Learning to Lead from Dave Leding

You don’t have to be a CEO or Supervisor to be a leader. In an organization your leadership will be called upon in various ways and you won’t always have a formal position of title to accompany it. When leading your peers/co-workers there are different styles of communication that are required. This usually depends on the situation, team formation, and leadership role.

Dave Leding a graduate of Minnesota’s Executive Program at the Carlson School of Management with near 20 years of management experience spoke with communication students Wednesday 5/22/2013 about management best practices. It was an engaging and personable presentation with lessons on Lean Management, Pros and Cons of various team forms, and Management tips.

Probably the biggest take-away from the whole presentation was his recognition of the Pros and Cons to various leadership and team structures and the communication method that follows.

Here is a brief overview.

Supervisory top-down

Description of behaviors: 

Uses direct language, explains/trains subordinates, Manages on-on-one, Contains conflict, Reacts to change

Pros: High control and task oriented

Cons: low trust, low morale, high degree of attention & direction needed

Participative

Description of behaviors: 

Involves employees, Solicits input for decisions, Develops individual performance, Coordinates group efforts, Resolves conflict, and Implements change.

Pros: Promotes employees voice and engagement

Cons: slow decision process, can de-motivate employees if their opinions/ideas are constantly rejected.

Team Leadership

Description of behaviors: 

Builds trust and inspires teamwork, Facilitates and supports team decisions, expands team capabilities, creates a team identity, Makes the most of team diversity, Foresees and influences change

Pros: highly efficient and proactive, more creativity

Cons: only works with high levels of trust, employee empowerment, and proper levels of support, authority, and resources.

They can further be places and described by the following leadership curve. This graph explains the leadership and communication styles necessary for varying levels of task difficulty/ambiguity and relationship levels with followers. It also includes a scale of readiness by the follower, which is another consideration a leader/manager must take into consideration. So considering the department, the task, and the relationship with the followers, a leader must choose the appropriate type of leadership and communication style.

Situational leadership from Project-management-skills.com

The overarching theme that Leding taught though is no matter the level of the task, followers should be treated as humans, not machines. Develop a relationship of trust and respect with employees that empowers them and yet still holds them accountable. He proves that you can be personable and still authoritative.

He left us with final pointers that will help any employee facing leadership responsibilities.

Take Public Speaking

--Think on your feet, watch the ums and ah’s, animate your voice

Listen, listen and listen some more

--Seek to understand before being understood

Use common sense & common courtesy

Be civil, but honest and open, share the good and the bad

Tell it like it is – don’t pull any punches or you will be thought of as a ………

Trust in your people

Tell it, write it, tell it again, and then do it

Focus on the behavior or issue not the person

Deal with conflict situations fast but not out of anger

               Be clear on expectations

You can connect with him on LinkedIn and learn more about his perspective and approaches to management. I would highly recommend him. Thank you Dave Leding for sharing your experience and advise.