CAP Mitchell Leadership Study Guide

Professionalism

  • Professional is paid for their work
  • Put’s community first
  • Has special skills
  • Holds themselves and peers to ethical code

Standard

  • An established requirement
  • Principle by which something can be judged
  • What’s expected
  • Leader’s example is the most important

NCO

  • Transitioning from being cared for to caring for others
  • From being taught to teaching
  • Creed
    • A formal system of belief intended to guide someone’s actions
  • 7 Responsibilities
    • Epitomize the Core Values
    • Military Bearing - carrying themselves
    • Guide, Instruct, and Mentor
    • First Line Supervisor - oversee entry-level people
    • Support the Leader
    • Reward People
    • Correct People
    • Career Counsel
    • Keep Learning

NCO Readiness

  • AF 3 Requirement for Readiness
    • Technical - know the detail of your job
    • Physical - must be healthy; lead the unit in PT
    • Mental - mind must be totally focused on professional duties

NCO’s Leadership Toolkit

  • Servant leadership - servant of the team
    • Enhance growth in individuals of the organization
    • Servant leader is servant first
    • Servant - help people and is giving
    • Servile - treated like a slave
    • New leader’s vaccine against becoming self-centered or a bully
    • Natural fit for the Air Force
  • Don’t pull rank - is lazy and immature

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Coaching and Mentoring

  • Coaching - process through which leaders try to solve performance problems and develop their people
    • Person to person experience
    • Requires a bond of trust
    • Must be positive and helpful
  • Need coaching when a leader identifies a need to help someone reach a higher level of effectiveness.
  • Elements of Successful Coaching
    • Dialogue - two way conversation
    • Empowerment - resisting urge to jump in and fix
    • Action - producing something
    • Improvement - reaching a higher level
  • Techniques of Successful Coaching
    • Observation
    • Purpose - have a plan
    • Dialogue - very center of coaching
    • Mirroring
    • Questioning
      • Open-Ended = more than a yes or no
    • Active listening - listens intently
    • Validating - acknowledge your understanding
    • Story Shifting - look at it in a different perspective
    • Addressing Fears - fears can stop you
    • Finding the Bottom Line - express it in 1-2 sentences
    • Providing Direct Feedback - positive, constructive, and specific
    • Follow-Up - monitor how well the trainee is doing

Supervision and Constructive Discipline

  • Supervise - observe and direct people in fulfillment of the mission
  • Trust - cornerstone of supervision
  • Fairness - following an impartial set of rules and applying them equally to everyone
  • Need wisdom when distinguishing fair and unfair
  • Punishment - negative; teaches what to avoid, not what you should be doing
  • Constructive Discipline - an opportunity for positive growth
  • Principles of Constructive Discipline
    • Know that Ability Differs from Willingness
    • Praise in Public, Correct in Private
    • Choose the Right Time
    • Control Emotions
    • Focus on Performance

Motivation

  • Reason for an action; gives purpose and direction to a behavior; it’s your ‘why’
  • A “why” is a strong reason for desiring something
  • Motivations for people - money, power, fear, honor
  • Sources of Motivation
    • Intrinsic
    • work within you
    • naturally belonging to something
    • Extrinsic
    • work outside of you
    • drive you to act because you receive something tangible in return
  • Shared Purpose - key to motivation
    • Most effective - gaining agreement

NCO/Officer Relationship

  • NCOs
    • Focus on short term needs
    • Ensure people comply with rules
    • Train people to do their jobs
    • Fulfill goals of the team
    • Get the job done
  • Officers
    • Focus on long term needs
    • Establish rules
    • Assign people to jobs
    • Set goals for the team
    • Create conditions to get the job done
  • Leadership Arenas
    • Strategic - highest level
    • Operational - middle level
    • Tactical - lowest level
  • Leadership Skills
    • Personal
    • Team
    • Institutional
  • Supporting the boss
    • Command intent - leader’s concise expression of purpose
    • Desired End State - what a leader hopes to achieve
    • Initiative - make sound judgements and act independently
    • Respectful Dissent - opinion that differs from the official view
    • Core Value of Excellence requires it
    • Complete Staff Work
    • Updates and Advice

