Summary Leadership and Decision Making (leadership part)
1 purchase
Course
Leadership and Decision making (HMA83A)
Institution
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven)
Summary Leadership part (of course Leadership and Decision Making). Including notes from in class, own notes, vocubulary list, guest lecture notes, and answers of mock exam.
Everything you need to pass your exam on the Leadership part!
1. Introduction to leadership and its development
1.1. Definitions
Leadership is the process of influencing other(s) towards the realization of a shared goal (Antonakis &
Day, 2017; Bastardoz & Day, 2021)
→ If someone is not influenced then there is no leadership
→ Power and leadership are not the same thing. Having power can lead to leadership but it can be
exercised without someone accepting your leadership.
Leaders are individuals who have a differential influence on the initiation, direction, and coordination
of group activities (Bastardoz & Van Vugt, 2019; Shamir, 2007) over and above the influence associated with
formal authority (Katz & Kahn, 1978)
1.2. Are leaders born or made?
www.debate.org/opinions/are-leaders-born-yes-or-do-they-become-great-no
“Few abilities are inherited. The majority of the more important abilities are learned and developed in
interaction with others. This is especially true for such abilities as leadership. There are no born
leaders” Argyris (1957, p. 34)
Born: some genes that make you a leader (i.e., born with a potential) and based on these genes one
can be a leader more easily (for example being extraverted or introverted who allow you more easily
to immerge into leader-like situations). But it is not enough.
One needs to train certain characteristics (charisma, good public speaking, etc.)
Made: develop some behaviors (even not born with it to become a leader
1.3. What we know about leadership
• Leadership is a dynamic influential process, not a position or a static label
• Everyone exercises some form of leadership
• Leadership can be developed
• The effective leader behaviors / styles are context-specific
• Women and men are equally effective as leaders
• Many leadership practices are universal (eg. Integrity, charisma, or team-oriented) and some are
culturally-specific (eg. Being charismatic in US vs in BE, vs in Cuba)
• Being a leader contains certain pitfalls (e.g., power, ethics)
• Having influence over others gives you satisfaction but this means one needs to be careful
with the outcomes of being in a powerful position. People who are in powerful positions will
do what they want and overstep others.
1
,1.4. State of leadership research
→ different streams of research and they change according to environments.
Genetics started going down as being related to
being a good leader. (After WW2)
→ There is not right or wrong leadership theory
→ All the theories have been validating to some
extent and there is empirical evidence against
them as well.
Leadership training vs. development
Training: teach skills and after an exam you are a better leader, but it does not work that way.
Developing as a leader takes years and it depends on people to people.
The course will give you tools to become a better leader, but it will not make you a better leader.
“Compared with relatively straightforward skills acquisition through training interventions, leadership
developmental initiatives take on more complex and holistic challenges associated with changing the
inherent behavioral tendencies of human beings”
Leader development
In 10 years people loose 20% of their competencies and one needs to have an approach that
resembles life-long learning and should adapt to the change s in society and our environment.
Leadership is a lifelong process.
Individual development:
- Across the entire lifespan
- All individuals do not experience or benefit in the same ways from the same experience
Informal rule of “70-20-10” :
- 70%: Challenging assignments (e.g., job transitions, unfamiliar responsibilities, obstacles)
- 20%: Developmental relationships (e.g., coaching, mentoring, feedback programs)
- 10%: Coursework and training (e.g., reflection, personal development, “knowledge”)
You mainly learn leadership in challenging assignments (out of the comfort zone), the 20% other
percent is about having coaches and having feedback (try to listen to everyone’s advice, take to what
a people has to say). The rest is about learning the skills necessary for the job.
2
,1.5. Mindful engagement model
If you want to develop your leadership – take a systematic approach.
1. APPROACH
Have a learning orientation
3 components:
1. Identify what you need to develop (perform a “needs analysis”)
2. You can “grow” as a person/leader: Growth (vs. Fixed) mindset
3. Have a learning orientation & set learning goals (Learning goals in a NOT competitive mindset:
you don’t always want to perform to the best, when being in a learning mindset, we allow
ourselves to make mistakes and to learn from them (graph: learning experience; after the yellow
part of unlearning, we become more productive & efficient)
→ Learning something new is uncomfortable.
2. ACTION
Identify the kinds of experiences YOU NEED to add to your leadership portfolio
Get out of your comfort zone by gaining some experience in leading through challenging assignments
- Get unfamiliar responsibilities
- Create change
- Work across cultures/boundaries
- Manage diversity
“Don’t fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The saddest summary of a life is: could
have, might have, and should have”
3
, 3. REFLECTION
Critical part of leadership. One needs to think about their actions and get feedback from their peers.
US army à do like the army do, in the army they learn a lot of what they do (reflection!!). Take some
time to reflect of what you did before and see your weaknesses, what should and should not be
done. → After events-review
Capture the lessons of experience and make sense of what happened and why.
For specific events, conduct an “after-events review” or debriefing
• Soon after the experience
• Consider counterfactuals (i.e., “what-if” scenarios)
• Gather lessons learned and distill new insights
“Experience per se never teaches anyone human relation skills. It is always up to the person to utilize
experience properly if [s]he is to learn” Argyris (1957)
1.6. Challenge & Support
“All development boils down to striking an appropriate balance between two fundamental
ingredients: challenge and support” Snook (2008, p. 23)
If one doesn’t want to feel too much distress when going out of your comfort zone one needs to
have support. FIND THE RIGHT BALANCE and the learning experience will be a good one
Toolbox:
1) Leadership is an influential process, not a position.
Without followers, there are no leader.
2) Embracing the “mindful engagement” model will help you approach your leadership
development systematically.
3) Performing a needs analysis, seeking challenging experiences getting you out of your comfort
zone, continuously being in a learning mode, seeking and embracing feedback, and ensuring
enough support are some critical aspects to develop and grow as a leader.
4
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller SofieDeKorte. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $9.07. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
