Nov/20th/2010 Tenth leadership definition: Effective leadership is one that is visionary in style but also flexible, where emotional and social intelligence competencies are applied and egocentrism is excluded. It is also one that reflects the leader's true values, personal vision, adaptive skills and critical evaluation.

Analysis: The purpose of the group influences its structure. Some of the groups are highly structured and some are not. The development of the group goes through different phases. These phases are: forming, storming, norming and performing (Komives, Lucas &McMahon, 1998, p.167).
The group can have a personality and some of the group's norms are clear, but some could be hidden and can only be revealed by the practices of the group. Moreover, the group could experience controversy or conflict of ideas that facilitates the group's improvement, where civility is a key requirement for the controversy to serve the group positively (Komives et al., 1998, p.177).
Furthermore, the group needs a level of interaction to be established before it can be labeled as a team. Teams work together toward a common goal and team members are aware of other members in the team.
In order for the group to have a learning experience, the group needs to engage in a dialogue instead of mere discussion which can cause the group to diverge from the main point (Komives et al., 1998, p.187).

In an online learning environment, when the group members assign work to each member, the group work becomes more organized and easier to handle. And the group work can be facilitated by combining the benefits of synchronous and asynchronous communications (Yoon & Johnson, 2008, p.615).
Both of this week's readings did not affect my leadership definition because they are specific and more focused on group dynamics; therefore, it was hard to integrate it into my definition. However, this week's reading assignment was very interesting. Our weekly discussion group went through the developing phases that were mentioned in the readings and I think that our group reached the performing phase. We actually developed a level of trust and higher degree of commitment and despite of all the difficulties that we have faced at the beginning of the semester, it was a great pleasure to work with Eric and Emal.

Reference:
• 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. doi:10.1007/s11423-007-9078-x http://www.springerlink.com/content/285j71141144m857/

Nov/13th/2010 Ninth leadership definition: Effective leadership is one that is visionary in style but also flexible, where emotional and social intelligence competencies are applied and egocentrism is excluded. It is also one that reflects the leader's true values, personal vision, adaptive skills and critical evaluation.

Analysis: The online learning experience can generate a sense of isolation; therefore, the presence of a connection between learners is important to eliminate this sense of isolation and to produce a positive learning experience. In online learning, limiting factors such as technical problems can be present and these factors cannot be managed by the Instructors. On the other hand, other factors such as inactive teams can be managed by the instructors. Manageable limiting factors and other challenges can be minimized by good, adequate preparation prior to the online collaborative process.

Moreover, bonding and bridging social capital are two different forms of social capitals. Bridging capital is in form of weak ties and benefits both the individual and the whole community. However, the bonding social capital results from the development of relationships and the strengthening of social ties. The bonding social capital benefits the individual but not the virtual community as a whole (Sessions, 2010,p.376).

Furthermore, face-to-face meetups of online community members may benefit the individuals that attend these meetups. These members become more connected and involved in their virtual community. However, these meetups do not benefit the rest of the virtual community because the attendees favor to interact with other attendees. According to Sessions (2010) "weak ties are essential to the community both because they provide a diversity of interaction, and because weak ties provide bridges that allow information to move between clusters of members"(p.392) when attendees favor to interact with other attendees, this diversity of the interaction and its weak ties are lost, which, in turn, negatively affects the online community.

-Though it added to my overall knowledge, this week's reading did not affect my leadership definition. The readings concerns technical aspects such as online leaning and the affects of gatherings on online community members.
I do think the findings of the Lauren F. Sessions are very interesting, especially when she refers to the online interaction as complex phenomenon.

References:

1. Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2005). Learning together in community: Collaboration online. Paper presented at the 20th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning, Retrieved from http://www.uwex.edu/disted/conference/Resource_library/proceedings/04_1127.pdf
2. 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

Nov/6th/2010 Eighth leadership definition: Effective leadership is one that is visionary in style but also flexible, where emotional and social intelligence competencies are applied and egocentrism is excluded. It is also one that reflects the leader's true values, personal vision, adaptive skills and critical evaluation.