Team Dynamics

  • Seven Needs of a Team
    • Common Goals
    • Leadership
    • Involvement of All Members
    • Good Morale
    • Open Communication
    • Mutual Respect
    • Fair Way to Resolve Conflicts
  • Pitfalls of a Team
    • Can be Unwieldy
    • Pressure Individuals to Conform
    • Free Riders - not doing the fair share
    • Groupthink - have agreement in spite of facts saying something else
    • Lack of Accountability
  • Team Life Cycle
    • Forming - usually chaos at first
    • Storming - personalities begin to show
    • Norming
    • Performing
  • L.E.A.D. Model
    • L - Lead with a clear purpose
    • E - Empower to participate
    • A - Aim for Consensus
    • D - Direct the Team

Critical Thinking

  • Has a direct influence on effectiveness
  • Principles of Critical Thinking
    • Critical thinking - self-guided, self-disciplined thinking which attempts to reason at the highest level of quality in a fair-minded way
    • Guided by universal values of logic
  • 7 Universal Intellectual Standards
    • Clarity - express ideas so people know your thoughts
    • Accuracy - back up claims/double check
    • Precision - statements that mean what they say and say what they mean
    • Relevance - claims advance the overall argument
    • Depth - examine every complexity
    • Breadth - how far across you’re willing to look in an issue
    • Logic - one point supports the next and conclusions flow naturally
  • 8 Elements of Thought
    • Reasoning has a purpose
    • Reasoning is an attempt to figure something out
    • Reasoning is based on assumptions or beliefs you take for granted
    • Reasoning has a point of view
    • Reasoning is based on data, information, and evidence
    • Reasoning is expressed through and shaped by concepts and ideas
    • Reasoning contains inferences by which we draw conclusions
    • Reasoning leads somewhere and has consequences
  • 4 Different Models of Thinking
    • Big Picture - stepping back from an issue so as to take more of it in
    • Focused - intensely studying an issue
    • Realistic - see the world for how it actually is
    • Shared - valuing thoughts and ideas of others
    • Synergy - a team is greater than the sum of its parts
    • Biggest obstacle is emotional insecurity
  • Logical Fallacies
    • An error of reasoning
    • Ad Hominem - instead of focusing on logic of opposing argument, it attacks the other person
    • Appeal to Authority - prove a claim by asserting that a smart person believes the claim to be true and therefore it must be true
    • Post Hoc - differences between correlation and causation
    • Appeal to Tradition - older ideas are better; leader’s job is to prevent change
    • Red Herring - not relevant to the issue at hand
    • Weak Analogy - no matter how similar they are, they are never exactly alike
    • Straw Man - misrepresents the opposing position, making it weaker than it is
    • Begging the Question/Circular Reasoning - conclusion is the same as a premise
    • False Dilemma - faced with only two choices; both aren’t really good
    • Slippery Slope - one thing leads to another is fixed in your mind
  • Intellectual Honesty - honesty in acquisition, analysis, and transmission of ideas

Creative Thinking

  • Concentration plus imagination
  • Core Value of Excellence requires this
  • Why creative leaders don’t always win
    • No guarantee your ideas will be welcomed
    • People are afraid of changing the status quo
  • Majority Rule
    • Respect for it can discourage people from expressing unpopular ideas
    • Advertising
    • Branding - associating certain images with a product; when companies try to impress us
    • Sedition Acts
    • Mocked the first amendment
    • Uniformity
    • Conformity in disguise
    • Military Tradition
    • Can be hostile toward creative thinking
  • Methods of Creative Thinking
    • Tools to Generate Ideas
    • Brainstorming - free-flow of thoughts
    • Mindmapping - visual arrangement of ideas and their interconnections; connects between other ideas
    • The Five Whys
      • Discover solution by drilling down into a problem
      • Helps identify root cause of a problem
    • Tools to Analyze a Problem
    • Reversal
      • Improve a product
      • Backwards brainstorming
    • Headlines of the Future
      • Analyze a problem and find the steps needed to achieve a goal
    • Flowcharts
      • visual representations of the major steps in a process
    • Tools to Make a Decision
    • Multi-Voting
      • What has the greater consensus
      • Avoids a win/lose situation
    • Weighted Pros and Cons
      • Analyzing relative strength on each pro and con
      • Uses a point system to help make decisions
    • Gradual Voting
      • Democratic decision; limit ranking members’ influence
      • Encouraging every member on the team to share their voice

