. Your task in this exercise is to observe a leader and evaluate that person’s leadership skills.

5.4 Observational Exercise

1. To develop an understanding of different types of leadership skills

2. To examine how leadership skills affect a leader’s performance
Directions

1. Your task in this exercise is to observe a leader and evaluate that person’s leadership skills.
This leader can be a supervisor, a manager, a coach, a teacher, a fraternity or sorority officer, or
anyone who has a position that involves leadership.

2. For each of the groups of skills listed as follows, write what you observed about this leader.
Name of leader: ________________
Administrative skills 1 2

 RATING 1-5 1 BEING POOR 5 BEING VERY GOOD

Managing people Managing resources showing technical competence
 

Being socially perceptive showing emotional intelligence Managing conflict

problem solving strategic planning creating vision

Questions
1. Based on your observations, what were the leader’s strengths and weaknesses?

2. In what setting did this leadership example occur? Did the setting influence the kind of skills
that the leader used? Discuss.

3. If you were coaching this leader, what specific things would you tell this leader about how they
could improve leadership skills? Discuss.
4. In another situation, do you think this leader would exhibit the same strengths and weaknesses?
Discuss.

5.5 Reflection and Action Worksheet
Leadership Skills
Reflection

1. Based on what you know about yourself and the scores you received on the Leadership Skills
Questionnaire in the three areas (administrative, interpersonal, and conceptual), how would you
describe your leadership skills? Which specific skills are your strongest, and which are your weakest? What impact do you think your leadership skills could have on your role as a leader? Discuss.
 

2. This chapter suggests that emotional intelligence is an interpersonal leadership skill. Discuss
whether you agree or disagree with this assumption. As you think about your own leadership,
how do your emotions help or hinder your role as a leader? Discuss.

3. This chapter divides leadership into three kinds of skills (administrative, interpersonal, and
conceptual). Do you think some of these skills are more important than others in some kinds of
situations? Do you think lower levels of leadership (e.g., supervisor) require the same skills as
upper levels of leadership (e.g., CEO)? Discuss.

Action
1. One unique aspect of leadership skills is that they can be practiced. List and briefly describe
three things you could do to improve your administrative skills.

2. Leaders need to be socially perceptive. As you assess yourself in this area, identify two specific
actions that would help you become more perceptive of other people and their viewpoints. Discuss.

3. What kind of problem solver are you? Are you slow or quick to address problem situations?
Overall, what two things could you change about yourself to be a more effective problem solver?

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