Analysis: Leadership should originate from oneself. It is a continuous development that reflects what the leader wants to become rather than what others think he/she should become. In the process of development, the leaders learning agendas should include his/her vision of ideal self that will serve as a motivational tool to move forward. Also, the leader should develop a true, attainable goal that focuses on his/her competencies.
Practice done by the leader activates his/her prefrontal cortex, which facilitates the production of better actions. When the leader develops new, long-lasting skills, the brain is reconfigured and new neural pathways are generated.

Additionally, everyone has something that he/she regards as a threat and with time someone's immunity provides a protection against that threat. Avoiding this threat means that there is no real progress is being achieved. Getting detailed feedback is an effective method to deal with this immunity issue. The authors suggest conducting what they call a "720-degree feedback--including key people in your private life as well as your public life" (Keagan & Lahey, 2009, p.65). This type of extensive feedback can make the leader feel vulnerable, but sharing vulnerability with the followers establishes a bond between them and encourages them to develop and improve; therefore, diminishes any threats. Changing big organization is not an easy task, but it could get easier with a great deal of self reflection done by leaders and their followers.

Reference:
• Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2002). "Metamorphosis: Sustaining leadership change." Primal Leadership: Learning to lead with emotional intelligence (pp. 139 - 168). Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
• Kegan, R., & Lahey, L. L. (2009). "We Never Had a Language for It" Immunity to Change: How to overcome it and unlock the potential in yourself and your organization (pp. 61 - 84). Boston: Harvard Business Press.

Oct/31st/2010 Seventh leadership definition: Effective leadership is one that is visionary in style but also flexible, where emotional and social intelligence competencies are applied and egocentrism is excluded. It is also one that reflects the leader's true values, personal vision, adaptive skills and critical evaluation.

Analysis: A careful leader pays good attention to his/ her tone and is aware of the fact that his/her tone plays a crucial role in the efficiency of leadership. Therefore, one must be careful when communicating with followers and should try to adopt a positive tone even when delivering bad news, which will make the followers connect to their leader. Social intelligence allows the leader to connect, understand and listen to others individually. Establishing a special emotional connection enhances the ability to learn and succeed (Goleman, 2006, p. 283) individualized attention creates a special bond between the leader and his/her followers and encourages them to develop personally and professionally.

Further, if the leader desires to become servant, he/she should develop skills such as listening, awareness and persuasion; however, skills such as calling, empathy, and stewardship are naturally occurring and cannot be acquired by practice (Barbuto & Wheeler).

Moreover, Diversity is essential for the production of unique work and establishing a common purpose is a requirement for the success of the diverse group. Different members will add different elements to the task, which will make it more interesting. Technical competency such as tolerance and teamwork is necessary to maintain the group's harmony, so members can collaborate efficiently.

Reference:

• 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?".
• Goleman, D. (2006). "The Sweet Spot for Achievement." Social Intelligence: The new science of human relationships (pp. 267 - 284). New York: Bantam Books.

Oct/23rd/2010 Sixth leadership definition: Effective leadership is one that is visionary in style but also flexible, where emotional and social intelligence competencies are applied and egocentrism is excluded. It is also one that reflects the leader's true values, personal vision, adaptive skills and critical evaluation.

Analysis: An effective leader has the capacity to evaluate any situation critically. "Getting on the balcony" means that the leader concentrates on understanding the bigger picture, also evaluates his/ her role in the organization. This helps the leader to distinguish between the short term technical problems and the long term adaptive problems.
A successful leader aims to understand the different perspective of different people, which directly enhances his/ her success. Furthermore, the leader's ability to analyze the literal message is critical in understanding the real meaning behind it. The interpretation following the leader's analysis will help to address the real issues and conflicts in the organization; therefore, will lead him/her to make the most appropriate decision. Since any change in the behavior of senior authority figures reflects the effects and changes in the whole organization, it is crucial for the leader to sense that change. This will give the leader a chance to adjust and apply any suitable changes to his/ her approach, which will assist in moving forward.

