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CAGAYAN STATE UNIVERSITY

NATIONAL SERVICE TRAINING PROGRAM


Civic Welfare Training Service
Module 3
The Challenge of Leadership for the Youth of Today

INTRODUCTION:

This lesson focuses on the concept of leadership. Students will explore the ways in which people
become leaders, as well as the skills and methods of effective leadership and their impact on
teams. Students will have the opportunity to determine their current leadership style and practice
their leadership skills through creative learning activities.

Students will also examine the characteristics of effective teams and the things they need to go
through in their development. They will also examine an individual’s role within a team and the
keys to effective communication. One critical element in the success of a team or group is
effective leadership.

OBJECTIVES:

At the end of the session, students are expected to:


 Learn the basic concept of leadership and what legitimates an individual to
lead
 Know and understand the different factors of effective leadership
 Gain proper leadership skills, leadership virtues, and styles for them to become
effective leader in the future to contribute to national growth and development

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CAGAYAN STATE UNIVERSITY
NATIONAL SERVICE TRAINING PROGRAM
Civic Welfare Training Service
 Demonstrate understanding of the characteristics and development of effective
teams
 Explore and identify the various roles and skills of team members in building
effective teams
 Examine the characteristics of effective team leaders and their impact on team
development

MOTIVATION:

How Good Are Your Leadership Skills?

Who do you consider to be a good leader? Maybe it is a politician, a famous


businessperson, or a religious figure. Or maybe it is someone you know personally – like
your boss, a teacher, or a friend. You can find people in leadership roles almost everywhere
you look.

However, simply having the responsibilities of a leader does not necessarily make a
person an effective leader. All of us can learn to lead effectively.

So, how can you do this?

You can start by analyzing your performance in specific areas of leadership. Watch the
video, and then complete the quiz in the link below to identify where you already lead
effectively, and to explore where your skills need further development.

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_50.htm

Leadership Swap 

Objective: To solicit leadership ideas and build student rapport

Activity Description: This activity is a structured leadership example exchange. From the list of
"situations" below, select three (3) and share something you have done or witnessed under the
said situations.  

Leadership Situations
 A creative twist on a situation or issue.
 A clever improvisation--"dancing on your feet"
 A pleasant surprise
 An Aha moment
 Something that generated a great deal of excitement
 A conflict resolved
 A breakthrough insight or solution
 A really tough situation
 A blindside experiences
 A moving (emotional) situation

The Challenge of Leadership for the Youth of Today Page | 16


CAGAYAN STATE UNIVERSITY
NATIONAL SERVICE TRAINING PROGRAM
Civic Welfare Training Service
PROCESS:

There are many leadership skills and competencies that, when combined and applied, go
toward making you an effective leader. You have the ability to develop each of these skills
within yourself. Interpretations of the answers in the quiz are provided in
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_50.htm

CONTENT:

A. Concept of Leadership. Leadership is the process of influencing individuals or groups to


achieve goals. It is related to direction, interaction, initiation, persuasion, motivator,
reinforcer, cheerleader, facilitator, coach, nurturer, and delegator.
Leadership is a planned process that results in the following:
1. Challenging people to work collaboratively toward an ever-expanding vision of
excellence in the achievement of organizational and personal/ professional goals
and objectives.
2. Creating a threat-free environment for growth so that the creative talents and
skills of each person are used to the best advantage.
3. Encouraging and building working relationships that are individually and
organizationally satisfying, unifying, and strengthening in the realization of
mutually determined goals and objectives.
4. Optimizing available and human resources

B. Characteristics of Leadership
1. Goal Orientation. The leader sees the bigger picture and understands the purpose
of life and work of the group or organization. To lead implies that the leader has
foresight and a sense of direction.
2. Enablement. Effective leaders seek to enable others to experience life in its
fullness.
3. Concern. Leaders must show concern for person. Human beings are the most
important resource leaders have. Without people, material and financial resources
are worthless.
4. Self-Development. Leaders must develop a healthy self-image and a positive
attitude.

Psychological traits of leaders:

a. Capacity: intelligence, alertness, verbal facility, originality, judgment.


b. Achievement: scholarship, knowledge, accomplishments
c. Responsibility: dependability, initiative, persistence, aggressiveness, self-
confidence, desire to excel
d. Participation: activity, sociability, cooperation, adaptability, humor
e. Status: socio-economic position, popularity
f. Situation: mental ability, skills, needs and interests of followers, objectives to be
achieved, and tasks to be performed

C. Leadership Styles
1. The Three Elements. Leadership involves an inter-relationship among three
elements:
i. The qualities, skills and needs of the leader.

