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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Gamble, Teri Kwal.

Leading with communication : a practical approach to leadership communication / Teri Kwal Gamble, Michael W Gamble

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-4129-9426-2 (pbk.)

1. Leadership Psychological aspects. 2. Leadership Moral and ethical aspects. 3. Business communication. I. Gamble, Michael, 1943- II. Title.

HD57.7.G356 2013

658.4‘5 dc23 2012016291

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

BRIEF CONTENTS

Preface

PART I UNDERSTANDING LEADERSHIP

Chapter 1 Understanding the Leader in You

Chapter 2 Understanding the Leader's Ethical Responsibilities

Chapter 3 Understanding the Leader/Follower Relationship

Chapter 4 Thinking Like a Leader: The Power of Thoughtfulness

Chapter 5 Perceiving Like a Leader: Paradigm Power

Chapter 6 Listening Like a Leader: Response Power

PART II DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP SKILLS

Chapter 7 Storytelling Like a Leader: The Power of Words

Chapter 8 Presenting Yourself Like a Leader: Understanding the Power of Nonverbal Communication

PART III EXERCISING LEADERSHIP

Chapter 9 Leading the Way Through Conflict

Chapter 10 Establishing and Sharing Power

Chapter 11 Promoting Collaborative Problem Solving

Chapter 12 Influencing and Inspiring Others

PART IV MEETING LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES

Chapter 13 Valuing Culture and Diversity

Chapter 14 Innovating

Chapter 15 Social Networking and Technology

Index

About the Authors

DETAILED CONTENTS

Preface

PART I UNDERSTANDING LEADERSHIP

Chapter 1 Understanding the Leader in You

Leading Questions About Leadership

What Are Leadership's Challenges?

What Do You Think About Leading?

Leaders Get Others From Wondering Which Way to Go? to Applauding the Way to Go!

What Is a Leader? What Is Leadership?

Why Leading Is Communicating

Leaders Depend on Communication Skills

Leaders Develop an Understanding of Self and Others

Leaders Are Adept at Framing and Sharing Narratives

Asking and Answering More Questions About Leadership

Do You Have to Have Certain Traits to Lead?

Can You Learn to Lead?

Must a Leader Be Appointed?

Leading and Managing: Similarities and Differences

Acting to Control Others’ Impressions: How Would You Act If the Leader?

Can You Perform Leadership?

Do the Right Goals Motivate Your Performance?

Goals and Opportunities

Key Terms

Notes

Chapter 2 Understanding the Leader's Ethical Responsibilities

Ethical Matters: Thinking About Your Role

What Role Does Character Play?

What Happens When Leaders Fall Short?

It's a Question of Value

Positions Matter: Questions to Consider

How Are Privilege and Power Handled?

Are Lies Ever Told to Control Information?

What Kind of Lie Is Told?

What Happens When Trust in Information Disappears?

What Happens When Information Is Obtained in Questionable Ways?

How Is Responsibility Distributed?

What About the International Scene?

Do You Know Unethical Behavior When You See It?

Approaching Ethics: Analyzing Rationales

Kant's Categorical Imperative

Utilitarianism

Ethical Egoism

Virtue Ethics

Altruism

Servant Leadership

Choosing to Lead Ethically

Judgment Calls

Key Terms

Notes

Chapter 3 Understanding the Leader/Follower Relationship

Leaders and the People Around Them

Figuring Out the Follower

Matching Leader Style to Follower Experience and Task

Path-Goal Theory

Matching Leadership Behavior to the Situation

Situational Leadership Theory

The Reciprocal Nature of Leader-Follower Relationships: Are Followers In or Out? Are Leaders Liked or Disliked?

