Podcast: Play in new window

What makes for an effective leader and how can you improve your leadership skills? Well, who’s the best role model for a leader? How about a chicken? In this episode of The Psych Files we examine Ginger from the movie Chicken Run to see how she embodies the best qualities of a leader. I know - sounds a little weird, but I guarantee you’ll come away with a better understanding of leadership and some of the top leadership theories.

Characteristics of Effective Leaders

• Provides followers with a compelling vision for the future
• Has Specific ideas and plans on how to reach that future
• Provides followers with challenging goals (and feedback related to those goals) to help them reach the vision (Path/Goal leadership theory)
• Emotional Stability
• Persistence in the face of setbacks (a positive attributional style)
• Willingness to take personal risks to get to obtain the vision
• Principled
• Can share power and credit with subordinates/followers
• Knows his/her people well enough to delegate tasks according to follower’s talents, skills and desires
• Tough but fair
• Works alongside his/her subordinates to reach the goal

Resources on Leadership

• Bennis, W.G. (1993). An invented life: Reflections on leadership and change. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley
• Hogan, R, Curphy, G. J. & Hogan, J. (1994). What we know about leadership: Effectiveness and personality. American Psychologist, 49(6), 493-504.
• 

Podcast: Play in new window

Can horses be used for corporate training or is this nonsense? If you listened to the NPR piece called, “Horse Sense: New Breed Of Executive Training” you might have had the same reaction I did: sounds a little “fishy”. Find out why “Clever Hans” just might be alive and well in the field of management training.

Resources for this Episode

Thank you to the following for permission to use their comments:

• Dr. Debra Briihl, Dept. of Psychology and Counseling, Valdosta State University
• Dr. Dennis Goff, Chair, Department of Psychology, Randolph College
• Melissa R. Shyan-Norwalt, PhD, CAAB, Companion Animal Problem Solvers, Inc.
• Dr. Gerald L. Peterson, Professor of Psychology, Saginaw Valley State University
• Dr. Carol Devolder, St. Ambrose University

Clever Hans

• Episode 31: Lemon Slices and a New Face on Mars! Gestalt Principles at Work
• The story on the NPR site: Horse Sense: New Breed Of Executive Training
• In Wikipedia
• The Skeptic’s Dictionary
• UK-Skeptics
• Paul F. Ballantyne Ph.D website

Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels of Training Evaluation

• Evaluation of Executive Training by Glenn Crone
• Encyclopedia of Educational Technology
• Instructional System Design - Evaluation Phase - Chapter VI. From the Performance, Learning, Leadership, & Knowledge website

Podcast: Play in new window

Image via WikipediaEquity and the lack of fairness strike again! What would happen if you were suddenly (even temporarily) moved to an office (or dorm room) that was smaller than the one you’re in now? Would you be less productive? Less satisfied? I bet you would. Let’s see how this was studied in a classic field experiment by psychologist Jerry Greenberg.

Resources For This Episode

• Opps! Around 19 minutes into the podcast I say that you have to “observationally define” a smile. I meant “operationally define” a smile. Sorry ’bout that. I’ll try to fix that tonite.
• Greenberg, J. (1988), “Equity and workplace status: a field experiment”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 73 pp.606-13.
• Here is the link to my previous episode on the concept of Equity.
• Here is the link to my previous episode on Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing.

Podcast: Play in new window

Equity: the battle cry of childhood - It’s not fair - tends to follow us throughout life. Can it affect job satisfaction? Let’s take a look at how fairness, or the lack therof, plays itself out in the work place. Get ready for a little math. Math? In psychology? You’ll see.

Equity Theory

• Inputs: the things that you bring to the job such as your degree, your experience, your talents and skills, even your personality in some cases.
• Outputs: what you get from your job such as the pay, the benefits package, bonus, the size of your office, prestige, etc.

Equity also operates in our personal relationships. Have you ever felt that you are doing a lot for one of your friends, but that friend isn’t doing much for you? How long does that friendship last?

• Inputs: time you spend with your friend, time you spend listening to your friend’s problems, money you loan to your friend, favors you do for your friend.
• Outcomes: amount of time your friend listens to your problems, willingness of your friend to loan you money, favors you get from your friend, prestige you get from hanging around with this friend

Related articles by Zemanta

• 5 Ways To Improve Employee Morale