Leadership Principles and Effective Management Strategies

Posted on Jul 16, 2025 in Business Administration and Management (BAM)

Leadership and Management Essentials

Core Leadership Concepts

  • Describe
  • Diagnose
  • Prescribe: What change
  • Act

Leadership Theories and Styles

  • Trait Theory vs. Behavioral Theory
  • Agile Leadership
  • Authentic Leadership
  • Transformational Leadership
  • Servant Leadership
  • Charismatic Leadership

Emotional Intelligence (EI) in Leadership

  • Self-awareness and Social Awareness
  • Self-management and Relationship Management

Addressing EI Deficiencies

When emotional intelligence is lacking, focus on:

  • Looking outward and listening more for social awareness.
  • Balancing your inner view of yourself with your perception of others.
  • Practicing vulnerability and empathy.
  • Recognizing employee efforts and communicating frequently and effectively.

Cultural Awareness in Leadership

Cultural awareness involves:

  • A mindset of paying careful attention to one’s own culture and others’, accepting differences.

Addressing Cultural Awareness Deficiencies

To remedy deficiencies:

  • Listen to people from other cultures to understand interactions.
  • Understand how your behavior affects those from other cultures.
  • Actively work with people from different cultures and create diverse groups.
  • Form task forces and hold events to highlight different cultures.

Key Figures in Management

  • Wolfgang Keller Brodsky (Google CEO)
  • Jamie Turner
  • Boss Cardullo
  • Heidi Roizen

Managing Up Effectively

Strategies for managing your boss:

  • Know your boss’s needs and clarify their objectives.
  • Avoid making assumptions.
  • Be sensitive to your boss’s work style.
  • Document important information.
  • Increase your self-awareness.
  • Develop a good, productive relationship.
  • Ensure the right flow of information.
  • Be dependable and honest.
  • Help your boss succeed.

Managing a Difficult Boss

When dealing with a difficult boss:

  • Focus on doing your job well.
  • Try to influence behavior change non-confrontationally.
  • Build relationships with others, especially those in higher positions.
  • Ensure the relationship doesn’t dominate your life.

Providing Constructive Feedback

Effective feedback includes:

  • Stating the constructive purpose of your feedback.
  • Describing specifically what you have observed.
  • Detailing your reactions and the observed effects on others.
  • Giving the other person an opportunity to respond.
  • Offering clear, specific suggestions, avoiding ambiguity.
  • Expressing support, summarizing clearly, and following up.
  • Making feedback specific to related behavior.

Leading from the Bottom Up

Success factors and considerations:

  • Management should contact workers quickly; often, managers provide information they *perceive* workers need rather than asking directly.
  • Employees offer unique perspectives that can aid managers who only see the big picture.
  • Bottom-up leadership can lessen the boss’s workload.

When Bottom-Up Leadership is Appropriate

This approach is suitable when:

  • It makes sense within your company position.
  • You have developed a network and are comfortable with colleagues.
  • Trust has been established with coworkers.

Deficiencies in Bottom-Up Leadership and Corrections

Potential issues and solutions:

  • Perception: Can be seen as trying to be the boss’s favorite or overstepping boundaries.
  • Correction: Clarify your intent to coworkers and your boss, emphasizing motivation.

Keys to Success in Managing Bottom-Up Leaders

  • Start a movement.
  • Lead by example.
  • Ask your boss about becoming more visible and involved.
  • Find a good mentor.
  • Maintain excellent performance.

Challenges of Top-Down Leadership

  • Lack of employee participation.
  • Influence from inappropriate individuals.
  • Insufficient conflict.

Effective Top-Down Leadership

  • Be true to your leadership style.
  • Set effective goals and gain employee buy-in.

Leadership Theories and Concepts

  • Centered Leadership
  • Hope
  • Despair
  • Apathy
  • Anger

Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory

  • Leaders develop separate exchange relationships with each follower.
  • Includes concepts of in-group and out-group dynamics.

Sources and Currencies of Power

  • Sources of Power: Position, Personal, Resource, Relationships.
  • Currencies for Gaining Power: Inspiration, Task, Position, Relationships, Personal.