Module 1: What is “Leadership”?
An image of famous leaders from mixed backgrounds, genders, ethnicities, etc. Angela Merkel, Martin Luther King, Jr., Sacagawea, Mark Zuckerberg – these are all people who have been described as great leaders. Yet, not everyone may agree with this list. Regardless of agreement on this list of leaders, there are still similarities that exist among these people, such as having intelligence and perseverance. Ultimately, the basic study of leadership is to identify the factors such as these that lead to effective and ineffective leadership. Exploring these factors is important because it helps us not only understand how different leaders came to be, but also serves as a reference when we’re looking to select or train leaders. It also may help us reflect our own leadership abilities and consider what skills we could work on to improve ourselves as leaders.
In this module, we’ll be investigating these various factors of leadership and discussing what makes a great leader.
In a post below, respond to the following prompt, which assesses course outcomes 1-3, and module learning objectives 3-8. Then, you must respond to two of your classmates’ posts. You are not required to reply to your peers more than twice, but feel free to respond to other posts and engage with your classmates.
Prompt
Chapter 1 mentions that context is important in leadership. Why do you think that is? Provide at least one example to support your view.
Explain emotional intelligence (as described in chapter 2) and give an example of each of the four main areas of this concept. Then, answer the following questions:
What does a leader with high versus low emotional intelligence look like?
Describe your experience working with leaders of varying degrees of emotional intelligence.
How much of an influence do you think emotional intelligence has on effective leadership? Justify your opinion.
Introduction to Leadership
Leadership Traits
Male student thinking while working on laptopAs you read chapter two of your textbook, reflect on the leader traits that are discussed. Do you agree that all of the traits presented are “leadership traits”? To what extent should each of these traits be present to be an effective leader? For example, “self and other awareness” is discussed as a leadership trait. Should all leaders strongly represent this trait? Is it possible to have too much “self and other awareness”? What do you think is the right balance of leadership traits to make a great leader?
Introduction to Leadership
Leadership vs. Management
An important idea your textbook poses is that leadership and management are different concepts. Watch the video below in which Seth Godin discusses this idea in detail. As you watch the video, try to generate examples from your life of people who were leaders vs people who were simply managers.
