New Definition: A leader is someone who not only talks the talk, but also walks the walk; they have been shaped by their experiences, are constantly learning and make the best decision for the group as a whole.
My final definition is the one I have stuck with the last couple of weeks. I think that the readings this week support my definition due to to the way they define a leader being able to manage a group of diverse people. Taking on the task of successfully leading people from different cultures and making it work for everyone is not easy. The differences in ways people view leadership and how they respond to it takes time and effort to navigate and formulate a game plan for. By doing this a leader will hopefully be able to find the best way to manage everyone in his or her group to success. This will be a long process, which is trial and error most of time, but will result in the group achieving more together than without a leader collaborating them.
I think that it is important to find someone who can lead diverse people because our society is always growing in different directions. If a leader can only manage one type of person, they aren't a leader at all. In my life I have had a lot of experience with different managers. My job right now at TCF Bank Stadium sees a lot of different personalities and cultures. It is important for my mangers to know how to communicate with all of our staff and be effective while doing it. I have seen how a simple task can become difficult if the leader of the project doesn't explain the objectives and the way in which it should be completed.
Saphiere, D. H., Mikk, B. K., & Devries, B. I. (2005). "Factors Affecting Communication Style: Starring acts in the circus." 47 - 82. Retrieved from http://www.download-it.org/free_files/Pages%20from%20Chapter%2003%20-%20Factors%20Affecting%20Communication%20Style-c2c273a32b32ce590fe42518fa48db05.pdf.
Sessions, L. F. (2010). How offline gatherings affect online communities: When virtual community members 'meet up'. Information, Communication & Society, 13(3), 375-395. doi:10.1080/13691180903468954
]]>New Definition: A leader is someone who not only talks the talk, but also walks the walk; they have been shaped by their experiences, are constantly learning and make the best decision for the group as a whole.
This weeks reading was one of the more complicated to understand, but what I got out of it is that a leader is someone who makes a conscious effort in order to change. I think this goes hand in hand with the definition I have now used for the past couple weeks because in order for someone to make the best decision for everyone, they must make a conscious effort to change their failures of the past.
One person who comes to mind for me in this is Brett Favre. While I am not a Packers fan, I have to admire the man for the changes he made to his lifestyle in order to prove to the Packers organization and fans alike that he deserved his position on the team. He made a conscious effort to cut back his dangerous drinking habit as well as involve himself in more family oriented organizations in order to change his self image and public image.
Boyatzis, R. E. (2006). "An Overview of Intentional Change from a Complexity Perspective." Journal of Management Development, 25(7), 607-623. doi:10.1108/02621710610678445
New Definition: A leader is someone who not only talks the talk, but also walks the walk; they have been shaped by their experiences, are constantly learning and make the best decision for the group as a whole.
My definition is the same again this week because the readings reaffirmed what I have been saying for the past few weeks. In the Komives article the author talked about the need for leaders to understand how different members of their team function in order to best guarantee success. In order to find the best way for a team to mesh a leader has to go through a trial and error process to establish that rhythm. They have to learn how to best motivate certain members in comparison to others. This means they have to understand the diversity of their group and that everyone responds differently to situations. When there is a conflict, leaders confront it so they can continue on without it becoming a problem again. By doing this they are helping ensure that they are creating the best team chemistry without hostility.
Another way in which my definition fits the readings of this week is through the Yoon reading. Virtual communication is becoming the norm in the workplace now, but it isn't without its faults. Because of a lack of personal interaction, nonverbal clues are missed and can lead to problems. Effective leaders find a way to communicate beneficently while still ensuring they are being open to all problems that there team is experiencing. They learn from this and find a way to be better in the future.
