Introduction

Professional: Someone who is paid for their work

• Professionals must have a habit of putting the community’s interest above their own, have special skills, and hold themselves and their peers to an ethical code

Professionalism: The act of fulfilling these 3 pillars of being a professional in addition to leading by example

Standard: An established requirement, a principle by which something can be judged

• A leader must set clear standards and communicate them to the team

• The leader’s example is the most important standard of all

• Leaders must make standards without allowing them to become so inflexible as to be impractical

The Non-Commissioned Officer

• Air Force Non-Commissioned officers epitomize the core values

• Transitioning to a cadet NCO involves going from one who was cared for to one who cares for others

• “Rank does not confer privilege or give power. It imposes responsibility.”

Creed: A formal system or belief intended to guide someone’s actions

Military bearing: How those in uniform carry themselves; bearing includes physical posture, mental attitude, how faithfully customs and courtesies are measured, etc.

First-Line Supervisor: A leader who oversees entry-level people, the lowest ranking member of a leadership staff

Responsibilities of a NCO:

1. Epitomize the Core Values - Demonstrating superb military bearing, respect for authority, and the highest standards of dress and appearance.

2. Guide, Instruct, and Mentor - Acting as a first-line supervisor for newer cadets.

3. Support the Leader - Enthusiastically support, explain, and promote leader’s decisions.

4. Reward People - Recognize the hard work of people on the team.

5. Correct People - Protect the airmen and take their safety very seriously.

6. Career Counsel - Tell the airmen what opportunities are available in the Air Force or CAP.

7. Keep Learning - Continuously try to learn in and out of CAP

Technical Readiness: The technical know-how to lead others

Physical Readiness: Maintaining physical health by exercising regularly & meeting fitness standards

Mental Readiness: Effectively managing stress, being alert for signs of alcohol or drug use, promoting the wingman concept

The NCO’s Leadership Toolkit

Servant Leadership: When the leader sees himself or herself primarily as a servant of the team.

• Leading is not about controlling people, but serving them

• Leaders are servants first because of a natural inclination. Then, their will brings them to lead.

• Servant leadership, then, is the new leader’s vaccine against becoming self-centered or a bully

Servant: One who chooses to help and give to others

Servile: To be treated like a slave

• Servant leadership is not about a personal quest for power, prestige, or material rewards

• Pulling rank is often seen as a lazy, immature, and counterproductive way to lead

• Servant leadership, and the idea of caring which it is built upon, is a natural fit for the Air Force

Coaching: The process through which leaders try to solve performance problems and develop their people.

• Experienced person (coach) teaches inexperienced person (coachee or follower)

• Coaching requires a bond of trust. Additionally, a coach needs to provide coachees with positive and helpful information.

• Coaching is needed anytime a leader identifies a need to help someone reach a higher level of effectiveness.

4 Key Elements of Successful Coaching:

1. Dialogue - Coaching is marked by dialogue, a two-way conversation between the coach and the trainee

2. Empowerment - Empowerment occurs when the person who has all the answers resists the urge to jump in and “fix” someone’s problems for them.

3. Action - The dialogue between coach and coachee must produce something

4. Improvement - Ultimately, the goal of coaching is to help the coachee reach a higher level of effectiveness.

Coaching Techniques

Observation - First part of coaching; involves leaders watching how their people perform

Purpose - Rather than shooting from the hip, the coach should enter the dialogue having a plan

Dialogue - CENTER of coaching, involves painting a picture of coach’s perspective, asking open-ended questions, actively listening, giving validations, addressing fears, finding the “bottom line”, and providing direct feedback

Follow-Up - Used to monitor trainee’s performance in relation to what has been discussed. Coaches should give praise for hard work and work with them if they struggle.

Supervise: To observe and direct people in fulfillment of the mission

• Trust and fairness are the cornerstones of supervising as it allows for less hesitance in communications with others and makes everyone feel welcome.

Punishment: A negative consequence

• Punishment teaches someone only what behaviors to avoid. It does not teach someone what they should actually be doing.

Constructive Discipline: A learning process that provides an opportunity for positive growth.

