For this week’s module, Dr. Richard
Boyatzis asked viewers in his video What
is Great Leadership to stop and think about past leaders we’ve worked with.
He first wanted us to think of a leader that brought out the best- one that we’d
be gladly to work for again in the future. On the contrary, he also asked us to
list another past leader that did not- one who you’d avoid working with in the
future. With a little less than three years of work experience and technically
working on my first and only job (my other was a temporary summer job), it’s
hard to come up with an individual that I’d completely
avoid. As both individuals that came in mind are overall good leaders, I will
instead point out some areas that I believe could have been improved.
The first person that came in mind
currently works for the same organization that I work for. Since I’d like to
keep the name anonymous, I will name her “Mrs. I”. For the activity, I described
Mrs. I as a creative, caring, and a dependable coach. While Mrs. I isn’t exactly
my boss, she has always been someone I looked up to. The main reason why I look
up to her is because she has provided training when I first started working in
my current job and continues to help sharpen my current skills and knowledge on
student advisement. Also knowing that I am currently building overall work
experience, she is very patient and provides detailed information and suggestions
to help make improvements. When we cross path at work, she never fails to greet
me and occasionally checks on me to make sure everything is running smoothly at
my campus.
The second person that came in mind also
works for the same organization but was for a different position. Unlike Mrs.
I, my former supervisor nicknamed “Mr. F” was more task-driven. For the
activity, I described him as strict, task-driven, and single-minded. In my previous
position, I was a summer camp coordinator: where I was in charge of escorting and
ensuring the safety of middle school and high school participants. As the camp
consisted of various activities, staff had to stick with the schedule to ensure
everything runs smoothly. With me and my assistant in charge of a camp group
consisting of more than 40 participants, we often had some difficulties to manage
our students. Rather than understanding our best attempt to ensure everything
runs smoothly, Mr. F often called me into the office, giving me a “do better
next time” feedback (no detailed explanation). When things do run smoothly, I
also never received any detailed feedback on what I did good or could do better.
Often times, I felt that I wasn’t being recognized for my efforts: which made
me less motivated to put additional effort.
As Dr. Boyatzis (n.d.) explained in
his video, I think the key to what makes great leaders are that they establish
relationships and recognize employees as an individual
rather than an object. This reminded me of a past TED talk I’ve watched called What Makes Us Feel Good About Our Work.
In summary, Dan Ariely had a series of experiments that focused on the sense of
recognition and purpose of work. The results of these experiments showed that
motivation increased when work was being recognized. In addition, it was found
that being recognized not only motivated employees to work, but it also
promoted happiness (Ariely, 2012).
Not receiving any acknowledgement or knowing that
efforts will never be acknowledged often leads to negative reactions including
frustration, sense of unworthiness, and disappointment. This was something I
felt when working with Mr.F: as he didn’t recognize my efforts or provided any good
or bad feedback for personal improvement. Lack of recognition and purpose is hazardous
for any organizations: as it reduce human capital, which is essential for
organizational success (Mathis and Jackson, 2011).
References:
Ariely, D. (2012). Dan Ariely: What makes us feel good
about our work? [Video File]. TED. Retrieved from
https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_ariely_what_makes_us_feel_good_about_our_work
Boyatzis, R. (n.d.). What is Great Leadership? Case
Western Reserve University. Retrieved from https://820961.kaf.kaltura.com/browseandembed/index/media-redirect/entryid/1_irqylr7d/showDescription/false/showTitle/false/showTags/false/showDuration/false/showOwner/false/showUploadDate/false/playerSize/400x285/playerSkin/30818691#
Mathis, R. L., & Jackson, J. H. (2011). Human
resource management (13th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western, Cengage Learning
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