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Discussion Question#9: How might leaders use social media to create a sense of community
among employees? What do you think are some advantages and disadvantages of a company
using social media to communicate with employees?
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Discussion Questions
1. Why do you think storytelling is such a powerful means of communicating for a leader? How
is active listening related to storytelling?
Students’ answers will vary. Storytelling is a powerful means of communicating for a leader.
For instance, Native American tribes often made the best storytellers their tribal leaders.
2. What does it mean to say that leaders use communication to act as “sensegivers”? How do
you think this differs from conventional management communication?
Leadership communication shapes how people think about their work and the organization.
Leaders are sensegivers. Sensegiving refers to the process of influencing how others
3. Board members at some companies are opening the lines of communication so shareholders
can voice their concerns about executive compensation and corporate governance. Do you
think this is a good idea? What might be some risks associated with this type of open
communication?
Students’ answers may vary. Open communication means sharing all types of information
throughout the organization, especially across functional and hierarchical boundaries. Open
communication runs counter to the traditional flow of selective information downward from
4. A manager in a communication class remarked, "Listening seems like minimal intrusion of
oneself into the conversation, yet it also seems like more work." Do you agree or disagree?
Discuss.
Students’ answers will vary. An open communication climate is not possible if leaders aren’t
listening. When leaders don't listen, its sends the signal, "you don't matter" to organization
members, thus decreasing their commitment and motivation. Listening is a requirement for
5. How does dialogue differ from discussion? Give an example of each from your experience.
A dialogue reveals feelings and builds common ground, with more emphasis on inquiry than
advocacy. A discussion explores opposition by individuals who advocate their positions and
convince others to adopt those positions. Discussion is resolved by logic or "beating down"
6. Some senior executives believe they should rely on written information and computer reports
because these yield more accurate data than face-to-face communications do. Do you
agree? Discuss.
Students’ answers may vary. However, channel selection depends on whether the message is
routine or nonroutine. Routine communications are simple and straightforward, such as a
product price change. Routine messages can be efficiently communicated through a channel
7. What communication channel would you choose to communicate an impending
companywide layoff? News about the company picnic? New corporate quality goals that will
require significant changes in how your subordinates perform their tasks? Explain your
choices.
News about layoffs should be communicated face-to-face. Face-to-face communication,
being the richest channel, should be used to communicate highly important, potentially
8. How do leaders use communication to influence and persuade others? Think of someone you
have known who is skilled in the art of persuasion. What makes this person an effective
communicator?
Students’ answers will vary. Leaders don’t communicate just to convey information. They
use communication skills to sell others on the vision and influence them to behave in ways
that achieve goals that help accomplish the vision. Leaders can follow four steps to practice
the art of persuasion:
9. How might leaders use social media to create a sense of community among employees?
What do you think are some advantages and disadvantages of a company using social media
to communicate with employees?
Students’ answers may vary. Social media refers to a variety of Internet-based applications,
including social networking, wikis, blogs, and so forth, that allow the creation and sharing of
user generated content. They have changed the way people carry on their social lives and are
also changing the way people interact in the office too. People are demanding closer
Teaching Tools and Exercises
1. Leader’s Bookshelf: Tell to Win: Connect, Persuade, and Triumph with the Hidden Power
of Story by Peter Gruber.
Everybody in a leadership role shares the same problem, Peter Guber says in Tell to Win:
“To succeed, you have to persuade others to support your vision, dream, or cause.”
Whatever the purpose of a leader communication—motivating employees, engaging
customers, or organizing investors—leaders have to “get your listeners’ attention,
emotionalize your goal as theirs, and move them to act…. You have to reach their hearts as
well as their minds.” What’s the best way to do that? With a story. For leaders, telling
purposeful stories is an everyday requirement.
Guber gives some guidelines for what makes a successful leader story:
• It Has a Goal. Purposeful stories have a call to action. Leaders tell stories to achieve
something. They are clear in their minds what they want followers to feel, think, and
2. Reinforcement: Active Listening Skills.
For one week, practice active listening behaviors during your phone conversations. Keep a
3. Read and Discuss: Arnold Beekes, “Listening: The Forgotten Business Skill,” Fast
4. Leadership at Work: Listen Like a Professional
The fastest way to become a great listener is to act like a professional listener, such as a
clinical psychologist who uses listening to heal another person. Therapists drop their own
point of view to concentrate on the patient’s point of view. The therapist listens totally,
drawing out more information rather than thinking about a response.