Teaching and Training People

  • Learning objective - what a student should know at the end of the lesson
    • Good ones are specific and measurable
  • 4 Modalities of Learning
    • Visual - videos, diagrams, pictures
    • Auditory - listening
    • Tactile - physically touch what is being studied
    • Kinesthetic - moving around and staying active
  • Methods of Teaching
    • Lecture - most common; oral presentation
    • Guided Discussion - group process; students share information
    • Demonstration/Performance - physically practice new skills
    • Experiential - role-playing, hands-on, service projects, problem-solving
    • Simulation - replicate conditions of a job
  • Evaluation - attempt to check whether each student fulfilled the objectives

Personality

  • Sum of the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that make someone unique
  • Nature vs Nurture - is it unborn qualities or personal experiences that shape us
    • We are affected by our genes. We are affected by our environment.
    • Leaders can’t change human nature, but can have an effect on that environment
  • Birth Order Theory - person’s rank within their family can have an effect on personality and intelligence
    • For leaders, it’s a way to think about how the environment a person grows up in can shape their personality
    • Only child - spoiled, all the attention, self-centered
    • First Child - control and authority on younger children
    • Middle Child - left out, rebel, compromise
    • Youngest Child - the baby, expects to be cared for
  • Charisma - sparkle in people; invisible energy with visible effects
    • Strong charisma can be counterproductive
  • Johari Window - tool for exploring our self-perception
    • 4 Arenas
    • Public
    • Blind
    • Private
    • Unknown
    • Feedback is the breakfast of champions
  • Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
    • 4 Dimensions of Type
    • Extroversion vs Introversion
      • Extroverts enjoy time with people
      • Introverts direct energy to ideas and inner thoughts
    • Intuition vs Sensing
      • Sensors are interested in the specifics
      • Intuitives look at the big picture
    • Thinking vs Feeling
      • Thinkers are cool, collected, and seldom
      • Feelers have a strong sense of empathy
    • Judging vs Perceiving
      • Judgers value structure and order
      • Perceivers prefer to keep their options open

Motivation

  • Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
    • 5 Basic Needs
    • Physiological - all other needs are forgotten
    • Safety - freedom from fear, violence, uncertainty
    • Love or Belonging
    • Esteem - desire for attention. honor, good reputation
    • Self-Actualizing - What a man can be, he must be
    • Gives leaders a framework for understanding what motivates people
  • Hawthorne Studies
    • When leaders pay attention to their people and treat them better, people will perform better
  • Classical Conditioning
    • A living thing learns to connect a stimulus to a reflex
    • Too simplistic a method to motivate people
    • Positive Reinforcement - pleasant reward used to increase the frequency of a behavior
    • Negative Reinforcement - unpleasant stimulus is removed to encourage behavior
    • Punishment - stops a behavior
    • Extinction - reduction of a response that the person had already displayed
  • The Milgram Experiment
    • Teacher giving shock to student whenever the student answered incorrectly
    • Result - 63% were willing to turn the dial all the way up
    • Obedience to authority is a powerful motivator

