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Case Study

Essential interpersonal skills for effective leadership

By Michael D. Watkins

10 pages

May 2025

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Reference: IMD-7-2641

This note provides a comprehensive framework for understanding and developing the core interpersonal processes essential for effective leadership. It identifies and explores seven key processes: Communication, Visioning, Alliance Building, Persuasion, Exercising Power, Negotiation and Conflict Management. Each process is examined in detail, along with its supporting skills and practical applications. The note emphasizes how these processes interconnect and build upon each other to create a robust leadership framework. Communication establishes a foundation of trust and clarity, which enables visioning to align teams toward common goals. Alliance building creates strategic partnerships that support the vision, while persuasion deepens these alliances. Power leverages these relationships to direct resources and maintain momentum, negotiation harmonizes diverse interests, and conflict management ensures disagreements don’t disrupt progress. The note also identifies five core supporting capabilities that enable effective engagement in these processes: Mindful Presence, Emotional Intelligence, Communication Mastery, Strategic Thinking and Adaptability. These capabilities form a progressive framework that allows leaders to navigate complex situations, connect meaningfully with others and make informed strategic decisions. Comprehensive and practical, this note serves as both a theoretical framework and an actionable toolkit for leaders seeking to enhance their interpersonal effectiveness. It includes an extensive reading list organized by process, providing resources for deeper exploration of each area.

Learning Objective

Learn seven core interpersonal processes essential for effective leadership
Understand how these processes build progressively to enhance leadership impact
Develop the five supporting capabilities that enable successful engagement in these processes
Apply specific supporting skills for each interpersonal process in leadership situations

Keywords

Communication Skill, Emotional Intelligence, Interpersonal Accuracy, Process, General Management, Conflict Management, Leadership, Stakeholder Management, Communication

Type

Generalized Experience

Available Languages

English

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