Life Skills & Leadership: Unit 4, Session 2: Team Leadership | Page 30 of 91Trainer Material 1: Situations: What Would a Leader Do?
Read each situation and the possible action. Designate one group (or more) to decide upon a leadership action that is more direct.
Designate one other group (or more) to decide upon a leadership action that is less direct. Make sure all groups have an opportunity
to choose leadership actions from leadership perspectives that are both more direct and less direct.
Note: You may share the Group Situations in any order. There are many possible answers for both direct and less direct actions.
Most important is the reasoning behind participants’ answers. Besides individual preferences for direct or indirect leadership
responses, there are also cultural preferences. Find out what is preferred in your host culture.
Group Situations What might a leader
say to ...
More Direct Less DirectSuppose your team has
been asked to help address
a specific concern at your
school but the team is
having difficulty agreeing on
what its focus should be.
Share a vision, goal, or
idea about the issue“We are talking about a
lot of different issues
here. I think we should
get back to the original
purpose of our meeting,
which is ...”“I’m hearing a lot of
different issues and
ideas. What do all of you
think is the most
important issue for us to
focus on right now?”The group has been
working for more than an
hour to solve a problem and
people are getting tired.
Inspire and encourage
others“This is really important
work we’ve been doing
and we’re almost
finished. Let’s all give it a
bit more effort to end
with success.”“I’m really glad we’ve
been talking about this
problem because it is so
important for our success- and we’ve almost got it
figured out!”
The group is planning
a party.
Offer ideas “Let’s ask Louisa to bake
the cake and be in charge
of the food.”“What do you think
about asking Louisa to
bake the cake and be in
charge of the food?”Group members are
becoming angry as they
argue about the best
solution for a problem.
Make suggestions “Let’s take a break for 10
minutes so everyone can
relax and refocus.”“Should we take a break
for a few minutes or
should we stop the
meeting now and
continue the discussion
next time?”People are talking about
two sides of an issue but no
new information or ideas
have been brought up for a
while.
Help make decisions “I think we’ve heard all
about the issue from
both sides. Are you ready
to vote?”“We’ve shared a lot
about the issue. I suggest
each person have a
chance to say one more
thing if they wish, then
we should vote.”