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Ashley Glenn
Self as Leader
December 8, 2014
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Contents
Introduction
Self-Leadership Process
Leadership Process Model 3
Assumptions: Situational 3
Vision 6
Inspiration 8
Morale: Buy-In 11
Transformational Relationship 14
Status/Assumed Role 16
Drawing Connections 19
Stories, Analogies,Metaphor 22
Task Completion/Group Cohesion 24
Feedback 25
Selfas Leader 28
OverviewofSelf-Leadership Examples 28
Clashing Views Team Project 28
Certified Trainer at Rock Bottom Brewery 29
Group Exercise Team 29
Volunteer Project-Zombie Run 29
Including Out-Group Members 30
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Part I- SelfLeadership Process
Introduction
The Leadership Process Model shows the relationship between different factors that contribute to
leadership success or failure. The model explains the way in which all of the factors combine to
create either a successfulor unsuccessfuloutcome. It also shows how outcomes feed back
through the model to affect the factors. The most important aspect that the model demonstrates is
that leadership is a dynamic and ongoing process. Therefore,it is important for the leader to be
flexible depending on the outcomes of certain projects and to also invest continually in his or her
relationships with their followers. Everything in the model can affect everything else. For
example, positive actions feed back through the process to positively affect future performance,
while negative actions hurt future performance. I will use the Leadership Process Modelto
analyze myself as a leader in each of the categories throughout this journal. I will also record
examples of leadership that I have demonstrated this semester.
Stories
analogy
Metaphor
Drawing
connections
Vision
SUBJECTIVE
OBJECTIVE
INPUT
Inspiration
Feedback
INTEGRATION OUTPUT
Feedback
Situational
Purpose
Transformation
Relationship
Method
Assume role
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Situational/Assumptions-
Core Values
My two most dominant core values are integrity and family. When making difficult decisions, I
constantly think about the integrity of my decisions and how it may affect my family members. I
think it is very important to always consider how others will view your decisions. This is why it is
essential to always make honest and ethical decisions so you do not jeopardize your integrity.
Family will always be considered my most important core value because I think they are the most
important aspect in any decision that has to be made. As a leader, it is my job to make decisions
that are in the best interest of my family.
Moral Dimension ofLeadership
I agree that leaders have a responsibility to use their authority for the common good because they
have the power to positively or negatively influence many people. Leaders should strive to
influence people in a positive way by their character,actions, goals, honesty, power, and overall
values. Followers look to leaders for direction when they are unsure of the next step to take, so it
is important that leaders use their authority for the common good because people will listen to
them.
Character of a Leader
When I consider the character of a leader and what a leader does, the two factors that are the most
important to me are honesty and character. Honesty is important because followers have to be
able to trust that a leader is going to lead them in the right direction. When a leader is dishonest, it
has a negative effect on a leader’s interpersonal relationships. It puts a strain on how the leader
and followers are connected to each other. Sometimes, this problem can never be fixed because
followers will constantly be weary of the decisions that the leader makes. Character is also
important because this describes how other people/followers view the leader and their values.
Character refers to the qualities, disposition, and core values that the leader possesses. Since this
is a factor that leaders develop, leaders with great character will be seen as more influential
because they will be better able to lead their followers.
It is possible for a leader with bad character to be an ethical leader, but I do not think that
followers will be influenced by them. A person with bad character is able to make honest and
truthful decisions, but followers may not respect this person as a leader because of the character
that they have developed. Part of being a good leader is having respect,showing responsibility,
fairness, carefulness,and citizenship. These are embedded in a leader’s core values. If these
factors are missing, that person probably will not make a good ethical leader.
Abu Ghraib Prison
I agree that the actions that happened at the Abu Ghraib Prison were examples of unethical
leadership because although these leaders thought that they were acting in the best interest of
their mission and country, people were still being tortured for information. Leaders are able to
have such great influence that they do not need to take such extreme measures to get information
out of people. Other options could have been explored before torturing and sexually abusing
inmates for information. These leaders were not showing respect because they were treating
inmates as means to an end. They were not treating others’ decisions and values with respect. I
realize that this was a difficult time for soldiers in the military after the terrorist attacks,but that
does not give the United States a right to act like terrorists and torture people for information.
Since this was a time of high stress,leaders’ actions, goals, power, and values may have been
compromised because of the intense war situation.
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Richard Lee
I thought it was a very honorable action for Richard Lee to remove his own son from the baseball
game for not showing good sportsmanship. This shows that he is not going to give his son special
treatment and special rules during the game and that he would be treated the exact same way as
any other kid on the baseball team. This was not about winning for Richard; instead, it was about
teaching his son a lesson about good sportsmanship and fairness in the game of baseball. This
shows that Richard is an ethical leader. He wants the best for his players. A good leader does not
have to win every single game. It is their duty to make their followers the best people that they
can be. I would have applauded Richard if I was one of the parents at that baseball game. This
was a way for him to teach his son a valuable life lesson about good sportsmanship.
My Core Values
My core values are integrity and family. I think that other people are aware of my core values
because I always explain that integrity of work is extremely important. If people cannot trust the
decisions that I am making, I would be seen as a terrible leader. I also constantly talk about how
important my family is to me. They will always come first in every decision that I make. I am
comfortable talking about my values with other people because I think it is important for
followers to know exactly what your values are. They shouldn’t have to guess about the things
that are most important to their leaders. My values will influence what I do in the future because I
will never accept a job that will force me to compromise my integrity or risk the relationship that
I have with my family. I feel like most companies like to operate in this manner anyway, but there
are always a few that have secrets to hide.
Character Strengths and Weaknesses
My character strengths are trustworthiness and caring. I always try to be as honest as possible
with people because lying to them does not help them improve their actions. I am also always
there to listen to anybody when they just need someone to talk to because I care about how they
are feeling. My character weaknessis fairness. I try to be fair most of the time, but if I am aware
that somebody may be better at something than another person, I do not like to take risks and
assign that task to the less experienced person even though they may be fully capable of
completing the task. This is something that I have to work on because followers need to be given
opportunities to excel and this is accomplished by taking risks. Three specific actions that I could
take to strengthen my character are assigning tasks to newer people that want to “prove
themselves,” taking responsibility for decisions that may not have worked out in my favor, and be
more willing to accept somebody else’s opinion on something to show respect.
Wiki-Leaks Discussion
After watching an interview with Julian Assange on the ethics of leaking classified information, I
was asked the following questions:
What is Assange’s primary purpose in releasing classified documents?
The primary purpose in releasing the classified documents is to provide information to people that
has been kept a secret by the government or an organization. Assange believes that this information
is important for people to make decisions and to actually know what is going in in different places,
such as war zones. He wants to provide this information to people in hopes of achieving reform in
society.
What types ofinformation might organizations try to conceal?
Organizations may try to concealinformation that will negatively impact their reputation with
consumers. They may also try to conceal information that shows that they are acting in an unethical
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way to sabotage another company. Any information that may cause an outcome that is not in the best
interest of the company or that may cause an outrage may try to be concealed by a company or the
government.
What are legitimate secrets?
A legitimate secret are personaldocuments that should not be disclosed to the public. An example of
a legitimate secret is any document between an individual and their doctor about their personal
medical position.
What are Assange’s self-identified core values?
Assange’s self-identified core values are being combative and capable. He did not describe himself
as nurturing; instead, the act of policing perpetrators of crime is his way of nurturing victims. He
made a point that capable, generous men do not create victims, they nurture victims.
Is Assange a villain or a hero?
I view Assange as a hero for leaking important information to the public so reform can attempt to be
achieved. He may cause an uproar from leaking this information, but he is doing it for the good of
the people. He believes that the government and organizations should not be hiding valuable
information from people that could be used to make decisions that may not be in the company's best
interest.
In what ways is Assange a leader?
Assange is a leader because he finds ways to get important information to people (his followers).
This path is not always easy and could be somewhat dangerous, but he believes that the most
important aspect of his job is getting valuable knowledge to people. He risks his own reputation
every day for the knowledge that he leaks, but he knows that his followers will support him for
leaking the information. He is also being honest with his followers about where his information
comes from so people do not have to worry that he is hiding something.
Vision
I believe that I have a strong ability to create a vision as a leader. When leading a group of
people, I always try to provide a clear picture about how our goals will positively affect our
future. I believe that having a vision is important because followers will not trust a leader to point
them in the right direction if they do not have a clear picture about what the future holds. If the
leader shares their vision with their followers, they will also share the same vision and want to do
what is in the best interest of the organization.
My Life Values and Purpose
I think that it is important to always be honest with yourself and your followers. I believe that
people will be more inclined to view me as a leader if they know that I am an honest and
trustworthy person. Once followers catch a leader in a lie, they will probably never gain their full
trust again. If I am ever leading a group of people, I will stress the importance of being honest in
every situation even when times are hard and lying could spare somebody’s feelings. My purpose
in life is not to lie to people and lead them in the wrong direction, instead, it is to help people and
provide feedback and opinions to assist them in achieving their highest level of excellence.
My leadership is influenced by these values because I always consider how my actions will affect
all of my followers before acting on a decision. I never lie to my subordinates because this does
not help them achieve their goals; it prevents them from achieving their goals. I try to lead in a
relationship-oriented style because it is important that my followers can feellike I understand the
work that they are doing and actually care about their feelings as well.
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Creating Vision
I am comfortable with trying to persuade people to accept different values and different ways of
doing things because there are multiple ways to achieve different goals. I wouldn’t necessarily
agree that helping someone to create a vision involves trying to change their values; it is
persuading them to be open-minded and try to achieve a goal in a new way. Part of creating a
vision is to explain to people how a new way of doing things could be better for the organization.
This creates the vision in their minds as well.
Creating Visions with Symbols
I think I could improve my ability to articulate effective visions with strong symbols. I think that I
could improve this skill by observing my followers to try to find something that we all have in
common. I could then expand upon this idea (like the Mount Everest example) and tie that in to
achieving our goal. Using motivating language to describe the symbol will also help me motivate
my group. The most important aspect of using symbols is to use something that can be related to
the goal that the group is trying to achieve. If the symbol is not relevant, it will not motivate the
group.
Creating a Vision for a Group
Based on my score on the leadership vision questionnaire, I think I have a strong ability to create
a vision for a group. Before I start a project in a group, I have a mental picture of what would
make our group better and a clear picture of the steps we need to take to reach our goal. I like to
think that I am good at motivating people to work their hardest and I am always available to guide
people when they need feedback. I think I could improve my ability to use symbols to articulate
my vision to the group. Using symbols is a very effective way to help others see your vision and
keep them motivated throughout the entire process.
Rock Bottom Brewery Vision Statement
I currently work at Rock Bottom Brewery. One thing that I really value about working for this
company is that they value their employees just as much as they value their customers. I think
that is very important to reflect in their vision statement. If I was the leader of this company, my
vision statement would be, “To ensure that each guest receives prompt, professional, and friendly
service. To maintain a clean, comfortable, and well-maintained premises for our guests and our
employees. To ensure that all guests and staff are treated with the respect that they deserve.”
JeffBezos Address
After watching Jeff Bezos’ address on how he started Amazon.com, I learned many things about
following my passion. Simple life choices that I make every day directly affect my goals and how
I am following my passion. I have made many changes in my life to help me reach my long term
goals.
Significant Life Choices
One of the most significant choices that I have made in my life was switching my major from
Accounting to Marketing. When I first started pursuing my accounting major, I wasn’t really
doing it for myself. Some people in my family (not my parents) are accountants and I felt like I
had to follow suit. I was not passionate about accounting at all. In fact, I hated it. Every single
aspect of it. My realpassion falls with sports and being creative. It wasn’t until I had a talk with
my mom about possibly switching my major that I actually found out that “sports marketing”
existed. After researching sports marketing more in depth, I realized that I would love a career in
this field. I am now majoring in Marketing and I couldn’t be more excited about what my future
holds. This has changed my life in a positive way because once I graduate college, I will be able
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to look for a job that I will not be miserable with every day. If I did not switch, I would not have
any passion for the career that I would be able to get. I probably wouldn’t even get a job in an
accounting firm because they would be able to tell that I hated everything that I was doing. I’m
glad I switched my major to something that I enjoy doing because this is one of the most life
altering decisions anybody could make.
Build Yourselfa Great Story
It is possible for one to build themselves a great story. Your life choices are your decision. Just
liked I explained in the previous answer,you have the power to choose what you want to do in
your life. It is up to you to decide what your passion is and what you want to do with that.
Nobody can dictate what you choose to do in your life. This concept relates to one’s philosophy
about the nature of people in a positive way. Under this opinion, one would believe that people
are more inclined to want to work if they are doing something that they are actually passionate
about. They would not assume that people inherently hate working. They would think that the
effort that someone puts into their work directly effects the outcomes that they will see. If
somebody is an extremely hard worker and is passionate about the work that they are doing, they
will see great benefits as a result. At the same time, if somebody is being lazy, then they should
not expect to be able to “build themselves a great story” because they are not working hard.
Inspiration/Motivation
I believe that I have a good balance of leadership strengths that help me lead a group of people.
My strongest strength is being analytical. This means that I have the ability to visualize,
articulate, and solve problems and concepts and make decisions that are sensible based on the
information that is available. I can see how I use this strength in my daily life because I always
gather as much information as I can before trying to solve any problems. I think I can improve
my innovation skills. This strength is defined as being able to introduce new concepts or ideas
into a group for the first time or changing a concept or idea that is already being used into
something better. I am able to adapt to change, but I am usually not the person who comes up
with the new ideas and concepts. This is one area that I could improve on to become a better
leader.
Recurring Traits
After interviewing my mom, dad, and my sister about my strengths, I noticed two recurring
themes. These themes were my willingness to help other people and how thorough I am with
solving problems. All three of the interviewees explained that I am always willing to take extra
time trying to help people understand things that they find confusing. The also explained that I
take extra time to try to explain things in different ways when someone needs a few more
examples on how to complete something. This shows that one of my strengths is encouragement.
Another recurring theme was how thorough I am at solving problems. The interviewees explained
that I always try to gather as much information as possible before attempting to solve a problem.
They also said that that I never stop trying to find answers to problems because I don’t like to
leave work incomplete. This shows that another one of my strengths is being analytical.
My Reaction
The feedback that I received about what others think are my leadership strengths are in line with
what I thought were my strengths. Growing up, I have always been told that I am hardworking
and thorough with solving problems. Every time I am faced with a new challenge, I like to gather
as much information as I can before jumping to a solution. Even though I think that I am good at
encouraging others to succeed,I did not realize that this had such a lasting impact on other
people. I am very pleased to hear that the interviewees thought that encouragement was one of
my strengths. I like to feel that if people need an extra push of confidence, they can come to me
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for the inspiration that they seek. On the leadership questionnaire, my highest score was in
analytics, which explains why all of the interviewees chose my thoroughness as a strength. I also
scored in the high range for encouragement as well, which explains why the interviewees said
that I am always willing to help other people.
Strongest Leadership Traits
Of the four domains of leadership strengths, I think that my strongest strengths are learned
behaviors. These behaviors represent those ingrained things that we have learned throughout our
lifetime. I have been raised to be hardworking and to never accept “no” as an answer. I have also
learned that to be successful, I have to be industrious and hardworking. Success will not be
handed down to me if I do not work for it. I could solicit support from followers to complement
these areas of strength by surrounding myself with people who are also industrious and
hardworking. My family constantly encourages me to be the best person that I can be. This gives
me the confidence that I need to not lose my drive and motivation.
Leader ofa Service Project
If I was the leader of a service project, I would take steps to promote a positive climate,
relationships, communication, and meaning. To promote a positive climate, I would express to
my team members the importance of being compassionate, forgiving, and gracious. When a
positive work environment is created,employees are more inclined to be more productive. This
also brings out the positive qualities in all of the employees. To promote positive relationships, I
would highlight individuals’ strengths rather than their weaknesses so they can learn from each
other. If all of the employees know each other’s strengths, they will be more inclined to want to
work with one another. If some employees find that they have different strengths, they will want
to collaborate with other employees who possess different strengths to come up with the best
solutions. To promote positive communication, as a leader, I would be supportive to all of my
employees and provide constructive criticism as needed. It is important to be sensitive as a leader,
but it is equally important to be truthful and honest when giving feedback to employees so they
can improve as well. This encourages employees to capitalize on their strengths. To promote
positive meaning, I would emphasize the connection between employees’ values and the impact
that they have on the organization. If employees believe that their work makes a difference in the
company, they are more likely to be engaged and productive.
Leadership Styles
My leadership style strongly resembles the assumptions of Theory Y. Theory Y assumes that
people like work, are self-motivated, and accept and seek responsibility. Having a democratic
leadership style means that leaders believe that their subordinates are fully capable of doing their
own work without being micromanaged by their managers or leaders. Democratic leaders enjoy
working with their followers to reach a common goal instead of controlling the entire situation
and dictating responsibilities among the group. I am not surprised by the results of this
questionnaire because this is the type of leadership that I enjoy the most. I do not like to be
micromanaged by my leaders, but I do enjoy their opinions and inputs about my work. I believe
the best leaders provide information, guidance, and suggestions without giving orders and without
applying pressure to their subordinates.
My Leadership Philosophy
My philosophy on leadership is exactly like Theory Y. I believe that people like work, are self-
motivated, and accept and seek responsibility. These conditions are highly noticeable when
employees actually have good leaders and like the work that they are doing. I believe that
employees want to feellike they are making a difference in the organization. To do so, they need
to be self-motivated in their work and take an interest in the work that they are completing. Once
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leaders see that their employees are working well on certain projects, they will be more likely to
give them more responsibility. As an employee, I am more motivated when I can see that the
work that I am doing is making a difference in the organization. The positive results are what
motivate me to like my job and perform to my highest standards.
