Leadership Style Assessment

Identify your leadership style with a leadership style assessment, and learn how to use your personality to your advantage. With increased awareness of personal leadership style, you will learn how to adjust your approach to become even more effective leaders.

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jan
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leadership_styles

Looking at the Different Leadership Styles

Posted by Leadership, Leadership Style AssessmentNo Comments

Leadership is the process of influencing others to work toward predetermined goals. As a leader, knowing which of the leadership styles you are will help you navigate complex work situations with ease. Style is defined as the way a person usually behaves when he or she is able to do things their own way. If you put leadership and style together, leadership style is created: a person’s unique way of influencing others to work toward goals.

The most effective leaders adapt their leadership styles for each situation they encounter. They need to know when to be flexible, when to negotiate, and when to be firm. All styles have a degree of assertiveness and expressiveness. Assertiveness is how a person tries to influence other people’s thoughts and actions. Expressiveness is how a person displays their emotions when interacting with others.

Four Types of Leadership

There are four types of leadership styles. Some leaders can encompass more than one type – and people can also have varying degrees of assertiveness and expressiveness within the styles as well. The four types of leadership styles are:

  1. Direct – Direct leaders have high assertiveness and low expressiveness. They lead by taking charge.
  2. Spirited – Spirited leaders have high assertiveness and high expressiveness. They lead by inspiring.
  3. Considerate – Considerate leaders have low assertiveness and high expressiveness. They lead by building group harmony.
  4. Systematic – Systematic leaders have low assertiveness and low expressiveness. They lead by planning carefully.

Building Your Leadership Skills

Discovering what your leadership style is and how to apply it in certain situations is important. Develop your style with HRDQ’s webinar “Leadership Styles: Measuring and Refining Your Skills” on Jan. 30 at 2 p.m. EST. Attendees will learn how to identify their personal leadership style, gain tips on how to capitalize on style strengths, discover how to minimize style trouble spots, and see how to use their personal style to interact most effectively with others. Register today!

Further your leadership knowledge with “What’s My Leadership Style?” product by HRDQ. The tool is a leadership style assessment where learners are given 20 pairs of actions relating to leadership behavior. The scoring shows people’s preferred leadership style: direct, spirited, considerate, or systematic. “What’s My Leadership Style?” is ideal for training anyone who is in a leadership role or needs to influence others towards achieving a goal.

22
aug
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Do you Have What it Takes to be a Leader?

Posted by Leadership, Leadership Style AssessmentNo Comments

 
Read almost any job description and you will find references to leadership skills, whether the role has management responsibilities or not. But what are leadership skills, and how can you develop them?

The original theories of leadership centered on traits – things like intelligence, height, and charisma. At the time, researchers were studying people who were already in leadership roles to see what they had in common. Today we think about leadership quite differently. In both research and in the real world, we’ve seen that leadership ability not just something people are born having, but more of a skill and a practice that anyone can learn.

There are a variety of behaviors that are associated with leaders in the world of work. Some of the most commonly cited skills are these:

  • Have and share a vision
  • Pursue excellence
  • Communicate effectively
  • Be trustworthy
  • Build confidence in your employees
  • Be enthusiastic
  • Serve others

You might read this list and think “that doesn’t sound so hard”, but the truth is that most leaders, especially people who are new to the role, struggle to find ways to do all of these things effectively. It takes practice and a commitment to working hard on these skills to become excellent at all of them.

Learning leadership skills is similar to learning any other new ability such as a language or a musical instrument or a sport. It involves three different elements:

  1. Classroom or Formal Learning – When you first set out to learn something new, the first place you might turn is to a class or a book. This is a great way to learn the fundamentals, and the theories. But no matter how much time you spend in the classroom, you won’t be able to master a new skill through theory alone.
  2. Observation or Social Learning – Throughout our careers we’ve had a variety of managers. One of the best ways to learn how to be a leader is by observing others. That doesn’t mean you should try to copy exactly what another person is doing, but by taking a look at what works and what doesn’t and matching what you learned in the classroom with what you see in the real world, you can start to see how theory and practice fit together.
  3. Practice – We learn the most when we do something ourselves. When you take on a leadership role, such as managing a project or leading a team, and you begin to practice what you have learned, you will see where things go well, and where you still have room to grow.

Becoming a leader is a process, not an event. If you get a promotion into a management role tomorrow, you won’t go to bed with one set of skills and wake up with a new set, just because you have a new title. But if you approach the process with a growth mindset, are willing to seek out feedback, and are committed to the learning process then you have what it takes to be a leader!

