MSLD 521 Module 9- A Different Kind of Leader

Gina Folk stated that effective leadership occurs when the leader puts themselves on other people's shoes (2015). While I’m not entirely sure if the academic field is my long-term career path, I know that I’d like to bring up the importance of understanding people wherever I end up. Many times throughout my life, I’ve came across customer service representatives that were feeling agitated, and often rushed to get the job done. After receiving their usually awful service, I often wonder how they thought their way of doing was acceptable, and whether they ever think about their customers. Prakash Singh stated that simply having the ability to perform tasks is never enough, and that it is critical for leaders to be aware of their surroundings (2014).

As leaders, it is important to keep in mind that people is what makes leadership possible. Relationships, along with communication are like parts of a machine- without it, things won’t run smoothly. Because of this, it is important to meet the people’s needs and wants as much as possible. As Stephen Denning mentioned, an interactive leader works with the world rather than against it (2011). This is perhaps one of the most important dimension Denning stated. While a leader has the role to lead, it is important to avoid being too manipulative since this can stress people out. For example, when I make degree maps I really want many of my students to follow the patter I’ve suggested. Rather than being direct, I explain to them the importance and reasons behind the list of classes, as well as make it clear that these are only my recommendations. With explanations, I’m sounding less commanding, but could have the students follow.

Building personal integrity and authenticity, and disregarding hierarchical authority are two other dimensions that I constantly consider daily as an academic adviser (Denning, 2011). Although I have some higher authorities than a student, I always disregard my status and instead blend in with the students as much as possible. By engaging in conversations with the student, I can gain further information outside of advisement. For instance, as staff, I’m only told that you need to take all the math and English courses before taking a research course. When engaging in conversations with my students, they can talk about their experiences and tell you that business statistics heavily revolved around the research course. This was something I haven’t been told initially, and in the future, I could use that information for future advisement. In addition, I’m also a current student. I’m one of them. By sharing my personal experiences, my students and I are going back and forth- gaining new information, and at the same time develop stronger relationships due to our common interests.

Long story short, the key to effective leadership is to blend in with your people as much as possible. By blending in, leaders and followers can relate to one another- establishing stronger relationships. In addition, putting oneself in others shoes allows additional information to be absorbed: which can enhance the overall leadership.

  

References:

Denning, S. (2011). The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative. San Francisco, CA: Josey-Bass.

Folk, G. (2015). Put Yourself In Other People’s Shoes. People Leadership. Retrieved from http://peopleleadership.com/put-yourself-in-other-peoples-shoes/

Singh, P. (2014). Employees’ use of empathy to improve their job behavior. The International Business & Economics Research Journal (Online). Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/docview/1525361493/abstract/2F2815C3B74C411EPQ/1?accountid=27203

MSLD 521 Module 8- Cornerstones of Speaking

For a very long time, I’ve experienced many good and bad presentations. Despite the many experiences, most were unfortunately bad ones. I’ve had many cases where teachers were speaking in monotone voices or were simply repeating what’s shown on their visuals. Because of this, I often times got distracted: drawing pictures, playing with my phone, or in worse cases- falling asleep in class. Whenever I encountered these bad presentations, I often wondered if the rest of my classmates were even learning anything, and whether the presenter was aware of how bad the presentation is. All of these things are what I always consider when I’m the one presenting. I don’t want my audience to not learn, or find my presentations boring. To prevent this from occurring, I usually adjust my voice, verbal delivery, as well as visuals.

Just as Julian Treasure mentioned in his video, the presenter’s voice has an impact on the outcome of the presentation (Treasure, 2014). In the many examples shown on the Charisma on Command video, Kevin Hart often spoke very loudly, but he also adjusted his voice to actually be funny (Charisma on Command, 2016). One thing that can be drawn from the two videos is the importance of adjusting voices. The outcome of a presentation is good when people are able to absorb something from it. To do this, the audience needs to be motivated and or entertained.

Before I start entertaining and motivating people, I need to know who my audiences are. At a university setting for example, my audience usually consist of students and a teacher. The teacher will likely be the most motivated of the group since the students were literally “forced” to listen to my presentation. To balance out and capture as much attention as possible, I usually try to have more of a “conversation-feel” rather than actually presenting. George Bradt pointed out in his short article that people engage easier in conversations rather than presenting (2014). Every time I come across presenters literally “reading”, I often ask, “Who normally talks like that?” To bring in a little more life to my presentations, I try to be expressive (adjust my voice) and avoid the reading style- just as if I’m having a regular face-to-face conversation. For the future story project specifically, I also need to be expressive to help my audience understand its importance to me.

