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.
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