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CAGAYAN STATE UNIVERSITY
NATIONAL SERVICE TRAINING PROGRAM
Civic Welfare Training Service
ii. The needs and expectations of the group.
iii. The demands or requirements of situations.
This inter-relationship suggests that no style of leadership serves best for all
situations. The best style is the one most appropriate in a given situation.
2. Leadership is Situational. Leadership styles change from group to group and
from situation to situation. Exercising strong directive power provides effective
leadership when group lack a sense of direction or purpose. When groups have
clear directions and function well, non-directive styles of leadership work more
effectively. Groups sometimes need reorientation. At other times, they need
encouragement.

3. Leadership as a Process. There are two major parts of the leadership process:
task-oriented and relationship-oriented. Leaders need an awareness of both parts
and they also need to strike a balance between them because they can easily and
unknowingly overemphasize one of more of these aspects. To overemphasize the
task results in short-time effectiveness and longer-range human problems.
Overemphasis on maintenance or relationship results in groups so involved with
their feelings that they neglect the task.

4. Leadership Dilemma. Leaders find themselves within a societal and


organizational environment of constraints and challenges, of limitations and
freedom. The basic dilemma of leadership lies between what they believe
desirable and what they can actually do in practice. Effective leaders ask
themselves questions such as:
 How democratic can I be?
 How authoritarian must I be?
They struggle with series of dilemma:
 Competition is healthy, but we must cooperate.
 We must get the job done and be efficient, but I must listen to all points
of view.
 We are pushed for time, but I want teamwork in decision-making- and
this takes time.
 I can see opportunities for quick results in one-personal decisions but
shared responsibility motivates better and brings about longer lasting
solutions.

5. Leadership Patterns
i. Telling. - Leaders identify problems, consider options, choose one
solution, and tell their followers what to do. Leaders may consider
members’ views, but members don’t participate directly in decision-
making.
ii. Persuading. – Leaders make decisions and try to persuade group
members to accept them. They point out that they have considered the
organization goals and the interests of group members. They even point
out how members will benefit from carrying out decisions
iii. Consulting. – Group members have opportunities to influence the
decision-making from the beginning. Leaders present problems and
relevant background information. Leaders invite the group to suggest
alternative actions.

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CAGAYAN STATE UNIVERSITY
NATIONAL SERVICE TRAINING PROGRAM
Civic Welfare Training Service
iv. Participating. - Leaders participate as members in the discussion and
agree in advance to carry out whatever decision the group makes.
v. Delegating. – Leaders define the boundaries within which to solve
problems or accomplish tasks. Then, they turn it over to the group to
work out solutions or to implement the tasks.

D. Factors Affecting Leadership Styles


1. Personality of Leaders
i. Value systems: This refers to the belief and upbringing of the leader,
which eventually have effect on how he directs, leads, and decides.
ii. Confidence in Group Members: Leaders differ in the amount of trust
they have in other people. Leaders may have more confidence in their
own capabilities than in those of group members.
iii. Leadership Inclinations: Directive leaders issue orders and resolve
problems easily. Some leaders operate best in a team role where they
continually share functions with subordinates.
iv. Feelings of Security in Uncertain Situations: Leaders who release control
over the decision-making process reduce the predictability of outcomes.
2. Personality of Group Members. Leaders also need to understand individual
differences of each individual within the organization.
3. Nature of the Task. Critical pressures on leaders include the following:
i. The Problem Themselves: Do members have the needed knowledge? Do
the complexities of the problems require special experience, competence,
or a one-person solution?
ii. The Pressure of Time: The more leaders fell the need for immediate
decisions, the more difficult it is to involve other people. Situations may
arise needing immediate decisions, but some organizations operate in a
state of crisis.
4. Nature of the Environment
i. Structure of the Organization: Organizations have values and traditions
that influence the behavior of the people who work in them.
ii. Outside Pressures: These pressures include the social, economic, and
political situations.

