Unit 522 – Becoming an effective leader

Unit 522 Resource Pack –

Unit 522 – Becoming an effective leader

1.1 Evaluate your ability to use a range of leadership styles in different situations with different people

1.2 Use theories of emotional intelligence to review the effect of emotions on own and others performance

2.1 Review your ability to set direction and communicate this to others

2.2 Review your own ability to motivate, delegate and empower others

2.3 Produce a personal development plan to improve own ability to lead


Becoming an effective leader

Task The purpose of this unit is to develop knowledge and understanding of effective leadership as required by a practising or potential middle manager. You should plan to spend approximately 31 hours researching your workplace context, preparing for and writing or presenting the outcomes of this assignment for assessment.

The nominal word count for this assignment is 2500 words: The suggested range is between 2000 and 3000 words, however individuals have different writing styles, and there is no penalty if the word-count range is exceeded. Guidance This resource pack is designed to support you in writing your assignment and contains a structured response to the theory, research, tools and techniques you need to know about to successfully complete the Unit.

You can copy and paste text from this resource pack as long as you reference this resource and provide the section or page number it came from.

You can also search the internet for more materials if you wish to expand your thinking and learning, however, keep this to a minimum to ensure you don’t spend too much time in the research and not enough time in the writing!

You are also expected to provide your own personal examples and experiences to the questions this Unit poses to demonstrate and evidence your own understanding of what the theory means. Therefore you are combining both the theory and practice to the responses posed.

Please use the structure of the assignment format in the assignment template to populate your responses to each of the question this Unit asks you to undertake.

It is also essential you read the assessment criteria as this often goes beyond what is expected in the question itself. Make sure all your responses meet the assessment guidance in the assignment template. They are also highlighted in this resource pack to reinforce what is expected of you to pass this Unit.


Section 1: Understanding own ability to fulfil key responsibilities of the leadership role

1.1 Evaluate own ability to use a range of leadership styles, in different situations and with different types of people, to fulfil the leadership role (20 marks)

Let’s begin with some context and background… What is the difference between leadership and management?

To be an effective leader, we need to understand what it is and define the difference between leadership and management. Management consists of controlling a group or a set of entities to accomplish a goal. Leadership refers to an individual's ability to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute toward organisational success. Influence and inspiration separate leaders from managers, not power and control.

Leadership - Leader behaviours:

Management - Manager behaviours:

Copes with change Copes with complexity

Challenges status quo Accepts status quo

Plans long term Plans short term

Asks what and why Asks what and when

Aligns people Organises people

Innovates Administers

Motivates and inspires Controls

Focuses on people Focuses on systems and structure

Develops Maintains

Leadership - a simple definition: Leadership in an organisation is the capacity of a manager to set and achieve challenging goals, take fast and decisive action when needed and inspire others to perform at the highest level possible.


Understanding Leadership Leadership provides direction for an organisation and its workers. Employees need to know the direction in which the organisation is headed and who to follow to reach the destination. Leadership involves showing workers how to effectively perform their responsibilities and regularly supervising the completion of their tasks. How Leadership Works Effective leadership includes exhibiting a strong character. Leaders exhibit honesty, integrity, trustworthiness, and ethics. Leaders act in line with how they speak and earn the right to be responsible for others’ success in the organisation. Strong leadership involves clear communication skills. Leaders speak with and listen to staff members, respond to questions and concerns, and are empathetic. Leaders use effective communication skills for moving the organisation forward and achieving new levels of success. Productive leadership shows optimism and provides positive energy for staff. Good leaders are supportive and are truly concerned about the well-being of others. Leaders find answers to challenges and reassure and inspire workers when things go awry. Leaders find ways for staff to work together and achieve maximum results in an efficient and effective manner. Another simple definition:

A leader is one who inspires and motivates action; having a can-do personality and strong leadership skills is the key to leading the charge.


Leadership and its importance regarding performance and engagement How does leadership affect performance? It is evident in literature that team performance and achievement of goals and tasks is related to the leadership style employed by the leader, as it directly affects employee behaviour. It leads employees to exert extra effort in their jobs as they trust and respect their leader as they perceive them to be effective in what they do.

Leadership is essential to making teamwork into a reality. Negative leadership traits can ruin a team and destroy all sense of teamwork they possess. Adversely, positive leadership traits can encourage teams to work together seamlessly and achieve greater goals.

How does leadership affect employee engagement? • Employee engagement is the degree to which an employee's positive or negative feelings about

their job, colleagues and organisation influence their willingness to learn and perform at work. • The leader’s role and the way in which the leader behaves, plays an integral part in influencing the

employee’s attitudes, behaviours and actions at work. • Effective leaders create a culture of engagement maintain employee trust, drive optimal levels of

productivity, increase overall satisfaction and retention. • Leaders ensure the team members understand their role within the team and what they are

expected to do to achieve successful outcomes.

How do leaders influence those they lead? • Leaders who inspire others understand where these individuals excel and where to either build

additional skills or where to share power with someone else who has stronger skills in areas we are not as agile.

