Level 3 Award in Leadership and Management Workshop 5 - Presentation By Andrew Lake

Introduction Who I am – I’m a Research Associate from the Department of Chemistry. What I do – Project manage / undertake research & development activities for an industrial sponsor in the area of converting waste plastic to diesel. My Team – One technician, two line managers and I also work closely with the analytical research laboratories manager. Coursework question being tackled during todays presentation; “Understand leadership qualities and review own leadership qualities and potential”.

Important Leadership Qualities What are some good Leadership Qualities: A Good Communicator Rewarding Delegator   Respectful Knowledgeable Initiative Quiet Confidence Open to Change Proactive vs. Reactive Enthusiastic Interested in Feedback Flexible / Adaptable Open-Minded Evaluative Realist Resourceful Organized Consistent

Self Assessment of Leadership Style (I) I self assessed my own leadership style, using two models: The Tannenbaum and Schmidt Leadership Continuum, which categorizes you in four categories; Tell, Sell, Consult and Empower. Result: Consult Leadership Style Traits Style is based on asking people’s opinions. You are genuinely interested in what they have to say and you use good ideas. You believe that, ultimately, it is your responsibility to decide what is going to happen. You like to let your team know that they have a degree of autonomy, but at the same time, you want to support them with the necessary development.

Self Assessment of Leadership Style (II) John Adair’s Action Centered Leadership. This model looks at seeing where your leadership skills lend themselves to out of three categories; task, team or individual orientated. Result: Team Orientated Leadership style traits: Believe in the group focusing on a common task or problem. Value the ability of the group to work cooperatively with others and respect team members. See staff in your team as resourceful human beings rather than human resources. Tend to negotiate and agree roles and responsibilities rather than deciding these yourself, whilst encouraging self development.

Questionnaire After modifying the Tannenbaum and Schmidt Leadership Continuum questionnaire, that we received during the first ILM 3 workshop, I circulated it to three colleagues working within my team and the results are displayed below. Questionnaire Results All my colleagues found my primary Leadership Style to be Consultive. These findings were in agreement with my self assessment. My secondary Leadership styles were a mixture of Selling and Empowerment, which I believe links in with my primary style, consulting, and towards the Team Orientated style that I show from Adair’s Action Centered Leadership model.

How Do the Working Practices and Culture at Loughborough Fit My Leadership Styles. After looking through the Towards 2016 strategy document, the following points seemed to marry well with my natural styles of leadership: Part of the Universities mission is to; Increase knowledge and understanding through research which is internationally recognized. Influence the economic and social development of individuals, business, professions and communities. The Universities values include; To value all our staff and students. Value and reward our staff for their contribution and commitment to the University’s successes. Listen to our staff, students, alumni and partners. The Universities Operating principles include; A respect for the role that we all play as leaders or members of teams.

Enhancing Leadership Style (I) My leadership styles are: Consult (Tannenbaum and Schmidt Leadership Continuum). Team Orientated (John Adair’s Action Centered Leadership). Benefits Downsides People are happier in their work, as they feel more involved. People can feel a lack of individuality. Implementation of changes that affect a whole team can run smoother, due to good communication and team “chemistry”. Managed staff can start to see you to much as a friend rather than a Leader, effecting authority. Productivity can be greater as everybody is working towards a common goal as a team. Productivity can be reduced due to, too much discussion not enough action. Promotes the development of potential leaders, amongst the team members. It may not be possible to involve everyone in the decision making process within a large team. The creativity aspect of the employees' personalities is also tapped, thus increasing the quality of ideas that are put forth by them. If the project is of importance to the company, the related information may need to be safeguarded.

Enhancing Leadership Style (II) After looking at my own leadership style and relating pro’s and con’s, I then needed to look at ways to improve my leadership qualities. When situations occur, in which I need to lead, I need to look back at these models and modify the way I lead a team or individual to achieve the best possible outcome. As my natural styles may not be as affective or suitable.

Enhancing Leadership Style (III) Situation: A new member of staff joins my team. Recently a new member of staff has joined my team, at present her job specific skills need improving and she needs time to integrate into the team. Therefore I don’t feel my natural leadership styles will allow me to achieve the best from her. From looking at the leadership models I have been using, I realized that I should take on a more Telling approach whilst also becoming more Individually orientated. By using different styles this would allowed me to; Set the new team member training tasks (rotating around the established team) that would increase there job related skills, confidence and allow them to get to know the rest of the team and their roles. Setup informal one to one meetings with the new member of staff, to keep an eye on progress, coach and build up a working relationship. Once I feel confident that she is progressing, and integrating into the team, I will be able to start to use my natural styles of leadership.

Thank You For Listening Any Questions ??