Effective leaders use props

Questions to do with what makes an effective leader have garnered considerable research attention. Daniel Goleman, a major proponent of the EI movement, asserts that a leader is characterised by five key attributes: self awareness, self regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills. Goleman’s view of leadership has been well received and has indeed demonstrated substantial validity. However, the backbone or the foundations if you like of these leadership attributes appear to hinge solely on the ability to communicate effectively.

Current research is looking at the use of props by leaders for the purposes of enhancing communication effectiveness. There are several examples of how political leaders have successfully used props in the past to convey their leadership philosophy and one standout example is Dwight Eisenhower. Eisenhower pulled a piece of string out of his pocket and then demonstrated that if the string were pulled, the string would follow the trail of his fingers. But if the string were pushed, the string would go nowhere. Equating the nation to a piece of string, Eisenhower effectively conveyed that he wanted to lead the nation to prosperity and not push it from behind.

In this particular example Eisenhower used a piece of string as a prop to explain an issue of considerable complexity. The Americans who were witness to his speech remembered the piece of string long after the content of the speech was forgotten. Two researchers, Dunham and Freeman, have suggested that business leaders might want to learn the techniques of theatre directors in show business to enhance the verbal delivery of their visions by way of such props.

Nicola Blum

Nicola commenced her career in Search and Selection, as a Recruitment Consultant and Account Manager before moving into roles more closely aligned to the specialist areas of Learning and Development and Organisational Development. Her Industry experience spans the Telecommunications, Information Technology, Publishing and Financial Services sectors whilst her geographical experience spans Asia Pacific, Europe and North America.

Nicola’s experience covers a number of areas both strategically and operationally across talent management, performance management, leadership, coaching, mentoring programs and employee orientation.

Most recently, Nicola worked for a global Financial Services company in various roles including Talent Management consultancy and Learning & Development Management. Nicola consulted across a range of HR and Development issues and her responsibilities included managing an extensive curriculum, implementing a Learning Management System and managing large scale change projects.

Nicola holds a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) and Bachelor of Commerce and Administration from Victoria University of Wellington, NZ as well as a Masters of Arts (Personnel Development) from Westminster University, London.