MODULE 3: The Challenge of Leadership for the Youth of Today

a. Basic concept of Leadership

b. Different factors of effective leadership
c. Leadership skills, values, and styles
Topics: d. Characteristics and development of effective teams
e. Various roles and skills of effective teams
f. Characteristics of effective team leaders
g. 15 Leadership Qualities that make Good Leaders

a.
Learning Outcomes: At the end of this module, you are expected to:

1. Learn the basic concept of leadership and what legitimates an individual to lead
2. Know and understand the different factors of effective leadership
3. Gain proper leadership skills, leadership virtues, and styles for them to become effective leaders in the
future to contribute to national growth and development.
4. Demonstrate understanding of the characteristics and development of effective teams.
5. Explore and identify the various roles and skills of team members in building effective teams.
6. Examine the characteristics of effective team leaders and their impact on team development
7. Enumerate 15 leadership qualities that make good leaders

INTRODUCTION:
Imagine a company with thousands of workers that have seen sales drop in each of the past five years.
The president of the company steps down, and a new president is installed. Several years later, the
company makes a profit, and everyone hails the new president as the reason for the improvement.
Now imagine a football team with a winning record in each of the last ten years. The team’s coach
leaves for another school, and the team loses the majority of its games in the next few years.
In both of these examples, a new leader took over. In the first example, the organization became more
successful, whereas in the second example, the team went into decline. How much of the organization’s
performance can be attributed to the leader? If the leader was the major cause of the changes in
performance, why was one leader successful and the other a failure? These are just some of the
questions that will be addressed in this module.
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.
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
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

Concept and Characteristics of Leadership

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

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:

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

2. Achievement: scholarship, knowledge, accomplishments
3. Responsibility: dependability, initiative, persistence, aggressiveness, self-confidence, desire to excel
4. Participation: activity, sociability, cooperation, adaptability, humor
5. Status: socio-economic position, popularity
6. Situation: mental ability, skills, needs and interests of followers, objectives to be achieved, and tasks to
be performed
 LEADERSHIP STYLES
The Three Elements. Leadership involves an inter-relationship among three elements:

 The qualities, skills, and needs of the leader.

 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.

Leadership is Situational. Leadership styles change from group to group and from situation to
situation. Exercising strong directive power provides effective leadership when the group lacks 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.
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.
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.

Leadership Patterns

1. 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.
2. Persuading. – Leaders make decisions and try to persuade group members to accept them. They
point out that they have considered the organization's goals and the interests of group members.
They even point out how members will benefit from carrying out decisions
3. 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.
4. Participating. - Leaders participate as members in the discussion and agree in advance to carry out
whatever decision the group makes.
5. 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.

FACTORS AFFECTING LEADERSHIP STYLES

Personality of Leaders
 Value systems: This refers to the belief and upbringing of the leader, which eventually
has an effect on how he directs, leads, and decides.
 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.
 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.
 Feelings of Security in Uncertain Situations: Leaders who release control over the
decision-making process reduce the predictability of outcomes.

Personality of Group Members. Leaders also need to understand the individual

differences of each individual within the organization.

Nature of the Task. Critical pressures on leaders include the following:

 The Problem Themselves: Do members have the needed knowledge? Do the
complexities of the problems require special experience, competence, or a one-person
solution?
 The Pressure of Time: The more leaders feel 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.

Nature of the Environment

 Structure of the Organization: Organizations have values and traditions that influence
the behavior of the people who work in them.
 Outside Pressures: These pressures include social, economic, and political situations.
 COMPARING LEADERSHIP STYLES
Authoritarian Style shows certain characteristics, such as:
 Generally strong-willed, domineering, and aggressive.
 Have their own way, which for them, seems the only way.
 Look upon subordinates as subjects than persons, and the best subordinates, follow
directions without questions.
 Not ready to listen to views and suggestions of others, if they offer different opinions
 Do not encourage equal relationships. They do not allow themselves to get close to
employees.
 have business-like and task-oriented attitudes. The job comes first.
 Blame poor results on the inability of others to carry out instructions correctly.

