Title: Leadership Essentials — LearnCoachAssist

Q: What is leadership?
A: The process of influencing others toward shared goals.

Q: What is the difference between leadership and management?
A: Management directs work; leadership inspires direction.

Q: What is servant leadership?
A: Prioritizing the needs of those you lead.

Q: What is transformational leadership?
A: Inspiring change through vision and personal influence.

Q: What is transactional leadership?
A: Leading through clear rewards and consequences.

Q: What is situational leadership (Hersey-Blanchard)?
A: Adapting style to follower readiness.

Q: What is laissez-faire leadership?
A: Hands-off; delegating extensively.

Q: What is authentic leadership?
A: Leading congruent with one's values and self.

Q: What is charismatic leadership?
A: Influence through personal charm and conviction.

Q: What is autocratic leadership?
A: Decisions made unilaterally by the leader.

Q: What is democratic leadership?
A: Decisions involve team input.

Q: What is the difference between a leader and a boss?
A: Leaders inspire and empower; bosses direct via authority.

Q: What is emotional intelligence (EQ)?
A: The ability to recognize and manage one's own and others' emotions.

Q: What are the four EQ domains (Goleman)?
A: Self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship management.

Q: What is self-awareness?
A: Understanding one's own emotions, strengths, and limitations.

Q: What is self-regulation?
A: Managing emotions and impulses constructively.

Q: What is empathy?
A: Understanding and sharing the feelings of others.

Q: What is cognitive vs emotional empathy?
A: Cognitive: understanding feelings; emotional: feeling them too.

Q: What is compassionate empathy?
A: Understanding others and being moved to help.

Q: What is active listening?
A: Fully focusing on the speaker, understanding, responding thoughtfully.

Q: What are signs of poor listening?
A: Interrupting, planning your reply, multitasking.

Q: What is the importance of asking questions?
A: Surfaces information, demonstrates respect, builds trust.

Q: What are open-ended questions?
A: Questions inviting expansive responses.

Q: What is a leadership pipeline?
A: A structure for developing leaders at each organizational level.

Q: What is the Peter Principle?
A: People rise to their level of incompetence in hierarchies.

Q: What is the difference between competence and confidence?
A: Competence is capability; confidence is belief in it.

Q: What is the Dunning-Kruger effect?
A: Low-ability people overestimate their ability.

Q: What is impostor syndrome?
A: Persistent doubt about one's competence despite achievement.

Q: What is psychological safety?
A: A climate where team members can take risks without fear.

Q: Who coined "psychological safety"?
A: Amy Edmondson at Harvard Business School.

Q: Why is psychological safety important?
A: It enables learning, innovation, and high performance.

Q: What are signs of psychological safety?
A: Open debate, admitting mistakes, asking for help, dissent without retaliation.

Q: What is the difference between accountability and blame?
A: Accountability is owning outcomes; blame is assigning fault.

Q: What is the high-performance team formula?
A: Trust + accountability + commitment + clarity of goals.

Q: What is Tuckman's stages of group development?
A: Forming, storming, norming, performing (added: adjourning).

Q: What is forming stage?
A: Team members orient and seek direction.

Q: What is storming stage?
A: Conflict and competition emerge.

Q: What is norming stage?
A: Cohesion develops and norms form.

Q: What is performing stage?
A: Team works effectively toward goals.

Q: What is the storming-norming transition?
A: When teams resolve conflict and establish productive routines.

Q: What is the Lencioni 5 dysfunctions of a team?
A: Absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, inattention to results.

Q: What is vision?
A: A compelling picture of the desired future state.

Q: What is mission?
A: The fundamental purpose of an organization.

Q: What is the difference between vision and mission?
A: Vision is where; mission is why.

Q: What are values (org)?
A: Core principles guiding behavior.

Q: What is strategy?
A: A coherent set of choices about how to achieve goals.

Q: What is the difference between strategy and tactics?
A: Strategy is what/why; tactics are how.

Q: What is OKR?
A: Objectives and Key Results — goal-setting framework.

Q: What is the difference between OKR and KPI?
A: OKRs are aspirational outcomes; KPIs are ongoing metrics.

Q: What is SMART goal?
A: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound.

Q: What is BHAG?
A: Big Hairy Audacious Goal — long-term ambitious target.

Q: What is alignment?
A: Ensuring people understand and pursue shared goals.

Q: What is a north star metric?
A: A single key metric reflecting product/customer value.

Q: What is the difference between leading and lagging indicators?
A: Leading predict; lagging report results.

Q: What is delegation?
A: Assigning responsibility while retaining accountability.

