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

1. Are leaders born or made?

They're made

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

Attentiveness, assertiveness, and teambuilding

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 speak to everyone individually to learn each perspective and why they feel the way they do. I'd use this information to create a solution that is most beneficial to everybody

1. Are leaders born or made?

In my opinion, leaders are born. Some people have an innate ability to lead and they always lead. It's my observation that people who are born with these qualities always lead and others always follow.
2. Identify 3 skills that you need to work upon?

Professionalism, Decision-Making, Emotional Intelligence, Resilience.

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?

First I would listen to both the parties and the reason for the conflict. Then I would ask them what they want to do and how they want things for themselves. Then I would divide responsibilities equally between both the parties. Actually, I am not so good at problem-solving.
4. Please reply to 3 of your peers in the thread!

Done

@Heather225

1. Are leaders born or made?

This question can be either, there is no one answer because there are naturally born leaders, and for others, it may take certain environments to groom that leadership

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

Three skills that I need to work on are problem-solving, conflict resolution and non-verbal communication

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 approach the situation to resolve the concern by firstly having a meeting with everyone, addressing the responsibilities assigned to particular people and the reasons why they were given those tasks. If however, you have an idea for a particular task, you are open to sharing your input.

@Heather225

1. Are leaders born or made?

they are mostly made, but i also believe that some people are born with certain traits that give them an advantage in leadership. these can be traits that enhance their leadership abilities, or it could be a desire to lead, or it could be traits that make leadership come more naturally.

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

communication, balance, perseverance

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?

divide everything that needs to be done into chunks of around the same workload if possible, assign them to members that are good at doing them and ask if there are any more questions about what anyone has to do.

if dividing them into equal chunks isn't possible, then divide the people into groups with accordance to the workload of each concentration and appoint the person best at doing it to lead them. if the person best at doing it isn't good at leadership, appoint a de facto responsible for translating the work into cooperation.

in both cases, updates at every meeting will be expected, as well as complaints and compliments, if any. if a problem is big enough, it will be brought up at the meeting. if it's not, it won't even make it to the meeting. we're assuming that all members are mature enough to handle communication effectively. if they aren't, then they're out.

1. Are leaders born or made?
I think most leaders are born, but I accept that's an unpopular opinion, and I support those who work on their leadership skills to grow into the leadership role.
2. Identify 3 skills that you need to work upon?
My diplomacy. How I give and receive feedback (great part of the course). How I make assumptions.
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?
By hearing them out with active listening skills and by making sure the workload is fair and balanced. If folks are overwhelmed, I'd take on more myself.

@Heather225

1. Are leaders born or made?

I don’t believe that leaders are born. You need to train to be a leader. There may be people that have a stronger influence compared to others, but I believe that leadership is much more than that.

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

1. Time management.

2. Goal setting.

3. Making these goals achievable.

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?

Firstly, I would listen. There must be a reason as to why a conflict was created. Then I would have a meeting to discuss with the whole team to get a consensus to resolve the problem. I would always patiently listen to all of the team members equally.

4. Please reply to 3 of your peers in the thread!

Done.

@Heather225

1. Are leaders born or made?

Leaders are definitely made. The fact that we are born without any acquired knowledge, skills or understandings of the real world. Its a gradual process of developing as a leader, similarly to the process of an infant learning to walk. He would he would first observe and learn with the help of a parent, there would be a lot of stumbling and falling, crawling, getting up again on their two feet unsteadily and falling again , but trying it again and again until they have mastered walking. Hence, leaders aren't born in one day they experience a lot of failures and rejections, however they learn from it and view that as an opportunity to growth and development, that quality sets them apart from others.

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

Communication skills

- I would like to work on communicating my vision to others, as it's sometimes sounds vague or unclear. As someone who is nervous and reserved im often not very keen on presentations , so i would work on my confidence and presentation skills as well.

Problem Solving skills

- Honestly, I don't think I have solved any problems related to leadership roles. So, I lack experience in that sense. With experience and observations I think that skills can be developed.