How to Apply Constructive Discipline:

• Know that ability differs from willingness - A constructive disciplinarian must have the knowledge that there are many reasons for people to fall short of a standard. That may include things that one may not have control of.

• Praise in Public, Correct in Private - A fundamental law of leadership; most people like being recognized for their hard work and may have resentment when reprimanded publicly.

• Choose the Right Time - Constructive discipline must take place when the problem behavior is still fresh in the follower’s and leader’s mind

• Control Emotions - A leader always needs to remain calm. The leader never loses control.

• Focus on Performance - The performance of an individual is the most important thing that both coaches and constructive disciplinarians monitor. Disciplinarians criticize bad behavior and inanimate objects, not the offending individual.

Motivation: The reason for an action; gives purpose and direction to a behavior.

• Leaders who understand what motivates their people are apt to get them to fulfill the team’s goals.

Intrinsic Rewards: Motivators at work within you

Extrinsic Rewards: Motivators at work outside of you

• The key to motivation is to communicate a strong sense of shared purpose. With this, leaders know exactly how to structure their team for accomplishing the mission and gaining intrinsic/extrinsic rewards.

• Leading volunteers is more difficult than leading paid employees as they have fewer extrinsic rewards.

3 Leadership Arenas

• Strategic Arena - Highest level of leadership; those who have responsibility for large organizations and set long-term goals

• Operational Arena - Middle level of leadership; involves organizing and directing tactical-level leaders

• Tactical Arena - Lowest level of leadership; involves immediate and small in scale tasks

Leadership Skills

• Personal - Involves leading oneself and leading others

• Team - Involves leading large teams by directing other leaders

• Institutional - Involves leading an entire establishment (e.g. the USAF)

Command Intent: The leader’s expression of purpose

Initiative: The ability to make sound judgments and act independently

Dissent: To express an opinion that differs from the official view

• Dissent in a military-style organization is required by the Core Value of Excellence

Completed Staff Work - One should never complain about a problem without offering a solution; they must coordinate with their other stakeholders

Updates and Advice - One of a leader’s duties as a follower is to keep their superior informed of any issues he or she would want to know about

Team Dynamics

Seven Needs of Teams

1. Common Goals - A team must be organized around a common goal

2. Leadership - Every team needs leadership

3. Involvement of All Members - The main idea of teamwork is to harness each individual’s strengths

4. Good Morale - Membership on a team is supposed to be a positive experience for all involved

5. Open Communication - Ineffective communication among team members and ineffective use of meeting time are the two biggest complaints people have about team leadership

6. Mutual Respect - Team members must show a commitment to mutual respect and all that it entails

7. Fair Way to Resolve Conflicts - In a team environment, conflicts are always bound to arise. The challenge is to resolve them fairly and professionally.

Morale: The level of confidence, enthusiasm, and discipline of a person or group at a particular time

Espirit de corps: A sense of team pride, fellowship, and loyalty

Pitfalls of Teams

• Teams can be unwieldy

• Teams pressure individuals to conform - Teams can be deprived of creative thinking & individualism they need to succeed

• Free Riders - here’s always a chance that there may be free riders - people who receive the fruits of the team’s labor without doing their fair share of work

• Groupthink - This occurs when team members seek unanimous agreement in spite of facts pointing to another conclusion

• Lack of Accountability - If everyone on the team is in charge, no one is in charge. If everyone owns responsibility, no one owns responsibility

Tuckman’s Model

1. Forming - The chaos that comes when a group is made

2. Storming - Individuals’ personalities begin to show themselves

3. Norming - The team is coming into its own & members gain acceptance of standards

4. Performing - The team’s best; the members are entirely focused on the team’s goal

The 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

• A leader’s critical thinking skills have a direct influence on his or her effectiveness. It allows you to prove you can regulate emotions in stressful environments and show yourself as a flexible leader.

