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.
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