As I have begun my career in different organizations, I keep noticing how many of my bosses utilize virtual communications, whether it be text messages or email. I am a fan of this, but think it needs to be approached with caution. I am pretty close with my boss at the football stadium because of the time I have spent there over the last year. He has commented on multiple occasion that he appreciates my short response time to emails and we get along well when we work together. During the past season I got scolded by our scheduling manager because I made an off hand comment on the radio to my boss that was probably a little too sassy and inappropriate for our whole office to hear during a game, but we all thought it was funny. After the game was over I got pulled into her office to have her tell me it wasn't okay. I brought the situation up to my boss later on asking if I had offended him, and he said that it didn't offend him at all; it actually made him laugh. The difference between the two individuals in this situation is that my boss knows I thrive during work when I can laugh and make jokes with people instead of being serious and following all the proper protocols whereas the other manager doesn't have that same personal relationship with me and know how I work. We overcame this conflict by talking things through in person, instead of through email where emotions could have been hurt and misinterpreted, before the next game and now we are all on the same page moving forward.
Komives, S. R., Lucas, N., & McMahon, T. R. (1998). "Interacting in Teams and Groups." Exploring Leadership: For college students who want to make a difference (pp. 165 - 194). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Yoon, S., & Johnson, S. (2008). Phases and patterns of group development in virtual learning teams. Educational Technology Research & Development, 56(5), 595-618
New Definition: A leader is someone who not only talks the talk, but also walks the walk; they have been shaped by their experiences, are constantly learning and make the best decision for the group as a whole.
I'm really happy with where my definition is and I think that our readings have only continued to confirm my belief in said definition. The Kezar reading this week reaffirmed this for me by laying out the different leadership styles of men and women. While I think they are both effective and both have a place in culture, it is important to remember that some situations do indeed call for a more authoritative figure, whereas others require the input of the whole group in order to best move forward. Another point made in the readings this week is that leadership is a cultural experience and how we as Americans may view the role of leadership and what qualifies someone as a good leader may not and probably are not the same as those of someone in Russia or China. Due to belief systems and other cultural rituals, leadership can come in many different shapes and sizes.
I am lucky enough in my internship with the Twins to see many different leadership styles. While my direct boss is one of the people who takes everything on himself and never asks for help, our Vice President is a female. I've had the pleasure of getting to work closely with her since Opening Day last week and have been able to compare and contrast different leadership of the two. While some of it comes with the position, it is a refreshing realization to see that someone that high up in the organization values the input of those below her, included the interns. She has gone out of her way to learn all of our names and when a few of us had an issue arise with our badges not working this week she stepped up and helped us get it sorted out instead of directing us to call someone who would have to email someone else and so forth. She makes a point to leave her office on the 4th floor, which is strictly executive offices, and comes down to the 3rd floor where the rest of us are and walks through, asking how everyone is doing and making sure that the organization is setting us up for success. She sits in on meetings that don't fall under her direct oversight so she can feel more connected to the organization and is always willing to help anyone out, whether it be our President or the cleaning crew. In contrast to this, the two male members of our executive body, while being very nice people and equally as approachable, haven't made the same effort to get to know the whole staff and be involved in the general day to day proceedings. They make the decision that need to be made and go on with their day, exhibiting a more individual leadership style.
Kezar, A. (2000). "Pluralistic Leadership: Incorporating Diverse Voices." The Journal of Higher Education, 71(6), Nov. - Dec., 2000, pp. 722-743. http://z.umn.edu/kezar
Tatum, B. D. (1997). "Defining Racism: Can we talk?" Why are all the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? (pp. 3 - 17). New York: Basic Books.
New Definition: A leader is someone who not only talks the talk, but also walks the walk; they have been shaped by their experiences, are constantly learning and make the best decision for the group as a whole.
My definition didn't change again this week because I think that in order for someone to make the best decision that means that they are willing to make sacrifices. They are adaptable to situations that arise and are learning how to best deal with change. Being able to step back and determine how to proceed, even in a situation that is brand new is a skill leaders need to possess in order to be successful. Having innovative ideas on how best to deal with situations is necessary to keep team morale high. Unity among team members will help improve success and productivity.
