IDENTIFYING AND DEVELOPING YOUR LEADERSHIP STRENGTHS

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Brad Burbaugh

Master Gardener Leadership Conference

June 2, 2016

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IDENTIFYING AND DEVELOPING YOUR LEADERSHIP STRENGTHS

Learning Objectives

Participants will:

1. Understand the difference between leader and leadership

development.

2. Assess their preferred leadership style.

3. Be able to identify behaviors of effective leaders.

4. Explain the key principles of strengths‐based leadership.

5. Identify personal leadership talents and strengths.

6. Create a plan that outlines strategies they will use to

leverage their personal strengths

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How Do You Define Leadership?

•Use template to create a personalized license plate that identifies a characteristic of leadership.

• Your plate may have a combination of up to seven letters, numbers, and/or special characters.

•Creativity is encouraged.

Define leadership using your personalized plate

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U LEAD

COOPR8

Why were our definitions so different?

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“The life stream represents events you accumulate from birth to the present that shape how you choose to influence others and

yourself.”

(Avolio, 2005, p. 12)

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The Life Stream

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“Leader and leadership development is a process,

not an event”(Day, 2000).

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Developmental Target

Comparison Dimension Leader Leadership

Capital Type Human Social

Leadership Model Individual

Personal power

Knowledge

Trustworthiness

Relational

Commitments

Mutual respect

Trust

Competence Base Intrapersonal Interpersonal

Skills Self‐Awareness

Emotional awareness

Self confidence

Accurate self‐image

Self‐Regulation

Self‐control

Personal responsibility

Trustworthiness

Adaptability

Self‐Motivation

Initiative

Commitment

Optimism

Social Awareness

Empathy

Service orientation

Political awareness

Social Skills

Building bonds

Team orientation

Change catalyst

Conflict management

(Day, 2000)

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Are leaders born or made?

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Are leaders born or made?

Born: One’s genetic composition that contributes the foundation for leadership development.

Made: Experiences, learning, and skills that contribute to effective and efficient leadership.

•Effective leaders are constantly learning ‐ they see all experiences as learning experiences (Kouzes & Posner, 1995).

•75% of the events that individuals report as criticalto their careers comes from a combination of learning from the work itself and learning from others (Dalton et al., 1999).

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LEADERS & LEARNING

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1. Attempt to lead

2. Observe leadership in action

3. Talk about leadership

4. Read about leadership

5. Write about leadership(Jackson & Parry, 2011)

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Five Ways to Learn

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“Leadership isn't just about the people at the top. It's a

social process”

(CCL, 2016, p. 2).

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Complete Blake & Mouton Leadership Style Assessment

Scoring your Assessment

You will have two scores for this exercise – a people total and a task total

For People Total Add Your Numbers from Questions:1, 4, 6, 9, 10, 12, 14, 16, 17 and multiply x 0.2

For Task Total Add Your Numbers from Questions:2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 11, 13, 15, 18 and multiply x 0.2

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The above sample shows score of 4 in the people section and a score of 6 in the task section.

The quad where the two lines intersect is your preferred leadership style, in this case – directing section.

Plotting Example

As a leader:

Focuses communication on goal achievement

Spends less time using supportive behaviors

Goal achievement instructions

what and how

close supervision

DIRECTING

High Task Low People

Directing Style

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COACHING

High Task High People

As a leader:

Focuses communication on:

goal achievement

supporting team needs

Involvement through encouragement and soliciting team input

Still makes final decision

Coaching Style

SUPPORTING

High People Low Task

As a leader:

Does not focus solely on goals

Uses supportive behaviors to bring out follower’s skills

listening

praising

asking for input

providing feedback

Delegates day‐to‐day decision‐making control

Supporting Style

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DELEGATING

Low People Low Task

As a leader:

offers less task input and social support

Lessens involvement in:

planning

control of details

goal clarification

Gives team members control

Refrains from intervention and unneeded social support

Delegating Style

How do effective leaders behave?

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Consideration: people‐oriented behavior

– Is mindful of subordinates

– Establishes mutual trust

– Provides open communication

– Develops teamwork


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•Leader exhibits concern for the welfare of the members of the group.

