Unit I LDC

HRM 6306, Leadership Development and Coaching 1

Course Learning Outcomes for Unit I

Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

1. Differentiate between leadership development and coaching skills. 1.1 Perform a leadership skills assessment. 1.2 Recognize primary leadership skills for development.

Course/Unit Learning Outcomes

Learning Activity

1.1, 1.2

Unit Lesson Leadership 2.0: Chapter 1 Emotional Intelligence 2.0: Chapter 1 Unit I Discussion Board/Journal

Required Unit Resources

Leadership 2.0:

Chapter 1: Leadership 2.0

Emotional Intelligence 2.0:

Chapter 1: The Journey

Unit Lesson

Introduction

Leadership development and coaching has been a topic of interest throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Numerous books have been written on the topic, sharing the authors’ opinions of leadership, management, and how to develop the necessary skills to be an effective leader. The definition of leadership is almost as unique as the individual presenting the definition. Leadership and management are often confused as the same activity, therefore, adding to the variety of definitions and skills required to master both functions. Leadership has been defined as how an individual influences a group or a team to accomplish specific goals and objectives (Northhouse, 2019). Management, on the other hand, is the skill aligned with processes and procedures that may provide guidance toward a goal or objective.

As the study of leadership has progressed, the number of leadership styles identified has increased. Basic leadership styles once included transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire; however, the list of leadership styles has evolved into numerous approaches toward leadership. Authentic leadership, servant leadership, adaptive leadership, situational approach, and trait approach are just a few of the leadership styles segmented from the three aforementioned basic styles of leadership (Northouse, 2019). As you progress through the course, your perception of leadership, management, and coaching will be important to the development of your skills and behaviors to become an effective and persuasive leader.

The identification of a primary leadership style and leadership behaviors will be one of your objectives during this unit. Leaders tend to gravitate toward a primary leadership style to which much work has been devoted. However, leaders often combine numerous leadership skills and behaviors to build a leadership toolbox, creating a variety of approaches and strategies to meet the needs of situations faced in the normal activity of

UNIT I STUDY GUIDE

Leadership Style Assessment and Profile

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Title leading individuals and large teams to meet goals and objectives set by organizations. Building a leadership toolbox is a key component of success and a goal that all leaders should embrace.

Bradberry and Greaves (2012) defined core leadership skills as the skills and behaviors that increase the possibility of success for individuals in leadership positions. They further indicated three primary functions of core leadership, which are strategy, action, and results. These core functions create a dynamic set of skills within each attribute, unique from one another, yet bound together by the behaviors of a well-rounded and experienced leader. A review of these core functions is warranted, uncovering the key components related to the successful application of a leadership skill.

Strategy

Strategy is an activity that looks beyond tomorrow, next week, and even next month. Strategy is the action of planning 1 year, 5 years, and beyond the foreseeable future. Strategy is the ability to know where you want to end up, yet the path is not obvious or clear. Leaders who can recognize the applicable trends appearing on the horizon and develop plans either to join the effort or avoid the pitfalls hold a strategic skill uncommon to new or inexperienced leaders. Strategic leaders may have a “trust your gut” philosophy, yet the uncommon feat of making the right decision at the right time is based on more than a feeling. Bradberry and Greaves (2012) indicate that vision, acumen, planning, and the courage to lead create an environment where one is viewed as a strategic leader.

Vision: Vision is the ability to recognize and set a direction for the actions required to maintain the desired course in the future. If you consider a ship traveling across the ocean, the captain can only see about 12 miles in the distance—the distance to the horizon. How does the captain know to guide the ship? Maybe he or she uses experience from traveling the same path; using maps, charts, and reports; or just watching the horizon for signs that could influence the decision to continue or to change direction. In all cases, the captain holds to a vision of completing the trip successfully. Furthermore, a well-communicated vision creates confidence in the leader’s ability to lead an individual, team, or an entire organization towards a successful result.

Just as important as a vision may be, the ability to recognize the conditions when a vision is missing or lacking in substance is important to future success. The lack of a clear vision can create confusion, misdirection, and poor results. Leaders without a clear and well-communicated vision create the appearance of someone who is not committed for the long haul (Bradberry & Greaves, 2012).

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Acumen: Acumen is a leader’s knowledge of the organization from the front door to the receiving door, and from the basement to the executive suites on the top floor. Leaders who exhibit this trait are often said to see the organization from a 30,000 foot view (Bradberry & Greaves, 2012). From this height, leaders can see the opportunities, along with the pitfalls. Acumen indicates a leader has an eye on the competition and evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of each competitor. In addition, leaders with acumen review industry reports, attend organizationally related conferences, and track the news for any signs of change coming toward the organization.

Acumen is also the industry knowledge gained over years of personal and professional experience and from the world at large (Bradberry & Greaves, 2012). Leaders must search for trends in the primary and related industries that may impact the organization. Leaders who seemingly can predict the future are just leaning on past experiences and the acumen developed from years of watching the reactions of other leaders respond to past issues. Leaders who lack acumen typically focus on the day-to-day operations, missing the bigger picture—the 30,000-foot view of the organization. In addition, leaders who lack acumen appear to have a limited knowledge of the specific industry and the internal workings of the business (Bradberry & Greaves, 2012).