I completely disagree with the assumptions of Theory X. I believe that the assumptions of Theory
X are the direct result of bad leaders in an organization. When employees do not have great
leaders, their followers do not feel like they can look to them for guidance or feedback. From
prior experience, I have seen what Theory X looks like in the workplace when I used to work in
an organization that had a horrible leadership committee. This made employees hate their jobs,
need constant supervision to complete their work, and only stay with the organization because
there was not a better job option available to them at that moment.
Easiest Style ofLeadership
Of the three styles of leadership, the democratic style comes easiest to me because this is the style
of leadership that works best for me when I am a follower. Instead of being a dictator, democratic
leaders work with their subordinates and try to treat everyone fairly, without putting themselves
above the subordinates. When I use this style of leadership, my followers feelmore comfortable
coming to me for guidance and suggestions with their problems. They do not feellike I am just
there to dictate responsibilities to everyone. My followers have told me that they feellike I
actually care about their well-being and want to help them find better ways to reach their goals.
Even when the entire group of followers does not see eye-to-eye on certain issues, they feel like I
do not pick favorites and try to see issue from both sides before giving my input.
Helping Others Help Themselves
I think that I am good at helping others help themselves because I do not enable anyone. When I
am a leader, I do not let anyone make excuses for why they did not complete something or why
they think that they are unable to perform a certain task. I always stress the importance of
knowing that there is no such thing as a perfect person and that everybody has flaws. The worst
thing that somebody could do is let their flaws demotivate them from working their hardest to
complete a task. As long as my followers give their best effort into completing a task, whether it
is executed perfectly or not, I will always show my appreciation for them giving their best effort.
Changing Leadership Styles
I had a very low score for the authoritarian style of leadership. This was not a surprise to me
because I find authoritarian leaders to feel like they are a dictator and are above everybody else.
One thing about authoritarian leadership that is not a horrible thing is the ability to give feedback,
whether bad or good. I think that I could get better at giving negative feedback,or constructive
criticism. As a leader, I need to be able to give my followers the feedback that they deserve,but I
often feellike I will hurt their feelings if my feedback is negative. I need to learn that I will be
helping them in the long run with my constructive criticism.
Improving Leadership
Three specific activities that I could use to improve my leadership are being 100% honest all of
the time when people ask for my opinions, not letting other peoples’ opinions influence my
opinions, and being more active in group participation. Being 100% honest all of the time when
people ask for my opinions will help me be more confident in giving constructive criticism. The
honest I am, the more I will see that constructive criticism does not hurt peoples’ feelings all the
time and it will help them succeed. I also need to be more outspoken with my opinions. If I do not
agree with something that someone is saying, I need to give my opposing opinion instead of just
keeping quiet and agreeing with something that I do not agree with to keep the peace. I should
also be more active in group participation because this will give me the self confidence that I
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need to speak up and lead a discussion when I do not know anybody’s viewpoint on certain
topics.
Work Leaders
I would rather work for a relationship-oriented leader because I am more productive when I can
work with my leader instead of under my leader. I am very self-motivated and I tend to get angry
when leaders start dictating responsibilities because they feel like they have all of the power. I am
most productive when my leaders are there to guide me instead of control me.
Defend or refute: As long as I treat everyone fairly, I don’t need to actually care about
them personally.
I do not agree with this statement because I think it is impossible to treat everybody fairly if you
only care about certain individuals. You may think that you are treating everybody fairly, but if
you don’t invest any interest in the person themselves, I think that the decisions you make
regarding the employee may be different than the ones that you would make if you actually cared
about them. When you care about a person, you spend more time thinking about how the outcome
of every decision will affect them, whether good or bad. When you don’t care about the
employee, you may not put as much thought and consideration about decisions that involve that
certain employee. Even if the decisions are good, they may not be what is best for that individual.
Morale/Buy-In
It is very important to focus on one’s strengths instead of dwelling on their weaknesses because
this makes them feel more confident in their abilities. Everybody has different strengths and
weaknesses. If people are focusing on one’s strengths, it will encourage other people to focus on
their strengths. This will then develop an environment where positive relationships form based on
the different strengths of multiple people. While working in a group setting, individuals can seek
people who have different strengths than them to form the “best-rounded” group possible. During
group projects, it is important to have a very diverse group with multiple strengths instead of a
group of people that all have the same strength to come up with the best solution.
Building on your strengths fits with getting you out of your comfort zone by forcing you to think
of other ways to use your strengths with multiple people. For example, one of my strengths is
being a hardworking, industrious person (analytical). In a group setting, I cannot always get my
group members in the same mindset. You don’t always get to choose your group, so I may get
paired with someone who is not as task-focused as I am. I would have to use my analytical
strengths, as well as my encouragement strengths, to motivate this person to be hardworking and
industrious to get a project done. I am not always comfortable speaking up and motivating people
if my advice is not solicited, but this situation would force me out of my comfort zone. It is not
wise to flat out ignore one’s weakness,but it is not wise to solely focus on them because you can
lose sight of your strengths. When focusing on your weaknesses,first remember what your
strengths are. Next,think of ways you can use your strengths to help you improve your
weaknesses. For example, one of my strengths was encouraging other people, while one of my
weaknesses is my self-confidence. I can use the results that I see from encouraging other people
to try to boost my self-confidence. If I can see the results that people receive from my
encouragement, I will be able to become more confident in my abilities as a leader.
Administrative, Interpersonal, and Conceptual Skills
The nine leadership skills are all very essential to become the best leader possible. Everyone can
learn to acquire leadership skills since they are learned competencies. Personally, I believe that all
three skill sets are equally as important and there isn’t a skill set that is better than the other.
Some argue that administrative skills are the most fundamental of all the skills required of a
leader. These skills are extremely important to run an organization because you have to manage
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people, manage resources,and show technical competence. I believe that to be the best leader,
you also need to have strong interpersonal and conceptual skills.
For online teams, I think new skills are needed along with the nine that were discussed in the
chapter. I think that online groups need to have patience (interpersonal skill) and strong
communication skills. In an online setting, it can become very frustrating when members of a
group are not completing assignments on time. This often leaves other group members wondering
what is going on with this person and how they can negatively affect the group’s grade on certain
assignments. It is important to have patience because we all have busy schedules and it is hard to
coordinate things online. At the same time, communication skills need to be much higher in an
online setting than they are outside. They are important in both settings, but you can only
communicate through the keyboard in an online setting. If members of the group are not effective
communicators, they will be left behind by the other group members because they are not keeping
the group up to date about when they will be completing their portion of the assignments.
Desire to Lead
I think that the desire to lead other people motivates leaders to improve their skills. I think that
most people find it very rewarding to be able to be the trusted individual that people can look up
to and come to with their questions for guidance. I have found myself thinking at work, “Gee, I
wish I could have helped that coworker with their question/problem…” but I lack certain skills
that would have benefitted me in that situation. That scenario makes me want to improve my
leadership skills so I can have the confidence to help other people.
The Nature ofPeople
One’s belief about the nature of people and work can affect one’s style of leadership on
motivation in a negative and positive way. If a person believes that people naturally hate work,
they are not going to have strong administrative skills because they will not know how to manage
people. They will just automatically assume that there is nothing that they could say or do to
motivate this person. This assumption will negatively impact their interpersonal skills. On the
other hand, if a person believes that people do not naturally hate work, they may have strong
administrative skills and manage people well. They also may have strong interpersonal skills
which will help them to motivate people in many different ways.
Building Community with Out-Group Members
I do not have a high level of ability for building a sense of community among out-group members
and the larger group. I have only been in one group throughout college that has had a member
that I would classify as an out-group member. I got extremely annoyed when this person’s
behavior hindered the progress of the group. I don’t feel like I exclude out-group members, but
when these members choose not to be a part of the larger group, I do not go out of my way to
include them. If they are active participants with different opinions than the larger group, I try to
see things from their point of view instead of disregarding everything that they have to say.
Out-Group Members
My scores on the questionnaire suggested that I have a negative attitude toward out-group
members. I view group projects as an “everybody should pull their own weight” kind of thing. If
somebody does not want to participate because they don’t “feel” like it, I do not choose to try to
help these people feellike part of the group. I think this is why I scored in the low range on this
questionnaire. If somebody is an active participant in the group that shares different opinions than
the large majority, I do not exclude them because they are just providing their input to the group.
I try to see things from this person’s point of view and try to reach a consensus. Having a
difference of opinions is a part of life and should not be excluded from group discussions.
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Building Community
It is very important for a leader to build community within their group because their work will be
much more diverse. Groups that have a sense of community will be able to have different
opinions and see each other’s points of view. They will be more knowledgeable on certain topics
because they will have discussed the arguments on both sides. Building a sense of community on
a team also builds cohesiveness and trust. Everybody in the world is not going to get along
perfectly, but if a group can have tough discussions and still be productive, the best work will be
produced.
Empowering Out-group Members
I think that I am good at empowering people if they are willing to receive motivation in that way.
I will always try to motivate anybody to be the best that they can be if they have showed me that
they actually care about the work that they are doing. Sometimes people just need an extra push
to get the job done. I am not great at empowering people that simply do not care to be motivated.
If a group member has shown me that they do not care to be a member of the group and they just
want a free ride, I will not try to empower them. This is an area that I could work on because
maybe I might be missing the reason why they feellike they do not want to be a part of the group.
If I figured out this reason, I might be able to motivate them in a different way to get them to
participate.
Tolerance for Out-Group Members
Three specific actions that I could take that would show sensitivity and tolerance toward out-
group members would be trying to include members that do not fit in with the rest of the group
from the start,encouraging everyone in the group to listen or consider the minority opinion, and
not assuming that when a group member feels left out that it is his or her own fault.
Learning from Obstacles
Something that I have learned from an obstacle in my life is to never sacrifice my own happiness
to keep someone else happy or spare their feelings. It is important to always consider others in
some decisions that you make, but every decision that you make for yourself does not have to
take everybody else into consideration. Ultimately, the decisions that you make affect your life,
not your friend’s life or even your family’s life (in some cases),so it is important to consider your
own happiness first. Never make a decision that makes yourself miserable just to please others.
Keeping my Motivation
My motivation for attending college is that I want to have a good job and be able to provide for
my family when I am older. I don’t want to have to struggle to keep food on the table and the
utilities on in my house. I don’t have to be rich to be happy, but I want to be able to live a
comfortable life without worrying that I won’t be able to afford my mortgage payments when I
buy a house. My current job keeps me motivated to keep going to college. I work in the service
industry and it can be quite hectic at times. Most customers are nice and understand that
waiters/waitresses basically work for tips only, but there are always a few customers that can’t be
satisfied and don’t leave a tip. These customers can completely ruin your night by not tipping
because they don’t understand that the waiter/waitress doesn’t get paid an hourly wage to fund
their bills. Working in the restaurant industry can easily feel like volunteer work when you come
across customers like that. This motivates me to continue pursing my degree so I do not have to
rely on other peoples’ generosity to pay my bills.
Overcoming Obstacles
I consider my parents to be leaders in my life. They have both helped me overcome obstacles
throughout the years. They do this by continuously supporting every decision that I make whether
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they agree with it or not. They always reassure me that they are not here to judge my life and that
they want the best for me and want me to be happy. They also help me clarify my goals and
define my path when I am unsure about how to accomplish something in my life. Since they see
thing in my life from an outside perspective, they are able to give me sound advice that I may
have not considered because I hadn’t thought of the ideas.
Transformational Relationships
My leadership emphasis focuses on skills, process,and some emphasis on traits. I see these
indicators in the way that I described my initial definition of leadership. I described leadership as
a process where an individual has the ability to influence and inspire their followers. I also view
leaders as people who are naturally good at certain things that they do in their daily lives. To be a
leader, I believe that one should be competent in all aspects of the goal that they might be trying
to lead a group of people to accomplish so they are able to help with all of the steps required to
achieve that goal. The lowest score,relationship, tells me that I need to be more open to the
concept of leaders and followers influencing each other instead of just followers being influenced
by the leader.
What Leadership Means to Me
Leadership is a process where somebody has the ability to positively influence a group of
individuals to complete a common goal. A leader must be able to inspire others in many different
ways to perform up to their highest standards whether it is in the workplace or outside of the
workplace. When I think of somebody who is a leader, I think of a person who knows how to
help many people in severalkinds of ways. A leader should know how to teach or set an example
in severalways to help their followers understand a process. If a follower does not understand
something, they should feel comfortable going to the leader for guidance to take steps toward
achieving their goal.
My Beliefs about Leadership
I see leadership as an influence process where an individual influences a group of people to
achieve a common goal. Before completing the questionnaire, this was exactly how I viewed
leadership. I believe that it is important that leaders influence their followers to work together to
achieve their goals and that they are always available to guide the followers in the proper
direction. One aspect of viewing leadership as a process that I disagree with is that it is described
as somebody who does not have a certain trait or ability that resides in them. Although I agree
that leadership is portrayed by an interactive even that occurs between the leader and the
followers, I also believe that leaders have certain characteristics, such as confidence,
decisiveness, and good social skills that give them the ability to influence a group of people.
The perspective that is lease like my own perspective is leadership as a relationship. This
perspective involves communication between leaders and followers rather than on the qualities of
the leader. Instead of the leader influencing the followers, the leader collaborates with the
followers to achieve a common goal. I do not disagree with this perspective, but I have been more
exposed to the idea that the leader is in charge of a group of followers so that the followers will
know exactly who to go to when guidance is needed or a second opinion is desired. I think the
relationship perspective makes reaching a common goal more difficult than other perspectives
because if severalpeople in a group have severaldifferent ideas, it may be difficult to choose one
way to get a project completed without upsetting someone else.
Leadership as Learned vs. Natural Ability
Although I think that leadership can be learned, I think the best leaders have the natural ability to
lead and influence a group of individuals. Some people are naturally confident, social, and
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decisive, while others can learn to inherit these traits. From my experience in dealing with being
in a leader-follower setting, I always felt more comfortable and confident with leaders that were
naturally good at helping others understand processes,had the confidence to inspire groups of
people, and who were naturally good at the task we were trying to accomplish. These leaders that
had the natural ability to lead a team did not seem like they were following written directions on
how to be a leader or just going through the motions that leaders complete. Everything flowed
together nicely even when the teams encountered obstacles.
What I can do to become a Better Leader
Something that I could do to become a better leader is to have more self confidence in my ability
to communicate information to others. I am terrified of public speaking even if I know
everybody in the room. Sometimes I tend to question my thoughts or opinions on certain subjects
even though I know some of them are correct because I fear upsetting people with my opinions. I
am never the first person to speak up when I know the answer to a question or I know that
something somebody is doing is wrong. I want to be the kind of leader that my followers could
come to when they needed a second opinion or guidance with a problem. I know that I am
knowledgeable about certain topics and I would like to have the self-confidence to communicate
this information without fear of sounding like a “know-it-all” or offending someone.
Most Difficult Conflict Style
The most difficult conflict style for me to implement is competition. I think this is because having
a competition style for handling conflict involves individuals failing to recognize the concerns
and needs of others. I have always been a person that is compassionate and cares how other
people are feeling. I know you can’t please everybody, but I try to consider everyone’s point of
view during a conflict. When dealing with a conflict, I never try to control or persuade others in
order to help myself because that does not solve the root problem. That is very self-centered and
self-interested.
Appropriate Times for Conflict
As a leader, an appropriate time to engage in conflict would be when tension between group
members/followers is starting to be detrimental to the end goal. A leader never wants to take sides
during a conflict because the person on the opposite side will feel like the leader is playing
favorites. Sometimes, the leader is forced to step into the conflict when the problem between the
followers is preventing the group from being productive. When this happens, the leader should
listen to all sides of the conflict and try to help the followers collaborate and come up with the
best solution for all group members.
Separating the Person from the Problem
When dealing with difficult coworkers at work, interpersonal conflicts often arise. When I dislike
a person and they contribute to a conflict at work, I am less likely to listen to their opinions
simply because I dislike them and I think that everything they say it outrageous even if it sounds
valid. This is a problem that I need to work on because a good leader is able to see all sides of a
conflict whether they like the person or not. I think that separating the person from the problem
would have help tremendously because that allows a person to just hear the opinion without
attaching it to whoever is saying it. This helps people be more open-minded and make their own
opinions on the conflict as well.
Unmanageable Conflicts
The kinds of conflicts that I think are unmanageable are conflicts between people who are
unwilling to hear an opposing viewpoint. There are always some people that think that they are
right 100% of the time and refuse to hear any opinion that is different from theirs. These people
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are extremely difficult to work with because they do not know how to compromise or even listen
to other people. It is impossible to solve a conflict entirely between people who are not willing to
consider someone else’s point of view.
Fisher and Ury’s Method
You could use Fisher and Ury’s method of principled negotiation to solve a problem that
concerns different values by focusing on principle 3; invent options for mutual gains. This
principle involves inventing new options to resolve the conflict to the satisfaction of both parties.
People involved in the conflict need to brainstorm and search hard for creative solutions to the
conflict. These solutions will have to consider both sides with different values. Focusing on the
interest of the parties in conflict can result in creative thinking. Most people are able to find
common ground in every situation. Once the common ground is established, solutions that benefit
both parties can be identified.
