"To address these issues, we aim to promote leadership training among managers, enabling them to gain a deeper understanding of how to motivate and support their team members", says Karolin Hansén Nord, Assistant Head of Department and responsible for health, safety and environment issues."
What role does the manager play for the work environment?
– The manager's role as a leader plays a pivotal part in shaping the work environment. Leaders who predominantly exhibit passive or overly controlling leadership behaviors can foster toxic work atmospheres. While there are instances where a degree of control and active guidance is essential, particularly within newly formed teams or when welcoming new members into an existing group, the most productive and innovative work environment emerges when the leader can inspire employees to collectively pursue a shared vision.
Why is it important to develop one's management and leadership skills?
– A manager bears numerous responsibilities, encompassing employer obligations, operational tasks, and leadership. The first two have been comprehensively addressed in the management course known as Duco, which the majority of faculty managers have completed. To cultivate and refine your leadership abilities, you require a different form of training (see links at the left).
What is required to become a become a good leader?
– Leadership is a role open to all, but to become an effective leader, two specific personality traits stand out as crucial: neuroticism and agreeableness. In other words, individuals who exhibit resilience, confidence, friendliness, and compassion tend to have a higher potential for becoming successful leaders. What's heartening to note is that many other personality traits are less significant in this context. Exceptional leaders can display a broad spectrum of characteristics within the personality traits of conscientiousness, openness, and extraversion.
It's also inspiring to discover that leadership is a skill that can be developed through self-awareness and enhanced knowledge in this field. There are various methods to achieve this, one of which is participating in the leadership training programs available to university managers.