I best see this leadership my internship with the Twins. We are constantly being dealt new cards that have not before come up and we have to find ways to solve solutions efficiently and effectively. I enjoy watching and learning from my boss and how he deals with these situations. He thrives on the challenge of solving a new problem and coming up with new ideas for how to best move forward. There have been some decisions we have moved forward with that did not result as well as we hoped they would have, but taking risks is part of the business and we learned from them. PJ is a great example of a manager and I hope I can continue to learn from him for the remainder of my internship. He has divided our department into separate teams so that we don't all have to know the details of everything, but instead we can focus on being experts in certain areas.
]]>New Definition: A leader is someone who not only talks the talk, but also walks the walk; they have been shaped by their experiences, are constantly learning and make the best decision for the group as a whole.
My definition did not change this week because the reading about leaders being able to see the big picture confirmed my previous belief. I think that a leader is someone who can remove him or herself from the immediate issue, take a step back to clear the air, and look at what consequences lay in the group/firm's future depending on what decision is made. Having the ability to take a breath and look at the issue from more than one angle is a skill that not everyone possesses. Being able to do this takes experience; it's not something that comes naturally to most humans due to selfishness. Leaders have to be selfless and make sacrifices for the group. By taking a moment to process the situation, leaders and evaluate their own leadership and make adjustments for the future. Without this skill, problems would reoccur on a greater basis due to the same mistakes being made.
One way that I can see this leadership style in effect in the world is through coaches. They obviously are leaders because they are the head of the team and make decisions based on what they believe is best for the group as a whole. Coaches are under a great deal of stress and have to be able to remove themselves from that environment in order to examine situations. When coaches aren't able to evaluate their own weaknesses in decision making is when teams start putting together losing streaks; more often than not they are making the same mistakes over and over and their fans demand a change. Coaches who are successful are able to look at something that is going wrong and fix it in a timely manner due to their previous experience and ever growing knowledge of what works and what does not. The changes they make to their team are for the better of the team, and while there will always be someone who is upset by their decision, coaches are able to put aside that immediate disappointment in an attempt to help the group in the end and make everyone happy.
Kegan, R., & Lahey, L. L. (2009). "Identifying Each Person's One Big Thing" (pp. 63 - 67). Boston: Harvard Business Press.
Heifetz, R. A., & Linsky, M. (2002). "Get on the balcony." Leadership on the Line: Staying alive through the dangers of leading (pp. 51 - 74). Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
New Definition: A leader is someone who not only talks the talk, but also walks the walk; they have been shaped by their experiences, are constantly learning and make the best decision for the group as a whole.
I added "are constantly learning" to my definition this week because I feel like that was really nailed home in the readings this week. Both of the articles focused on how leaders are constantly evolving and have to adapt to situations around them. Making sure that leaders are selfless and able to put the good of the group and other members before their own is constantly brought up through out the readings. This is something I completely agree with. Having the ability to sacrifice personal gain in order to help another person or a community as a whole is a skill not possessed by many and the reason the true leaders are so rare. Reading these characteristics of what a leader needs to be reminds me of my high school golf coach. He sacrificed so much family time and personal freedom in order to help our team grow together and become who we are today, almost 5 years later. He often would pay out of his own pocket for training equipment and practice rounds so that we could be best prepared for tournaments. Seeing his devotion to the program only spurred us to dedicate ourselves even more so that his time away from his family wasn't for nothing. Without his constant help we never would have come together as a group and been able to accomplish everything we did.
My senior year I was a captain along with my two best friends, a feat that had never been broached before by a team of our size. Our teammates voted for all of us evenly enough that we were all allowed to be captains instead of the norm that was two. Through out the year we realized that having all three of us was a blessing because we all brought different personality traits to the group; had we all been the same it wouldn't have been as effective. This was brought up in the second reading by Astin and Astin; in the article they described how differences are needed to cause harmony. This was certainly true in our captainship because we needed to lean on one another for different opinions and ideas on how to create the friendliest environment for different members of our team.