Vertical Dyad Linkage Model

Leader Member Exchange Theory

Key Terms

Notes

PART

Chapter 4 Thinking Like a Leader: The Power of Thoughtfulness

Thinking About How Leaders Think

Replace “or” Thinking With “and” Thinking

Differentiate Between Unconscious Competence and Unconscious

Incompetence

Balance Certainty and Uncertainty

Replace the Concept of Independence With a Systems Orientation

Ask Tough Questions

The Leader's Thinking Shapes an Organization's Climate and Culture

Considering Climate

Considering Culture

Leadership Style and the Organizational Environment

Dominant Styles of Leadership

Theory-X and Theory-Y Leaders

Balancing Concern for Task and Workers

Transactional and Transformational Leaders

Key Terms

Notes

Chapter 5 Perceiving Like a Leader: Paradigm Power

The Leader's I

Stages and Frames of Perception

Evolving Organizational Paradigms

Perceptual Realities

Answer the Big Questions

The Leadership Perspective Model

The Optimism Advantage

Perceptual Barriers

The “My Past Holds the Answer” Paradigm

The “What I See First Is What I Go With” Paradigm

The “It's Just Like ” or “You're Just Like ”

Paradigm

The “I Know It All” Paradigm

The “Blindering” Paradigm

The “Fact/Inference Confusion” Paradigm

The “See it My Way or No Way” Paradigm

Perceiving Like a Leader

Key Terms

Notes

Chapter 6 Listening Like a Leader: Response Power

The Listening Leader

Styles of Listening

Listening Practices of Leaders

The Decentered Leader

The Egocentric Leader

Feedback: The Response Connection

Feedback Defined

Types of Feedback

The Significance of the Leader's Response

Coaching Approaches and the Listening Leader

The Directive Coach

The Nondirective Coach

Listening Rules

Resist the Impulse to Talk More Than You Listen

Resist Technological and Other Distractions

Resist the Rush-to-Judgment Urge

Resist Thinking That Members of Different Cultures Listen Similarly to the Members of Your Culture

Key Terms

Notes

Chapter 7 Storytelling Like a Leader: The Power of Words

Finding Your Voice

The Leader's Story

The Leader's Language

Language Tools Leaders Use

Develop Language Sensitivity

Keep It Simple

Make Strategic Word Choices

Use Word Pictures: Tell Stories Rich in Metaphors and Imagery

Repeat, Repeat, Repeat

Use Both I Language and We Language

Generate Receiver Involvement or Participation

Key Terms

Notes

Chapter 8 Presenting Yourself Like a Leader: Understanding the Power of Nonverbal Communication

Setting Nonverbal Communication Goals

How Nonverbal Messages Function

Characterisitcs of Nonverbal Communication

Nonverbal Behavior Has Message Value

Nonverbal Communication Is Ambiguous

Nonverbal Communication Is Primarily Relational

Using Nonverbal Communication to Project Leadership

Power and Appearance

The Leader's Body Language: Leading With Kinesics

Faces

Eye Contact

The Smile

Posture

Body Tension

Gestures

Culture and Nonverbal Cues

The Leader's Voice: Leading With Paralanguage

The Leader's Space: Leading With Proxemics

The Leader's Office

Culture and Proxemics

Leading Colors

The Leader's Use of Time: Leading With Chronemics

When Expectations Are Violated

Deception and Immediacy

The Truth About Leakage: Leadership Lapses

Immediacy and the Leader: Leadership Opportunities

Key Terms

Notes

PART III EXERCISING LEADERSHIP

Chapter 9 Leading the Way Through Conflict

Thinking About Conflict

Conflict Queries: Perspectives and Opportunities

Leaders Need to Handle, Not Mangle, Conflicts

Mangling Conflict

Managing Conflict

The Conflict Grid: Response Styles

Conflict and Interaction

Can There Be Too Much Agreement? Groupthink and the Costs of Concurrence Seeking

Take Time to Understand Your DQ (Disagreement Quotient)

Key Terms

Notes

Chapter 10 Establishing and Sharing Power

Looking for Power

What Is Power?

The Duality of Power

Where Does Power Come From?