Although adjusting tone and the talking style is important, presentations can be more effective when visuals are present. Visual aids have many benefits: including maintaining interest to illustrating your points (Leigh, n.d.). In past experiences, I’ve often implemented not only relevant materials, but videos and photos to help deliver the mood I’m hoping to achieve. Referring back to the university example, I’m aware that the students are the ones that’ll be harder to capture since they’ve been forced into my presentation. Since many of them are young like myself, we all probably have very similar interests. In one business presentation, I used a short scene from The Big Bang Theory to not only entertain the audience, but to prove a point in the audience. After a short moment of laughter, I’ve capture most of their attention, and can continue on with the presentation. The important thing to keep in mind however is to ensure that the materials won’t led your presentation to go off-topic, or is too distracting for the audience.

In summary, I plan to consider the audience’s point-of-views into my Future Story presentation. Since my presentation is heavily based on myself, it is important to be expressive. To do this, I plan to avoid sounding too monotone and to “talk” rather than present. Since audio alone for my presentation can be a little bland, I intend to also include interesting and relevant visuals to help maintain engagement. Although my presentation isn’t like a business or research and fact intensive, I can also rely on visuals to help the audience illustrate my points.  

References:

Bradt, G. (2014). Big Presentation? Don’t Do It—Have a Conversation Instead. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/georgebradt/2014/09/10/big-presentation-dont-do-it-have-a-conversation-instead/#8e2d384295b7

“Charisma on Command”. (2016). Kevin Hart’s 3 Secrets to Hilarious Storytelling [Video file]. YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn_L4OPU_rg

Leigh, R. (n.d.). The Importance of Creating Effective Visual Aids in the Workplace. Chron. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/importance-creating-effective-visual-aids-workplace-17432.html

Treasure, J. (2014). How to speak so that people want to listen: Julian Treasure (TED Talk Summary) [Video file].  YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEkEAFaV818

MSLD 521 Module 7- Secret Structure

While pursuing a degree in business administration, I made and came across a lot of presentations. Whether it was to examine a management tactic or a real-life business scenario, the pattern was overall repetitive. We provide a summary of the main topic, analyze it, and support our reasoning with internal and external data. Since the point of most of these presentation is to prove something, the most important thing for these presentations is data. According to Nosich, you can’t explain without information. While information include numbers and charts, different views and other relevant information from different people or environments also serves as data (Nosich, 2012).

During my undergraduate days, I’ve always relied on research for my presentations. In the leadership program however, I’m starting to realize that research alone doesn’t always add up to our presentations. As leaders, the key is to inspire and motivate people to support an idea (Prive, 2012). Nancy Duarte mentioned during her TED talk The Secret Structure of Great Talks that presentations are completely flat-lines, whereas a story allows ones to establish physical reactions (2011). She examined the different “shapes” of how stories and presentations are made, and concluded that successful ones are done in the following shape:

Duarte's whole point was that a good communication is done by going back and forth on "what is" and "what could be", and ending it with "the new bliss". Rather than having one climax of the speech, you can have multiple to help engage the audience. Personally, I find this pattern to be made more for someone who clearly knows their vision: where they can provide numerous examples to support their vision. As much as I would like to fully adapt this style to my future presentation, I will likely only implement a small portion.

As of today, I personally do not have a large lifetime goal or interest since I'm currently in the stage of life of figuring this out. Since I do not have a clear, large vision, using Durate's will be tricky. To avoid my presentation being too much of a presentation as Durate mentioned, I might adapt part of her "what is" "what could be" portions of the chart. For my case, I might be considering doing a presentation about overcoming my thoughts on my hearing disability. At the beginning of the presentation, I'll talk about how well I'm currently doing with my job, and provide some examples of them. Durate's portion can be implemented at the body of the presentation: where I provide examples on how overcoming my fears of my hearing disability could change today's advisement. The ending of the presentation might not add up to Durate's example, but I might consider a short summary and sum up the overall importance of my personal goal. To avoid the presentation being too much of a presentation, I also consider to implement some short story telling to my presentation. 

