Leadership - Worksheets

As a way to introduce the topic of leadership, I would like to ask each of you several questions. In answering these questions, you will hopefully learn something about the topic of leadership.

Question #1: How do you define leadership?

While the text defines leadership, I want you to think about how you – not someone else – looks at the topic of leadership. In addition, by answering this question you will hopefully see how you answer has changed by the time we reach the end of the class.

Question #2: Where have all the leaders gone?

Many of the leaders we once respected are dead.

·  Lincoln

·  FDR

·  Churchhill

·  Schweitzer

·  Gandhi

·  Martin Luther King

Who have taken their place? Leaders today sometimes appear to be an endangered species, caught in a whirl of events and circumstances beyond rational control. In the last two decades, there has been a high turnover among both occupational and actuarial leaders.

According to Bennis, “They’re out there pleading, trotting, temporizing, putting out fires, trying to avoid too much heat. They’re peering at a landscape of bottom lines. They’re money changers lost in a narrow orbit. They resign. They burnout. They decide not to serve. They’re organizational Houdinis, surrounded by sharks always trying to escape, miraculously, to make more money via their escape clauses than they made in several years of work.”

The Shift in the Leadership Paradigm; Paradigm: a framework, a construct, a contextual perspective through which we view our experiences.

We often talk about a shift in paradigms because we now realize that our current way of thinking, of seeing the world, and of interpreting the data that we encounter is not effective in producing the results we hope to achieve. We not only need new ideas, we need a new way of thinking.

An example: Prior to Galileo, the world was viewed through a paradigm that said that the sun travels around the earth. The relationship of the celestial bodies to one another had on impact on other aspects of life and society at that time. In Galileo’s time, the paradigm for governance placed the king at the center of the economy, law and culture much as the earth was seen to be the center of the universe. In addition, the father was considered the center of the family, and the church was the center of morals, values and lifestyle. This view was shattered when Galileo proposed a new paradigm which viewed the earth as only one of many entities circling the earth. This new paradigm changed the way we then look at other aspects of life - particularly this paradigm made available multiple sources of power and possibilities.

Question #3: What are the qualities that you look for most in a leader? In your opinion, who best exemplifies these qualities?

In answering the second part of this question, you can use any leader that you like from any area. It may be someone you respect and admire in business, politics or religion.

In an effort to help everyone better develop their leadership skills (and not just their knowledge on the topic of leadership) I have selected the text, Learning to Lead by Bennis and Goldsmith. This book will help you learn more about yourself and how you deal with others through the experiential exercises provided in each chapter.

Exercise #1 Leadership Myths.

For each of the following statements, consider the following questions.

A.  Is this a true statement? Why or why not?

B.  Who told you this statement was true?

Leadership is a rare skill.

______

Leaders are born not made.

______

Leaders are charismatic.

______

Leadership exists only at the top of an organization.

______

The leader controls, directs, prods, manipulates others.

______

Exercise #2 The Distinction Between Leaders and Managers

Give examples of Leaders and Managers who you are familiar with.

Leaders

Name Position

______

Managers

Name Position

______

·  Given your list of managers and leaders, what distinctions do you see between the two. Include additional characteristics of managers and leaders based on your experience with people you know.

·  Now, place your own name on the appropriate list as a manager or leader.

Consider the following questions.

Was it easier to identify managers of leaders in your organization or group? If so, which

one and why?

______

Did you have more people in one category than the other? If so, which one and why?

______

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