Questions and Answers of Introduction To Leadership Concepts

If you make these changes, what impact will this have on others?
Purpose1. To become aware of authoritarian, democratic, and laissez-faire styles of leadership2. To compare and contrast these three stylesDirections1. From all of the coaches, teachers, music
Purpose1. To identify your style of leadership2. To examine how your leadership style relates to other styles of leadershipDirections1. For each of the statements below, circle the number that
Based on the questionnaire in this chapter and your own insights, create a business card for yourself that lists your five signature strengths.
What is your reaction to what others (in Step 1) have identified as your strengths? Are the strengths others identified about you consistent with your own perceptions of your strengths? In what way
Purpose1. To learn to recognize people’s strengths2. To gain an understanding of the role of strengths in the leadership processDirections1. In this exercise, your task is to observe a leader in
Purpose1. To develop an understanding of your leadership strengths2. To rank your strengths in selected areas of performanceDirections1. Please answer the statements below in terms of whether the
Purpose1. To gain an understanding of the role of traits in the leadership process 2. To examine the traits of selected historical and everyday leaders Directions 1. Based on the descriptions of the
Purpose1. To gain an understanding of how traits are used in leadership assessment2. To obtain an assessment of your own leadership traits Directions1. Make five copies of this questionnaire. It
Do you think leadership is something everyone can learn to do, or do you think it is a natural ability reserved for a few? Explain your answer.
In this chapter, we discussed five leadership figures. As you read about these leaders, which leaders did you find most appealing? What was it about their leadership that you found remarkable?Discuss.
Although changing leadership traits is not easy, which of your leadership traits would you like to change? Specifically, what actions do you need to take to change your traits?
This chapter suggests that it is important for leaders to reveal their strengths to others. As a leader, how do you feel about disclosing your strengths to others? How do you react when others
Vanessa Mills was recently hired to work at a branch of Lakeshore Bank as a personal banker. The branch is very busy and has a large staff, including three on-site managers. As a new employee,
As you reflect on the assumptions of Theory X and Theory Y, how would you describe your own philosophy of leadership?
If you were to try to strengthen your philosophy of leadership, what kinds of changes would you have to make in your assumptions about human nature and work?
Of the three styles of leadership (authoritarian, democratic, and laissez-faire), what style comes easiest for you? Describe how people respond to you when you use this style.
Ebony Ellis has two communication classes back-to-back in the same room, but they couldn’t be more different.The first, a class on interpersonal communication, is taught by Steve Gardner, an older
As you look at your results on the Leadership Styles Questionnaire, what scores would you like to change? What would you have to do to make those changes?
Based on the scores you received on the Organizational Climate Questionnaire, what are your strengths and weaknesses regarding establishing a constructive climate for a group or an organization?
Imagine that you have been chosen to lead a group project for your class and are preparing for the first meeting. Based on what you have read in this chapter, identify five important actions you
How did you react to the example in this chapter of the service-learning group that developed cohesiveness? In what way do you think cohesiveness plays an important role in groups? Have you ever
This chapter argues that establishing a constructive climate demands that the leader be a role model for how group members should act. What three values are important to you in a group? How would you
In this chapter, group rules and norms are stressed as being very important to effective teams. Do you agree with this? Explain your answer. Briefly comment on your own desire and ability to adapt to
High-performing teams have strong standards of excellence. Discuss your level of comfort with encouraging others to “keep the quality up.” What leadership behaviors could you strengthen to
An important aspect of establishing a constructive climate is giving recognition to others. Is rewarding or praising others something that would come easily for you as a leader? Discuss.
What is your response to the word diversity? Do you think it is a significant problem in our society, or do you think it is overemphasized? Explain your thoughts on diversity.
Reflect on the six primary dimensions of cultural diversity shown in Table 9.1 (i.e., age, gender, race, mental and physical abilities, ethnicity, and sexual orientation). Which type of diversity is
Explore your answers on the Cultural Diversity Awareness Questionnaire. Select three items on which you chose almost never or never. Based on your responses to these items, discuss what you could do
Springfield High School’s athletic teams have been called the Redskins since the school opened in 1944.The small town of 7,000, which is roughly 95% White, is located in an area of the Midwest that
Imagine for a moment that you have been selected to lead a group service-learning project. What will you say to make others in your group feel psychologically safe? In what way will you let them
One way to explore the concept of inclusion is to reflect on your own personal feelings about inclusion. In a group situation, how much do you want to be included by others? Using a personal example,
As discussed in the chapter, stereotypes often get in the way of including others who differ from us.What common stereotypes do you sometimes attribute to others (e.g., a White male police officer, a
Think about what circumstances got you to where you are today. Do you have a past that some would describe as privileged? Or, would you say you are not privileged? Do you see your colleagues or
Next Step is a student organization run by graduate students in the School of Communication at a large West Coast university. The mission of Next Step is to provide students with opportunities that
One way to engage out-group members is to empower them. How do you see your own competencies in the area of empowerment? What keeps you from empowering others? Discuss.
