3D. Leadership

• STARTING UP

A. Is making a career important to you?

B. Look at the following factors and say which of them are important for making a career, in your opinion?

to be ambitious, to have a career plan, to have interpersonal skills, to work for one company during your career, to work for different companies, to work for yourself, to be a good team player, to have career opportunities

C. Decide if these statements are true or false.

1. Good education is necessary for making a career.

2. The main thing nowadays is health not a career.

3. One can earn much money but be unhappy at the same time.

4. Happiness is a good job.

5. Life is a waste of time if you haven’t made a career.

6. Making a fortune is everything that matters.

• Vocabulary

A. Complete these sentences with the following verbs.

make, take, have, decide, offer

1. If you work in a large company you …....... wonderful career opportunities.

2. People sometimes …....... on a career plan when they are small children.

3. If you feel tired and need a rest you must ….......... a career break.

4. Does your company …........ good career opportunities?

5. A person can …......... a career move whenever he feels that it is possible.

B. Complete the sentences with the necessary form of these words.

be in charge, be responsible, deal, look, make sure

1. This is my Personal Assistant. He …........after my paper work.

2. This person …........... of the Marketing Department. If you have any questions address him.

3. Alexander Smith …......... with the problems of our staff.

4. John Fowl ….......... for the work with our clients.

5. You must …............ that your department works well.

100. Match the words in exercise b with prepositions.

1. to be responsible a) of

2. to be in charge b) with

3. to make sure c) for

4. to deal d) after

5. to look e) that

• SPEAKING

A. In groups think of the final step of the career ladder.

B. Discuss the following questions.

1. Do you consider being a leader as the final step of the career ladder or not?

2. Do you remember any famous leaders – directors of companies?

3. Is it difficult to be a leader? Does it depend on your traits of character?

4. What qualities must a person have to be a leader of the company?

5. Do these qualities depend on whether a person’s a man or a woman?

6. Do you know any bad leaders? What characterizes them?

7. Can you make a career without being a leader?

8. Would you like to be a leader?

100. In pairs decide on five qualities that make a good leader and a bad one.

• Vocabulary

A. Which of the following adjectives would you use to describe a good leader?

decisive energetic

charismatic quick-tempered

cautious even-tempered

open-minded kind

strong-willed lazy

weak-willed informal

aggressive intelligent

B. Match the adjectives with their definitions.

1. strong-willed	a) relaxed and friendly
2. even-tempered	b) good at thinking clearly and quickly, at understanding difficult ideas and subjects and at gaining and using knowledge
3. decisive	c) careful to avoid problems or danger
4. informal	d) determined to do something he wants
5. cautious	e) not often angry or upset
intelligent	f) able to make choices and decide what to do quickly and confidently

C. Complete the sentences with the adjectives from Exercise B.

1. The meeting was …........., that’s why everybody was wearing casual clothes.

2. Our ex-boss was so …....... that we didn’t have any problems at all.

3. Our company needs an …........... person who will be able to understand difficult situations and find solutions quickly.

4. You make you decisions so quickly, I understand that you are a …....... person but that even frightens me a bit.

5. Can you say that you are …..........? Do you always do what you want?

6. Our manager seldom becomes angry or upset so everyone calls him .......... .

• LISTENING

A. Listen to the part of an interview of Max Landsberg who is a partner at Heidrick and Struggles, the international executive search consultants. What three large qualities do leaders of large companies usually have? (3.4)

B. Do you think that these qualities characterize only leaders of large companies or are they common for all leaders no matter how large a company is.

• READING

A. What do you know about the Swatch watch and the leader of the company producing these watches?

Read the article and compare your facts with those given in the text.