Q: What are levels of delegation?
A: From observe-only to full autonomy.

Q: What is the Eisenhower matrix?
A: A 2×2 sorting tasks by urgency and importance.

Q: What is the 80/20 rule (Pareto)?
A: ~80% of results from ~20% of efforts.

Q: What is parkinson's law?
A: Work expands to fill the time available.

Q: What is hofstadter's law?
A: Tasks always take longer than expected.

Q: What is the planning fallacy?
A: Underestimating time required for tasks.

Q: What is decision fatigue?
A: Reduced quality of decisions after many in a short time.

Q: What is RACI?
A: Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed — clarifying roles.

Q: What is a stakeholder?
A: A person or group affected by or interested in a decision.

Q: What is stakeholder mapping?
A: Identifying and analyzing stakeholders.

Q: What is influence without authority?
A: Achieving outcomes through persuasion when you don't manage people.

Q: What is the difference between power and authority?
A: Authority is granted by role; power is ability to influence.

Q: What are sources of power (French & Raven)?
A: Legitimate, reward, coercive, referent, expert, informational.

Q: What is referent power?
A: Influence based on others wanting to identify with you.

Q: What is expert power?
A: Influence based on perceived expertise.

Q: What is psychological safety + accountability?
A: Edmondson's "learning zone" — high on both.

Q: What is the difference between motivation and engagement?
A: Motivation is internal drive; engagement is sustained connection to work.

Q: What is intrinsic motivation?
A: Doing something for its inherent satisfaction.

Q: What is extrinsic motivation?
A: Doing something for external rewards.

Q: What is Daniel Pink's "Drive" model?
A: Autonomy, mastery, purpose drive intrinsic motivation.

Q: What is autonomy?
A: Self-direction in work.

Q: What is mastery?
A: Progress in valued skills.

Q: What is purpose?
A: Connection to meaningful goals.

Q: What is the difference between performance and potential?
A: Performance is current results; potential is future capacity.

Q: What is the 9-box grid?
A: Performance × potential matrix for talent assessment.

Q: What is a high potential (HiPo)?
A: An employee with capacity to grow into broader roles.

Q: What is succession planning?
A: Identifying and developing future leaders.

Q: What is feedback?
A: Information about performance or behavior intended to improve it.

Q: What is the difference between feedback and criticism?
A: Feedback is constructive and behavior-focused; criticism is often personal.

Q: What is the SBI model?
A: Situation, Behavior, Impact — feedback framework.

Q: What is radical candor (Scott)?
A: Caring personally AND challenging directly.

Q: What is ruinous empathy?
A: Caring too much to give honest feedback.

Q: What is obnoxious aggression?
A: Challenging without caring.

Q: What is manipulative insincerity?
A: Neither caring nor challenging.

Q: What is the difference between fixed and growth mindset?
A: Fixed: abilities are static; growth: abilities can develop (Dweck).

Q: What is psychological flexibility?
A: Acting on values despite difficult thoughts/feelings.

Q: What is the importance of curiosity?
A: Drives learning, innovation, and connection.

Q: What is intellectual humility?
A: Awareness of the limits of one's knowledge.

Q: What is courage in leadership?
A: Doing what's right despite risk or fear.

Q: What is conviction?
A: Strong, well-considered belief.

Q: What is the difference between conviction and stubbornness?
A: Conviction updates with evidence; stubbornness resists it.

Q: What is leading change?
A: Guiding people through transitions.

Q: What is Kotter's 8-step change model?
A: Urgency, coalition, vision, communicate, empower, wins, sustain, anchor.

Q: What is the ADKAR model?
A: Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, Reinforcement.

Q: What is resistance to change?
A: Natural human response; address with empathy and clarity.

Q: What is change fatigue?
A: Reduced energy from too many changes.

Q: What is psychological contract?
A: Implicit expectations between employer and employee.

Q: What is the difference between role and job?
A: Job is tasks; role is broader expectations.

Q: What is a 1:1 meeting?
A: A regular one-on-one between manager and direct report.

Q: What is the purpose of 1:1s?
A: Build relationship, surface issues, develop the person, align priorities.

Q: What is the role of cadence?
A: Regular rhythms create predictability and momentum.

Q: What is a stand-up?
A: A brief daily team meeting on progress and blockers.

Q: What is a retrospective?
A: A review of what went well, what didn't, what to change.

Q: What is "blameless post-mortem"?
A: Analyzing failures without assigning personal blame.

Q: What is the difference between a manager and a coach?
A: Managers direct; coaches develop self-direction.