Critical Thinking: Self-guided, self-disciplined thinking which attempts to reason at the highest level of quality in a fair-minded way

• Developing the skill to think critically is a lifelong endeavor, a never-ending process

7 Universal Intellectual Standards:

1. Clarity - Expressing ideas in a way for others to understand

2. Accuracy - Critical thinkers should back up their claims and have others verify them

3. Precision - Mean what you say & say what you mean

4. Relevance - All supporting claims should advance the argument

5. Depth - The willingness to examinate every imaginable complexity or factor bearing on an issue

6. Breadth - How far each side is willing to look when considering an issue

7. Logic - When one point supports the next and the conclusions flow naturally

8 Elements of Thought:

1. Reasoning has a purpose

2. Reasoning is an attempt to figure something out

3. Reasoning is based on assumptions or beliefs you take for granted

4. Reasoning has a point of view

5. Reasoning is based on data, information, and evidence

6. Reasoning is expressed through and shaped by concepts & ideas

7. Reasoning contain inferences by which we draw conclusions

8. Reasoning leads somewhere & has consequences

Modes of Thinking:

1. Big Picture Thinking - The practice of stepping back from an issue or problem so as to take more of it in

2. Focused Thinking - The practice of intensely studying an issue, trying to see it clearly, and not becoming distracted by other issues that are somewhat related to, but different from, the specific

3. Realistic Think - An approach where the leader tries to see the world for what it is, not how we might wish it to be

4. Shared Thinking - Involves valuing the thoughts and ideas of others

Synergy: The belief that a team is greater than the sum of its parts

Logical fallacy: An error of reasoning

Fallacy: A mistake in logic; bad reasoning that corrupts a line of thought

• Logical fallacies keep people from knowing the truth

10 Most Common Logical Fallacies:

Ad Hominem: Attacks the opponent rather than focusing on the logic of the opposing argument

Appeal to Authority: Tries to prove a claim by asserting that some smart person believes the claim to be true and therefore must be true

Post Hoc Fallacy: Illustrates the difference between correlation and causation

Appeal to Tradition: Makes the assumption that older ideas are better, and that the leader’s job is to prevent change

Red Herring: While a given line of thought may indeed be true, it is a red herring if not relevant to the issue at hand

Weak Analogy: No matter how similar two things are, they are never exactly alike

Straw Man Fallacy: Misrepresents the opposing position instead of attacking the opposition head-on

Begging the Question/Circular Reasoning: When an argument’s conclusion is equivalent to one of the premises

False Dilemma: Making the argument that one is faced with two options, and both are not very good

Slippery Slope: Causation being assumed in an argument

Intellectual Honesty: Honesty in the acquisition, analysis, and transmission of ideas

• Those who search for truth need to be on guard against logical fallacies, both in their own arguments and in the arguments of others

Creative Thinking

Creative Thinking: A combination of concentration and imagination; this is required by the core value of excellence

Status quo: The existing state of affairs; the way something’s always been done

• Because many are comfortable in the status quo, it is difficult for creative thinkers to win without strong execution

• Our respect for majority rule can discourage people from expressing unpopular ideas that run contrary to the majority’s opinion

• Branding occurs when companies continually try to make their impression on us. The success it has in shaping behavior stymies creative thinking.

Branding: The process of associating certain visual, cultural, and even emotional images with a product

• The Sedition Acts was an act of the government, attempting to prevent government protest and thereby erecting barriers to the First Amendment

• A line of though based off of low uniformity suggest that so-called individualism or creativity may be conformity in disguise

• The military lifestyle can brew hostility toward creative thinking

Brainstorming: To generate ideas through the quick, free-flow of thoughts

Mindmapping: To generate new ideas in a creative way; to draw connections between different ideas, a special way to do brainstorming

The Five “Whys”: To discover new ideas & solutions by drilling them down into a problem

Reversal: To find a way to do something better; to improve a product or service

Headlines of the Future: To analyze a problem ad find the steps needed to achieve a goal

Flowcharts: Visual representations of the major steps in a process

Multi-Voting: To find which idea has the greatest consensus when the team has several options to choose from; avoids a win/lose situation for the team’s members

Weighted Pros & Cons: To make a decision by analyzing the arguments for and against an idea, with a special emphasis on the relative strength of each pro and con; uses a point system to aid in making decisions

Gradual Voting: Aid the team in making a sound and democratic decision by limiting the influence its ranking members have on the junior members

