MSLD 633 Module 1- Leadership Gaps

                Prior to the leadership program, I’ve studied business and came across a few topics on leadership roles in organizations. While I never really had the opportunity to go in-depth, leadership was often and simply defined as the management of people and departments, or directing people to what you believe is best for the group. After taking a few classes in the leadership program, my thoughts and definition of leadership has changed: as I believe that leadership is more than just giving people directions.

                Leadership has been around for a long time and has changed over the course of years. Due to the changes in people’s attitudes as well as technological advances, leadership has shifted from an autocratic, directive style to a more participative and democratic style (Institute of Learning and Innovation, n.d.). Technology is one of the largest factor in the evolution of leadership. Unlike today, many tasks were to be done hands-on: which was often time consuming. As a result, time management was often the primary focus, which often caused leaders to be more directive and task focused (Institute of Learning and Innovation, n.d.).

                Although it’s necessary to have some control, I believe that leadership is effective when leaders aren’t too commanding. Itay Talgam’s TED talk Lead like the great conductors provided some great examples by showing orchestra performances from various conductors. At one point, he shared a clip of Riccardo Muti’s performance, which he used as a metaphor of an over-commanding leader. He adds on saying that being too directive tends to create social issues, in addition to blocking opportunities for personal development (Talgam, 2009). In addition, I believe that it is critical for leaders actively put themselves in their “peoples’ shoes”. Many organizations today are separated by various departments, and while the company goal may be the same, the operations and way of thinking may be different. Because of this, it is important to think in multiple directions for more effective decision making (Northouse, 2015).

                While many are aware of the benefits of leadership, challenges on maintaining quality exist. Despite the help of technology, many of today’s leaders still tend to be task-driven. Whetten and Cameron states that effective teamwork and leadership exist when task facilitated and relationship facilitated roles are in balance (2016). To close the gap, I believe that leaders should incorporate some time to understand and care for their people. When we understand our people better, we’re not only establishing relationships, but we can gain additional information to enhance our job performance. In my current job as an academic advisor, I like to spark small conversations to get to know my students better. In addition, I often disregard my position as an advisor and instead talk to my students like an everyday person. While doing so help establish relationships, it also help the students feel less reserved. For instance, when a student brings up a class I’ve taken in the past, we often times have a detailed “compare and contrast” conversation. Since course materials change over time, the student can share me details about how today’s courses is like: which I can later use for future advisement.

References:

“Institute of Learning and Innovation”. (n.d.). The Evolution of Leadership. Mind Resources. Retrieved from http://www.mindresources.net/web/institutejournal5/Article2.pdf

Northouse, P. (2015). Leadership: Theory and Practice 7th ed. Los Angeles: Sage Publishing

Talgam, I. (2009). Itay Talgam: Lead like the great conductors [Video File]. TED. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/itay_talgam_lead_like_the_great_conductors

Whetten, D. A. & Cameron, K. S. (2016). Developing management skills, 9th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson.

MSLD 520 Module 9- Course Reflections

                In the past, I have studied business administration: where the majority of the focus was on the management of business operations and employees. Prior to this course, I often believed that leaders need to take most control of their employees, in addition to motivating employees with traditional rewards and benefits for successful business operations. Now on the last week of this course, I was able to realize and learn that there are more things to consider to be successful.

The most interesting topic I was able to learn from this course was empowerment and motivation. While I was aware of the importance of traditional rewards and benefits, I didn’t consider how something simple like autonomy can be just as important. In the earlier modules, we watched a very interesting TED talk by Daniel Pink, where he mentioned the importance and need for autonomy in the workplace. After watching the video, it made a lot of sense and made me realize that autonomy may be one of my primary reasons to why I currently enjoy my current job. The job is less stressful due to the fact that I’m not constantly forced to do things. In addition, I can spend some time to do things I enjoy. As Pink mentioned, this can not only be motivating, but it can help build on to my current skills and knowledge to establish better work outcomes (Pink, 2009).

                As someone relatively new to the full-time workforce, it has been a struggle to balance work, school, and my personal life at the start of the leadership program. Another thing I was able to learn from this course was the importance and need of work-life balance. Although getting things done is necessary, it is important to keep in mind that we are human beings and having a social, healthy lifestyle is critical. After completing the module focusing on work-life balance, it helped me realize that I spend too much time on work and school. My mental and physical health were not well, and it was starting to take effect. To resolve the issue, I changed my day schedule to implement more time to do things I enjoy. To do this, I split the assignment: making litter progress each day rather than doing it all in one day.

                If I ever have the opportunity to work as a supervisor, manager, etc., I plan to consider the lessons we’ve learned on empowerment, motivation, and work-life balance. Far too many organizations are strongly task-focused: which can often spark social issues in the workplace (Whetten & Cameron, 2016). Working with leaders that are “too commanding” can also be stressful, which can eventually cause poor work qualities. Instead, it is important to do the opposite: balance out work and social life, talk less like a boss (not too commanding), and make work as enjoyable as possible.

References:

Pink, D. (2009). Daniel Pink: The Puzzle of Motivation [Video file]. TED. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation

Whetten, D. A. & Cameron, K. S. (2016). Developing management skills, 9th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson.

MSLD 520 Module 8- Team Roles

While getting the job done is the shared goal in teamwork, it is important to keep in mind that there are also social aspects involved. Whetten and Cameron states that effective teamwork occurs when groups practice task-facilitating and relationship-building roles (2016). Task-facilitating roles include direction giving and elaborating, whereas relationship-building roles include supporting and emphasizing. Teamwork is likely to be more effective when the two roles are in balance.

When pursuing my bachelor’s degree, I’ve worked with a number of groups that sided stronger towards relationships or tasks. Over time, I’ve noticed a pattern where groups that strongly-sided towards one direction had more issues. The most common group I had were those that heavily socialize. While it is important to communicate with group members, too much of it can lead groups getting carried away: focusing less on the group objective. In contrast, groups that side strongly with tasks are often “too demanding”, which often times spark conflict between group members (Talgam, 2009).

                As a team member, I usually try to balance out both task and relationship building roles, but often side one way or the other depending on the group mission. For instance, I tend to be more task-focused when something must be completed in a short amount of time. I also notice that my focus on tasks get stronger when working with people I know. Just as Sofie Roslind mentioned in a short article, I often worry that my team will be at higher risk of losing focus since the chances of side conversations are higher when working with friends or acquaintances (2013). Personally, conversations takes away time to complete our projects, and with limited time, it is important to keep conversations a minimum.

In my current job, teamwork is a little challenging due to the fact that I work at an online university. Emails are what we primarily use to work together, and because of this, there are some barriers to emotions. Personally, I believe that emotions, tone, etc. are what really makes relationship-building roles more effective. By implementing emotions, tone, etc., we’re providing some authenticity to what we say (Somogyi, 2013). When we compliment in writing for example, it becomes hard to determine whether the person really means what they say.  

References:

Roslind, S. (2013). Working in groups: The good, the bad and the ugly. CBSLife. Retrieved from http://cbslife.dk/working-in-groups-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly

Somogyi, R., Buchko, A., & Buchko, K. (2013). Managing with empathy: Can you feel what I feel? Journal of Organizational Psychology. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/docview/1470425153/fulltextPDF/CE275E3C16174E05PQ/1?accountid=27203

Talgam, I. (2009). Itay Talgam: Lead like the great conductors [Video File]. TED. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/itay_talgam_lead_like_the_great_conductors/transcript?language=en#t-435000

Whetten, D. A. & Cameron, K. S. (2016). Developing management skills, 9th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson.