Level 2 - Leadership

Question 1

What is a leader?

Answer 1

Leaders have the ability and personality to:

• Integrate, direct and guide people;
• Positively influence their thoughts and behaviour to motivate them to achieve the common goal of the group.

Question 2

Describe different leadership theories.

Answer 2

There are three distinct theoretical bases for leadership effectiveness:

1. Trait theory (Attributes)
   A leader having attributes which are not possessed by others (characteristic).
   Confidence, integrity, social skills, intelligence.
   Vision, decisiveness and inspirational communication.
2. Style theory
   Task or people orientated approach (behavioural), e.g. how autocratic (task) or democratic (people) you will be.

3.	Contingency theory
Takes into account traits, style and the situation factoring in the:
•	leader-member relations;
•	structure of the task; and
•	position power of the leader.

Question 3

Describe different leadership styles.

Answer 3

The Tannenbaum and Schmidt model looks at how much responsibility a leader gives to his team in decision making.
The main levels being:

• Tell – is the most autocratic involving the leader making a decision themselves and dictating it to the group.
• Consult – where the leader’s provisional decision is presented and is open to comment and alteration.
• Delegate – the leader sets the limits and asks the group to make a decision.

Question 4

What is your leadership style?

Answer 4

I generally try to have an balanced level of consideration for task and people with a consulting style on decision making, inviting suggestions to a problem to explore all angles before making a decision. However it is usually more complex.
For example when producing a strategic programme for the NHM Waterhouse Link project I:

• Tell the design team the date for the project completion from defining the client’s objectives;
• Consult with them over the periods required for design, tendering and construction and the detail of the tasks and surveys required; and
• Define the dates for a design stage and delegate to the lead designer, the decision on how to coordinate the design team’s outputs within this period to achieve the task.

Question 5

When have you inspired someone?

Answer 5

• I aimed to inspire the design team at the kick off meeting for the Cleveland Pools Bath project by inspirational communication.
• I conveyed my enthusiasm for the project to the team and emphasised the opportunity we all shared to work on such a unique site, a challenging project.

Question 6

What climate is required to create a high performing team?

Answer 6

• Strong leadership.
• A respectful atmosphere where each team member feels valued and that their contributions and ideas are acknowledged.
• A responsible culture fostered through organised management of team members objectives.
• Instilling an understanding that problems are to be shared so that they can be solved by the team.

Question 7

Describe different motivational theories and how they can be used to enable improved human resource performance?

Answer 7

Motivation is the reasons why people behave in a certain way, for example working to achieve an objective to satisfy a need.
The motivational theories I know are:
1.	Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
2.	McClelland’s’ Theory
3.	Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory
4.	Locke’s Goal Setting Theory

Question 8

Describe and explain different personality traits and types.

Answer 8

Personality traits - OCEAN

 Openness - to new ideas and ways of working.
 Conscientiousness – organised, dependable, self-disciplined.
 Extraversion – Energy, positivity, assertiveness, sociability.
 Agreeableness – Cooperation, trusting, helping nature.
 Neuroticism – Emotional stability.

Personality types

Red
• Leaders, fast paced thinkers, risk takers, purposeful, drivers, strong-willed, less patient, formal.
• Be succinct and precise, give them facts, and avoid the detail, talk to them about results and outcomes, they need to hear this to make quick decisions.

Yellow
• Sociable, expressive, imaginative, enthusiastic, informal.
• Socialise before mentioning any business, be enthusiastic and energetic when conveying your ideas.

Blue
• Deep thinkers, analytical in nature, very detail focused and formal, organised with good time management skills.
• Be specific and logical and have lots of detail.

Green
• Relaxed, patient, informal, social, democratic, agreeable.
• May say yes but mean no, look out for signs in body language and ask open questions to uncover their thoughts.