Report Leadership

Introduction: The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the material that I learned in this class. The report shows the understanding that I gained from this material as well as how I applied it to every day life. The report includes aspects taken from readings and research done for this class.

Definition of Leadership: Leadership can be defined “as the ability to inspire other people to accomplish things.” A leader teaches by example and motivates others to follow their actions. A leader looks for new opportunities and is willing to change their status quo (Kouzes, 3). A leader has the ability to make people feel good about what they are doing and helps people feel like the work they are accomplishing is working towards the larger goal of the corporation. A leader challenges someone to go beyond his or her base level of operation and work to their highest potential; they strive to get the best out of their employees. A leader is someone who recognizes accomplishment and properly rewards for accomplishments. One of the most important aspects of a leader is they treat mistakes as learning experiences (Kouzes, 4). Leadership Aspects: -Challenge the process – A leader looks for easier, more efficient ways to accomplish goals, rather than settling for the age-old way of doing something. Leaders are innovative and experiment to find new ways of doing things (Kouzes, 4). -Inspiring – Leaders effectively communicate organizational goals to employees so people know what is expected of them. They give people a good reason to do their jobs by expressing how important their work is and how it helps the organization as a whole. They motivate and energize workers and give them confidence to do their job (Kouzes, 4). -Modeling – An effective leader teaches by example. Leaders work with the highest standards and expect others to work to those standards as well. They put forth a high quality effort and expect a high quality effort from those around them (Kouzes, 5).

Leadership Types: There are several different types of leaders. People can lead by telling others what to do and relying solely on their rank to give them authority over others. People can lead by making others feel good about what they are doing; and

people can also lead by showing others how to do things. These are not the only way people can lead, leadership types can include: Coercive Style: The coercive leader can be least effective in most situations. This style deals with top down decision making which can alienate people and make them feel disrespected. The coercive style should only be used in extreme situations such as emergencies (Goleman, 82). -Authoritative Style: An authoritative leader is good at motivating people to do their work well. The authoritative leader helps workers understand how their jobs help the larger picture and makes sure they know what they do matters. This type of leader usually lets people do things how they want as long as the end result is acceptable (Goleman, 83). -Affiliative Style: This type of leader tries to keep employees happy. Workers are usually very loyal to this type of leader because they form strong ties with the leader. The leader and the employee like each other and they get along and work well together. Sometime this type of leadership will allow unacceptable performance to go uncorrected and may not inspire workers to work to their potential (Goleman, 84). -Democratic Style: A democratic leader allows everyone to voice their opinion about an issue and come to a group consensus. The draw back to a democratic style is that it takes a lot of time and deliberation to get things accomplished and if employees are not fully informed it will be hard for them to give competent advice (Goleman, 85). -Pacesetting Style: This leader sets very high standards and constantly pushes their employees to improve on performance and production time. The pacesetting style tends to make employees feel overwhelmed with the demands. This style works best when workers are very competent and highly motivated and do not need much direction (Goleman, 86). -Coaching Style: These leaders help identify their employee’s strengths and weaknesses and use that to promote work from the employees. The coaching style focuses on personal development of the employees (Goleman, 86). Leaders need to learn to recognize when different styles of leadership will be more effective. Sometimes a coercive leadership styles is the only type that will get people motivated to work, other times a coercive style will do nothing but alienate employees. The leader needs to learn when to use which style.

Personal Leadership Characteristics: I believe that I personally have many good leadership characteristics. I am honest, hard working, and observant. I tend to lead by example, letting others

see how hard I work and the level I hold myself to as an example of the level others should expect to work towards as well. I tend to be very good at recognizing people’s feelings about things. I can generally tell if someone does not enjoy doing something and try to help them find ways to make it more enjoyable. I am innovative in that I usually look for the easiest way of doing things. If a process is in place and there is a faster or more reliable way of generating the same results I can usually find it. I think that I have a good ability to analyze problems and come up with solutions to them. I would say that one of my weaknesses is my ability to peer. I am not good at pointing out problems with something and then expressing those problems to the person who is responsible. I tend to always look for the good things and skip over the bad ones. This could lead to other long-term problems because the trouble areas may go uncorrected.

