Chapter 18
Leadership, Coaching and Mentoring Skills
Study Guide
Chapter overview
Leadership skills are in short supply in organisations. This chapter aims to equip you with a
basic toolkit of leadership styles. It also explores the distinction between management and
leadership.
What is covered in this chapter?
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understanding and using management
the characteristics of management work
practical management skills
understanding the nature of leadership
trait leadership skills
behavioural leadership skills
contextual leadership skills
transformational leadership skills
development skills
coaching – how to get it and give it
mentoring at work
management development skills
Additional chapter activities
Activity 1 – Management or leadership
This is a reflective activity built on the distinctions made between management and
leadership.
Think of a manager you have known in the past and compare what they did with the six
characteristics and ten roles set out from page 452. In the first instance identify roles and
characteristics that you recognise in their managerial work.
What parts of their work are not represented in this listing?
What percentage of their work is represented by these tasks?
Describe and characterise the parts of their role that have not been covered thus far.
Reflect on what you have found.
Learning diary reflections
This chapter looks at the skills of leadership and management. Reflection and development is
a vital part of leadership. Learning diaries are a good place to express your thoughts and
reflections. In this chapter you might want to think and reflect on:
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Do I really understand the difference between management and leadership?
What do I think are the characteristics of management work in the twenty-first
century?
Can managers learn management as they go along?
Is there any point in teaching leadership?
How good a leader will I be?
Do I want to be a leader?
Do leaders need to be managers?
Do managers need to be leaders?
What are the characteristics of good leaders I have known?
Can I learn to be a good leader by observing good leaders?
Can I change my leadership style?
Am I stuck with one leadership style?
What is my style of leadership?
Do team members always hate the leader of a team?
Do I really understand the different leadership styles?
What is the difference between the leadership styles?
What do I thinking about coaching?
Do all employees need a mentor?
Test your learning
Multiple choice questions
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(b)
(c)
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Which of the following is leadership rather than management?
setting vision and direction
managing staff workloads
setting up control systems
developing systems
Which of the following is NOT a recognised trait of good leaders?
task competence
ego-based behaviours
valuing diversity
intelligence
Blake and Moulton’s managerial grid is based on which two dimensions of leadership?
people/money
people/leadership
people/process
people/production
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In the country club management style portrayed by Blake and Moulton’s managerial grid,
concern for people is…
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(b)
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irrelevant
low
high
middle
Contextual leaderships aligns leadership with…
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(b)
(c)
(d)
leadership power
team relations
task structure
all of these
Please refer to the ‘Study Guide: Answers’ document, also on the student support site, for
answers to all of the quizzes in the study guides.
Reflective question
How important is training and development in modern businesses?
There is always pressure to spend money effectively and training and development can look
like a waste of money – how would you respond?
Has anyone or any company ever created a case for training and development as an economic
imperative of business?
If not, why not?
Chapter summary
As a business manager, leadership and management skills will determine how effective you
are at work. In time you will develop your own personal style, but this chapter should help
you with the basics.
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According to Mintzberg, management involves the following roles:
figurehead
leader
networker
monitor
disseminator
spokesman
entrepreneur
disturbance-handler
resource-allocator
negotiator.
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Management in practice carries out a range of functions similar to these:
organising
analysing
evaluating
planning
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financial monitoring
negotiating
paperwork.
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Leadership can be approached from different theoretical positions:
trait leadership
behavioural leadership
contextual leadership
transformational leadership
authoritarian leadership
charismatic leadership.
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Development activities in organisations can take many forms, including:
mentoring
coaching
executive coaching
informal learning
formal learning.
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Chapter web links
The Association of Coaching: http://www.associationforcoaching.com/home/index.htm
CIPD site for management development:
http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/lrnanddev/mmtdevelop
Edward de Bono and Robert Heller’s Thinking Managers site:
http://www.thinkingmanagers.com/business-management/leadership.php