Leadership Activity
II. Reality Check
Author: Tom Siebold is a writer and consultant in Minneapolis. He is also co-owner of Collegegrazing.com--a site to help college bound teens to learn more about what they need and want in a college. Objective (s): To pinpoint actual leadership behavior and to set behavior goals
How the author has used this exercise: I have had success using this exercise as a pre- workshop self-inquiry activity. I have also used it as a homework assignment. Its strength lies in the fact that it paints a picture of actual behavior and then helps the leader see how he or she can redistribute behavior.
Activity Description: * Have the participants think about what they actually do on a daily basis. Then ask them to draw generalizations about how they spend their leadership time. Each participant completes the Leadership Behavior Chart below (In blue font). * You can follow up with full group or small group discussion. The central question is this: Is your leadership behavior out of sync with the way that you feel an effective leader should be spending his or her energy?
Think about your daily interaction with the people who you lead. Generally speaking, determine the actual behaviors that define that interaction. Using the list of behaviors below, determine the amount of time (in percentages) that you generally spend on each behavior. Then in the second column, determine what you feel would be ideal distribution of time (in percentages). Behavior | Percentage of time spent on each behavior | Ideally the percentage of time you would devote to each behavior | Informing | | | Directing | | | Clarifying or Justifying | | | Persuading | | | Collaborating | | | Brainstorming or Envisioning | | | Reflecting (Quiet Time for Thinking) | | | Observing | | | Disciplining | | | Resolving interpersonal conflicts | | | Praising and/or encouraging | |
Author: Tom Siebold is a writer and consultant in Minneapolis. He is also co-owner of Collegegrazing.com--a site to help college bound teens to learn more about what they need and want in a college. Objective (s): To pinpoint actual leadership behavior and to set behavior goals
How the author has used this exercise: I have had success using this exercise as a pre- workshop self-inquiry activity. I have also used it as a homework assignment. Its strength lies in the fact that it paints a picture of actual behavior and then helps the leader see how he or she can redistribute behavior.
Activity Description: * Have the participants think about what they actually do on a daily basis. Then ask them to draw generalizations about how they spend their leadership time. Each participant completes the Leadership Behavior Chart below (In blue font). * You can follow up with full group or small group discussion. The central question is this: Is your leadership behavior out of sync with the way that you feel an effective leader should be spending his or her energy?
Think about your daily interaction with the people who you lead. Generally speaking, determine the actual behaviors that define that interaction. Using the list of behaviors below, determine the amount of time (in percentages) that you generally spend on each behavior. Then in the second column, determine what you feel would be ideal distribution of time (in percentages). Behavior | Percentage of time spent on each behavior | Ideally the percentage of time you would devote to each behavior | Informing | | | Directing | | | Clarifying or Justifying | | | Persuading | | | Collaborating | | | Brainstorming or Envisioning | | | Reflecting (Quiet Time for Thinking) | | | Observing | | | Disciplining | | | Resolving interpersonal conflicts | | | Praising and/or encouraging | |