinsically, orderliness, safety concerns, and timeliness.
Difference between Management and Leadership
Difference between Management and Leadership
Leadership and Communication
Week 2, Class 3-4
Leadership Traits

2024.03
Concepts of leadership Trait is a
distinguishing
personal quality that
Traits influence the way he
or she leads

Leadership Concepts
Ability
Personal
Skill

Behavior

Relationship
You and others
Influence
 Do leaders have certain traits?

Trait approaches to leadership suggest that there are certain qualities that leaders have that differentiate them from
other people.

stability
Do leaders have certain traits?

leaders are born, not made.

 Intelligence

Intelligence includes having:

• good language skills,
• perceptual skills,
• reasoning ability.

Intelligent leaders are well informed. They are aware of what is going on around them and
understand the job that needs to be done. It is important for leaders to obtain information about
what their leadership role entails and learn as much as possible about their work environment.

Most of us have average intelligence and know that there are limits to what we
can do. Nevertheless, becoming more knowledgeable about our leadership
positions gives us the information we need to become better leaders.
 Intelligence

For example,
“a few years ago a friend, Chris, was asked to be the coach of his daughter’s middle school soccer team
even though he had never played soccer and knew next to nothing about how the game is played. Chris
took the job and eventually was a great success, but not without a lot of effort. He spent many hours
learning about soccer. He read how-to books, instructors’ manuals, and coaching books. In addition,
Chris subscribed to several soccer magazines. He talked to other coaches and learned everything he
could about playing the game. By the time he had finished the first season, others considered Chris to
be a very competent coach. He was smart and learned how to be a successful coach.”
Intelligence

Bill Gates’ Intelligence - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR7Dskv0dKY

This video tells the story of how Bill Gates and Paul Allen co-founded Microsoft (Youtube).
 Confidence

Confident people believe they can accomplish their goals.

Rather than feeling uncertain, they feel strong and secure about their positions.

They move forward on projects with a clear vision.

Confident leaders feel a sense of certainty and believe that they are doing the right thing.

Confidence is a trait that has to do with feeling positive about oneself and one’s ability to succeed.

Confidence can also come from having a mentor to show the way and provide constructive feedback. This mentor
may be a boss, an experienced coworker, or a significant other from outside the organization.

Confidence also comes from practice.

 Charisma
Charisma refers to a leader’s special magnetic charm and appeal, and can have a huge effect on the
leadership process.
Charisma gives a leader the capacity to do extraordinary things. In particular, it gives the leader
exceptional powers of influence.

There are a few select people who are very charismatic, but most of us are not.

Based on the writings of leadership scholars, several behaviors characterize charismatic leadership:

• First, charismatic leaders serve as a strong role model for the values that they desire others to adopt.
• Second, charismatic leaders show competence in every aspect of leadership, so others trust their
decisions.
• Third, charismatic leaders articulate clear goals and strong values. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a
Dream” speech is an example of this type of charismatic leadership. By articulating his dream, he was
able to influence multitudes of people to follow his nonviolent practices.
• Fourth, charismatic leaders communicate high expectations for followers and show confidence in their
abilities to meet these expectations.
• Finally, charismatic leaders are an inspiration to others.
 Determination

Determined leaders are very focused and attentive to tasks.

They know where they are going and how they intend to get there.

Determination is the decision to get the job done; it includes characteristics such as initiative,
persistence, and drive.

People with determination are willing to assert themselves, they are proactive, and they have the
capacity to persevere in the face of obstacles.

Determination is the one trait that is easily acquired by those who lead

Staying focused on the task, clarifying the goals, articulating the vision, and staying the course are
characteristics of determined leaders.
 Sociability

Sociability refers to a leader’s capacity to establish pleasant social relationships.

People want sociable leaders—leaders with whom they can get along. Leaders who show sociability
are friendly, outgoing, courteous, tactful, and diplomatic. They are sensitive to others’ needs and show
concern for their well-being.

Sociable leaders bring positive energy to a group and make the work environment a more enjoyable
place.

Sociable leaders have good interpersonal skills and help to create cooperative relationships within
their work environments.

Being sociable comes easier for some than for others - some individuals are naturally “people
persons,” while others prefer to be alone.
Sociability - example

An example of a leader with great sociability skills is Michael Hughes, a university president.

Hughes prefers to walk to all his meetings because it gets him out on campus where he greets
students, staff, and faculty.

He has lunch in the dorm cafeterias or student union and will often ask a table of strangers if he
can sit with them.

Students rate him as very approachable, while faculty say he has an open-door policy.

In addition, he takes time to write personal notes to faculty, staff, and students to congratulate
them on their successes.
 Integrity

Integrity characterizes leaders who possess the qualities of honesty and trustworthiness. People
who adhere to a strong set of principles are exhibiting integrity.

Leaders with integrity inspire confidence in others because they can be trusted to do what they say
they are going to do. They are loyal, dependable, and transparent. Basically, integrity makes a
leader believable and worthy of our trust.

Integrity is a central aspect of the leaders to influence.

If people do not trust a leader, the leader’s influence potential is weakened.

When a leader’s integrity comes into question, his or her potential to lead is lost.
 Traits
Those who are naturally strong in the six traits will be well equipped for leadership.
Trait means that each individual brings a certain qualities that influence the way he or she leads.

Research studies by several investigators found the

following traits to be important: achievement, persistence,
insight, initiative, self-confidence, responsibility,
cooperativeness, tolerance, influence, sociability, drive,
motivation, integrity, confidence, cognitive ability, task
knowledge, conscientiousness, and openness (Judge,
Bono, Ilies, & Gerhardt, 2002; Kirkpatrick & Locke, 1991;
Stogdill, 1974).

On the international level, House, Hanges, Javidan,

Dorfman, and Gupta (2004), in a study of 17,000 managers
in 62 different cultures, identified a list of 22 valued traits
that were universally endorsed as characteristics of
outstanding leadership in these countries: trustworthy,
just, honest, encouraging, positive, dynamic, dependable,
intelligent, decisive, communicative, informed, and a team
builder.
 Discussion – Let’s discuss leaders

1. Based on the leaders you observed, which leadership traits appear to be most important?
2. What differences, if any, did you observe between the historical and everyday leaders’ traits?
3. Which leaders did you find most appealing (attractive)? What was it about their leadership that you found
remarkable?
Another theories that identified other traits of the leader
Another theories that identified other traits of the leader

The relationship between personality (combined) and leadership is around 30 %

Extraversion vs Introversion
Extraversion vs Introversion
Extraversion vs Introversion
Introversion Leadership

Source - Youtube -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r59ggZM3ORk
Introverts in leadership - Books

https://hbr.org/2010/12/the-hidden-
advantages-of-quiet-bosses
Case study – Emerging leader

1. What is your reaction to Tim’s story?

2. Nature and nurture play a significant role in Tim’s leadership journey.
From your perspective, which has the greatest impact on Tim? Discuss your answer.
3. Of the six major traits (i.e., intelligence, confidence, charisma,
determination, sociability, and integrity), which traits are Tim’s strongest, and which
traits are his weakest?
4. What characteristics of Tim’s leadership would you like to incorporate into
your own style of leadership?
Self-evaluation
 Self-evaluation

Leadership Trait Questionnaire (LTQ) is provided

as an example of a measure that can be used to
assess your personal leadership characteristics.
The LTQ quantifies the perceptions of the
individual leader and selected observers, such as
followers or peers.