Lesson 8-Leadership Behavior

LtCol J. D. Fleming2 Oct 2014

Why study leadership behavior?◦Simple: To learn why some people win

and some people lose◦I want to be successful so I am going to

do what she did to make her successful, and I am going to avoid doing what he did to make him fail

◦Learn from good leaders◦Learn MORE from bad leaders!

Introduction

Care about your people and care about your job.

Know when one has to trump the other to make both possible.◦“Troop Welfare”

Introduction (cont)

Building Blocks of Leadership Skills

Easiest to directly observe and easier to change, this chapter’s focus.

Difficult to directly observe and hardest to change.

Effective Leaders across cultures are:◦ Charismatic/Value-Based

Inspire, motivate◦ Team Oriented

Influence toward common goal◦ Participative

Involves others in decisions◦ Humane Oriented◦ Supportive, Considerate◦ Self-Protective

Ensure safety/security of the team◦ Autonomous

Independent / individualistic

Culture and Leadership (Highlight 8.2)

Organizational competency model has four major categories:◦ Intrapersonal skills (adapting to stress, goal

orientation, adhering to rules).

◦ Interpersonal skills (communicating, building relationships).

◦ Leadership skills (building teams, getting results through others).

◦ Business skills (analyzing, making decisions, thinking ahead).

Organizational Competency Model Categories (Pg 273-274)

Adapts quickly to new situations and requirements. Keeps cool under pressure. Clearly explains missions, standards, and priorities. Sees the big picture, provides context and perspective. Sets high standards with a “zero defects” mentality. Can handle “bad news.” Gets out of HQ and visits troops. Sets a high ethical tone; demands honesty. Knows how to delegate and not “micromanage.” Can make tough, sound decisions, on time. Builds and supports teamwork within staff and units. Is positive, encouraging, and reasonably optimistic.

Critical Leadership Behaviors in Wartime (Highlight 8.3)

360-degree (multi-rater feedback) tools allow managers to get accurate information about how others perceived their on-the-job behaviors.

Tell leaders about their strengths and development needs

Questionnaire construction is very important. Poorly designed questionnaire items can lead to false feedback results.

Leaders who received 360-degree feedback had higher performing work units.

Assessing Leadership Behavior(Pg 278-284, Figure 8.5)

Managerial derailment: Individuals who at one time were on the fast track but had their careers derailed.

Patterns of derailment:◦ Problems with interpersonal relationships

(inability to build relationships)◦ Failure to meet business objectives◦ Inability to lead and build a team◦ Inability to adapt◦ Inadequate preparation for promotion

Managerial Derailment (Pg 284-291)

Females more likely to derail because of inability to deal with broader and more complex organizational issues or lead people from different technical backgrounds than their own (practical intelligence).

Males more likely to derail because of arrogance, inflexibility, or abrasive interpersonal style (bold/cautious/or excitable dark side traits).

Managerial Derailment (cont)

Why?◦ Responsibility, promotion, job/boss/mission

change, dip in production How?

◦ Development Planning Recognize, plan, commit

◦ Coaching (Formal & Informal) Forge, inspire, grow skills

◦ Mentoring (Formal & Informal) Guide, sponsor, role model

Changing Behavior (Pg 292-306)

Care about your people AND your job.

Four main factors to competency model are interpersonal skills, intrapersonal skills, leadership skills, and business skills.

360 degree reports are effective tools for identifying others’ perception of your leadership behaviors

Leaders with high potential can fail through managerial derailment.

Development plans, coaching, and mentoring can assist in making behavior changes to make better leaders.

Summary

Questions?