Astin, H. S., & Astin, A. W. (1996). A social change model of leadership development: Guidebook (version III) (pp. 4 - 27). Los Angeles: University of California Los Angeles Higher Education Research Institute.
Barbuto, J. E., & Wheeler, D. W. (2007). "Becoming a Servant Leader: Do you have what it takes?"
New Definition: A leader is someone who not only talks the talk, but also walks the walk; they have been shaped by their experiences and make the best decision for the group as a whole.
My definition changed this week because I think it is important for leaders to not only be able to vocalize goals and strategies, but for them to also clearly demonstrate that path physically. There are so many people in the world who will say one thing, but do the complete opposite. In order for me to believe someone is a leader they need to do both the talking and the demonstrating. I attended a few meetings this week at work. Now that I've been there for almost a month, I, for the most part, know everyone's role in the organization and what they are in charge of at particular meetings. I have seen firsthand where a manager will tell a fellow employee to explore an option concerning fan loyalty, but then in the meeting when they don't have adequate information, they will blame it on a subordinate. That isn't going to build my trust in a person when I can see them throwing other employees under the bus. It has illustrated to me that the manager can't be held accountable for his work and that I should always make sure to cover all my bases before presenting something in a meeting with him just so I can be clear of any missing information. I want to be represent myself by being prepared because I know that although I am new, my ideas will at least be entertained. This quote from the reading by Heifetz helps me tie all this together: "You have to acknowledge the interdependence of people throughout the organization, just as companies increasingly acknowledge the interdependence of players -- suppliers, customers, even rivals -- beyond their boundaries. It is an illusion to expect that an executive team on its own will find the best way into the future. So you must use leadership to generate more leadership deep in the organization." For me to be able to best commit myself to my job, I have to know that what I'm doing is being taken seriously and that my work isn't just "busy work" to pass the time from paycheck to paycheck. This week alone I presented 3 new ideas in our meeting and have had them all approved. Being able to trust that if I put the effort into a project it will get rewarded is a great motivating factor by my manager.
"Leadership in a (Permanent) Crisis." Harvard business review 87.7/8 (2009):62.
New definition: A leader is someone who shows a positive example as a result of something they have experienced and from which they have learned; they make the right decision based on the community instead of the individual when faced with dilemmas.
Leaders make decisions when no one else wants to; they are the people who stand up and reasonably pick a path to travel down. When faced with a pressing situation that has not a right and a wrong side, but two right sides, they deliberate and come to a conclusion based on what they think is the most effective and beneficial for the community, even if it isn't something that benefits them directly.
Bibliography:
Kidder, R. M. (2003). "Overview: The ethics of right vs. right." How Good People Make Tough Choices (pp. 13 - 29). New York: Simon & Schuster.
New Definition: A leader is someone who shows a positive example as a result of something they have experienced and from which they have learned.
The reading this week that most affected my definition of leadership was from Terry titled "Deciding what you believe." I think it is important to remember that leaders are made, not born. Just because someone is soft spoken does not mean they are incapable of leading. As the reading stated, "We learn from experience. That's what maturity is all about (Terry 25). In my life I have been through some trying times. I believe that these experiences have shaped me into the leader I am today because I have learned a great deal going through those hard times. "It is possible to experience great failure and still exhibit leadership" helps prove my point (Terry 31). I haven't been perfect in anything I've tried, but I've learned from everything and can say that I've taken that knowledge and passed it along to others.
My definition of leadership is still the same because to me the most effective and efficient leadership style is one based on trust. The readings this week confirmed my belief, especially when I read "how little successful teams talked about trust. On the contrary,
the topic of trust dominated the discussions of struggling teams" (Rath 85). I think this illustrates how trust is something that is necessary and when it is missing it is very easy to pinpoint why things go wrong. People who lead by example are trustworthy.