Chapter 02-Leader Development
Task II
Please take the next two minutes to circle all of the attributes you think are descriptive of you.
ADVENTUROUS NATURAL
IRRESPONSIBLE BITTER
GOLDEN LOGICAL
PRUDISH ARROGANT
FRANK COOPERATIVE
COLD LOUD
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Exercise 2-5
Exercise Title: Making Attributions about Others
Purpose: To demonstrate how social meaning is “made” or constructed by the perceiver, sometimes on
the basis of very little information.
Summary: Lead a class discussion about what inferences they would make about an individual based
Buick Park Avenue Volkswagen Beetle Plymouth Voyager Hummer H2 Corvette
You might have the class speculate about attributions concerning: political party affiliation, leisure
activities, favorite TV shows, age, name, and occupation of the owner of the vehicle. You might also ask
Alternatively, you could focus the discussion on inferences people make about others based upon
customary style of dress (e.g., wing tips, tennis shoes, or cowboy boots for males; flats, tennis shoes, or
high heels for females).
Conclude by discussing two ways the attribution process is relevant to leadership. The first concerns how
attributions about others may affect the extent to which we “allow ourselves” to learn from others. The
It will take about 20 minutes to complete this exercise.
Chapter 02-Leader Development
Exercise 2-6
Exercise Title: Queen Anne
Purpose: To view experiences “outside of our boxes.” Demonstrates how easily we take our learning
experiences for granted and the need to focus outside our normal frame of reference.
Summary: The exercise is very simple and fun. The instructor needs to have word lists prepared prior to
class. The game is played in three or four rounds. The first two or three rounds focus on the location of
certain letters in a word. In the last round the focus moves from the location of the letters to the location
of the instructor before writing words on the board. It is important that the instructor withhold details of
Round two is played in a similar manner, however, the sequence is different. Now the sequence will be
words in alphabetical order (goat, heaven, ice, juice, kite, lime). The round is played similar to round 1
emphasizing that once the student understands the sequence not to share it with others. Round three could
be words that the ending letter is in alphabetical order (dog, high, ski). The last round begins with all the
It will take about 15 minutes to complete this exercise.
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Chapter 02-Leader Development
Exercise 2-7
Exercise Title: How do Companies Develop Leaders?
Purpose: To provide students with an understanding of how corporations identify and develop their
leadership talent.
Summary: Instructors should ask students to form small groups of 4–6 people, and each of the students
on the team is tasked with contacting someone familiar with leadership development in corporations, such
The individuals on each team should then compare notes from their individual interviews and prepare a
10-minute presentation for the rest of the class. The presentations should include the following:
• Names, positions, and companies of the individuals interviewed
Depending on the number of teams, this exercise will take 30–60 minutes to complete.
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Exercise 2-8
Exercise Title: The Development Pipeline
Purpose: To apply the Development Pipeline to a real leadership development program.
Summary: Students should form small groups of 4–6 people. Each group is tasked with applying the
Development Pipeline to a university or corporate leadership development course. The groups should use
Based on their analysis, they should also make recommendations on how to improve the course and
prepare a 10-minute presentation of their findings. This presentation should include the following
components:
• A brief overview of the course or program
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Chapter 02-Leader Development
The Development Pipeline for Course: ______________________
5
4
3
Content Insight Motivation New Practice Accountability
Skills
Content:
1 = No learning objectives
3 = Some learning objectives, but not well defined
5 = Well defined, measurable learning objectives
New Skills:
1 = All lecture or e-learning modules
3 = Some mix of lecture, small group discussion, and exercises
5 = Strong mix of lecture, activities, small group discussion, and reflection periods
Chapter 02-Leader Development
3 = Some opportunity to practice new skills
5 = Repeated sessions to practice new skills
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Exercise 2-9
Exercise Title: The Label Game
Purpose: To understand and appreciate the impacts a label (stereotype) can have on behaviors and
interactions with other people.
Summary: This exercise can be classified as a “typical” stereotyping demonstration. In this context, we
❖ First, I’m going to have you close your eyes and I’m going to put a label on your forehead (or
your collarbone) so YOU can’t see it but everyone else can. Please close your eyes!
o The labels provided at the end of this exercise are only possibilities—feel free to change
or modify the labels to better fit your students/audience.
o Affix labels to students and have them open their eyes once this is complete.
o Labels can be printed on Avery 5161 labels.
❖ Here are the rules of the game:
o First, we’re going to have a silent three minutes where you’re going to walk around and
❖ Step 1: Three minutes of silent interaction.
❖ Step 2: Say “go” and allow them 15 minutes to talk and interact with one another.
o Instructors and/or assigned observers should walk around and note observations.
When time is up, hand out the list of questions (included below) and have students spend a few minutes
reflecting on those questions to get them prepared for the instructor led discussion:
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Potential Questions for Instructor Led Discussion
❖ What do you think your label says? (let them take off the label)
o Have them answer this question before removing the label!
❖ What did you notice? (who grouped together, who was alone, who was talking the loudest, etc.)
❖ Why do you think some of you started acting like your label? Why did the class dork start
avoiding people? Why did the partiers end up hanging out with each other? (use examples from
what happens in the class) (tell them about self-fulfilling prophecy)
This exercise takes 45–60 minutes depending on the quality and quantity of discussion after the
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Label Game Questions
What do you think your label said?
How did that make you feel?
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What does this have to do with leadership?
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Star Football Player
GPA = 3.9
Complete Dork
GPA = 0.6
Tries to hang out with the
Popular crowd
Chess Club; Math Club
Always Has Positive
Attitude
Smokes pot all the time
Social Misfit
Asked 4 people to prom and
was turned down
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Additional References/Resources
Adler, N. J. (2006). The arts & leadership: Now that we can do anything, what will we do?
Academy of Management Learning & Education, 5, 486-499.
Dotlich, D.L., Noel, J.L., & Walker, N (2005). Leadership passages: Being part of an acquisition
or merger. Journal of Organizational Excellence, 24, 23-29.
Eden, D. (1992). Leadership and expectations: Pygmalion effects and other self-fulfilling
prophecies in organizations. Leadership Quarterly, 3, 271-305.
Hill, L. A. (2003). Becoming a manager: How new managers master the challenges of
leadership. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Hirst, G., et al. (2004). Learning to lead: The development and testing of a model of leadership
learning. Leadership Quarterly, 15, 311-327.
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Chapter 02-Leader Development
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Lombardo, M.M. & Eichinger, R.W. (2000). High potentials as high learners. Human Resource
Management, 39, 321-329.
Moxley, R.S. & Pulley, M.L. (2004). Hardships. In C.D. McCauley & E. Van Velsor (Eds.),
Handbook of leadership development (2nd ed., pp. 183 -203). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-
Bass.
Myers, D.G. (2002). Intuition: Its powers and perils. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Tesluk, P. E. & Jacobs, R. R. (1998). Toward an integrated model of work experience. Personnel
Psychology, 51, 321-355.
Terry, R.W. (1993). Authentic leadership: Courage in action. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