Additionally, people can fail under pressure and they can either chock or panic. Differentiating between chocking and panicking is important because each requires a different response by the leader. Chocking takes place when the leader is consciously aware of all his/ her actions. On the other hand, panicking involves the most basic instincts of the leader due to his/her reduced ability to think properly. It is important to note that chocking does not equal failure; for example Heifetz, R. A., & Linsky, M. (2002) mentioned that Faldo did not feel that Norman lost the game and that "he was bound by a particular etiquette of chocking, the understanding that what he had earned was something less than a victory and what Norman had suffered was something less than defeat" (p.92).
Moreover, having more experience can improve the leader's performance. According to Gladwell, 2000 "Kennedy panicked because he didn't know enough about instrument flying. If he'd had another year in the air, he might not have panicked" (p.91) an increase in experience will help to prevent panicking because of the the residue of that experience.

Reference:
• Gladwell, M. (2000). "The Art of Failure: Why some people choke and others panic." The New Yorker, 84 - 92.
• 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.

Oct/16th/2010 Fifth leadership definition: Effective leadership is one that is visionary in style but also flexible, where emotional and social intelligence competencies are applied and egocentrism is excluded. It is also one that reflects the leader's true values, personal vision, and adaptive skills.

Analysis: Adopting a combination of the visionary and flexible styles make the leader empathetic, self-aware and supportive yet able to apply changes whenever control it is required. Beside emotional and social intelligence that lead to socially smarter leaders with successful teams, having values and personal vision infused in one's leadership is fruitful. When the leader's values are true, he/she may experience a harder time making right-versus-right decisions. Kidder (2003) stated that "Tough choices, typically, are those that pit one "right" value against another"(p.17) the leader needs moral reasoning to deal with these tough choice such as the maxim principle, which according to Kidder (2003) urges the leader to choose "whatever produces the greatest good for the greatest number"(p.25). For instance, we exercised the maxim principle as a group last week, where we chose to solve our disagreement to produce the greatest good for all group members. As a group, we restated our work expectations, distributed work equally and designated deadlines for our work. Based on all of the members' opinion, this was a significant decision that we took as a group.
Additionally, a good leader should be willing to adopt new skills to ensure the organization's endurance and success. The leader's adoptive skills will be considered necessary in crisis; for example, Heifetz, Grashow & Linsky (2009) advised leaders that it is essential to"keep your hand on the thermostat. If the heat's too low, people won't make difficult decisions. If it's too high, they may panic" (p.67) in a survival mode, effective leaders will pair uncertainty with discomfort to stimulate changes that would allow the organization to prosper.

References:
• Heifetz, R., Grashow, A., & Linsky, M. (2009). "Leadership in a (permanent) crisis." Harvard Business Review, 87(7), 62-69
• Kidder, R. M. (2003). "Overview: The ethics of right vs. right." How Good People Make Tough Choices (pp. 13 - 29). New York: Simon & Schuster.

Oct/9th/2010 Fourth leadership definition: Effective leadership is one that is visionary in style but also flexible, where emotional and social intelligence competencies are applied. It is also one that reflects the leader's values and personal vision and excludes egocentricity.

