Leadership may be defined as the ability to inspire, influence and guide people towards an intended goal. With the need to maximize one’s potential in a rapidly changing global economy, more and more people are beginning to recognize the need for leadership ethics more than ever before. Today, effective leadership is much more than just technical proficiency. It also encompasses good communication skills, team spirit, accepting diversity, motivating professionals and possessing problem solving skills.
To grow a business or enhance a career, one must master certain basic skills in management and leadership. The basic skills include planning, meeting management, delegation, communications, decision making and problem tackling skills. Effective teamwork is another essential aspect in today’s world of leadership abilities. Most importantly, leaders must also have a sixth sense for subtly resolving issues commonly referred to as ‘tactical proficiency’. These include taking responsibility, real time decision-making, meeting commitments and understanding team-working strengths and weaknesses.
It is a well-known fact that most people in management roles within a company have outstanding problem solving skills that have been developed over time. However, one must remember that we all possess such skills. And all of us use these in varying degrees on a daily basis to ensure everything we do is satisfactorily completed. However, all of us may not these skills to their fullest at the working environment where they are most important since they can directly affect the outcome of a particular task. Good problem solving abilities at work begin with the right approach to a situation, positive thinking and focusing on the real core problem.
Leadership is not just for the people at the top – it is a quality applicable to all facets of life. While no university or executive education can endow anyone with leadership and problem solving skills required in a real work environment, you can gradually gain confidence as a leader by taking responsibility for the work you do and applying real commitment to all the tasks assigned. The speed of your tactical abilities and the worth of your solutions will help reveal your substance as a leader.
How to Show an Interviewer Your Problem Solving Skills
Employers are looking for certain skills in any employee they hire. They assess their potential employees’ skills by asking them about how they handled certain situations in the past. One skill every employer looks for is the ability to solve new problems as they arise. Read on to find out what sort of experiences they’ll want to hear about in order to assess your problem solving skills.
The first thing you need to be prepared to tell the interviewer about are times where you’ve contributed suggestions about how to solve a problem. It’s really that simple; most people get tripped up because they aren’t expecting it. Think of a time when there was a problem at work and you were able to make a suggestion about how to solve it. It could have been an organizational problem, an unexpected emergency, or even a just a minor procedural problem.
Similarly, the interviewer may want to know about if you’ve been involved with brainstorming sessions. Unlike the previous example, this isn’t about your ability to come up with solutions to specific problems as it is your ability to come up with new ideas in general. Any time you’ve brainstormed about new projects or ideas will work. It could have been for work or school. If you’ve ever been the one to call for a brainstorming session, use that as your example, to show that you’re proactive when it comes to solving problems.
Finally, the interviewer will want to know you can take action on your solutions. Think of a time when you not only came up with a solution to a problem, but also carried the solution through to completion. Any problem you had at work or school will work, as long as you took independent action to solve the problem.
One tip that applies to each example is to not be negative. Obviously this is about solving problems, but try to avoid sounding overly negative or hostile about whatever problems you talk about. Discuss them neutrally and try not put blame on other people (particularly your boss) while you’re talking about it, even if they were the original source of the problem. You need to focus on the fact that you came up with positive solutions, and only discuss the person who caused the problem (if there is one) if it’s important to the solution in some way.
That’s the basics of demonstrating your problem solving skills. As long as you’re ready to answer questions about situations like this, your interview should be smooth sailing.
The Influence of Arts and Crafts on the Development of Language and Problem-Solving Skills
Children develop with or without enriching activities however without them their development is short-changed. Arts and crafts are enriching activities that contribute to several developmental skills which include, among many, cognitive, motor, language, verbal problem-solving, and goal-setting skills. Covered in this article is the positive influence of arts and crafts activities on language and verbal problem-solving skills. Other skills mentioned here will be covered in future articles.
Expanded Vocabulary and Object Recognition
As soon as children are born, language skills begin to development. A baby’s babbling turns into single syllable words which become more complex and expand to multiple word sentences. Without verbal interaction with others, language skills would be severely lacking. So what does this have to do with arts and crafts? Interactions between the child, adult and other children involved the art and craft (or any activity) benefit language development. These benefits include expanded vocabulary and object recognition skills, development of verbal problem solving skills, and increased communication skills through discussing and describing while creating their project. To facilitate these benefits, participate in creative activities with your children.
While participate in the activity with your child, continually talk out loud about what you are doing. Name objects as you pick them up. Ask the child to hand you an object, especially if they do not know what it is. In addition, if an item or process is known by different names interchange the use of them. For example, popsicle sticks are also called craft sticks. Other words for gluing are adhering, attaching, binding, connecting and so forth. Mix up your vocabulary and labels.
While conversing with your child, especially with younger children, it is important to keep directions tailored to their age or skill level however do not “dumb” down the conversation or use “baby talk”. Speak in a tone you would use with an older child or adult. Add in words and labels the child does not know. Give the meaning of the word only if the child asks otherwise you risk a response such as, “I know what that means. I’m not dumb.”
Verbal Problem Solving
Do not do all of the talking. Ask the child to explain what they are doing and why. Have the child teach you how to do something. You could remark that you like how they completed part of their project and ask them show you how to do it. Ask questions as they direct you. If you don’t understand, tell them so. This will give them a chance to clarify their directions. If you see the child struggling, ask them to explain what it is they are trying to do. Ask questions such as, “What do think will work?” or “What have you thought about trying?” Jumping in and offering to help will deprive them of the chance to solve their own problem and decrease their frustration tolerance. If the child immediately asks for help, asks the previous questions to guide them towards solving their own problems.
As you work, make comments on decisions or problems you encounter as you work. “I need to get this bead to stick here. I am not sure how to do it. Maybe I will try this.” If it doesn’t work, continue to talk about what else you will try. Demonstrate what steps to take with a frustrating problem you cannot solve. “Darn. This bead is making me angry. It will not stick here.” Can you help me with this, please?” This is a positive demonstration of feeling recognition, problem-solving and helping skills.
Given the opportunity to participate in enriching arts and crafts activities, children can increase their language and problem-solving skills with the right environment. This sets up a situation where you are able to show the child instead of telling the child. The added bonus is that the learning becomes effortless with fun-filled arts and crafts activities.
