Unit 5 Moving From Leading Self to Leading Others

Overview

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Image credit: Deposit Photos

In this unit, we move from leading self to leading others.

We examine the concept of sweet spot and look at some of the external and internal motivations that drive us. We take another look at the TWU definition of good leadership, this time with a focus on how good leadership is about motivating and mobilizing others. What does this mean? And why is it important?

Great leaders inspire action! We explore Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle (2009) as a model for how most organizations function and examine how our why can inspire us and those around us.

Good leaders are good presenters. At the end of the unit, we look at the art of presenting as another tool for your academic and leadership toolkit.

The key question that frames this unit is: How do I live out what I believe?

Topics

This unit is divided into the following topics:

  • Discovering Your Sweet Spot
  • Motivating and Mobilizing Others
  • How Great Leaders Inspire Action
  • The Art of Presenting

Learning Outcomes

When you have completed this unit, you should be able to:

  • Compare and contrast extrinsic and intrinsic motivations
  • Identify personal motives and examine how this can help in discovering your sweet spot
  • Examine the biblical story of James and John in Mark, Chapter 10 to understand the concepts of motivation and mobilization
  • Identify leadership qualities of Jesus
  • Compare and contrast self-serving people and called people
  • Examine how great leaders inspire action (what’s your why?)

Activity Checklist

Here is a checklist of learning activities you will benefit from in completing this unit. You may find it useful for planning your work.

Learning Activites

  • Unit Readings and Reflections (90 minutes)
    • Read True North, Chapter 6
    • Respond to the reflection questions in your learning journal.
    • Respond to the reflection questions about pride and fear.
    • Respond to the reflection questions about driven people and called people.
  • Unit Readings and Reflections (60 minutes)
    • Read True North, Chapter 8
    • Consider the reflection questions
  • Understanding Motivation (90 minutes)
    • Read the Request of James and John and respond to the reflection questions.
    • Consider your own motivation and how you motivate and mobilize others.
  • How Great Leaders Inspire Action (75 minutes)
    • Watch the TED Talk How Great Leaders Inspire Action.
    • Respond to the reflection questions in your learning journal.
  • What Makes a Presentation Great? (75 minutes)
  • Reflect on the journal prompts about a memorable presentation or speech.
    • Read the blog What Makes a Presentation Great.
    • Review Tips for Using Presentation Slides.
    • Respond to the reflection questions in your learning journal.
  • Presentation Video (60 minutes)
    • Prepare and record a 90 second video offering advice to a colleague or friend on how to give a great presentation.
    • Review your video and note what you notice about yourself.

Assessment

In this course you demonstrate your understanding of the course learning outcomes in various ways. Please see the Assessment section in Moodle for assignment details and due dates.

Resources

Here are the resources you will need to complete this unit.

  • George, B. & Clayton, Z. (2022). True North. John Wiley & Sons.
  • Other online resources will be provided in the unit.

5.1 Discovering Your Sweet Spot

Your sweet spot is the intersection of your motivations (what you enjoy doing), your greatest strengths (what you’re good at), and what adds value to your organization.

Chart showing the “Sweet spot”

Source: (George, 2015, p. 130)

Discovering your sweet spot is the key to sustaining success and staying engaged and happy while helping inspire those around you.

George (2015) notes,

When you are operating in your sweet spot, you feel inspired to do great things and confident that you can accomplish them because you are using your strengths. Having an awareness of what motivates you and understanding your strengths and weaknesses enables you to discover your sweet spot. (p. 123)

Extrinsic motivations are the outside forces or drivers that act on us. Intrinsic motivations are the driving forces inside us. Neither type of motivation is inherently better or worse than the other; and each can be valuable. Most people, however, discover that intrinsic motivations provide more long-term fulfilment. Doing something for the good of others can be more motivating and sustaining than making a lot of money.

Extrinsic Motivations Intrinsic Motivations
- Money - Personal growth
- Power - Satisfaction of doing a good job
- Recognition - Helping others develop or progress
- Social Status - Finding meaning in effort
- Winning over others - Being true to one’s beliefs
- Making a difference in the world

“The key to developing as an authentic leader is not eschewing your extrinsic motivations but balancing them with intrinsic motivations that provide fulfillment in your work” (George, 2015, p. 137).

Activity: Unit Readings and Reflections (90 minutes)

  • Read Discover Your True North, Chapter 6: Sweet Spot.

