Course 4. Foundational Leadership Principles: (Discussion #2) Learning Leadership Skills

1.) I always keep in mind that few people are born with the gift of being a leader, but leadership is something that must be learned.

2.) Time management, decision making, and self-confidence.

3.) As a leader, I'd have a personal meeting between these members and we'd simply have a casual conversation. It's very essential for each of us to be able to listen to the others' opinion, and from that we'd reach a common ground. Also, I'd reflect on my delegation to see if I assign the correct task to the best person.

1. Are leaders born or made?

I think some people are natural born leaders in that they have the innate personality of someone who can lead, but I do believe that leadership requires a set of skills that anyone is capable of learning. And as far as “natural born” I don’t mean they are born with the skills, but that they have the temperament and tend to be more extroverted, though the extroversion and confidence to lead is something that people learn over time and someone’s environment growing up can have an impact on the personality and traits that I person holds. So in the nature vs. nurture argument I would say that leadership is probably mostly nurture, though there are some components that may be more natural in nature.

2. Identify 3 skills that you need to work upon?

Assertiveness: I can tend to be a bit more passive in my communication. I have done a lot of work on this, but I lack confidence a lot and so being assertive is a challenge for me.

Setting Boundaries: I feel like this goes in with the assertiveness for me. I have a hard time setting boundaries because I have a hard time being assertive.

Time management: I tend to take on more responsibility than I can handle and tend to become burnt out.

3. Imagine, you are a project lead and there is a conflict among your team members over responsibility share. As a leader, how will you approach the situation to resolve the concern?

As a leader I would talk to each individual to get both sides of the conflict and make sure I understand what each person is feeling/thinking and then I would organize a meeting with the three of us so that they could discuss what they’re thinking or feeling to each other in a way where they have a moderator who is looking in on the situation and if needed then I would delegate tasks to each person as far as who’s responsible for each part of the project.

@Heather225

Are leaders born or made?

- I feel it is a combination of both. 80% learnt and 20 % based on your own genetic makeup.

Identify 3 skills that you need to work upon?

-To a degree I will need to work on learn prioritisation of work, delegation and decision making.

Imagine, you are a project lead and there is a conflict among your team members over responsibility share. As a leader, how will you approach the situation to resolve the concern?

I will first have an individual meeting with the people involved to get their side of the information.
Next step- After the individual meeting. I will hold a meeting together. This would help me understand the nuances of the conflict and agree on what each person can commit to finish so that they can complete their share and complete their responsibilities.

Please reply to 3 of your peers in the thread!

@Heather225

1. Are leaders born or made?

To me generally leaders are made, they learn the various skills to effectively lead people. Some people have more potential though in my opinion which might be due to the fact how they are brought up.

2. Identify 3 skills that you need to work upon?

Communication skills, conflict resolution and active listening

3. Imagine, you are a project lead and there is a conflict among your team members over responsibility share. As a leader, how will you approach the situation to resolve the concern?

Get everyone together, hear what they have to say, identify where the problem is, line out what the responsibility of each person is (according to their task), see, how it works for everyone and do adjustments if required.

@Heather225

1. Are leaders born or made?

As leadership is a role that emerges in the dynamics and functioning of a group, in most circumstances, leaders arise “naturally”, without any formal training. This has happened during the whole existence of our species, as Homo Sapiens' way of survival is working in groups (can be observed in closely related primates too), which need leaders that channel the energy of diverse members, towards a common goal.

I know of amazing leaders in 7 Cups (real leaders of teams, not just people in some role with the honorific title of “leader”) that have achieved that status based solely on their personal qualities and experience in the group. The same can be said of "horizontal" project teams I have been in, neighborhood groups or political parties.

That said, there are skills that can be learned, and are nowadays taught in many organizations, extremely useful for leading teams, like good communication, problem-solving strategies, decision-making techniques, conflict resolution and negotiation methods, etc.

There are psychological traits required for leadership, that some people have acquired in the course of their lives without formal training, but can also be trained, like defining a vision, self-knowledge, self-control and “emotional intelligence”, active listening techniques, and empathy behaviors.

Finally, there are characters like resilience, and moral values like integrity, required for leadership, that can be taught, but belong to a much deeper realm of a person, so just study and training don’t assure getting those.

