SSAT Leaders for the Future

SSAT Leaders for the Future:

1. Leading yourself

Tutor notes

Module title: / Leading yourself
Module aim: / Rationale
·  This session explores the importance of leading yourself. Indeed, before you are able to lead and manage others, you need to know and manage yourself effectively. This means developing emotional intelligence; understanding your own personality and seeking to understand others, considering how you communicate and how you are perceived by others.
Aims for the session
·  To consider the importance of emotional intelligence for self-leadership and leadership of others
·  To reflect on your own personality and consider how this impacts on both your own leadership and those you lead
·  To understand and recognise different personality traits
·  To explore a range of communication styles and consider the implications for leadership
·  To reflect on the impact your behaviours and actions have on others and how you are perceived.
Module outcomes: / By the end of this session participants will have the following knowledge, skills and understanding:
·  Understanding some of the founding principles of emotional intelligence and personality profiles
·  A deeper knowledge of themselves and how they act and react in a variety of situations
·  Skills for effective self-management that will enable them to more effectively lead themselves and others
Individual participants will be able to apply the learning from this session in their everyday practice and through their relationships with colleagues. This will enable them to be more effective in their roles and better able to lead successfully.
The school will benefit from a shared and growing understanding among participants of the importance of emotional intelligence for positive professional behaviours and working relationships. This will contribute to developing a school culture of mutual understanding professional respect.
Duration / 2 hours
Module resources / Resources
There are three main types of resources to support each session. A PowerPoint presentation, which the tutor may use in whole or in part; activity sheets, which again may or may not be used in total depending on the particular stage of development of the group; additional materials.
In this session there is a PowerPoint presentation and activity sheets.
The accompanying resources are:
1. Myers-Briggs personality types overview http://lighthouse8.com/the-myer-briggs-personality-test/
2. What’s your personality type?
3. Star Wars Myers-Briggs profiles
4. Downton Abbey Myers-Briggs profiles
5. Communication styles blank table
6. Communication styles completed table
Additional resources:
•  PPT presentation – Talent spotting and hard work
•  Forbes’ 10 keys to identifying high potential
There are a range of activities presented in this session. The precise choice of activities will depend on the
context and stage of development of each school. Suggested activities are designed to generate discussion and
learning on the content of the session.
Evaluation / Evaluation forms are to be distributed at the end of the session and collated using the templates provided by SSAT
Session time and topic / Running time / Learning activity / Notes
Arrival / As delegates arrive facilitator walks the floor and shows them to their tables.
As delegates arrive at their table they are invited to choose a number (1-10) which represents their confidence as a leader, write on a post-it and stick up
Facilitators introduce themselves informally / Activity to be used if this is the first meeting with the group
Welcome and introductions
(3 mins) / 0-3 mins / ·  Facilitator(s) introduce themself/ves and welcome everyone to the session
·  Go through the session objectives
·  Explain that there will be a combination of discussion and activities / Slides 1-2
Emotional intelligence
(27 mins) / 3-30mins / Introduce the subject of emotional intelligence. This subject has been written about extensively by Dr. Daniel Goleman - an author, psychologist and journalist. His research is underpinned by a growing understanding of how the brain works. Goleman argues that EQ is more important than IQ. His work contains may important insights about human behaviour and relationships. He emphasises the need to understand our emotions, develop self-awareness, and exercise control over our impulses, persistence, empathy and social deftness. Those who develop these qualities are better able to lead themselves and others, becoming more successful in the workplace. Some delegates may be aware of his work as it has become well known worldwide.
Slides 3-6 contain some quotes and information about his books to introduce the theme.
Slide 3: Quote “In a world of a million qualifications, our emotional intelligence will set us alongside or apart from others at work.” Daniel Goleman
Slide 4: Three of his books:
·  Emotional intelligence – why it can matter more than IQ (1996)
·  Working with emotional intelligence (1998)
·  The new leaders – transforming the art of leadership into the science of results (2001, co-authored with Annie McKee and Richard Boyatzis)
Slide 5: Quote: “For leaders, the first task in management has nothing to do with leading others; step one poses the challenge of knowing and managing yourself”
Slide 6: Further quotes: “We are judged by how well we handle ourselves and each other” … “Out of control emotions can make smart people stupid”
Slide 7: Reflection - consider the image: how can this image help us to understand our emotions?