Imagine for a moment that you are doing a class project with six other students. The group has decided by taking a vote to do a fund-raising campaign for the local Big Brothers Big Sisters program.
The five members of the Web programming department at a marketing company are being relocated to a new space in their building. The move came as a big surprise; the head of the company decided to cut
How do you react to conflict? Based on the Conflict Style Questionnaire, how would you describe your conflict style? How has your past history influenced your conflict style?
Briefly describe an actual conflict you had with a family member, roommate, or coworker in therecent past. Identify the positions and interests of both you and the other person in the conflict.
This chapter describes three kinds of relational conflict (i.e., esteem, control, affiliation). Of the three kinds, which is most common in the conflicts you have with others? Discuss.
In the last section of this chapter, six strategies for responding to out-group members were discussed. Rank these strategies from strongest to weakest with regard to how you use them in your own
As we discussed in this chapter, out-groups run counter to building community in groups. How important do you think it is for a leader to build community? Discuss.
Using items from the Building Community Questionnaire as your criteria, list three specific actions you could take that would show sensitivity to and tolerance of out-group members.
Based on the score you received on the Building Community Questionnaire, how would you describe your attitude toward out-group members? Discuss.
Describe how you could fractionate the conflict.
Using Fisher and Ury’s (1981) methods, describe how you could separate the person from the problem and how you could work together to address the conflict. During your discussions, how could you
Each semester, community college professor Julia Ramirez requires her students to do a 10-hour community service project at a nonprofit agency of their choice and write a paper about the experience.
This chapter suggests that leadership has a moral dimension and that leaders have a responsibility to use their authority for the common good. Do you agree? Discuss.
In this chapter, the circumstances at Abu Ghraib prison are used as an example of unethical leadership. Do you agree with this assessment? How do you view what happened at Abu Ghraib? What factors
Character is a fundamental aspect of ethical leadership. What are your character strengths and weaknesses? List three specific actions you could take to strengthen your character.
When you consider the character of a leader and what a leader does (the leader’s actions), which of these two factors is more important with regard to ethical leadership? Can a person with bad
Based on your responses to the Ethical Leadership Styles Questionnaire, what are your core values?Do you think other people know your core values? Are you comfortable talking about these values with
Based on the interviews you conducted with others about leadership, how could you incorporate others’ ideas about leadership into your own leadership?
Each of us has our own unique way of thinking about leadership. What leaders or people have influenced you in your thinking about leadership? Discuss what leadership means to you and give your
This chapter includes a story about Richard Lee, the father who coached his son’s Little League baseball team. What was your reaction to the story? Do you think Richard was an ethical leader? How
As a community service project, Trey Morgan volunteered to coach a Book Quiz team of fourth graders at a local elementary school. As a college student majoring in education, Trey was excited for the
When it comes to helping people who are having problems, how do you view your own abilities? Are you comfortable with setting goals and giving directions to others?
To be an effective leader requires that you clarify the goal and define the path to the goal. What specific things could you do in an upcoming leadership situation to clarify the goal and define the
One of the central responsibilities of a leader is to help his or her followers become motivated. This means helping them feel competent, helping them meet their expectations, and helping them value
As you look at your results on the Path–Goal Styles Questionnaire, what scores would you like to change? Which styles would you like to strengthen? How can you make sure you exhibit the most
As you reflect on the obstacles discussed in the chapter, which obstacles would you be most and least effective at addressing? Why?
People vary regarding their need to be helped. Some want a lot of assistance, and others like to be independent. Are you prepared to adapt your leadership to be helpful to those who need it? Discuss.
One of the aspects of democratic leadership is to help followers take responsibility for themselves. How do you assess your own ability to help others help themselves?
List three specific activities you could use to improve your leadership style.