This post was written by Katy Tynan

29
jan
0

So what’s the Bottomline on ROI

Posted by Experiential Learning Activities, HR Training, Human Resource Training, Leadership Games, Leadership Style Assessment, Supervisory SkillsNo Comments

ROI, return on investment, is a metric fundamental to business and government alike. Executives and chief administrators recognize it and business and operations managers appreciate it. It is calculated consistently and recognized across sectors around the world by those stakeholders with fiduciary responsibility for investments in people, projects, and processes.

Unfortunately, misinformation and misuse cloud the value of this simple, yet powerful, metric. While its existence in performance improvement, learning and development, and human resources is not new, when reading much of the literature and comments made in conference sessions, one would think ROI is a new phenomenon, and one from which people should run.

ROI’s use in learning and HR began in the 1970s when my husband and business partner, Jack Phillips, conducted the first ROI study on a cooperative education program. It has been used for years in quality and productivity training. In more recent years, it has grown to be a standard metric for many leadership development and coaching programs as well as other ‘soft’ solutions. Yet the confusion around ROI remains.

The crux of the confusion lies in how and when to use ROI and how to report it so stakeholders recognize the complete success of a program or project.  Fear and angst around ROI exist because, like most investments, a negative ROI is inevitable for poorly implemented and misaligned programs. On the flip side, if the ROI is extraordinarily high, fear exists that the results will not be perceived as credible. This fear is unwarranted if you use a credible approach to develop it, follow fundamentally sound standards, and apply it consistently across all types of programs.

Yet, too many people would rather listen to the naysayers than figure it out for themselves. We have published over 40 books with ASTD and even more with publishers such as SHRM, Berrett-Koehler, McGraw Hill, and John Wiley. These books describe its use and importance in showing the contribution of programs and projects. These publications along with many conference presentations and workshops offer learning and development professionals opportunities to understand what ROI is, what it is not, and how to use it.  Yet, many professionals still don’t get the point—they miss the bottomline.

ROI is a metric fundamental to business and government alike. Reported alone, it describes the economic impact of programs, projects, and processes. Reported in the context of other measures, it contributes to the complete story of program success and informs decisions about resource allocation.

This article was reprinted with permission from the author.

Patti and HRDQ-U are hosting a five-day webinar series starting February 1st at 10am ET. Register here! 

Dr. Patti Phillips

headshotDr. Patti Phillips, co-founder, President and CEO of ROI Institute. Patti is an expert in measurement and evaluation and author of HRDQ’s book and workshop materials titled Bottomline on ROI. She has authored, co-authored, or edited over 40 books on the topic of measurement, evaluation, and ROI. She serves on the board of the Center for Talent Reporting, Principal Research Fellow for The Conference Board, and on the faculty of The University of Southern Mississippi’s PhD in Human Capital Development program.
 
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oct
0

Leading the Millennial- The Insider’s Guide

Posted by HR Training, Leadership Style AssessmentNo Comments

Emily Williams and HRDQ-U recently hosted a free webinar entitled, Leading the Millennial- The Insider’s Guide. Williams is a millennial on a mission. She works for one of the area’s most trusted training and development firms, Pinnacle Group. In her role she equips organizations for leveraging the unique talents and perspectives of the emerging professional.

Over 750 people registered to listen to the webinar live. Missed it? Click here now!

“Excellent job, Emily.  Great presentation and flow.  You have a lot of energy for this topic.  Great that you are a millennial yourself.”

“This was great.  It was my first time and I was really impressed.  Look forward to listening in to more of these to help myself and my employees.  Thank you!”

“Great speaker.  Emily was clear, concise and informative.  Thanks!”

 “Presenter was great – very authentic (as a millennial herself!)”

The baby boomer generation is retiring at an alarming rate, and by 2020 the millennials will make up approximately 45% of the workplace. Millennials have a radically different view on what they expect from their employment experience.

The agenda for the webinar was as follows:

  • Defining the millennial
  • Gain a deeper understanding of what drives the millennial
  • Learn tips for effective performance management of the millennial
  • Receive insights for intergenerational communication

So what exactly is a millennial? Millennial or Generation Y refers to people born between 1981- 1999.

When asked what words the listeners would use to describe this group of people, the responses flowed in. Tech savvy, multi-taskers, future leaders, eager, procrastinators, and demanding were some of the more popular replies. As you can see, some are favorable, while many are not!

There are many misconceptions about millennials. Some think they are lazy and self-centered and have no respect for authority. In fact, though, they may not be lazy – they could just be multi-taskers looking for the most efficient way to accomplish a task. And are they self-centered or do they value their individuality? Lastly, are they disrespecting authority or are they simply taught to question everything? As you can see, when you dig deep, things may not be as they first seem.

