Leadership Activities...Reality Check

By Ranjana S.

Objective (s): To pinpoint actual leadership behavior and to set behavior goals.

How to use this exercise:  I have had success using this exercise as a pre- workshop self-inquiry activity.  I have also used it as a homework assignment.  Its strength lies in the fact that it paints a picture of actual behavior and then helps the leader see how he or she can redistribute behavior.

Activity Description:

• Have the participants think about what they actually do on a daily basis.  Then ask them to draw generalizations about how they spend their leadership time.  Each participant completes the Leadership Behavior Chart below (In blue font).
• You can follow up with full group or small group discussion.  The central question is this: Is your leadership behavior out of sync with the way that you feel an effective leader should be spending his or her energy?

Think about your daily interaction with the people who you lead.   Generally speaking, determine the actual behaviors that define that interaction.   Using the list of behaviors below, determine the amount of time (in percentages) that you generally spend on each behavior.  Then in the second column, determine what you feel would be ideal distribution of time (in percentages).

Behavior	Percentage of time spent on each behavior	Ideally the percentage of time you would devote to each behavior
Informing
Directing
Clarifying or Justifying
Persuading
Collaborating
Brainstorming or Envisioning
Reflecting (Quiet Time for Thinking)
Observing
Disciplining
Resolving interpersonal conflicts
Praising and/or encouraging

Follow Up Questions

1. Is there a gap between how you should spend your energy and how you actually spend it?
2. Are there some behaviors that are taking up too much of your leadership time?  Why?
3. Are there some strategies that you can employ that would move you closer to your ideal distribution of behavior?

Options:  A. Some groups may want to calculate behavior totals to see how their peers are spending their energy. B. From the third column it is easy to move into a discussion about "ideal" leader distribution of energy. C. You may also use this same format with both meeting and team interaction.

Added thoughts or considerations: Since this activity helps participants see what they are actually doing, it helps them translate leadership theory into real behavior.  Once participants review their charts it is easier for them to design strategies to align their leadership behavior.