Referent Power

Expert Power

Legitimate Power

Reward Power

Coercive Power

Power Has Costs and Benefits

When Power Is Unequal: The Highs and Lows of Power

Bullies and Power Plays

Empowerment

Self-Leadership

Key Terms

Notes

Chapter 11 Promoting Collaborative Problem Solving

What Do We Mean by Team?

Why Use a Team?

Potential Advantages of Using a Team

Potential Disadvantages of Using a Team

How Do You Know When to Use a Team?

Teams Develop in Stages

Forming

Storming

Norming

Performing

Members Perform Roles

Adjourning

The Leader's Role in Fostering Team Development

Characteristics of Successful Teams

Why Are Some Team Members More Effective Than Others?

Why Are Some Teams More Effective Than Others?

Why Is Problem Solving More Effective in Some Teams Than in Others?

Use of Reflective Thinking

Use of Brainstorming

Prevention of Groupthink

Why Are Some Team Leaders More Effective Than Others?

Why Is the Organizational Environment of Some Teams More Effective Than Others?

Collaborating Has Benefits

Key Terms

Notes

Chapter 12 Influencing and Inspiring Others

Beyond Power: The Credibility Factor

Acquiring “Star Power”: Enhancing Your Personal Credibility

Presenting Yourself to Others

Acknowledging and Affirming Receivers

Communicating and Defending Your Vision Enacting the Mission

Beyond My Way: The “Your Way” Factor

Getting to Yes: Persuasive Power Tools

Reciprocity

Commitment and Consistency

Social Proof

Liking

Authority

Scarcity

Negotiating to Succeed

Leaders and Charisma

Key Terms

Notes

PART IV MEETING LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES

Chapter 13 Valuing Culture and Diversity

Glocal and Global Reality: What Diversity Is The Culture/Communication Interface

Ethnocentrism

Stereotypes

Prejudice

Understanding How Cultures Differ

Individualism Versus Collectivism

High-Context Communication Versus Low-Context Communication

High-Power Distance Versus Low-Power Distance

Monochronic Versus Polychronic

Masculine Versus Feminine

The GLOBE Studies

The Cultural Difference Effect

Women, Men, and Leadership

Capitalizing on Diversity

Diversity's Benefits

Obstacles to Diversity

Surmounting the Obstacles

Key Terms

Notes

Chapter 14 Innovating

Change, Meet Resilience!

Change Making: Paving the Way

Change Managing: Shaping the Path

Creativity: The Key to Unleashing Innovation

Notes

Chapter 15 Social Networking and Technology

The Sharing Leader: How Do You Feel About Leading Via Engagement?

Do You Care What You Share?

The Benefits of Sharing

Growth

Conversation Alerts You to Problems

Accomplishes Change

Limiting Risks of Sharing: Communicating Authenticity

Establishing Ground Rules for Sharing

Acquiring Authenticity

Leading Virtual Teams

E-Leadership Tools and Strategies

Special Challenges Facing Virtual Leaders

Notes

Index

About the Authors

PREFACE

What is the greatest challenge students face when taking a course? Many report that it's actually taking the time to read and make it through the text. We wrote Leading With Communication to help meet this challenge by providing a core introductory text on leadership that offers a communication focus and facilitates the kind of personal leadership journey students taking a first course in leadership should not only have but also enjoy.

Leading With Communication offers a four-part emphasis on theory, skill acquisition, skill application, and skill enhancement to meet three primary leadership challenges: the development of a global perspective, the aptitude to think and act like a leader to foster the leading of change and innovation, and the ability to use technology to lead from a distance, enhance leader visibility, and demonstrate leader credibility.

Our goal is to give students a head start on realizing their leadership potential at the same time that we bring to the forefront interesting and pertinent materials that make the study of leadership relevant, involving, and personal. Students enrolled in a first leadership course will benefit from an approach that blends theory, skill development, and skill application. For that reason, this text offers an array of experiential vehicles, an ethical focus, and pedagogical aids designed to promote both content and skill mastery, providing multiple points of entrance, access, and engagement so that users are motivated to process, internalize, and demonstrate the understandings of leadership highlighted in each chapter.

