As you progress through the course, you will be exposed to industry-specific terms. These terms will become everyday language, so it is important to learn and understand what they are and their meaning. In addition to the glossary, there are various resources you can touch on for inspiration or simply where you may want to know more.
Let’s take a look at the glossary and some (of many) videos related to leaders and managers.
The following table identifies and defines common and typical industry terms you will hear in leadership and management. It is important you familiarise yourself with them to support your learning and expand on the common vocabulary you will hear and use in the industry.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Authority | The capacity to give commands which are accepted as legitimate by others. |
| Benchmarking | A systematic process of comparing the activities and work processes of an organisation or department with those of outstanding organisations or departments in order to identify ways to improve performance. |
| Brainstorming | Brainstorming is a particular way of collectively compiling the ideas of others. The approach is used to come up with a solution together rather than individually. |
| Command and control approach | A style of leadership that uses standards, procedures, and output statistics to regulate the organisation. A command and control approach to leadership is authoritative in nature and uses a top-down approach. |
| Corporate culture | Corporate culture can be defined as an organisation’s unique body of knowledge that is nurtured over a long period of time, resulting in commonly held assumptions, values, norms, paradigms and world views. |
| Decision tree | An aid to decision-making in uncertain conditions, that sets out alternative courses of action and the financial consequences of each alternative, and assigns subjective probabilities to the likelihood of future events occurring. |
| Empowerment | Empowerment is based on the idea that providing employees with the resources, authority, opportunity, and motivation to do their work, as well as holding them accountable for their actions, will make employees happier and more proficient. |
| Gap analysis | The comparison between an organisation's objective and its expected performance from its current and planned operations. Gap analysis helps to identify means by which the gap might be filled. |
| Integrity | The quality of a person with strong morals and principles. |
| Key performance indicators (KPI) | A key performance indicator (KPI) is a way for an organisation to measure its success or otherwise in reaching its defined goals or objectives. |
| Mentoring | A form of employee development whereby a trusted and respected person, the mentor, uses his or her experience to offer guidance, encouragement, career advice, and support to another person, the mentee. |
| Mindfulness | The state of being calmly, intentionally and actively aware of what one is feeling, thinking and doing; hence the state of being attentive to the moment without becoming entangled in it. |
| Motivation | In psychology, the intention of achieving a goal, leading to goal-directed behaviour. Some human activity seems to be best explained by postulating an inner directing drive. |
| Project management | Technique for matching available resources (time, money, and people) against business project aims (early completion date, final cost, and so on). |
| Stakeholders | Stakeholders refer to the relevant people involved within a business or organisation. Stakeholders can be internal, for example, CEOs, managers, employees and external, buyers, investors, customers etc. |
| Strategic planning | A top-down approach to business planning, with an emphasis on long-term business wide issues. |
| Teamwork | Collaboration by a group of people to achieve a common purpose. Teamwork is often a feature of day-to-day working, and is increasingly used to accomplish specific projects, in which case it may bring together people from different functions, departments, or disciplines. |
| SWOT analysis | A framework for identifying the internal strengths (S) and weaknesses (W) of a firm, and the external opportunities (O) open to it and the threats (T) it faces. |
| Values | Values refer to moral principles or other judgments of worth. The term is used by sociologists in a number of different ways. |
Adapted from Credo Reference, 2020
Take the time to watch the following videos on what makes effective leaders and manager, starting with a video that underpins the difference between leaders and managers.
Simon Sinek: Leader versus manager
Be a Leader | Motivational Talks With Steve Harvey
In the following video ‘Uncle’ Steve Harvey delivers a raw, motivational speech on leadership and the responsibilities that come with it.
How to start changing an unhealthy work environment | Glenn D. Rolfsen | TEDxOslo
The following TED talk outlines what factors contribute to a negative workplace culture and the strategies that can be implemented to manage the workplace when it shows signs of or becomes toxic. Remember, a toxic work environment impacts the well-being of its employees and by extension this can have an impact on their overall performance.
3 ways to create a work culture that brings out the best in employees | Chris White | TEDxAtlanta
The following video sees Chris White deliver a TED Talk how a leader can build a positive work culture and ensure the organisations are high-performing and bring the best out of the employees.