Societal Conflicts vs.Interpersonal Conflicts
Societal conflicts are different from interpersonal conflicts because they do not directly involve a
relationship with a specific person. Societal problems can be massive problems that affect a large
amount of people while interpersonal conflicts can deal with the relationships between one or
more people. Some concepts from this chapter that would be helpful in dealing with all conflict
situations would be separating the person from the problem and fractionation. Separating the
person from the conflict is an important concept because we enable ourselves to recognize others’
points of view and encourages us to be attentive to our relationships during conflict. When we
separate the people from the problem, we are more inclined to work with others to solve the
problem. Fractionation is an important concept because it involves breaking down large conflicts
into smaller, more manageable pieces. This makings solving conflicts easier because people are
solving smaller problems one at a time instead of trying to solve a large conflict that involves
many aspects.
Conflict in Voluntary Group Settings
A common type of conflict that I have seen in voluntary group setting is relational conflict and
issues of control. In a voluntary setting, I feellike some people want to feellike they have all of
the control because they want to be the leader. Having control increases feeling of potency and
makes us feel less helpless. This causes tension among group members because it can feellike a
constant power struggle between everybody in the group instead of everybody wanting to work
together as a team.
Assumed Role/Status
My strongest leadership traits are persistence,trustworthiness, dependability, and diligence.
Throughout my life, I have always been very persistent. I never lose sight of the end goal that has
been set even when distractions come into play. I will do anything to accomplish my goals
whether it is in my personal life or at work. I am also a very trustworthy person. I do not like to
sugar-coat the truth because I know that this does not help other people reach their goals. Even
though the truth may hurt sometimes, it is better to be honest and help others improve than it is to
not make a difference in their lives. I am also a very reliable person. People know that they can
depend on me because I have never given anyone a reason to think otherwise. If I say I am going
to do something, I do it to the best of my ability. When working toward a goal, I am very
hardworking. I know that working hard now will benefit me greatly in my future.
My weakest leadership traits are sensitivity and friendliness. I think that this has something to do
with my honesty. Even though it is great to be honest, it is important that your opinions of others
are expressed in a kind and warm way instead of dishing out the harsh truth. I don’t always show
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tolerance for people in all situations. I know that these are areas that I need to improve on to
become the best leader that I can be.
The Most Appealing Leader
The leader that I found most appealing was Bill Gates because he is a very determined man who
had a vision when he was 13 years old and built it into an empire. The text explains that he would
work 12 or more hours a day to promote his interest in software product development. This takes
dedication and diligence. The thing that I find most remarkable about his leadership is the fact
that he is still trying to make a difference in the world even though he has already built this large,
successfulcompany. Bill Gates and his wife established the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
that works to improve the lives of people around the world. This shows that he is very caring,
friendly, sensitive, and empathetic, which I view as some of the most important leadership traits
that one could possess.
My Type ofLeadership
As I reflect on my own leadership traits, the one that I think has been instilled in me the most is
my diligence. Some of my leadership qualities have evolved since I was younger, but my
diligence is something that I have always had. I am a very hard worker and I will always give my
best effort when trying to complete important goals. Over time, I think I have become more
sensitive and friendly than I used to be, even though I would still like to improve these traits
more.
I believe that I am a stronger leader today that I was five years ago because as people grow older,
they have the opportunity to live through many different experiences and learn several different
things. I have been exposed to various situations that have involved great leadership, as well as
poor leadership, and I have learned what I would do in certain situations if I was the leader.
Changing Leadership Traits
A leadership trait that I would like to change is my self-confidence. I do not feel like I have a
high self-confidence level because I feellike I am always second guessing myself. Some actions
that I need to take to change this trait is trusting my gut feeling more often. I know that I may not
always be right 100% of the time, but if I learn to trust myself and see that I am not always 100%
wrong, I think that I will be able to raise my self-confidence. Another thing that I could do is take
initiative more often in group settings. When there are many people in a group with strong
personalities, I tend to just let the more dominant people take control because I assume that they
know what they are doing. I need to be able to speak up and let my opinions be heard.
Leadership Skills
My leadership skills are almost evenly divided between administrative skills, interpersonal skills,
and conceptual skills. All three of my scores were in the very high range. My highest score was in
conceptual skills, which deal with working with concepts and ideas. These include problem
solving, strategic planning, and creating vision. I use conceptual skills in my workplace on a daily
basis. We are always creating and communicating new ideas that help the company achieve its
goals and solve problems.
My Leadership Skills
Based on what I know about myself and the scores I received on the questionnaire, I would
describe my leadership skills as highly conceptual. Working with concepts and ideas comes
naturally to me. My strongest conceptual skill would be problem solving. Whenever I am faced
with a problem, I am always quick to ask, “What went wrong?” and, “How can it be fixed?” I am
never one to sit back and wait for somebody else to try to solve a problem for me.
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My weakest leadership skill would be social perceptiveness. Even though I scored very high in
this area,I still think that I could improve this skill. Specifically, I think I could improve on
knowing how others would respond to any proposed change in the organization. If I knew how
they would respond beforehand, I could understand how the change may affect all of the people
involved. This would help me present the change in a more effective way.
I think my leadership skills could have a positive impact on my role as a leader because my skills
were almost evenly distributed between the three categories. All three of these skills are essential
to being a great leader. One skill is not more important than the other, so it is important to possess
strong skills in all three categories.
Emotional Intelligence as an Interpersonal Skill
I believe that emotional intelligence should be considered an interpersonal skill because these
skills can help leaders work effectively with subordinates, peers, and superiors to accomplish
goals. Interpersonal skills are people skills. Emotional intelligence deals with a person’s ability to
understand their emotions, as well as others’ emotions, and then apply them to life issues. Once a
person can understand their own emotions, they will be better suited to understand others’
emotions. A leader who knows how to read others’ emotions is better suited to respond
appropriately to their wants and needs. They will also be able to have empathy for other people
because they will know how to connect and understand them.
My emotions help me to be a better leader because I can use my experiences to connect with
other people. Since I know the feelings of being happy, sad, angry, or scared,I will know how to
respond to other people when they feel that way. I know the kind of leadership that helps me get
through certain emotions, so I will be able to emulate that role if I am ever in that situation.
The Most Important Leadership Skills
I do not think that any one kind of skill is better than the other. I believe that to be the best leader,
a person needs to have a mix of all of these types of skills. It is important to have administrative
skills so a leader can run the organization and carry out its purposes. It is also important to have
interpersonal skills so a leader can work effectively with all types of people. It is equally
important to have conceptual skills so a leader can be an effective problem solver, strategic
planner, and create vision. All three of these skills can be combined to make the best leader
possible.
I think that lower level leadership requires the same skills as upper level leadership because a
leader will always have to help the organization carry out goals, communicate effectively with
people, and work with concepts and ideas. It does not matter if you are the CEO of a huge
company, or the manager of a restaurant. If a person does not have these skills, they will not be an
effective leader in any position.
Social Perceptiveness
Two specific actions that would help me become more socially perceptive are being more
sensitive to how my ideas could impact other people and become more aware of the demands of
different people in the organization.
Before acting on any of my ideas, I could examine how my ideas could impact other people. I
don’t want to be lumped into the category of my self-centered and self-interested, so I could ask
for the opinions of other people on how a certain change could effect a large amount of people.
Ultimately, I would make the best decision for the organization, not just myself.
Before coming up with any new ideas, I could survey the different groups of people in the
organization to become more aware of their specific demands. This way, I could come up with
new ideas that would benefit their success in the company.
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Problem Solving
When dealing with problem solving, I am quick to address the situation. I never sit around and
wait for someone to fix the problem for me. To become a more effective problem solver, I could
slow down and generate more than one solution and consult others as to what the best solution
actually is.
Even though I am quick to start solving problems, many problems are complex and can be solved
more than one way. Instead of just selecting the first solution that comes to mind, I could come up
with severalsolutions and choose the one that is best for the situation.
Before choosing the best solution, I could consult other people that are familiar with the problem
and gather their opinions about what the best solution is. This will ensure that the best solution to
the problem is chosen.
Drawing Connections
My leadership behavior falls between being task-oriented and relationship-oriented. My task
score is a little bit higher than my relationship score, but falls on the low end of the moderately
high range. These results are not shocking to me because I do not like to procrastinate and wait
until the last minute to get things done. At the same time, I do not like leaders that act more like
dictators and could care less about their relationship with their subordinates. My scores confirm
that my leadership behavior reflects the kind of leadership behavior that works best for me when I
am a subordinate.
My Leadership Behavior
I would describe my leadership behavior in the midrange between task-oriented and relationship-
oriented. I think it is very important to have a good relationship with subordinates because I feel
that they would be more inclined to accept me as a leader if they could see that I care about our
individual relationships and the atmosphere in which they work. At the same time, work still
needs to get completed on time and with good quality. It is important to focus on the proper
procedures, activities, and goal accomplishments, but this cannot happen if your relationship is
poor with your followers.
My strength in relationship-oriented behavior is that I can relate to almost anybody because of the
way that I was raised. I was raised to accept people and to try to get to know people as best as I
can. I feel that people can trust me if they ever need my support. I also have a strength in task-
oriented behavior because I am organized and get things completed on time and with good
quality. I pay great attention to detail and deadlines in all of the work that I complete. An area
that I consider a weakness is giving constructive criticism to others. I do not like to hurt other
people’s feelings even if I know that this will help them improve their work in the future. I know
that this is an important aspect of being a good leader, so I am trying to improve this weakness. I
think building a good relationship with my followers will help me in this area.
Task and Relationship Biases
Some biases that I maintain against task-oriented behavior styles is that the leader can come off as
self-centered and rude. I feel like task-oriented leaders think that they know everything and are in
charge of the whole project. This comes off as very rude because sometimes they do not like to
listen to other group member’s opinions or ideas. Deep down, I know that this is not the case,but
it is hard to get passed this. A task-oriented leader just wants to make sure that the project gets
done correctly, on time, and with good quality. They really care about the outcome for all
members.
Some biases that I maintain against relationship-oriented behavior styles is that the leader seems
to care more about the entire group liking them instead of the task at hand. Sometimes they would
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rather socialize about what they are going to do over the weekend instead of taking steps toward
completing the task. I know that this is not always true and that to complete good quality work, it
is important to build a strong, trustworthy relationship with all group members, even if
completing the task takes extra time.
These biases affect my leadership because I want to have a behavior that lies right in the middle
of the two extremes. It is important to get tasks completed, but it is just as important to build a
strong relationship with subordinates.
Integrating Task and Relationship Behaviors
I do not see integrating task and relationship behaviors as a challenge in my own leadership
because I my scores reflect what I like to see in a leader. If I act in a way that promotes both
styles of leadership, task and relationship, I think that others will find it easier to trust me as a
leader. I integrate task behaviors by setting deadlines for things to get complete. As long as my
followers are getting their tasks completed on time and with good quality, I do not dictate exactly
how things should be done. I understand that everybody has different ways that they learn and
complete work, but as long as deadlines are not missed, I should not be dictating every single
move. I integrate relationship behaviors by trying to get to know all of my group
members/followers before we start the task. This way, we can all figure out what our strengths
and weaknesses are before we start the task so we can divide responsibilities accordingly.
Improving Leadership Style
If I were to change and effort to improve my leadership, I would try to become more relationship
oriented. I think that I am good at connecting with people and gaining their trust in the beginning
of a project, but I think that I could improve my sensitivity and compassion toward others during
the project. I like to get things completed no matter how busy my schedule is, but I tend to get
frustrated when others do not do the same because they are busy as well. Even if they complete
their part of the project on time, I still find myself getting frustrated because of the time that it
took. I need to learn to have more compassion and sensitivity toward these people because
ultimately, they completed their part of the project on time and they did not prevent me from
completing any of my work. My schedule is busy, so their schedule is probably just as busy.
Task and Relationship Changes
Three specific task or relationship changes that I could carry out are making to-do lists of things
that need to be completed, showing concern for the personal well-being of others, and expressing
positive feelings toward others in the group. Creating to-do lists helps keep myself and the group
in line to complete all of the necessary projects. Showing more concern for the personal well-
being of others will help me improve my compassion and sensitivity toward others and will help
me understand my group members better. Expressing positive feelings toward others will show
the group members that I appreciate all of the hard work that they are completing and reassure
our good relationship.
Conflict Styles
My strongest conflict styles are avoidance and collaboration. After completing an exercise using
two different people that I may experience conflict with, my scores were very different. Person A
is my best friend, while Person B is somebody that I work on severaldifferent group projects with
at school. I have very different relationships with both of these people. My relationship with
Person A does not have to be professional because we are best friends. We do not have many
conflicts because we get along really well for the most part. When we do have conflicts, we
usually take time to explore our differences and see what aspects of the conflict that we agree on.
Then, we pick the solution or outcome that works in both of our best interests. Also, if the
conflict is miniscule, I will use an avoidance style because the potential damage from a huge
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disagreement breaking out is not worth the loss of our friendship. My relationship with Person B
is much more professional than my relationship with Person A. Since Person B and I spend most
of our time working on school projects when we are together, I use a very collaborative style with
her when dealing with conflict. This allows both of us to include our input on group projects and
come up with a way to include both of our views in our final solution. My avoidance score with
Person B was higher than I thought that it would be because I was under the impression that she
would be somebody who I would not be worried about confronting conflict with. This may be
due to the fact that since we have been working on school projects for so long together, we have
developed a friendship in addition to a business relationship.
My Reaction to Conflict
I react to conflict in several different ways. The style that I scored the highest on was
collaboration. When I am dealing with a conflict with somebody, I believe that the conflict is not
solved until each side is reasonably satisfied. If one person in the conflict is unsatisfied with the
solution, the same conflict will come up at a later time. I like to take time to listen to other
people’s differences and try to find common ground in my opinion. After we have all had time to
listen to each other’s perspectives,we choose the solution that best satisfies every person in the
conflict.
My past history has influenced my conflict style because when my opinions have not been
considered in past conflicts, I tend to get even more upset than I was when the initial conflict
started. I do not think that is an appropriate feeling for somebody to have when they are dealing
with a conflict with somebody. Every person’s opinions or views should be considered so
everybody can collaborate and come up with the best resolution.
Most Common Type ofRelational Conflict
The most common type of relational conflict that I have seen in the conflicts that I have dealt with
are esteem issues. I see a lot of conflict while I am at work because some of the employees have
expressed that they do not feel like the managers are acknowledging them for being a viable asset
in the organization. They have said that they feel like their position in the company does not
matter and that they could be easily replaced if needed because their strengths are not being
recognized. This could be resolved by managers taking time to acknowledge the great things that
the employees do in the company to the entire staff so the employees will feel like they are
actually making a difference.
Actual Conflict
Sydney and I are coworkers and also best friends. We both work at the host stand at Rock Bottom
Brewery and whenever the company hires a new host, they are assigned to be trained by one of
the seasoned hosts at the host stand. The managers chose me to train the new employee over
Sydney because they thought that I was better at explaining concepts and I was more patient.
When they told me that I was going to be the trainer, I immediately knew that Sydney was going
to be very upset because she is never chosen to be the trainer and is constantly told that she is not
doing her job up to the company’s expectations. I also knew that Sydney would take her anger out
on me because she would expect me to decline the opportunity to be the trainer because I am
supposed to be “on her side” because we are best friends. Of course, I did not decline the
opportunity to be a trainer because that is not professional and Sydney was extremely upset with
me. She felt like I betrayed her. She expressed to me that I hurt her feelings and cared more about
advancing in the company rather than our friendship. She also explained that by me not sticking
up for her to the managers about her training ability that I was basically agreeing with them about
her sub-par performance. I knew that she was really upset at the managers for not choosing her,
but she was taking her frustration out on me. I felt like it would be extremely unprofessional for
me to decline the training opportunity because the company needed me to help with the new
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employee. I understood that Sydney’s feelings were hurt, but I was hoping that she would have
been able to understand that I was not agreeing with the managers about her performance and that
I was just trying to do what was best for the company. I thought she would be happy for me that
the managers were trusting me with this opportunity, but I was wrong. This caused a lot of
tension between Sydney and me for a very long time. We are still best friends, but this is a subject
that we try to avoid talking about because I can tell she is still upset.
Story, Analogy, Metaphor-Innovation/Creativity Styles
I am in the high range in two of the four factors that contribute for establishing a constructive
climate. These factors are clarifying norms and promoting standards of excellence. I think it is
very important to develop norms in a group setting so every member will be on the same page
when it comes to how things are supposed to run in the company. Clarifying norms with group
members will make it easier for everybody to create an environment that is cohesive and
productive. Promoting standards of excellence is also very important in a group setting. A leader
is responsible for articulating clear, concrete expectations for team members, review the results
submitted by team members, and reward team members for achieving results. By promoting
standards of excellence, leaders will be better suited for achieving these goals.
Establishing a Constructive Climate
My strengths for establishing a constructive climate for a group or an organization are clarifying
norms and promoting standards of excellence. By establishing rules and behaviors that are shared
by group members, strong cohesiveness will be built. Groups that are cohesive work better
together and are more productive. By promoting standards of excellence, group members will
have a standard to follow that is set by the leader. Group members will be able to find out what
they need to know and what skills they need to acquire to be successfuland function effectively.
They will also know how much initiative and effort they need to put into their work, how group
members are expected to treat one another, significant deadlines, the common goal that needs to
be achieved, and what the consequences are if they fail to achieve the group goals.
My weaknesses for establishing a constructive climate for a group or an organization are
providing structure and building cohesiveness. I did not score in the low range for providing
structure, but there is room for improvement. I think I could improve this factor by giving a clear
picture to group members about what their duties and responsibilities are instead of just telling
everybody to do what they feel comfortable with. I could improve building cohesiveness by
encouraging passive members to become more involved in the group so they do not feelleft out.
It is easy to communicate with the members who are not shy, but to build the best cohesiveness, it
is important to include passive members’ input in all discussions and decisions.
