Spencer Hibbert, Team Leader Graduate Recruitment

Transcription

1 Slide 1 Leadership Skills Spencer Hibbert, Team Leader Graduate Recruitment My name is Spencer Hibbert and I work within the Graduate Recruitment team at Teach First. Teach First is an influential charity aimed at addressing one of the UK s most damaging social issues educational disadvantage. We recruit exceptional graduates into a two-year leadership programme during which they become classroom teachers, engage and inspire young people, and develop the skills and behaviours to take up leadership positions in education, industry and the third sector. Slide 2 Aims of this session By the end of this session, you will: Have gained an understanding of the fundamentals of leadership and the qualities that make a good leader Understand the difference between leadership & management Look at leadership in education and business Understand leadership in the context of graduate recruitment By the end of this session you will Have gained an understanding of the fundamentals of leadership and the qualities that make a good leader Understand the difference between leadership & management Look at leadership in education and business Understand leadership in the context of graduate recruitment

2 Slide 3 The fundamentals of leadership Introduction Most people, at some points in their lives, are leaders They assume leadership in a number of different situations Leadership is not just about the qualities of an elite few Most people, at some points in their lives, are leaders. They assume leadership in family situations (children need leading!), on the sports field, and in many other situations, including work. Leadership is not just about the qualities of an elite few, although the leadership skills of chief executives and their teams are of fundamental importance. In the context of work, what is leadership, how does it differ from management, and are leaders born or can they be developed? Slide 4 What is leadership? Leadership is currently much discussed Google holds around 126 million entries worldwide Amazon UK has 53,000 books on the topic There is no single definition of leadership that satisfies everyone To attempt a partial definition, leadership is very much about the ability to influence people by personal attributes and behaviours. Even successful leaders do not behave in identical ways. There is no single template of leadership behaviour, which in turn poses the question of whether leaders can be developed: what are the qualities (or competencies) of leadership, and how can they be brought out? Leadership is currently much discussed. Entering leadership into Google provided around 126 million entries worldwide, and around 8.4 million for the UK alone. A similar search on Amazon UK gave 53,000 books on the topic. There is no single definition of leadership that satisfies everyone. John Adair, the leading British authority on the subject, says leadership, like all personal relations, always has something unknown, something mysterious about it. But there is a clue in that comment - the phrase personal relations.

3 To attempt a partial definition, leadership is very much about the ability to influence people by personal attributes and behaviours. But most people would say that even successful leaders they have known, do not behave in identical ways. They may, in fact, act very differently even in similar situations and they may have quite different personalities. Moreover, different leadership qualities may be needed in different circumstances. There is no single template of leadership behaviour, which in turn poses the question of whether leaders can be developed: what are the qualities (or competencies) of leadership, and how can they be brought out? Slide 5 Characteristics / skills of leadership Potter and Hooper (2005) distinguish seven core strategic leadership competencies: direction, vision, mission, strategies and values alignment example and role model developing people at all levels effective communication as change agents action in crisis 1 POTTER, J. and HOOPER, A. (2005) Developing strategic leadership skills: developing a strategic approach at all levels. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development However, before people can become successful leaders, they do need certain attributes, such as the seven core competencies outlined by Potter and Hooper (2005) on this slide. Other attributes include: General intelligence, to make sense of the complexity and difficulty of the task. Technical or professional knowledge and competence in their particular fields is often the bedrock of respect for leaders, but is never enough. Personality - leaders should be energetic and committed, maintain contact with their people, and understand their strengths and weaknesses. The ability to inspire, although this quality may be rarer than some of the others and is perhaps the most difficult to develop. Listening, sharing and delegating skills Self-knowledge, to understand their own strengths and weaknesses, which in turn will enable them to turn to others in their group to compensate for their own biases or deficiencies.

4 Slide 6 Functional approach to leadership Figure 1: Adair's three circles of needs. ADAIR, J. (2006) Effective leadership. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Adair has developed what he calls a functional approach to leadership based on three overlapping circles of needs (see figure 1): to achieve the common task to work as a team to achieve that task to meet individual needs, because people need each other socially, and work is an important social activity. Each circle exerts an influence for good or ill upon the others, and the circles therefore overlap. These are areas of leadership responsibility that leaders need to understand. They emphasise that leadership is essentially an interaction between the leader, group members and the situation. Slide 7 Levels of leadership Figure 2: Levels of leadership. POTTER, J. and HOOPER, A. (2005) Developing strategic leadership skills: developing a strategic approach at all levels. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. It is useful to distinguish three levels of leadership, as follows:

5 Front-line or team leadership - in which one person (the leader) is responsible for creating specific outcomes usually within a given timescale and with given resources through their own actions and those of their immediate followers Operational leadership - which is to do with day-to-day operations within the organisation and is a major determinant of its culture and climate. Strategic leadership - about big picture issues such as change, vision, translating that vision into purpose, effective communication, and the behaviour of the CEO and senior management team Like Adair s three circles, these levels relate to each other, as figure 2 shows. Slide 8 Which is management and which is leadership? Social Behaviors Core Skills Management Produces Order and Consistency Building incentives and organize others towards a common goal Instilling culture and diversity sensitivity Influencing and persuading Executing a plan Instituting measurement Prioritizing against a strategy Creative problem solving Decision making Recruiting and selecting staff Leadership Produces Change and Movement Inspiring and empowering subordinates Walking the talk Building intellectual curiosity Building coalitions Bridging gaps across boundaries Communicating a vision and goals Setting a strategy Strategic planning Thinking globally and across businesses/functions Designing organizations for high performance Technical Knowledge Financial planning & accounting Understanding cross-business and cross-function processes Controlling costs against a strategy Understanding industry Issues and trends Understanding trends in various geographies Tuckman, Bruce W. (1984) 'Citation classic - Developmental sequence in small groups' 8 This slide explains the difference between management and leadership. Management is essentially getting a job done well, whereas Leadership is more forward thinking, getting the right foundations in place for being able to do the job better in the future. Managers Direct others, focus on the short term, maintain performance & do things right Leaders Involve others, focus on the long term, develop performance, & do the right things. Slide 9 Leadership in education and business 5 1 Classroom situation One of your pupils (Sandeep) is consistently late for class, and regularly misses deadlines for homework The class has GCSE coursework due in two weeks As Sandeep s teacher, what could you do to ensure he meets the deadline and to address his timekeeping issue in general? 2 Business parallel One of your team (Alex) is consistently late for meetings and regularly misses project and report deadlines You know the team has a major deliverable due in two weeks, and that Alex is a key to getting it complete As the team leader, what could you do to ensure Alex meets the deadline and to address his timekeeping issue in general?

6 Take a look at the 2 scenarios. In essence this demonstrates the universality of good leadership by comparing an educational leadership example and one within business. Slide 10 Graduate leadership: What are employers looking for? Leadership is one of the core competencies that almost all graduate recruiters assess for. Why? Because they are making an investment in you. You are in effect, future leaders of their organisation's. As we have learnt leadership comes in many forms and there is no single definition that makes a great leader. Think about a time when you have demonstrated leadership skills? Draw from different experiences; university, work, sports, voluntary work, travel Now put this into context. What was the situation? What skills did you demonstrate? What successes did you have? What did you learn? What would you do differently given a similar situation. This is an opportunity for you to think about your own leadership experience and provides a basis for discussion of what employers are looking for. For example think about the qualities you developed as a captain of a sports team. These may include; motivating the team, organising training, delegating responsibilities among team etc. It will come as no surprise that Graduate Recruiters are looking for similar skills when they assess for leadership, along with drive, communication, decision making & listening skills.