The Role Of Leadership

Synopsis

Leaders create the environment within which people perform. With the business environment constantly changing, it is critical that leaders create an environment in which people can excel. Prerequisites for creating that environment include:

• Committing to a set of values that serve to guide leadership actions.
• Fostering innovation and creativity from everyone.
• Managing "change" effectively.
• Focusing on both the internal and external customers.
• Emphasizing "continuous learning" for everyone.

Leaders’ actions create and perpetuate the values within the organization. They must create an environment that fosters initiative and independent action and reduces dependency upon the leader. The focus of this program is to help leaders understand "values-driven" leadership practices and build a predictable, strong, people-oriented culture.

In this module, the role of leadership will be examined. The Guiding Principles or values that serve as a foundation for the creation of this program will be covered. We will also look at the issue of change and discuss the leader’s role in the change process. Finally, the concept of mental models and paradigms will be reviewed and their effect on leadership practices will be explored.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this module participants will better understand:

• The values (Guiding Principles) that serve as the foundation for this program.
• The importance of the leadership role in the future.
• The need to examine personal, mental models and paradigms.
• Their role in creating and perpetuating a culture that thrives on change, experimentation and rapid response to customer expectations

Participants will be able to:

• Help people deal with the process of change more effectively.
• Identify their personal reactions to change and choose more effective responses.
• Choose leadership actions that are in line with the Guiding Principles that underscore this program.