Teaching & Training People

• Leaders try to influence other people, and in the process, make more leaders

Learning Objective: Describes what a student should know, feel, or be able to do at the end of a lesson

Four Modalities (AKA learning channels): Describes the way we process information into memory

• Visual - Learning by “seeing”; often involves using graphs or diagrams

• Auditory - Learning by “listening”; involves group discussions

• Tactile - Learning by “touching”; involves physically touching whatever it is they are studying

• Kinesthetic - Learning by “moving”; involves games and role-playing activities

• Instructors will want to present their material in a variety of ways, especially if the group is large

Lecture: An oral presentation of information, concepts, or principles that will lead students toward fulfillment of a learning objective

Pros: can present large amount of information | Cons: Passive, boring

Guided Discussion: An instructor-controlled group process in which students share information and experiences to achieve a learning objective

Pros: Students learn from each other and instructor | Cons: Requires skill and practice

Demonstration-Performance: A process-driven approach that is used when students need to physically practice new skills

Pros: Students learn by example | Cons: Not suited for academic study

Experiential: An umbrella term covering games, role-playing, hand-on activities, service projects, problem-solving challenges, and more

Pros: Prepares students for “real world” | Cons: Becomes end in itself

Simulation: Replicates the conditions of a job as realistically as possible

Pros: Active, exciting, fun to learn | Cons: Requires student to have basic knowledge

Personality

Personality: The sum of the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that make someone unique

• The question of “nature vs. nurture” asks whether it is inborn qualities or personal experiences that shape who we are.

• An argument for “nature” is the belief that those are born with set qualities and talents

• Those on the “nurture” side of the believe that one’s upbringing, family, friends, schooling, and experiences shape them into a leader.

• The blank state principle states that every newborn baby is born as if their mind were a blank state to which they write thoughts and experiences

• We are affected by our genes and environment

  • Leaders cannot change human nature

  • A leader can have an effect on their environment

Birth Order Theory: Contends that a person’s rank within their family can have an effect on their personality and intelligence; some accuse it of the post hoc fallacy

• Can be an easy way to begin thinking about how the environment a person grows up in can change their personality

Charisma: The sparkle in people that money can’t buy; an invisible energy with visible effects

• Charismatic leaders find it easy to recruit new followers

• Strong charisma can be counter-productive as it surrounds the leader with followers who are only too willing to flatter the leader and sweep problems under the rug.

• The Johari Window is a tool for exploring our self perception

  • Public Arena: Consists of those features of your personality that you know about yourself and that others know too

  • Blind Arena: Consists of those personality features that are unknown to you but are known to others

  • Private Arena: Consists of those personality features that are known to you but are unknown to others

  • Unknown Arena: Consists of everything in your personality that is unknown to you and unknown to others

• The MBTI merely attempts to describe our different flavors of personality.

  • Extroversion (E) involves gathering energy by spending time with others; while introversion (I) involves ideas, imagination, and inner thoughts.

  • Sensors (S) are interested in specifics and details, while intuitives (N) look at the big picture of things.

  • Thinkers (T) are calm and collected and they consider all possibilities before making decisions while feelers (F) have a strong sense of empathy and prefer to consider problems from the other person’s perspective

  • Judgers (J) value structure, order, and predictability while perceivers (P) prefer keeping their options open

• The MBTI supports a leader’s development by helping the leader understand themselves so that they may be more effective in working with others

Motivation and Behavior

Maslow’s 5 Basic Needs

1. Physiological Needs - Unless the physiological needs are met, all other needs are forgotten or even denied.

2. Safety Needs - Safety includes freedom from fear, violence, and uncertainty.

3. Love or Belonging Needs - We are motivated by a need for love or a basic connection with other people, a sense of belonging

4. Esteem Needs - We are motivated by a desire for attention, honor, appreciation, and a good reputation

5. Self-actualization Needs - “What a man can be, he must be”

• The hierarchy of needs gives leaders a framework for understanding what motivates people

• The lowest rung of the pyramid represents the most unfulfilled need of the five. All above sequentially become more fulfilled.