Leading With Communication addresses leadership from a 21st-century perspective, one that not only demonstrates how social-networking tools can be used to build effective teams, but also explores the interconnectivity of people in globally focused organizations. Given the integration of experiences and lifestyles that business travel and overseas assignments provide the members of our contemporary workforce, students hoping to serve as either leaders or valued team members need to hone their abilities to relate with persons of different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Making clear

the connections between theory, ethics, and real-life applications is essential, as is helping students see themselves as actual and potential leaders in different contexts. Being able to “exercise ethical leadership” and not just serve in leadership roles will enrich the future.

To that end, this text facilitates recall of key concepts about effective leadership communication, integrates “best practices” of effective leaders together with a consideration of leadership's darker side, nurtures an attitude designed to promote a desire for lifelong learning about leadership, and helps prepare users for their professional futures.

Leading With Communication provides an understanding of the leadership concepts and team-building strategies that business and professional communicators working and interacting in 21st-century organizations need to master. The text's skills emphasis, and the recognition it gives to developing the global and technological competencies that support the enactment of leadership, is designed to promote the ability to think critically, ethically, and imaginatively and communicate effectively along with learning how to inspire confidence, foster innovation, and build effective teams.

In effect, Leading With Communication functions as an active and experiential vehicle for self-discovery, facilitating the ability to express oneself; engage in visioning; build on glocal, global, and technological experiences; and work collaboratively and creatively. In the process, it also instills fresh perspectives on how best to integrate skills and knowledge, build trust, and elevate the personal performance of leadership, together with how to nurture leadership and teambuilding talents in others.

Because we want Leading With Communication to be your leadership resource for communication issues, we also offer the following in-text and online features:

Post It: Imagineering a Better Way

This boxed series contains two types of ideas and innovations: (a) those that experts in leadership judge worthy of trying or implementing and (b) those that students create because they believe them good enough to want to try out or implement for themselves.

Self-Reflection: Looking In and Out

This boxed series contains self-assessment and self-diagnosis opportunities designed to help students think critically about skills, identify personal leadership and teambuilding strengths and challenges, analyze the unanticipated or unintended consequences of leadership blindness, and bridge the gap between how they think they perform and how they actually do.

Observation: Watch and Learn

This boxed series contains assignments designed to help students observe others in action, process the observed behavior to illustrate outcomes and effects, and identify and explain best strategies and practices.

Working It Out: Alone or Together

This series of activities focusing on leadership, team building, and communication challenges helps explore the ethical, cultural, and technological issues that could affect the ability to work collaboratively.

Theory Into Practice

This series highlights the role theory plays in the exercise of leadership. By highlighting research contributions to the field, it engages students in considering the applications and implications of research.

Reel Leadership (Online)

This series points to examples of leadership in popular culture. Through an exploration and analysis of film clips and excerpted leadership dialogues and monologues, this series lets users experience the performance of leadership vicariously.

Instructor's Manual and Test Guide (Online)

In addition, an online instructor's manual and test guide, as well as a syllabus and activities for an online version of the course, are offered.

Also of note, the text's graphically alive format contains photographs and cartoons designed to help the concepts contained in it come to life. We had fun writing this text. We hope you have fun reading and using it!

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We offer our heartfelt gratitude to the extremely dedicated and talented people we have had the good fortune to meet and work with at SAGE. We had a great time working with our acquisitions editor Matthew Byrnie and his team, Nathan Davidson and Stephanie Palermini. Matt's understanding of and commitment to this project allowed us to turn our goals into reality. We value the relationship we have built. We want to thank project editor Astrid Virding for her creativity and attention to detail, copy editor Mark Bast for his skillful and painstakingly careful reading of the manuscript, assistant editor Terri Accomazzo for the crucial attention paid to ancillaries, Liz Thorton for using her marketing expertise to support our efforts so effectively, permissions editor Karen Ehrmann for her thoroughness, and designer Karina Hovsepian for the text's visual appeal.