Identify 3 skills that you need to work upon

- Long term vision definition

- Empathy promoting behaviors

- Self-control under pressure

Imagine, you are a project lead and there is a conflict among your team members over responsibility share. As a leader, how will you approach the situation to resolve the concern?

I would first analyze the root of the conflict. In the case of a conflict over responsibility share, it would be most probably due to ill-defined roles, and overlapping areas of responsibility. I would analyze the nature of the tasks to be done, the core skills of each team member, and redefine responsibility areas, with clear boundaries among them. I would praise team members for their commitment to the project, and the energy they put into it, (which might paradoxically have fueled the conflict), and explain how these new well-defined boundaries will help cooperation and efficacy towards achieving our common goal. I would stress the need for cooperation, making clear that being a god “team player” will be a metric by which they will be evaluated.

1. Are leaders born or made?

Leaders are made through constant learning

2. Identify 3 skills that you need to work upon?

Communication, decision making, conflict resolution

3. Imagine, you are a project lead and there is a conflict among your team members over responsibility share. As a leader, how will you approach the situation to resolve the concern?

I'd listen to each person and take their point of view into consideration to then divide the responsibility between each person

@Heather225

1. Are leaders born or made?
I believe leaders are made! Becoming a great leader takes time and patience because there are many skills you should master and perfect, and depending on your definition of a great leader, you may even push yourself more because you see that you can do even better!

2. Identify 3 skills that you need to work upon?

Communication for sure, I'm just afraid to be rejected and not be liked anymore

Decision making because I am the most indecisive person you will ever meet depending on the subject. I realize that I can make some decisions like "this will benefit someone so I will do this" but picking out what to eat, or where to take my family/friends I can't decide, and I end up overwhelming myself and asking someone to chose for me.

Learning when to push, and learning when to stop and take a break. Sometimes I'll go farther than I need to, and other times I won't go far enough

3. Imagine, you are a project lead and there is a conflict among your team members over responsibility share. As a leader, how will you approach the situation to resolve the concern?

I will explain how everyone is equal and no one has a "more important" part. A well-working machine takes more than one gear to work, and while the bigger gears (bigger tasks) may seem most important, if the smaller gears (smaller tasks) stop working, or break down, then the whole machine stops working.

@Heather225

1. Are leaders born or made? Personally, I believe leaders are made. I think our personalities are shaped by our upbringings and our parents/role models can influence us to become the people we grow up to be. I think how we are raised is a direct influence on the type of person we become. I don't think we are born with the qualities to become leaders.
2. Identify 3 skills that you need to work upon? I need to work on my own self confidence, my procrastination and the way I react to bad things that happen.
3. Imagine, you are a project lead and there is a conflict among your team members over responsibility share. As a leader, how will you approach the situation to resolve the concern? I would sit everyone down and try to figure out the core of the problem. I would ask everyone what part they wanted to do and I would best try to organize who would do what, while trying my best to make everyone happy.

@Heather225

1. Are leaders born or made?

definitely made. I agree that someone can be a natural leader, however, they must encounter multiple problems and be someone that others can rely on. A great leader has to be someone experienced and trust need to be built over time.
2. Identify 3 skills that you need to work upon?

Communicate: I need to get my idea across and convince others, being an introvert is somewhat an obstacle when I want to raise my voice but whenever I can I'll show my thought though out the discussion.

Taking criticism: It's hard not to be discouraged when others give me bad feedback, but I need to keep in mind that it's not embarrassing but is something that I need to work on.

Asking for help when needed: I like to work solo and take all the work if I can and the result is missed deadline or not as great as I imagined.
3. Imagine, you are a project lead and there is a conflict among your team members over responsibility share. As a leader, how will you approach the situation to resolve the concern?
I'll talk privately to each member to find out what is the problem and maybe hold a quick meeting to express my proceed thought and delegate the responsibility, ask the member if they all agree on it.

1. Leaders are made. Just as we train and learn to improve our knowledge, we also train and learn to become leaders.

2. I need to work on communication, understanding and organising.

3. I would talk things out with the team, and with their help, as well, I would manage to overcome the concern.