A training program I developed for Managers and supervisors at Elgin Sweeper Company. This was part of my internship program.

1. By Steven Baker

2. Overview
 What is Leadership?
 Studied scientifically since 1930’s
 Kurt Lewin
 Three basic categories
 Effective leadership theories
 Skills Theories
 Trait Theories
 Six Core Characteristics
 Best Practices

3. What is Leadership?
 The business related website BNET.com offers a
great definition of leadership. . .
 One of the greatest contributions of psychology
to business
 Existed in ancient times; scientific studies began
in the 1930’s

4. Kurt Lewin’s three basic
categories of leadership
 Authoritarian
 Participative
 Delegative

5. The Authoritarian Leader
 Clear expectations of what needs to be done,
when, and how to do it
 Clear division between leader and followers
 Leader makes decisions independently without
input from rest of group
 Best applied to situations where there is little
time to make the decisions or where the leader is
the expert
 Structured environment

6. The Participative Leader
 Generally accepted as the most effective style
 Leader offers guidance but allows for input from
the group
 Participation is encouraged but leader still has
final say
 Group members are more engaged and more
motivated and creative
 Dwight D. Eisenhower

7. The Delegative Leader
 Offers little or no guidance
 Leave decisions up to group members
 Can be effective in situations where group
members are expert, but
 Often leads to poorly defined roles and lack of
motivation
 Leader is still responsible for results
 Rudy Giuliani

8. Theories of what makes a
great leader?
Innate or
Learned?

9. Trait theory
 Some people are natural leaders and are endowed
with certain traits not possessed by other individuals.
 This research compared successful and
unsuccessful leaders to see how they differed in
physical characteristics, personality, and ability.
 Traits that appear regularly in leaders
• Ambition, energy, the desire to lead, self-confidence,
and intelligence.
• Although certain traits are helpful, these attributes
provide no guarantees that a person possessing them
is an effective leader.

10. Skills theory
 Good leaders set goals, priorities, and standards
 Good leaders aren't afraid to surround themselves
with talented, capable people
 Good leaders have personal integrity and inspire
trust among their followers
 Video

11. Theories
 Peter Drucker offers a pragmatic approach to
leadership in the workplace.
 He believes that consistency is the key to good
leadership.
 Good leaders have personal integrity and inspire trust
among their followers; their actions are consistent
with what they say.
 Keep in mind that no list of leadership traits and skills
is definitive because no two successful
leaders are alike.
 What is important is that leaders exhibit some positive
characteristics that make them effective managers at
any level in an organization.

12. Characteristics of a leader
 Six core characteristics that the majority of
effective leaders possess
 Drive
 Leaders are ambitious and take initiative.
 Motivation
 Leaders want to lead and are willing to take charge.
 Honesty and integrity
 Leaders are truthful and do what they say they will do.

13. Characteristics of a leader
 Self-confidence:
 Leaders are assertive and decisive and enjoy taking risks.
They admit mistakes and foster trust and commitment to
a vision.
 Leaders are emotionally stable rather than recklessly
adventurous.
 Cognitive ability
 Leaders are intelligent, perceptive, and conceptually
skilled, but are not necessarily geniuses. They show
analytical ability, good judgment, and the capacity to think
strategically.
 Business knowledge
 Leaders tend to have technical expertise in their
businesses.

14. The world's most effective
leaders
 Think about the most powerful, influential, positive
influence in your life. It doesn't take long, does it?
 Usually it's a mother, father, teacher, coach, priest, or
spouse. Now I'll bet they had these qualities:
 1. They cared about you
 2. They believed in you.
 3. They are fair
 4. They expect excellence.
ALL GREAT LEADERS HAVE HIGH EXPECTATIONS.

15. Best Practices
 Rewarding performers not only on their financial
results, but various other factors as well.
 Top management meet often to discuss methods to
improve their business performance.
 Meetings and surveys are conducted at regular
intervals to include employees in decision-making
for company strategy and policies

16. Best Practices
 Understand that recognition by peers is an important
motivator
 The best leaders show recognition to their performing
employees through different methods
 Commendation letters
 Putting their names on the company’s intranet newsletters
 Commending in the presence of people respected by the
performers
 Giving small gifts.
 Putting in place a system that allows employees to work on
improvement besides providing them the needed resources.

17. The art of listening
 General rules to follow
 Focus
 Accept speakers point of view
 Use eye contact and body language
 Avoid distractions
 Identify non-verbal communication
 Ask questions

18. Delivery of a message
 Be clear and concise
 Enlist an open-door policy
 Remain positive
 Negative feedback can promote positive growth
 Refrain from any form of favoritism

19. Perceptions
 Perceptions are reality
 Perceptions are based on many things
 Communication, body language, clothing, hair style,
etc.
 First impressions
 Things are not always as they seem

20. Perceptions

21. Perceptions

22. Perceptions

23. Perceptions
 Empathy
 Having empathy at some level is important in order to
understand their perceptions of things.
 Did you form an impression of me prior to this meeting?
 Has that changed?
 Can it change?

24. Purpose & Goal
 “The goal of training should be to provide the supervisor
with the proper understanding and tools so that he (she)
can motivate his (her) employees to do their best for the
company, willingly”
 People generally want to do well in their job, it is the
motivation that is often times lacking.
 The goal is to show people that you appreciate them and
the work they do.
 Through effective interpersonal communication training, it
is possible to obtain the results that make everyone
happy. Creating a win-win situation.

25. Research has found . . .
 “In a recent poll conducted by SHRM and USA
Today of both HR professionals and employees, the
importance of communication between employees
and management was ranked as either very
important or important by 98% of all HR
professionals. Participating employees mirrored this
ranking closely at 96%”

26. Summary
 The importance of being a leader
 How it affects others
 Understanding your Leadership style and utilizing your
natural abilities in situations
 Understanding and developing skills from other styles
 Best Practices of an effective leader