Questions -
Q1 - Power and Influence
This module explored the nature and wielding of power and influence. We also explored the idea of the Dark-side and Machiavellian leader behaviours.
Use your reflexive journal below to write down your reflections on some of the leaders you have personally experienced in your life. In particular, think about how they used power and influence...
- How did this make you feel?
- Do you think they could have done things differently in order to make you and those around you feel more inclined to do what you were asked?
- If so, what should/could they have done?
Try to use the theories we have explored in this module to explain your reflections.
Q2 - Emotional and Social Intelligence
This module explored the the ideas of emotional and social intelligence. It also explored effective communication and the critical role played by networks in effective leadership.
Use your reflexive journal to write down your reflections on some of the leaders you have personally experienced in your life. In particular, think upon how emotionally or socially intelligent they were.
- In what ways were they emotionally or socially intelligent and where could they have improved?
- Were they effective communicators?
- If so why, or if not, why not?
- What more could you do to become a more effective communicator?
Try to use some of the theories or ideas from the emotional and social intelligence literature in answering this question.
And finally...
- What does your network look like?
- Who do you turn to for advice or resources when you need them?
- What might be some ideas you can think of to develop your personal network?
Q3 - Values, Courage, and Resilience
This module explored the importance of values, courage, and resilience, as well as the role of vision in strategy and change.
Use your reflective journal to write down your reflections on some of the leaders you have either personally experienced in your life or ones you may know in the world today or from history, whose values and vision resonate with you. In particular, think upon what it was that they embodied and why this is important to you.
- What are the things that are important to you that you would want your followers to know about?
- What are some of the things you could practically do to share your values with those around you?
- How important is it to you that the vision of the organization that you work for is based on the values that you hold?
Q4 - Critical Role of Ethics in Leadership
This module explored the critical role of ethics in leadership. Effective leaders are those who 'walk the talk', are transparent in their lives and in their dealings with others, and see it as their duty to protect others.
Use your reflexive journal to write down your reflections on a situation or situations where you have observed a leader or an organization breach ethical norms.
- How did this make you feel?
- How did others react to this breach?
- Do you personally believe that leaders must be completely transparent in all aspects of their lives?
- What happens when a leader says for followers to do one thing and then they do something completely different?
- Can you think of a time when it would have been better to have been completely honest with someone rather than trying not to hurt their feelings?
- What happened and why do you now feel this way?
Q5 - Self-efficacy and Self-confidence
This module explored self-efficacy and self-confidence. In particular, we examined pathways to developing both.
Use your reflexive journal to write down your reflections on how confident you feel about your current work role or a role you may have in a sports team or community group. Given some of the theories explored around self-confidence and self-efficacy, what are some suggestions for how you might gain more confidence in this role?
It has been said that it is difficult to learn without having experienced failure. Think of a time when you have failed at something.
- How did you feel and how long did it take you to get over the failure?
- What ways do you think you could learn more effectively from failures in the future and how might you process these and move on more quickly?
- How might some of the theories we have explored in this module help you to learn and recover from failure?
Q6 - Leader Credibility
This module explored the idea of leader credibility in the areas of technical capability and multiple intelligences beyond IQ, emotional and social intelligence, as well as competencies that become ever more important as we rise into senior leadership roles.
These included an understanding of the environment in which we lead, strategy, wisdom and crisis leadership. In particular, we examined leadership development pathways and continuous learning.
Use your reflexive journal to write down your reflections on how you have come to possess the leadership skills you have to date, and where you might turn in the future in order to gain the skills necessary to progress to leading larger and perhaps more complex groups.
We noted that crisis leadership is a special kind of leadership. Reflect upon a time where an unexpected change or crisis occurred that you were either directly involved in or witnessed.
- How did the leader handle the crisis?
- Reflecting upon how you felt at the time, suggest what that leader might have been able to do differently to have achieved a better outcome.
- How might some of the theories we have explored in this course have helped this leader during the crisis?
Q7 - Diversity, Inclusion and Differing Pathways to Leadership
This module explored diversity, inclusion and differing pathways to leadership.
Use your reflexive journal to write down your reflections on how your diverse characteristics may have helped to advance, or hinder, your ability to acquire leadership skills.
Given some of the theories explored around diversity and inclusion, how might you go about addressing these potential supports or barriers to your leadership development?
- Describe the environment where you work or the community that you live in.
- Would you describe it as diverse?
- If it is, do members of diverse groups find it more difficult than others to progress?
- What could you do as a leader to address these issues?
- How might some of the theories we have explored in this module and throughout the course help you to do this?
Q8 - Stewardship, Risk, Decision Making, Responsibility and Accountability
This module explored the ideas of stewardship, risk, decision making, responsibility and accountability. It also examined the idea of leadership legacy.
Use your reflexive journal to reflect upon and describe a time when you have had to make a tough decision.
- What were the steps you undertook in making the decision?
- Looking back on the decision, was it the best you could have made?
- Using the ideas explored in this module around stewardship, risk, decision making, responsibility and accountability was there something you could have/should have known, that would have delivered a better outcome for you or for those around you?
Kouzes and Posner (2002:134) suggested that, as leaders, we should take time to reflect upon what we want our legacy to be, to imagine at the end of a long and vibrant life what we might be able to say about:
- Our greatest contribution to our family?
- Our greatest contribution to those we have led?
- Our greatest contribution to our organization?
- Our greatest contribution to our community?
- What difference we made to the world?
- What will endure long after we are gone?
Using your reflexive journal write down your thoughts in response to each of these questions.