We are especially appreciative for our reviewers who so generously shared with us their knowledge, experiences teaching the course, and suggestions for making the text one we are proud to have written to them we owe our book's fresh approach:

Lori Britt, James Madison University – Harrisonburg

Leonard Edmonds, Arizona State University-Tempe – Tempe

Janie Harden Fritz, Duquesne University – Pittsburgh

Lance Lippert, Illinois State University – Normal

George Nagel, Ferris State University – Big Rapids

Paul Sandin, Butler University – Indianapolis

Sherianne Shuler, Creighton University – Omaha

Peter Smudde, Illinois State University – Normal

Ronald Valenti, St. John Fisher – Rochester

Leah Wyman, California State University-Los Angeles – Los Angeles

PART I

UNDERSTANDING LEADERSHIP

Jupiterimages/Comstock/Thinkstock

LEADING QUESTIONS ABOUT LEADERSHIP

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT LEADING?

LEADERS GET OTHERS FROM WONDERING WHICH WAY TO GO? TO APPLAUDING THE WAY TO GO! WHAT IS A LEADER? WHAT IS LEADERSHIP?

WHY LEADING IS COMMUNICATING

ASKING AND ANSWERING MORE QUESTIONS ABOUT LEADERSHIP

LEADING AND MANAGING: SIMILARITIES AND DIFERENCES ACTING TO CONTROL OTHERS’ IMPRESSIONS: HOW WOULD YOU ACT IF THE LEADER?

GOALS AND OPPORTUNITIES

Is there a leader in you?

Will you look ahead

When everyone wants to look back?

Do you dream of tomorrow When others want it now?

UNDERSTANDING THE LEADER IN YOU

Diane, the chief operating officer, was walking toward company headquarters when she saw Danny, one of the company's newly appointed team leaders. As they made their way toward the office together, Danny looked at the large number of employees going into the main entrance, some peering at their PDAs, others texting, and still others talking on their cell phones. Few even acknowledged, let alone talked to, each other.

Danny turned to Diane, noting, “I see our people find it tough to disconnect from personal concerns when they come to work. I wonder how we can help them make that transition more easily. I'm also concerned that they rarely work for more than a half hour without some kind of outside interruption.” Diane smiled. “That's a good observation, Danny,” she said. “You're thinking like a leader. The question of how we can help our people feel more connected to each other so they willingly disconnect from other concerns beyond the office is critical. We want our employees to be able to function as a team, not merely as individuals in a group. I'm glad you're focused on that. That's why I picked you to be a team leader!”

Can you learn to think like a leader? Can you learn to act like a leader? The answer is yes. By learning to communicate effectively, you can accomplish both! There is a kind of communication intelligence associated with effective leadership. Effective leaders use critical-thinking and reasoning skills in concert with emotional intelligence to solve problems, negotiate solutions, and shape the perceptions and behaviors of others in support of their goals. By learning to think and act like a leader that is, by learning to communicate like a leader and collaborate effectively with others, you can help find solutions to some of the serious challenges and troubling problems of our day.1

Whether we're concerned about the limits of privacy, the health care crisis, corporate greed, social networking, sustainability, the global marketplace,

safety at home and abroad, government regulation or deregulation, or satisfying employment, we need leaders who are able to focus on the big picture, see the opportunities in the challenges before them, inspire and mobilize others in gathering information and assessing opportunities, take calculated risks considering fully chain-of-decision options and consequences, and persuade others to join with them in shaping the future.

LEADING QUESTIONS ABOUT LEADERSHIP

What is leadership? Who is a leader? Do you have what it takes to be a leader?

Though questions like these are asked over and over again, many of us remain confused about leadership's nature and our own potential for leadership. For example, where do you stand when it comes to answering this question:

Can we all exercise leadership, or is it reserved only for those “special” persons at an organization's top?

