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Leadership & L Development
Understanding Leadership
Leadership Development (LD)

Influencing People and Outcomes

Effective leaders are highly sought in all organisations. Effective leaders set direction, envision and create the future, empower others, organise and rally followers towards a goal or a cause. Do you aspire to lead others? Find out what skills you will need to influence others.

High EPL, high EL, high PL and high L score highly in this career type. High Ls have the motivation for only one set of broad skills and may lack the motivation to develop deep expertise in a profession. To be more T-shaped, high Es, high Ps, high EPs or low EPLs could consider learning more about leadership and develop competencies and skills associated with effective leadership.

"Leadership" and understanding what it means in different from "Leadership Development" which includes methods, tools and processes to develop leader.

What Is Leadership?

In the EPL framework, it refers to your desire to take the initiative to organise and influence others towards a goal. It is about influencing people towards a purpose by providing direction, building alignment and commitment. Leadership is best defined as a “process of influence” and it is not the same as leadership from the “person-centered” or “leader-centered” perspective where the focus is on the leader or the position that the leader holds.

Effective Leadership

To lead effectively, you need to be:

Self-aware
Learn the behaviours of an effective leader (including competencies, skills and different styles of leading under different situations and contexts), and
Make decisions that are values-based and principled.

Asking Why You Want to Lead is Important

It is important to ask yourself this question and attempt to answer it. Leadership is hard work and knowing why you want to lead helps. Be clear about whether you are leading to serve others or leading so you can gain fame and reputation (i.e., serve yourself). When you truly understand what leadership is, you will also realise that there are “substitutes” to leadership and these can take the forms of “job positions” and well as “authority” and “power” that comes with a title. Through these substitutes to leadership, you can achieve outcomes but not necessarily the desirable leadership outcomes.

Desired Outcomes of Leadership
When we think of leadership as an influence process, we need to think of the desired outcomes in terms of what difference we want to make. Desired leadership outcomes may include:

Performance beyond expectations
Commitment to a higher purpose or common goal (as well as engagement)
Ethical decisions
A culture of learning (including collaborative learning) and innovation.

IQ & Personality Traits for Leadership Potential

Are leaders usually more intelligent than most others? Is it important for leaders to have high IQs and cognitive skills? Do leaders have certain personality traits that make them more effective? These are typical questions about leadership.

Most organisations have a selection system that identify leaders based on their intelligence (IQ) as well as other leadership competencies. IQ tests, personality tests or assessment centres are implemented for this purpose. However, most organisational selection systems generally aim to identify young or inexperienced leaders for their “leader potential” more than for “leadership effectiveness”, which are not proven at the time of selection and recruitment. On the other hand, mid-career and executive leaders are selected and recruited based on their previous achievements, relevant experiences and good reputation.

Personality traits like conscientiousness, extraversion and openness to experience predict leader potential. If you have these traits, you can appear to be a more “leader-like” compared to others who score lower on such traits. Take a personality test to find out if you have the natural tendencies to lead. Check the following websites for free Big-5 personality tests conducted by researchers and to receive a free feedback:

http://www.personalityassessor.com/ipip300/
https://www.outofservice.com/bigfive/
http://www.personalitytest.org.uk/
https://www.123test.com/personality-test/

What Determines Leadership Effectiveness?

Cognitive Skills. Leaders can also learn cognitive skills that are also essential for dealing with the complexities of the future workplace. Researchers have identified the following skills that leaders should develop:

Creative problem solving skills for novel and ill-defined problems
Social judgement skills for successful implementation of solutions within a social context (e.g., “social perceptiveness” is an important enabling skill)
Knowledge, which includes knowledge of tasks, of organization or context and social networks as well as conceptual and experiential knowledge.

Personality Traits. Based on research, personality traits also predict to how leaders perform. Based on the Big-5 theory and research, the traits that are most associated with general leadership effectiveness are:

Extraversion
Openness to Experience
Conscientiousness

In general, they predict whether you are likely to be an effective leader. However, personality tests are self-reports and are only accurate if you provide honest answers to the questions in the test. While personality tests are useful, there are also other aspects to leading effectively. One can be highly intelligent and have the right leadership traits but may still not become an effective leader. Read on to find out more.