• Effective leaders can empower their team through expressing confidence in their ability to perform at an exceptionally high level. They also demonstrate optimism, determination, and self-confidence.

• An effective leader moves their team into action not with coercion but by eliciting their desire and conviction in the vision and goals articulated by the leader. ... A leader, who, through focused and deliberate effort, exerts positive influence in others, will build trust and become a true driving force toward excellence.


Assignment 522 questions

1.1 Evaluate own ability to use a range of leadership styles, in different situations and with different types of people, to fulfil the leadership role (20 marks)

Assessment criteria: A correct and appropriate evaluation based on detailed and objective evidence is made of own ability to use two or more leadership styles in different situations and with different people, in order to fulfil the leadership role For this response you are asked to describe 2 leadership style theories. We have given you these below. What you need to do is to add both theories to your assignment response to 1.1 and evaluate your own abilities against both theories with practical work-based examples in how you could or do apply the different styles to different situations to support your judgements. You need to be honest in your personal evaluation and recognise that no person has the ability to be excellent or competent in the application of these theories! Hersey and Blanchard Situational Leadership Model: Adapting the Leadership Style to the Follower Hersey and Blanchard developed their Situational Leadership Theory that suggests that the most effective leadership style is affected by the circumstances leaders find themselves in.

They argue that a leader’s ability to lead depends upon certain situational factors. By understanding, recognising and adapting to these factors, leaders will be able to influence their surroundings and followers much more successfully than if these factors are ignored.

No particular style is considered to be the best for a leader. Rather, a leader using a situational style of leadership will use whichever style is best suited to a situation.

More specifically, Hersey and Blanchard focused a great part of their research on the characteristics of followers in determining appropriate leadership behaviours. They found that leaders would have to modify their leadership style as their followers changed in terms of their ability (Task Readiness) and willingness (Psychological Readiness) to perform the required task.

A leader’s relationship with followers is therefore likely to go through different stages as these abilities and willingness can change over time.

This section will go into the four leadership styles (Telling, Selling, Participating and Delegating) Hersey and Blanchard came up with to better deal with these different stages of followers.

Follower’s Task Readiness (Task Development) A follower’s or subordinate’s Task Readiness covers their ability to deliver what has been asked of them. Their skills, knowledge, and ability will affect their delivery of a task independently of a leader’s guidance. Blanchard preferred to use the word Development instead of Readiness as followers are likely to ‘grow’ in their abilities throughout time.

Moreover, Blanchard used the term Competence (meaning: skills, knowledge and abilities) instead of Hersey’s term Ability.


Follower’s Psychological Readiness (Psychological Development) A follower’s or subordinate’s Psychological Readiness is the degree to which they are willing to take on responsibility for their actions. This includes aspects such as their motivation, drive, energy and confidence in their own ability. For this, Blanchard used the term Commitment (meaning: confidence and motivation) instead of Hersey’s term Willingness. Leader’s Directive Behaviour Based on these different follower styles, leaders should adapt their leadership style in such a way that it meets the needs of their subordinates. They can do so by finding the right balance between Directive and Supportive behaviour. A leader’s directive behaviour will fall somewhere on a spectrum from high to low and reflects the ‘concern for production/results ‘- dimension of Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid. This implies to what extent a leader puts emphasis on the concern to get the job done by being task-focused. The appropriate level of directive behaviour that leaders will have to choose depends on the readiness or development level of followers. Leader’s Supportive Behaviour A leader’s supportive behaviour reflects the ‘concern for people‘ dimension of Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid. This means to what extent a leader puts emphasis on building and maintaining a good relationship with subordinates by paying attention to the security, well-being and personal needs of the employees. The appropriate level of this relationship-focused approach is just like the directive behaviour determined by the readiness or development level of followers.

https://www.business-to-you.com/blake-mouton-managerial-grid/

https://www.business-to-you.com/blake-mouton-managerial-grid/


The 4 styles explained S1: Telling (Directing) The S1 leadership style in the Hersey and Blanchard Situational Leadership Model puts a high emphasis on directive behaviour and a low emphasis on supportive behaviour. A leader’s primary concern lays with the task delivery and less with the personal needs of the subordinates. Typical behaviour for a S1 leadership style, according to Hersey, is offering step-by-step instructions, clear explanation of the consequences of non-performance and close supervision. In such a situation, it is important that the task is clearly defined and the stages of the process are easy to follow. This is important because the leader believes that the follower (R1) either does not know what to do or is unwilling and requires therefore a certain degree of coercive power. Blanchard, on the other hand, believes that this style should be used for D1 followers who are highly ‘Enthusiastic Beginners ‘. They already have the motivation to do the tasks required, which lowers the need for supportive behaviour. But they still lack the competence, which increases their need for directive behaviour.

S2: Selling (Coaching) The next leadership style is the high directive and high supportive S2 leadership style. Hersey argued that this style is needed for D2 followers who are willing, but not able to perform a task. The leader’s style should therefore be concerned with increasing the confidence and skills of followers so that they can ultimately take on more responsibility for their actions. Blanchard, however, believes this style is necessary for D2 followers, who used to be highly enthusiastic in the beginning but who lost confidence because their competences are failing them. These ‘Disillusioned Learners‘ therefore need a leader with a higher concern for supportive behaviour that helps them gain confidence and become motivated again.