·  E.g. our emotions (and those of others) are like a river, constantly in motion and liable to ups and downs, as we interact with the environment and people around us.
Slides 8-9: We now take a look at understanding of how the brain works and what causes us to behave in certain ways.
·  The prefrontal cortex area in the brain is responsible for executive function such as abilities to differentiate among conflicting thoughts, determine good and bad, better and best, same and different, future consequences of current activities, working toward a defined goal, prediction of outcomes, expectation based on actions, and social "control".
·  The amygdala forms part of the limbic system and plays a key role in the processing of emotions. It is linked to fear, anger and pleasure responses. The amygdala is also responsible for determining what memories are stored and where the memories are stored in the brain.
·  An Amygdala Hijack (term coined by Daniel Goleman in his book Emotional Intelligence) occurs during the fight, flight or freeze stress response. An Amygdala Hijack is an immediate and overwhelming emotional response out of proportion to the stimulus because it has triggered a more significant emotional threat.
·  For example sometimes an event, smell, words spoken or other things can trigger a memory and emotional response from the amygdala.
Slide 10: Reflection/discussion activity: write down a situation when your emotions took over as described in the emotional (amygdala) hijack. If comfortable doing so, discuss the situation and questions below with a partner.
Consider the following:
·  What were you feeling? Why?
·  Were you able to sense any physical symptoms of an emotional hijacking (e.g. going red, rising temperature, feeling boxed in?)
·  How did it impact on your behaviour? How did you feel about this?
·  Are you aware of what triggers your emotional responses (e.g. being backed into a corner, being presented with a fait accompli)?
Slide 11 – 12: These slides take us back to the analogy of the river. What impacts on your emotional river? What steps can you take to bring balance?
Slide 13-14: key points:
·  Self-awareness means having a deep understanding of one’s emotions, as well as one’s strengths and limitations and one’s values and motives.
·  Self-management – which resembles an inner conversation – is the component of EI which frees us from being a prisoner of our feelings.
Slide 15: This useful table highlights how emotional awareness and management impact on both self and others. Try to evaluate yourself honestly in each area. What are your strengths? What do you need to develop? (Discuss with a partner). How might you go about developing your emotional intelligence?
Slide 16: A free online EI test is available here; https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/ei-quiz.htm
The test consists of 15 questions and only takes a few minutes to complete.
Further reading is also available: www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCDV_59.htm / Slide 3-16
Internet access required to complete free EI online test at https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/ei-quiz.htm
Knowing your personality
(45 mins) / 30-75mins / Slide 17: This slide provides the transitional link to the next section which focuses on personality traits – understanding yourself and others.
Stephen Covey (b.1932- 2012) is the author of “Seven habits of highly effective people” which sold over 25 million copies. He was an American educator, author, business man and speaker.
Quote: “Seek to understand yourself and then others” (Covey)
Slides 18 – 25: These slides introduce delegates to a range of popular tools used to predict/assess people’s personality traits. Myers-Briggs is one of the most well-known, and resources are provided for delegates to use and reflect on the outcomes of using this tool. If you prefer to use a different tool, such as those exemplified on slide 19, please do.
Slide 18: Activity
Self-reflection:
·  How would you describe your personality?
·  Are you an introvert or an extrovert?
·  Are you more aware of different aspects of your personality in certain situations or company?
·  What brings out the best in you?
·  What frustrates or irritates you?
·  If you had to sum yourself up in three words, which would you choose?
Slide 19 – Personality profiling tools
Discussion:
·  Ask for a show of hands to get a feel for how many people in the room have used the profiling tools mentioned
·  Are there others they have engaged with?
·  How did they feel about working with the tools and the outcome descriptions?
