Supervisory and Leadership Skills Development

PT University

Presented byDr. De Hicks

SCGI

Overview of Today’s Class

The Unique Role of Supervisor and the dynamics of the supervisory relationshipSome surprising fundamentals of the supervisory jobEssential performance management skillsHow to have crucial conversationsHow to foster greater engagementLeadership from the middle: getting things done when you’re not in chargeBuilding strong labor/management relationshipsManaging conflict: Navigating through conflict constructivelyCreative Problem Solving: Appreciative Inquiry and Root Cause conversationsSituational leadership and decision-making skillsCreating Clarity of expectations and alignment of efforts to remove hassle

Your Expectations?

By the end of this class, I would like to learn how to…

The Power of Assumptions

Our Assumptions are what we believe to be true.

They can be

ours borrowed

current out of date

tested not tested

What are your assumptions about …. ?

What have you learned about challenging your own assumptions?

What have you learned about challenging the assumptions of others?

It’s time to check assumptions whenever…

Some Assumptions for Today’s Class

Leadership is about …

Management is about…

Supervision is about…

Candor is the “high octane fuel” of any organization

I make work work for me; Work is personal

The Power of Choice: We always do what we want to do. (Think about it)

Corollary: We do what we do as long as it works for us.

…as long as we think it works for us

The supervisory relationship is unique. It has only one purpose: ______________

Therefore, the supervisory relationship is not about

Therapy

Family

Friendships

Detective Work

better performance

The Two Dimensions of the Leadership, Management and Supervisory Job

Create ClarityExpectations

Outcomes (results)

• Create AlignmentRules of engagement

Some Surprising Fundamentals of the Supervisory Job

The Role of Supervisor

Say, “Please”

Say, “Thank You”

Tell me when I’ve done a good job

Exercise: What have you learned?

Managing Conflict: Navigating Constructively through Conflict

Assumptions:

What do you know for sure about conflict at work?

Who is excellent at managing conflict?

What do they do?

Leaders Create Conflict

When conflict occurs, the ______________ is forever changed.

Conflict, when well managed, can bring powerful opportunities for improvement and innovation.

The best conflict (“essential conflict”) occurs when both parties report that it was worth it.

No conflict, no change. No change in behavior, no resolution.

Conflict rarely occurs apart from very powerful emotions. Such emotions have a distorting effect on conflict.

Our primary tool for managing conflict is curiosity (behaviorally: asking genuine questions)

relationship

The Emotional Distortion Effect

The General Adaptation Syndrome

ALARM!

Coping

Exhaustion

Fight it?

Flee from it?

Is this threatening?

Is this about me?

Stress = FEAR

The Conflict Continuum

Need for Understanding

Demand for Action

The ZON

E

WE WAR

Essential Performance Management Skills

Managing performance

is about behavior

The OIC (Oh, I see!) tool

O

I

C

Observed Behavior

Interpretation of the meaning of that Behavior

Confirm the natural Consequence of that Behavior

The OIC (Oh, I see!)

Your turn

More Essential Performance Management Skills

Creating Candor and Conducting Crucial Conversations

Candor IC = UC

T

Crucial Conversations

Crucial Conversations: Those Day-to-Day Conversations that impact your life and create realityPressured Conversations have different rules than non-pressured onesSide-by-side Conversations are more effective than face-to-face conversations

What makes a conversation crucial?Opinions VaryPositions (organizationally) are power-differential positions

Supervisor / EmployeeNew Employee / Long-term EmployeeExpert / Novice

The Stakes are HighEmotions run strongHistory is difficult

Focus… on what you really want For yourself

For the other person

For “us”

For the organization, department, customer, etc.

Take charge of your body (remember stress=fear)

Master your Stories (“Always! Never!”)

Create candor by becoming a master of the other person’s perspectives

• “I recognize this is a crucial conversation…”

• “I know this is important…”

• “I know this really matters to…”

• “What matters most to me is…”

More Essential Performance Management Skills Appreciative Inquiry

Whatever we are trying to solve has already been solved somewhere in the organization.

Search for solutions

Amplify practices that already work

Joe Hail, Sue Hammond

Leadership from the Middle: Getting things Done When You’re Not in Charge

What have you learned about creating clarity and alignment when you’re not it charge?

The power of the question: • What is our goal?

• What are we trying to accomplish?

• What are the roles?

• What are the constraints?

• What do we want to avoid?

A word about “resistance”… What am I missing?

Building Strong Labor/Management Relationships

• Interest based relationships• Interest based conversations• Creating Candor• The Crucial Conversations Model

Interest Based Relationships

Apart from candor few high stakes relationships thrive

The purpose of the relationship is to foster and enhance mutual interestsFocus on issues rather than individual personalitiesFocus on interests (values) not positions Create clarity about outcomesCreate options Evaluate options using standards rather than powerClearly define decisions

Interest Based Conversations

Clearly define the issue (s)Work to achieve candor around the issues and their impactClearly define my interest in the issue(s)Create criteria (standards for evaluation)Agree on criteriaCreate optionsChoose options against criteria

Situational Leadership and Effective Decision Making

Task

Working Relationship

1) I decide

2) I listen; I decide

3) We decide

4) You decide

Application Time

What two concepts/tools will you use immediately?

Identify someone in the class with whom you will talk about the effectiveness of these tools at a later date.

Set the date.