Lesson 4

Module Title: Leadership Training

Learning outcomes:

1. Described transformational leadership

2. Identified the characteristics of a leader

Discussion:
Human Behavior
According to businessdictionary.com, human behavior is the "capacity of mental, physical,
emotional, and social activities experienced during the five stages of a human being's life—
prenatal, infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. It includes the behaviors as dictated
by culture, society, values, morals, ethics, and genetics."
Encyclopedia Britannica (2012) states that human beings have a typical life course that
consists of successive phases of growth, each of which is characterized by a distinct set of
physical, physiological, and behavioral features. These phases are prenatal life, infancy,
childhood, adolescence, and adulthood (including old age). Human development or
developmental psychology is a field of study that attempts to describe and explain the
changes in human cognitive, emotional, and behavioral capabilities and functioning over the
entire life.

Motivation
Motivation encompasses the internal and external factors that stimulate desire and energy in
people to be continually interested in and committed to a job, role, or subject, and to exert
persistent efforts in attaining a goal. It results from the interaction among conscious and
unconscious factors such as the (a) intensity of desire or need, (b) incentive or reward value
of the goal, and (c) expectations of the individual and of his/her significant others.
According to Swindell (2012), motivation means the drive and ambition needed to achieve
our goals. We all need that extra push at some stage of our life, whether it be at work, in
school, or home; or maybe to give up a bad habit or shed a few pounds. We need motivation
to get •a job done and achieve a goal. Self-motivation can work for some people. For
example, if you are trying to lose some weight, just imagine how you will look and feel when
you can fit again in your smaller-sized clothes. An old photograph of a slimmer you could
help motivate you to keep going.
If you work in sales, it is important to stay motivated to achieve your targets in order to earn
cash bonuses or even job promotion in addition to commission.
It is also easy to become demotivated. For example, you may be way off your sales targets
and you realize there is no chance of reaching them, so you just give up. Negative people can
demotivate you as well.

Good Leadership
Leadership pertains to the qualities exemplified by a leader. It also refers to acts of leading or
the "process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid support of others in the
accomplishment of a common task." It is often said that some people are good leaders while
others are not. But what is really the basis for judging one's capacity to be a good leader?
From a follower's perspective, good leadership can be attributed to qualities that make people
follow a leader. It would be great to have all these qualities, but not all leaders do have them.

Characteristics of a Good Leader

Here are ten essential characteristics of a good leader. Do you think you possess them?
1.Vision. Good leaders know where they want to go and they can motivate people to believe
in their vision for their country, community, and family. Good leaders view things as what
they could be and not simply as what they are.
2.Wit. Good leaders can make sound judgments and decisions even during crucial situations.
3.Passion. Good leaders are very passionate and intensely obsessed in whatever they are
focused on, be it business, sport, or hobby.
4.Compassion. Good leaders show compassion for their supporters and followers. They
possess exemplary coaching and development skills. While these leaders have goals to
accomplish, they can still consistently care for their constituents. They are not selfish
individuals who think only about their own wants and needs. They have a heart for others.
5.Charisma. Good leaders are captivating, charming individuals who tend to draw people
toward them. It could be because of the way they talk, or carry themselves. They excel in
building relationships and eliciting performance from their groups.
6.Communication skills. Good leaders are orators and persuaders. They can express their
ideas clearly and convincingly.
7.Persistence. Good leaders are determined to attain their goals in spite of the obstacles and
problems. They believe that the benefits of attaining their goals outweigh the risks and
hardships.
8.Integrity. Good leaders mean what they say. They walk the talk, practice that they preach,
and keep their promises. They are reliable.
9.Daring. Good leaders are bold, willing to take risks, and determined to chase their dreams
amid the reality of fear and uncertainty. Winston Churchill states that courage is the virtue on
which all others virtues rest.
10.Discipline. Good leaders observe self-control and order. Where most people are easily
distracted or dejected, good leaders manage to stay focused and steady regardless of the
situation.