Developing Cohesiveness
I think it is extremely important to build cohesiveness in a group setting. Building cohesiveness
makes all members of the group feel like they are on the same level and just as important as
everybody else to the final outcome of the project. In the Hewlett-Packard example,the new CEO
decided to take down the barriers in the parking lot and move executives into cubicles to make
everyone feel connected and worthy in the company.
I have experienced cohesiveness in a group. In one of my marketing classes,we all got to choose
our own groups based on the different skills that each member possessed. This made working in
our group great because we all needed one another and that person’s particular skill to get our
work done. All members were extremely important to getting the job done because we all had
very different roles that required many different skills.
23
Group Rules and Norms
I agree that group rules and norms are very important to effective teams. Groups that have
established rules and norms know what behaviors are acceptable and unacceptable, what is right
and wrong, and what is allowed or not allowed. Norms and rules are important because they have
such a strong impact on how the group functions and whether the group is successfulor not.
When I work in groups, I like to have norms and rules that are established because the work goes
much smoother. When members “just know” what things are acceptable and which ones are not,
the process runs much smoother and goals get completed.
Recognizing Others
Rewarding and praising is something that comes easy to me as a leader. I have worked in groups
before as a follower and I know how it feels to be rewarded for doing a great job on a project.
This gave me the motivation to try to work harder and to the best of my ability on every other
project after that. When a leader recognizes the good work that their followers are completing,
they will be more inclined to keep exceeding expectations. As a leader, I will always do
everything that I can to keep my followers motivated to contribute their best work.
Important Group Values
The three values that are most important to me in a group setting are trust, diligence, and honesty.
I would demonstrate trust by always completing my assignments on time so group members are
not missing vital information in the project. I would demonstrate diligence by working hard on all
of my assignments to provide the best group input for my part in the project. I would demonstrate
honesty by giving truthful feedback on other group members’ parts of the assignment so they
could improve their work if it fell below expectations.
Group Agenda
Providing an agenda for a group constitutes leadership because it keeps the group tied to a
schedule so they are able to complete tasks on time. By providing an agenda, the leader is
creating structure for the group. This gives meaning to the purposes of the group’s activities. This
is also a way build a sense of security, direction, and stability within the group. This is a great
form of leadership because the leader is able to communicate the group’s goals to all of the
members.
Drawbacks ofProviding Structure
There are not many drawbacks of providing structure for a group because there are so many
benefits to working in an organized manner. One drawback that I can think of is that followers of
the group may think that the leader is being bossy and rude in the way that they go about
providing structure. This could be off-putting to followers and it might have the opposite effect
on the group.
Group Cohesiveness
It is possible to have too much cohesiveness in a group. An outcome of this may be that valuable
discussions or debates will be unable to happen because everybody will just agree with each
other. It is important to have opposing views or opinions to get the most out of a group
discussion. That way, the solution to the problem/case will have a diverse aspect to it. Problems
need to be looked at from all angles to understand them completely.
Out-Groups are a Necessity
Out-groups are necessary for an organization or community because they will make the large
majority of people consider the minority opinion. Instead of just having a large group of people
that agree on everything, out-group members will challenge their opinions and may bring radical
24
or unpopular views. Out-group members can also help other members of the group become more
compassionate toward them because the majority members will have to find alternative ways to
communicate with or empower them. In the realworld, there will never be a group of people that
are working together without out-group members. People that are not in the out-group need to
learn how to include them in all aspects of decision making because their opinions are important
as well.
Task Completion/Group Cohesion
My strongest path-goal leadership style is supportive. The supportive style provides human
connection to subordinates that need extra motivation to complete their tasks. This helps make
tasks more interesting and tolerable for people. I can see how I scored the highest on this style
because having support from my leaders during mundane tasks helps me perform better, so I want
to be able to offer the same style to my followers. I could improve my abilities in an
achievement-oriented style of leadership by establishing a high standard of excellence for my
followers and always motivating them to keep improving. I could also focus on improving my
confidence so I am able to help people achieve challenging goals.
Helping Others with Problems
When it comes to helping people who are having problems, I think that I am able to give them the
support that they need to achieve their goals. I am comfortable setting goals and giving directions
to others when I am the leader. I like to set small goals at first so my followers can focus on one
thing at a time to help them build toward the larger end goal. I use my past experience of working
as a follower for a leader to help myself build my leadership abilities. I know that I need clear
directions from my leader to achieve my goals as a follower.
Motivating Followers
I would help my followers feel competent by always reassuring them of their great work after
they completed a project or goal correctly. This helps followers know that they are understanding
the concepts and are “competent” in a certain area. I would help my followers meet their
expectations by making sure that they are setting realistic goals for themselves. I would never
expect a person to meet an unrealistic goal, so I will not set the standard at an unachievable level.
This also means being aware of what my followers’ goals are so I can tell them if they are
realistic or not. I would help my followers value what they do by providing positive feedback or
other rewards for exceptional work. I can also remind my followers of the whole reason why we
started a project in the first place and the outcome that we are trying to achieve.
Clarifying the Goal and Defining the Path
To help clarify goals, it is important to articulate them in a clear way to followers to help point
them in the right direction to achieve their end goal. Without a clear picture, followers will be
confused of the end goal, so it is important for leaders to clearly define them. This could be
achieved by writing the goals down for the followers so there is no confusion. It is also important
to define the path to achieving those specific goals. This could be done by clearing stating how
the followers are supposed to achieve specific goals instead of expecting them to figure it out
themselves. The leader could write out the specific directions and how to achieve them and also
set deadlines for when specific things need to be completed.
Improving Path-Goal Styles
I want to improve my achievement-oriented style of leadership because this will help me in
dealing with individuals who are not challenged. I could improve this style by focusing on
improving my confidence level. If I have higher confidence, I will feel more comfortable
challenging people to perform at their highest level. By expecting a lot from subordinates, I can
25
help with their motivation to want to reach higher. I can make sure that I exhibit this style next
time I am leading a group by establishing a high standard of excellence and encouraging my
followers to not just give an “ok” effort in their projects. They need to be able to give their best
work on every project that is assigned to them.
Feedback
I asked five people that know me personally to give me a rating between 1 and 5, 5 being the
highest, and 1 being the lowest, of what they perceive to be my strongest leadership traits. The
answers are posted below.
Leadership Traits
Rater 1 Rater 2 Rater 3 Rater 4 Rater 5
Average
Rating
Self-
Rating
Articulate 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
Perceptive 4 3 3 4 3 3.4 4
Self-confident 4 4 4 4 3 3.8 3
Self-assured 4 4 4 4 5 4.2 4
Persistent 5 5 4 5 5 4.8 5
Determined 5 5 5 5 4 4.8 4
Trustworthy 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
Dependable 5 5 5 4 4 4.6 5
Friendly 3 4 3 4 3 3.4 3
Outgoing 4 3 3 4 4 3.6 3
Conscientious 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
Diligent 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
Sensitive 3 3 3 3 4 3.2 3
Empathetic 4 4 3 4 3 3.6 4
The scores that I received on this questionnaire provided me with information about how I see
myself and how others view me as a leader. For the most part, the rater’s scores were fairly close
to my own ratings. There were a few ratings that were a little farther off than my ratings. These
traits were self-confidence, being determined, and outgoing. I gave myself a rating of 3 for self-
confidence because I feellike this is one of the areas where I need to improve the most. I
constantly feel like I am second guessing myself instead of just following my gut. The average
score from the raters was 3.8. This is much different from my perception of myself. This may be
due to me having my own self-confidence battles in my head instead of expressing my
uncertainty to others around me. I gave myself a rating of 4 for being determined. I feel like this
trait goes hand in hand with self-confidence which I view as an area for improvement. I will
always take a stand when dealing with problems, but I can’t say that I always act with certainty.
The average score from the raters was 4.8. This suggests that they believe that I do act with
certainty even though I may not be confident in all of the decisions I make. I gave myself a rating
of 3 for being outgoing because I know that I am a very shy person. I get along well with others
but I am usually not one to be able to talk to anybody about anything. The average score from the
raters was 3.6. This is much higher than I viewed myself. This might be because I am a nice
person. Even though I am shy, once I get to know people, I usually get along well with others.
26
What does “To Lean in the Discomfort ofWork” Mean to You?
To lean into the discomfort of work means that you have to let yourself be vulnerable to succeed
in life. Everything in the world is not black and white. You will never know the outcomes of
doing something for certain until after it already happens. This can be uncomfortable for many
people, including myself. Regarding my own qualifications for leadership, there are many things
that make me uncomfortable. These include having other people’s success depend on my actions,
leading in hard times, failing an entire group as a leader, public speaking, and not knowing how
my group members feelabout my leadership styles.
Shame
Shame is “a painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or
foolish behavior.” Shame develops when someone feels like their own actions to not live up to
the standards that they believe (or have been told to believe) in. These standards could be set by
the way they were raised or the way that society has corrupted beliefs. Shame is uncontrollable
and happens to almost everybody. Shame can also occur due to embarrassment,dishonor,
disgrace, or inadequacy.
Worthiness
Worthiness is a sense of one’s own value as a person. This is measured in their self-esteem or
self-respect and their favorable opinion for themselves. A person develops worthiness by
understanding that nobody in the world is perfect and that everybody is different. This comes
with having a high self-esteem and performing activities to the best of your ability. I think that
people who feelworthy have good self-confidence because everywhere that you go, there are
negative people in the world that try to bring you down.
Vulnerability as “The Birthplace ofJoy and Love”
Vulnerability is “the birthplace of joy and love” because being vulnerable means to open up you
heart and mind to things that can be terrifying. When you let everybody in the world see you for
exactly who you are,joy and love can prosper. Without being vulnerable, you will always be
hiding something from people and will not be able to completely let someone into your life.
Being vulnerable means being honest, open, and kind.
Vulnerability and Leadership
Vulnerability relates to leadership because leaders that are relationship-oriented tend to be more
vulnerable. They are open to sharing things about their personal life with their followers because
this builds trust and makes it easier to relate to others. I think that leaders should be open about
their weaknesses because they will eventually become visible to followers whether or not the
leader decides to share them. If the leader is open about their weaknesses,the followers can
attempt to help the leader become stronger in those areas if they have a good relationship.
Can a Person Learn to Care About Other People?
I don’t think you can “learn” to care about other people. Some people are better at caring than
others, but I think everybody cares to some degree. I think you can improve at being more
sensitive and compassionate by empathizing with others and being vulnerable. If a leader can find
commonalities with their followers, they will build strong, caring relationships with them.
Most Difficult Conflict Style
The most difficult conflict style for me to implement is competition. I think this is because having
a competition style for handling conflict involves individuals failing to recognize the concerns
and needs of others. I have always been a person that is compassionate and cares how other
people are feeling. I know you can’t please everybody, but I try to consider everyone’s point of
27
view during a conflict. When dealing with a conflict, I never try to control or persuade others in
order to help myself because that does not solve the root problem. That is very self-centered and
self-interested.
Appropriate Times for Conflict
As a leader, an appropriate time to engage in conflict would be when tension between group
members/followers is starting to be detrimental to the end goal. A leader never wants to take sides
during a conflict because the person on the opposite side will feel like the leader is playing
favorites. Sometimes, the leader is forced to step into the conflict when the problem between the
followers is preventing the group from being productive. When this happens, the leader should
listen to all sides of the conflict and try to help the followers collaborate and come up with the
best solution for all group members.
Separating the Person from the Problem
When dealing with difficult coworkers at work, interpersonal conflicts often arise. When I dislike
a person and they contribute to a conflict at work, I am less likely to listen to their opinions
simply because I dislike them and I think that everything they say it outrageous even if it sounds
valid. This is a problem that I need to work on because a good leader is able to see all sides of a
conflict whether they like the person or not. I think that separating the person from the problem
would have help tremendously because that allows a person to just hear the opinion without
attaching it to whoever is saying it. This helps people be more open-minded and make their own
opinions on the conflict as well.
Unmanageable Conflicts
The kinds of conflicts that I think are unmanageable are conflicts between people who are
unwilling to hear an opposing viewpoint. There are always some people that think that they are
right 100% of the time and refuse to hear any opinion that is different from theirs. These people
are extremely difficult to work with because they do not know how to compromise or even listen
to other people. It is impossible to solve a conflict entirely between people who are not willing to
consider someone else’s point of view.
Fisher and Ury’s Method
You could use Fisher and Ury’s method of principled negotiation to solve a problem that
concerns different values by focusing on principle 3; invent options for mutual gains. This
principle involves inventing new options to resolve the conflict to the satisfaction of both parties.
People involved in the conflict need to brainstorm and search hard for creative solutions to the
conflict. These solutions will have to consider both sides with different values. Focusing on the
interest of the parties in conflict can result in creative thinking. Most people are able to find
common ground in every situation. Once the common ground is established, solutions that benefit
both parties can be identified.
Societal Conflicts vs.Interpersonal Conflicts
Societal conflicts are different from interpersonal conflicts because they do not directly involve a
relationship with a specific person. Societal problems can be massive problems that affect a large
amount of people while interpersonal conflicts can deal with the relationships between one or
more people. Some concepts from this chapter that would be helpful in dealing with all conflict
situations would be separating the person from the problem and fractionation. Separating the
person from the conflict is an important concept because we enable ourselves to recognize others’
points of view and encourages us to be attentive to our relationships during conflict. When we
separate the people from the problem, we are more inclined to work with others to solve the
problem. Fractionation is an important concept because it involves breaking down large conflicts
28
into smaller, more manageable pieces. This makings solving conflicts easier because people are
solving smaller problems one at a time instead of trying to solve a large conflict that involves
many aspects.
Conflict in Voluntary Group Settings
A common type of conflict that I have seen in voluntary group setting is relational conflict and
issues of control. In a voluntary setting, I feellike some people want to feellike they have all of
the control because they want to be the leader. Having control increases feeling of potency and
makes us feel less helpless. This causes tension among group members because it can feellike a
constant power struggle between everybody in the group instead of everybody wanting to work
together as a team.
Part II- Self As Leader
Overview
After completing several questionnaires and exercises about different aspects of leadership, I believe
that this course has given me new skills to become a better leader. Leadership is much more than just
being in charge and overseeing everyday operations. It involves enthusiasm and charisma to be able
to inspire a group of people to want to believe in your vision. Technical skills are important, but they
are not the only things that matter to be a great leader. Being a great leader means that your group of
followers trusts you to provide them with the information that they need to succeed. When I am the
leader of the group, I like to focus on being a relationship-oriented leader because I want my
followers to know that I am here to work with them and not have a dictator-like attitude. If I am the
leader, I will still work on the project with my followers. This action not only shows that I want to
work with the group, but it is also an opportunity for me to showcase technicalcompetence skills so
my followers can build their trust with me. I will summarize five different examples of leadership
that I have shown throughout the semester. Here are five examples of my leadership throughout this
semester. These examples have taken place in the classroom, at work, and within the community.
Clashing Views Team Project
After being randomly selected for groups in my online management class,I was put in a group with
three other people that I had never met before. Communication within the team was very difficult
because I could tell by some of the efforts put in to the discussion questions that I was in a group
with people who do not normally speak up in class or like to get things completed in a timely
fashion. I had also sent out severalemails without receiving any responses. This was my opportunity
to step up and be the leader of this group and try to inspire my other group members to want to get
on board with completing this project. I took matters into my own hands and constructed a plan that
laid out exactly what needed to be completed for the project, who needed to complete which
sections, and gave deadlines for completion. I explained how we should all be working together and
trying to collaborate on this project to the best of our abilities. I also offered to help members with
their sections if they were confused on a certain part. I am not normally the person to take charge,
but I had to become the leader in order to get the ball rolling.
 Without a leader, the group operated under Theory X assumptions
 My leadership resembles a democratic leadership style
 Exercised intelligence and confidence after assuming a leadership position even though I am not
used to this role
 Provided clear goals for the team
This example relates to leadership issues discussed in the course because I had to assume the role of
the leader of the group and inspire my group members to want to believe in my vision. If I did not
create a promising vision for my group members, they would not have accepted me as the leader of
29
the project. This also gave me the opportunity to work with uninspired members and try to find new
ways to motivate them to succeed. This is an issue that many leaders experience. I was able to use
my interpersonal skills to help me in this area.
Certified Trainer at Rock Bottom Brewery
After working at Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery for just over a year and a half, the managers
decided that I had the skills that they were looking for to become a certified trainer in my area of
work. This position involves training all of the new employees that are hired in my area to teach
them the necessary skills to be able to be successfulat their job. The managers explained that I have
a high technical competence of the skills needed and that my interpersonal skills give me the ability
to gain the trust of the new employees.
 Technical competence and conceptual skills
 Interpersonal skills/social perceptiveness
 Theory Y Assumptions in my own leadership style
 Relationship-oriented leader
This example relates to leadership issues discussed in the course because my managers believed that
I demonstrated the necessary skills to be able to make a positive difference in their company. They
trust that my skills are exactly what they need to train new employees in the company. In a few of
the questionnaires that I completed throughout the course, my results expressed that I have a strong
ability to create vision for a team and that I am able to inspire and motivate my followers. This move
by my managers correlates with these results.
Group Exercise Team
I like to exercise with a few of my friends on a weekly basis. We all have different sports related
activities that we all excel with. We all act as leaders when we are training in our specific areas in
the group. My area of expertise is running. When the group is running together or we are training
individually, we all keep each other motivated and offer inspiration when it is needed. Whenever
someone in my group becomes discouraged about running, whether it is from an injury or fatigue, I
always try to offer my support and knowledge to help that person become motivated again.