Inter-Personal Conflict

  • Defense Mechanisms - protect us from psychological injury; helps deal with anxiety, stress, or pressure
    • Changes the way we see reality
    • Can be habit forming
    • Types of Defense Mechanisms
    • Displacement - redirecting feelings about something onto something less threatening
    • Projection - taking unacknowledged thoughts and falsely attributing them to someone else
    • Rationalization - someone devises reassuring explanations for their behavior
    • Intellectualization - removing emotional side and examine problem in abstract way
    • Denial - not acknowledging facts that would be apparent to others
    • Suppression - set problems aside, choosing not to think about them
    • Withdrawal - removing oneself from events, people, etc., that bring to mind painful thoughts and feelings
  • Conflict - disagreement though which individuals perceive a threat to their needs
    • Knee Jerk
    • Reacts emotionally
    • Fights defensively
    • Snap judgements
    • Focuses on status and rank
    • Deliberate
    • Remains calm
    • Monitors actions and behaviors
    • Gives people the benefit of the doubt
    • Concentrates on doing a good job
  • Managing Conflict
    • Outcomes
    • Win/Win
    • Win/Lose
    • Lose/Win
    • Lose/Lose
    • Leaders have a duty to respond to conflict
    • Methods for Managing Conflict
    • Avoidance - not to engage the problem
    • Denial - leader says it doesn’t exist
    • Suppression and smoothing - form of avoidance
    • Compromise - attempt to create a win/win
    • Zero-Sum Game - win/lose terms
    • Mediation - uses a third party to facilitate a decision

Leading in a Diverse Society

  • Diversity is the greatest strength of the Air Force
  • CAP was founded upon a commitment to diversity
  • Prejudice - pre-judge someone; assumptions
  • Harassment - making life difficult for someone; unwelcome conduct
  • Retaliation - seeking revenge against someone who objects to harassment or discrimination
  • Five Ways to Fight Hate
    • Rise Up
    • Pull Together
    • Speak Out
    • Support the Victims
    • Teach Tolerance

Transformational and Transactional Leadership

  • Transformational - a person strives to heighten the motivation and morality of himself and his followers
  • Transactional - an exchange takes place between leader and follower
  • Idealized Influence - leader’s principles and standards having the power to attract followers
  • Inspirational Motivation - leaders who “communicate high expectations to followers, inspiring them to become committed to and a part of the shared vision in an organization.”
  • Intellectual Stimulation - not a “yes” man
  • Individualized Consideration - leaders who are supportive of followers, listen closely to them, and acknowledge their unique needs
  • Contingent Reward - an interaction between leader and follower in which the follower’s effort is exchanged for rewards
  • Management by Exception - leaders watch followers closely to observe mistakes and violations of rules, then corrects the wrongs
  • Laissez-Faire Leadership - hands off; no feedback and doesn’t meet the needs of followers

Power

  • Power - ability of one person to influence another
  • 5 Types of Power
    • Position
    • legitimate power - legitimacy of position
    • reward power - leader gives out rewards
    • coercive power - followers fear punishment
    • Personal
    • expert power - individual technique knowledge
    • referent power - followers like and respect leaders
  • 6 Stages of Leadership and Personal Power
    • Domination and Force
    • Seduction and Deal Making
    • Personal Persuasion and Charisma
    • Integrity and Trust
    • Empowerment
    • Wisdom
  • Learning Organization - where people are continually learning together
  • Core Learning Capabilities - aspiration, reflective conversation, understanding complexity
  • System - a regularly interacting or interdependent group of items forming a unified whole
  • Personal Mastery - approaching life as a creative work, living life from a creative as opposed to a reactive viewpoint
  • Purpose - sense of why
  • Personal Vision - specific destination, picture of a desired future
  • Shared Vision - Organization establishes a personal vision
  • Team learning begins with alignment
    • 3 Dimensions of Team Learning
    • insight - take advantage of the power of many minds to be more intelligent than one mind
    • innovation - team welcomes new ideas and works together to contribute to success
  • role of team members - encouraging each other to work in cooperation
  • Dialogue vs Discussion
    • dialogue presents an opportunity for team members to freely and creatively explore complex issues
    • discussion; members present different views and defend them in a search for the best possible solution
    • Mental Models - internal images of how the world works, images that limit us to familiar ways of thinking and acting
  • Espoused Theory - line of thought we claim to believe
  • Theory in Use - line of thought representing what someone actually believes
  • Leap of Abstraction - leap to generalizations without testing them
  • Inquiry - ask questions and try to gain more information so that you make the best decision possible
  • Advocacy - make an argument in favor of a course of action
  • Authoritarian - ideal when you have time limits or critical situations
  • Democratic - effective listening, rational dialogue, consideration of others
  • Laissez-Faire - the team works on its own
  • Path-Goal Leadership Model - role of the leader to clear paths subordinates have to take in order to accomplish goals
    • Directive Leadership - gives followers specific instructions
    • Supportive Leadership - human needs are met
    • Participative Leadership - leaders allow subordinates to share in decision making
    • Achievement-Oriented Leadership - followers are able to set and meet challenging goals
  • Grid Theory - people discuss behaviors in a disconnected way that reduces defensiveness and judgement
    • 1,9 Accommodating (Yield and Comply) - low concern for results; high concern for people
    • 1,1 Indifferent (Evade & Elude) - low concern for people and results
    • 9,1 Controlling (Direct and Dominate) - high concern for results; low concern for people
    • 9,9 Sound (Contribute and Commit) - ideal style; high concern for people and results
    • 5,5 Status Quo (Balance and Compromise) - medium levels of concern for people and results

