THOMAS MORE COLLEGE

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THOMAS MORE COLLEGE

• OUTDOOR EDUCATION
• LEADERSHIP
• NOTES
• Greg Allen

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Leadership

• His (Shackeltons) outstanding characteristics
  were his care of, and anxiety for the lives and
  well-being of, all his men.
• He that would govern others, first should be the
  master of himself.
• The leader is the stimulus, but he is also a
  response.
• High sentiments always win in the end. The
  leaders who offer blood, toil, tears, and sweat
  always get more out of their followers than those
  who offer safety and a good time. George Orwell
• Leadership ability may be indicated by whether
  you read the packed-tight phrase as
• OPPORTUNITY IS NOWHERE or
• OPPORTUNITY IS NOW HERE

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EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP

• Effective leadership involves four elements
• Qualities of Leadership
• Leadership Skills
• Leadership Styles
• Group Dynamics

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LEADERSHIP QUALITIES

• What are the qualities you see as important for a
  leader to have?

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LEADERSHIP SKILLS

• GENERIC SKILLS
• Key management skills
• SPECIFIC SKILLS
• Practical Skills
• INTEGRATED SKILLS
• Combine both specific and people attributes or
  qualities

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GENERIC SKILLS

• Trip Planning Skills
• Performance Skills
• Navigation Skills
• Weather Interpretation Skills
• First Aid Skills
• Physical Fitness Skills
• Mental Awareness Skills anticipation, time
  management, observation and perseption.

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SPECIFIC SKILLS

• Technical Skills mode of travel skills, rescues
  and communication techniques and equipment usage.
• Environmental Skills minimum impact , knowledge
  etc.
• Safety Skills assessment, first aid, risk
  management, preparation etc.

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INTEGRATED SKILLS

• Judgement Skills common sense, wisdom, insight,
  perception, decision making and problem solving.
• Communication / Counsellor Skills
  intrapersonal, interpersonal, motivation and
  interest.
• Organisation Skills planning, doing.
• Instructional Skills teaches by example, skill,
  knowledge.
• Group Management Skills team building, conflict
  resolution etc.
• Flexible Leadership Skills use appropriate
  style for appropriate situation.
• Personal Skills personable traits, confidence,
  fitness, approachable etc.

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CLUES FOR LISTENING

• C Concentrate
• L Listen
• U Use your mind as well as your ears
• E Keep your eyes on the speaker
• S Stay tuned in
• The mediocre teacher tells.
• The good teacher explains.
• The superior teacher demonstrates.
• The great teacher inspires.
• (Leaders are teachers)

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Successful Adventure

• Three important ingredients of any successful
  adventure are
• Safety
• Enjoyment
• Achievement
• It is the leaders job to obtain a balance of
  these three so that all three may be obtained.
• What makes a good leader?

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Group Responsibilities and Tasks

• Planning and Preparation - as in planning section
  decisions have to be made regarding
• setting goals
• logistic matters
• notifying intentions
• route-planning etc.
• Group Management - pace, rest stops etc.
• - how are these decided, keeping the group
  together
• - task orientated versus group orientated
  leaders

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Leadership Styles

• A number of leadership styles can be described
  ranging from a autocratic to abdicratic
  (laissez-fare). To be effective, leaders need to
  be aware of their own predominant styles and be
  able to expand the range of options.
• Each style has appropriate applications,
  depending on the group, the nature of the task
  and the range of outside factors influencing the
  situation.

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Leadership Styles Overview
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Leadership Styles - Defined

• Telling - Autocratic
• The leader becomes aware of a problem, considers
  alternative solutions, chooses one of them and
  then tells the group what they are to do. Leaders
  may or may not consider what the group members
  might think or feel about the decision, but
  members clearly do not participate directly in
  the decision-making.
• Selling - Political
• The leader, as before, makes a decision without
  consulting the group. However, instead of simply
  announcing the decision, the leader persuades the
  group members to accept it by pointing out how
  group goals and the interests of group members
  were considered and how then members will benefit
  from carrying out the decision.

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Leadership Styles - defined cont.

• Testing - Evaluative
• The leader identifies a problem and proposes a
  tentative solution. Before finalising it,
  however, the leader gets the reactions of those
  who will implement it. The leader says, in
  effect Id like your frank reactions to this
  problem, and I will then make the final
  decision.
• Consulting - Participative
• The leader gives the group members a chance to
  influence the decision from the beginning by
  presenting a problem and relevant background
  information, then asking members for their ideas
  on how to solve it. In effect, the group is
  invited to increase the number of alternative
  actions to be considered. The leader then selects
  the solution regarded as most promising.

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Leadership Styles - defined cont.

• Joining - Democratic
• The leader here participates in the decision as
  just another member and agrees in advance to
  carry out whatever decision the group makes.
• Abdicratic (Laissez-faire)
• The leader here passes all control to the group
  and has no input into the decision making as the
  group is left to their own devices.

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Promoting Personal Development
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Energy Flow in Groups
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Decision Making

• Decision making involves four stages. All of
  these stages are vital to the achievement of good
  decisions.
• Stage 1 - Recognition.
• Important leader recognises when a particular set
  of circumstances require action. Failure to act
  promptly may lead to severe and inescapable
  consequences at a later stage.
• Stage 2 - Examination.
• It is important to look carefully at the
  circumstances and signs, and correctly identify
  the real problem.
• Stage 3 - Search for Solutions.
• There may be only one or many possible courses of
  action. The leader should try to discover all the
  possibilities before attempting to make a choice.
• Stage 4 - Anticipation of Consequences.
• The leader should carefully review the
  consequences that will or might follow from a
  particular course of action, or the group may
  move from one crisis to another.

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Decision Making - cont.

• After working through the four stages the leader
  should then make a decision but should also take
  into account the following influences
• Pressure
• Often decisions need to be made under a great
  deal of pressure eg. sever weather, threat of
  imminent danger.
• Action vs Contemplation
• Inexperienced leaders often take so long to make
  a decision the original problem has escalated.
  This can be very demoralising to the group. It is
  often better to take the quick safe option than
  to spend an age searching for the perfect
  decision.
• Participation by the group
• At times better to involve the group in decision
  making process but this can also cause problems
  if the group members are inexperienced. The
  leader must also be willing to take advice if
  they ask for it.

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Coping with Emergencies

• It is important that emergencies are planned for
  within the group.
• All group members should be clearly briefed on
  procedures during am emergency
• e.g. lost, injury, fire etc.

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Achievement of Group Goals

• Motivation and Morale
• This could be the deciding factor on the success
  or failure of an expedition. Firstly the group
  members capabilities should be matched to the
  activity and all group members are aware of the
  goals of the expedition and accept these.
• Maintaining morale can be one of the hardest jobs
  of a leader. You must find a balance between
  completing the task and the well fare of the
  group. The leader must know the capabilities of
  the group members and their personalities and
  deal with individuals appropriately.