Analysis: Adopting a combination of the visionary and flexible styles make the leader empathetic, self-aware and supportive yet able to apply changes whenever control it is required. Beside emotional and social intelligence that lead to socially smarter leaders with successful teams, having values and personal vision infused in one's leadership is fruitful, for example, Lee & King (2001) mentioned that "your ability to articulate a personal vision can increase your ability to articulate a leadership vision" (p.33) when one connects to his/her leading goal, it becomes a part of the individual that is entitled to special attention and nurture. Turning matters personal has a great effect on raising the level of success; for example, I have always disliked chemistry throughout high school, but after I developed a personal interest in it, I received the superior student chemistry award 2009-2010 and graduated from college with high honors with emphasis in chemistry. My vision was to successfully complete chemistry courses but developing a personal interest in my vision facilitated its successful occurrence and beyond.
I also think for leadership to be effective, the leader should avoid egocentricity, which according to Paul & Elder (2006) "could serve as a barrier to ethical reasoning" (p.6). Avoiding egocentricity will prevent the leader from being self serving and will encourage him/her to solely focus on ethical obligations.

References:
• Lee, R. J., & King, S. N. (2001). "Ground your leadership vision in a personal vision." Discovering the Leader in You: A guide to realizing your personal leadership potential (pp. 31 - 54). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, Inc.
• Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2006). "The Function of Ethics -- and Its Main Impediement." Understanding the Foundations of Ethical Reasoning (pp. 4 - 36). Dillon Beach, CA: Foundation for Critical Thinking.

Definition: Effective leadership is one that is visionary in style but also flexible, where emotional intelligence competency is applied.

Oct/2nd/2010 Third leadership blog entry

Definition: Effective leadership is one that is visionary in style but also flexible, where emotional and social intelligence competencies are applied.

Analysis: Adopting a combination of the visionary and flexible styles make the leader empathetic, self-aware and supportive yet able to apply changes whenever control it is required.
An aspect of visionary leading is emotional intelligence, which is closely linked to social intelligence because they both lead to the same outcome that is socially smarter leaders with successful teams. According to Boyatzis & Goleman (2002), "a leader who misreads people simply can't inspire them" (p.59) for example, Boyatzis & Goleman (2008) mentioned Janice, a top executive, who failed for her inability to read the reaction of the people who worked with her (p.79). A combination of visionary and flexible leading styles that incorporate emotional and social intelligence competencies will build the team's confidence and will yield the best of results in terms if creativity and the ability to fulfill desired goals.

Reference:

Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2002). "The leadership repertoire." Primal leadership: Learning to lead with emotional intelligence. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Goleman, D., & Boyatzis, R. (2008). "Social intelligence and the biology of leadership." Harvard Business Review,
86(9), 74-81. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=keh&AN=33983120&site=ehost-live

I think effective leadership is one that is visionary in style but also flexible, where emotional intelligence competency is applied. Adopting a combination of these two styles makes the leader empathetic and supportive yet able to apply changes whenever control it is required. For example, it was mentioned that " Joan felt the urgency of the business crisis justified an occasional shift into the commanding style should someone fail to meet their responsibility" ( p.85) This is clearly one of the occasions where control was needed. The visionary style of leadership combined with flexible one will yield the best of results in terms of creativity and the ability to fulfill the desired goals.

09/25th/2010 Second leadership entry:

I think effective leadership is one that is visionary in style but also flexible, where emotional intelligence competency is applied. Adopting a combination of the visionary and flexible styles makes the leader empathetic and supportive yet able to apply changes whenever control it is required. For example, it was mentioned that " Joan felt the urgency of the business crisis justified an occasional shift into the commanding style should someone fail to meet their responsibility" (Boyatzis & Goleman, 2002, p.85) this is clearly one of the occasions where control was needed. A successful Visionary leadership involves leaders who are aware of their strengths according to Conchie & Rath (2009) "without an awareness of your strengths, it's almost impossible for you to lead effectively" (p.10); the willingness of the leader to invest in his/her strengths will guide the whole team to a creative and successful path. The visionary style of leadership combined with flexible one will yield the best of results in terms of creativity and the ability to fulfill the desired goals.

Reference:

• Conchie, B, & Rath, T. (2009) Strengths-based leadership: Great teams, leaders, and why people follow. New York, NY: Gallup Press.
• Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2002). "The leadership repertoire." Primal leadership: Learning to lead with emotional intelligence. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.