Because of our society's “culture of celebrity” many of us regard leaders as being special people extremely attractive, charismatic, and personable individuals whom others find themselves attracted to and decide to follow. Such a perception makes Ashton Kutcher and Lady Gaga leaders. After all, millions of people have chosen to follow each of them on Twitter. We need only point to the number of citizens who vote for candidates they believe are good looking and who they would like to be friends with rather than supporting various candidates because they approve of their policies and believe they will change things for the better as proof of the culture of celebrity in action.

Focusing on just an individual, however, while ignoring the social process of leadership can blind us to the roles we play. While one person may possess the formal authority and even pretend to know all the answers, many people need to contribute leadership if the formal leader and his or her followers and organization are to succeed.2 Thus, leadership depends on communication and interaction between leaders and followers. So, do you want others just to follow you, or are you ready to work with them to help drive change? We hope you choose the latter. To see if you are up to the challenges the latter

choice presents, read on.

WHEN CALLED ON TO LEAD, CAN YOU…

Focus on the big picture

Identify opportunities

Mobilize followers

Gather information

Consider options and consequences

Work collaboratively to shape the future

What Are Leadership's Challenges?

In all sectors of society, people talk about the need to find leaders who are up to meeting the complex challenges currently facing society and all its public and private institutions. To be sure, we need leaders, but what types of leaders should we be seeking? Is there a set of communication skills and understandings you should possess that would prepare you to be up to performing the leader's role? There is, and our goal is to help you identify and master those skills and underandings.

Let's start with the understanding that leadership, as we just noted, does not reside in a single individual; in fact, we view leadership as a shared and collaborative effort. When considered from this perspective, people who may not be in positions of authority can also exert leadership, much as Martin Luther King did in the civil rights movement and Mohandas Gandhi did in India. Neither King nor Gandhi was the head of a nation, but nonetheless each succeeded in mobilizing others to confront and change the future in new and exciting ways. Though perhaps not on so grand a scale, you can do the same.

While often there may be one person in charge, the results ultimately achieved are likely to depend on the efforts and abilities of an entire team. In that sense, leaders are mobilizers, not the sole actors.3 Do you see yourself as a mobilizer? Do you know anyone who is a mobilizer? Maybe that person is a parent, a religious leader, the head of a group you belong to, or a politician. What does she or he do to mobilize the efforts of others? Think about it. It is

the abilities of many people exerting leadership that makes the biggest difference.

Sometimes leaders need to be directive, and sometimes they need to be team builders. Sometimes they need to describe their visions by telling others what to do, and sometimes they need to cultivate support, engaging and empowering others to consider how best to move forward effectively turning leadership into a much more collaborative enterprise. Given specific sets of circumstances, leaders need to be able to assess what is needed and adapt their style of leading to meet the demands of each situation, what some theorists such as Anthony J. Mayo and Nitin Nohira call situational leadership. 4

Thus, being able to exert effective leadership depends on your being able to meet five key challenges, demonstrating that you have the following:

(1) The ability to identify and confront a problem

(2) The ability to turn the problem into an opportuntity by communicating a compelling vision one that sets the problem in a context that others are able to visualize

(3) The ability to align people in support of that vision

(4) The ability to motivate or mobilize others to take action

(5) The willingness to work persistently and collaboratively alongside others until the problem is solved

Your role as a leader is to harness the insights and strengths, what you might call the collective intelligence of many individuals who together will orchestrate their walk into a new future. When it comes to leading, your communication skills and understandings become your natural ally.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT LEADING?

