MGT 475 Ch. 2

Individualized feedback

A leadership development method used to evaluate individuals in the form of personality, intelligence, values, or interest test scores; or leadership behavior ratings.

Mentoring

A personal relationship in which a more experienced mentor (usually someone two or four levels higher in an organization) acts as a guide, role model, and sponsor of a less experienced protege. Formal mentoring programs are less effective than informal mentoring for protege compensation and promotion. Formal mentoring involves an organization assigning a comparatively inexperienced but high-potential leader to a top executive in the company. Informal mentoring occurs when a protégé and mentor build a long-term relationship based on friendship, similar interests, and mutual respect Three C's critical to advancement: Confidence, competence, and credibility.

Mentor

A process by which an older and more experienced person helps to socialize and encourage younger organizational colleagues.

Action learning

A process that involves a small group working on real problems, taking action, and learning as individuals, as a team, and as an organization. It helps organizations develop creative, flexible and successful strategies to pressing problems. "The best learning is learning by doing" Holds great promise but has yet delivered uniform results.

Double-loop learning

A willingness to confront one's own views and an invitation to others to do so, too. It springs from an appreciation that openness to information and power sharing with others can lead to better recognition and definition of problems, improve communication, and increased decision-making effectiveness. "Learning how to learn"

Development plan

A written plan that capitalizes on available books, seminars, college courses, e-learning modules, and so forth to acquire knowledge underlying a particular development need. (Tends to be self focused)

Perceptual set

Can influence any of our senses, and they are the tendency or bias to perceive one thing and not another. Factors that can trigger the perceptual set includes feelings, needs, prior experience, and expectations. Perception affects all three phases of the action-observation-reflection model and thus plays an important role in what anyone will extract from a leadership course or from any leadership situation

Single-loop learning

Describes a kind of learning between the individual and the environment in which learners seek relatively little feedback that may significantly confront their fundamental ideas or actions.

Training programs

Leadership development activities that typically involve personnel attending a class, often for several days or even a week. Leadership programs for senior executives and CEOs tend to focus on strategic planning, developing and communicating a vision, public relations, and interpersonal skills. Training for mid-level managers would most likely address time management skills.

Action-observation-reflection model

Leadership development is enhanced when the experience involves three different processes: action, observation, and reflection.

Spiral of experience

Leadership development through experience understood as the growth resulting from repeated movements though all three phases (action, observation, reflection) rather than merely in terms of some objective dimension like time.

Service learning

Leadership programs need to deliberately cultivate values represented in the broader field, especially those that are particularly salient at each local institution. These values could include social responsibility and the expectation to become engaged in one's community.

Development planning

More than just a plan - it is really a process. Good development plans are constantly being revised as new skills are learned or new opportunities to develop skills become available.

Self-fulfilling prophecy

Occurs when our expectations or predictions play a causal role in bringing about the events we predict.

Games

Other methods of leadership development. Structured activities designed to mirror some of the challenges or decisions commonly faced in the work environment.

Simulations

Other methods of leadership development. Structured activities designed to mirror some of the challenges or decisions commonly faced in the work environment.

Role playing

Participants are assigned parts to play (such as a supervisor and an unmotivated subordinate) in a job-related scenario. It has the advantage of letting trainees actually practice relevant skills and thus has greater transferability to the workplace than do didactic lectures or abstract discussions about leadership.

In-basket exercises

Participants are given limited amount of time to prioritize and respond to a number of notes, letters, and phone message from a fictitious manager;s in-basket. This technique is useful in assessing and improving a manager's planning and time management skills.

Formal coaching

Provides a similar kind of service for executives and managers in leadership positions. They are individualized by their nature, but several common features deserve mention. Involves one-on-one relationship between manager and the coach that lasts from six months to a year. Begins with a completion of extensive tests of personality, intelligence, interests, and value; 360 degree feedback instruments, and interviews by the coach of other individuals in the manager's world of work.

Return on investment

Recent research indicates that, on average, the ROI for investments in leadership development is both positive and substantial.

Actor/observer difference

Refers to the fact that people who are observing an action are much more likely than the actor to make the fundamental attribution error. Ex. Each of us tend to see our own success as due to our intelligence, personality, or physical abilities, but others' success as more attributable to situational factors or to luck.

Informal coaching

Takes place whenever a leader helps followers to change their behaviors. Best informal coaching generally consists of five steps: (forging a partnership, inspiring commitment, growing skills, promoting persistence, and shaping the environment).

Attribution

The explanations we develop for the behaviors or actions we attend to. The most important yet most neglected component of the AOR model is reflection.

Coaching

The process of equipping people with the tools, knowledge, and opportunities they need to develop and become more successful. (Can help retain high-quality followers)

Self-serving bias

The tendency to make external attributions (blame the situation) for one's own failures yet make internal attributions (take credit) for one's success.

Fundamental attribution error

The tendency to overestimate the dispositional causes of behavior and underestimate the environmental causes when other fail. Ex. When people prefer to explain others' behavior on the basis of personal attributions even when obvious situational factors may fully account for the behavior.

Case studies

Used to describe leadership situations and are used as a vehicle for leadership discussions.

After event reviews

While unaided learning from experience is difficult, it can be enhanced through a practice of systematic reflection or AERs. Reflection and facilitated discussion on personal leadership experiences such as what the potential impact of alternative leadership behaviors might have been and how individuals believe they might behave differently in the future.