Classical Conditioning

Classical Conditioning: The process whereby a living thing learns to connect a stimulus to a reflex

Stimulus: A thing or event that evokes a specific functional reaction

Reflex: An action that is performed as a response to a stimulus and without conscious thought

• Positive reinforcement: Happens when a pleasant reward is used to increase the frequency of a behavior

• Negative reinforcement: Happens when an unpleasant stimulus is removed to encourage the desired behavior

• Punishment: Any stimulus that represents or stops a behavior

• Extinction: Refers to the reduction of some response that the person had previously displayed

• Classical conditioning is relevant to leaders as they can use praise to reinforce certain behaviors which helps bolster the team as a whole.

• Millgram discovered that obedience to authority is a powerful motivator. Additionally, he shows leaders that they bear some responsibility for the actions of their subordinates.

Conflict

• In any relationship, there will be conflict. The real measure of a leader is how he or she handles conflict.

Defense mechanism: A behavior people use to deal with anxiety, stress, or pressure.

• A natural reaction, sometimes even an unconscious reaction, to emotional pain; it can become a problem because it changes the way we see reality.

• Can be habit forming

Types of Defense Mechanisms

• Displacement - Occurs when someone redirects feelings about something onto something less threatening

• Projection - The act of taking one’s unacknowledged thoughts or feelings and falsely attributing them to someone else

• Rationalization - When someone devises reassuring or self-serving explanations for their behavior

• Intellectualization - A person tries to remove the emotional side of a situation and instead examines their problem in an excessively abstract way

• Denial - A mechanism in which a person fails to acknowledge facts that would be apparent to others

• Suppression - When a person knows they have anxieties or problems, but they set them aside, choosing not to even think about them.

• Withdrawal - Removing oneself from events, people, things, etc., that bring to mind painful thoughts and feelings.

• Knowing something about defensive behavior better enables the leader to spot anxiety, stress, and pressure among followers.

Conflict: A disagreement through which individuals perceive a threat to their needs, interests, or concerns.

• Leaders are interested in managing conflict because conflict destroys teamwork and therefore limits the team’s ability to succeed. Additionally, they have a duty to respond to the conflict because the leader is responsible for the team’s behavior and its success.

5 Basic Approaches to Managing Conflict

• Avoidance - When leaders recognize conflict exists but they choose not to engage the problem

• Denial - When the leader refuses to acknowledge the conflict exists

• Suppression and smoothing - A form of avoidance in which a leader suggests that conflict is not as bad as it seems and that both parties are aiming for the same goal

• Compromise - An attempt to create a win/win situation

• The Zero-Sum Game - Sees conflict in only win/lose terms

• Mediation - An attempt to resolve conflict by using a third party to facilitate a decision

Concession: When one party yields a right or a benefit in hopes that the other will yield an equivalent right or benefit.

A Process for Mediating Conflict

1. Set a positive tone

2. Be mindful of appearances

3. Allow the first person to talk

4. Allow the second person to talk

5. Summarize your understanding of the conflict

6. Begin the interview stage

7. Ask each person how the conflict can be resolved

8. Ask each individual to make a concession

9. Aim for consensus

10. Conclude

Leading in a Diverse Society

Diversity: The differences within a community

Prejudice: Pre-judging someone

Harassment: Unwelcome conduct

Retaliation: When someone seeks revenge against someone who objects to harassment or discrimination

5 Ways to Fight Hate

1. Rise Up - Inaction in the face of tolerance is almost as bad as hatred itself

2. Pull Together - Sometimes it takes just 1 brave individual to rally others who have remained quiet in the face of hatred

3. Speak Out - Leaders need the courage to act

4. Support the victims

5. Teach tolerance - Tough times give leaders an opportunity to teach tolerance

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence: The 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

5 Primary Aspects of Emotional Intelligence:

1. Self-awareness - Being aware and in touch with your own feelings & emotions

2. Managing emotions - Being able to manage various emotions & moods by denying or suppressing them

3. Self-motivation - Being able to remain positive & optimistic

4. Empathy for others - Being able to read others’ emotions accurately and putting yourself in their place

5. Interpersonal skills - Having the skills to build & maintain positive relationships with others

Appraisal: All the different impressions, interpretations, evaluations, and expectations you have about yourself, other people, and situations