If you are contemplating leadership you also need to learn about yourself and your communication strengths and weaknesses. As you step up the career ladder, having the ability to communicate effectively increases in importance. Leaders lead because they know how to share ideas, respond calmly to the emotions and stresses that new ideas may trigger in others, and interact with others in ways that foster a climate conducive to both creative and critical thinking. As we have noted, we believe that each and every one of you has

leadership potential.5 Your chance of fulfilling that potential, however, depends on three requisites: (1) understanding yourself and others, (2) internalizing sound communication principles, and (3) enacting communication behaviors designed to get results by getting others onboard. Exploring leadership is not kid's play. Leaders both good and bad affect all our lives in myriad ways, making leadership a very serious business indeed. From the boardroom to the classroom, from the political arena to the religious pulpit, from government chambers to hospital halls, from the battlefield to the playing field, how the leader thinks, what the leader says, what the leader does, what the leader expects of followers, and how the leader behaves when alone and in the company of others makes a difference. Is there a leader in you? We think so!

Self-Reflection: Looking In and Out

1. Identify 10 people who come to mind when you hear the word leader. Then answer these questions about the people on your list:

A. What do these individuals have in common with one another?

B. How do their experiences differ?

C. In what ways has each person influenced or touched you? Describe specifically how each leader impacted your life.

2. Generate a list of thoughts that come to mind when you hear the word leadership. Explore your list. How many of your thoughts would you classify as positive and how many as negative?

3. Create a collage representing your personal leadership strengths and weaknesses. How might you capitalize on your strengths? What might you do to overcome your weaknesses?

LEADERS GET OTHERS FROM WONDERING WHICH WAY TO GO? TO APPLAUDING THE WAY TO GO!

Question: Who are the persons responsible for figuring out which way to go or what needs to be done?

Answer: Leaders.

Question: Who are the persons who identify what needs to change, whose

cooperation is needed to avoid or defuse a crisis, how best to solve a problem, and how to get closer to or reach a goal?

Answer: Leaders.

Since at one time or another, we have all faced a “need to fix it” moment, more than likely we have also been among the persons responsible for identifying “the way out,” “the way up,” or “the way to go.” Every group, every team, and every social institution and organization requires that one or more individuals exert leadership take initiative in setting a path identifying the way to go and then translate that path, that road map, into a vision others will share, eliciting a cry from the followers they mobilize of way to go! So answering the “What is the way to go?” question and getting others on board to support the given answer, thereby supplying the way to go! or push forward, are both leader responsibilities.

Leaders identify the way to go, establishing a path forward.

As we see, we can read the words way to go either as a question requiring an answer by supplying a specific direction or focus or as an exclamatory a congratulatory accolade a recognition of those social qualities an individual possesses that result in others desiring to join with her or him to accomplish a specific task or bring about a needed change. Determining the way to go and finding others who will travel that new path because you influence them to believe it to be the way to go are prerequisites for leadership.

Now, let us delve more deeply into leadership's nature.

WHAT IS A LEADER? WHAT IS LEADERSHIP?

A leader is a person who produces change. Thus, an individual who exerts influence, establishing the path forward what we referred to as the way to go is a leader. The leader makes a difference in the road others choose to travel. The leader influences others to take one path rather than another, prodding others to work toward achieving a particular goal by convincing them that reaching this goal will make the future better, and, for that reason, it is worthy of their time and attention.

We identify those who join with the leader by applauding his or her efforts and supplying the needed way to go! support as followers.

As we will see, both leaders and followers are necessary actors in the leadership process. We define leadership as an interactive process during which one or more individuals use symbols to influence other individuals to join with them in accomplishing change and realizing a shared objective.

When we say leaders use symbols to influence we mean that leaders rely on language, both verbal and nonverbal, to communicate their vision to followers and accomplish their goals. The language leaders use determines if, and to what extent, they will succeed in rallying others to support their goals.

When we say leadership accomplishes change and realizes a shared objective we mean that leading involves influencing others to join with the leader in altering the status quo in pursuit of a mutual goal.

What does the cartoon tell you about the coach's view of leadership? To what extent do you agree or disagree with the sentiments expressed?

WHY LEADING IS COMMUNICATING

Communication is the primary tool leaders use to bring people together to affect the performance of a group or an organization. By communicating

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