Being a Leader | Leadership Framework

A set of learning exercises for leaders and managers

Consider your approach to strategy and long-term planning. How well do you engage your team in articulating a vision and delivering outcomes?

How effectively do you champion equality and diversity? Where and when do you demonstrate courage and integrity in your work and decisions? 

Take a look at the following elements and exercises to build your skills and confidence in these areas.

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Strategic thinking requires a manager to learn about the wider system in which they work, as well as the broad developments (Political, Economic, Sociological, Technological, Legal and Environmental) that may impact on their work, and to look ahead to see.

Managers need to consider the implications of their decisions and plans beyond their immediate effect and how they contribute to the bigger picture, e,g. how does your team or department impact other parts of the University and how do changes and plans elsewhere relate to your area of responsibility. What’s the effect now, later and in the future?

Exercises

Please now complete one or two exercises to further your skills and confidence and find ideas for reflecting on and building your practice in the selected area. 

Strategic Thinking Exercise A
Aligning to the University Strategic Plan Exercise B
 

 

This is about being clear on the difference your team’s work will bring about if you are successful, and what the gap would be if your team were not here.

Managers need to be able to engage team members and other stakeholders in shaping this vision. All plans and decisions need to be supportive of your vision, and your vision should help shape these; team members should be comfortable in describing the
team vision and the part they each play.

Exercises

Please now complete one or two exercises to further your skills and confidence and find ideas for reflecting on and building your practice in the selected area. 

Purpose and Vision Exercise A
Values work Exercise B
 

 

This is about having a clear approach to making timely, evidence-based decisions which support your vision and goals, consulting appropriately.

Exercises

Please now complete one or two exercises to further your skills and confidence and find ideas for reflecting on and building your practice in the selected area. 

Making decisions Exercise A
Decision-making - a process Exercise B
 

 

Managers need to develop a habit of self-reflection, to better understand what you do well and where you can do better, what has motivated your responses and how you are perceived by others.

Plans and decisions need to be aligned to shared values and best practice. Managers need to lead by example and quickly and clearly acknowledge their own mistakes.

Exercises

Please now complete one or two exercises to further your skills and confidence and find ideas for reflecting on and building your practice in the selected area. 

Self-awareness Exercise A
Leadership - Boundaries Exercise B
 

 

Courage as a manager means not hiding when there are problems to solve and difficult emotions to negotiate.

Resilience is about being able to resource yourself to withstand and adjust to setbacks and remain focused on maintaining momentum and achieving your goals. And creativity means you are open to doing things differently, you seek new ideas from others and you find ways to relax which allow new ideas to emerge. You seek different perspectives to shift your own.

Exercises

Please now complete one or two exercises to further your skills and confidence and find ideas for reflecting on and building your practice in the selected area. 

Creativity and Courage Exercise A
Resilience Exercise B
 

 

You understand your own implicit biases and strive to challenge these in your actions and approaches.

You are familiar with and implement the University’s equality and diversity policies, and you encourage your team to question their own biases and assumptions. You ensure that promoting diversity, equality and inclusivity is a priority, never a tick box, and understand the importance of this in creating effective and cohesive teams.

Exercises

Please now complete one or two exercises to further your skills and confidence and find ideas for reflecting on and building your practice in the selected area. 

Embedding Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Exercise A
Equality, Diversity and inclusion - Action planning Exercise B
 

 

Reflection exercise

After completing an exercise use this reflection exercise to enhance your learning. You may wish to complete this straight away, or at a later point after you have tried out new approaches etc.

Reflection exercise

 

Diagnostic tool

To help identify priority areas for development, download the checklist analysis of needs

Download

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