  • Respond to the following reflection questions in your learning journal:

    1. What are your extrinsic motivations? Which of them might become too dominant for you?
    2. What are your intrinsic motivations? How do you ensure you are giving them priority?
    3. What are your greatest strengths/capabilities? How do you incorporate these into your work and life?

What Motivates You?

Having reflected on this passage and your extrinsic and intrinsic motivations, consider these additional motivations.

Self-serving people are generally motivated by one of two things: Pride or Fear. Spend a few minutes looking at these characteristics.

Pride: An overly high opinion of yourself Fear: An insecure view of the future, producing self-protection
Promoting self:
- Doing all the talking
- Taking all the credit
- Boasting and showing-off
- Demanding all the attention		 Protecting self:
- Intimidating others
- Hiding behind position withholding information
- Discouraging honest feedback
Common focus: self Common focus: EGO

Pride and Fear can lead to…

  • Separation from God, from other people, and from yourself
  • Comparison with others and discontent
  • Distortion of the truth and a false sense of security

Source: Blanchard, Hodges, & Hendry (2016)

Record your reflections in your learning journal:

  1. Is there someone in your work life or personal life that might be driven by pride or fear?
  2. What about you? Are there times that you have been driven by pride or fear?
  3. How might followers respond to a leader who is motivated by pride or fear?

There are two kinds of people in the world—those that are driven and those that are called. Consider these descriptions:

Driven People Called People
Think they own everything:
- They own their relationships
- They own their possessions
- They own their positions		 Believe everything is on loan to them from the Lord:
- Relationships are on loan and are to be cherished
- Possessions are on loan and are to be held lightly, to be enjoyed and shared with an open hand
- Positions are on loan from God, as are the people they are leading and influencing”
Driven people perceive their identity as the sum of their relationships, possessions, and positions.
As a result, they spend time protecting what they own.		 Called leaders act as good stewards of the resources and people who have been loaned to them.
The possessions from driven people become an important expression of who they are. Called people see feedback as more of a gift than a threat and seek to find truth that will help them improve their leadership.

Source: Blanchard, Hodges, & Hendry (2016)

Record your reflections in your learning journal:

  1. Do you recognize any of these traits in those around you? In what ways?
  2. Are you more driven or more called?
  3. How these descriptions might impact one’s ability to lead effectively?
  4. How might people respond to a leader who is driven? How might they respond to a leader who is called?

Understanding our motives to be a leader is an important aspect of authentic leadership.

Note that these learning activities are ungraded, but are designed to help you succeed in your assessments in this course.

References:

  • Blanchard, K., Hodges, P. & Hendry, P. (2016). Lead like Jesus. W Publishing.
  • George, B. (2015). Discover your true north. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 

5.2 Motivating and Mobilizing Others

Good leadership is motivating, mobilizing, and developing others to accomplish a task, or think in a certain way, that is for the benefit of all concerned.

Recall our TWU program definition of leadership introduced in Unit 1. Good leadership is motivating and mobilizing others. What does this mean? How do we motivate others? How do we mobilize others? These are important leadership considerations. Let’s take a closer look.

Motivation

Motivation is the process that initiates, guides, and maintains goal-oriented behaviours. It is the motive behind the action—this is what drives someone to act. Motivation is unique to each person; and as we discovered in Topic 1, it can be extrinsic or intrinsic. We can’t force someone to be motivated to do something, though we can create an environment conducive to motivating people.

Abraham Maslow, American Psychologist, developed a hierarchy of needs, which was predicated on fulfilling innate human needs in priority, culminating in self-actualization. This theory can help us understand motivation.

Chart of Maslow’s Hiearchy of Needs

Image Credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maslow_hierarchy.jpg

Here are some ways to create an environment where the team feels motivated:

  • Value people and their contribution.
  • Take an interest in your team, personally and professionally. Understand what matters to each of your team members.
  • Know your team members’ strengths and weaknesses. Provide opportunities for people to use their strengths. Help them identify areas where they can improve and create an environment in which they can grow.
  • Be transparent and share information.
  • Establish a common vision and goals, so that everyone is working on the same page.
  • Emphasize teamwork, collective decision-making, team autonomy and cooperation.
  • Foster trust and respect.
  • Show your appreciation and recognize your team members’ accomplishments.
  • Celebrate successes.

