Trip Report: Effective Supervision I - day two

Day Two

Establishing Effective Workplace Relationship

This was a brief bit on self-assessment and the value of honest, respectful, communicative relationships.

Performance Driven Leadership

More discussion of leadership styles and this section referenced the interpersonal styles work mentioned at the beginning. There was a lot of information and exercises. Info included:

Twelve Identifiable Traits of Organizational Fear

1. Increased telling of untruths
2. People hiding mistakes
3. People hesitating to exercise initiative and take risks
4. Productivity decreasing and “extra efforts” disappearing
5. C.Y.A. (cover your anatomy) becoming an art form
6. Increased passive/aggressive behavior
7. High AT&T (absenteeism, tardiness and turnover)
8. Obsequious behavior
9. Blaming
10. Informing
11. Hostile interpersonal relationships
12. Overall demonstration of negativity

Primary Root Causes of Poor Leadership Performance

• Ineffective communication
• One-dimensional leadership
• Unwillingness to subordinate self
• Fear-based style
• Distancing from responsibility
• Abrasive/abusive conduct
• Poor delegation strategies
• Failure of example
• Remaining a “buddy”
• Micromanagement
• Disillusioned with leadership
• Inability to lead change
• Violations of trust

Five Principles of Empowerment

1. Give people important work to do on critical issues
2. Give people discretion and autonomy over their tasks and resources
3. Give visibility to others and provide recognition for their efforts
4. Build relationships for others, connecting them with powerful people and finding them sponsors and mentors.
5. Help others to develop their own personal power and effectiveness

Traits of an Innovative Leader

1. They have a mission
2. They create a vision
3. They trust their employees
4. They keep their heads in a crisis
5. They encourage risk-taking
6. They are experts
7. They know what is essential
8. They listen
9. They are teachers and mentor

Leadership Beatitudes Are:

Be bold and challenge the status quo

Be a risk taker

Be authentic and approachable

Be a role model

Be out and about

Be courageous

Be inspirational

There is a lot of information in the manual I received. All of the above is quoted from the manual, which quotes other sources. There is a large bibliography of recommended reading too.

Trip Report: Effective Supervision I - day one

Two days of training with the very entertaining British woman. Delightful accent, lots of energy, interesting stories, she was a fabulous teacher.

We began the day with an analysis of our own interpersonal style. This was FASCINATING and explained a lot about how we as individuals relate to others. It was a much simpler process than the MBTI and really was an interesting assessment. I highly recommend this trainer and this process for one of our retreats! There was a video that went along with this that was vastly entertaining. (Particularly for a training video)…

Day One

Supervision: Roles, Expectations and Responsibilities

Discussion and learning objectives centered on identifying roles and challenges of being a supervisor. There were quizzes, assessments, videos to help with this process.

Effective Managerial Communication

Assess the type of message, the audience and how to communicate it. Do not email corrective action.

Listening skills and this was not just a “parrot back” type of active listening. This section was interesting although it did include the dreaded “role playing” activities.

Impediments to Effective Listening

• Impatiently waiting to talk
• Information overload
• Preoccupation
• Perceived low value of message
• Prejudice (low value of the messenger)
• The challenges of concentration
• Jumping to concluisions
• Preconceivedc assumptions
• Selective listening
• Embracing the minutia
• Lack of empathy
• Emotions (fear, anger, grief, etc.)
• Physical distractions
• Poor delivery of the messages
• Replaying the positive

Four Ineffective Listening Styles

1. The missing in action listener
2. The distracted listener
3. The selective listener
4. The contentious listener

The Twelve Characteristics of an Effective Listener

1. Have a strong commitment to the listening process
2. Realize that listening skills are neither instinctive nor eternal
3. Are motivated to learn, practice and reinforce their active listening skills
4. Display high self-confidence and self-assurance by listening effectively
5. Are high efficient in completing their assignments and fulfilling their responsibilities.
6. Demonstrate greater flexibility in resolving disagreements and conflicts
7. Participate more intelligently and effectively in conversations
8. Are as focused on their communication partner’s message as they are on their own
9. Make more decisions based on a solid foundation of facts and data and avoid reactionary, shoot-from-the-hip conclusions
10. Experience greater upward career mobility
11. Suffer less embarrassment resulting from foolish mistakes or incompetent decisions
12. Successfully control the listening barriers that effect their reception of messages.