S3: Participating (Supporting) The S3 leadership style applies to D3 followers. This style (still) shows high supportive behaviours, but low directive behaviours. This may involve listening, praise and a high level of interaction between leader and follower. In addition, the leader puts a high level of trust in the follower to achieve the day-to-day tasks as the follower’s competence has also grown over time. The leader will therefore only encourage and offer feedback when needed to motivate and develop the subordinate, but not as a comment on the task performance. This is because the leader believes that the follower is capable enough of achieving the required tasks largely independently.

S4: Delegating The final leadership style assumes a low supportive and a low directive behaviour and applies to R4 and D4 followers. This is very much a ‘hands-off approach’ as the subordinate is perfectly able and willing to perform the tasks independently and with great responsibility. The leader can further encourage autonomy, while keeping an eye on not overloading the follower with responsibility and not withdrawing completely from the follower’s proximity. For these type of followers it is thus important as a leader to keep observing and monitoring them (albeit to a far lesser degree), in order to provide the necessary support if needed.


Followers Developmental levels and stages (D2): Unable and Unwilling (Low Competence and Low Commitment) A follower with a D2-status is unable to complete the required task, because they do not possess the necessary set of skills to perform well. Moreover, they are either unwilling to deliver the required task or lack self-confidence. Note that Blanchard labelled this follower style with D2 instead of D1. The reason behind this choice is that Blanchard views this follower style as the second stage in a follower’s evolutionary development.

(D1): Unable and Willing (Low Competence and High Commitment) A D1 follower is just like a D2 follower unable to perform a certain task, but in contrast to a D2 follower, willing to try anyway. In other words: they are motivated to attempt the task even though they lack the skills, knowledge and/or ability to do so. This follower style is often seen with new employees who are keen to impress their supervisor, but still lack the work experience to be productive right from the start. Because of this, Blanchard decided to label this follower style with D1, as it is likely to be the first stage of a follower’s development. As followers gain experience they reach development level 2 (D2) and gain some competence, but their commitment drops because the task may be more complex than the follower had originally perceived at the start of the task.

(D3): Able and Unwilling (High Competence and Low Commitment) D3 followers are likely to be able to perform well on their task, since they have developed the necessary skill set. The problem, however, is that they are unwilling to do so. The reason for this behaviour is twofold: followers could be unmotivated to comply with the leader’s request or could (still) be nervous about performing the task without enough support and encouragement from the leader. In Blanchard’s vocabulary of the D3 follower style, commitment is variable as it starts off as low, but gradually grows bigger due to more self-esteem and confidence until a follower reaches D4.

R4 (D4): Able and Willing (High Competence and High Commitment) Lastly, we have the D4 followers: they are ready, able and willing to perform. This means that followers are experienced at the required task and comfortable with their own ability to do it well and independently. They are able and willing to not only do the task, but to take responsibility for it. In this stage, both competence and commitment are considered to be high in terms of Blanchard’s version of the Situational Leadership Model.


What do situational leaders do? A leader implementing a situational style of leading will evaluate an organization or team and adjust their way of leading to meet the particular needs of the team or organization. A situational leader implements adaptability and flexibility into their leadership and regularly assesses the situation to ensure they are leading in the most appropriate and successful way.

Common traits that a situational leader illustrates/is capable of illustrating in the workplace include: • Direction. Some teams or organizations require a high level of direction to be successful. A

situational leader is effective in giving direction and providing constant supervision. • Flexibility. Since a situational leader is constantly adjusting their leadership style to suit the current

situation, they must be flexible and able to adapt on a regular basis. • Encourage participation. Situational leaders will often encourage team members to become more

self-reliant by promoting participation in decisions. • Delegation. A successful situational leader must be able to delegate tasks to those team members

who are capable of working independently. This is especially true as the leader's team becomes more mature under the leader's guidance.

• Regular coaching. Situational leaders often need to be able to coach their team to encourage growth and independence.

• Honesty. A situational leader must be honest about a situation and adapt their leadership style to suit it rather than lead in a way that is most advantageous to the leader.

A true situational leader can successfully assess their team and implement various leadership styles to meet the needs of the team in each situation. These leaders offer support where needed and encourage growth and independence among to teams, promoting increased productivity and success.

Advantages of situational leadership Situational leadership can have many benefits for both the leader and the team or organization. A few advantages of this type of leadership include: • Leaders are able to use whichever leadership style they believe is best in a given situation. • A situational leadership style can be more comfortable for good leaders who know how to use it.

This type of leadership style is fairly simple, as all that is needed is the ability to assess a situation and adjust to it.

• Situational leadership can create a more comfortable environment for employees as the leadership style implemented will typically match their needs.

• This type of leadership accounts for the various levels of development in employees and helps to address each employee's skill level and needs.

