The Ideal Leader

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Produce an agreed visual profile of leadership qualities, skills, and values to guide team expectations or project roles.

Use it when: Use when starting a project team, planning leadership development, or defining shared expectations for group coordinators.

Skip it when: Skip when evaluating or critiquing specific named individuals, or when leadership structures are strictly dictated by non-negotiable external mandates.

Group arrangement: Individual reflection, small cluster work at a shared board, and whole-group review.

Timing: Source states 15 to 90 minutes; UWT establishes a standard 35-minute plan for a group up to 20.

Materials and tools

• Sticky notes (at least 6 per participant)
• Dark fine-tip markers (1 per participant)
• Flip chart paper or large whiteboard pre-divided into three columns: Personal Qualities, Technical Skills, Ethical Values
• Adhesive dot stickers (3 per participant) or voting markers

Before participants arrive

1. Mount flip chart paper or prepare a whiteboard with three column headers: Personal Qualities, Technical Skills, and Ethical Values.
2. Distribute sticky notes and markers to all seats.
3. Display the three guiding reflection prompts visibly at the front of the room.

Say this to open

Welcome. Today we will build a shared profile of an effective leader for our context. Think about what truly matters in leadership. On your sticky notes, write one specific quality, skill, or value per note. Aim for at least three notes each. Write clearly in large print so everyone can read them.

How to run it

1. Introduce guiding questions and write notes 6 minutes

   Facilitator delivers the opening script and points to the three questions: What personal qualities define an effective leader? What technical or practical skills are essential? What ethical values should guide leadership decisions? Participants work individually in silence, writing one idea per sticky note.

2. Post and categorize notes 10 minutes

   Invite participants to post their notes in the matching column on the board: Personal Qualities (such as empathy or resilience), Technical Skills (such as clear communication or conflict resolution), or Ethical Values (such as fairness or transparency). As a group, merge exact duplicates and cluster related concepts under each column.

3. Prioritize key elements 9 minutes

   Give each participant three dot stickers. Ask everyone to place their dots on the three items across the board that they consider most essential for this specific team or project. Count dots to identify the top two or three priorities in each column.

4. Debrief and application 10 minutes

   Gather the whole group to review the top-voted items forming the final leadership profile. Facilitate a brief discussion using the debrief questions, focusing on how the group will apply these expectations.

Debrief questions

• Looking at our highest-ranked items, where does our group already show these strengths?
• Which quality, skill, or value listed here will be hardest to uphold when our project faces pressure?
• How can team members hold one another accountable to these expectations without formal authority?

Finished output: A visible three-column board displaying categorized leadership traits with dot-voted priorities.

Remote

Set up a collaborative online board (such as Miro, Mural, or Padlet) with three distinct columns. Give participants 5 minutes to create digital sticky notes. Review and cluster them together using screen share. Use the platform's built-in dot voting tool or stamp feature for prioritization.

Hybrid

Maintain a single digital board on a large in-room display. In-person participants type on their own devices or hand paper sticky notes to a dedicated in-room tech buddy who duplicates them onto the digital canvas. Conduct dot voting directly on the digital board so remote and room votes carry identical weight.

Access and participation choices

• Participants may dictate ideas to the facilitator or a peer instead of writing.
• Anyone may choose to observe silently during posting and voting without giving a reason.

If the session gets stuck

Participants write broad cliches like 'good person' or 'smart'.

Ask the writer for a concrete behavioral example: 'What does a good person do when delivering difficult feedback?'

One column (such as Personal Qualities) receives all the notes while Technical Skills remains empty.

Pause posting and prompt the room: 'What specific operational tools, methods, or tasks must this leader execute well?'

Terms used here

• Dot voting: A quick selection method where participants use a limited number of adhesive stickers or marker dots to show preference among posted ideas.