References:

Duarte, N. (2011). Nancy Duarte: The secret structure of great talks [Video file]. TED. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/nancy_duarte_the_secret_structure_of_great_talks

Noisch, G. D. (2012). Learning To Think Things Through: A Guide to Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum. Boston: Peason Education.

Prive, T. (2012). Top Qualities That Make A Great Leader. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyaprive/2012/12/19/top-10-qualities-that-make-a-great-leader/#3dc71c923564

MSLD 521 Module 6- Sustained Change

On July 1988, an oil rig exploded off the coast of Scotland, which tragically killed over 160 workers. Andy Mochan, a survivor from the accident chose to jump fifteen stories into water to avoid the blaze, quoting “it was either jump of fry”. Daryl Conner uses Mochan’s quote as a metaphor to the burning platform: which he defines as the commitment to sustain a change (Conner, 2012). Rather than suffering and dealing with a change when it happens, Conner believes that ones can “pay less” by supporting the change (Galoppin, 2011). The whole concept of the burning platform help leaders understand the different outcomes between being reactive versus being proactive. According to Fisher, leaders should avoid being reactive since it increases stress, reduces effective decision-making, and can lead to a sense of powerlessness. Instead,  a good leader should stay proactive since it relieves stress, prepares and establishes better understanding, and promote control and direction of the change (Fisher, n.d.).

                While I never really thought of it before, I happen to consider the burning platform concept every day. As of today, I am only one year into the “working adult life”, and everything seems to be in order. I managed to land a full time job, move out of my parent’s household, and is currently pursuing a master’s degree. While I currently have everything I want, it is always important for me to avoid getting too comfortable, and be aware of the potential risks that may occur. Of all the things I’m going through at the moment, I am very cautious about my position as an academic adviser.

                Academics is one of few organizations that faces constant changes. We apply new technologies to improve our services, introduce and revise degree programs, and make changes to stand out from our competitors. Today, many universities including the one I work at is starting to focus more towards online courses. Students are finding online courses to be flexible and convenient than traditional classroom courses. Because of this, many physical campuses including mine are facing a deficit in both participation of in-seat courses and overall office visits.

                Although my university hasn’t announced any dramatic changes to resolve this issue, I think of “possible” changes the university might make. For instance, I often feel like the university might completely get rid of in-seat courses someday which can either lead to one of two possible changes. One possible change might be the university transforming all physical campuses into a service center where students can receive advisement and other needs. For this case, I overall believe that this won’t have too huge of an impact since we simply lose the task of setting up and hosting in-seat courses. However, since we don’t get that many office visits, the university might only need a campus director to run a campus: which could lead me to lose my job since I’m currently an assistant.

                If I were to lose my job due to having no need of an assistant campus director, the situation will be like the second possible change, where the university decides to close all physical campuses. Losing my job would be a serious issue since this will impact my goal of getting a master’s degree and living alone in general. Rather than taking action after the change happens, I am proactive and brainstorm a few ideas before the change. Saving income is one thing, however I also try to make and maintain connections with people from organizations close to my university. My campus for example consists of  many students from the Boeing Company. While establishing a relationship helps with advisement purposes, doing so might even help me land a job at their company. By landing a new job, this can save me from losing my current home, and I can continue to pursue a master’s degree.

References:

Conner, D. (2012). The Real Story of the Burning Platform. Retrieved from http://www.connerpartners.com/frameworks-and-processes/the-real-story-of-the-burning-platform

Fisher, C. (n.d.). Being Proactive Vs. Reactive. Retrieved from http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/being-proactive-vs-reactive-10356.html

Galoppin, L. (2011). The Giant Misunderstanding on Burning Platforms. Retrieved from http://www.reply-mc.com/2011/01/17/the-giant-misunderstanding-on-burning-platforms/

MSLD 521 Module 5- Core Workplace Values Assessment

As an academic adviser, student success is our priority. While my university face some competition with other aviation-focused schools, we mainly rely on genuinely ethical values. As Stephen Denning stated, people following this value focuses more on the people in the community rather than profit (Denning, 2011). As students complete their degree programs, they will be counting on me and many other university staff to help them. To do this, it is important to establish and maintain a strong relationship.