The next time you are in a conversation in which the other person talks about some problem
or concern, practice professional listening by doing the following:
• Hold a steady gaze on the person’s left eye (not the nose or face, but the left eye)—use a
In Class: The instructor can divide students into pairs—listener and speaker—in class to practice
this exercise. The “speaking” students can be asked to talk about some small problem or
annoyance they encountered in the previous day or two. The “listening” students can be given
instructions to not speak during the first trial and instead just maintain a soft gaze into the
speaker’s left eye and respond only with body language (facial expressions and nods). The
It works well to have the students choose a second pairing and redo the exercise with a new
problem. The only difference the second time is that the “listener” role is given fewer
restrictions, so the listener can make brief comments such as to paraphrase or ask a short
question. The listeners, however, should keep spoken comments to a minimum and definitely
should not offer their own ideas or point of view. After the students finish, the instructor can
Leadership Development: Cases For Analysis
I. The Superintendent's Directive
Synopsis
Educational administrators are bombarded by requests for innovation at all educational levels.
Programs to upgrade math, science, and social science education, state accountability plans, new
approaches to administration, and other ideas are initiated by teachers, administrators, interest
groups, reformers, and state regulators. In a school district, the superintendent is the key leader;
in an individual school, the principal is the key leader. In the Carville City School District,
After receiving this e-mail, several teachers at the elementary school responded with a flurry of
hastily written e-mail responses. One well-respected and talented teacher wrote the following e-
mail, accidentally sending it to Mr. Weigand instead of her colleagues:
“This is nonsense! I should be spending my time focused on the lesson plan for the new advanced
English class the board of education approved. Porter is clueless and has no idea the demands
Case questions and answers
1. Evaluate the e-mail communications of Mr. Porter and Mr. Weigand. To what extent are
they communicating effectively about the new performance objectives? Explain. If you
were a teacher, how would you have felt after receiving the e-mail? Why?
Students’ answers will vary. Leadership means communicating with others in such a way
that they are influenced and motivated to perform actions that further common goals and
lead toward desired outcomes. Communication is a process by which information and
2. If you were Mr. Weigand, how would you respond to the angry teacher? Be specific about
how you would communicate with her and what you would say. How could he have
communicated differently about the performance objectives to influence the teachers more
positively?
Students’ answers will vary. Effective communication involves both the transference and the
mutual understanding of information. Mr. Weigand should have built a shared vision about
the performance objectives. Use of rich communication method such as face-to-face
communication would have been more appropriate in this situation. Employees don’t just
3. Identify the mistakes that the teacher made when composing and sending her e-mail
message.
Students’ answers will vary. Following are some of the mistakes that the teacher made while
composing and sending the e-mail:
• Use e-mail to discuss something with a colleague who sits across the aisle or down the
hall from you. Take the old-fashioned approach of speaking to each other.
• Say anything negative about a boss, friend, or colleague via e-mail. And don’t forward
the negative comments of others.
II. Hunter Worth
Synopsis
Christmas was fast approaching. Just a short while ago, Chuck Moore, national sales manager for
Hunter-Worth, a New York–based multinational toy manufacturer, was confident the coming
holiday was going to be one of the company’s best in years. At a recent toy expo, Hunter-Worth
unveiled a new interactive plush toy that was cuddly, high-tech, and tied into a major holiday
motion picture expected to be a smash hit. Chuck had thought the toy would do well, but frankly,
the level of interest took him by surprise. The buyers at the toy fair raved, and the subsequent
The reply appeared within the hour, but to his utter astonishment, it was a short message from
Vicente’s secretary. She acknowledged the receipt of his e-mail and assured him the Mexican
plant would be shipping the order, already a week late, in the next 10 days.
“That’s it,” Chuck fumed. “Time to take this to Sato.” In the message to his boss, he prefaced his
original e-mail and the secretary’s reply with a terse note expressing his growing concern over
Case questions and answers
1. Based on Vicente Ruiz’s actions and his conversation with Chuck Moore, what differences
do you detect in cultural attitudes toward communications in Mexico as compared with the
United States? Is understanding these differences important? Explain.
Students’ answers will vary. Understanding cultural differences is extremely critical in order
to bridge the gap between leaders and followers based at different locations. It is obvious
there are difference in cultural attitude toward communication channels between Mexico and
2. What was the main purpose of Chuck’s communication to Vicente? To Michael Sato? What
factors should he have considered when choosing a channel for his communication to
Vicente? Are they the same factors he should have considered when communicating with
Michael Sato?