Planning: You may be familiar with the saying, “Businesses, or people, that fail to plan, plan to fail.” Planning is a primary component of any strategy. Without planning, how does a leader accomplish the mission, move toward the vision, and reach the desired outcome? The answer is the mission is not accomplished, and therefore, the goals and objections are not achieved. Planning must include the allocation and requisition of sufficient resources to accomplish the mission and vision. Bradberry and Greaves (2012) indicate seven important strategies when planning to reduce the chance of failure. The strategies include focusing on the big picture, knowing the players, being realistic, grinding it out, not running too lean, expecting the unexpected, and setting and checking against milestones.

Focusing on the bigger picture has been previously mentioned, as leaders with vision and acumen always concentrate on the larger scale of operations. Leaders must know and focus on the skill set of all team members, ensuring the necessary people on the team accomplish the objectives. Bradberry and Greaves (2012) note that accurately assessing the talents of all personnel involved is a primary component of success or failure. Planning should always be realistic. Trying to achieve goals that are not achievable can lead to disappointment, discouragement, and a non-committed team. Planning goals and objectives should be challenging but within the capabilities of the team and within the confines of available resources. Regardless of how talented a team may be, without the necessary resources, success may be impossible to achieve.

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UNIT x STUDY GUIDE

Title Grinding it out may requires extra inspiration, further work, and additional resources to achieve success. Leaders who expect the unexpected plan for situations that may require additional effort by each team member. Leaders should avoid planning for failure but should plan to overcome any potential failure in the process. In addition, leaders who run an operation too lean risk creating gaps in the talent pool. Although planning usually requires a budget, ensuring sufficient contingency plans and funds are available is a strategy that leaders with acumen and vision include on a regular basis. Finally, planning should always include measurable milestones (Bradberry & Greaves, 2012). Milestones are developed during the planning process to ensure that success is in the desired direction. Discovering that a task has an undesired outcome can create confusion and mistrust of the leader’s abilities.

Courage to lead: Strong leaders must have the courage to lead, to stand out among the crowd, and to remain fearless in the face of opposition and dissent. When strategies take courage to embrace and implement, leaders must stand strong, avoiding the call to abandon a vision or mission that appears to be too difficult. Courageous leaders view adversity as a challenge to one’s ability to lead and a test to move forward in a greater sense of purpose (Bradberry & Greaves, 2012).

Courageous leaders stand behind a decision, move forward in the face of fear, demand discipline, have a strong voice, do the right things, let people do the job, do not make excuses, take risks, address conflict, and challenge the status quo (Bradberry & Greaves, 2012). Courageous leaders may not have a strong level of accomplishment of each of the mentioned attributes; however, 100% of courageous leaders hold an acceptable level of achievement in each of these characteristics. If an individual could focus in only one area of leadership development, being a courageous leader would be a primary focus of training.

References

Bradberry, T., & Greaves, J. (2012). Leadership 2.0. TalentSmart. https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780974320694

Northouse, P. (2019). Leadership. Theory and practice (8th ed.). Sage.

Suggested Unit Resources

In order to access the following resources, click the links below.

The following article discusses the leadership style of Southwest Airlines’ chief executive officer (CEO). The leadership team has transformed the airline, and, with this leadership, Southwest has become a player in the tough airline industry.

Cote, R. (2018). Leadership analysis: Southwest airlines - Herb Kelleher, CEO. Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics, 15(1), 113–124. https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dire ct=true&db=asn&AN=131191007&site=ehost-live&scope=site

The following article focuses on the history of leadership and how leadership has progressed over the years. With technological advancements, leaders have had to take on different roles in the organization and guide the change.

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Forsyth, B., & Maranga, K. (2018). The spirit of leadership: Past, present and future. Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics, 15(2), 66–72. https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dire ct=true&db=asn&AN=131673278&site=ehost-live&scope=site

The following article provides great information about developing a leadership vision and the importance of developing your leadership skills.

Gonzalez, N. (2017, November). Build a leadership vision. Strategic Finance, 22–24. https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dire ct=true&db=asn&AN=126002816&site=ehost-live&scope=site

The following article provides the definition of authentic leadership and offers guidelines to become an effective, authentic leader.

Jones, S., & Block, D. (2018). What is authentic leadership? Answering the eight leadership questions. Effective Executive, 21(3), 71–76. https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dire ct=true&db=bsu&AN=133636409&site=ehost-live&scope=site

The following article focuses on improving strategic leadership theories by adding the element of leadership intelligence. The author felt that existing leadership theory was too narrowly focused and that it lacked the important characteristic of intelligence.

Keeton, W. (2018). Command, leadership, intelligence and management (CLIM): A proposed theory for improved strategic leadership. FIIB Business Review, 7(2), 146–151. https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dire ct=true&db=bsu&AN=131674210&site=ehost-live&scope=site

The following video takes a look at everyday leadership at its most basic level, influencing a person’s life in some way. This can be a great place to start building your leadership skills. The transcript for this video can be found by clicking on “Transcript” in the gray bar at the top of the video in the Films on Demand database.

TED (Producer). (2012). TedTalks: Drew Dudley—Everyday leadership [Video]. Films on Demand. https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?auth=CAS&url=https://fod.infobase.com/PortalPl aylists.aspx?wID=273866&xtid=52942

Learning Activities (Nongraded)

Nongraded Learning Activities are provided to aid students in their course of study. You do not have to submit them. If you have questions, contact your instructor for further guidance and information.

This Unit I Matching Activity covers some important terminology from Unit I (PDF of Unit I Matching Activity).