Competencies 1 - Leadership/Navigation, Ethics, DE&I

Question 1

Leadership approaches - Coercive

Answer 1

Leader imposes a decision and requires the team to follow instructions
*Best use is during a crisis, when quick action is needed

Question 2

Leadership approaches - Authoritative

Answer 2

Leader proposes a bold vision and invites the team to join the challenge
*Team members are encouraged to contribute their own ideas, within the pre-set framework

Question 3

Leadership approaches - Affiliative

Answer 3

Leader creates strong relationships with team members, and welcomes feedback
*Great if inheriting disfunctional team, but must be combined with other approaches

Question 4

Leadership approaches - Democratic

Answer 4

Leader invites collaboration, and commits to go with the group consensus
*Works when team members are competent and you have time for consensus-building

Question 5

Leadership approaches - Pacesetting

Answer 5

Leader sets an example of high standards and challenges team members to meet these expectations
*Works best with highly competent and internally-motivated team members

Question 6

Leadership approaches - Coaching

Answer 6

Leader focuses on developing team members’ skills
*Works when leader has time for coaching and team members are receptive to it

Question 7

Coaching vs. Mentoring

Answer 7

Coaching focuses on skill development, usually especially for purposes of advancement

Mentoring is more focused on navigating the organization, and can include goals other than career advancement (sometimes includes improvements to confidence, relationship-building skills, etc.)

Question 8

Leadership theories - Trait Theory

Answer 8

Probably-untrue theory that “leaders are born” and have certain traits that others can’t learn

Question 9

Leadership theories - Blake-Mouton Theory

Answer 9

Leaders manage tasks and employees

5 types of managers - country club managers (high relationship), impoverished managers (delegate and disappear), authoritarian managers (high task), middle-of-road managers (mid-point on both task and relationship), and team leaders (high on both task and relationship)

Question 10

Leadership theories - Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership

Answer 10

Leaders adapt their behavior to meet evolving needs of team members - telling beginners, selling, participating, and finally delegating to highly competent team members

Question 11

Leadership theories - Fiedler’s Contingency Theory

Answer 11

Leaders change the situation to make it more favorable, by building relationships, changing aspects of the task, and/or changing their own way of exercising power

Question 12

Leadership theories - Path-Goal Theory

Answer 12

Leader coaches and develops team members’ competencies, adjusting their own behaviors to meet employees’ needs - directive, supportive, achievement, participative

Question 13

Leadership theories - Emergent Theory

Answer 13

Leaders emerge from the group, which chooses the leader based on interactions

Question 14

Leadership theories - Transactional Leadership

Answer 14

Emphasizes order and structure, with employees expected to follow orders; commonly found in military and large organizations

Question 15

Leadership theories - Transformational Leadership

Answer 15

Emphasizes a leader’s ability to inspire employees to embrace change - communication, collaboration, and innovation are encouraged

Question 16

Leadership theories - Leader-Member Exchange Theory

Answer 16

Focuses on two-way relationship between leader and certain employees; leader mentors an employee or small group
*Can add growth/productivity, but can also create an in-group and out-group

Question 17

Leadership theories - Servant Leadership

Answer 17

Leader’s goal is to serve the needs of their employees
*Can increase innovation, collaboration, and performance, but can take time to achieve results

Question 18

Formal vs. informal organizational features

Answer 18

Formal - chains of command, decision-making process, funding/budget process, strategy, mission, stated values

Informal - characteristics seen in the organization’s culture and social dynamics, such as communication preferences, social networks, beliefs and unstated values

Question 19

Types of power - Legitimate

Answer 19

Power that comes from a title or position in the hierarchy

Question 20

Types of power - Reward

Answer 20

Power created when a leader can offer followers something they value (such as promotion or compensation)

Question 21

Types of power - Expert

Answer 21

Power that comes from people recognizing a leader’s intelligence, insight, or experience

Question 22

Types of power - Referent

Answer 22

Power created from the force of the leader’s personality; leader can attract admiration, affection, or loyalty