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Occurs when your prediction or expectation leads to your fears or hopes becoming real

Automatic Thoughts: Thoughts that spontaneously pop out

Constructive Inner Dialogue: Talking to your self using constructive criticism to properly handle your emotions

Self-statement: Simple expressions of belief in oneself

Mental imagery: Visualizing your own success as a form of motivation towards your goals

Empathy: Understanding, being aware of, and being sensitive to the feelings, thoughts, and experiences of another

4 Components of Interpersonal Intelligence:

1. Organizing groups

2. Negotiating solutions

3. Personal connections

4. Social analysis

Transformational & Transactional Leadership

Transformational Leadership: Occurs when a person strives to heighten the motivation & morality of himself and his followers

Transactional Leadership: Occurs when an exchange takes place between leader and follower

Idealized Influence: Refers to the leader’s principles and standards having the power to attract

Distinctive Factors of Transformational, Transactional, and Laissez-faire Leadership:

Transformational Leadership:

1. Idealized influence - Refers to the leader’s principles and standards having the power to attract

2. Inspirational motivation - Describes leaders who “communicate high expectations to followers, inspiring them to become committed to and a part of the shared vision in an organization”

3. Intellectual stimulation - In the state of always learning

4. Individualized consideration - Describes leaders who are supportive of followers, listen closely to them, and acknowledge their personal needs

Transactional Leadership:

1. Contingent reward - Describes an interaction between leader and follower in which the follower’s effort is exchanged for rewards

2. Management-by-exception (MBE) - A leader watches followers closely to observe mistakes and violations of rules, then corrects the wrongs

Non-leadership:

1. Laissez-faire - Refers to a “hands off” or “let things ride” approach in which the leader puts off making decisions, provides no feedback, and goes to little trouble to meet the needs of followers

Power

Power: The ability of one person to influence another

5 Types of Power:

Position Power

1. Legitimate power - Others obey leaders because of the legitimacy of the position they hold as a leader

2. Reward power - Followers comply because they desire rewards that their leader can confer

3. Coercive power - Followers obey because they fear power

Personal Power

1. Expert Power - Comes from an individual’s technical knowledge

2. Referent power - Conferred upon leaders when followers like and respect them

6 Stages of Leadership & Personal Power:

1. Domination and Force

2. Seduction and Deal-Making

3. Personal Persuasion and Charisma

4. Integrity and Trust

5. Empowerment

6. Wisdom

Building a Learning Organization

Learning organization: A place where people are continually learning together

5 Disciplines of a Learning Organization:

Aspiration

1. Personal Mastery

2. Shared Vision

Reflective Conversation

1. Mental Models

2. Dialogue

Understanding Complexity

1. Systems Thinking

System: A regularly interactive or interdependent group of items forming a unified whole

• An organization is a large system that encompasses many smaller systems

Personal Mastery: Approaching one’s life as a creative work, living life from a creative as opposed to a reactive viewpoint, made up of your purpose and personal vision

Purpose: A person’s “sense of why he or she is alive”

Personal vision: A “specific destination, a picture of desired future”

Shared vision: A goal an organization develops subconsciously as a result of individual members developing a personal vision; takes risks and gives courage

Synergy: The idea that teams working together can achieve more than each individual could on his own

Three Dimensions of Team Learning:

1. Insightful thinking about complex issues - Taking advantage of the power of many minds to be more intelligent than one mind

2. Innovative, coordinated action - Welcoming new ideas and working together so those ideas contribute to the team’s success

3. The role of team members on other teams - Learning teams that work in separate and even the same departments within an organization should help encourage each other to work in cooperation

Dialogue: Presents an opportunity for team members to freely and creatively explore complex issues

Discussion: Team members present differing views and defend them in a search for the best possible solution

Mental models: Deeply held internal images of how the world works, images that limit us to familiar ways of thinking and acting

Espoused theory: A line of thought that we claim to believe

Theory-in-use: A line of thought representing what someone actually believes

Leap of abstraction: Occurs when we “leap” to generalizations without testing them

Inquiry: Occurs when you ask questions and try to gain more information so that you make the best decision possible

