Leading People Flashcards
7 cards from real CPM practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Leading People flashcards as text
Which of the following BEST describes emotional intelligence (EI) as it applies to public managers?
Answer: The capacity to recognize, understand, and manage one's own emotions and those of others
Emotional intelligence, popularized by Goleman, encompasses self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, and social skills critical for effective leadership.
A public manager must deliver a performance improvement plan (PIP) to an underperforming employee. The MOST effective approach is to:
Answer: Clearly identify performance gaps, set measurable goals, and offer support and resources for improvement
An effective PIP combines honest gap identification with concrete, measurable targets and genuine support to enable improvement.
In Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, a public manager seeking to motivate employees who have stable jobs and good salaries should PRIMARILY focus on:
Answer: Esteem and self-actualization needs through recognition and meaningful work
Once lower-order needs are met, employees are motivated by esteem (recognition, achievement) and self-actualization (growth, purpose).
A manager discovers two team members have an ongoing personal conflict affecting team morale. The MOST appropriate first action is to:
Answer: Meet with each employee separately to understand their perspectives before facilitating a joint discussion
Gathering individual perspectives before convening both parties prevents the manager from taking sides and surfaces the full picture of the conflict.
Which communication approach is MOST effective when a manager needs to gain buy-in for an unpopular but necessary policy change?
Answer: Present the problem context, explain the rationale, acknowledge concerns, and outline how implementation will be managed
Transparent, two-way communication that acknowledges concerns increases acceptance of difficult changes by making people feel heard and respected.
A newly promoted public manager inherits a team with an entrenched, negative culture. The FIRST step should be to:
Answer: Observe, listen, and build relationships before attempting culture change
Effective culture change begins with deep understanding of existing dynamics through observation and relationship-building before intervention.
According to the CPM competency framework, which behavior MOST demonstrates effective people leadership?
Answer: Building a culture of accountability, inclusion, and continuous development
The CPM framework emphasizes leaders who cultivate accountable, inclusive, growth-oriented environments as hallmarks of effective people leadership.