Leadership Compass
Leadership Compass
Leadership Compass
Can understanding the way you approach work and how it differs from other approaches help you practice effective leadership?
Topics: Self-awareness, work styles, teamwork
Summary: The Leadership Compass provides participants a tool for understanding how they approach work and how it can differ from others. One key to effective leadership is to be flexible in your work style and receptive to others whose styles differ from your own. Outcomes: Participants take away a deeper understanding and appreciation for each others work styles and approaches Participants take away a deeper understanding of the need for a variety of work styles to make our organization function Participants take away a deeper sense of team and teamwork Participants take away a device and language to help work together better as a team and an organization Duration: 60 minutes
Materials: Posters of the directions of the Leadership Compass Handouts 14 Newsprint or large sheets of paper Markers Procedure: Warm Up: Before starting, set up the room so that each corner represents a cardinal point (i.e., north, south, etc.). Small groups will gather in their specified corners. Introduce the Leadership Compass. Like a directional compass, the Leadership Compass has four directions, or ways in which people approach work. Many of us work in all of the directions at different times. Many of us have a resting place where we tend to be most comfortable. It is important for participants to know their preferred leadership style and to be able to communicate and work with people with other styles. The Activity: 1. Give the participants an opportunity to read Handouts 14, which contain descriptions of the four leadership styles. (10 minutes) 2. Ask participants to think about the one that most applies to them. If someone has difficulty determining which style to choose, have them ask themselves these questions: What seems most comfortable?
Adapted from the Northwest Leader Corps training curriculum written and compiled by Nicole Trimble. An EnCorps resource. Please retain the original program attribution when adapting or using this resource. Rev. June 2007.
What is your tendency when under pressure? What is your first inclination when you get a new project? What feedback have you been given about yourself? 3. After participants have decided where they fit best, have them form small groups in the corners of the room based on their preferred approach. 4. Based on their work experiences, ask each group to answer the following questions on chart paper. Have the groups report out. What is really great about being your direction? What is really hard about being your direction? 5. Ask each direction to plan a vacation. Give them very few instructions except that they have 10 minutes to plan a vacation as a group. Give them chart paper to record the trip they are planning. Have each group present their vacation. Notice the differences in style. Wrap Up: 1. Have each group answer the following question on chart paper: What are 10 tips that others can follow to work best with your direction? 2. Have participants choose a theme song for their direction. They will be asked to sing it as a group. (For example: West Taking Care of Business, East My Way) 3. Here are a few additional questions and topics you can ask the groups to address: What is your directions greatest strength? What is your directions greatest weakness? What is your directions pet peeve? What pace does your direction keep? What animal best represents your direction? What would be your directions mascot?
Sources: The Personality Compass by Diane Turner and Thelma Greco, 1998. The Medicine Way: A Shamanic Path to Self-Mastery. Kenneth Meadows. Element, 1991. The Medicine Wheel: Earth Astrology. Sun Bear and Waburn. Simon and Schuster, 1980.
HANDOUT 1
HANDOUT 2
HANDOUT 3
HANDOUT 4
Sources: The Personality Compass by Diane Turner and Thelma Greco, 1998. The Medicine Way: A Shamanic Path to Self-Mastery. Kenneth Meadows. Element, 1991. The Medicine Wheel: Earth Astrology. Sun Bear and Waburn. Simon and Schuster, 1980.