 Technical competence
 Offering inspiration and motivation to group members
 Strength-based leadership-all group members are leaders in their strengths
 Social perceptiveness-knowing how to motivate people
This example relates to leadership issues discussed in the course because our group demonstrates
what it is like to be in a cohesive environment. All of us are leaders in our own strengths and we
work together to be the best team possible. Even though we are just exercising together, these skills
can be used to help build community within groups that we work in on school projects or at work.
Building community within a group is a skill that I need to improve. I can take the skills that I use
with this group and relate them to working with a school group. There are severalpositive outcomes
to having a cohesive group.
Volunteer Project-Zombie Run
I volunteered with a group of friends to participate in the planning and execution of the Zombie Run
at Fox Run Regional Park in September. The event was held to raise awareness about natural
disasters in the area. We wanted to take part in this event because we were able to educate people,
both adults and children, about what to do in the case of a natural disaster in the area and how they
can be prepared before it happens. My group was able to be zombies in the run, but we were also
able to operate the disaster tent at the end of the race and have a few contests with the participants
that related to natural disasters and what they need to be prepared. We were able to answer several
questions for adults and children about what to do if an emergency happens. This was a fun,
educational event for all parties involved.
leadership journal unit 15

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leadership journal unit 15

  • 1. Ashley Glenn Self as Leader December 8, 2014
  • 2. 2 Contents Introduction Self-Leadership Process Leadership Process Model 3 Assumptions: Situational 3 Vision 6 Inspiration 8 Morale: Buy-In 11 Transformational Relationship 14 Status/Assumed Role 16 Drawing Connections 19 Stories, Analogies,Metaphor 22 Task Completion/Group Cohesion 24 Feedback 25 Selfas Leader 28 OverviewofSelf-Leadership Examples 28 Clashing Views Team Project 28 Certified Trainer at Rock Bottom Brewery 29 Group Exercise Team 29 Volunteer Project-Zombie Run 29 Including Out-Group Members 30
  • 3. 3 Part I- SelfLeadership Process Introduction The Leadership Process Model shows the relationship between different factors that contribute to leadership success or failure. The model explains the way in which all of the factors combine to create either a successfulor unsuccessfuloutcome. It also shows how outcomes feed back through the model to affect the factors. The most important aspect that the model demonstrates is that leadership is a dynamic and ongoing process. Therefore,it is important for the leader to be flexible depending on the outcomes of certain projects and to also invest continually in his or her relationships with their followers. Everything in the model can affect everything else. For example, positive actions feed back through the process to positively affect future performance, while negative actions hurt future performance. I will use the Leadership Process Modelto analyze myself as a leader in each of the categories throughout this journal. I will also record examples of leadership that I have demonstrated this semester. Stories analogy Metaphor Drawing connections Vision SUBJECTIVE OBJECTIVE INPUT Inspiration Feedback INTEGRATION OUTPUT Feedback Situational Purpose Transformation Relationship Method Assume role
  • 4. 4 Situational/Assumptions- Core Values My two most dominant core values are integrity and family. When making difficult decisions, I constantly think about the integrity of my decisions and how it may affect my family members. I think it is very important to always consider how others will view your decisions. This is why it is essential to always make honest and ethical decisions so you do not jeopardize your integrity. Family will always be considered my most important core value because I think they are the most important aspect in any decision that has to be made. As a leader, it is my job to make decisions that are in the best interest of my family. Moral Dimension ofLeadership I agree that leaders have a responsibility to use their authority for the common good because they have the power to positively or negatively influence many people. Leaders should strive to influence people in a positive way by their character,actions, goals, honesty, power, and overall values. Followers look to leaders for direction when they are unsure of the next step to take, so it is important that leaders use their authority for the common good because people will listen to them. Character of a Leader When I consider the character of a leader and what a leader does, the two factors that are the most important to me are honesty and character. Honesty is important because followers have to be able to trust that a leader is going to lead them in the right direction. When a leader is dishonest, it has a negative effect on a leader’s interpersonal relationships. It puts a strain on how the leader and followers are connected to each other. Sometimes, this problem can never be fixed because followers will constantly be weary of the decisions that the leader makes. Character is also important because this describes how other people/followers view the leader and their values. Character refers to the qualities, disposition, and core values that the leader possesses. Since this is a factor that leaders develop, leaders with great character will be seen as more influential because they will be better able to lead their followers. It is possible for a leader with bad character to be an ethical leader, but I do not think that followers will be influenced by them. A person with bad character is able to make honest and truthful decisions, but followers may not respect this person as a leader because of the character that they have developed. Part of being a good leader is having respect,showing responsibility, fairness, carefulness,and citizenship. These are embedded in a leader’s core values. If these factors are missing, that person probably will not make a good ethical leader. Abu Ghraib Prison I agree that the actions that happened at the Abu Ghraib Prison were examples of unethical leadership because although these leaders thought that they were acting in the best interest of their mission and country, people were still being tortured for information. Leaders are able to have such great influence that they do not need to take such extreme measures to get information out of people. Other options could have been explored before torturing and sexually abusing inmates for information. These leaders were not showing respect because they were treating inmates as means to an end. They were not treating others’ decisions and values with respect. I realize that this was a difficult time for soldiers in the military after the terrorist attacks,but that does not give the United States a right to act like terrorists and torture people for information. Since this was a time of high stress,leaders’ actions, goals, power, and values may have been compromised because of the intense war situation.
  • 5. 5 Richard Lee I thought it was a very honorable action for Richard Lee to remove his own son from the baseball game for not showing good sportsmanship. This shows that he is not going to give his son special treatment and special rules during the game and that he would be treated the exact same way as any other kid on the baseball team. This was not about winning for Richard; instead, it was about teaching his son a lesson about good sportsmanship and fairness in the game of baseball. This shows that Richard is an ethical leader. He wants the best for his players. A good leader does not have to win every single game. It is their duty to make their followers the best people that they can be. I would have applauded Richard if I was one of the parents at that baseball game. This was a way for him to teach his son a valuable life lesson about good sportsmanship. My Core Values My core values are integrity and family. I think that other people are aware of my core values because I always explain that integrity of work is extremely important. If people cannot trust the decisions that I am making, I would be seen as a terrible leader. I also constantly talk about how important my family is to me. They will always come first in every decision that I make. I am comfortable talking about my values with other people because I think it is important for followers to know exactly what your values are. They shouldn’t have to guess about the things that are most important to their leaders. My values will influence what I do in the future because I will never accept a job that will force me to compromise my integrity or risk the relationship that I have with my family. I feel like most companies like to operate in this manner anyway, but there are always a few that have secrets to hide. Character Strengths and Weaknesses My character strengths are trustworthiness and caring. I always try to be as honest as possible with people because lying to them does not help them improve their actions. I am also always there to listen to anybody when they just need someone to talk to because I care about how they are feeling. My character weaknessis fairness. I try to be fair most of the time, but if I am aware that somebody may be better at something than another person, I do not like to take risks and assign that task to the less experienced person even though they may be fully capable of completing the task. This is something that I have to work on because followers need to be given opportunities to excel and this is accomplished by taking risks. Three specific actions that I could take to strengthen my character are assigning tasks to newer people that want to “prove themselves,” taking responsibility for decisions that may not have worked out in my favor, and be more willing to accept somebody else’s opinion on something to show respect. Wiki-Leaks Discussion After watching an interview with Julian Assange on the ethics of leaking classified information, I was asked the following questions: What is Assange’s primary purpose in releasing classified documents? The primary purpose in releasing the classified documents is to provide information to people that has been kept a secret by the government or an organization. Assange believes that this information is important for people to make decisions and to actually know what is going in in different places, such as war zones. He wants to provide this information to people in hopes of achieving reform in society. What types ofinformation might organizations try to conceal? Organizations may try to concealinformation that will negatively impact their reputation with consumers. They may also try to conceal information that shows that they are acting in an unethical
  • 6. 6 way to sabotage another company. Any information that may cause an outcome that is not in the best interest of the company or that may cause an outrage may try to be concealed by a company or the government. What are legitimate secrets? A legitimate secret are personaldocuments that should not be disclosed to the public. An example of a legitimate secret is any document between an individual and their doctor about their personal medical position. What are Assange’s self-identified core values? Assange’s self-identified core values are being combative and capable. He did not describe himself as nurturing; instead, the act of policing perpetrators of crime is his way of nurturing victims. He made a point that capable, generous men do not create victims, they nurture victims. Is Assange a villain or a hero? I view Assange as a hero for leaking important information to the public so reform can attempt to be achieved. He may cause an uproar from leaking this information, but he is doing it for the good of the people. He believes that the government and organizations should not be hiding valuable information from people that could be used to make decisions that may not be in the company's best interest. In what ways is Assange a leader? Assange is a leader because he finds ways to get important information to people (his followers). This path is not always easy and could be somewhat dangerous, but he believes that the most important aspect of his job is getting valuable knowledge to people. He risks his own reputation every day for the knowledge that he leaks, but he knows that his followers will support him for leaking the information. He is also being honest with his followers about where his information comes from so people do not have to worry that he is hiding something. Vision I believe that I have a strong ability to create a vision as a leader. When leading a group of people, I always try to provide a clear picture about how our goals will positively affect our future. I believe that having a vision is important because followers will not trust a leader to point them in the right direction if they do not have a clear picture about what the future holds. If the leader shares their vision with their followers, they will also share the same vision and want to do what is in the best interest of the organization. My Life Values and Purpose I think that it is important to always be honest with yourself and your followers. I believe that people will be more inclined to view me as a leader if they know that I am an honest and trustworthy person. Once followers catch a leader in a lie, they will probably never gain their full trust again. If I am ever leading a group of people, I will stress the importance of being honest in every situation even when times are hard and lying could spare somebody’s feelings. My purpose in life is not to lie to people and lead them in the wrong direction, instead, it is to help people and provide feedback and opinions to assist them in achieving their highest level of excellence. My leadership is influenced by these values because I always consider how my actions will affect all of my followers before acting on a decision. I never lie to my subordinates because this does not help them achieve their goals; it prevents them from achieving their goals. I try to lead in a relationship-oriented style because it is important that my followers can feellike I understand the work that they are doing and actually care about their feelings as well.
  • 7. 7 Creating Vision I am comfortable with trying to persuade people to accept different values and different ways of doing things because there are multiple ways to achieve different goals. I wouldn’t necessarily agree that helping someone to create a vision involves trying to change their values; it is persuading them to be open-minded and try to achieve a goal in a new way. Part of creating a vision is to explain to people how a new way of doing things could be better for the organization. This creates the vision in their minds as well. Creating Visions with Symbols I think I could improve my ability to articulate effective visions with strong symbols. I think that I could improve this skill by observing my followers to try to find something that we all have in common. I could then expand upon this idea (like the Mount Everest example) and tie that in to achieving our goal. Using motivating language to describe the symbol will also help me motivate my group. The most important aspect of using symbols is to use something that can be related to the goal that the group is trying to achieve. If the symbol is not relevant, it will not motivate the group. Creating a Vision for a Group Based on my score on the leadership vision questionnaire, I think I have a strong ability to create a vision for a group. Before I start a project in a group, I have a mental picture of what would make our group better and a clear picture of the steps we need to take to reach our goal. I like to think that I am good at motivating people to work their hardest and I am always available to guide people when they need feedback. I think I could improve my ability to use symbols to articulate my vision to the group. Using symbols is a very effective way to help others see your vision and keep them motivated throughout the entire process. Rock Bottom Brewery Vision Statement I currently work at Rock Bottom Brewery. One thing that I really value about working for this company is that they value their employees just as much as they value their customers. I think that is very important to reflect in their vision statement. If I was the leader of this company, my vision statement would be, “To ensure that each guest receives prompt, professional, and friendly service. To maintain a clean, comfortable, and well-maintained premises for our guests and our employees. To ensure that all guests and staff are treated with the respect that they deserve.” JeffBezos Address After watching Jeff Bezos’ address on how he started Amazon.com, I learned many things about following my passion. Simple life choices that I make every day directly affect my goals and how I am following my passion. I have made many changes in my life to help me reach my long term goals. Significant Life Choices One of the most significant choices that I have made in my life was switching my major from Accounting to Marketing. When I first started pursuing my accounting major, I wasn’t really doing it for myself. Some people in my family (not my parents) are accountants and I felt like I had to follow suit. I was not passionate about accounting at all. In fact, I hated it. Every single aspect of it. My realpassion falls with sports and being creative. It wasn’t until I had a talk with my mom about possibly switching my major that I actually found out that “sports marketing” existed. After researching sports marketing more in depth, I realized that I would love a career in this field. I am now majoring in Marketing and I couldn’t be more excited about what my future holds. This has changed my life in a positive way because once I graduate college, I will be able
  • 8. 8 to look for a job that I will not be miserable with every day. If I did not switch, I would not have any passion for the career that I would be able to get. I probably wouldn’t even get a job in an accounting firm because they would be able to tell that I hated everything that I was doing. I’m glad I switched my major to something that I enjoy doing because this is one of the most life altering decisions anybody could make. Build Yourselfa Great Story It is possible for one to build themselves a great story. Your life choices are your decision. Just liked I explained in the previous answer,you have the power to choose what you want to do in your life. It is up to you to decide what your passion is and what you want to do with that. Nobody can dictate what you choose to do in your life. This concept relates to one’s philosophy about the nature of people in a positive way. Under this opinion, one would believe that people are more inclined to want to work if they are doing something that they are actually passionate about. They would not assume that people inherently hate working. They would think that the effort that someone puts into their work directly effects the outcomes that they will see. If somebody is an extremely hard worker and is passionate about the work that they are doing, they will see great benefits as a result. At the same time, if somebody is being lazy, then they should not expect to be able to “build themselves a great story” because they are not working hard. Inspiration/Motivation I believe that I have a good balance of leadership strengths that help me lead a group of people. My strongest strength is being analytical. This means that I have the ability to visualize, articulate, and solve problems and concepts and make decisions that are sensible based on the information that is available. I can see how I use this strength in my daily life because I always gather as much information as I can before trying to solve any problems. I think I can improve my innovation skills. This strength is defined as being able to introduce new concepts or ideas into a group for the first time or changing a concept or idea that is already being used into something better. I am able to adapt to change, but I am usually not the person who comes up with the new ideas and concepts. This is one area that I could improve on to become a better leader. Recurring Traits After interviewing my mom, dad, and my sister about my strengths, I noticed two recurring themes. These themes were my willingness to help other people and how thorough I am with solving problems. All three of the interviewees explained that I am always willing to take extra time trying to help people understand things that they find confusing. The also explained that I take extra time to try to explain things in different ways when someone needs a few more examples on how to complete something. This shows that one of my strengths is encouragement. Another recurring theme was how thorough I am at solving problems. The interviewees explained that I always try to gather as much information as possible before attempting to solve a problem. They also said that that I never stop trying to find answers to problems because I don’t like to leave work incomplete. This shows that another one of my strengths is being analytical. My Reaction The feedback that I received about what others think are my leadership strengths are in line with what I thought were my strengths. Growing up, I have always been told that I am hardworking and thorough with solving problems. Every time I am faced with a new challenge, I like to gather as much information as I can before jumping to a solution. Even though I think that I am good at encouraging others to succeed,I did not realize that this had such a lasting impact on other people. I am very pleased to hear that the interviewees thought that encouragement was one of my strengths. I like to feel that if people need an extra push of confidence, they can come to me
  • 9. 9 for the inspiration that they seek. On the leadership questionnaire, my highest score was in analytics, which explains why all of the interviewees chose my thoroughness as a strength. I also scored in the high range for encouragement as well, which explains why the interviewees said that I am always willing to help other people. Strongest Leadership Traits Of the four domains of leadership strengths, I think that my strongest strengths are learned behaviors. These behaviors represent those ingrained things that we have learned throughout our lifetime. I have been raised to be hardworking and to never accept “no” as an answer. I have also learned that to be successful, I have to be industrious and hardworking. Success will not be handed down to me if I do not work for it. I could solicit support from followers to complement these areas of strength by surrounding myself with people who are also industrious and hardworking. My family constantly encourages me to be the best person that I can be. This gives me the confidence that I need to not lose my drive and motivation. Leader ofa Service Project If I was the leader of a service project, I would take steps to promote a positive climate, relationships, communication, and meaning. To promote a positive climate, I would express to my team members the importance of being compassionate, forgiving, and gracious. When a positive work environment is created,employees are more inclined to be more productive. This also brings out the positive qualities in all of the employees. To promote positive relationships, I would highlight individuals’ strengths rather than their weaknesses so they can learn from each other. If all of the employees know each other’s strengths, they will be more inclined to want to work with one another. If some employees find that they have different strengths, they will want to collaborate with other employees who possess different strengths to come up with the best solutions. To promote positive communication, as a leader, I would be supportive to all of my employees and provide constructive criticism as needed. It is important to be sensitive as a leader, but it is equally important to be truthful and honest when giving feedback to employees so they can improve as well. This encourages employees to capitalize on their strengths. To promote positive meaning, I would emphasize the connection between employees’ values and the impact that they have on the organization. If employees believe that their work makes a difference in the company, they are more likely to be engaged and productive. Leadership Styles My leadership style strongly resembles the assumptions of Theory Y. Theory Y assumes that people like work, are self-motivated, and accept and seek responsibility. Having a democratic leadership style means that leaders believe that their subordinates are fully capable of doing their own work without being micromanaged by their managers or leaders. Democratic leaders enjoy working with their followers to reach a common goal instead of controlling the entire situation and dictating responsibilities among the group. I am not surprised by the results of this questionnaire because this is the type of leadership that I enjoy the most. I do not like to be micromanaged by my leaders, but I do enjoy their opinions and inputs about my work. I believe the best leaders provide information, guidance, and suggestions without giving orders and without applying pressure to their subordinates. My Leadership Philosophy My philosophy on leadership is exactly like Theory Y. I believe that people like work, are self- motivated, and accept and seek responsibility. These conditions are highly noticeable when employees actually have good leaders and like the work that they are doing. I believe that employees want to feellike they are making a difference in the organization. To do so, they need to be self-motivated in their work and take an interest in the work that they are completing. Once
  • 10. 10 leaders see that their employees are working well on certain projects, they will be more likely to give them more responsibility. As an employee, I am more motivated when I can see that the work that I am doing is making a difference in the organization. The positive results are what motivate me to like my job and perform to my highest standards. I completely disagree with the assumptions of Theory X. I believe that the assumptions of Theory X are the direct result of bad leaders in an organization. When employees do not have great leaders, their followers do not feel like they can look to them for guidance or feedback. From prior experience, I have seen what Theory X looks like in the workplace when I used to work in an organization that had a horrible leadership committee. This made employees hate their jobs, need constant supervision to complete their work, and only stay with the organization because there was not a better job option available to them at that moment. Easiest Style ofLeadership Of the three styles of leadership, the democratic style comes easiest to me because this is the style of leadership that works best for me when I am a follower. Instead of being a dictator, democratic leaders work with their subordinates and try to treat everyone fairly, without putting themselves above the subordinates. When I use this style of leadership, my followers feelmore comfortable coming to me for guidance and suggestions with their problems. They do not feellike I am just there to dictate responsibilities to everyone. My followers have told me that they feellike I actually care about their well-being and want to help them find better ways to reach their goals. Even when the entire group of followers does not see eye-to-eye on certain issues, they feel like I do not pick favorites and try to see issue from both sides before giving my input. Helping Others Help Themselves I think that I am good at helping others help themselves because I do not enable anyone. When I am a leader, I do not let anyone make excuses for why they did not complete something or why they think that they are unable to perform a certain task. I always stress the importance of knowing that there is no such thing as a perfect person and that everybody has flaws. The worst thing that somebody could do is let their flaws demotivate them from working their hardest to complete a task. As long as my followers give their best effort into completing a task, whether it is executed perfectly or not, I will always show my appreciation for them giving their best effort. Changing Leadership Styles I had a very low score for the authoritarian style of leadership. This was not a surprise to me because I find authoritarian leaders to feel like they are a dictator and are above everybody else. One thing about authoritarian leadership that is not a horrible thing is the ability to give feedback, whether bad or good. I think that I could get better at giving negative feedback,or constructive criticism. As a leader, I need to be able to give my followers the feedback that they deserve,but I often feellike I will hurt their feelings if my feedback is negative. I need to learn that I will be helping them in the long run with my constructive criticism. Improving Leadership Three specific activities that I could use to improve my leadership are being 100% honest all of the time when people ask for my opinions, not letting other peoples’ opinions influence my opinions, and being more active in group participation. Being 100% honest all of the time when people ask for my opinions will help me be more confident in giving constructive criticism. The honest I am, the more I will see that constructive criticism does not hurt peoples’ feelings all the time and it will help them succeed. I also need to be more outspoken with my opinions. If I do not agree with something that someone is saying, I need to give my opposing opinion instead of just keeping quiet and agreeing with something that I do not agree with to keep the peace. I should also be more active in group participation because this will give me the self confidence that I
