Leadership Compass
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Projected Time
60 minutes
● See agenda below for timings.
Trainees take the test before the class, you may want to remind them at the start of the day to complete this before the session! https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ed3zF84KFgCSjvTUE-OpunkF6LnJQUZNMR2nh1uY0/edit?usp=sharing
Instructions
- 1.Click the link
- 2.Create a copy
- 3.Score out of 10
- 4.1 being completely disagree
- 5.10 being strongly agree
- 6.Total your scores
- 7.In the bottom table, put 1-4 from highest to lowest scores under North, South, East, and West
Developing a deeper sense of self-awareness about one’s leadership style and approach.
● Start to develop a more balanced approach to work style; seeking out areas of growth or change.
● To build an understanding how one’s work style may affect team functioning.
● To identify differences in all four directions and explore how different styles can work together to enhance personal and team/group performance.
How you are going to do this
- 1.Intro and agenda – 1 min
- 2.Goal – 1 min
- 3.What is leadership compass - 4 mins
- 4.Objectives - 1 min
- 5.Explain the exercise - 5 mins
- 6.Exercise -10 mins
- 7.Discussion - 20 mins
- 8.Best ways to work with… - 10 mins
- 9.Summary and questions - 8 mins
Total 60 minutes
Outcomes
Explored leadership styles.
Started to learn and identify how others work.
How adapting their style can impact on team performance.
● What is Leadership compass & why is it relevant to the workplace.
● What is your style?
● How to communicate with other styles.
Link to slides to be added once saved in the correct place.
Teaching notes added to slides.
Where possible give real world examples – maybe you and your team have had success or have overcome a challenge by identifying leadership style?
The main element of the session is the exercise and subsequent discussion. The exercise aims demonstrate we are all different – such as how we give and receive instruction, how we motivate and encourage, how we measure success in ourselves and others… and this will form the main area of discussion after the trainees have completed the exercise.
You can add a competitive element such as the first team to complete the task wins if you feel this works with your group.
As the exercise is timed the workshop lead will need to make sure the trainees are aware at regular intervals specifically start and end of 2 minutes prep and start of 6 minutes for the objects.
The exercise:
The aim of the exercise is for you and your team to find 4 items in 6 minutes or less.
- 1.1 member will describe an object of their choosing without mentioning its name and the other 3 team members will need to identify what it is and find it.
- 2.You only need to find one per team.
- 3.You have a maximum of 6 minutes to find all the items.
- 4.Repeat step 1 until each member of the team has had a turn at describing an item
- 5.You will be allocated a breakout room in a team of 4
- 6.You have 2 minutes to prepare how you plan to complete the task as a team, but this must include choosing your object for your teammates to find.
- 7.This will be a timed exercise and the breakout rooms will automatically close at the end
- 8.If you finish the exercise before the breakout rooms close, please rejoin the main room
Some tips for the trainees:
Remember - Don’t tell your team what your item is; they have to guess.
Keep it simple and use items that are easy to find and likely to be nearby (pen, phone, book, notepad, mug, glasses, keyboard etc).
Keep an eye on the time.
- 1.You will need to reinforce that although the session is called leadership compass you do not need to be a manager to lead.
- 2.Make sure you address the negative thinking that some people may have.
- 3.This is not relevant to me – teamwork and personal growth.
- 4.I don’t have to learn this now – it will help with working with other trainees.
- 5.I will only be a junior so I won’t be able to change anything – Leaders aren’t just managers – remind about roles in tech and how members of teams may need to lead certain elements of a project.
All instructions and questions are added to the slide notes to facilitate conversation and discussion.
Ideas for what they could do outside of class.
- Did you identify skills and strengths you would like to enhance?
- How can you build on the skills to help you adapt to others around you?
Examples of characteristics
North: Results | Score 1-10 |
Assertive, active, decisive | |
Likes to determine course of events and be in control of professional relationship | |
Enjoys Challenges presented by difficult situations and people | |
Thinks in terms of “bottom line” | |
Quick to act or decide; expresses urgency for others to take action | |
Perseveres, not stopped by hearing “No”, probes and presses to get at hidden resistances | |
Likes variety, novelty, new projects | |
Comfortable being in front | |
Values action-orientated phrases, “Do it now!”, “I’ll do it”, “What’s the bottom line?” | |
Total | |
South: Relationships | Score 1-10 |
Understands how people need to receive information in order to act on it | |
Integrates others input in determining direction of what’s happening | |
Value-driven regarding aspects of professional life | |
Uses professional relationships to accomplish tasks, interaction is a primary way of getting things done | |
Supportive of colleagues and peers | |
Willingness to trust others’ statements at face value | |
Feeling-based, trusts own emotions and intuition, intuition regarded as “truth” | |
Receptive to others ideas, builds on ideas, team player, non-competitive | |
Able to focus on the present | |
Total | |
East: Vision | Score 1-10 |
Visionary who sees the big picture | |
Generative and creative thinker, able to think outside the box | |
Very idea-orientated; focuses on future thought | |
Makes decisions by standing in the future (insight/imagination) | |
Insight into mission and purpose | |
Looks for overarching themes, ideas | |
Adept at and enjoys problem solving | |
Likes to experiment, explore | |
Appreciates a lot of information | |
Total | |
West: Process | Score 1-10 |
Understands what information is needed to assist in decision making | |
Seen as practical, dependable, and thorough in task situations | |
Provides planning and resources, is helpful to others in these ways and comes through for the team | |
Moves carefully and follows procedures and guidelines | |
Uses data analysis and logic to make decisions | |
Weighs all sides of an issue, balanced | |
Introspective, self-analytical, critical thinker | |
Skilled at finding fatal flaws in an idea or project | |
Maximises existing resources - gets the most out of what has been done in the past | |
Total | |
North | South | East | West |
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