After completing Dr. Randall Hansen’s Workplace Values Assessment, it wasn’t surprising to notice how closely tied my values were to my job. Below are five important values I mostly rely on:

1. Integrity and truth.
2. Friendships and warm working relationships.
3.   Professional development and on-going learning and growth.
4. Having a positive impact on others and society.
5. Being recognized for quality of work in a visible/public way.

The first two values were heavily inspired by personal experiences. When I was working on my bachelor’s degree, I studied at the same university I currently work at. Although many of the staff and faculty were helpful, there were cases where I came across those that “rushed” through their advisement. I found these people to be a little disrespectful and dishonest: which eventually lead me to speak to another adviser.

Now that I’m an adviser, I am able to see and think from the staff and student perspectives. Many of my students find my advisement helpful because I often connect my personal experiences to their advisement. According to Zak, storytelling establishes an empathetic environment. By being empathetic, we’re relating with one another: which establishes and strengthen relationships (Zak, 2014). One example is when I make class recommendations for students. Rather than choosing random classes off the list, I implement my personal experiences when possible. The whole point of storytelling is to ensure that students don’t make the same mistakes I’ve made in the past. By doing so, students can see that I’m providing honest information and that I truly care about them: which often time leads them to respond in the same manner.

Although sharing personal experiences may be helpful, it is important to keep in mind that this won’t always be the case. According to Allison, a leader should always think proactively since change is constant (2014). Because of this, my third important value is to constantly seek opportunities to expand and improve my current knowledge. According to Nosich, a leader’s effectiveness depends on the amount of information they have (2012). To improve the effectiveness of my advisement, I am currently taking graduate courses. Although doing so Is not required in my position, I can gain further knowledge as a staff and student. By doing so, this will improve the quality of my advisement, which will leave a more positive impact for both the students and fellow staff.

References:

Allison, A. (2014). Why Leaders Should Never Get Comfortable. Retrieved from http://www.inc.com/austin-allison/planning-for-inevitable-change.html

Noisch, G. D. (2012). Learning To Think Things Through: A Guide to Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum. Boston: Peason Education.

Zak, P. (2014). Why Your Brain Loves Good Storytelling. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2014/10/why-your-brain-loves-good-storytelling

MSLD 521 Module 4- Listening

Tom Peters’ briefly talked about the importance of listening by providing an example of the healthcare industry. He states that strategic strength comes from strategic listening rather than a strategic plan (Peters, 2009). As leaders, it is critical to listen to your followers since each person’s beliefs and thoughts are considered as valuable information: which is necessary for effective decision making (Nosich, 2012). While cutting conversations short may save some time, many people find it rude: causing leaders to not only obtain less information, but struggle maintaining a positive relationship.

 When I was working on my bachelor’s degree, I had an unusual question pop up, and my academic adviser referred me to speak to a professor at the math department. After exchanging introductions with the professor, I started to have difficulties understanding her. The professor had a very thick accent and spoke rather swiftly. As someone with a hearing disability, it was important to inform her before she got too far in the conversation. When attempting to do so, she kept cutting me off and continue where she left off. After a few more attempts, she finally yelled at me telling me to let her finish. Just before I could finish my sentence, she again cut me off and asked me to leave because of my "disruptive behavior".

 At the end of the conversation, I felt mistreated and believed that reporting the incident was reasonable. After going back and forth with the school for a week, I finally received an email from the same professor. Because of the way she yelled during the last visit, I felt pretty hesitant to see her. Upon arrival, we exchanged greetings and she immediately apologized and admitted that she assumed that I wanted to ask questions during the middle of her conversation. In the end, I accepted her apology, and she was able to help me out.

 There were a few things that can be drawn out and tied to Tom Peters’ explanation on the importance of listening. The first was that miscommunication (or lack of information) occurred because of the lack of listening. According to Blundell, some reasons why people talk over each other is because it’s a narcissistic or a battle for power (Blundell, 2015). Although I don’t have the full understanding of the professor’s thinking, I believe that she might have cut me off because of her position at the university. As a professor, they have a lot of knowledge on the academics than the student. Because of this, she showed “who’s boss”, but at the same time might have assumed that my statements were least important and can wait.