Time management skills

- I sometimes feel overwhelmed by focusing or thinking too much on completing a task before the deadline so it sometimes makes feel exhausted. I should improve on having a balance with work and leisure and that can only be done with a proper time management skills - setting time for relaxation and work.

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?

By implementing the conflict resolution skills that I have learned. Firstly, i would communicate with each one of them in private to hear them out , understand their point of view and factors of the conflict. Next, I would have a meeting with all of team and have discussion on each of their concerns, by utilizing my listening skills and empathy to understand the situation well.

I would then ask them how they would want to resolve it, I shall consider each of their options and opinion, and find a solution based on that. Next, I would discuss with them my solution and ask if they could find a common ground or have any other ideas in mind. When all parties have agreed, I shall work on my solution of distributing the responsibility evenly and reorganizing them work on a task which is best suited to their respective ability . Lastly, I would follow up/check in with each of them and applaud them for their amazing dedication and team work.

@Heather225

Thank you for the post H, and for all your hard work!

Next step, below in the comments of this discussion, share

1. Are leaders born or made?

I don't think anyone is born a leader. Maybe we grew up in an environment that has made it easier for us to earn the required leadership skills quite naturally, or maybe we have no idea and try to learn them, step by step. But one thing is for sure. Whether you grew up learning the skills or you had to study them later in life, there is always space for improvement!

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

I need to work on de-escalation skills, that is for sure. I know them theoretically, but I need to learn how and when to apply them.
I also need to work on having a schedule, and not just popping up when I feel like it, so my team members know when I am available.
Other than that, I would like to be more comfortable in fast moving chats. Learn how to see what is relevant.

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 communicate with them. It usually really is as simple as that. If everyone is allowed to share their side of the story, a conflict can easily be solved most of the time!

Thank you for reading through this! I do appreciate that! 💜

@Heather225

1. Are leaders born or made?

I think some people are born with varying degrees of confidence which can support leadership opportunities and skills but beyond that I think it's all learnt. The only other exception I would make is perhaps those who are neurodiverse. Some skills/thought patterns cannot be learnt or at least not learnt easily and yet still we can be leaders! I think the environment around leaders can adapt to suit too.
2. Identify 3 skills that you need to work upon?

Sustaining effort through the entire project

Having a clear vision and not being distracted by 'side quests'

Resilience/not being knocked back by mistakes or set backs!
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?

a) Get all the facts

b) Speak to each member individually to understand the problem fully and invite them to talk to each other after or facilitate a group chat

c) remind team members of the importance of working together and how valuable they are whilst working on a solution together

@Heather225

Leaders are made, they need to build the skills that make a good leader in order to truly become one! And building can only come through continued learning and experience, no matter what predispositions you might have.

One skill I need to work on is convincing people that my idea is valuable. People won’t just sign up because my idea is smart, they need to be inspired and motivated. Another skill I need to work on is coming across like my ideas are a dream I believe in. I am extremely pragmatic but throwing a bunch of options around is confusing for people, especially when they have no expertise on the thing I propose options for. Finally, I need to work on delegating my work. I have always learned my skills and knowledge in an autodidact way, so it’s very natural for me to do things on my own, but at the same time, then the scale of any project I undertake is severely limited (and consequently the positive change we could cause).

I will first have to get an idea of what responsibilities each person wants to take on, and what each person’s strengths are (their track record, their education, what work were they doing before). Once I have a good profile of each individual, I look at the work-load each person is taking on: is too much on one person’s shoulders? I’ll also look at whether someone is doing work they’re not suited for, or whether someone’s talents are not used effectively. Based on that information, I’ll discuss with the team members what my findings were and ask them for their thoughts. Afterwards I will reorganize the team and formulate clear role descriptions, and make sure every other team member is aware of them so that people don’t take on one another’s responsibilities. Finally, I’ll make sure there is a channel for communicating that someone is dissatisfied with their work, or dissatisfied with someone else’s work.