Immersion Communication Training
You are frustrated by traditional communication training because it's literally all academic until you achieve communication skill by doing. Leading Concepts, Inc. provides you and your company the safe yet intense solution for learning personal communication skills. Communication skills are a habit. Unless you learn to recognize the proper communication skills and then have the opportunity to practice them for yourself, you will never achieve anything more than reading communication skill books, attending communication skill seminars, and frustrating yourself in the same behavioral patterns. Get the tools you need to create a life defined by achievement.
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Ranger Communication (The Compass Course) Fast, Impacting, Portable: "We will develop the teamwork, leadership and communication skills of 4-60 people in a local, 1 or 2-day activity-based session. Click the link above for more info."Leadership Notes #5 - Leadership Competencies
Communication
Communication is the exchange of information
and ideas from one person to another.
Effective communication occurs when others
understand exactly what you are trying to
tell them and when you understand exactly
what they are trying to tell you. you
communicate to direct, influence,
coordinate, encourage, supervise, train,
teach, coach, and counsel. You need to be
able to understand and think through a
problem and translate that idea in a clear,
concise, measured fashion. Your message
should be each to understand, serve the
purpose and be appropriate for you
audience.
Supervision
You must control, direct, evaluate,
coordinating and plan the efforts of Team
members so that you can ensure the task is
accomplished. Supervision ensures the
efficient use of material and equipment and
the effectiveness of operational procedures.
It includes establishing goals and
evaluating skills. Supervising lets you know
if your directions are understood and shows
your interest in the Team members and the
mission. Remember that over-supervision
causes resentment and under-supervision
causes frustration. By considering your Team
members’ competence motivation and
commitment to perform a task, you can assess
the amount of supervision needed.
Teaching and counseling.
Teaching and counseling refer to improving
performance by overcoming problems,
increasing knowledge, or gaining new
perspectives and skills. Teaching your Team
members is the only way you can truly
prepare them to succeed and survive on the
Business Battlefield. You must take a direct
hand in your Team members’ professional and
personal development. Personal counseling
should adopt a problem-solving rather than
an advisory approach. You also need the
judgment refer a situation to your leader or
a service agency it it’s beyond your ability
to handle. You will, of course, follow-up on
this action. Performance counseling focuses
on Team members’ behavior as it relates to
job performance.
Team Development
You must create strong bonds between you and
your Team members so that your group
functions as a Team. Since work is a Team
activity, cohesive Teams are a business
requirement. You must take care of your Team
members and conserve and build their spirit,
endurance, skills and confidence. Good
leaders recognize how peers, seniors and
Team members work together to produce
success. Team development is significant in
training and orienting Team members to new
tasks and departments. You can help new Team
members become committed members of the
organization if you work hard at making them
members of your Team.
Technical and Tactical Proficiency
You must know your job. You must be able to
train your Team members, maintain and employ
your resources to help win business battles.
You will gain technical proficiency in
formal training programs,
self-study and on the job experience. You
have to know your job so you can train your
Team members and employ your resources.
Tactical competence requires you to know
your business’ doctrine st that you can
understand your leader’s intent and help win
business battles by understanding the
mission. MODD, terrain, troops and time
available (METT-T) Technical proficiency and
tactical proficiency are difficult to
separate.
Use of Available Systems
You must be familiar with techniques,
methods and tools that will give you and
your Team members the edge. Use of available
systems literally meads that you know how to
use computers, analytical techniques and
other modern technological means to manage
information and to help you and your Team
members better perform the mission. This
competency may vary depending on your
leadership position,. You must use every
available system or technique that will
benefit the planning, execution and
assessment of the task at hand.
Decision Making
Decision making refers to skills you need to
make choices and solve problems. Your goal
is to make high-quality decisions your Team
members accept and execute quickly. Further,
it is important that decisions be made at
the lowest organizational level where
information is sufficient. Like planning,
decision making is an excellent way for you
to develop your leadership Team. Include
Team members in the decision making process
if time is available and if they share your
goals and have information that will help
produce high-quality decisions.
Planning
Planning is intended to support a course of
action so that an organization can meet and
objective. It involves forecasting, setting
goals and objectives, developing strategies,
establishing priorities, delegating,
sequencing and timing, organizing, budgeting
and standardizing procedures. Team members
like to have order sin their lives, lo they
depend on you to keep them informed to
ensure success. Including your junior
leaders in the planning process is an
excellent way for you to develop your
leadership Team. Remember one of your tasks
is to prepare your Team member and help them
grow into new roles and responsibilities.
Professional Ethics
Professional ethics includes loyalty to your
organization and your team., duty selfless
service and integrity. This leadership
competency relates to your responsibility to
behave in a manner consistent with the
professional business ethic and to set the
example for your team members to follow.
As a leader, you must learn to be sensitive
to the ethical elements of situations you
face, as well as to your directions, plans
and policies. You must learn to use
informed, rational decision-making processes
to reason through and resolve ethical
dilemmas and then teach your Team members to
do the same.