Mobilization

Mobilization, on the other hand, is a call for concerted action by a team to achieve a common goal. There must be something that is of interest enough to motivate the person to act. In order to mobilize or equip others to do the job that has been entrusted to them, we must:

  • Engage others to create a belief in the vision and direction of the organization that inspires extra effort, enthusiasm and commitment.
  • Align the team to help them understand the priorities and how they can contribute both personally and collectively to the priorities.
  • Ensure each member of the team has a clear understanding of the goals, the plan, and expectations—and provide regular opportunities to connect.
  • Ensure that each member understands the individual tasks to be completed—and how their tasks contribute to the bigger plan/goals.
  • Enable and equip the team with the knowledge, skills, and processes necessary to do the job.

Motivation and mobilization are deeply interconnected. When the team feels motivated and equipped, understands the vision and goals, and feels connected to the purpose, everyone keeps moving forward together.

When you become a leader, your challenge is to inspire others, develop them, and create change through them. This is one of the biggest transformations you will undergo in your leadership—the transition from leading self to leading others. The transition from “I” to “We” is not an easy one, though it is one of the most important processes leaders go through in becoming authentic.

Activity: Unit Readings and Reflections (60 minutes)

  • Read True North, Chapter 8.

As you read this chapter, consider the following questions:

  1. Have you been led by an “I Leader”? How did this feel?
  2. Have you been led by a “We Leader”? How did this feel?
  3. What impact does a leader’s orientation (I or We) have on your level of engagement and commitment to the organization?
  4. If you don’t yet consider yourself a “We Leader”, what would need to happen in your life and leadership to make the transformation from “I” to “We”?
  5. What legacy to you want to leave in your leadership?

Activity: Understanding Motivation (90 minutes)

The Request of James and John

Read the Request of James and John below. James and John were two of Jesus’s 12 disciples. These disciples gave up everything they had to follow Jesus. Jesus trained these men to be leaders and eventually take over and carry on the work he had started. This excerpt is from the New International Version of the Bible, Mark 10:35-45:

The Request of James and John

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him.

“Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”

“What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.

They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”

“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”

“We can,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”

When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John.

Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Respond to the following reflection questions in your learning journal:

  1. What was James and John’s focus?
  2. What do you think was motivating them?
  3. Why were the other disciples upset with James and John?
  4. How did Jesus respond? How did he motivate his disciples?
  5. Compare and contrast “Gentile” leadership style with Jesus’ leadership style. Which style of leadership would you prefer to work under? Why?

How Do You Mobilize Others?

Now consider how you mobilize others and record your thoughts in your learning journal:

  1. What does it mean to mobilize others?
  2. What are some of the ways you mobilize others? Think about a specific example when you mobilized others. Why do you think your techniques were effective (or not effective)? Is there anything you would have done differently? If so, what and why?
  3. What hinders effective mobilization?

5.3 How Great Leaders Inspire Action

Chart of “The Golden Circle”

Image Credit: https://simonsinek.com/commit/the-golden-circle

Simon Sinek’s TED Talk, How Great Leaders Inspire Action, is the third most viewed TED Talk of all time, with over 50 million views. This talk was recorded at a TEDx event in Puget Sound in 2009. It’s not very high tech. The sound is not great and there are no flashy presentation slides. It’s simple. And yet, it’s effective.

Sinek presents a simple model for how most organizations function. He calls it “The Golden Circle”:

  • What we do
  • How we do it
  • Why we do it

He postulates that when these three elements are aligned, it gives us a filter through which to make decisions. It provides a foundation for innovation and for building trust. When all three things are in balance, others will say, with absolute clarity and certainty: “We know who you are,” “We know what you stand for.”

It has to start with why. The why is the purpose, the cause, or belief that drives every one of us (we’ll talk more about purpose in Unit 7). Making money is not a why—it is simply a result of what we do. Our why is about our contribution to impact and serve others… and it’s what inspires us!

What’s your why?

Activity: How Great Leaders Inspire Action (75 minutes)

  • Watch the TED Talk

Watch: How great leaders inspire action | Simon Sinek (17:49 minutes)

Sinek opens by asking the audience to question. Note that I didn’t say he opens by asking a question, because it’s not about the question itself, but rather getting the audience in the mindset of questioning (Anderson, 2013).

He opens with a series of questions designed to open the audience up to the idea they are about to hear. The questions are the vehicle, but the real purpose is to guide the audience into the talk and move them from the broad and conceptual to the very specific. This is a brilliant strategy that is engaging and inspiring.

Respond to these reflection questions/prompts in your learning journal:

  1. What does Sinek do effectively?
  2. How does he make his talk credible?
  3. This talk is not high tech—so, what makes it so engaging?
  4. What are the key messages/highlights from this talk?

Reference:

5.4 The Art of Presenting

“A successful talk is a little miracle—people see the world differently afterward.”