Advocacy: Occurs when you make an argument in favor of a course of action

Leadership Styles

Task behaviors: Actions that relate to how a job or project gets done directly in terms of organization of work, scheduling of work, and who will perform individual tasks

Relationship behaviors: Include building morale, respect, trust, and fellowship between leaders and followers

Authoritarian:

• Involves a more assertive way of leading

• Ideal when you have time limits or critical situations, or when individuals cannot respond to less direct approaches

• If overused, it becomes counterproductive because you are trying to motivate by instilling fear

Democratic (AKA participative):

• Involves effective listening, rational dialogue, discussion and consideration of others

• Helpful in activities such as voting on squadron changes

• Not effective when leaders need to execute pre-planned activities

Laissez-faire:

• Involves a team working together with the leader not intervening

• Helpful when dealing with a team consisting of knowledgeable people

• Not effective when time limits are in place or for team feedback

Situational Leadership Theory: Involves matching your leadership style to a situation

• Critics of the situational leadership theory claim that you can’t just be yourself since you have to adapt to the roles of each leadership style

Path-goal Model: Refers to the role of the leader to clear paths subordinates have to take in order to accomplish goals

Components of the Path-goal Model:

1. Directive leadership - A leader who is a directive gives followers specific instructions about the task

2. Supportive leadership - Supportive leaders ensure that the well-being and human needs of the follower are met

3. Participative leadership - This leadership behavior characterizes leaders who allow subordinates to share in decision-making

4. Achievement-oriented leadership - Achievement-oriented leaders show great confidence that followers are able to set and meet goals that are challenging

   Task and Subordinate (or follower) characteristics: The theory assumes that leaders can “correctly analyze the situation,” decide on the appropriate behaviors, and adjust their behavior to the situation

• Grid theory gives people a common language which can be shared. It is rooted in core beliefs, values, attitudes, and assumptions.

The 9,1 Style: Controlling (Direct & Dominate)

The 1,9 Style: Accommodating (Yield & Comply)

The 5,5 Style: Status Quo (Balance & Compromise)

The 1,1 Style: Indifferent (Evade & Elude)

The Paternalistic Style: (Prescribe & Guide)

• Combination of the 9,1 and 1,9

Communication Fundamentals

• The three purposes of communication are to persuade, inform, or follow.

Audience: Those to whom you will speak or write

Outline: A diagram that shows how your communication will be organized

Six Vital Communication Principles:

1. Be Clear - Make your meaning clear by using definite, specific, concrete language

2. Use Familiar Words - Use a familiar word unless a ten-dollar word is needed

3. Eliminate clutter - Omit needless words

4. Stay Active - Write and speak in the active voice

5. Put Statements in Positive Form - Tell the reader or audience what is happening, what you believe.

6. Use parallel structure - Use the same grammatical form for expressions that are part of a group

• The main goal of writing is to share meaning, and in doing so, inform, persuade, or entertain

Arguments: Reasons given in proof or rebuttal

Topic sentence: Introduces the main idea of a paragraph

Thesis statement: The central message of an essay

Objection: Reasons or arguments presented in opposition; improves your communication as well

Conclusion: Final remark to reiterate thesis in different words

Staff study: Provides a professional format for presenting concerns and solutions

4 Most Common Formats of a Speech:

1. Manuscript - Employed only when the material being conveyed is so important or complex that an inaccurate phrase might cause a great misunderstanding

2. Memory - The speaker becomes overwhelmed with accurately stating the speech as memorized, so he loses spontaneity

3. Impromptu - The speaker is given a topic and only a few minutes to gather his thoughts before speaking

4. Extemporaneous - Extemporaneous speakers study their outline in depth, but instead of planning what they’ll say word-for-word, they grant themselves freedom to be spontaneous

Parts of a Speech:

1. Specific purpose - A clear statement of what you hope to accomplish as a result of your speech

2. The Central Idea - A compact expression of your argument

3. Introduction

4. Body & Conclusion

Signpost: Brief verbal cues indicating your progress through an outline

Resume: Briefly documents your work history and gives you the opportunity to show what makes you qualified for a job