Maxwell (1999) says that a leader should recognize, develop, and refine certain personal
characteristics needed to be a truly effective leader, the kind of leader people will want to
follow. These are some of the traits of that leader:
1. Character is the quality of a person's behavior as revealed by his/her habits, thoughts and
expressions, attitudes and interests, actions, and personal philosophies in life. Be a piece of
the rock. There are always two paths to choose from: character and compromise. Opt for
character.
2.Charisma is a special spiritual gift bestowed temporarily by the Holy Spirit on a group or an
individual for the general good. It is an extraordinary power in a person, group, or cause,
which takes hold of popular imagination and wins popular support.
3.Commitment engages one to do something as a continuing obligation. It is a state of
intellectual and emotional adherence to some political, social, and religious theory of action.
4.Communication is a two-way process of reaching mutual understanding, in which
participants do not only exchange (encode-decode) information but also create and share
meaning. The meaning of communication is in the response and not in what is said or how it
is said.
5.Competence indicates a sufficiency of knowledge and skills that enable someone to act in a
wide variety of situations. It is the capacity of a person to understand a situation and to
respond to it accordingly and reasonably. A core competency is fundamental knowledge,
ability, or expertise in a specific area.
6.Courage is the quality of the mind that enables a person to face difficult and danger without
fear. It begins with an inward battle.

Transformational Leadership
Bass (1990) explains that transformational leadership is a form of leadership that occurs
when leaders broaden and elevate the interest of their employees, when they generate
awareness and acceptance of the purpose and mission of the group, and when they stimulate
their employees to look beyond their own self-interest for the good of the group.
Transformational leaders have a clear collective vision, and most importantly, they manage to
communicate it effectively to all employees. By acting as role models, they inspire
employees to put the good of the whole organization above self-interest. They also motivate
employees to be more innovative, and they themselves take personal risk and are not afraid to
use unconventional (but ethical) methods to achieve the collective vision.
Transactional and Transformational Leadership
Transactional leadership is based on power that makes use of rewards and to deliver
benefits to members (patronage), or to force or instill fear as illustrated by colonization, vote-
buying, and similar methods.
Transformational leadership or real leadership starts from the recognition of what the
members need and the steps toward achieving these needs, and relating rewards to effort.
Four Components of Transformational Leadership
1. Charisma. The leader's charisma or idealized influence is envisioning and building
confidence, and he/she sets high standards to be followed.
2. Inspirational motivation. The leader's inspirational motivation provides followers with
challenges and meanings/reasons for engaging in shared goals and undertakings.
3. Intellectual stimulation. The leader's intellectual stimulation moves followers to question
assumptions and generate more creative solutions to problems.
4. Individualized consideration. The leader treats each follower as an individual and
provides coaching, mentoring, and growth opportunities.

Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

Adopted from Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey (2007)
1. Be proactive. Proactive means being able to take responsibility for your life. You have the
freedom to choose your behavior and response to stimuli. Use your creativity and have some
initiative. You are the one in charge.
2.Begin with the end in mind. Know where you want to go. When making plans and
decisions, see to it that the time and effort that will be spent conform to what you want to
achieve. Envision your goal and make it happen.
3.Put first things first. Practice self-management. Know your priorities.
4.Think win-win. Look at life as a cooperative arena, not a competitive one. Enter
agreements or make solutions that are mutually beneficial and satisfying both parties.
5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood. As the saying goes, “The best way to
understand is to listen." The practice of empathy governs this habit. It is about putting
yourself in someone else shoes. By listening to a person's explanation, only then can you
evaluates probe, give advice, and interpret his/her feelings.
6.Synergize.The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. More tasks can be all things
within reach are maximized and utilized. Synergize is the creative cooperation. Better results
can be produced as a group than individuals.
7.Sharpen the saw. What you have learned a couple of years back will have become
outdated. Many things evolve and develop so fast that you need to update through various
food-for-the brain resources. A sense of humor is vital to relieve tension and boredom as well
as to defuse hostility Effective leaders know how to use humor to energize his/her followers.
Humor is a form of power that provides some control over the work environment even as it
fosters camaraderie.

Team Work
Teamwork is the process of working collaboratively with a group of people in order to
achieve a goal. It is often a crucial part of a business as it is often necessary for colleagues to
work well together and try their best in any circumstance. Teamwork means that people will
try to cooperate by using their individual skills and providing constructive feedback, despite
any personal conflict between individuals. Teamwork brings people together for a common
purpose or goal and subordinates the needs of individuals to the needs of the group. Many
management gurus define team as a group of individuals passionately committed to their end
goal. When groups have common goals, teamwork is vital to success. Teachers expect
teamwork among students; employers expect employees to function effectively as a team;
and most organizations convene teams to handle problems or projects. Therefore, it is
important to learn teamwork skills even if you prefer to work independently.
What does teamwork look like in action? Basically, group members focus on the goal. They
put aside individual differences and petty grievances to get the job done. They show passion
for the project and each contributes to its success.