Disadvantages of situational leadership In addition to benefits, there are also potential pitfalls to implementing a situational leadership style within an organisation. Disadvantages to consider when using this style of leadership include: • Situational leadership could cause confusion within an organisation, as a situational leader may

constantly change their approach to address each team or individual's needs. • Situational leadership tends to focus on short-term goals and may overlook long-term goals. • Situational leadership often does not work well when repetitive tasks need to be completed, as

this type of leadership is flexible and many task-driven environments are not. • Situational leadership depends on the leader's ability to judge an employee's maturity level. Some

leaders are unable to do this effectively and may provide a style of leadership that does not suit a particular employee or team.


Leadership styles theory No:2

Blake Mouton Managerial Grid The Blake and Mouton Managerial Grid provides a simple way to understand your natural leadership style. It can also be used to understand the leadership style of others.

If you were hired as the manager of a small team what would be your instinctive approach to managing your team members? Would you think only of getting tasks completed on time, or instead focus on the welfare of your team? Or perhaps you’d be concerned with balancing both?

There is no singular best management style for all situations. The Blake and Mouton Managerial Grid is useful because it allows you to determine your preferred leadership style. Once you know this you can then take steps to address your weaknesses so that you become a better all-around leader.

The Blake Mouton grid is a matrix that characterises leaders based on two dimensions:

1. Concern for People This is the degree to which the leader considers the needs of their team members when deciding how best to complete a task. Leaders with a high concern for people will take into account each team member’s preferred type of task and their personal development needs, amongst other things.

2. Concern for Results The original model called this dimension concern for production but it makes more sense these days to think of it as concern for results.

Leaders with a high concern for results emphasize deadlines, goals, and high productivity when determining how to achieve a task.


While your preferred style could fall into any position on the grid, Blake and Mouton partitioned the grid into five styles of management:

• Impoverished Style.

• Produce or Perish Style.

• Middle-of-the-road Style.

• Country Club Style

• Team Style

The five leadership styles are overlayed onto the grid from the diagram above: It can be easy to jump to the conclusion that the Team Management Style is the best style as it focuses strongly on both people and results, but that isn’t the full story. Every style of leadership has its place. For example, there are times when the Produce or Perish Style is most appropriate, such as when a business needs to be turned around quickly before it goes out of business.

Let’s examine each of these styles of management in more detail.

1. Impoverished Management (Low people/Low results) You are this type of leader if you are indifferent to both people and results. You are not interested in getting the job done, nor are you interested in creating a motivated team.

• This typically means tasks aren’t being completed to the standard required by the organization, and that team members are dissatisfied too, but you are just doing enough to keep your job. You may be able to avoid blame for failure for a while, but usually not forever.

When to Use This style of leadership is only advisable if you have a highly motivated and competent team working for you. But even then… use with caution. 2. Produce or Perish Management (Low people/High results) • You’re this type of leader if you’re only interested in results. You don’t really care about your team.

Your style is often autocratic, and you see your team as a means to an end achieve results, nothing more.

• While you can produce great results they are usually short-lived, because over time team moral starts to drop as their needs are ignored. Long term it will be difficult to keep the high achievers of your team, as they will seek greener pastures.

• You can be so focused on your own team delivering that you ignore the wider needs of the organization. For example, you might refuse to collaborate with another department because it’s a distraction from your targets, even though on balance this collaboration is the best thing to do for the organization. In McGregor parlance, you’re a Theory X leader.

When to Use Use this style in urgent situations such as when an organization needs to be turned around.

https://expertprogrammanagement.com/2018/11/situational-leadership-model/

https://expertprogrammanagement.com/2011/03/theory-x-and-theory-y/


3. Middle-of-the-road Management (Medium people/Medium results) • You’re this type of leader if you seek to find the middle ground, balancing the needs of the

organisation against the needs of your team. • At first glance, this style of management may look like a happy medium, but it isn’t. Because of

your never-ending compromise, you’ll fail to push hard for results, and you’ll also fail to meet the needs of your team.

• Because neither people nor production needs are met, this type of leader delvers very average results.

When to Use This style of leadership is only appropriate if you decide to leave one of your teams to their own devices while you focus on higher priorities. 4. Country Club Management (High people/Low results) • You’re this type of leader if you’re more concerned with the needs of your team than you are for

achieving organizational results. • Your team will love working for you but your results will suffer as a result. Managers with this style

of leadership often make the mistake of assuming that because their team is happy they will work hard and deliver impressive results.

• Whilst the environment will be nice to work in, it won’t be productive. Ultimately, your team can end up will little respect for you because of your failure to deliver results.

When to Use Use this style of leadership sparingly, for example, if your team has been working particularly hard recently and is in danger of burnout. However, as a long term strategy, it’s usually a recipe for disaster. 5. Team Management (High people, High results) You’re this type of leader if you demand great results but also work hard to meet the needs of your team. According to the model, this is the best type of leader to be (most of the time).

You work to achieve long term success. This means that you’re committed to achieving the goals of the organization, but you’re also encouraging your team to commit, take responsibility, and develop themselves.