Democratic or Participative Style demonstrates the following:

 Generally concerned with maintaining group effectiveness as with completing the task
to be done.
 Encourage members in their groups to express their ideas and feelings because
they believe that such a climate leads to greater creativity and commitment.
 Seek the help of the group in removing resistance or resolving the conflicts.
 Encourage joint decision-making as well as shared goal setting.
 Set policies without explaining the reasons and proposing them to their groups,
when they can, for suggestions and criticism.
 Believe that responsibility for getting a job done depends as much on the group.
 Allow group members as good deal of freedom in their work, once they have shown
their ability to do it.
 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
 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.
 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
 To clearly know their responsibilities.
 To have feedback about their performance.
 Recognition and appreciation of their contribution
 Opportunities to develop their talents and potentialities.

EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP

To be effective, leaders must aim to satisfy the three areas of need:

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:
 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.
 Planning necessary activities: They must decide what to do to achieve the end results.
 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.
 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.
 Clarifying responsibilities and accountability: They must clearly define all delegated
responsibilities, authority, and relationships and then coordinate them.
 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
 Developing cooperation: Leaders should thoroughly explain the results they want and their
expectations of every individual and group affected.
 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
Build the Team. Characteristics of effective teamwork
 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.
 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.
 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 the nature of the 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.
 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.
1. Mutual Trust. Teamwork requires trust and openness so that members can state their views and
differences openly without fear of ridicule or retaliation.
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.
 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.
 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.
 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.
 INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT

For leaders to have a sense of satisfaction, leaders must see to it that they:

1. 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.
2. Receive adequate recognition for their
achievements. Recognition reinforces feelings of worth, especially
when recognition comes from leaders who can influence the person’s
future.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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 interested in having a job.

15 Leadership Qualities that Make Good Leaders

Everybody defines leadership differently but I really like the way John C Maxwell defines
leadership, “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way.” Irrespective of how
you define a leader, he or she can prove to be a difference-maker between success and failure.
A good leader has a futuristic vision and knows how to turn his ideas into real-world success
stories. In this article, we take an in-depth look at some of the important leadership qualities
that separate good leaders from bad ones.

Want to become a great leader? Here are fifteen leadership qualities that can make you a
good leader.

1. Honesty and Integrity

The 34th President of United States, Dwight.D.Eisenhower once

said, “The supreme quality of leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without
it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section
gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.” Honesty and
integrity are two important ingredients that make a good leader. How can you expect your
followers to be honest when you lack these qualities yourself? Leaders succeed when they
stick to their values and core beliefs and without ethics, this will not be possible.

2. Confidence
To be an effective leader, you should be confident enough to ensure
that other follow your commands. If you are unsure about your own
decisions and qualities, then your subordinates will never follow you.
As a leader, you have to be oozing with confidence, show some swagger and assertiveness
to gain the respect of your subordinates. This does not mean that you should be
overconfident, but you should at least reflect the degree of confidence required to ensure
that your followers trust you as a leader.

3. Inspire Others
Probably the most difficult job for a leader is to persuade
others to follow. It can only be possible if you inspire your
followers by setting a good example. When the going gets
tough, they look up to you and see how you react to the
situation. If you handle it well, they will follow you. As a
leader, should think positive and this positive approach
should be visible through your actions. Stay calm under pressure and keep the motivation
level up. As John Quincy Adams puts it, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do
more and become more, you are a leader.” If you are successful in inspiring your subordinates, you
can easily overcome any current and future challenge easily.

4. Commitment and Passion

Your teams look up to you and if you want them to give them
their all, you will have to be passionate about it too. When your
teammates see you getting your hands dirty, they will also give
their best shot. It will also help you to gain the respect of your
subordinates and infuse new energy in your team members, which helps them to perform
better. If they feel that you are not fully committed or lacks passion, then it would be an
uphill task for the leader to motivate your followers to achieve the goal.
 5. Good Communicator
Until you clearly communicate your vision to your team and tell
them the strategy to achieve the goal, it will be very difficult for
you to get the results you want. Simply put, if you are unable to
communicate your message effectively to your team, you can
never be a good leader. A good communicator can be a good leader. Words have the power
to motivate people and make them do the unthinkable. If you use them effectively, you can
also achieve better results.

