Leadership

John Collins
 What is Leadership
The ability to create a strategic vision and motivate
a group or organization to unite and successfully
maximize their efforts towards the achievement
common goal or cause.

Requires a blend of different styles, characteristics,

competencies, and skills

Management is not the same as Leadership

Importance of Leadership
In the absence of leadership it is difficult to
coordinate the efforts of individuals
o Few great accomplishments are based solely on a single person

Personally proficiency in leading others is necessary

to achieve my goals
o Near term goal to become General Manager
o Long term goal to become business owner or president of a small
business.

o Successful investments enable early retirement

Give back to the community
E.g. being on boards of non profits or charities.
Leadership Competencies
Strategic Planning Motivating Others
Business Acumen Sizing up People
Decision Making Learn on the Fly
Drive for Results Integrity and Trust
Managing and Interpersonal Savvy
Measuring Work Managerial Courage
Dealing with Ambiguity Keeping current with
Organizational Agility technological trends
Developing Reports
 Four Types of leaders
Mode one: Technical Leaders are old-school
command-and-control managers. Theyre
uncomfortable with uncertainty.
Mode two: Cooperative Leaders foster teamwork
and collaboration.
Mode three: Collaborative Leaders embrace
conflict, risk and failure.
Mode four: Generative leaders are quick to learn
new ways of thinking and just as quick to discard
old ways of behaving.
 Generative Leaders
Identify the type of problem
Know when its time to learn and when its time to
decide
Remain flexible about how goals are achieved
Behave with emotional intelligence
Look for diversity
Learn constantly
Seek uncertainty and ambiguity, and rewards will follow
Know how to solve all types of problems
Listen and talk like a generative leader
Pull, dont push
Dump the rules that no longer apply
7 Transformations of Ldrs
Action Logic Characteristics Strengths Profile %
Wins any way possible. Self-oriented; Good in Emergencies and in
Opportunist 5%
manipulative; might makes right sales opportunities
Avoids overt conflict. Wants to belong; Good as supportive glue within
Diplomat obeys group norms; rarely rocks the an office; helps bring people 12%
boat together
Rules by logic and expertise. Seeks Good as an individual
Expert 38%
rational efficiency contributor
Meets strategic goals. Effectively
Well suited to managerial roles;
Achiever achieves goals through teams; juggles 30%
action and goal oriented
managerial duties and market demands
Interweaves competing personal and
company action logics. Creates unique Effective in venture and
Individualist 10%
structures to resolve gaps between consulting roles
strategy and performance
Generates organizational and personal
transformations. Exercises the power of
Effective as a transformational
Strategist mutual inquiry, vigilance, and 4%
leader
vulnerability for both the short and long
term
Generates social transformations.
Good at leading society-wide
Alchemist Integrates material, spiritual, and 1%
transformations
societal transformation
 Level 5 Leadership
Level 5
Executive
Builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical combination of
personal humility plus professional will.
Level 4
Effective Leader
Catalyzes commitment to a vigorous pursuit of a clear and
compelling vision and are able to stimulate the group to high
performance standards
Level 3
Competent Managers
Organizes people and resources toward the effective and
efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives.

Level 2
Contributing Team Members
Contributes to the achievement of group activities; works
effectively with others in a group setting
Level 1
Highly Capable Individuals
Makes productive contributions through talent, knowledge,
skills and good work habits
 The Work of Leadership
Adaptive work is required when a companys deeply held beliefs are
challenged, and when values that made them successful become less relevant

Get on the Balcony

Identify the adaptive challenge
Regulate distress
Maintain disciplined attention
Give the work back to people
Protect the voices of leadership from below
 Exercise #1
Objective: Reflect on how someone who has positively
influenced your life and the lives of the team and using that
insight to adopt those best practices into your management
style

In a small group, share a story about an individual

you consider being a high-performing leader. Think
about the characteristics, behaviors, attitudes and
values you admire the most.
1. How have you changed your leadership style as a result of that leaders
influence?
2. Have someone in your group capture a few of the common themes.
3. You have 10 minutes to complete this exercise.
 Exercise #2
Objective: Taking a step back and gaining a
broader self awareness of how others might
perceive your leadership style.

Think about, and take notes on how someone who

has worked with or for you might describe your
leadership style to others.
o Most people are their own worst critics. Its natural to think first about the
things we would like to improve.
o Self-reflection is a useful exercise for adjusting our realities. Whether you
find strengths or weaknesses, its good to periodically make sure that the
expectations you have for others are those that you demonstrate yourself.
 Exercise #3
Objective: Powerfully demonstrate the importance of interpersonal
and leadership skills in all management and supervisory positions

Get a group of managers together. Ask them each to privately list 10

things that make them good at their jobsqualities they have or
things they know. When they are finished open the discussion by
recording their answers on a whiteboard or flipchart in two
categories:
1. Technical skills they possess (if they are engineers, anything related to
engineering knowledge; if they are insurance managers, anything related
to insurance knowledge, etc.)
2. Skills related to dealing with people (good communicator, approachable,
positive attitude, democratic, etc.)