Time Management
The succeeding sections have been adopted from the writing of Paulla Estes edited by Niki
Foster (May 28, 2012).
Time management is the art of arranging, organizing, scheduling, and budgeting one's time
for the purpose of generating more effective work and productivity. There is an abundance of
books, classes, workshops, day-planners, and seminars on time management, which teach
individuals and corporations how to be more organized and productive. Time management
has become crucial in recent years, thanks to the 24/7, busy world in which we live.

Decision Making
Decision-making is a process that involves selecting the most logical choice among two or
more options. An example is deciding whether to move to a apartment, to live with
the in-laws, or stay in the same apartment. Making a is instrumental in the
survival and prosperity of human beings. The right choice '6 sets an average individual from
the rest. Although the ability of making the decision within a short span of time is a highly
valued trait, we cannot simply follow a set of patterns when deciding on a course of action at
all points in time. There are different types of decision-making that we do depending on the
situation at hand. Consider the following in decision-making:
l. Identification of alternative solutions;
2.Evaluation of possible options to determine which one meets the decision objectives;
3.Selection of the best option after an in-depth evaluation.

Involvement in Decision-making
Every group has to make a decision at one time or another and all the members have to make
a commitment to choose the best option available. The following are the different types of
involvement in making decisions:
1. Consensus or agreement involves compromising various possibilities after all opinions
have been heard. Disagreements and minority viewpoints are discussed fully. Everyone feels
free to express himself/herself. This method helps build understanding, unity, cooperation,
and commitment.
2.Majority voting is considered the most effective way to make a decision. However, one
may lose the interest or loyalty of the members of the minority who voted against the
decision, especially if they feel their side was not heard.
3.The minority is not consciously organized, but a few powerful personalities dominate the
group, often unconsciously. These people later wonder why the others are apathetic.
4.The silent consensus of some groups leads to unanimous decisions. This type of
involvement in decision-making is rarely applied when tackling important issues. Unanimous
agreement is sometimes assumed when some members do not want to disagree and have
chosen to stay silent.
5.The clique is a small group whose members plan beforehand to get their way in decision-
making. Because they are better organized than those who disagree, they are often successful
in getting/having their own way in resolving an immediate issue, but they bring a spirit of
rivalry, rather than cooperation, to the group.
6.The handclasp happens when one person makes a suggestion and another commends it.
Without further discussion, the matter is decided. Resentment, however, surfaces later on.
7.The one-person decision is quickly made, but later when the decider needs free or
voluntary support from others to implement the decision, he/she might find trouble getting it.
8. The plop occurs when a group makes a decision by not making a decision all. Someone
makes a suggestion, but it is dropped or junked altogether and no one pays any attention to it.

Difficulties in Decision-making
1.Fear of consequences brings division and disagreement.
2.Conflicting loyalties of one person decisions as a member of different groups frequently
leads to divided loyalties about decisions.
3.Interpersonal conflicts and personal differences evoke various feelings among members,
which interfere with sound decision-making.
4.Hidden agenda or secret motive can hinder decision-making for reasons a member does not
share with the group.
5. Blundering methods include using rigid procedure that leaves little room for expressing
differing views, substituting personal opinions for adequate information, and disregarding
proper consultation or consensus.
6.Inadequate leadership restricts the expression of opinions and discussion on issues. Leaders
fail to provide assistance in selecting appropriate methods for decision-making or are
insensitive to the factors that cause difficulty in the group.
7.Clash of interest occurs when different groups or individuals within an organization have
opposing interests.

Conclusion:

Transformational Leadership is an organizational system framework that influences people

to come together around a common vision. One of the marks of a good leader is the ability
to listen, and lead his/her followers towards attainment of goals. He/she is adept in
teamwork, time management, and decision-making.

Reference:

Villasoto S. H., Villasoto N.M. (2018) Human Person Gearing Towards Social Development: NSTP-
CWTS 1 Worktext for College Students 2 nd Edition, C & E Publishing, Inc., 839 EDSA, South Triangle,
Quezon City, Pp. 36-48