6. Decision-Making Capabilities
Apart from having a futuristic vision, a leader should have the
ability to take the right decision at the right time. Decisions taken
by leaders have a profound impact on masses. A leader should
think long and hard before taking a decision but once the decision is
taken, stand by it. Although most leaders take decisions on their
own, it is highly recommended that you consult key stakeholders before taking a decision.
After all, they are the ones who will benefit or suffer from your decisions.

7. Accountability
When it comes to accountability, you need to follow the
approach highlighted by Arnold H Glasow when he said, “A good
leader takes little more than his share of the blame and little less than his
share of the credit.” Make sure that every one of your
subordinates is accountable for what they are doing. If they do
well, give them a pat on the back but if they struggle, make
them realize their mistakes and work together to improve. Holding them accountable for
their actions will create a sense of responsibility among your subordinates and they will go
about the business more seriously.

8. Delegation and Empowerment

You cannot do everything, right. It is important for a leader to
focus on key responsibilities while leaving the rest to others.
By that, I mean empowering your followers and delegating
tasks to them. If you continue to micromanage your
subordinates, it will develop a lack of trust and more importantly, you will not be able to
focus on important matters, as you should be. Delegate tasks to your subordinates and see
how they perform. Provide them with all the resources and support they need to achieve the
objective and give them a chance to bear the responsibility.

9. Creativity and Innovation

What separates a leader from a follower? Steve Jobs, the
greatest visionary of our time answers this question this
way, “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” In
order to get ahead in today’s fast-paced world, a leader
must be creative and innovative at the same time. Creative
thinking and constant innovation are what make you and your team stand out from the
crowd. Think out of the box to come up with unique ideas and turn those ideas and goals
into reality.

10. Empathy
Last but certainly not least, is empathy. Leaders should develop
empathy with their followers. Unfortunately, most leaders follow a
dictatorial style and neglect empathy altogether. Due to this, they
fail to make a closer connection with their followers. Understanding
the problems of your followers and feeling their pain is the first step to become an effective
leader. Even that is not enough until you work hard and provide your followers with a
suitable solution to their problems.
 11. Resilience
When the going gets tough, the tough get going. You might have
heard this adage many times, but did you know that great leaders
also follow this rule. They are resilient and have a positive attitude.
Irrespective of how difficult the circumstances might be, you will
find them rallying their followers. While most people are busy in complaining about the
problems, great leaders always focus on solutions, not the problems.

12. Emotional Intelligence

Good leaders always have higher influence but how do they
increase their influence on the point where people accept
what they say. They do this by connecting with people
emotionally. That is where emotional intelligence comes into
play.

Here are some of the reasons why a leader should be emotionally intelligent.

 Manage emotions effectively

 Better social awareness
 Seamless communications
 Conflict Resolution
With emotional intelligence, leaders can control their emotions, which prevents negative
emotions from influencing their decision-making skills. As a result, they are less likely to
make hasty decisions. Moreover, emotionally intelligent leaders are great at understanding
emotions and care about the feelings of others. That is not all, leaders who have this
leadership quality not only handle conflict in a better way but also play an important role in
conflict resolution.
13. Humility
“Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real.”—Thomas Merton

How would you feel when you are promoted to leadership status? You will feel proud. A good
leader is always selfless and always think about his or her followers. That is why
the leadership styles most great leaders adopt put lots of emphasis on problem-solving and
team dynamics instead of focusing on self-promotion.

14. Transparency
One of the best ways to win the trust of your followers is by
being transparent. Instead of hiding information, you should
openly share it with them. By giving visibility to your followers,
they will buy into your vision and support you with conviction in
achieving the goal. More importantly, it gives your followers
clarity, autonomy and makes them feel more empowered while keeping them engaged.

15. Vision and Purpose

Good leaders always have a vision and purpose. They not only
visualize the future themselves but also share their vision with
their followers. When their followers were able to see the big
picture, they can see where they are heading. A great leader
goes above and beyond and explain why they are moving in the
direction they are moving and shares the strategy and action plan to achieve that goal.