Corporate Leadership Training Exercises
It is, of course, very difficult to perform exercises that will help you to develop the balance of leadership skills discussed in the above article. However, there is a huge number of group exercises that can be performed which help to build confidence in ones’ ability to direct groups and solve problems. Usually these are done with groups who work together and performing these exercises not only helps to develop each individuals’ leadership ability but also helps to forge stronger team bonds by breaking down normal working relationships and creating a sense of shared achievement. Feel free to try any within your workplace:
Exercise 1 – Call My Bluff
Objective
To get employees to see each other as real people rather than just colleagues; as really knowing about people helps to build trust, without which both teams and leaders are useless.
Instructions
Participants split into pairs and interview each other with the aim of discovering three unusual facts about their partner. However, the interviewee must lie about one of these “facts” and it is the job of the interviewer to determine which fact is the lie.
Subsequently the interviewer will introduce his partner to the rest of the group and at that point he must state which “fact” is the lie. If he has been inquisitive enough it should be fairly easy to discern but should nonetheless provide a fair bit of amusement for the group. After the exercise the participants should be debriefed, with a view to discussing new things they’ve learned about their colleagues.
Exercise 2 – How Many Ways Can You Skin a Cat?
Objective
To show that there is any number of leadership styles and to encourage debate about their various pros and cons.
Instructions
This is a role play where a number of participants (the managers) must discuss with the other participants (the employees) why they have failed to meet a project deadline. The managers should be given (by the instructor) a well defined management style with which to approach the situation (the best friend, the military commander, the softy, etc).
Each role play should be done in front of the whole group and last only a few minutes. After all have been done the instructor should ask which styles the participants thought worked and allow them to discuss their various pros and cons.
Exercise 3 – Folding Folly
Objective
To show that without good communication you won’t get the results you want.
Instructions
Give each participant a sheet of A4 paper and take one for yourself. Explain that they are to diligently follow your every move but they must keep their eyes closed at all times.
Step 1
Ask the participants to hold the paper in front of them, then fold it in half and tear off the bottom right-hand corner.
Step 2
Ask the participants to rotate their sheet of paper to your left and again tear off the bottom right-hand corner.
Step 3
Ask the participants to fold the paper in half again, then to tear off the top left corner.
Step 4
Finally ask the participants to open their eyes and show you their sheets of paper. When (as will inevitably be the case) most people have sheets that look nothing like yours ask them how they managed to get it wrong! After discussing where they thought the communication was lacking, one of the participants should take your place and try to give more productive instructions. Hopefully with better thought out instructions the new instructor will get more positive results but if not allow them to experiment with more and more concise instructions to make clear exactly precise you sometimes have to be.