If you work for this type of leader, you’re going to feel respected, trusted, empowered, and your development needs are being met. So, you will be committed to achieving the best results you can. Personal needs and production needs overlap. In McGregor parlance, you’re a Theory Y leader. When to Use You should strive to be this type of leader all of the time, apart from when one of the other styles may be more appropriate for a specific situation.

https://expertprogrammanagement.com/2011/03/theory-x-and-theory-y/


How to Use the Model To use the model, follow these two steps.

Step 1: Identify Where You Are? To identify your current position on the Blake-Mouton grid you can:

• List the last few initiatives you worked on. • For each initiative, score your concern for people and production, then place your score onto

the grid. Are You Really as Good as You Think?

• Over the years thousands of participants attended workshops and seminars run by Blake and Mouton. Before attending, 80% of managers scored themselves in the top-right Team Management quadrant.

• After attending, that 80% had dropped to 20%! This means that 60% of managers think they are a lot better at leading their team than they actually are.

Step 2: Create an Action Plan Create a learning and action plan to help you move up and to the right of the grid.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages of the Blake Mouton Managerial grid include: • It can help leaders understand their natural leadership style. • From this, leaders can create a personal development plan to progress towards a Team

Management style, if they don’t possess this already. Disadvantages of the Blake Mouton Managerial Grid include:

• The model is overly simplistic. There are many facets to management and leadership that aren’t included in the model.

• The model is focussed on the leader and doesn’t pay attention to other factors, such as the development level of your team, the situation the organisation is in, or the culture of the organisation.

Blake Mouton Grid Summary The Blake and Mouton Managerial Grid provides a simple way to understand the leadership style of yourself or others. Once you’ve understood where your leadership is right now you can then make a plan to address your weaknesses so you become a better manager.


1.2 Use theories of emotional intelligence to review the effect of emotions on own and others’ performance (20 marks)

Assessment criteria: The effect of emotions on own and others’ performance is reviewed and detailed judgements are made using two or more appropriate theories of emotional intelligence

For this response you are asked to describe 2 emotional intelligence (EI) theories. We have given you these below.

What you need to do is to add both of these theories to your assignment response to 1.2 and evaluate your own abilities against both theories with practical work based examples in how you could or do apply the different aspect of EI to different situations and people regarding your own and others performance at work to support your judgement.

You need to be honest in your personal evaluation and recognise that no person has the ability to be excellent or competent in the application of these theories!

What Is Emotional Intelligence?

Emotional intelligence or EI is the ability to understand and manage your own emotions, and those of the people around you. People with a high degree of emotional intelligence know what they're feeling, what their emotions mean, and how these emotions can affect other people.

For leaders, having emotional intelligence is essential for success. After all, who is more likely to succeed – a leader who shouts at his team when he's under stress, or a leader who stays in control, and calmly assesses the situation?

According to Daniel Goleman, an American psychologist who helped to popularise emotional intelligence, there are five key elements to it:

Watch 4 min video on EI - the link is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9h8fG1DKhA

The more that you, as a leader, manage each of these areas, the higher your emotional intelligence. So, let's look at each element in more detail and examine how you can grow as a leader.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9h8fG1DKhA


Theory 1: Daniel Goleman (5 key elements of EI)

Emotional Intelligence in Leadership

1. Self-awareness If you're self-aware, you always know how you feel, and you know how your emotions and your actions can affect the people around you. Being self-aware when you're in a leadership position also means having a clear picture of your strengths and weaknesses , and it means behaving with humility .

So, what can you do to improve your self-awareness? • Keep a journal – Journals help you improve your self-awareness. If you spend just a few

minutes each day writing down your thoughts, this can move you to a higher degree of self-awareness.

• Slow down – When you experience anger or other strong emotions, slow down to examine why. Remember, no matter what the situation, you can always choose how you react to it.

2. Self-regulation Leaders who regulate themselves effectively rarely verbally attack others, make rushed or emotional decisions, stereotype people, or compromise their values. Self-regulation is all about staying in control.

This element of emotional intelligence, according to Goleman, also covers a leader's flexibility and commitment to personal accountability .

So, how can you improve your ability to self-regulate? • Know your values – Do you have a clear idea of where you absolutely will not compromise?

Do you know what values are most important to you? Spend some time examining your "code of ethics." If you know what's most important to you, then you probably won't have to think twice when you face a moral or ethical decision – you'll make the right choice.

• Hold yourself accountable – If you tend to blame others when something goes wrong, stop. Make a commitment to admit to your mistakes and to face the consequences, whatever they are. You'll probably sleep better at night, and you'll quickly earn the respect of colleagues.

• Practice being calm – The next time you're in a challenging situation, be very aware of how you act. Do you relieve your stress by shouting at someone else? Practice deep-breathing exercises to calm yourself. Also, try to write down all of the negative things you want to say, and then rip it up and throw it away. Expressing these emotions on paper (and not showing them to anyone!) is better than saying them aloud to your team. What's more, this helps you challenge your reactions to ensure that they're fair!

3. Motivation Self-motivated leaders work consistently toward their goals, and they have extremely high standards for the quality of their work.

