2. What makes a great leader?
Why are some people leaders while
others are not?
What makes people become leaders?
Is it effective communication?
Do leaders have certain traits?
Or both?
2
3. Communication
How important is effective communication in
leadership?
Communication consists of a sender, a
message, a channel whereby the message
travels and the noise or interference of the
receiver.
3
4. Communication Process
Often communicators blame the audience for
not accepting a message, but it is often that
the sender, the encoding process or channels
chosen were not applied correctly.
Examples?
4
5. Communication Process
Is the relationship of Communicator A to
Communicator B important? How so?
Will the social environment influence
communication? How so?
How important is feedback? Without it, we don’t
know if the receiver received or understood our
message.
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6. Communication Process
There is no meaning to a message except what
people put into it.
To understand the human communication
process, one must understand how people
relate to each other.
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8. Communication Process
Overcoming barriers to effective
communication
Design and deliver the message so that it gets the
attention of the intended audience.
Relate to common and easily understood
experiences between the source and the
destination.
Offer a way to meet personality needs appropriate
to the group situation the receiver is in at the time
you want that receiver to respond.
Other ways to overcome barriers?
Source: http://www.praccreditation.org/secure/documents/APRSG_Comm_Models.pdf
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11. What do they all have in common?
Visionary
Strong-willed
Diligent
Inspirational
Purpose-driven
Role models
Symbols of hope
From these exceptional leaders we can gain a
better understanding of the traits that are
important for effective leadership.
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12. Five Major Traits for Effective
Leadership
Studies on leadership identified many important
leader traits.
o What specific traits are needed to be a successful
leader?
Research points to five traits:
1)Intelligence
2)Self-Confidence
3)Determination
4)Integrity
5)Sociability
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14. Additional Traits
10 characteristics associated with leadership (Stogdill):
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
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Drive for responsibility and task completion;
Vigor and persistence in pursuit of goals;
Risk taking and originality in problem solving;
Drive to exercise initiative in social situations;
Self-confidence and sense of personal identity;
Willingness to accept consequences of decision and action;
Readiness to absorb interpersonal stress;
Willingness to tolerate frustration and delay;
Ability to influence other people’s behavior; and
Capacity to structure social interaction systems to the
purpose at hand.
15. Intelligence
Intelligence includes having good language
skills, perceptual skills, & reasoning ability.
It is hard to change Intelligence Quotient (IQ).
It is possible to:
o obtain knowledge
o learn about your job & environment
o use information to become better leaders
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16. Self-Confidence
Confidence is a trait that has to do with feeling
positive about one’s self & one’s ability to
succeed.
Confident people:
o feel self-assured
o believe they can accomplish goals
o do not second-guess themselves—they move
forward with clear visions
o they are positive about self & ability
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17. Confidence
How do we build confidence?
o Understanding what is required from us
o Have a mentor to show the way & provide
constructive feedback
o Practice builds confidence & assures us that
we can do what we need to do
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18. Determination
Focused & attentive to tasks
Know where to go & how to get there
Includes initiative, persistence, & drive
Persevere in the face of obstacles
Easiest for leaders to acquire
Focus on task, clarify goals, articulate vision, &
encourage others to stay the course
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19. Integrity
Honest & trustworthy with strong principles
Inspire confidence because it creates trust
Loyal, dependable, & not deceptive
Undergirds all aspects of leadership
To increase integrity—be honest & open
Challenge:
o To strike a balance between being open while
monitoring what is appropriate to disclose
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20. Sociability
The capacity to establish pleasant social
relationships
Friendly, outgoing, courteous, & diplomatic
Sensitive to others & cooperative
Easier for some than others
Increasing sociability requires that we try to get
along with our coworkers
o be friendly, kind, & thoughtful
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21. Charisma
(not listed in the top 5)
Magnetic charm and appeal that gives leaders
exceptional powers of influence
Charisma is not a common personality trait.
To increase charisma:
o Be a strong role model for values
o Be competent in leadership to gain trust
o Articulate clear goals & strong values
o Communicate high expectations & show confidence in
followers’ abilities
o Inspire others
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22. Emotional Intelligence
(another assessment of leadership traits)
Emotional Intelligence can be defined as the ability to
perceive and express emotions, to use emotions to
facilitate thinking, to understand and reason with
emotions, and to effectively manage emotions within
oneself and in relationships with others.
Ability to perceive and:
– apply emotions to life’s tasks
– reason/understand emotions
– express emotions
– use emotions to facilitate thinking
– manage emotions within oneself and relationships
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23. Emotional Intelligence
(another assessment of leadership traits)
Daniel Coleman and emotional intelligence
One Life To Love: A candid chat with Daniel Coleman,
whose work on emotional intelligence created a revolution.
He suggested that people with emotional skills are more
likely to succeed and be happy in life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twJLI2C6R-Y&feature=related
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24. Strengths of Trait Approach
It is intuitively appealing
It fits our notion that leaders
are different in that they
possess special traits
People “need” to view leaders
as gifted
Credibility due to a century of
research support
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Highlights leadership component
in the leadership process
Deeper level understanding of
how leader/personality related
to leadership process
Provides benchmarks for what to
look for in a leader
25. Criticisms of Trait Approach
Fails to delimit a definitive list of
List of most important leadership
leadership traits
traits is highly subjective
Endless lists have emerged
Much subjective experience &
Doesn’t take into account
situational effects
Leaders in one situation may
not be leaders in another
situation
25
observations serve as basis for
identified leadership traits
Research fails to look at traits in
relationship to leadership
outcomes
Not useful for training &
development
26. Summary
Our personal traits inform our leadership.
Understanding your personal traits can
provide a better recognition of your
leadership.
Communication is essential to effective
leadership.
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27. What Traits are exhibited?
After twenty-seven months on the job, Tom saw his efforts pay off: the division had
its best first quarter ever. By his thirty-first month, Tom felt he had finally
mastered the situation; he finally felt he had the structure and management
group in place to grow the division's revenues to $400 million and he now
turned his attention to divesting a product group which no longer fit in with the
growth objectives of the division.
What TRAITS are exhibited by Tom?
Drive: achievement, ambition, energy, tenacity, initiative
Leadership Motivation (personalized vs. socialized)
Honesty and Integrity
Self-confidence (including emotional stability)
Cognitive Ability
Knowledge of the Business
Other Traits (weaker support): charisma, creativity/originality, flexibility
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28. What Traits are exhibited?
/ want to be able to demonstrate the things I learned in college and get to the
top," said Al, "maybe even be president. I expect to work hard and be at the
third level within 5 years, and to rise to much higher levels in the years
beyond that. I am specifically working on my MBA to aid in my
advancement. If I'm thwarted on advancement, or find the challenge is
lacking, I'll leave the company.
Al had been promoted to the district level [after 8 years] and certainly expected to
go further. Although he still wouldn't pinpoint wanting to be president (his
wife's dream for him), he certainly had a vice presidency in mind after his
first promotion.
What TRAITS are exhibited by Al?
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29. What Traits are exhibited?
Even though Chet had the benefits of a college degree, his below-average
scholastic performance did not fill him with confidence in his
capabilities. He hedged a bit with his interviewer when asked about his
specific aspirations, saying he wasn't sure what the management levels
were. When pressed further, he replied, "I'd like to feel no job is out of
my reach, but I really do not possess of a lot of ambition. There are
times when I just want to say, 'To hell with everything.' "
What TRAITS are exhibited by Chet?
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30. In Class Case Studies
Case 2.1 Choosing a New Director of Research
Case 2.2 A Remarkable Turnaround
Case 2.3 Recruiting for the Bank
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