Leadership Characteristics and this Class: This class has definitely helped me with my own personal leadership characteristics. Before I took the class I always knew that there were certain characteristics that leaders expressed and practiced but I could not pinpoint exact ones. I knew that people tend to view me as a leader, from my high school days when I was captain of the football team, but I could not tell you why people saw me as a leader. This class has helped me to recognize the characteristics a leader has and will help me to develop those characteristics that I am not as adept at. The class has also helped me to understand when different leader characteristics should be used and when they should not be used; which situations require which techniques. The class has mainly helped me identify the main characteristics associated with being a leader. The class will allow me to work towards strengthening these characteristics and becoming an effective leader. One of the most important characteristics this class has taught me about being a leader is that leaders need to be aware of those they are working with. Leaders need to pay attention to the emotions and feelings of their employees. If an employee is happy with the work they are doing then that person will more than likely do work of a higher quality. This class has helped me to realize this. Before I took this class I was mainly focused on myself as a leader, what I can do to become a better leader. In reality It is what I can do for other people that can make me a better leader. I have come to realize that the focus needs to be on the employee or the follower; it is what I can do to help them do their job better.

Leadership Style of Interviewee:

The style of leadership of the person I interviewed seem to be a mostly a mix of an affiliative style and an authoritative style. He stressed the importance of keeping his employees happy and motivated. He allowed them to work on flextime and wear jeans to work. He also tried to be their friends as well. The person I interviewed said that he tried to relate to each person and work with them as a friend would. He tries to help when they have personal problems and does not make it a big deal if a person has to miss work because of one of these problems, provided the person makes up the work. The leader said his employee’s tend to feel a level of loyalty to him because of the care he shows for them. On the other hand the leader said that he tries to let his employees do things the way they want as long as the output is acceptable. He has explained to everyone how their work benefits the company and everyone knows what role they play. By doing this he has made everyone accountable for the work that they do. The employees know that if they do not do an acceptable job that others will be hurt by their failures; so everyone tends to work to the best of their abilities.

My leadership style compared to that of the Interviewee: In my limited experience as a leader I believe that my style is similar to that of the person I interviewed. I think that I tend to be more of a democratic leader, looking for what each person thinks we should do before moving on. This can sometimes cause me problems because there is so much deliberation between everyone involved that it takes a long time to make some accomplishments. I need to understand sometimes that it is best to just rely on my best judgments and make a decision. I also believe that I have a coaching style of leadership. I try to show others what is expected and help them build their personal abilities so they can accomplish a task. This can also take a long time because it involves a lot of one on one coaching and interaction. As I learn more about leadership and management and myself, I eventually hope to move toward a more affiliative and authoritative style, these seem to be the most effective in most situations. I think that with these two styles there is a good balance between interpersonal interactions between the leader and employee as well as goal accomplishment.

Emotional Intelligence: I have learned a lot about emotional intelligence and how it affects co-workers. Prior to this class I had never heard the term emotional intelligence and only had

a minimal understanding of intrinsic rewards of the work place. This class has helped me to recognize how beneficial emotional intelligence can be. Self-Awareness: The most important aspect to emotional intelligence is having a high degree of self-awareness. A person must be able to understand the feelings they are experiencing and how they influence actions and be able to use this to that persons benefit. A person must be able to recognize that the tone of voice they use or the wording can have different affects on people they are communicating with. A person with low self-awareness can run into trouble because they do not realize that sometimes they can come off abrasive or rude when they do not really intend to (Weisinger, 4-5). Managing Emotions: The next step to emotional intelligence is managing a person’s emotions; this involves understanding the value and information your emotions give you. It involves using the information your emotions give you to deal effectively with different situations and people. By effectively managing emotions a person has the capability to think clearly in times of stress and generally helps in reaching a solution to a problem with out becoming caught up in the problem itself (Weisinger, 28-30). Motivating Oneself: It is important to be surrounded by friends and family that will be supportive in the task a person is trying to accomplish. These people will help a person get through difficult times and roadblocks by helping to motivate them and helping them realize things are usually not as bad as they first may appear. This is a large part of being emotionally intelligent; realizing that one cannot always deal with all the problems they face alone. It is generally good to have people around that one trusts to go to them in a time of need (Weisinger, 61-85). Communication / Interpersonal Expertise: Communicating with others is an essential part of emotional intelligence; being able to relay information and expectations to others, listening, and criticism are all aspect of effective communication. Along with communication being able to relate to others as an important aspect of emotional intelligence. Relating with others involves analyzing relationships and choosing the affective means of communication. Both interpersonal expertise and communication are important aspects of an effective work group as well as for emotional intelligence (Weisinger, 107-108, 151-153). Helping Others:

The final aspect of emotional intelligence is helping others help themselves. This involves helping others manage emotions, communicate, and motivate themselves. This will lead to an effective work environment because everyone is striving to do their best and work with each other as effectively as possible (Weisinger, 184). These are the main things I have learned about emotional intelligence from this class. By following these steps it is possible to become more motivated and produce better work results which will not only benefit the person doing the work but the organization as well.

