PFL_CS3

LDR 6301, Psychological Foundations of Leadership 1

Course Learning Outcomes for Unit III Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

3. Examine influences on leadership success. 3.1 Examine the importance of behavior as a leader.

5. Differentiate leadership styles.

5.1 Explain the importance of collaborative skills using emerging, relevant leadership styles. 5.2 Explain how using different leadership styles can help a leader grow.

Required Unit Resources Chapter 1: The Nature and Importance of Leadership Chapter 4: Leadership Behaviors, Attitudes, and Styles Unit Lesson

Introduction Welcome to Unit III! Having completed our examination of influence tactics used by leaders in Unit II, we now will explore influences on leadership success. Continuing in context of the four psychological foundations of leadership (i.e., social, cognitive, organization and industrial), we will evaluate some of the critical factors essential to leadership efficacy. First, we will embark upon determining the importance of effective communication in a variety of modes by the leader in a host of situations, where critical issues must be addressed for the forward sustainability of the organization. Given some of the most pressing issues of today, we will investigate how both the quality and frequency of communication is essential for a leader to win. We will analyze and ascertain the need for a leader to possess and demonstrate high quality collaborative skills supported by emerging, relevant leadership theories. Finally, we will address the importance of maintaining consistency of behavior by leaders to achieve and earn the trust of followers with lasting influence.

Effective Leadership Communication To begin, we might ask, “What constitutes effective leadership communication?” Kouzes and Posner (2017) suggest that effective leader communication results in capturing the imagination of followers by creating a shared vision of success for the organization. As a genesis point establishing a channel that serves as a multidimensional conduit, the leader generates excitement and enthusiasm, which leads to inspired motivation. In order to influence followers to achieve a set of goals that are necessary for success, communication is the lifeblood that flows throughout the organization. Sharing an inspired vision and recognizing the power of the followers to transform imagination into reality are key. Beyond verbal communication, a leader must be capable of effective active listening to provide followers with an open forum to engage, speak, and provide feedback. The drive of the leader to influence the organization will be strengthened by the synergy gained and enabled by follower trust. In recent times, the COVID-19 pandemic, contentious U.S. presidential politics, and emergent weather disasters have called for new frames of leadership. While social media has provided efficient, expedited channels for many leaders to communicate, there is no replacement for physical presence to convey the encouragement and call to action necessary to address the many challenges inherent with the aforementioned circumstances. Next, we will consider how the collaborative skill set of a leader embracing emerging leadership theories is essential for influence resulting in organizational success.

UNIT III STUDY GUIDE Leadership Behaviors

LDR 6301, Psychological Foundations of Leadership 2

UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title

Collaboration Collaboration necessitates assembly, open communication, freedom to speak, and conveyance of ideas without fear or for retribution, and it must be supported by encouragement and guidance in order to obtain an unrelenting focus on ac the achievement of successful outcomes. Shelton (2016) posits that collaboration is enabled in the sphere of an organization through recognizing and encouraging the free flow of communication supported by speed and agility of delivery and response. Further, collaboration is supported by several different types of emerging leadership theories, namely transformational and charismatic. Both of these leadership styles place followers in an environment with a sense of ease, which leads to a willingness to share thoughts openly and quality brainstorming in quest of solutions to address issues of concern faced by the organization. Charismatic leaders are marked by a sense of willingness to commit holistically to the cause even where the need for personal sacrifice is necessitated. In addition, transformational leaders drive change. They demonstrate an unrelenting focus upon refusal to accept the status quo. Both of these leadership styles enable the development of confidence in followers that removes barriers and opens pathways to success. Next, we will investigate the importance of consistent behavior by leaders in order to influence followers in quest of achieving the shared vision.

Consistent Behavior Followers look to leaders for consistency in behavior. After personal reflection, each of you should recall a circumstance where a leader that you followed was placed in a dire situation. How did that leader respond? Were they prepared to deal with the issue? Did the leader speak with confidence? If the outcome was less than you expected, what do you believe was the root cause of leadership failure? Leaders achieve their position through gaining the trust and confidence of their followers and subordinates. There is little-to-no time for inconsistency, despite the challenges of human nature. The following video provides a real-life application of consistent behavior. A transcript and closed captioning are available once you access the video.

LDR 6301, Psychological Foundations of Leadership 3

UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title

Summary In this unit, we reflected upon various influences upon leadership success. First, we reflected upon the importance of effective communication for the leader when critical issues emerge. Second, we examined the challenges associated with initiating and maintaining effective collaboration and the consequent need for deployment of emerging leadership styles, such as charismatic and transformation. Finally, we investigated through experiential sharing the importance of consistency and behavior of a leader during times of trial.

References Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2017). The leadership challenge (6th ed.). Wiley. Shelton, R. (2016, June 30). These five behaviors can create an innovation culture. Strategy + Business.

https://www.strategy-business.com/blog/These-Five-Behaviors-Can-Create-an-Innovation- Culture?gko=d96ba