E. Comparing Leadership Styles


1. Authoritarian Style shows certain characteristics, such as:
i. Generally strong-willed, domineering, and aggressive.
ii. Have their own way, which for them, seems the only way.
iii. Look upon subordinates as subjects than as persons, and the best
subordinates, follow directions without questions.
iv. Not ready to listen to views and suggestions of others, if they offer
different opinions
v. Do not encourage equal relationships. They do not allow themselves to
get close to employees.
vi. Have business-like and task-oriented attitudes. The job comes first.
vii. Blame poor results on the inability of others to carry out instructions
correctly.

2. Democratic or Participative Style demonstrates the following:

The Challenge of Leadership for the Youth of Today Page | 19


CAGAYAN STATE UNIVERSITY
NATIONAL SERVICE TRAINING PROGRAM
Civic Welfare Training Service
i. Generally concerned with maintaining group effectiveness as with
completing the task to be done.
ii. Encourage members in their groups to express their ideas and feelings
because they believe that such a climate leads to greater creativity and
commitment.
iii. Seek the help of the group in removing resistance or resolving the
conflicts.
iv. Encourage joint decision-making as well as shared goal setting.
v. Set policies without explaining the reasons and proposing them to their
groups, when they can, for suggestions and criticism.
vi. Believe that responsibility for getting a job done depends as much on the
group.
vii. Allow group members as good deal of freedom in their work, once they
have shown their ability to do it.
viii. Keep looking for better ways to do things and are open to change when
convinced that such changes seemed called for and would lead to greater
effectiveness
ix. Believe in the effectiveness of the group work.

A shared commitment to the group and its task leads to:


 Interdependent efforts from its members to find the best way to
complete those tasks, which in turn lead to
 a degree of shared success in achieving those targets, and this
accomplishment leads to
 confidence in the group’s potential and back to
 renewed commitment to the group and to its ongoing tasks.

F. Function and Skills


1. The need to accomplish the common task. Many tasks cannot be done by
individuals alone and, therefore, groups must do them. These groups exist for a
specific purpose
2. The need to remain as a cohesive social unity. The group needs to stay
together. Leaders measure the effectiveness of their cohesion by their moral and
team spirit. People need to work in a coordinated fashion in the same direction.
Unless the group deals effectively with arguments, tensions, and conflicts,
differences can lead to divergent ideas and to lack of cooperation.
3. The individual needs of group members. Individuals have their own needs
even when they work in groups, such as
i. To clearly know their responsibilities.
ii. To have feedback about their performance.
iii. Recognition and appreciation of their contribution
iv. Opportunities to develop their talents and potentialities.

G. Effective Leadership. To be effective, leaders must aim to satisfy the three areas of
need:
1. Achieve the task. Leaders’ primary responsibility involves accomplishing the
tasks for which the group or organization exists. Their main contributions toward
achieving the required results lie in:

The Challenge of Leadership for the Youth of Today Page | 20


CAGAYAN STATE UNIVERSITY
NATIONAL SERVICE TRAINING PROGRAM
Civic Welfare Training Service
i. Determining the objectives: Leaders must define the important
objective they want and when they want it. They should state this
accurately, briefly, and clearly in writing.
ii. Planning necessary activities: They must decide what to do to achieve
the end results.
iii. Organizing the program: They must make a checklist of all-important
things to do, then arrange those tasks in order of priority. Good leaders
break down each activity and identify the sequential matters.
iv. Preparing a timetable: Leaders need to prepare a work schedule in
which they set a time for the completion of each step in the program.
v. Clarifying responsibilities and accountability: They must clearly
define all delegated responsibility, authority and relationships and then
coordinate them.
vi. Maintaining channels of communication: Leaders must keep their
associates and subordinates fully informed. They must make it
convenient for those associates to keep them advised on all pertinent
vii. Developing cooperation: Leaders should thoroughly explain the results
they want and their expectations of every individual and group affected.
viii. Establishing control points: Leaders must determine where and when
they will review progress made. They must resolve problems, determine
remedial actions, and make necessary adjustments
2. Build the Team. Characteristics of effective teamwork
i. Group goals/ objectives. All group members must clearly understand
group goals. Teamwork also requires ownership of team goals; therefore,
members need to participate in setting team goals, and commit to them.
ii. Roles and responsibilities- Who does what on the team. As group
members work together, they also build expectations of one another.
Conflict over roles and responsibilities may occur because of differing
expectations.
iii. Group procedures or work progress. Effective teamwork requires
clear and agreed-upon procedures in several key areas:
1. Decision-making. Teams usually make decisions by consensus.
However, leaders may reserve the right to make the final
decision after consulting with all or some part of the team,
depending on factors such as nature of decision, who has more
knowledge and whom does the decision most affect.
2. Communication. What should be communicated within the
team, to whom, how frequently, by what methods?
3. Meetings. Group members generally complain among
themselves that team meetings are dull, repetitive, ineffective,
too long, too frequent, dominated by a few, cover the wrong
subjects, are ineffective, a waste of time.
iv. Interpersonal relationships. When people have to work closely
together to achieve a common task, they naturally develop feelings
towards each other. The extent to which they mutually trust, support,
communicate, and feel comfortable in resolving conflicts with one
another greatly influences the way they work together.
1. Mutual Trust. Teamwork requires trust and openness so that
members can state their views and differences openly without
fear of ridicule or retaliation.