Students’ answers will vary. Studies have found that channels differ in their capacity to
convey information. Channel richness is the amount of information that can be transmitted
during a communication episode. The channels available to leaders can be classified into a
hierarchy based on information richness. Considering the fact that the main purpose of
Chuck’s communication to Vicente was about an important issue which needed immediate
3. If you were Chuck, what would you have done differently? What steps would you take at this
point to make sure the supply of the popular new toy is sufficient to meet the anticipated
demand?
Students’ answers will vary. Leaders don’t communicate just to convey information. They
use communication skills to sell others on the vision and influence them to behave in ways
that achieve goals and help accomplish the vision. The ability to persuade others is more
Communication is a key part of a leader’s job, but at no time is it more crucial than during
times of rapid change, uncertainty, or crisis.
To be prepared for communicating in a crisis, leaders can develop the following four skills:
• Stay calm.
Digital Homework Grid
Case Assessment Questions
Topic
Category
Charlotte, a human resources
manager, is trying to find
reasons for the high attrition
rate in the organization. To do
this, she holds a meeting so
that the team members can
engage in dialogue. This
meeting is a success because
the team, as a whole, comes
up with innovative solutions to
hire and retain employees in
the organization. Which of the
following was most likely
done by Charlotte to have an
effective dialogue with the
Leadership Challenge #3
Perform
team?
a. She talked more than
listened.
James is the project manager
at Jade Fashion House. He is
in charge of the development
of a new management
information system. With
two weeks left for product
delivery, the project server
crashes which results in the
team losing most of its work.
However, James stays calm
and calls for a team meeting
where he emphasizes the
importance of delivering the
product on time, in spite of
the crisis. In this meeting, he
is very forthright about the
situation. He outlines each
team member’s work and the
expected output for the next
two weeks. At the end of the
meeting, it is decided that
every person will put in extra
hours of work. Nobody
questions James as they feel
his decision cannot be
altered. As a project
manager, which of the
following did James fail to
do?
a. He failed to persuade and
influence his team.
b. He failed to create an open
communication climate.
Leadership Challenge #2
Perform
Karl, a team leader, wants to
improve the team’s
productivity. For the last three
months, he has been asking
team members to take turns to
present a report on the team’s
progress. However, he notices
that Karen, a team member,
always avoids presenting her
report. When questioned, she
reveals that speaking in front
of others makes her anxious.
Karen is most likely suffering
from _____.
a. latency
Leadership Challenge #6
Perform
Homework Questions
Topic
Category
Feedback:
a. is the medium by which the
message is sent.
b. always leads to
communication apprehension.
c. is initiated by the sender of
the message.
d. completes the
communication cycle.
Leadership Challenge #1
Connect
Sensegiving refers to the:
a. honest, forthright
expression of a leader’s
thinking.
b. belief that communication
is essential to building trust
and gaining commitment to a
vision.
Leadership Challenge #2
Connect
Which of the following is true
of open communication?
a. Open communication
follows the traditional flow of
selective information
downward from supervisors to
subordinates.
Leadership Challenge #1
Connect
You are aware of the
characteristics of an effective
listener. Listed below are a
couple of scenarios
pertaining to effective
listening. Drag and drop the
options below into the
illustrated box categorizing
them into good listener and
poor listener.
Leadership Challenge #2
Connect
distracted and minimally
involved/ James spouts
solutions before understanding
the problem or question/
Bethany listens to central
themes rather than facts.
SCENARIO
S
CONCEPTS
Dialogue:
a. requires defensive listening.
b. is particularly useful for
conversations about hot topics.
c. is often resolved by “beating
down” opposing viewpoints.
d. results in short-term
solutions.
Leadership Challenge #3
Connect
Mentioned below are the
characteristics of a discussion
and a dialogue. Drag and drop
the answer options into their
corresponding columns
illustrated in the table below.
Answer Options: Its intent is
to present one’s own point of
view and persuade others in
the group to adopt it/ It is
often resolved by logic or by
Leadership Challenge #3
Connect
Discussion
Dialogue
You are doing a project on
how to effectively use
electronic communication
channels. You believe that
you understand the use and
applications of electronic
mail. Mentioned below are
the dos and don’ts of
electronic mail. Drag and
drop the answer options into
their corresponding columns
illustrated in the table below.
Leadership Challenge #5