  • 11. 11 need to speak up and lead a discussion when I do not know anybody’s viewpoint on certain topics. Work Leaders I would rather work for a relationship-oriented leader because I am more productive when I can work with my leader instead of under my leader. I am very self-motivated and I tend to get angry when leaders start dictating responsibilities because they feel like they have all of the power. I am most productive when my leaders are there to guide me instead of control me. Defend or refute: As long as I treat everyone fairly, I don’t need to actually care about them personally. I do not agree with this statement because I think it is impossible to treat everybody fairly if you only care about certain individuals. You may think that you are treating everybody fairly, but if you don’t invest any interest in the person themselves, I think that the decisions you make regarding the employee may be different than the ones that you would make if you actually cared about them. When you care about a person, you spend more time thinking about how the outcome of every decision will affect them, whether good or bad. When you don’t care about the employee, you may not put as much thought and consideration about decisions that involve that certain employee. Even if the decisions are good, they may not be what is best for that individual. Morale/Buy-In It is very important to focus on one’s strengths instead of dwelling on their weaknesses because this makes them feel more confident in their abilities. Everybody has different strengths and weaknesses. If people are focusing on one’s strengths, it will encourage other people to focus on their strengths. This will then develop an environment where positive relationships form based on the different strengths of multiple people. While working in a group setting, individuals can seek people who have different strengths than them to form the “best-rounded” group possible. During group projects, it is important to have a very diverse group with multiple strengths instead of a group of people that all have the same strength to come up with the best solution. Building on your strengths fits with getting you out of your comfort zone by forcing you to think of other ways to use your strengths with multiple people. For example, one of my strengths is being a hardworking, industrious person (analytical). In a group setting, I cannot always get my group members in the same mindset. You don’t always get to choose your group, so I may get paired with someone who is not as task-focused as I am. I would have to use my analytical strengths, as well as my encouragement strengths, to motivate this person to be hardworking and industrious to get a project done. I am not always comfortable speaking up and motivating people if my advice is not solicited, but this situation would force me out of my comfort zone. It is not wise to flat out ignore one’s weakness,but it is not wise to solely focus on them because you can lose sight of your strengths. When focusing on your weaknesses,first remember what your strengths are. Next,think of ways you can use your strengths to help you improve your weaknesses. For example, one of my strengths was encouraging other people, while one of my weaknesses is my self-confidence. I can use the results that I see from encouraging other people to try to boost my self-confidence. If I can see the results that people receive from my encouragement, I will be able to become more confident in my abilities as a leader. Administrative, Interpersonal, and Conceptual Skills The nine leadership skills are all very essential to become the best leader possible. Everyone can learn to acquire leadership skills since they are learned competencies. Personally, I believe that all three skill sets are equally as important and there isn’t a skill set that is better than the other. Some argue that administrative skills are the most fundamental of all the skills required of a leader. These skills are extremely important to run an organization because you have to manage
  • 12. 12 people, manage resources,and show technical competence. I believe that to be the best leader, you also need to have strong interpersonal and conceptual skills. For online teams, I think new skills are needed along with the nine that were discussed in the chapter. I think that online groups need to have patience (interpersonal skill) and strong communication skills. In an online setting, it can become very frustrating when members of a group are not completing assignments on time. This often leaves other group members wondering what is going on with this person and how they can negatively affect the group’s grade on certain assignments. It is important to have patience because we all have busy schedules and it is hard to coordinate things online. At the same time, communication skills need to be much higher in an online setting than they are outside. They are important in both settings, but you can only communicate through the keyboard in an online setting. If members of the group are not effective communicators, they will be left behind by the other group members because they are not keeping the group up to date about when they will be completing their portion of the assignments. Desire to Lead I think that the desire to lead other people motivates leaders to improve their skills. I think that most people find it very rewarding to be able to be the trusted individual that people can look up to and come to with their questions for guidance. I have found myself thinking at work, “Gee, I wish I could have helped that coworker with their question/problem…” but I lack certain skills that would have benefitted me in that situation. That scenario makes me want to improve my leadership skills so I can have the confidence to help other people. The Nature ofPeople One’s belief about the nature of people and work can affect one’s style of leadership on motivation in a negative and positive way. If a person believes that people naturally hate work, they are not going to have strong administrative skills because they will not know how to manage people. They will just automatically assume that there is nothing that they could say or do to motivate this person. This assumption will negatively impact their interpersonal skills. On the other hand, if a person believes that people do not naturally hate work, they may have strong administrative skills and manage people well. They also may have strong interpersonal skills which will help them to motivate people in many different ways. Building Community with Out-Group Members I do not have a high level of ability for building a sense of community among out-group members and the larger group. I have only been in one group throughout college that has had a member that I would classify as an out-group member. I got extremely annoyed when this person’s behavior hindered the progress of the group. I don’t feel like I exclude out-group members, but when these members choose not to be a part of the larger group, I do not go out of my way to include them. If they are active participants with different opinions than the larger group, I try to see things from their point of view instead of disregarding everything that they have to say. Out-Group Members My scores on the questionnaire suggested that I have a negative attitude toward out-group members. I view group projects as an “everybody should pull their own weight” kind of thing. If somebody does not want to participate because they don’t “feel” like it, I do not choose to try to help these people feellike part of the group. I think this is why I scored in the low range on this questionnaire. If somebody is an active participant in the group that shares different opinions than the large majority, I do not exclude them because they are just providing their input to the group. I try to see things from this person’s point of view and try to reach a consensus. Having a difference of opinions is a part of life and should not be excluded from group discussions.
  • 13. 13 Building Community It is very important for a leader to build community within their group because their work will be much more diverse. Groups that have a sense of community will be able to have different opinions and see each other’s points of view. They will be more knowledgeable on certain topics because they will have discussed the arguments on both sides. Building a sense of community on a team also builds cohesiveness and trust. Everybody in the world is not going to get along perfectly, but if a group can have tough discussions and still be productive, the best work will be produced. Empowering Out-group Members I think that I am good at empowering people if they are willing to receive motivation in that way. I will always try to motivate anybody to be the best that they can be if they have showed me that they actually care about the work that they are doing. Sometimes people just need an extra push to get the job done. I am not great at empowering people that simply do not care to be motivated. If a group member has shown me that they do not care to be a member of the group and they just want a free ride, I will not try to empower them. This is an area that I could work on because maybe I might be missing the reason why they feellike they do not want to be a part of the group. If I figured out this reason, I might be able to motivate them in a different way to get them to participate. Tolerance for Out-Group Members Three specific actions that I could take that would show sensitivity and tolerance toward out- group members would be trying to include members that do not fit in with the rest of the group from the start,encouraging everyone in the group to listen or consider the minority opinion, and not assuming that when a group member feels left out that it is his or her own fault. Learning from Obstacles Something that I have learned from an obstacle in my life is to never sacrifice my own happiness to keep someone else happy or spare their feelings. It is important to always consider others in some decisions that you make, but every decision that you make for yourself does not have to take everybody else into consideration. Ultimately, the decisions that you make affect your life, not your friend’s life or even your family’s life (in some cases),so it is important to consider your own happiness first. Never make a decision that makes yourself miserable just to please others. Keeping my Motivation My motivation for attending college is that I want to have a good job and be able to provide for my family when I am older. I don’t want to have to struggle to keep food on the table and the utilities on in my house. I don’t have to be rich to be happy, but I want to be able to live a comfortable life without worrying that I won’t be able to afford my mortgage payments when I buy a house. My current job keeps me motivated to keep going to college. I work in the service industry and it can be quite hectic at times. Most customers are nice and understand that waiters/waitresses basically work for tips only, but there are always a few customers that can’t be satisfied and don’t leave a tip. These customers can completely ruin your night by not tipping because they don’t understand that the waiter/waitress doesn’t get paid an hourly wage to fund their bills. Working in the restaurant industry can easily feel like volunteer work when you come across customers like that. This motivates me to continue pursing my degree so I do not have to rely on other peoples’ generosity to pay my bills. Overcoming Obstacles I consider my parents to be leaders in my life. They have both helped me overcome obstacles throughout the years. They do this by continuously supporting every decision that I make whether
  • 14. 14 they agree with it or not. They always reassure me that they are not here to judge my life and that they want the best for me and want me to be happy. They also help me clarify my goals and define my path when I am unsure about how to accomplish something in my life. Since they see thing in my life from an outside perspective, they are able to give me sound advice that I may have not considered because I hadn’t thought of the ideas. Transformational Relationships My leadership emphasis focuses on skills, process,and some emphasis on traits. I see these indicators in the way that I described my initial definition of leadership. I described leadership as a process where an individual has the ability to influence and inspire their followers. I also view leaders as people who are naturally good at certain things that they do in their daily lives. To be a leader, I believe that one should be competent in all aspects of the goal that they might be trying to lead a group of people to accomplish so they are able to help with all of the steps required to achieve that goal. The lowest score,relationship, tells me that I need to be more open to the concept of leaders and followers influencing each other instead of just followers being influenced by the leader. What Leadership Means to Me Leadership is a process where somebody has the ability to positively influence a group of individuals to complete a common goal. A leader must be able to inspire others in many different ways to perform up to their highest standards whether it is in the workplace or outside of the workplace. When I think of somebody who is a leader, I think of a person who knows how to help many people in severalkinds of ways. A leader should know how to teach or set an example in severalways to help their followers understand a process. If a follower does not understand something, they should feel comfortable going to the leader for guidance to take steps toward achieving their goal. My Beliefs about Leadership I see leadership as an influence process where an individual influences a group of people to achieve a common goal. Before completing the questionnaire, this was exactly how I viewed leadership. I believe that it is important that leaders influence their followers to work together to achieve their goals and that they are always available to guide the followers in the proper direction. One aspect of viewing leadership as a process that I disagree with is that it is described as somebody who does not have a certain trait or ability that resides in them. Although I agree that leadership is portrayed by an interactive even that occurs between the leader and the followers, I also believe that leaders have certain characteristics, such as confidence, decisiveness, and good social skills that give them the ability to influence a group of people. The perspective that is lease like my own perspective is leadership as a relationship. This perspective involves communication between leaders and followers rather than on the qualities of the leader. Instead of the leader influencing the followers, the leader collaborates with the followers to achieve a common goal. I do not disagree with this perspective, but I have been more exposed to the idea that the leader is in charge of a group of followers so that the followers will know exactly who to go to when guidance is needed or a second opinion is desired. I think the relationship perspective makes reaching a common goal more difficult than other perspectives because if severalpeople in a group have severaldifferent ideas, it may be difficult to choose one way to get a project completed without upsetting someone else. Leadership as Learned vs. Natural Ability Although I think that leadership can be learned, I think the best leaders have the natural ability to lead and influence a group of individuals. Some people are naturally confident, social, and
  • 15. 15 decisive, while others can learn to inherit these traits. From my experience in dealing with being in a leader-follower setting, I always felt more comfortable and confident with leaders that were naturally good at helping others understand processes,had the confidence to inspire groups of people, and who were naturally good at the task we were trying to accomplish. These leaders that had the natural ability to lead a team did not seem like they were following written directions on how to be a leader or just going through the motions that leaders complete. Everything flowed together nicely even when the teams encountered obstacles. What I can do to become a Better Leader Something that I could do to become a better leader is to have more self confidence in my ability to communicate information to others. I am terrified of public speaking even if I know everybody in the room. Sometimes I tend to question my thoughts or opinions on certain subjects even though I know some of them are correct because I fear upsetting people with my opinions. I am never the first person to speak up when I know the answer to a question or I know that something somebody is doing is wrong. I want to be the kind of leader that my followers could come to when they needed a second opinion or guidance with a problem. I know that I am knowledgeable about certain topics and I would like to have the self-confidence to communicate this information without fear of sounding like a “know-it-all” or offending someone. Most Difficult Conflict Style The most difficult conflict style for me to implement is competition. I think this is because having a competition style for handling conflict involves individuals failing to recognize the concerns and needs of others. I have always been a person that is compassionate and cares how other people are feeling. I know you can’t please everybody, but I try to consider everyone’s point of view during a conflict. When dealing with a conflict, I never try to control or persuade others in order to help myself because that does not solve the root problem. That is very self-centered and self-interested. Appropriate Times for Conflict As a leader, an appropriate time to engage in conflict would be when tension between group members/followers is starting to be detrimental to the end goal. A leader never wants to take sides during a conflict because the person on the opposite side will feel like the leader is playing favorites. Sometimes, the leader is forced to step into the conflict when the problem between the followers is preventing the group from being productive. When this happens, the leader should listen to all sides of the conflict and try to help the followers collaborate and come up with the best solution for all group members. Separating the Person from the Problem When dealing with difficult coworkers at work, interpersonal conflicts often arise. When I dislike a person and they contribute to a conflict at work, I am less likely to listen to their opinions simply because I dislike them and I think that everything they say it outrageous even if it sounds valid. This is a problem that I need to work on because a good leader is able to see all sides of a conflict whether they like the person or not. I think that separating the person from the problem would have help tremendously because that allows a person to just hear the opinion without attaching it to whoever is saying it. This helps people be more open-minded and make their own opinions on the conflict as well. Unmanageable Conflicts The kinds of conflicts that I think are unmanageable are conflicts between people who are unwilling to hear an opposing viewpoint. There are always some people that think that they are right 100% of the time and refuse to hear any opinion that is different from theirs. These people
  • 16. 16 are extremely difficult to work with because they do not know how to compromise or even listen to other people. It is impossible to solve a conflict entirely between people who are not willing to consider someone else’s point of view. Fisher and Ury’s Method You could use Fisher and Ury’s method of principled negotiation to solve a problem that concerns different values by focusing on principle 3; invent options for mutual gains. This principle involves inventing new options to resolve the conflict to the satisfaction of both parties. People involved in the conflict need to brainstorm and search hard for creative solutions to the conflict. These solutions will have to consider both sides with different values. Focusing on the interest of the parties in conflict can result in creative thinking. Most people are able to find common ground in every situation. Once the common ground is established, solutions that benefit both parties can be identified. Societal Conflicts vs.Interpersonal Conflicts Societal conflicts are different from interpersonal conflicts because they do not directly involve a relationship with a specific person. Societal problems can be massive problems that affect a large amount of people while interpersonal conflicts can deal with the relationships between one or more people. Some concepts from this chapter that would be helpful in dealing with all conflict situations would be separating the person from the problem and fractionation. Separating the person from the conflict is an important concept because we enable ourselves to recognize others’ points of view and encourages us to be attentive to our relationships during conflict. When we separate the people from the problem, we are more inclined to work with others to solve the problem. Fractionation is an important concept because it involves breaking down large conflicts into smaller, more manageable pieces. This makings solving conflicts easier because people are solving smaller problems one at a time instead of trying to solve a large conflict that involves many aspects. Conflict in Voluntary Group Settings A common type of conflict that I have seen in voluntary group setting is relational conflict and issues of control. In a voluntary setting, I feellike some people want to feellike they have all of the control because they want to be the leader. Having control increases feeling of potency and makes us feel less helpless. This causes tension among group members because it can feellike a constant power struggle between everybody in the group instead of everybody wanting to work together as a team. Assumed Role/Status My strongest leadership traits are persistence,trustworthiness, dependability, and diligence. Throughout my life, I have always been very persistent. I never lose sight of the end goal that has been set even when distractions come into play. I will do anything to accomplish my goals whether it is in my personal life or at work. I am also a very trustworthy person. I do not like to sugar-coat the truth because I know that this does not help other people reach their goals. Even though the truth may hurt sometimes, it is better to be honest and help others improve than it is to not make a difference in their lives. I am also a very reliable person. People know that they can depend on me because I have never given anyone a reason to think otherwise. If I say I am going to do something, I do it to the best of my ability. When working toward a goal, I am very hardworking. I know that working hard now will benefit me greatly in my future. My weakest leadership traits are sensitivity and friendliness. I think that this has something to do with my honesty. Even though it is great to be honest, it is important that your opinions of others are expressed in a kind and warm way instead of dishing out the harsh truth. I don’t always show
  • 17. 17 tolerance for people in all situations. I know that these are areas that I need to improve on to become the best leader that I can be. The Most Appealing Leader The leader that I found most appealing was Bill Gates because he is a very determined man who had a vision when he was 13 years old and built it into an empire. The text explains that he would work 12 or more hours a day to promote his interest in software product development. This takes dedication and diligence. The thing that I find most remarkable about his leadership is the fact that he is still trying to make a difference in the world even though he has already built this large, successfulcompany. Bill Gates and his wife established the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that works to improve the lives of people around the world. This shows that he is very caring, friendly, sensitive, and empathetic, which I view as some of the most important leadership traits that one could possess. My Type ofLeadership As I reflect on my own leadership traits, the one that I think has been instilled in me the most is my diligence. Some of my leadership qualities have evolved since I was younger, but my diligence is something that I have always had. I am a very hard worker and I will always give my best effort when trying to complete important goals. Over time, I think I have become more sensitive and friendly than I used to be, even though I would still like to improve these traits more. I believe that I am a stronger leader today that I was five years ago because as people grow older, they have the opportunity to live through many different experiences and learn several different things. I have been exposed to various situations that have involved great leadership, as well as poor leadership, and I have learned what I would do in certain situations if I was the leader. Changing Leadership Traits A leadership trait that I would like to change is my self-confidence. I do not feel like I have a high self-confidence level because I feellike I am always second guessing myself. Some actions that I need to take to change this trait is trusting my gut feeling more often. I know that I may not always be right 100% of the time, but if I learn to trust myself and see that I am not always 100% wrong, I think that I will be able to raise my self-confidence. Another thing that I could do is take initiative more often in group settings. When there are many people in a group with strong personalities, I tend to just let the more dominant people take control because I assume that they know what they are doing. I need to be able to speak up and let my opinions be heard. Leadership Skills My leadership skills are almost evenly divided between administrative skills, interpersonal skills, and conceptual skills. All three of my scores were in the very high range. My highest score was in conceptual skills, which deal with working with concepts and ideas. These include problem solving, strategic planning, and creating vision. I use conceptual skills in my workplace on a daily basis. We are always creating and communicating new ideas that help the company achieve its goals and solve problems. My Leadership Skills Based on what I know about myself and the scores I received on the questionnaire, I would describe my leadership skills as highly conceptual. Working with concepts and ideas comes naturally to me. My strongest conceptual skill would be problem solving. Whenever I am faced with a problem, I am always quick to ask, “What went wrong?” and, “How can it be fixed?” I am never one to sit back and wait for somebody else to try to solve a problem for me.