Leadership Style: My personal leadership style can best be described as an affiliative style with an emphasis on coaching. I think it is important to make sure that employee’s are happy and that there are strong bonds between co-workers in an organization (Goleman, 84). It only makes sense to me that a team that gets along well together will work well with each other and lead to a high quality of work output. By creating a strong bond between workers and the leader it also leads to a level of loyalty. This can be beneficial because workers feel if they do not work up to par with the rest of the team then they have let the team down. I think that I also employ a coaching method of leading. I try to help people develop and use skills that are beneficial to the job they are doing. I try to take the time to work with them to develop these skills and to help them grow (Goleman, 87). Unlike the “Set up to fail” article by Manzoni and Barsoux, when someone fails at something I try to remember to look at myself and see if something I did or did not do caused them to fail. Ultimately if someone below me fails then it is my responsibility; either I did not do a good job of explaining what is expected of them or a failed by giving them a task that they could not accomplish. I try to remember that it begins with me and that it is my responsibility.

Action Plan Leadership Type: I would describe the leadership type I used in my business plan as coercive because I am making some dramatic changes in an effort to turn recruiting around for my fraternity. I feel that because of lack of response of our past recruiting events that something new had to be done to try to get new members. These steps were designed to break past habits that were obvious did not work before, but were always the same habits we always used. By creating new guidelines and incentives I hope to break away from our old way of doing things and lead people to become more active in recruiting efforts.

People were so used to not being able to draw new members that they began to feel that it was ok that we did not bring in many new members. This new plan is designed to give people a new look and strategy on recruiting and hope to change the way people think. I also think that I used a bit of the affiliative style as well because I added incentives to recruiting to help motivate people. My hope is that this will help energize and excite people about recruiting and help them to go out and try harder than they have in the past to get new members.

Values, Ethics and Diversity: I have learned that it is very important for business to place a large emphasis on values and ethics and employing a diverse work force. It has been proven that business that are involved in their community, who volunteer time and money to society have a clear link to profitability (Caudron, 14). It has also been shown that businesses that take part and encourage their workers to volunteer have a higher work moral rate than those that do not encourage workers to volunteer (Caudron, 14). Companies can also benefit by educational opportunities for young people in the surrounding communities. By starting programs that allow young people to get into the corporation for periods of time, it allows these people to view what goes on in corporate life and what is expected of them. This also allows the corporation to help shape these young people into people who could potentially work for the corporation later on. It allows a connection to be made that could reduce the amount of recruiting and training the corporation might have to do to fill positions (Avishai, 76). Nothing but good can happen from a corporation volunteering time and money in the community surrounding it. That volunteering can be anything from donating food to a food bank or starting an education program for local people, or donating money to the United Way, they all have a positive impact on the business and the community.

Where Do I Go From Here: From here I continue to learn and grow and shape my leadership abilities. I would eventually like to get a position somewhere as a manager or upper executive so I can never stop learning. I definitely have learned a lot about myself and leadership styles and techniques and I have realized some areas in which I need to work on to make myself into the best leader I can be. I think it will be a life long process of constant growing and learning, but I enjoy it and am looking forward to it.

Conclusion: I enjoyed this class very much. I felt that I learned a lot about leadership from it and much of the material can be applied to every day life. The readings were interesting and were directly related to what we were learning about. I appreciated that most of them were drawn from real life examples; this helps to make them more interesting and more valuable because people have actually gone through the problems they are discussing. The work load for the class may have been a little heavy, but the work was generally not too hard, it just took a lot of time to do it all. I understand that the class was self paced, but I think that if the due date were made to be Sunday evening rather than Friday morning it would help manage the workload. Most of the time I would not start working on that weeks assignments until Monday; with working full time and having a Christmas and New Years in the middle of the week it would have helped a lot more if the assignments were not due until Sunday. On the whole I learned a tremendous amount of material from this class and enjoyed it very much. I feel like the aspects that I have taken out of this class I can use to help me through my professional career.

References: Avishai, B. (1997). What does business owe society? Strategy & Business, 9, 69-77. Barsoux, J.L., & Manzoni, J.F. (1998, March-April). The Set-Up-to-Fail Syndrome. Harvard Business Review, 100-114. Caudron, S. (1994, February 21). Volunteerism and the bottom line. Industry Week, 13-14, 17-18. Goleman, D. (2000). Leadership that gets results. Harvard Business Review, 78-90. Kouzes, J.M., Pozner, B.Z. (1998). Student leadership practices inventory. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Weisinger, H. (1998). Emotional Intelligence at Work. Jossey-Bass: San Francisco.