Portfolio 4

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Observational Exercise

Leadership Skills

Purpose

1. To develop an understanding of different types of leadership skills

2. To examine how leadership skills affect a leader’s performance

Directions

1. Your task in this exercise is to observe a leader and evaluate that person’s leadership skills. This leader can be a supervisor, a manager, a coach, a teacher, a fraternity or sorority officer, or anyone who has a position that involves leadership.

2. For each of the groups of skills listed below, write what you observed about this leader.

Name of leader: ________________

Administrative skills	1	2	3	4	5
Managing people	Poor	Weak	Average	Good	Very good
Managing resources	Poor	Weak	Average	Good	Very good
Showing technical competence	Poor	Weak	Average	Good	Very good

Comments:

Interpersonal skills	1	2	3	4	5
Being socially perceptive	Poor	Weak	Average	Good	Very good
Showing emotional intelligence	Poor	Weak	Average	Good	Very good
Managing conflict	Poor	Weak	Average	Good	Very good

Comments:

Conceptual skills	1	2	3	4	5
Problem solving	Poor	Weak	Average	Good	Very good
Strategic planning	Poor	Weak	Average	Good	Very good
Creating vision	Poor	Weak	Average	Good	Very good

Comments:

Questions

1. Based on your observations, what were the leader’s strengths and weaknesses?

2. In what setting did this leadership example occur? Did the setting influence the kind of skills that the leader used? Discuss.

3. If you were coaching this leader, what specific things would you tell this leader about how he or she could

improve leadership skills? Discuss.

4. In another situation, do you think this leader would exhibit the same strengths and weaknesses? Discuss.

Reflection and Action Worksheet

Leadership Skills

Reflection

1. Based on what you know about yourself and the scores you received on the Leadership Skills Questionnaire in

the three areas (administrative, interpersonal, and conceptual), how would you describe your leadership skills?

Which specific skills are your strongest, and which are your weakest? What impact do you think your leadership

skills could have on your role as a leader? Discuss.

2. This chapter suggests that emotional intelligence is an interpersonal leadership skill. Discuss whether you

agree or disagree with this assumption. As you think about your own leadership, how do your emotions help or

hinder your role as a leader? Discuss.

3. This chapter divides leadership into three kinds of skills (administrative, interpersonal, and conceptual). Do you

think some of these skills are more important than others in some kinds of situations? Do you think lower levels

of leadership (e.g., supervisor) require the same skills as upper levels of leadership (e.g., CEO)? Discuss.

Action

1. One unique aspect of leadership skills is that they can be practiced. List and briefly describe three things you

could do to improve your administrative skills.

2. Leaders need to be socially perceptive. As you assess yourself in this area, identify two specific actions that

would help you become more perceptive of other people and their viewpoints. Discuss.

3. What kind of problem solver are you? Are you slow or quick to address problem situations? Overall, what two

things could you change about yourself to be a more effective problem solver?