What else is important for effective leadership?

Character, Personal Values and Ethics. These are individual factors associated with leading effectively. You can develop yourself to be:

an ethical leader – always take an ethical perspective when making a leadership decision or
an authentic leader – lead by knowing who you are and the values you truly believe in, or
a values-based leader – lead based on your personal or organisational values you believe and uphold.

You can begin by clarifying your personal values and what you truly believe in. Your personal values may be the reasons why you want to lead.

Behaviours & Competencies. You can develop yourself to be an effective leader by learning the skills, asking for feedback and reflecting on your leadership experiences. For developing or learning behaviours, it is important to find out what leadership competencies are most required of you in your leadership position.

Organisations usually have their own leadership competency models based on their culture or mission, but all leadership models should have competencies in 3 areas - Task, Relations and Change (TRC). Try and learn skills in all 3 competencies and accumulate your experiences while in NTU.

Task-related. These include planning a task, clarifying responsibilities of members, clarifying what goals need to be achieved, organising tasks into sub-tasks, planning the resources to support a task, coordinating work activities, monitoring progress of task to completion.
People-related. These include giving encouragement and support, giving credit to others, consulting others, providing developmental opportunities for others, expressing confidence in others etc.
Change-related. These include proposing new ideas, improving processes, being optimistic about change, thinking of the long-term, providing a compelling vision of the future.

Leadership Styles. Leadership styles are essentially about a “pattern of leader behaviours” which can be a result of one’s personality as well as what was learnt (e.g., from leader role-models). It is important to vary your leadership styles according to the situational demands in order to bring about the desired leadership outcomes. There are many style theories one can read about in the academic literature but for the purposes of your career development, you might start with the ideas of effective transactional versus transformational leadership styles which are different from the ineffective laissez-fair leadership or non-leadership where the leaders nothing to influence any positive outcomes.

The Full Range Leadership Model FRLM(™ Bass & Avolio) is a comprehensive model supported by research. The model describes 2 clusters of behaviours (transactional and transformational leadership). Leaders can learn both types and apply the appropriate behaviours depending on the leadership situation and the follower needs. However, leaders must know the different types of outcomes associated with each style.

With transactional behaviours, leaders can expect “performance up to expectations” and are motivated by the extrinsic rewards.
Transformational leader behaviours are more likely to result in “performance beyond expectations” where followers will put in more effort and show more commitment to their work. The FRLM behaviours are summarised in the following table.

TRANSACTIONAL
Cluster	Behavioural Description
Contingent Reward	Rewarding followers for completing a task/job that was assigned to them.
Management-by Exception (Passive)	Monitoring and correcting followers but waiting till they make mistakes or errors.
Management-by Exception (Active)	Active supervision of followers before mistakes/errors are made – ideal for workers’ safety.

TRANSFORMATIONAL
Cluster	Behavioural Description
Idealised Influence	Providing followers with a clear vision, sense of purpose and role-modeling behaviours based on values and principles.
Inspirational Motivation	Motivating, encouraging, communicating expectations, generating enthusiasm and challenging followers.
Intellectual Stimulation	Soliciting ideas, getting followers to think innovatively and stimulating their creativity.
Individualised Consideration	Establishing a climate of support and respect for individuals, demonstrating concern for follower needs and taking actions to develop others.

A charismatic style involves idealised influence behaviours. However, such a style can only be effective if it is anchored on moral values and principles.

Factors that Derail Leaders

While it is important for you to know what makes an effective leader, it is equally important that you recognise leadership derailment factors. Research by the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) identified 5 key derailment factors in leadership and they are:

Interpersonal relationship problems
Failure to hire, build, and lead a team
Failure to meet business objectives
Inability or unwillingness to change or adapt
Lacking a broad functional orientation.

