Leadership- Psyc 303 Industrial/ Organizational Psychology

This component of the Leaders Program introduces concepts of leadership in a globalized world and provides the opportunity to put leadership theory into practice.

Industrial-organizational psychology or I/O psychology is the study of psychology in the workplace. Specifically, how coworkers interact, how to improve job satisfaction, how people perform their jobs, and how people behave at work. Leadership is a core focus in I/O psychology. During the class, which I took my second semester of sophomore year, I learned several different theories of leadership as well as what makes someone a good leader. The trait theory of leadership focuses on identifying personality traits associated with good leaders, such as conscientiousness. The behavior theory involves identifying the behaviors associated with good leaders, such as speaking clearly and directly. What makes a good leader in a particular role can be examined through an organizational assessment, which occurs when an I/O psychologist examines a workplace and conducts leadership training. This involves an

assessment of the workplace environment in different departments and meetings with supervisors to ensure support for assessment, training, and transfer of training.