There are various types of leadership roles in an organization. They extend from the
executive leadership role to the project leader. Each has different sets of responsibilities
to the organization and each leadership role utilizes skill sets which require influencing
people to move the business towards the vision. This week’s theme focuses on those
levels which are most visible to the students either because they are seen from afar as
being on the top or because they seek to become involved personally: executive,
managerial, and team leaders. We will examine the role of each and the skill sets
associated with them.
Executive Leader: Is the leader that many of our students see from afar. They are the
people at the top. Their role is to design the vision, mission, structure and culture of the
organization. It is their ideas that provide the framework upon which the manager builds.
The job of the executive leader is to be the social architect. An executive leaders create
the vision, mission, structure and culture and are change agents.
Managerial Leadership: Leaders create followers through influence while managers
lead people and manage things (overlap is the skills needed to lead people to do things)
Leading Teams: Many of our students may have this type of leadership job already.
They may be team leaders with some leadership tools necessary.
1)
Using this diagram explain why levels 1-3 are leaders? Then compare and contrast levels 4 and 5
leaders with the leadership found in levels 1-3.
Leading from where you are. It doesn’t depend on where you are in an organization you
can lead in any position. The job of the executive leader is to encourage this role for
everyone through empowerment, the manager through motivation, and the team leader
or supervisor through mentoring, listening, and encouragement.
2)
Leading from where you are means being a leader in any job. Have you ever lead from where
you are? Using your experience in the workplace give an example of something you have done
that would be considering leading from where you are and something you would do now that
would show leadership. Remember leadership in this context means an action which is not
expected of you in your job description.