Research on derailment of leaders and management executives revealed that unsuccessful leaders had the following characteristics or tendencies:

Lacked self-awareness
Overestimated their strengths
Lost their temper easily
Are defensive about their mistakes
Do not learn from experiences
Take on limited job assignments

What you can do to avoid being derailed as a leader

Take up leadership courses and enroll in executive coaching programs that can help you lead effectively at higher levels in organisations.
Ask for feedback from people who know you well; sign-up for a 360 degree feedback program and discuss your areas of weaknesses with your executive coach.

What Leadership Development Involves
Knowledge about leadership (the content) is not the same as knowledge about leadership development. LD involves developmental and learning processes and refers to the methods, tools and processes that enable leaders to learn and develop.

Methods include educational, learning, instructional or developmental approaches that are effective for leadership development. For e.g., movie clips and case studies are often used as stimulus material to discuss leadership concepts and they are ideal for learning emotional content (i.e., the affective domains like values and morals). Experiential activities like outdoor or indoor games that involve problem-solving processes are conducted for participants to reflect and learn various leadership processes like how to get members to collaborate in a team etc. Lectures (intellect and cognition) are used to impart knowledge (e.g., theories about leadership).
Tools include self-awareness instruments like personality tests, peer assessments or 360-degree feedback.
Processes refer to learning processes like the Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle, after action reviews, vision building, team building, team development or team learning.

Motivation to Lead (MTL). Research by Chan et al (2001) shows that those who are motivated to lead are those who seek opportunities to develop themselves to be better leaders. If you aspire to lead, look out for opportunities within NTU to develop yourself as early as possible.

Willingness to Learn. You become a better leader if you are also willing to learn. It is said that leaders stop leading when they stop learning.

Leaders Learn Best Through Experiences and Self-Reflection. Based on Kolb’s learning cycle, you need to have concrete experience, engage in reflective observation, conceptualise (think about what you learnt) and experiment (try out what you have learnt).

Leaders Inspire Commitment. You can inspire commitment if you involve with your peers and followers in a shared visioning process. You can provide direction and rally them towards a common goal or shared vision. Learn how to create a shared vision with your group. When your peers and followers take part in the process, they are more likely to be committed to achieving the shared vision and goals.

Effective Leaders Build Teams. Effective leaders set clear goals, establish clear rules, clarify roles and expectations of team members, and create positive relationships based trust and support.

Self-Awareness is Key to Your LD

Self-awareness is regarded as a meta-competency, i.e., it plays an important part in how you learn as a leader. As a leader, it is critically important to be aware of your blind spots, weaknesses and ethical conduct.
You will need to depend on others as your “mirrors”. Ask your peers or followers for feedback about your leadership. “Perceptions” of the people you lead may not be “facts” but they still do matter.
Set goals to improve your weaknesses and reduce your blindspots. Manage areas that you cannot change. For example, if you have a personality tendency to be quick-tempered and impatient (low emotional stability or high on neuroticism), it is important to be aware of your behaviours and how you affect others around you. You must take steps to manage behaviours that have a negative impact on others.

Leadership Development Programs in NTU
Leadership opportunities that provide experience for leadership learning is the best way to develop your leadership. Formal or informal programs offered in NTU can also be useful though not all NTU LD programmes may be focused on developing leadership competencies and skills. Some may offer leadership techniques and tools. You can start your LD in NTU by enrolling in your faculty leadership development programs. For e.g., the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering has a leadership development program that seeks to “imbue bright students with qualities of leadership, inter-personal skills, creative thinking, independent problem-solving and team-work” and as a participant, you can expect “opportunities to participate in leadership training seminars, workshops and self-improvement courses”.