Assuming a Leadership Position
Assuming a leadership position is one of the
special leadership situations you will face.
Everything discussed in this supplement,
about what you must BE, KNOW and DO is
relevant to assuming a leadership position.
Choosing the Best Leadership Style
Do not fall into the trap that some
techniques always work, such as observing
for a week or two and then making changes,
or goint into an organization like “a lion”
and then becoming “a lamb”. Such beliefs
will cause you to miss the benefits of the
thought process used to select the
appropriate leadership style (directing,
participating, or delegating.) The best
strategy in one situation can be exactly the
wrong strategy in another. For example, you
would use a different leadership style when
taking over a well-trained and proficient
Team. Than when replacing a leader who was
inefficient or unable to lead.
As a leader you must always establish and
enforce standards and provide purpose,
direction and motivation for your Team
members. When assuming a leadership
position, you must assess the readiness of
the Team to perform its mission and then
develop a strategy to provide what the Team
needs. You should use the leadership style
that your experience tells you is most
appropriate after you have assessed the
Team’s level of competence , motivation and
commitment to accomplish the mission. In
fact you will probab ly use all three styles
with different Team members or in different
situations. Your style will need to change
when new missions are received, new Team
members and leaders are assigned or the
compeltence, motivation or commitment of
your Team members changes.
When you assume a leadership position, talk
to your leader, your peers and other key
people. Seek clear answers to the following
questions:
What is the Team’s mission?
How does this mission fit in with the
mission of the next higher Team?
What functions am I responsible for, such as
training, maintenance and administration?
What are the standards the Team must meet?
What resources are available to help the
Team accomplish the mission?
What is the current state of morale?
Who reports directly to me?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of my
Team members and the group/department?
Who are the key people outside of the Team
who support mission accomplishment and how
can they add value?
Be sure you ask these questions at the right
time, of the right person, and in the right
manner. Answers to these questions, and
others that flow from them, should give you
the information you need to correctly assess
the situation and select the right
leadership strategy. You must also remain
flexible enough to adapt your leadership
style as you continually assess the
competence, motivation and commitment of
your Team members and the organization.
Sharing your leadership philosophy with your
Team members will make your transition more
efficient. Your Team members will appreciate
the chance to see how you intend to lead and
welcome the chance to ask questions. Your
leadership philosophy is your promise of how
you intend to lead and interact with your
Team members.
Developmental Leadership Assessment
Developmental leadership assessment is a
process used to improve a person’s ability
to lead. It involves comparing performance
to a standard or performance indicator,
giving feedback and developing a plan to
improve leadership performance. It is an
essential element of your leader development
responsibilities. Just as you need your
leader’s coaching, your Team members need
your help to improve their leadership
performance.
You have two leadership assessment
responsibilities, First assess your own
leadership performance. Identify your
strengths and weaknesses and work to improve
yourself. Second, assess your team members’
leadership performance, give them feedback
and help them overcome their weaknesses.
The Leadership assessment Process
The goal of leadership assessment is to
develop a competent and confident leader.
Leadership assessment should bne a positive,
useful experience that does not confuse,
intimidate or negativiely impact leaders. It
should be conducted as follows:
Decide what leadership skill, knowledge or
attitude you want to assess.
Make a plan to observe the leadership
performance
Observe the leadership performance and
record your observations.
Compare the leadership performance you
observed to a standard or performance
indicator.
Decide if the leadership performance you
observed exceeds, meets or is below the
standard of the performance indicator.
Give the person leadership performance
feedback
Help the person develop an action plan to
improve their leadership performance.
Normally leadership assessment will not lead
to improved performance unless it includes
an action plan designed to redirect
undesirable performance and reinforce
desirable performance. The leader and the
Team member must:
Design the action plan together
Agree on the action necessary to improve
leadership performance.
Review the action plan frequently to see if
the Team member is making progress and to
determine if the plan needs to be changed.
Naturally when assessing your own leadership
performance you have to modify the steps.
First examine your performance in a
particular situation. Then compare your
performance to a leadership standard or
performance indicator. Finally decide how
you can improve your leadership performance.
You must wnt to discuss you self-assessment
with your leader , peers, Team members and
others.
Feedback Sources
A complete and accurate leadership
assessment includes feedback from these six
sources:
The person being assessed
Leaders
Peers
Team members
Close friends and family members
Trained leadership assessors (i.e. Leading
Concepts)
It will not always be possible to get
feedback from all of these sources, but each
of them can give valuable information about
leadership performance. If you can get
feedback from all six sources you will have
a complete picture.
Note to the PL
Grow your people. They’re your only real
competive advantage. Often they are the only
true indicators of your leadership abilities
and success. It’s up to you PL. Use the
tools you learn while at Leading Concepts
Open and review your course Reference Guide
Review your LC Handbook, Tapes and
Supplements. Lead and set the example for
others to follow.