 While cutting people off causes miscommunication, it also causes emotional issues to occur. I was upset about being cut off in general, however it was her tone and facial expression that really put an effect. Each time I attempted to stop the professor, she was progressively raising her voice and her facial expressions began to change. Clearly seeing this, I also began to respond the same way (McDonald and Messinger, n.d.). As leaders, despite facing a difficult situation, it is important to always stay positive since this will help people regain confidence, and become more motivated: which eventually results in more efficient functions (Somogyi, 2013).

References:

Blundell, A. (2015). 7 reasons people talk over the top of others [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1PQRZojlXQ

McDonald, N., & Messinger, D., (n.d.), The Development of Empathy: How, When, and Why. Retrieved from http://www.psy.miami.edu/faculty/dmessinger/c_c/rsrcs/rdgs/emot/McDonald-Messinger_Empathy%20Development.pdf

Nosich, G.D. (2012). Learning To Think Things Through: A Guide to Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum. Boston: Pearson Education.

Peters, T. (2009). Tom Peter’s Leadership Thoughts: Listening [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwB7NAvKPeo

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

MSLD 521 Module 3- Credibility

Joel Whalen has identified three pillars of credibility: expertise, trustworthiness, and goodwill. Expertise is the form of credibility where people rely on one’s title, education or other professionals’ esteem. Trustworthiness is simply the confidence level between people, whereas goodwill focuses on the overall relationship (Whalen, 2007). As an academic adviser, maintaining a strong relationship with students is critical since they will be relying on my help to successfully graduate. While I hardly come across professional issues, one challenge I struggle with is to be seen as a trustworthy adviser.

Though it’s hard to determine, I believe one reason why I struggle on gaining trust is because of the lack of experience with my current position. I was hired as an adviser only last year and because of this, a few students enrolled before my arrival refer straight to my boss. Though the situation appears more relevant towards the expertise pillar, I believe trustworthiness is the primary issue. According to Whalen, it takes time to build up trust (Whalen, 2007). A year may seem enough time to gain some trust, however the challenge at my workplace is that most students rarely contact us. My university primarily offers online courses, and many students rely on them to balance work schedules, as well as having the opportunity to get a degree without constant travelling.

While work experience at my university might be one thing, perhaps the biggest struggle that applies to anyone is my age. I am 24, graduated last year with my first bachelor’s degree, and is new to the working world. Though it is uncommon for students to judge me, I’ve been told by my boss several times where students admitted that they trusted a “grown man” than “some kid”.  Whether the person is a current, new, or a potential student, the pattern is usually the same. First, I usually receive an email or phone call requesting an office visit. When the student arrives, they either ask if I was the same person who they initially spoke to, or they will ask or go straight to the director’s office (without saying anything). When my boss wasn’t in the office, in rare cases, they simply say “oh” and leave the office.

                While working for a year and being young are two different issues, I believe the solution to both are overall the same: and that is to simply engage in more conversations. The root problem to both situations are that people are judging based on “the cover”. The situation is similar to Chimamanda Adichie’s TED talk The Danger of a Single Story. According to Adichie, a single story or stereotype might be true, but are inaccurate information (Adichie, 2009). For my situation, I am sometimes seen as untrustworthy because I’m young and just got hired. The judgments are true, but not entirely. To overcome the issue, I often talk about my past and current experience as a student.

                According to Joshua Gowin, personal experiences and storytelling allows the audience to make a connection to their thoughts and emotions (Gowin, 2011). For my case, sharing my experiences is efficient because going to school is a common interest. While true experiences are credible, implementing emotions through body language and tone can make a conversation more efficient since emotions allows ones to respond the same way (McDonald & Messinger, n.d.). To supplement my storytelling and overall knowledge for advisement, I am also currently working on my master’s degree: which follows into the expertise pillar of credibility. Whenever I come across a student who talks about a master’s degree, I worry that I lack experience. To avoid this, I am continuing and learning more as I complete my degree.

References:

Adichie, C. (2009). The danger of a single story [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story

Gowin, J. (2011). Why Sharing Stories Brings People Together. Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/you-illuminated/201106/why-sharing-stories-brings-people-together

McDonald, N., & Messinger, D., (n.d.), The Development of Empathy: How, When, and Why. Retrieved from http://www.psy.miami.edu/faculty/dmessinger/c_c/rsrcs/rdgs/emot/McDonald-Messinger_Empathy%20Development.pdf

Whalen, J. (2007). The Professional Communications Toolkit (1st ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.