Communication Fundamentals

  • Audience - those to whom you will speak and write
  • Outline - diagram that shows how your communication will be organized
    • Helps you organize what you will write and say
  • 6 Vital Communication Principles
    • Be Clear
    • Use Familiar Words
    • Eliminate Clutter
    • Stay Active
    • Put Statements in Positive Form
    • Use Parallel Structure
  • Main Goal of Written Communication - share meaning and in doing so, inform, persuade, or entertain
  • Brainstorming - good way to gather ideas
  • Writer’s Block - frustration when you can’t figure out what to write about
  • Argument - statement offered in explanation
  • Topic Sentences - introduces main idea of paragraph
  • First few sentences should grab the reader
  • Thesis Statement - central message of an essay
  • Blueprint - list of ideas in your topic sentence
  • Transitional Words - tells audience when you have finished relating one idea and switching to a new thought
  • Objections - reasons or arguments presented in opposition
  • Conclusion - reiterate the thesis
  • Staff Study - professional format for presenting concerns and solutions
    • Consider Audience
    • State the Problem
    • Analyze the Entire Problem
    • Gather Data
    • Identify the Facts
    • Identify Assumptions
    • Identify the Criteria for the Solution
    • Define Key Terms
    • List Possible Solutions
    • Test Possible Solutions
    • Recommend Action
  • 4 Common Formats of Speech
    • Manuscript
    • Memory
    • Impromptu
    • Extemporaneous
  • Parts of a Speech
    • Specific Purpose - what you hope to accomplish
    • The Central Idea - thesis statement used in writing
    • Introduction
    • Body/Conclusion
  • Resume - documents work history
    • Personal Info
    • Objective
    • Education
    • Experience
    • Awards, Honors & Extra-Curricular Activities
    • References

Emotional Intelligence

  • Personalities are conveyed through emotions
  • Emotional intelligence - “intelligent use of emotions: you intentionally make your emotions work for you by using them to help guide your behavior and thinking in ways that will enhance your results.”
  • Five Components of Emotional Intelligence
    • Self-awareness - being aware and in touch with your own feelings and emotions
    • Managing emotions - manage various emotions and moods by denying or suppressing them
    • Self-Motivation - remain positive and optimistic
    • Empathy for others - read others’ emotions accurately and putting yourself in their place
    • Interpersonal Skills - to build and maintain positive relationships with others
  • Self-Fulfilling Prophecies - when your prediction or expectation leads to your fears or hopes becoming real
  • Inner Dialogue - talking to yourself
  • Automatic Thoughts - thoughts that spontaneously pop out
  • Motivation - willingness to complete tasks
  • Leaders are proactive
  • Self-Statement - expressions of belief in oneself
  • Mental Imagery - picturing a situation in your mind
  • Right-Sized Goals
    • If you set goals that can be met, you will have more inspiration to work hard and steady
  • Go with the flow
    • Flow - feeling people enjoy when they’re absorbed in a task that they forget about all other worries
  • 4 Concepts of Interpersonal Intelligence
    • Organizing Groups
    • Negotiating Solutions
    • Personal Connection
    • Social Analysis
  • Empathy - understanding, being aware of, and being sensitive to the feelings, thoughts, and expressions of another.