Page 144 - leadership-experience-2008

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CHAPTER 4: THE LEADER AS AN INDIVIDUAL 125
Discussion Questions

1. Extraversion is often considered a “good” quality for a leader to have. Why might
introversion be considered an equally positive quality?
2. What might be some reasons the dimension of “openness to experience” correlates
so strongly with historians’ ratings of the greatest U.S. presidents but has been less
strongly associated with business leader success? Do you think this personality
dimension might be more important for business leaders of today than it was in the
past? Discuss.
3. Leaders in many of today’s organizations use the results of personality testing to
make hiring and promotion decisions. Discuss some of the pros and cons of this
approach.
4. From Leader’s Self-Insight 4.3, identify four or five values (instrumental or end
values) that could be a source of conflict between leaders and followers. Explain.
5. How do a person’s attitudes and assumptions about human nature in general affect
his or her leadership approach? How might a leader’s attitudes about him or herself
alter or reinforce this approach?
6. Do you believe understanding your preferences according to the whole brain model
can help you be a better leader? Discuss.
7. How can a leader use an understanding of brain dominance to improve the function-
ing of the organization?
8. Why do you think thinking and judging are the two characteristics from the Myers-
Briggs Type Indicator that seem to be most strongly associated with effective
leadership?
9. Do you believe a leader’s success in a particular leadership role would be influenced
more by personality characteristics or by the leader’s thinking and decision-making
style? Discuss. What type of leadership role would you feel most comfortable in?
Discuss your reasons.

Leadership at Work

Past and Future
Draw a life line below that marks high and low experiences during your life. Think of key
decisions, defining moments, peak experiences, and major disappointments that shaped
who you are today. Draw the line from left to right, and identify each high and low point
with a word or two.

Birth Year: Today’s Date:

What made these valued experiences? How did they shape who you are today?

Now take the long view of your life. In 10-year increments, write below the leader
experiences you want to have. Provide a brief past-tense description of each decade
(e.g., next 10 years—big starting salary, bored in first job, promoted to middle
management)