What is personal development and Leadership?
This is part one of a two-part series. Look for the second installment on January 27, 2015.
Introduction:
Leadership in its simplest form is defined as the ability to influence, but what one influences depends on the level one occupies in an organization. As a person moves up the leadership hierarchy, it is vital to work on transformation in mindset and cognitive power. This change has a high probability of bringing behavioral change. On the contrary, if someone has already reached the position of enterprise leadership and needs a behavioral intervention for improving leadership effectiveness, then a top down approach could add lot of value.
Part I of this post will deal with understanding the value and belief system that is the foundation of behavior and any behavioral change, a top down and bottom up approach and the mindset.
Part II of this post will explain various kinds of information processing, the leadership pipeline, and a holistic model that proposes leadership development at various levels and the various tools that can be used.
Behaviour = Inside the person + Situation (outside the person) + Time
Hence behavior is the interface between person and situation, as explained by Kurt Lewin. Behavioral changes depend on skills, knowledge, motivation and attitude, which would be built from the core values and beliefs of an individual. This change should be through a continuous learning process to capitalize the maximum potential of an individual.
The Value system of an individual is formed both by nature (genetics) and nurture (life experiences). An individual’s behavior and perception of a situation is a reflection of their values and beliefs.
Attitude, like values, is inherited and learned, and is a combination of positive and negative predispositions.
Motivation is influenced a lot by a person’s value system.
Knowledge is information gathered from education and experience. Continuous learning depends on the value system and beliefs.
Skills are application of knowledge.
All the above explained facets are based on the values and beliefs of an individual. The top down approach based on values and beliefs, and bottom up approach based on situation, enables one to respond to a given situation.