Many people are surprised to learn that millennials are open to change. Williams, a millennial herself, said change is something her generation does not fear at all. In fact, they welcome it.

Another surprise was that millennials prefer face-to-face communication over any kind of technology. Yes, you read that right!

77% of millennials say that flexible work hours are a key to boosting their productivity. Do you feel the same way?

The key to effective millennial communication is to listen, learn and grow.

Listen openly to differing perspectives and needs. Be sure to maintain awareness of any biases that might be preventing you from receiving the true message. If you identify a bias, release it and return to a mode of openness.

Learn from the differing perspectives that you have openly received from others. Develop a curiosity for how others see the world. Continually ask yourself as you are interacting with other generations, “How can this perspective enhance?” “Do I need to ask questions for clarification?”

Grow continually toward becoming a more well-rounded individual. Take what you have learned from others and apply it in order to create greater results. Look for positive ways to incorporate new learning into your approach.

Do you want to learn more about how to work with a millennial? Do you want tips to improve communication with all generations? If so, then click here to watch the recorded session.

For a limited time, all participants of the webinar can get a discount on The Multi-Generational Workplace training. This program will help you gain a better understanding of the four generations that make up the current workforce – Veterans, Baby Boomers, and Generations X and Y – and how their unique experiences and expectations impact their view of the workplace.

Sign up today to make sure you don’t miss the next free webinar!

13
oct
0

5 Tips for Influencing Others In the Workplace

Posted by Coaching Skills, Communication Styles, Corporate Team Building Games, Experiential Learning Activities, HR Training, Human Resource Training, Leadership Games, Leadership Style Assessment, Supervisory Skills, Team Building Exercises, Teamwork GamesNo Comments

As Kenneth Blanchard has said, the key to successful leadership is influence, not authority.

This is especially true in the absence of clear authority, which is often the case within a matrix structure or a team that crosses organizational boundaries.

So how can you convince others to buy into your ideas and collaborate for the good of the team when you don’t have that authority?

Certain influencing tactics are more effective than others, but it’s not enough to simply know what they are. The best leaders know when and how to use them well.

In a recent webinar, I talked about which four influencing tactics are most powerful and how to make the most of them. 

We also discussed eight tips for influencing others that will help you achieve results.

Here are five of them.

Demonstrate Your Credibility and Track Record

In the absence of authority, people tend to listen to the most credible person in the room. Although expertise is part of credibility, the most important aspect is the extent to which people believe you speak the truth. Do you provide a balanced argument, and are you willing to admit what you don’t know? 

Find Champions For Your Cause

Who are the people you’re counting on most to accomplish objectives within your team? Start by identifying those whose cooperation you need to support implementation, and get to know them. What do they need to succeed? What do they care about most? Once you understand what motivates them, you can begin to work toward getting their buy-in so they can help you convince others.

Don’t Overly Rely on Reasoning

Reasoning is the most commonly used influencing tactic, but it doesn’t work in every situation, particularly if goals are not aligned or you lack credibility in a particular area. Be prepared to use a variety of approaches to ensure you use the best combination of influence behaviors in each situation.

Translate Facts and Figures Into Benefits

Before you pull up another graph of projected revenue from your latest initiative, ask yourself why it matters to the team. Will this new effort translate into bonuses if successful? Will it prove your team is capable of successfully taking on a competitor?

People aren’t motivated to act based on facts alone; they need to understand what’s in it for them.

Open Up a Dialogue

No one wants to feel like they’re being pitched. The best form of influence is subtle and occurs as the result of an ongoing conversation. While talking with your team, be sure to ask questions and hear their concerns. Show empathy by actively listening, nodding and paraphrasing what they’ve shared.

Influence is an art form every successful leader must master. It’s a skill that must be learned and honed over time. As a leading organizational consulting firm, we offer assessments and training to help leaders become more effective influencers and teams work together more effectively.

This article was written originally posted here. It was reprinted with permission from the author.

headshot-rlepsinger_100Rick Lepsinger

A virtual team expert with more than 30 years experience and a proven track record as a human resource consultant and executive, Rick Lepsinger is the president of OnPoint Consulting. He is the co-author of several books on leadership and organizational effectiveness, including Closing the Execution Gap: How Great Leaders and Their Companies Get Results and Virtual Team Success: A Practical Guide for Working and Leading from a Distance. Rick currently sits on the faculty of GE’s Management Development Course (MDC) and leads the program, Making GE’s Global Matrix Work.

Rick and HRDQ-U are hosting a free webinar on October 21st at 2PM. Sign up for it now!

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