Being friendly and approachableTreating all members of the group equallyLooking out for welfare of othersMaking themselves accessible to group members

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Consideration

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Initiating Structure: task‐oriented behavior

– Directs subordinate work activities toward goal attainment

– Typically gives instructions, spends time planning, and emphasizes deadlines

– Provides explicit schedules of work activities


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•Leader defines leader and group member roles

•Initiates action•Organizes group activities•Defines how tasks are to be accomplished by the group

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INITIATING STRUCTURE

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• Effective behaviors do not generalize across situations.

• There is no one “best practice” for influencing and leading people.

• Your team members determine the leadership style that is needed.

• Leadership is SITUATIONAL.

Behavioral Approach Assumptions

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•We all have innate talents to be developed into strengths

•Leadership as a collective process

•Recommends different strengths for different leadership situations

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Strengths‐Based Leadership

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“What great leaders have in common is that each truly knows his or her strengths – and can call on the right

strength at the right time. This explains why there is no definitive list of characteristics that describes all leaders.”

‐ Donald O. Clifton, Gallup Researcher and Father of

Strengths Psychology

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Talents + Knowledge + Skills = Strength

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The Strength Equation

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Uncovering Your Strengths in 5 Questions

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Executing Influencing Relationship‐Building

Strategic‐Thinking

Achiever Activator Adaptability Analytical

Arranger Command Developer Context

Belief Communication Connectedness Futuristic

Consistency Competition Empathy Ideation

Deliberative Maximizer Harmony Input

Discipline Self‐Assurance Includer Intellection

Focus Significance Individualization Learner

Responsibility Woo Positivity Strategic

Restorative Relator

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The Four Domains of Leadership Strength

Description

•Know how to make things happen

•Have ability to “catch”an idea and make it happen

Talent Themes

•Achiever•Arranger•Belief•Consistency•Deliberative•Discipline•Focus•Responsibility•Restorative

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Executing Domain

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Talent Themes

•Adaptability•Developer• Connectedness• Empathy

•Harmony

• Includer• Individualization• Positivity• Relator

Description

•Provide essential glue that holds the team together

•Create groups and organizations that are much greater than the sum of their parts

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Relationship Building Domain

Description

•Keep us all focused on what could be

•Constantly absorbing and analyzing information and helping the team make better decisions

Talent Themes

•Analytical•Context•Futuristic• Ideation• Input• Intellection• Learner•Strategic

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Strategic Thinking Domain

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Talent Themes

•Activator•Command

•Communication

•Competition

•Maximizer

•Self‐Assurance•Significance•Woo

Description

•Help the team reach a broader audience

•Take charge, speak up, and make sure the group is heard

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Influencing Domain

According to Gallup’s research the most effective leaders:

1. Are always investing in strengths

2. Surround themselves with the right people and then maximize their team

3. Understand the needs of their team members

(Rath & Conchie, 2008)_____________________________________________________________

What to do with this info…

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•Membership diversity

•Identifying the strengths of others

•Being an effective leaderInitiating structureConsideration

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Keys to Building Effective Teams

•Trust

Chances of being engaged at work or in teams when an individual does not trust the leader(s) is just 1 in 12 (Rath & Conchie, 2008).

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FOLLOWERS’BASIC NEEDS

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•Compassion

Those who indicate “My supervisor, or someone on my team, seems to care about me as a person”are:

Significantly more likely to stay with the organization or team

Substantially more productive (Rath & Conchie, 2008)

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•Stability

Those with high confidence in their leaders are nine times more likely to be engaged in their jobs (Rath & Conchie, 2008).

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•Hope

Among those who disagreed that their company’s leadership made them “feel enthusiastic about the future,” only 1% were engaged in their jobs (Rath & Conhie, 2008).

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Understand the Needs of Your Team

Drive engagement by meeting the basic needs of trust, compassion, stability, and hope

Maximize the Team

Create a team with strengths across 4 key domains: Executing, Influencing, Relationship Building, and Strategic Thinking

Invest in Strengths

Understand your own strengths as well as those of the individuals on the team

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Strengths Based Leadership

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1. What is the take home message for you?

2. Complete the action plan worksheet and we will discuss further.

Applying What We Have Learned

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• StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath = $15.29 at Amazon

• Strengths‐Based Leadership: Great Leaders, Teams, and Why People Folllow by Rath & Conchie = $18.38 at Amazon

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Evaluation

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Documents

IDENTIFYING AND DEVELOPING YOUR LEADERSHIP STRENGTHS