·  What impact, if any, have they had on you and their leadership? Have they been helpful?
Slide 20: Background to Myers-Briggs profiling tool. The official Myers-Briggs website is: https://www.mbtionline.com/
Slide 21: Activity: introduce the Myers-Briggs profiling tool resource. Each participant should answer the questions to reveal their MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) profile. A free online tool is available at http://www.16personalities.com/
It takes about 10 minutes to complete.
·  It is important to remember that there is no good or bad, better or worse in the outcome descriptors. The images on slide 23 show many distinguished and successful people who may be described as fitting certain profiles.
Slide 22: Myers-Briggs use 16 different personality categories, which are displayed on the wheel. Your four-letter profile is basically deduced by answering the following questions:
1.  Are you outwardly or inwardly focused? - Extroversion (E) / Introversion (I)
2.  How do you prefer to take in information? - Sensing (S) / Intuition (N)
3.  How do you prefer to make decisions? – Thinking (T) / Feeling (F)
4.  How do you prefer to live your life? – Judging (J) / Perceiving (P)
If you don’t have access to the online test you can use the “What’s your personality type” resource to answer the four questions above and reveal your personality profile.
Slide 23: It is important to remember that there is no good or bad, better or worse in the outcome descriptors. The images in this slide show many distinguished and successful people who may be described as fitting certain profiles.
Slide 24:
Discussion
·  Did anything surprise you?
·  What did you find most interesting about completing the profiling test?
·  Was there anything you disagreed with?
Reflection
·  Could you use the descriptors to guess your colleagues’/teams’ profiles?
·  What implications would this have for your interactions / leadership?
Slide 25: For a bit of fun, use the Star Wars or Downton Abbey personality profile resources (see additional resources) / Slides 17-25
To complete the online personality profiling tool participants will need access to the internet.
www.16personalities.com/
Resources 1-4:
1. Myers-Briggs personality types overview http://lighthouse8.com/the-myer-briggs-personality-test/
2. What’s your personality type
3. Star Wars Myers-Briggs profiles
4. Downton Abbey Myers-Briggs profiles
Communication
(30 mins) / 75-105 / Slides 26-33 explore the important and complex issue of communication
Effective communication is key to any relationship, but is incredibly difficult. Part of the problem is that we assume that the message and meaning given/intended, is the one received. We communicate many messages non-verbally (e.g. body language) or para-verbally (tone), which may support or contradict our verbal messages. Four core communication styles are addressed in these slides; passive, aggressive, passive-aggressive, and assertive. At different times, in different situations, we may consciously or subconsciously find ourselves responding in a variety of these ways. Assertive communication is presented as the only “win-win” scenario (I care about you, I care about myself).
Slide 26: quote: “I know you believe you understand what you think I said; but, I’m not sure you realise what you heard is not what I meant”
·  Can you think of an example when you got this really wrong?
Slide 27: Introduce the four communication styles passive, aggressive, passive-aggressive, and assertive , then use the prompts on the slide to discuss the characteristics of each (pair/group activity). There is a blank table (resource 5) that participants can complete if this is done as a written activity.
Slide 28: Completed table. Provide as handout if possible. Compare the table with your own understanding. Some prompt questions below.
·  Can you think of examples of those behaviours you personally have experienced?
·  How did it make you feel?
·  What was the impact?
·  Do you recognise any of those behaviours in yourself, perhaps more than one, depending on the context and company?
·  What challenges do you find in moving to a more assertive style?
·  Why is assertiveness sometimes attributed to an authoritarian approach? What is the difference?
For additional information how to be assertive see http://www.wikihow.com/Be-Assertive
Slide 29: This diagram illustrates the ‘win-lose’ impact of the four communication styles. Assertiveness shows respect for both the other party and yourself.
Slide 30: Use this slide to help demonstrate the multiplicity of ways we communicate. You might want to discuss the particular challenges and risks inherent in some forms of communication (e.g. emails) where there is no body language or tone of voice to mediate the message.