October 22, 2014
What are the qualities of good managers? What makes good managers successful? People may think of adjectives such as “strategic,” “heroic,” and “charismatic.” Of course, these are all leadership qualities, but do they really make a strong, effective and successful leader?
Leadership doesn’t mean telling a team what to do. Neither does it mean being the much-feared boss behind a mahogany desk. This traditional view of a leader as the directing chief at the very top of the hierarchy is today considered an incomplete concept of what true leadership entails.
A successful leader is one with the ability to influence others. A successful leader uses his/her innate qualities and personality to inspire a team, a workforce, or a nation to achieve goals. Good leaders are those that can see beyond themselves and the task at hand. They should be able to manage relationships with others so they can focus on creating positive outcomes and achieving long-term goals.
Today, managers are required to juggle multiple priorities as fast as possible. This means that they have to look out for quick ways to help their teams work more effectively together. They must, therefore, come up with leadership activities that help them increase their productivity and achieve overall growth. As you read on, you’ll find some interesting leadership activities that go a long way in building teamwork.
Leader’s Questionnaire
This activity provides an opportunity to identify leaders and judge the participants leadership qualities. Each team should be given a set of questions that can help them analyze themselves. The questions should include hypothetical situations, survival scenarios, and they should be asked to resolve them. The answers are then discussed with other members of the team. Some of the questions that can be asked include: “Is every manager a leader?” “How can you encourage creative thinking in a team?” “What is the importance of motivating a team?” “What are the attributes a leader should not have?” “What is the main aim of a leader in a team?”
Zoom
This is one of the leadership activities that can clearly bring out the leader in anyone with leadership qualities. During the activity, the participants are divided into groups. Each group member is then given a photograph. They should not see the photos given to other fellow participants. The photos are related and the aim is for the group to come with a composite image that captures the features of the individual pictures. Since they aren’t required to show their individual pictures, each member must describe their photos and the group needs to process the verbal information and use to create the composite image. The activity requires effective communication, patience, and a leader to step up and coordinate the group. It is, therefore, an effective way of showing one’s leadership skills.
Survive!
A survival exercise is the most interesting leadership activity that can be developed. Each participant is assigned a role like a preacher or doctor. A survival scenario is then given and the group is required to who among them lives and who is left out. A popular survival situation is where the group is on a sinking ship and the lifeboat can only hold a maximum of eight people yet they are twelve of them. Here, it is possible to find out which participant actually understands the idea of being a leader. Most survival activities do get very competitive, but the true leader is the one who can find ways to make them work and come up with solutions that other team members can understand.