Leadership Intelligence

Leadership remains a popular topic in both academic institutions and in the mainstream media. Politicians, world leaders and those in managerial positions are often scrutinised to determine whether they will be a ‘strong leader’. Interestingly, the characteristics of ‘strong leadership’ cannot be so clearly defined.

This module has been developed to introduce participants to the broad range of leadership theories and applications. By the end of this module, participants should be able to:

• Describe the desirable characteristics of a modern leader • Understand the types of leadership styles
• Determine the difference between leadership and management
• Understand how emotional intelligence influences leadership capabilities
• Understand and apply situational leadership theory

Key attributes within any natural born leader include such distinctiveness as values, character, motives, habits, traits, competencies, style, behaviour and skills. Leadership styles and qualities will differ and will be essentially influenced by the core of the personality of the leader. The important mark here however, is that leaders must be role models for others, outwardly displaying high standards of professional and ethical behaviour. Such aspects must be learned as they do not come naturally to all leaders. They must be constantly developed and enhanced. This module is designed with a focus on self-awareness. To improve, we must know where we are in the here and now.

This module has been developed to enable participants to identify the practical knowledge, skills and strategies they need to grow in their leadership role. By the end of this module, participants should be able to:

• Determine the meaning of ‘leadership intelligence’
• Broaden your knowledge of emotional, character and wisdom intelligence and apply it to a variety of leadership situations
• Understand wellbeing and identify strategies for thriving as a leader
• Complete a Personal Leadership Development Plan

Adults bring to the workplace their own experiences and knowledge, their own intentions and their own set of patterned behaviours (Eraunt 2000). As such, effective leaders must use flexible communication and behaviour techniques to build relationships with their teams.

At the heart of leadership is the ability to communicate effectively. Good leaders facilitate conversations with their team as well as share strategies, policies, objectives and other organisational information.

This module has been developed to enable participants to identify the specific communication skills that are useful as a leader. By the end of this module, participants should be able to:

• Understand communication as a process
• Identify barriers to good communication
• Understand and practice assertive communication
• Identify and utilise six core communication skills
• Increase your communication flexibility to overcome communication challenges with team members

Supervisors spend more than 25% of their time on conflict management, and managers spend more than 18% of their time on relational employee conflicts. This has doubled since the 1980s. Reasons for this include the growing complexity of organisations, use of teams and group decision-making. In interpersonal relations conflict is as natural as breathing. Conflict can happen for many reasons and present in many ways. It is actually avoiding the management of conflict that creates the chaos and confusion in workplaces. Most often, ignoring conflict ultimately leads to low morale and dysfunctional behaviour.

This module has been developed to enable participants to understand conflict and develop greater capacity to resolve conflict in their team. By the end of this module, participants should be able to:

• Identify and plan for crucial conversations
• Understand how conflict arises
• Identify your style in conflict
• Learn the preparation skills for resolving conflict and addressing issues
• Learn the communication skills for mediating conflict between team members
• Manage emotions during resolution meetings

Performance management is defined as the suite of related human resource processes which are designed to develop, motivate, coach and create quality team members. Ultimately, performance management is about designing a high-performing team, one that makes a significant contribution to the profitability and positive culture in the business.

This module has been developed to enable participants to identify the specific communication skills that are useful as a leader. By the end of this module, participants should be able to:

• Understand the importance of performance management and fostering ‘talent’
• Implement coaching programs for post-probation team members
• Identify the skills and processes for effective induction
• Identify and utilise informal and formal performance management systems

OOrganisations that want to thrive and survive are innovative; therefore, effective change and project management are vital leadership skills. Both project and change management competencies include administrative tasks for planning, documenting, and controlling work and leadership tasks for visioning, motivating, and promoting work goals.

This module has been developed to enable participants to identify the specific skills that are useful for leading change and managing priorities at work. By the end of this module, participants should be able to:

• Understand why change can be unsettling to team members
• Use structured change management tools
• Manage resistance to change
• Confidently plan and execute practice projects using a structured method