Leadership

Introduction to leadership

Leadership is an ambiguous term; it is defined differently depending on cultural beliefs, organizational culture,generations and personal beliefs. To become an effective and efficient leader, it is important to take all of this intoconsideration. To help understand leadership styles, you can put leaders on a continuum and look at their strengths and weaknesses.The best example of this would be George W. Bush and the Dalai Lama. Both leaders are thought to be extremely effective andefficient by many people in their country and from around the world (note this is just a comparison of different leadership styles) andto analyze their different leadership techniques and styles is fascinating. What kind of leader do you want to be?

It is important during your INNOVATE experience to think about the list of leadership skills/attributesand to fill out your personal Leadership Worksheet . This is a work in progress and something we hope you continue to modify throughoutyour career and life to develop yourself into a global technical leader.

To begin the Leadership Module, please take time to write in your journal now about leadership. How do youdefine a leader? What leaders do you admire and why? How do you think leadership styles compare and contrast in Singapore andJapan?

Enjoy this module!

List of leadership skills/attributes

• Life-long learning–the desire to continue learning throughout life
• Emotional intelligence - a term that encompasses soft skills, focusing on communication and interpersonal skills
• Competitive Drive–the desire to keep excelling and learning, mainly fueled by competition.
• High energy level
• Self-awareness
• Self-regulation
• Motivation
• Empathy
• Curiosity
• Commitment
• Ability to see the bigger picture
• Ability to learn from one’s failures
• Leveraging others to work to their highest potential
• Looking at various solutions to a problem
• Working toward a larger vision based on shared values and goals
• Social skills
• Risk taker - the ability to take oneself out of comfort zones
• Humble self-assessor - honest assessment of one’s failures, and successes, but more importantly one’s failures
• Open to new ideas
• Good listener
• The ability to challenge the process
• Inspire a shared vision
• Enable others to act
• Integrity - possessing ambition, competence and a moral compass
• Engaging others by creating shared meaning - empathy, obsessive communication and the encouragement to dissent

Leadership continuum

Recommended leadership readings

• Adler, Nancy J. 2002. International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior, 4th ed.
• Augustine, Norman J. Augustine’s Travels: A World-Class Leader Looks at Life Business, and What It Takes to Succeed at Both.
• Bennis, Warren G. and Robert J. Thomas . 2002. Geeks&Geezers: How Era, Values, and Defining Moments Shape Leaders.
• Bennis, Warren G. and Burt Nanus. 1985. Leaders: The Strategies for Taking Charge.
• Fine, Charles H. 1999. Clockspeed: Winning Industry Control in the Age of Temporary Advantage.
• Gardner, Howard. 1995 . Leading Minds.
• Goleman, Daniel. 1998. Working with Emotional Intelligence.
• Handy, Charles. 1998. Beyond Certainty: The Changing World of Organizations.
• Hesselbein, Frances, Marshall Goldsmith and Richard Beckhard, Eds. 1997. The Leader of the Future: New Visions, Strategies and Practices for the Next.
• Katz, Ralph, Ed. 2003. The Human Side of Managing Technological Innovation: A Collection of Readings.
• Kotter, John P. 1996. Leading Change.
• Kotter, John P. 1998. The Leadership Factor.
• Kouzes, James M and Barry Z Posner. 1995 . The Leadership Challenge: How to Keep Getting Extraordinary Things Done in Organizations, 2nd ed.
• Moran, Robert T and Philip R. Harris. 1983. 1983. Managing Cultural Synergy, 3rd ed.
• Northouse, Peter G. l997. Leadership Theory and Practice.
• Rhinesmith, Stephen H. 1992 . A Manager’s Guide to Globalization: Six Keys to Success in a Changing World.
• Trompenaars, Fons and Charles Hampden Turner. 1997. Riding the Waves of Culture.
• Trompenaars, F.&Hampden-Turner, C. 2002. 21 Leaders for the 21st Century: How Innovative Leaders Manage in the Digital Age.