Q: What is coaching in leadership?
A: Asking questions to develop others rather than telling.

Q: What is mentoring?
A: Sharing experience to guide another's development.

Q: What is sponsorship?
A: Advocating for someone's career advancement.

Q: What is the difference between mentor and sponsor?
A: Mentors advise; sponsors actively promote.

Q: What is networking?
A: Building mutually beneficial relationships.

Q: What is the difference between weak and strong ties?
A: Strong ties are close; weak ties bring novel information (Granovetter).

Q: What is psychological capital?
A: Hope, efficacy, resilience, optimism — positive resources.

Q: What is grit (Duckworth)?
A: Passion and perseverance for long-term goals.

Q: What is deliberate practice?
A: Focused practice on weaknesses with feedback.

Q: What is the 10,000 hour rule?
A: A popularized (oversimplified) claim about expertise.

Q: What is the role of rest?
A: Recovery enables sustained performance.

Q: What is burnout?
A: Exhaustion from chronic workplace stress.

Q: What is the WHO definition of burnout?
A: An occupational phenomenon, not a medical condition.

Q: What are signs of burnout?
A: Exhaustion, cynicism, reduced effectiveness.

Q: What are causes of burnout?
A: Workload, lack of control, insufficient reward, unfairness, values misalignment.

Q: What is psychological detachment?
A: Mentally disengaging from work during off-hours.

Q: What is recovery experience?
A: Detachment, relaxation, mastery, control during off-time.

Q: What is the role of sleep in leadership?
A: Insufficient sleep impairs judgment and emotional control.

Q: What is the importance of self-care?
A: Sustainable leadership requires energy.

Q: What is the leader as model?
A: Behavior shapes culture more than words.

Q: What is the say-do gap?
A: Difference between stated values and lived behavior.

Q: What is integrity?
A: Consistency between values and actions.

Q: What is trust?
A: Belief in another's reliability, competence, and character.

Q: What is the trust equation (Maister)?
A: Trust = (Credibility + Reliability + Intimacy) / Self-orientation.

Q: What is credibility?
A: Belief in your words.

Q: What is reliability?
A: Belief in your actions.

Q: What is intimacy?
A: Safe relational closeness.

Q: What is self-orientation?
A: Focus on self; reduces trust.

Q: What is psychological safety vs trust?
A: Safety is group-level; trust is between individuals.

Q: What is conflict?
A: Disagreement between parties about ideas, interests, or relationships.

Q: What is functional conflict?
A: Productive disagreement focused on issues.

Q: What is dysfunctional conflict?
A: Destructive disagreement focused on personalities.

Q: What are conflict styles (Thomas-Kilmann)?
A: Competing, collaborating, compromising, avoiding, accommodating.

Q: When is competing appropriate?
A: When quick, decisive action is vital; on important issues where you're right.

Q: When is collaborating best?
A: When stakes are high and relationship matters.

Q: When is compromising okay?
A: When goals are moderate and time is limited.

Q: What is the role of "I" statements?
A: Express feelings without blaming.

Q: What is communication clarity?
A: Saying what you mean clearly.

Q: What is the difference between explicit and implicit communication?
A: Explicit states directly; implicit relies on context.

Q: What is high-context vs low-context culture?
A: High-context relies on shared understanding; low-context is direct.

Q: What is cultural intelligence (CQ)?
A: Adapting to cultural differences effectively.

Q: What is unconscious bias?
A: Implicit attitudes affecting judgment.

Q: What is confirmation bias?
A: Favoring information confirming existing beliefs.

Q: What is affinity bias?
A: Preferring people similar to oneself.

Q: What is groupthink?
A: Group consensus suppressing dissent.

Q: What are antidotes to groupthink?
A: Diverse perspectives, devil's advocate, explicit dissent invitations.

Q: What is the importance of diversity?
A: Diverse teams outperform homogeneous teams on complex tasks.

Q: What is inclusion?
A: Ensuring diverse voices are heard and valued.

Q: What is equity?
A: Fair access and opportunity, recognizing different starting points.

Q: What is the difference between equality and equity?
A: Equality gives the same; equity gives what each needs.

Q: What is allyship?
A: Active support of underrepresented groups.

Q: What is the role of a leader in DE&I?
A: Setting tone, holding standards, ensuring opportunity.

Q: What is power distance (Hofstede)?
A: Cultural acceptance of unequal power distribution.

Q: What is the difference between leadership style and personality?
A: Personality is enduring; style can be adapted.

Q: What is the MBTI's limitation?
A: Not strongly validated; useful as conversation, not diagnostic.

Q: What is the Big Five personality model?
A: OCEAN: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism.