The Challenge of Leadership for the Youth of Today Page | 21


CAGAYAN STATE UNIVERSITY
NATIONAL SERVICE TRAINING PROGRAM
Civic Welfare Training Service
2. Mutual Support. When group members have a strong sense of
belonging and of mutual support, they achieve teamwork.
Members get and give help from one another without setting
conditions.
3. Communication. Members can freely and confidently say what
they feel and how they react to each other. When they
communicate, they know that the rest of the team listens and will
work hard to understand.
4. Conflict Resolution. The group’s ability to examine its process
to improve itself characterizes teamwork. Group members accept
differences as inevitable and desirable. They do not suppress
them or pretend they don’t exist. They work through them
openly as a team.
v. Group leadership needs. Teamwork requires that they share leadership
needs (such as initiating or clarifying), among the group so that all grow
through the group experience. Leadership styles used by group leaders
greatly affect the team’s communication and work processes.
vi. Using member resources. Teamwork requires the maximum use of the
different resources of individuals in the group, such as abilities,
knowledge, and experience. They accept, and give counsel, support to
each other while recognizing individual accountability and
specialization.
vii. Organizational environment. When groups have flexibility and
sensitivity to each other’s needs, and they encourage differences, and
members do not feel pushed to conform to rigid rules, they have
achieved teamwork.
3. Individual Development. For leaders to have a sense of satisfaction, leaders
must see to it that they:
i. Have a sense of personal achievement in the jobs they do. When
people can actually complete assignments, they feel that they have
achieved tangible results and are achievement-motivated to tackle the
next assignment.
ii. Receive adequate recognition for their achievements. Recognition
reinforces feelings of worth, especially when recognition comes from
leaders who can influence the person’s future.
iii. Feel they have worthwhile contributions toward the group objective,
that they perform satisfactorily, that they understand in what way
they fail, and also receive adequate help to improve. Workers are
likely to become achievement-motivated when they can readily
understand the contribution their work makes towards the achievement
of the organizational goals.
iv. Find the job itself challenging, demanding their best efforts, with
responsibilities that match their capacities. Workers consistently
challenged to stretch their abilities and skills to achieve are more
achievement-motivated than those who know their work so well that they
do not have to put forth additional effort to accomplish it.
v. Have the opportunity to develop their potential so they can advance
in experience and skills. Achievement-minded leaders recognize
workers who have potential and show more interest in advancing their
careers than those only interest in having a job.

The Challenge of Leadership for the Youth of Today Page | 22


CAGAYAN STATE UNIVERSITY
NATIONAL SERVICE TRAINING PROGRAM
Civic Welfare Training Service

LEARNING TASK/S:

To be printed & submitted . Use A4 bond paper

1. Copy and paste a picture of a leader whom you admire. Identify their significant
contributions to their community or to the society. Identify their qualities/character that
made them good leaders. At least 5 – 6 sentences.

Rubric:

4 points- depth of reflection


4 points- quality of information/evidence
2 points- mechanics

2. Reflect on the following:

a. What is your preferred leadership style?


b. Is it possible to use/adopt all types of leadership styles?

Rubric:

5 points- content
3 points- relevance and organization of thoughts
2 points- mechanics

REFERENCES:

For additional references you can go to the following link:

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_41.htm

https://www.youthdoit.org/themes/leadership/qualities-of-a-leader/?
gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0c3o4O6H6gIVacEWBR2TugbfEAAYASAAEgK_ifD_BwE

https://www.deped.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/FM-Module-3-Leadership-Teamwork-
1.pdf

The Challenge of Leadership for the Youth of Today Page | 23

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