How can you improve your motivation? • Re-examine why you're doing your job – It's easy to forget what you really love about your

career. So, take some time to remember why you wanted this job. If you're unhappy in your role and you're struggling to remember why you wanted it, try the Five Whys technique to find the root of the problem. Starting at the root often helps you look at your situation in a new way.

• And make sure that your team and individual goal statements are fresh and energising.

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCDV_61.htm

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_69.htm


https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_85.htm

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_5W.htm


Know where you stand – Determine how motivated you are to lead. Be hopeful and find something good – Motivated leaders are usually optimistic , no matter what problems they face. Adopting this mindset might take practice, but it's well worth the effort.

Every time you face a challenge, or even a failure, try to find at least one good thing about the situation. It might be something small, like a new contact, or something with long-term effects, like an important lesson learned. But there's almost always something positive, if you look for it. 4. Empathy

• For leaders, having empathy is critical to managing a successful team or organisation. Leaders with empathy have the ability to put themselves in someone else's situation. They help develop the people on their team, challenge others who are acting unfairly, give constructive feedback, and listen to those who need it.

• If you want to earn the respect and loyalty of your team, then show them you care by being empathic.

How can you improve your empathy? • Put yourself in someone else's position – It's easy to support your own point of view. After

all, it's yours! But take the time to look at situations from other people's perspectives. • Pay attention to body language – Perhaps when you listen to someone, you cross your arms,

move your feet back and forth, or bite your lip. This body language tells others how you really feel about a situation, and the message you're giving isn't positive! Learning to read body language can be a real asset in a leadership role, because you'll be better able to determine how someone truly feels. This gives you the opportunity to respond appropriately.

• Respond to feelings – You ask a team member to work late – again. And although he agrees, you can hear the disappointment in his voice. So, respond by addressing his feelings. Tell him you appreciate how willing he is to work extra hours, and that you're just as frustrated about working late. If possible, figure out a way for future late nights to be less of an issue (for example, give him Monday mornings off).

5. Social Skills Leaders who do well in the social skills element of emotional intelligence are great communicators. They're just as open to hearing bad news as good news, and they're expert at getting their team to support them and be excited about a new mission or project.

Leaders who have good social skills are also good at managing change and resolving conflicts diplomatically. They're rarely satisfied with leaving things as they are, but they don't sit back and make everyone else do the work: they set an example with their own behaviour.

So, how can you build social skills? • Learn conflict resolution – Leaders must know how to resolve conflicts between team

members, customers, or vendors. Learning conflict resolution skills is vital if you want to succeed.

• Improve your communication skills – How well do you communicate? • Learn how to praise others – As a leader, you can inspire the loyalty of your team simply

by giving praise when it's earned.

Key Points To be effective, leaders must have a solid understanding of how their emotions and actions affect the people around them. The better a leader relates to and works with others, the more successful he or she will be. Take the time to work on self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills. Working on these areas will help you excel in the future!


https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/Body_Language.htm


Theory 2: Salovey & Mayer 2016 Emotional intelligence as defined, by Salovey and Mayer: • The ability to monitor

one's own and other people's emotions,

• To discriminate between different emotions and label them appropriately

• To use emotional information to guide thinking and behaviour

Mayer and Salovey developmental model of emotional intelligence explained

1. Perceiving emotion • Identify deceptive or dishonest emotional expressions. • Discriminate accurate vs. inaccurate emotional expressions. • Understand how emotions are displayed depending on context and culture. • Express emotions accurately when desired. • Perceive emotional content in the environment, visual arts, and music. • Perceive emotions in people through vocal cues, facial expression, language, and behaviour. • Identify emotions in one’s own physical states, feelings, and thoughts.

2. Facilitating thought using emotion • Select problems based on how one’s ongoing emotional state might facilitate cognition. • Leverage mood swings to generate different cognitive perspectives. • Prioritise thinking by directing attention according to present feeling. • Generate emotions as a means to relate to experiences of another person. • Generate emotions as an aid to judgment and memory.


3. Understanding emotions

• Recognise cultural differences in the evaluation of emotions. • Understand how a person might feel in the future or under certain conditions (affective

forecasting). • Recognise likely transitions among emotions such as from anger to satisfaction. • Understand complex and mixed emotions. • Differentiate between moods and emotions. • Appraise the situations that are likely to elicit emotions. • Determine the antecedents, meanings, and consequences of emotions. • Label emotions and recognise relations among them.

4. Managing emotions • Effectively manage others’ emotions to achieve a desired outcome. • Effectively manage one’s own emotions to achieve a desired outcome. • Evaluate strategies to maintain, reduce, or intensify an emotional response. • Monitor emotional reactions to determine their reasonableness. • Engage with emotions if they are helpful; disengage if not. • Stay open to pleasant and unpleasant feelings, as needed, and to the information they convey.

What are your thoughts about the application of the 4 areas of the Mayer and Salovey model of emotional intelligence? Use the theory to reflect and explain how your emotions in relation to the 4 areas of this model impact on you and others at work.

