Tammera K. Rogers and Chris Beall from ICB partners presented the third TiE Institute Seminar at Babson college on May 18th. “Leading smart and creative people” was the topic of the seminar.

“Unlike technical skills, soft skills are difficult to measure and assess”, said Chris. Effective communication, problem solving, ability to learn and getting along with others describe some of the soft skills that matter in any kind of job. Chris emphasized that startups need to pay more attention towards soft skills since it is easy to control them in early stages of company. One of the major roles of the leader is to facilitate these soft skills among the employees of the company.

What are the characteristics of Effective Leaders? Honest, forward-looking, inspiring and competent were ranked high, while ambitious, loyal, self-controlled and independent were at the bottom in a survey presented to attendees. Groups were asked to rank the characteristics they desire in their leaders. Each group came with a different list. Tamara pointed that while picking a leader, people tend to give priority to what a leader can achieve than just to characteristics they desire in leader. Goals to be accomplished and the situation play an import role in deciding the right kind of leadership.

Situational Leadership is effective in a growing enterprise, an enterprise in which the followers are different readiness ( willingness, confidence and ability to do a task.) or development levels for the tasks they perform. The first stage or directing stage is where people need to be told what to do. The next stage in the ladder is coaching followed by supporting and finally delegating. The leader needs to pick appropriate role based on the stage of development of the company.

The presenters encouraged active participation of the attendees during the seminar. They guided group and one-to-one discussions to share and develop views on various aspects of leadership. They used the collective wisdom of the attendees to explore leadership styles. In a short span of 3 hours, Tammera and Chris provided insight and training on leadership styles that work in diverse situations.

TiE Institute is a part of TiE Boston and has successful with all the tree seminars organized this year. All of seminars were sold out and well received by the audience. More information about TiE Institute and their activities can be found at http://www.tie-boston.org/mentoring/tieinstitute.html

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