Week 4-Discussion 1

Learning Resources

Being Humble

Strong leadership is not about power or coercion. Have you ever witnessed a manager or CEO of a company have an arrogant disposition toward a mistake made within a company, refusing to take responsibility and making life difficult for anyone who resists their tirade? How would your reaction to that circumstance compare to a leader who humbly took responsibility for the mistake regardless of who was at fault and made measured steps to correcting the issues? These resources examine how being a humble leader is an effective leadership trait.

· Hayes, M., & Comer, M. (2011).  Lead with humilityLinks to an external site. .  Leadership Excellence,  28(9), 13.

· Mayo, M. (2017, April 7).  If humble people make the best leaders, why do we fall for charismatic narcissists?   Harvard Business Review Digital Articles, 2–5. http://hbr.org

· Wang, Y., Liu, J., & Zhu, Y. (2018).  Humble leadership, psychological safety, knowledge sharing, and follower creativity: A cross-level investigationLinks to an external site. .  Frontiers in Psychology,  9, 1727. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01727

Being Trustworthy

Trust of a leader is an important element in promoting followership. Imagine if you discovered that a customer of your company was accidentally overcharged, and you told your supervisor about it. How would you feel if the supervisor then told you to just keep quiet about it? What if the supervisor immediately refunded the money and offered an additional discount as an apology? As you review these resources, ask yourself: Can I effectively follow a leader that I do not trust or one who has been shown to be dishonest?

· Meinert, D. (2018, June–August).  Why trust matters: When employees are fearful, innovation and creativity sufferLinks to an external site. .  HR Magazine,  63(5), 18–19.

· Su, A. J. (2019, December 16).  Do you really trust your team? (And do they trust you?) .  Harvard Business Review Digital Articles, 1–7. http://hbr.org

· Zenger, J., & Folkman, J. (2019, February 5).  The 3 elements of trust .  Harvard Business Review Digital Articles, 2–5. http://hbr.org

The Art of Questioning

Have you ever been part of an organization where you (and everyone else) were afraid to ask questions to people in positions of authority? These resources examine the role of questioning by both leaders and followers, including how it can improve communication and lead to more effective decisions. As you review these resources, consider how asking questions promotes dialog between leaders and followers and what the impacts of having that dialog could be.

· Bregman, P. (2019, January 21).  The best leaders aren’t afraid to ask for help .  Harvard Business Review Digital Articles, 2–4. http://hbr.org

· Brooks, A. W., & John, L. K. (2018, May–June).  The surprising power of questions: It goes far beyond exchanging information .  Harvard Business Review, 96(3), 60–67.

· Grassl, W. (2018, July–September).  Good leaders ask dumb questions: Leadership traits in defense of asking the obviousLinks to an external site. .  Nonprofit World,  36(3), 27.

Optional Resources

· OASIS: Academic Skills Center. (n.d.).  Microsoft PowerPoint Links to an external site. . Walden University. https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/academic-skills-center/microsoft-office/powerpoint