Find out if you are eligible for the following programmes in NTU at this website: http://www.execed.ntu.edu.sg/Programmes/ldp/Pages/Home.aspx

Management Development Programme @ Nanyang
WDA-NANYANG SME Hi Potential Leadership Programme
SBF-Nanyang Competencies for Future and Current Directors
NBS-RSIS The ASEAN Advantage: Building Successful Business in ASEAN
Advanced Management Programmes

Tips for Leadership Learning in NTU
Here are some tips for leadership learning some of which are based on Kolb’s Learning Cycle:

Seek leadership opportunities. Look for opportunities to take on the role of a leader.
Learn and find out what is expected of you as a leader. Think of how you can make a difference.
Enhance your self-awareness:

Seek feedback from those who have the opportunity to observe you as a leader. Take all feedback seriously. Honest feedback is important and your feedback givers must be people whom you know well and trust.
Be open-minded and accept both positive and negative feedback. Feedback based on how others perceive you is important even though you may not always agree or may feel that the feedback is inaccurate or untrue. Some feedback can help you reduce your blindspots. Never be defensive and accept all feedback.
Ask for specific feedback about both your strengths and weaknesses. Feedback on your leadership skills or behaviours can be based on Task, Relations, and Change aspects. Ask for examples or data.

Frame your learning goals based on the feedback and prioritise the goals in your development plan.
Engage in reflective exercises.

Reflect and learn from your experiences. Reflect on your performance and whether you have achieved your leadership goals or the desired leadership outcomes. Reflect on how you will improve the next time.

Find another opportunity to try out what you learnt from your previous experiences. New behaviours you learn must become your good habits.

Creating Your Leadership Portfolio
It is good to keep a leadership portfolio which you can use to develop your curriculum vitae. Consider the following contents for the portfolio.

Short descriptions of significant leadership experiences
Reflections on your leadership experiences and what was learnt
Skills and competencies that you have acquired through formal or informal programmes
Reflections of your strengths and areas for improvement
Reflections on your leadership values, ethical dilemmas etc.

Your Continual Development as a Leader

As a leader, you never stop learning. Pay attention to developing your self-awareness. Continue to ask others for feedback. Some organisations have 360-degree feedback systems to help leaders become more self-aware.
Engaging a leadership coach can help you grow as a leader.
When you lead small teams and or work in project groups where you share leadership with others, your influence can also depend on your professional competence (task-related), your relationships and your change-related behaviours. Learn and develop yourself in all 3 areas (Task, Relations and Change skills) of leadership.
When you become an organisational leader, you need to learn how to develop others (e.g., your followers) as well as your organisation.

Attend a coaching program and learn how to develop others.
Attend an organisational development program and learn how to develop your organization to meet the demands of its external environment.

References

Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership Harper & Row. New York, 181.

Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectations. Free Press; Collier Macmillan.

Bass, B. M., & Avolio, B. J. (1997). Full range leadership development: Manual for the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (pp. 43-44). Palo Alto, CA: Mind Garden.

Avolio, B. J., & Gardner, W. L. (2005). Authentic leadership development: Getting to the root of positive forms of leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 16(3), 315-338.

Chan, K. Y., & Drasgow, F. (2001). Toward a theory of individual differences and leadership: understanding the motivation to lead. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(3), 481.

Chan, K. Y., Ramaya, R., & Soh, S. (2011). Military Leadership in the 21st Century: Science and Practice. Cengage Learning.

Daudelin, M. W. (1997). Learning from experience through reflection. Organisational Dynamics, 24(3), 36-48.

Day, D. V. (2001). Leadership development: A review in context. The Leadership Quarterly, 11(4), 581-613.

Judge, T. A., Bono, J. E., Ilies, R., & Gerhardt, M. W. (2002). Personality and leadership: a qualitative and quantitative review. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(4), 765.

Judge, T. A., Colbert, A. E., & Ilies, R. (2004). Intelligence and leadership: a quantitative review and test of theoretical propositions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(3), 542.

Kolb, D. A. (2014). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. FT press.

Maitland, A., & Thomson, P. (2014). Leaders for the new world of work. In Future Work (pp. 80-98). Palgrave Macmillan UK.

Mumford, M. D., Zaccaro, S. J., Harding, F. D., Jacobs, T. O., & Fleishman, E. A. (2000). Leadership skills for a changing world: Solving complex social problems. The Leadership Quarterly, 11(1), 11-35.

Yukl, G. (1999). An evaluative essay on current conceptions of effective leadership. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 8(1), 33-48.