Why EI is important at work


Section 2: Be able to evaluate own ability to lead others

2.1 Review own ability to set direction and communicate this to others (20 marks) Assessment criteria: Own ability to set direction and communicate this to others is reviewed using a combination of appropriate evidence and relevant theory to form a well-reasoned judgement

Here’s the theory around communication

Professor Mehrabian (1970s) identified 3 core elements when having face-to-face communications. The way we communicate includes the use of emotions or attitudes: nonverbal behaviour (facial expressions, for example), tone of voice, as week as the literal meaning of the spoken word.

What is Mehrabian Communication Theory: 7 38 55 Rule of Communication? It is almost impossible not to communicate. The influence of voice and non-verbal communication plays a strong part in how we communicate and if the 3 elements of communication are not congruent with each other, then the receiver can receive conflicting messages.

For example: How come that someone who is stamping their feet while yelling ‘I’m not angry’, does not come across as credible? That is why Albert Mehrabian developed the 7 38 55 Rule of Communication, in which he demonstrated that only 7% of what we communicate consists of the literal content of the message. The use of one’s voice, such as tone, intonation and volume, take up 38% and as much as 55% of communication consists of body language. Mehrabian's theory explained: 7% the words actual words that are spoken. We often only listen to some of the words spoken as we can often listen for how it is said and what it means to us rather than what the speaker is intending us to hear. That is why keeping messages simple and clear when communicating messages where we set direction, set objectives or targets and communicate change is so important.

38% the way that the words are said in terms of how you say it – for example – your tone of voice and the speed in which you say it can either support the words or be at odds with them.

55% our facial expressions and body language- for example – the use of our hands or body posture can reinforce the meaning of what we say or be at odds with it. For example, a person may say they agree with you but have their arms crossed and their facial expression may give you the feeling that they don’t agree with you at all!


Think about a time when you had to set direction with a change of work or an objective and how did the 7 38 55 Rule of Communication impact on how the message was received? Describe this in detail for 2.1 and how your leadership style and way you communicated had an impact on its effectiveness.

2.2 Review own ability to motivate, delegate and empower others (20 marks)

Assessment criteria: Own ability to motivate, delegate and empower others is reviewed using appropriate evidence and suitable motivational, delegation and empowerment theories. The review will be thorough and lead to a detailed judgements being made related to each topic

Here are 3 theories to review your ability to motivate, delegate and empower others

Theory X and Theory Y: support how we can effectively motivate others at work • What do you think motivates your people to come to work each morning? • Do you believe that they get great satisfaction from their work and take pride in doing the

best possible job? Or do you think that they see it as a burden, and simply work for the money? These assumptions about your team members can have a significant influence on how you manage them.

Our management style is firmly influenced by our beliefs and assumptions about what encourages members of our team like: If we believe that our team members dislike work, then we tend towards an authoritarian style of management. However, if we assume that employees take pride in doing a good job, we tend to adopt a more participative style.

Consider the Theory X /Theory Y approach and assess your own leadership style against this.

Douglas McGregor, an eminent social psychologist, divides management style into two contrasting theories: Theory X and Theory Y


Theory X This theory believes that employees are naturally unmotivated and dislike working, and this encourages an authoritarian style of management. According to this theory, management must firmly intervene to get things done. This style of management concludes that workers:

• Disfavour working and abstain responsibility and the need to be directed. • Need to be controlled, forced, and warned to deliver what's needed. • Demand to be supervised at each and every step, with controls put in place. • Require to be attracted to produce results, else they have no ambition or incentive to

work.

Theory Y This theory explains a participative style of management. It concludes that employees are happy to work, self-motivated and creative, and enjoy working with greater responsibility. Therefore they can:

• Take responsibility willingly and are encouraged to fulfil the goals they are given. • Explore and accept responsibility and do not need much guidance. • Assume work as a natural part of life and solve work issues imaginatively.


Comparing Theory X & Theory Y

Theory X Theory Y

Motivation Considers that people dislike work, they want to avoid it and do not take responsibilities willingly.

Considers that people are self-motivated, and sportingly take responsibilities

Management Style and Control

In Theory X-type organisation, management is authoritarian, and centralised control is maintained

In Theory Y-type organisations, the management style is participative, employees are involved decision making, but the power/accountability on decisions stays with the management

Work Organisation

Theory X employees are specialised and the same work cycle continues

In Theory Y, the work tends to be coordinated around wider areas of skill or knowledge. Employees are also motivated to develop expertise and make suggestions and improvements.

Rewards and Appraisals

Theory X-type organisations work on a ‘carrot and stick’ basis, and performance assessment is part of the overall mechanism of control and compensation.

Coming to Theory Y-type organisations, appraisal is also regular and crucial, but is usually a separate mechanism from organisational controls. Theory Y-type organisations provide employees frequent opportunities for promotion.

Application

Admitting the fact that Theory X management style is widely accepted as inferior to others, it has its place in large scale production procedure and unskilled production-line work.