Mark Schmidt runs Co-Ed Cleaners, a business that employs college students to clean offices and schools during the night hours. Due to an economic downturn, Co-Ed Cleaners has lost customers, and
As you reflect on what has been discussed in this chapter and on your own leadership style, how would you describe your own style in relation to task and relationship orientations? What are your
If you were to change in an effort to improve your leadership, what aspect of your style would you change? Would you try to be more task oriented or more relationship oriented?
What biases do you maintain regarding task style and relationship style? How do your biases affect your leadership?
Identify three specific task or relationship changes you could carry out.
One of the most difficult challenges leaders face is to integrate their task and relationship behaviors. Do you see this as a challenge in your own leadership? How do you integrate task and
What barriers will you face as you try to make these changes?
Based on what you know about yourself and the scores you received on the Leadership Skills Questionnaire in the three areas (administrative, interpersonal, and conceptual), how would you describe
One unique aspect of leadership skills is that they can be practiced. List and briefly describe three things you could do to improve your administrative skills.
It started with cupcakes. As a teacher at Oak Park Elementary, Caroline would often make cupcakes for the school’s teachers and staff. Everyone raved about her baking expertise, and a colleague
This chapter suggests that emotional intelligence is an interpersonal leadership skill. Discuss whether you agree or disagree with this assumption. As you think about your own leadership, how do your
Leaders need to be socially perceptive. As you assess yourself in this area, identify two specific actions that would help you become more perceptive of other people and their viewpoints. Discuss.
This chapter divides leadership into three kinds of skills (administrative, interpersonal, and conceptual). Do you think some of these skills are more important than others in some kinds of
What kind of problem solver are you? Are you slow or quick to address problem situations? Overall, what two things could you change about yourself to be a more effective problem solver?
Nick Gibbons was described by his classmates at Columbia University’s prestigious School of Journalism as a “hard-core newshound with ink running in his blood.” After working as a beat reporter
Stephen Covey (1991) contended that effective leaders “begin with the end in mind.” These leaders have a deep understanding of their own goals and mission in life. How would you describe your own
Based on your score on the Leadership Vision Questionnaire, how do you assess your ability to create a vision for a group? Identify specific ways you could improve your abilities to create and carry
Creating a vision usually involves trying to change others by persuading them to accept different values and different ways of doing things. Are you comfortable influencing people in this way?
Good leaders act out the vision. Describe what ideals and values you act out or could act out as a leader.
As we discussed in this chapter, effective visions can be articulated with strong symbols. How do you view yourself as being able to do this? Are you effective at generating language and symbols that
Take a few moments to think about and describe a group or an organization to which you belong presently or belonged in the past. Write a brief statement describing the vision you would utilize if you
Imagine you are the leader of a classroom group required to do a semester-long service learning project. Identify and discuss specific things you could do to create a positive climate, positive
Of the four domains of leadership strengths, which are your strongest? Describe how you could solicit support from followers to complement these areas of strength.
For this exercise, you are being asked to interview several people you know about your strengths.Instructions:First, identify three people (e.g., friends, coworkers, colleagues, family members) from
Christine Jorgens was shocked when the board of Begin the Future Foundation, the nonprofit organization she worked for, asked her to apply for the position of CEO of the organization. For 40 years,
All of us have problematic traits that inhibit our leadership but are difficult to change. Which single trait distracts from your leadership? Since you cannot easily change this trait, what actions
As you reflect on your own leadership traits, do you think some of them are more “you” and authentic than others? Have you always been the kind of leader you are today, or have your traits
Based on the case study of Tim T., which of his traits could you incorporate into your own leadership? Discuss.
If you could model yourself after one or more of the historical leaders we discussed in this chapter, whom would you model yourself after? Identify two of their traits that you could and should
Based on the scores you received on the Leadership Traits Questionnaire, what are your strongest leadership traits? What are your weakest traits? Discuss.
Tim T. portrays his life as a tension between “nature” and “nurture.” He sees it this way: He has two sets of DNA, and these two very different sets of characteristics have given him what he
Denny Hill’s career as a high school swimming coach didn’t start out well. The seniors on his team quit in the first season because he required them to come to all the workouts. The team only won
Purpose1. To identify how you view leadership2. To explore your perceptions of different aspects of leadershipDirections1. Consider for a moment your own impressions of the word leadership. Based on
Purpose1. To develop an understanding of the complexity of leadership2. To become aware of the different ways people define leadershipDirections1. In this exercise, select five people you know and
What do the scores you received on the Conceptualizing Leadership Questionnaire suggest about your perspective on leadership? Of the six dimensions on the questionnaire (trait, ability, skill,

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