Question 23

Types of power - Coercive

Answer 23

Power that comes from a leader’s ability to punish those who don’t follow

Question 24

Ways of persuading others

Answer 24

Can include reasoning (usually the most useful tactic), appealing to mutually held visions or values, trading expertise or resources

Question 25

Motivation theories - Theory X/Theory Y

Answer 25

Motivation is seen as completely irrelevant (Theory X) or critical (Theory Y)

Leaders either strictly control employees or empower them to participate, based on the leader’s belief

Question 26

Motivation theories - Needs Theory

Answer 26

People are motivated to satisfy certain needs; theories include:

Maslow - must meet 5 categories in order - Physiological (basic survival needs), Safety/Security, Belonging, Esteem, Self-Actualization

Herzberg - behavior driven by intrinsic and extrinsic (“workplace hygiene”) factors; can remove barriers by satisfying hygiene factors, but that’s not enough to motivate

McClelland - everyone has 3 basic desires (achievement, affiliation, power), but the primary motivator differs between individuals

Self-determination - includes McClelland’s needs, and adds autonomy and purpose

Question 27

Motivation theories - Expectancy Theory (Vroom)

Answer 27

Effort depends on belief that the behavior will lead to a positive outcome

Level of effort depends on expectancy (can I succeed?), instrumentality (will success result in a reward?), and valence (do I care about the reward?)

Question 28

Motivation theories - Attribution Theory (Heider, Weiner)

Answer 28

Motivation depends on how individuals interpret causes of past success or failure

People can attribute results to internal or external factors

Leaders can create empowered employees by helping them develop track record of success

Question 29

Motivation theories - Goal Setting Theory

Answer 29

Aims to increase motivation by providing goals (preferably with employee input) that are challenging but also realistic

Question 30

Code of Conduct

Answer 30

Tool that employees can use to make ethical decisions

Includes both values, and policies/rules

Should NOT be seen as a static rulebook

Question 31

Diversity - definition

Answer 31

Similarities and differences between individuals; includes all aspects of personality and individual identity

Question 32

Three types of diversity

Answer 32

Legacy - traits such as culture, race, gender, age

Experiential - based on lived experiences, such as where someone grew up or went to school, hobbies or interests

Thought - different perspectives, resulting from education and socio-economic background

Question 33

Inclusion (definition)

Answer 33

Extent to which people feel welcomed and valued

Question 34

Equity (definition)

Answer 34

Fairness (such as in pay), or providing what people need to take fair advantage of opportunities

(In finance, “equity” means “ownership”)

Question 35

Equality vs equity

Answer 35

Equality gives each person the same thing; equity gives each person what they need in order to take fair advantage of opportunities

Question 36

Achieving DE&I goals - 6 basic steps

Answer 36

1. Educate your leaders
2. Form an inclusion council
3. Celebrate employee differences
4. Listen to employees
5. Hold more-effective meetings
6. Communicate goals and measure progress

Question 37

Employee Resource Group (definition)

Answer 37

Voluntary group for employees who share a particular diversity dimension (such as race, religion, etc.)

Also known as “affinity group” or “network group”

Question 38

Covering
(concern related to DE&I)

Answer 38

When diverse employees take steps to “blend in” with the majority group

Can include changing appearance, avoiding behaviors or association with their own identity group

Question 39

Cultural taxation
(concern related to DE&I)

Answer 39

Extra workload on employees who belong to underrepresented groups, due to their participation being requested for DE&I efforts

Question 40

DE&I Metrics - process vs results measures

Answer 40

Process measures - how we did, what went well (or didn’t) and why
Ex: # people participating in a mentoring program, and their feedback about the experience

Results measures - what difference did we make in the organization?
Ex: Was there a decrease in staff turnover?

Question 41

DE&I Metrics - examples

Answer 41

Gender diversity
Race diversity
SHRM Empathy Index
Retention rates for diverse groups
Diversity of external stakeholders
Pay measures

Question 42

Pay measures - audits, equity reports, and transparency

Answer 42

Pay audit - analyzes pay info across organization to spot any disparities

Pay equity report - discloses results of a pay audit

Transparency - usually includes publishing pay scales, so employees can confirm that their pay is equitable