Preparing for Leadership: What It Takes to Take the Lead

Learning Objectives

• Position Yourself to Compete for Leadership Assignments
• Deploy Your Strengths and Maximize Your Potential
• Avoid Pitfalls and Overcome Obstacles
• Build Your Power, Prestige, and Political Savvy
• Survive Organizational Politics
• Create a Plan to Transform Yourself into a Leader

Lesson One

Is There a Leader in You?

• Describe the Qualities Senior Management Looks for in Candidates for Leadership Positions
• Explain What Followers Expect from Leaders
• Identify Your Major Strengths and Areas for Improvement as a Leader
• Describe the Importance of Trust and Its Effects on Followers

Lesson Two

Your Leadership Style

• Identify the Four Leadership Styles
• Assess Your Leadership Style
• Develop the Most Effective Leadership Style for Your Position

What Do Leaders Talk About?

• Identify and Use Effective Communication Patterns
• Identify the Types of Subjects Leaders Discuss
• Create a Vision, Set Direction, and Give Instructions That Are Understood and Followed
• Explain the Benefits of Vision, Mission, and Values Statements That Are Thoroughly Implemented
• Project the Image and Speak the Language of a Leader
• What Is Your Leadership Image?
• Project the Image of a Leader

Lesson Three

How Can You Build Your Influence and Power?

• Describe Ways That Leaders Can Build Their Power and Influence
• Expand Your Power Network By Developing Key Relationships
• Understand Precautions to Take in Exercising Power and Influence

How Should You Handle Organizational Politics?

• Differentiate Between Good Politics and Bad Politics
• Explain Why Leaders Must Understand and Participate in Organizational Politics
• Describe How Leaders Develop and Advance Their Leadership Agenda
• Explain Strategies for Getting Others to Support Your Agenda
• Cope with and Survive the Agendas of Adversaries

How Can You Motivate People?

• Explain the Things That Really Motivate People
• List the Factors That Make People Act the Way They Do
• Explain How to Handle Former Peers Who Resist Your Authority
• Describe How to Handle Difficult People