Many of the principles of Theory Y are widely accepted by different types of organisation that value and motivate active participation

What is your preferred motivation style and when may you need to adapt this depending on the person and the situation? Describe examples to support your response to 522/2.1

Theory of Delegation: Based on the Hersey & Blanchard Leadership styles)


As you can see this approach is linked to the Hersey and Blanchard leadership style matrix you explored in 522/1.1:

Directive leaders (S1) are more likely to control their employees by supervising every aspect of their duties. Your delegation style will be highly directive and you will manage any task closely to ensure it is delivered to the standards and deadlines you expect.

Coaching leaders (S2) as a manager as coach your delegation style will be highly directive in setting the task yet you will encourage the person to decide how they will do it and support them from a distance in their approach to achieving the task.

Supportive leaders (S3) recognise that an employee may have the ability to do a task but their confidence is low, so your delegation style is asking them how they could do it and give them encouragement in making it happen.

A delegating leader (S4) knows that the person has high competence and high confidence to get on with the task and achieve results without much direction, so your delegation style is to ask them how they will do it and they tell you how they are getting on to achieve the task.

What is your preferred leadership style and how can you adapt this when delegating work to others? This will be dependent on their competence, confidence, willingness, skills and knowledge to do the task. Think of examples to support your response to 2.1 on delegation.


Theory of empowerment and engagement (Degner, 2005) Empowerment is the ability of an employee to be directly involved in and have influence over their work. The organisations that typically have the highest level of employee engagement are the very same organisations in which employees are empowered.

Employees will have the ability to make decisions about when they work, how work gets done, and what their priorities are. In fact, there is a direct correlation between the degree to which employees are self-managed and the level to which they are engaged.

5 ways to empower your team

1. Open dialog. Leaders who have achieved the greatest results from empowerment are open about everything. There is literally nothing that is hidden or held back. Receive some negative feedback from an employee? Bring it up to the team and ask for their assistance. Have something you’ve been challenged on by your boss? Bring the challenge to the team for their input and ideas. This is more than simply having an, “open door policy.” It is, in fact, being 100% transparent.

2. Frequent face-to-face meetings: Having a weekly meetings, even a weekly or daily “huddle,” standing room only, at a central point in the office. Taken from the idea of a daily, “tool-box talk,” or pre-job brief, take fifteen minutes to discuss plans for the day, and then most importantly go round the circle, providing everyone with a chance to bring up whatever was on their mind.

3. Visual Work: The idea is that you make work visual. By introducing simple visual tools such as white boards and highlighting the projects or specific tasks people are working on, you can help the team become involved in capacity planning. Employees and their teams naturally begin to support each other in their work when they know what others around them are working on.

4. Collaborative Goals: This is where the specific objectives of the CEO and executive team are sent down throughout the organisation for teams to review and identify their own specific goals that will in turn support achieving the goals of the organisation. It is a top down and bottom-up approach to developing goals that include open dialog, sharing of information, and ultimately a powerful method for setting a clear focus that everyone in every department can buy into.

5. More Questions than Answers: Sometimes the more you tell people what to do, the less they may listen! That’s when you learn about the power of questions. When you ask your people about their ideas, you engage them in identifying what to do. This is at the heart of empowerment. For those organisations and leaders who have successfully introduced empowerment, their leadership team leads with questions before ever considering what the answers might be.

You’ll notice from this list that there are a combination of environmental factors, cultural factors and leadership behaviours that are necessary for empowerment. Empowerment itself can’t be achieved by focusing only on one aspect of the organisation, but instead is a way of operating it.

To say that empowerment alone is the only way to increase employee engagement would be a misnomer, but it is in fact the single greatest determinant as to the level and degree of employee engagement achieved.


What is your preferred leadership style and how can you adapt this when exploring ways to empower and engage your team more? This will be dependent on the situations where you CAN empower others and will also be dependent on their personal and team competence, confidence, willingness, skills and knowledge to engage with the work. Think of examples to support your response to 2.1 on empowerment.

Empowerment and links to your situational leadership style • Laissez faire is a non-directive and non-supportive style (S4 Delegative style) • Empowering is a high directive and high supportive style (S2 Coaching style) • Commanding/micromanagement is high directive and low supportive style (S1 Directing style)


2.4 Produce a personal development plan to improve own ability to lead (20 marks)

Assessment criteria: A personal development plan which includes activities, timescales resources, support and costs is created and to improve own ability to lead)

Sometimes. when working you are less prone to have accountability to determine what external courses or development activities you can do that would require a budget and a cost. However there are a plethora of activities you can engage with such as:

peer coaching; having a mentor; the action learning sessions; a reflective journal; line manager support, HR support; other training sessions you attend in addition to this programme.

To support your response to 2.4 you can use the template below – which is available as a separate WORD doc on the Learning Zone bookshelf, titled 522/2.4 My Personal Development Plan to structure your response.

You can have as many activities as you think are helpful in developing your leadership capability and 6 activities is just a start!

My Personal Development Plan

Activity Timescales Resources Support Expected Outcome

1

2

3

4

5

6

End of ILM Module 522 Resources

Unit 522 – Becoming an effective leader

Documents

Transcript of Unit 522 – Becoming an effective leader