1.3 - Collaboration & Leadership

Question 1

Levels of listening

Answer 1

1. Passive Listening - listener has no interaction with the speaker
2. Attentive Listening - listener has some interaction with the speaker, such as listening for content in class or taking notes in a meeting.
3. Active Listening - listener has a high level of interaction with the speaker, listening for content, meaning, and feelings.

Question 2

Listening skills are critical when TD professionals are:

Answer 2

1. answering participant questions as they facilitate learning
2. addressing concerns when they coach managers
3. responding to requests from senior leaders
4. solving issues as they consult with managers.

Question 3

Ways talent development professionals can leverage group dynamics

Answer 3

1. Involve everyone in vision creation
2. Clarify decision-making responsibilities
3. Identify and leverage collaboration opportunities
4. Establish values or guiding principles

Question 4

Thomas and Kilmann’s Five Modes of Responding to Conflict

Answer 4

1. Competing. Using a competitive response, the individuals seek to satisfy their own needs without regard to, and often at the expense of, others involved.
2. Accommodating. Accommodators neglect their own concerns to satisfy the concerns of other people.
3. Avoiding. In this response, individuals do not address conflict. They do not seek to satisfy their own interests or the interests of others.
4. Collaborating. Collaborators work with others to find a solution that fully satisfies all interests.
5. Compromising. Compromisers seek to partially satisfy all participants.

Question 5

Conflict Resolution Strategies

Answer 5

1. Use “I-Messages”
2. Address conflict directly
3. Avoid words such as “always” and “never”
4. Consider what you know about the other person
5. Think about your relationship and history with the individual
6. Focus on what you need to talk about
7. Focus on behavior

Question 6

Steps to manage team conflict

Answer 6

1. Identify the root cause of the conflict
2. Identify what is at stake for the team
3. Assess how the team is currently managing the situation
4. Listen to both sides–or more
5. Ask the team to gather the facts
6. Bring the individuals together
7. Find common ground
8. Be clear about your outcome expectations
9. Create a plan of action

Question 7

Ways to defuse conflict situations

Answer 7

1. Say calm and listen to all perspectives
2. Identify points of agreement and disagreement
3. Manage your own response
4. Set limits and ground rules
5. Handle challenging questions
6. Confront negative feelings
7. Prioritize main points of conflict
8. Prevent a physical confrontation

Question 8

Behavioral Theories of Leadership

Answer 8

Behavioral theories focus on the actions of leaders. In the 1930s Kurt Lewin argued that there are three types of leaders:

1. democratic leaders, who allow their team to provide input before making a decision
2. autocratic leaders, who make decisions without consulting their teams
3. laissez-faire leaders, who allow the team to make decisions without interfering.

Question 9

Common/Traditional Theories of Leadership

Answer 9

1. Great Man Theory
2. Trait theories (some people have qualities that make them better leaders)
3. Behavioral Theories (democratic, autocratic, laissez faire)
4. Contingency theories - no one correct type of leader
5. Situational theories
6. Participative Theories
7. Management or transactional theories - focus on the role of supervision and group performance and rewards/punishments
8. Relationship or transformational theories - focus on the connections formed between leaders and followers.

Question 10

Contemporary leadership theories

Answer 10

1. Servant leadership theory (Greenleaf) - focuses on the development and well-being of the people, where leaders share power and put the needs of others ahead of the organization
2. Authentic leadership theory - emphasizes the leader’s sincerity and self-awareness, is based on honesty and transparency, values input from employees, and stresses an internal moral perspective
3. Adaptive leadership theory - focuses on adjusting and thriving in changing environments—it is “purposeful evolution in real time”
4. Global leadership theory - emphasizes the unique requirements of an organization that is based in multiple world-wide regions.