Effective Leadership – Finding Common Ground Despite Differing Points Of View

Learning Objectives

• Learn to identify what criteria are important to an individual and how it affects that individual’s decision-making
• Determine how a question, request, or assignment can be worded to create a minimum amount of resistance and the greatest amount of enthusiasm for finding a favorable outcome
• Understand the four primary theories of ethics, how they differ, and the influence they have over an individual‘s decision-making
• Recall the importance of the control environment and how the tone at the top can influence the decisions of all members of an entity

Course Description

As the world continues to get smaller and business operates on a global scale, business groups, ranging from small groups of employees working on projects together to boards of directors establishing corporate policy, almost always consist of individuals from diverse backgrounds.  The individual members often hold different views on a wide variety of important issues and may not even agree on what is right or wrong.

For such a group to achieve the objectives with which it is charged, these individuals must be able to work together, overcome differences, and reach consensus on how best to proceed.  An effective leader is expected to bring the members of the group together and get them working toward the same objective in a cooperative spirit.

To be effective, a leader should understand each individual’s set of values, how each will interpret different circumstances, how they are motivated, and how they make decisions.  Such an understanding allows leaders to find outcomes that take in to account the differing views and can be supported by all.

This course will explore how a leader can identify what criteria different individuals will apply in decision-making, how to coordinate the individual’s objectives with those of the group, and how to get each team member to take ownership of the group’s results.  It will demonstrate how a change in the wording of a question, without changing the meaning, can cause an individual to choose an opposite outcome and how problems can be framed to encourage individuals with diverse backgrounds to make the same choices.

This course will also introduce the types of compromises an entity may make when enforcing its policies to achieve greater outcomes for the entity as a whole, and to convert detractors and negative influences within an organization into enthusiastic advocates.

Overview

• Major Subjects

  2 mins
• Where do you start?

  6 mins
• Small Changes Ripple Outward

  21 mins
• Understanding Diversity and Differing Points of View

  45 mins
• Integrity as Governing Ethics

  60 mins
• Personal Integrity

  85 mins