  • 18. 18 My weakest leadership skill would be social perceptiveness. Even though I scored very high in this area,I still think that I could improve this skill. Specifically, I think I could improve on knowing how others would respond to any proposed change in the organization. If I knew how they would respond beforehand, I could understand how the change may affect all of the people involved. This would help me present the change in a more effective way. I think my leadership skills could have a positive impact on my role as a leader because my skills were almost evenly distributed between the three categories. All three of these skills are essential to being a great leader. One skill is not more important than the other, so it is important to possess strong skills in all three categories. Emotional Intelligence as an Interpersonal Skill I believe that emotional intelligence should be considered an interpersonal skill because these skills can help leaders work effectively with subordinates, peers, and superiors to accomplish goals. Interpersonal skills are people skills. Emotional intelligence deals with a person’s ability to understand their emotions, as well as others’ emotions, and then apply them to life issues. Once a person can understand their own emotions, they will be better suited to understand others’ emotions. A leader who knows how to read others’ emotions is better suited to respond appropriately to their wants and needs. They will also be able to have empathy for other people because they will know how to connect and understand them. My emotions help me to be a better leader because I can use my experiences to connect with other people. Since I know the feelings of being happy, sad, angry, or scared,I will know how to respond to other people when they feel that way. I know the kind of leadership that helps me get through certain emotions, so I will be able to emulate that role if I am ever in that situation. The Most Important Leadership Skills I do not think that any one kind of skill is better than the other. I believe that to be the best leader, a person needs to have a mix of all of these types of skills. It is important to have administrative skills so a leader can run the organization and carry out its purposes. It is also important to have interpersonal skills so a leader can work effectively with all types of people. It is equally important to have conceptual skills so a leader can be an effective problem solver, strategic planner, and create vision. All three of these skills can be combined to make the best leader possible. I think that lower level leadership requires the same skills as upper level leadership because a leader will always have to help the organization carry out goals, communicate effectively with people, and work with concepts and ideas. It does not matter if you are the CEO of a huge company, or the manager of a restaurant. If a person does not have these skills, they will not be an effective leader in any position. Social Perceptiveness Two specific actions that would help me become more socially perceptive are being more sensitive to how my ideas could impact other people and become more aware of the demands of different people in the organization. Before acting on any of my ideas, I could examine how my ideas could impact other people. I don’t want to be lumped into the category of my self-centered and self-interested, so I could ask for the opinions of other people on how a certain change could effect a large amount of people. Ultimately, I would make the best decision for the organization, not just myself. Before coming up with any new ideas, I could survey the different groups of people in the organization to become more aware of their specific demands. This way, I could come up with new ideas that would benefit their success in the company.
  • 19. 19 Problem Solving When dealing with problem solving, I am quick to address the situation. I never sit around and wait for someone to fix the problem for me. To become a more effective problem solver, I could slow down and generate more than one solution and consult others as to what the best solution actually is. Even though I am quick to start solving problems, many problems are complex and can be solved more than one way. Instead of just selecting the first solution that comes to mind, I could come up with severalsolutions and choose the one that is best for the situation. Before choosing the best solution, I could consult other people that are familiar with the problem and gather their opinions about what the best solution is. This will ensure that the best solution to the problem is chosen. Drawing Connections My leadership behavior falls between being task-oriented and relationship-oriented. My task score is a little bit higher than my relationship score, but falls on the low end of the moderately high range. These results are not shocking to me because I do not like to procrastinate and wait until the last minute to get things done. At the same time, I do not like leaders that act more like dictators and could care less about their relationship with their subordinates. My scores confirm that my leadership behavior reflects the kind of leadership behavior that works best for me when I am a subordinate. My Leadership Behavior I would describe my leadership behavior in the midrange between task-oriented and relationship- oriented. I think it is very important to have a good relationship with subordinates because I feel that they would be more inclined to accept me as a leader if they could see that I care about our individual relationships and the atmosphere in which they work. At the same time, work still needs to get completed on time and with good quality. It is important to focus on the proper procedures, activities, and goal accomplishments, but this cannot happen if your relationship is poor with your followers. My strength in relationship-oriented behavior is that I can relate to almost anybody because of the way that I was raised. I was raised to accept people and to try to get to know people as best as I can. I feel that people can trust me if they ever need my support. I also have a strength in task- oriented behavior because I am organized and get things completed on time and with good quality. I pay great attention to detail and deadlines in all of the work that I complete. An area that I consider a weakness is giving constructive criticism to others. I do not like to hurt other people’s feelings even if I know that this will help them improve their work in the future. I know that this is an important aspect of being a good leader, so I am trying to improve this weakness. I think building a good relationship with my followers will help me in this area. Task and Relationship Biases Some biases that I maintain against task-oriented behavior styles is that the leader can come off as self-centered and rude. I feel like task-oriented leaders think that they know everything and are in charge of the whole project. This comes off as very rude because sometimes they do not like to listen to other group member’s opinions or ideas. Deep down, I know that this is not the case,but it is hard to get passed this. A task-oriented leader just wants to make sure that the project gets done correctly, on time, and with good quality. They really care about the outcome for all members. Some biases that I maintain against relationship-oriented behavior styles is that the leader seems to care more about the entire group liking them instead of the task at hand. Sometimes they would
  • 20. 20 rather socialize about what they are going to do over the weekend instead of taking steps toward completing the task. I know that this is not always true and that to complete good quality work, it is important to build a strong, trustworthy relationship with all group members, even if completing the task takes extra time. These biases affect my leadership because I want to have a behavior that lies right in the middle of the two extremes. It is important to get tasks completed, but it is just as important to build a strong relationship with subordinates. Integrating Task and Relationship Behaviors I do not see integrating task and relationship behaviors as a challenge in my own leadership because I my scores reflect what I like to see in a leader. If I act in a way that promotes both styles of leadership, task and relationship, I think that others will find it easier to trust me as a leader. I integrate task behaviors by setting deadlines for things to get complete. As long as my followers are getting their tasks completed on time and with good quality, I do not dictate exactly how things should be done. I understand that everybody has different ways that they learn and complete work, but as long as deadlines are not missed, I should not be dictating every single move. I integrate relationship behaviors by trying to get to know all of my group members/followers before we start the task. This way, we can all figure out what our strengths and weaknesses are before we start the task so we can divide responsibilities accordingly. Improving Leadership Style If I were to change and effort to improve my leadership, I would try to become more relationship oriented. I think that I am good at connecting with people and gaining their trust in the beginning of a project, but I think that I could improve my sensitivity and compassion toward others during the project. I like to get things completed no matter how busy my schedule is, but I tend to get frustrated when others do not do the same because they are busy as well. Even if they complete their part of the project on time, I still find myself getting frustrated because of the time that it took. I need to learn to have more compassion and sensitivity toward these people because ultimately, they completed their part of the project on time and they did not prevent me from completing any of my work. My schedule is busy, so their schedule is probably just as busy. Task and Relationship Changes Three specific task or relationship changes that I could carry out are making to-do lists of things that need to be completed, showing concern for the personal well-being of others, and expressing positive feelings toward others in the group. Creating to-do lists helps keep myself and the group in line to complete all of the necessary projects. Showing more concern for the personal well- being of others will help me improve my compassion and sensitivity toward others and will help me understand my group members better. Expressing positive feelings toward others will show the group members that I appreciate all of the hard work that they are completing and reassure our good relationship. Conflict Styles My strongest conflict styles are avoidance and collaboration. After completing an exercise using two different people that I may experience conflict with, my scores were very different. Person A is my best friend, while Person B is somebody that I work on severaldifferent group projects with at school. I have very different relationships with both of these people. My relationship with Person A does not have to be professional because we are best friends. We do not have many conflicts because we get along really well for the most part. When we do have conflicts, we usually take time to explore our differences and see what aspects of the conflict that we agree on. Then, we pick the solution or outcome that works in both of our best interests. Also, if the conflict is miniscule, I will use an avoidance style because the potential damage from a huge
  • 21. 21 disagreement breaking out is not worth the loss of our friendship. My relationship with Person B is much more professional than my relationship with Person A. Since Person B and I spend most of our time working on school projects when we are together, I use a very collaborative style with her when dealing with conflict. This allows both of us to include our input on group projects and come up with a way to include both of our views in our final solution. My avoidance score with Person B was higher than I thought that it would be because I was under the impression that she would be somebody who I would not be worried about confronting conflict with. This may be due to the fact that since we have been working on school projects for so long together, we have developed a friendship in addition to a business relationship. My Reaction to Conflict I react to conflict in several different ways. The style that I scored the highest on was collaboration. When I am dealing with a conflict with somebody, I believe that the conflict is not solved until each side is reasonably satisfied. If one person in the conflict is unsatisfied with the solution, the same conflict will come up at a later time. I like to take time to listen to other people’s differences and try to find common ground in my opinion. After we have all had time to listen to each other’s perspectives,we choose the solution that best satisfies every person in the conflict. My past history has influenced my conflict style because when my opinions have not been considered in past conflicts, I tend to get even more upset than I was when the initial conflict started. I do not think that is an appropriate feeling for somebody to have when they are dealing with a conflict with somebody. Every person’s opinions or views should be considered so everybody can collaborate and come up with the best resolution. Most Common Type ofRelational Conflict The most common type of relational conflict that I have seen in the conflicts that I have dealt with are esteem issues. I see a lot of conflict while I am at work because some of the employees have expressed that they do not feel like the managers are acknowledging them for being a viable asset in the organization. They have said that they feel like their position in the company does not matter and that they could be easily replaced if needed because their strengths are not being recognized. This could be resolved by managers taking time to acknowledge the great things that the employees do in the company to the entire staff so the employees will feel like they are actually making a difference. Actual Conflict Sydney and I are coworkers and also best friends. We both work at the host stand at Rock Bottom Brewery and whenever the company hires a new host, they are assigned to be trained by one of the seasoned hosts at the host stand. The managers chose me to train the new employee over Sydney because they thought that I was better at explaining concepts and I was more patient. When they told me that I was going to be the trainer, I immediately knew that Sydney was going to be very upset because she is never chosen to be the trainer and is constantly told that she is not doing her job up to the company’s expectations. I also knew that Sydney would take her anger out on me because she would expect me to decline the opportunity to be the trainer because I am supposed to be “on her side” because we are best friends. Of course, I did not decline the opportunity to be a trainer because that is not professional and Sydney was extremely upset with me. She felt like I betrayed her. She expressed to me that I hurt her feelings and cared more about advancing in the company rather than our friendship. She also explained that by me not sticking up for her to the managers about her training ability that I was basically agreeing with them about her sub-par performance. I knew that she was really upset at the managers for not choosing her, but she was taking her frustration out on me. I felt like it would be extremely unprofessional for me to decline the training opportunity because the company needed me to help with the new
  • 22. 22 employee. I understood that Sydney’s feelings were hurt, but I was hoping that she would have been able to understand that I was not agreeing with the managers about her performance and that I was just trying to do what was best for the company. I thought she would be happy for me that the managers were trusting me with this opportunity, but I was wrong. This caused a lot of tension between Sydney and me for a very long time. We are still best friends, but this is a subject that we try to avoid talking about because I can tell she is still upset. Story, Analogy, Metaphor-Innovation/Creativity Styles I am in the high range in two of the four factors that contribute for establishing a constructive climate. These factors are clarifying norms and promoting standards of excellence. I think it is very important to develop norms in a group setting so every member will be on the same page when it comes to how things are supposed to run in the company. Clarifying norms with group members will make it easier for everybody to create an environment that is cohesive and productive. Promoting standards of excellence is also very important in a group setting. A leader is responsible for articulating clear, concrete expectations for team members, review the results submitted by team members, and reward team members for achieving results. By promoting standards of excellence, leaders will be better suited for achieving these goals. Establishing a Constructive Climate My strengths for establishing a constructive climate for a group or an organization are clarifying norms and promoting standards of excellence. By establishing rules and behaviors that are shared by group members, strong cohesiveness will be built. Groups that are cohesive work better together and are more productive. By promoting standards of excellence, group members will have a standard to follow that is set by the leader. Group members will be able to find out what they need to know and what skills they need to acquire to be successfuland function effectively. They will also know how much initiative and effort they need to put into their work, how group members are expected to treat one another, significant deadlines, the common goal that needs to be achieved, and what the consequences are if they fail to achieve the group goals. My weaknesses for establishing a constructive climate for a group or an organization are providing structure and building cohesiveness. I did not score in the low range for providing structure, but there is room for improvement. I think I could improve this factor by giving a clear picture to group members about what their duties and responsibilities are instead of just telling everybody to do what they feel comfortable with. I could improve building cohesiveness by encouraging passive members to become more involved in the group so they do not feelleft out. It is easy to communicate with the members who are not shy, but to build the best cohesiveness, it is important to include passive members’ input in all discussions and decisions. Developing Cohesiveness I think it is extremely important to build cohesiveness in a group setting. Building cohesiveness makes all members of the group feel like they are on the same level and just as important as everybody else to the final outcome of the project. In the Hewlett-Packard example,the new CEO decided to take down the barriers in the parking lot and move executives into cubicles to make everyone feel connected and worthy in the company. I have experienced cohesiveness in a group. In one of my marketing classes,we all got to choose our own groups based on the different skills that each member possessed. This made working in our group great because we all needed one another and that person’s particular skill to get our work done. All members were extremely important to getting the job done because we all had very different roles that required many different skills.
