Leadership Games

TRUE OR FALSE?

Many people believe that leaders are born and not made because they think that talent cannot be learned. Unlike the inherent musical aptitude of Mozart, for example, who was playing minuets at the age of five, leadership can be learned because skill alone does not make a leader, behavior does. People follow leaders because they trust and respect them, not simply because of their expertise.

Leadership Characteristics

Leaders do not demand brilliance, they help craft brilliance; they guide, not rule. In order to bring the best out of her team, a leader should demonstrate the very characteristics she wants in her team. In other words, lead by example.

So what characteristics makes an effective and respected leader? She should be:


honest


A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way. - John C. Maxwell


competent
innovative
decisive
inspiring


The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers. - Ralph Nader


Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it's amazing what they can accomplish. - Sam Walton


passionate
positive
empowering


Leadership should be more participative than directive, more enabling than performing. - Mary D. Poole


fair
open-minded
courageous


The only safe ship in a storm is leadership. - Faye Wattleton


imaginative
humble (she may know it all, but she's not a know-it-all)
verbally persuasive

Developing Leadership Skills

If you don't yet possess all these qualities, rest assured that as you earn the trust and respect from those in your team, you will feel more confident, courageous, decisive, etc. This symbiotic relationship allows those you are leading to feel part of a team, rather than mere worker bees who must be seen and not heard.

In 2008 the British government proposed an initiative where young people would swear an oath of allegiance to 'Queen and Country' to increase national loyalty. The initiative was dropped because you can't force people into loyalty; you must earn it. This proposal said more about the weak leadership of the country rather than the lack of loyalty from its citizens. Good leadership is often more about serving than leading.

A leader makes things happen by:

Having a goal and a plan, as motivational speaker Harvey Mackay once said: A dream is just a dream, but a goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline.


Putting together a good team

Inspiring and encouraging each team member to give their absolute best
As a leader you must possess a good measure of self-awareness so that you are aware of your strengths and weaknesses, and can therefore build a symbiotic team that is mutually beneficial.

Importance of Fun Learning

As we all know from experience, the things we tend to remember are the things that interest us. People learn better through experiential learning and games. The best way to build leadership skills is to make it both fun and instructive, and the best way to do that is by playing leadership games. From simple ones where the task is less important than the experience, to more specific ones where the task is the experience, the most important thing is to make sure the challenge is enjoyable.


An example of a simple leadership game is The Survival Game, which is common in leadership training seminars.
More complex games might include Clinton Swaine's Play To Win, a three-day seminar that teaches people to solve real-world problems with real-world tools within a game format.
Jack Canfield, another popular motivational speaker and author, describes his Come As You Will Be game, in which you throw a party where all the guests dress, talk and act as the person they want to be in five years' time.

So if you see yourself as a leader or would like to develop your Leadership Skills, start by learning leadership behavior through self-awareness, observing successful leaders, and participating in Leadership Games to develop your skills.

You may wish to expand your experience of life, and may not know how to do it, but when you play a game, the solutions come naturally.