Q: What is the role of feedback culture?
A: Regular feedback supports growth; rare feedback erodes trust.

Q: What is a "feedback sandwich"?
A: Praise-criticism-praise structure; often patronizing.

Q: What is "kind candor"?
A: Direct, specific feedback delivered with care.

Q: What is the difference between coaching and feedback?
A: Feedback informs; coaching develops.

Q: What is leadership presence?
A: Embodied gravitas, connection, and clarity.

Q: What is executive presence?
A: Communicating credibility and confidence at senior levels.

Q: What is the role of storytelling?
A: Stories build connection, convey meaning, and inspire action.

Q: What is the role of narrative?
A: Shaping how people understand events and choices.

Q: What is reframing?
A: Offering a different perspective on a situation.

Q: What is the difference between problem-solving and reframing?
A: Problem-solving works within frame; reframing shifts it.

Q: What is systems thinking?
A: Understanding interactions within complex systems.

Q: What is the difference between linear and systemic thinking?
A: Linear follows cause-effect chains; systemic considers feedback loops.

Q: What is mental model?
A: A representation of how something works.

Q: What is first principles thinking?
A: Reasoning from foundational truths, not analogy.

Q: What is anchoring bias?
A: Over-relying on first information received.

Q: What is sunk-cost fallacy?
A: Continuing investment because of past costs.

Q: What is the difference between strategy and execution?
A: Strategy decides; execution implements.

Q: What is the role of focus?
A: Choosing what NOT to do is as important as what to do.

Q: What is decision quality?
A: Process used to make decisions, not just outcomes.

Q: What is the difference between good decisions and good outcomes?
A: Good decisions can have bad outcomes due to luck; focus on process.

Q: What is "Type 1" vs "Type 2" decisions (Bezos)?
A: Type 1: irreversible, deliberate; Type 2: reversible, can be fast.

Q: What is "disagree and commit"?
A: Express disagreement openly, then commit fully to the decision.

Q: What is decision rights?
A: Clarity on who decides what.

Q: What is the role of ambiguity tolerance?
A: Comfort with unclear situations is essential for leaders.

Q: What is "comfortable being uncomfortable"?
A: A learning stance for growth.

Q: What is the role of vulnerability (Brown)?
A: Vulnerability builds trust and connection.

Q: What is Brené Brown's "dare to lead"?
A: A framework emphasizing courage, vulnerability, values, trust, resilience.

Q: What is the role of values in leadership?
A: Values guide decisions, especially under pressure.

Q: What is "values in action"?
A: Living values consistently, not just stating them.

Q: What is the difference between principles and rules?
A: Principles guide judgment; rules prescribe specifics.

Q: What is the cost of misalignment?
A: Wasted effort, conflict, attrition, missed opportunities.

Q: What is the role of clarity?
A: Clear expectations and direction reduce friction.

Q: What is "what good looks like"?
A: A description of high-quality outcomes used to align teams.

Q: What is the "kind = clear" principle?
A: Being clear is kind; being unclear is unkind (Brown).

Q: What is the role of repetition?
A: Important messages need repeating to land.

Q: What is the rule of seven?
A: People may need to hear something seven times to absorb it.

Q: What is the importance of consistency?
A: Predictable behavior builds trust.

Q: What is the difference between micromanaging and supporting?
A: Micromanaging restricts; supporting empowers.

Q: What is the trap of "if you want it done right..."?
A: Doing it yourself limits scale and team development.

Q: What are signs of micromanagement?
A: Frequent check-ins, redoing others' work, controlling all decisions.

Q: What is "letting go"?
A: Trusting team to do work, even imperfectly at first.

Q: What is the cost of perfectionism?
A: Slows execution, demoralizes team, blocks learning.

Q: What is the "good enough" mindset?
A: Accepting outcomes that meet the bar without over-optimizing.

Q: What is the role of celebration?
A: Marking wins sustains motivation and culture.

Q: What is recognition?
A: Acknowledging effort and contribution.

Q: What is the praise-to-criticism ratio?
A: High-performing teams have ~5:1 positive-to-negative interactions.

Q: What is what got you here won't get you there?
A: Old habits may not serve new roles (Goldsmith).

Q: What is the most important leadership skill?
A: Listening — followed closely by clarity and integrity.

Q: What is the role of self-development?
A: Continuous learning is essential for sustained leadership.

Q: What is the lifetime journey of leadership?
A: Leadership grows through experience, reflection, and feedback over decades.

Q: What is leaving a legacy?
A: The lasting impact of your leadership on people and outcomes.