– Chris Anderson

Good leaders are good presenters! The art of presenting is another tool for your academic and leadership toolbox.

Good presentations are memorable. They have emotional impact, contain valid and interesting information, and include stories. Remember, humans are wired for storytelling. A good presenter is genuine, passionate about the topic, and connects with the audience.

A few tips to consider when preparing a presentation:

  • Get your listeners in the mindset for what they are about to hear—frame your story
  • Make your topic relevant to your listeners by telling stories or making connections they can relate to
  • Plan your delivery
  • Make your presentation credible by weaving in data or research
  • Use pauses—give your listeners time for a point or idea to sink in
  • Don’t be tied to presentation slides
  • Develop stage presence and make eye contact with your audience
  • Remind yourself why your topic is fascinating
  • Use your tone of voice to help your audience understand you and help them feel your passion—your volume, pitch, pace, and tone are powerful tools that can inject meaning

Managing Nerves

Nerves are not a disaster—the audience expects you to be nervous.

We feel nervous about presenting in front of others when we make it about ourselves: What if I mess up? What if I forget what I want to say? What if people don’t like it? What if people don’t like me? We are masters at creating these stories and fears in our heads.

We can manage our nerves by thinking about our presentation as a gift to the audience. We are sharing an idea, a story, and our thoughts with others. When we make our presentation about the audience, we take attention off ourselves. Think about these questions:

  • What point do I want to share?
  • What point(s) do I want the audience to walk away with?
  • What feeling am I trying to create?

It’s also important and helpful to practice, smile, pause, and take deep breaths.

Leaders are often required to give presentations and address groups of people. Developing strong presentation skills is important in leadership. You will have opportunities in this (and other) classes to practice your presentation skills.

Activity: What Makes a Presentation Great? (75 minutes)

Think about a presentation or speech that stands out in your mind and reflect on the following questions in your learning journal:

  1. What point(s) do you remember? Why do you think you recalled these points?
  2. What opening of a presentation do you remember most? Why?
  3. What feelings or emotions did the presentation evoke in you? Why?

Respond to the reflection questions in your learning journal.

  1. When you are a watching a presentation, what engages you most?
  2. What detracts your attention during a presentation you are watching? What frustrates you?
  3. What are some ways you can make your presentations engaging and memorable?

Activity: Presentation Video (60 minutes)

Let’s pretend that a colleague, classmate, or friend has come to you upset and nervous because they need to do a presentation at work and they don’t know where to start.

  • Prepare and record a 90 second video with your ideas and advice on how to deliver a great presentation. Be creative.
  • Review your video.
    • What do you notice about yourself?
    • Did you appear calm or nervous?
    • Did you talk too fast, too slow, or just right?
    • Were you confident? Was your tone of voice animated or flat?
    • Were you engaging and passionate?

Unit Summary

In this unit, you learned about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The intersection of your motivation and your strengths is your sweet spot—and discovering this is the key to sustaining success and staying engaged and happy while helping inspire those around you. You had an opportunity to reflect on some of the things that motivate people, like fear and pride. You also examined the difference between driven people and called people. Understanding what motivates us to become leaders is an important aspect of authentic leadership.

You read about making the shift from I to we. This is an important step in your leadership journey, as leadership is all about relationships and working together. You took another look at our program definition of leadership and really examined what motivating and mobilizing others means. You had an opportunity to read the Request of James and John, think about what might have motivated them, and thought about Jesus’ response to them. You discovered that your challenge, as a leader, is to inspire others, develop them, and create change through them.

Great leaders inspire action! You were introduced to a model called the Golden Circle, where our why is more important than what we do or how we do it. You watched How Great Leaders Inspire Action and a masterful presenter (Simson Sinek)! Good leaders are good presenters—you learned some of the elements and strategies for presenting well and managing nerves. This is an important tool for your academic and leadership toolbox.

In Unit 6, we shift our attention to staying grounded as leaders. We look at the importance of a support team, mentorship, and establishing and maintaining balance as a leader.

Checking your Learning

Before you move on to the next unit, you may want to check to make sure that you are able to:

  • Describe the concepts of motivation and mobilization
  • Compare and contrast extrinsic and intrinsic motivations
  • Identify your own personal motives and examine how this can help in discovering your sweet spot
  • Identify leadership qualities of Jesus
  • Compare and contrast self-serving people and called people
  • Describe how great leaders inspire action
  • Describe what makes a great presentation and identify strategies that can help manage nerves when presenting