  • 23. 23 Group Rules and Norms I agree that group rules and norms are very important to effective teams. Groups that have established rules and norms know what behaviors are acceptable and unacceptable, what is right and wrong, and what is allowed or not allowed. Norms and rules are important because they have such a strong impact on how the group functions and whether the group is successfulor not. When I work in groups, I like to have norms and rules that are established because the work goes much smoother. When members “just know” what things are acceptable and which ones are not, the process runs much smoother and goals get completed. Recognizing Others Rewarding and praising is something that comes easy to me as a leader. I have worked in groups before as a follower and I know how it feels to be rewarded for doing a great job on a project. This gave me the motivation to try to work harder and to the best of my ability on every other project after that. When a leader recognizes the good work that their followers are completing, they will be more inclined to keep exceeding expectations. As a leader, I will always do everything that I can to keep my followers motivated to contribute their best work. Important Group Values The three values that are most important to me in a group setting are trust, diligence, and honesty. I would demonstrate trust by always completing my assignments on time so group members are not missing vital information in the project. I would demonstrate diligence by working hard on all of my assignments to provide the best group input for my part in the project. I would demonstrate honesty by giving truthful feedback on other group members’ parts of the assignment so they could improve their work if it fell below expectations. Group Agenda Providing an agenda for a group constitutes leadership because it keeps the group tied to a schedule so they are able to complete tasks on time. By providing an agenda, the leader is creating structure for the group. This gives meaning to the purposes of the group’s activities. This is also a way build a sense of security, direction, and stability within the group. This is a great form of leadership because the leader is able to communicate the group’s goals to all of the members. Drawbacks ofProviding Structure There are not many drawbacks of providing structure for a group because there are so many benefits to working in an organized manner. One drawback that I can think of is that followers of the group may think that the leader is being bossy and rude in the way that they go about providing structure. This could be off-putting to followers and it might have the opposite effect on the group. Group Cohesiveness It is possible to have too much cohesiveness in a group. An outcome of this may be that valuable discussions or debates will be unable to happen because everybody will just agree with each other. It is important to have opposing views or opinions to get the most out of a group discussion. That way, the solution to the problem/case will have a diverse aspect to it. Problems need to be looked at from all angles to understand them completely. Out-Groups are a Necessity Out-groups are necessary for an organization or community because they will make the large majority of people consider the minority opinion. Instead of just having a large group of people that agree on everything, out-group members will challenge their opinions and may bring radical
  • 24. 24 or unpopular views. Out-group members can also help other members of the group become more compassionate toward them because the majority members will have to find alternative ways to communicate with or empower them. In the realworld, there will never be a group of people that are working together without out-group members. People that are not in the out-group need to learn how to include them in all aspects of decision making because their opinions are important as well. Task Completion/Group Cohesion My strongest path-goal leadership style is supportive. The supportive style provides human connection to subordinates that need extra motivation to complete their tasks. This helps make tasks more interesting and tolerable for people. I can see how I scored the highest on this style because having support from my leaders during mundane tasks helps me perform better, so I want to be able to offer the same style to my followers. I could improve my abilities in an achievement-oriented style of leadership by establishing a high standard of excellence for my followers and always motivating them to keep improving. I could also focus on improving my confidence so I am able to help people achieve challenging goals. Helping Others with Problems When it comes to helping people who are having problems, I think that I am able to give them the support that they need to achieve their goals. I am comfortable setting goals and giving directions to others when I am the leader. I like to set small goals at first so my followers can focus on one thing at a time to help them build toward the larger end goal. I use my past experience of working as a follower for a leader to help myself build my leadership abilities. I know that I need clear directions from my leader to achieve my goals as a follower. Motivating Followers I would help my followers feel competent by always reassuring them of their great work after they completed a project or goal correctly. This helps followers know that they are understanding the concepts and are “competent” in a certain area. I would help my followers meet their expectations by making sure that they are setting realistic goals for themselves. I would never expect a person to meet an unrealistic goal, so I will not set the standard at an unachievable level. This also means being aware of what my followers’ goals are so I can tell them if they are realistic or not. I would help my followers value what they do by providing positive feedback or other rewards for exceptional work. I can also remind my followers of the whole reason why we started a project in the first place and the outcome that we are trying to achieve. Clarifying the Goal and Defining the Path To help clarify goals, it is important to articulate them in a clear way to followers to help point them in the right direction to achieve their end goal. Without a clear picture, followers will be confused of the end goal, so it is important for leaders to clearly define them. This could be achieved by writing the goals down for the followers so there is no confusion. It is also important to define the path to achieving those specific goals. This could be done by clearing stating how the followers are supposed to achieve specific goals instead of expecting them to figure it out themselves. The leader could write out the specific directions and how to achieve them and also set deadlines for when specific things need to be completed. Improving Path-Goal Styles I want to improve my achievement-oriented style of leadership because this will help me in dealing with individuals who are not challenged. I could improve this style by focusing on improving my confidence level. If I have higher confidence, I will feel more comfortable challenging people to perform at their highest level. By expecting a lot from subordinates, I can
  • 25. 25 help with their motivation to want to reach higher. I can make sure that I exhibit this style next time I am leading a group by establishing a high standard of excellence and encouraging my followers to not just give an “ok” effort in their projects. They need to be able to give their best work on every project that is assigned to them. Feedback I asked five people that know me personally to give me a rating between 1 and 5, 5 being the highest, and 1 being the lowest, of what they perceive to be my strongest leadership traits. The answers are posted below. Leadership Traits Rater 1 Rater 2 Rater 3 Rater 4 Rater 5 Average Rating Self- Rating Articulate 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 Perceptive 4 3 3 4 3 3.4 4 Self-confident 4 4 4 4 3 3.8 3 Self-assured 4 4 4 4 5 4.2 4 Persistent 5 5 4 5 5 4.8 5 Determined 5 5 5 5 4 4.8 4 Trustworthy 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 Dependable 5 5 5 4 4 4.6 5 Friendly 3 4 3 4 3 3.4 3 Outgoing 4 3 3 4 4 3.6 3 Conscientious 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 Diligent 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 Sensitive 3 3 3 3 4 3.2 3 Empathetic 4 4 3 4 3 3.6 4 The scores that I received on this questionnaire provided me with information about how I see myself and how others view me as a leader. For the most part, the rater’s scores were fairly close to my own ratings. There were a few ratings that were a little farther off than my ratings. These traits were self-confidence, being determined, and outgoing. I gave myself a rating of 3 for self- confidence because I feellike this is one of the areas where I need to improve the most. I constantly feel like I am second guessing myself instead of just following my gut. The average score from the raters was 3.8. This is much different from my perception of myself. This may be due to me having my own self-confidence battles in my head instead of expressing my uncertainty to others around me. I gave myself a rating of 4 for being determined. I feel like this trait goes hand in hand with self-confidence which I view as an area for improvement. I will always take a stand when dealing with problems, but I can’t say that I always act with certainty. The average score from the raters was 4.8. This suggests that they believe that I do act with certainty even though I may not be confident in all of the decisions I make. I gave myself a rating of 3 for being outgoing because I know that I am a very shy person. I get along well with others but I am usually not one to be able to talk to anybody about anything. The average score from the raters was 3.6. This is much higher than I viewed myself. This might be because I am a nice person. Even though I am shy, once I get to know people, I usually get along well with others.
  • 26. 26 What does “To Lean in the Discomfort ofWork” Mean to You? To lean into the discomfort of work means that you have to let yourself be vulnerable to succeed in life. Everything in the world is not black and white. You will never know the outcomes of doing something for certain until after it already happens. This can be uncomfortable for many people, including myself. Regarding my own qualifications for leadership, there are many things that make me uncomfortable. These include having other people’s success depend on my actions, leading in hard times, failing an entire group as a leader, public speaking, and not knowing how my group members feelabout my leadership styles. Shame Shame is “a painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behavior.” Shame develops when someone feels like their own actions to not live up to the standards that they believe (or have been told to believe) in. These standards could be set by the way they were raised or the way that society has corrupted beliefs. Shame is uncontrollable and happens to almost everybody. Shame can also occur due to embarrassment,dishonor, disgrace, or inadequacy. Worthiness Worthiness is a sense of one’s own value as a person. This is measured in their self-esteem or self-respect and their favorable opinion for themselves. A person develops worthiness by understanding that nobody in the world is perfect and that everybody is different. This comes with having a high self-esteem and performing activities to the best of your ability. I think that people who feelworthy have good self-confidence because everywhere that you go, there are negative people in the world that try to bring you down. Vulnerability as “The Birthplace ofJoy and Love” Vulnerability is “the birthplace of joy and love” because being vulnerable means to open up you heart and mind to things that can be terrifying. When you let everybody in the world see you for exactly who you are,joy and love can prosper. Without being vulnerable, you will always be hiding something from people and will not be able to completely let someone into your life. Being vulnerable means being honest, open, and kind. Vulnerability and Leadership Vulnerability relates to leadership because leaders that are relationship-oriented tend to be more vulnerable. They are open to sharing things about their personal life with their followers because this builds trust and makes it easier to relate to others. I think that leaders should be open about their weaknesses because they will eventually become visible to followers whether or not the leader decides to share them. If the leader is open about their weaknesses,the followers can attempt to help the leader become stronger in those areas if they have a good relationship. Can a Person Learn to Care About Other People? I don’t think you can “learn” to care about other people. Some people are better at caring than others, but I think everybody cares to some degree. I think you can improve at being more sensitive and compassionate by empathizing with others and being vulnerable. If a leader can find commonalities with their followers, they will build strong, caring relationships with them. Most Difficult Conflict Style The most difficult conflict style for me to implement is competition. I think this is because having a competition style for handling conflict involves individuals failing to recognize the concerns and needs of others. I have always been a person that is compassionate and cares how other people are feeling. I know you can’t please everybody, but I try to consider everyone’s point of
  • 27. 27 view during a conflict. When dealing with a conflict, I never try to control or persuade others in order to help myself because that does not solve the root problem. That is very self-centered and self-interested. Appropriate Times for Conflict As a leader, an appropriate time to engage in conflict would be when tension between group members/followers is starting to be detrimental to the end goal. A leader never wants to take sides during a conflict because the person on the opposite side will feel like the leader is playing favorites. Sometimes, the leader is forced to step into the conflict when the problem between the followers is preventing the group from being productive. When this happens, the leader should listen to all sides of the conflict and try to help the followers collaborate and come up with the best solution for all group members. Separating the Person from the Problem When dealing with difficult coworkers at work, interpersonal conflicts often arise. When I dislike a person and they contribute to a conflict at work, I am less likely to listen to their opinions simply because I dislike them and I think that everything they say it outrageous even if it sounds valid. This is a problem that I need to work on because a good leader is able to see all sides of a conflict whether they like the person or not. I think that separating the person from the problem would have help tremendously because that allows a person to just hear the opinion without attaching it to whoever is saying it. This helps people be more open-minded and make their own opinions on the conflict as well. Unmanageable Conflicts The kinds of conflicts that I think are unmanageable are conflicts between people who are unwilling to hear an opposing viewpoint. There are always some people that think that they are right 100% of the time and refuse to hear any opinion that is different from theirs. These people are extremely difficult to work with because they do not know how to compromise or even listen to other people. It is impossible to solve a conflict entirely between people who are not willing to consider someone else’s point of view. Fisher and Ury’s Method You could use Fisher and Ury’s method of principled negotiation to solve a problem that concerns different values by focusing on principle 3; invent options for mutual gains. This principle involves inventing new options to resolve the conflict to the satisfaction of both parties. People involved in the conflict need to brainstorm and search hard for creative solutions to the conflict. These solutions will have to consider both sides with different values. Focusing on the interest of the parties in conflict can result in creative thinking. Most people are able to find common ground in every situation. Once the common ground is established, solutions that benefit both parties can be identified. Societal Conflicts vs.Interpersonal Conflicts Societal conflicts are different from interpersonal conflicts because they do not directly involve a relationship with a specific person. Societal problems can be massive problems that affect a large amount of people while interpersonal conflicts can deal with the relationships between one or more people. Some concepts from this chapter that would be helpful in dealing with all conflict situations would be separating the person from the problem and fractionation. Separating the person from the conflict is an important concept because we enable ourselves to recognize others’ points of view and encourages us to be attentive to our relationships during conflict. When we separate the people from the problem, we are more inclined to work with others to solve the problem. Fractionation is an important concept because it involves breaking down large conflicts
  • 28. 28 into smaller, more manageable pieces. This makings solving conflicts easier because people are solving smaller problems one at a time instead of trying to solve a large conflict that involves many aspects. Conflict in Voluntary Group Settings A common type of conflict that I have seen in voluntary group setting is relational conflict and issues of control. In a voluntary setting, I feellike some people want to feellike they have all of the control because they want to be the leader. Having control increases feeling of potency and makes us feel less helpless. This causes tension among group members because it can feellike a constant power struggle between everybody in the group instead of everybody wanting to work together as a team. Part II- Self As Leader Overview After completing several questionnaires and exercises about different aspects of leadership, I believe that this course has given me new skills to become a better leader. Leadership is much more than just being in charge and overseeing everyday operations. It involves enthusiasm and charisma to be able to inspire a group of people to want to believe in your vision. Technical skills are important, but they are not the only things that matter to be a great leader. Being a great leader means that your group of followers trusts you to provide them with the information that they need to succeed. When I am the leader of the group, I like to focus on being a relationship-oriented leader because I want my followers to know that I am here to work with them and not have a dictator-like attitude. If I am the leader, I will still work on the project with my followers. This action not only shows that I want to work with the group, but it is also an opportunity for me to showcase technicalcompetence skills so my followers can build their trust with me. I will summarize five different examples of leadership that I have shown throughout the semester. Here are five examples of my leadership throughout this semester. These examples have taken place in the classroom, at work, and within the community. Clashing Views Team Project After being randomly selected for groups in my online management class,I was put in a group with three other people that I had never met before. Communication within the team was very difficult because I could tell by some of the efforts put in to the discussion questions that I was in a group with people who do not normally speak up in class or like to get things completed in a timely fashion. I had also sent out severalemails without receiving any responses. This was my opportunity to step up and be the leader of this group and try to inspire my other group members to want to get on board with completing this project. I took matters into my own hands and constructed a plan that laid out exactly what needed to be completed for the project, who needed to complete which sections, and gave deadlines for completion. I explained how we should all be working together and trying to collaborate on this project to the best of our abilities. I also offered to help members with their sections if they were confused on a certain part. I am not normally the person to take charge, but I had to become the leader in order to get the ball rolling.  Without a leader, the group operated under Theory X assumptions  My leadership resembles a democratic leadership style  Exercised intelligence and confidence after assuming a leadership position even though I am not used to this role  Provided clear goals for the team This example relates to leadership issues discussed in the course because I had to assume the role of the leader of the group and inspire my group members to want to believe in my vision. If I did not create a promising vision for my group members, they would not have accepted me as the leader of
  • 29. 29 the project. This also gave me the opportunity to work with uninspired members and try to find new ways to motivate them to succeed. This is an issue that many leaders experience. I was able to use my interpersonal skills to help me in this area. Certified Trainer at Rock Bottom Brewery After working at Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery for just over a year and a half, the managers decided that I had the skills that they were looking for to become a certified trainer in my area of work. This position involves training all of the new employees that are hired in my area to teach them the necessary skills to be able to be successfulat their job. The managers explained that I have a high technical competence of the skills needed and that my interpersonal skills give me the ability to gain the trust of the new employees.  Technical competence and conceptual skills  Interpersonal skills/social perceptiveness  Theory Y Assumptions in my own leadership style  Relationship-oriented leader This example relates to leadership issues discussed in the course because my managers believed that I demonstrated the necessary skills to be able to make a positive difference in their company. They trust that my skills are exactly what they need to train new employees in the company. In a few of the questionnaires that I completed throughout the course, my results expressed that I have a strong ability to create vision for a team and that I am able to inspire and motivate my followers. This move by my managers correlates with these results. Group Exercise Team I like to exercise with a few of my friends on a weekly basis. We all have different sports related activities that we all excel with. We all act as leaders when we are training in our specific areas in the group. My area of expertise is running. When the group is running together or we are training individually, we all keep each other motivated and offer inspiration when it is needed. Whenever someone in my group becomes discouraged about running, whether it is from an injury or fatigue, I always try to offer my support and knowledge to help that person become motivated again.  Technical competence  Offering inspiration and motivation to group members  Strength-based leadership-all group members are leaders in their strengths  Social perceptiveness-knowing how to motivate people This example relates to leadership issues discussed in the course because our group demonstrates what it is like to be in a cohesive environment. All of us are leaders in our own strengths and we work together to be the best team possible. Even though we are just exercising together, these skills can be used to help build community within groups that we work in on school projects or at work. Building community within a group is a skill that I need to improve. I can take the skills that I use with this group and relate them to working with a school group. There are severalpositive outcomes to having a cohesive group. Volunteer Project-Zombie Run I volunteered with a group of friends to participate in the planning and execution of the Zombie Run at Fox Run Regional Park in September. The event was held to raise awareness about natural disasters in the area. We wanted to take part in this event because we were able to educate people, both adults and children, about what to do in the case of a natural disaster in the area and how they can be prepared before it happens. My group was able to be zombies in the run, but we were also able to operate the disaster tent at the end of the race and have a few contests with the participants that related to natural disasters and what they need to be prepared. We were able to answer several questions for adults and children about what to do if an emergency happens. This was a fun, educational event for all parties involved.