Taylor Talks tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2012-01-20:/selck005/taylortalks//15584 2012-04-21T22:54:22Z Movable Type Enterprise 4.31-en Emerging Definition of Leadership: Need for a Facilitator tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2012:/selck005/taylortalks//15584.352328 2012-04-21T22:14:54Z 2012-04-21T22:54:22Z Last week's definition: To me, leadership means having the ability to encourage and inspire a group of people, no matter what the size, through your actions. One must possess certain leadership types and first evaluate their owns beliefs about leadership... selck005 Last week's definition: To me, leadership means having the ability to encourage and inspire a group of people, no matter what the size, through your actions. One must possess certain leadership types and first evaluate their owns beliefs about leadership in order to be effective. Although individualism is key, effective leadership also involves collaboration, especially in a virtual setting. In the current state of the economy, adaptability is key in order to achieve success. The willingness to change is also crucial.

This week's definition: To me, leadership means having the ability to encourage and inspire a group of people, no matter what the size, through your actions. One must possess certain leadership types and first evaluate their owns beliefs about leadership in order to be effective. Being a leader encompasses a great deal of complexity and although individualism is key, effective leadership also involves adaptability, the willingness to change, and collaboration, especially in a virtual setting.

This week, we read a lot about how leadership is complex in "Factors Affecting Communication Style: Starring acts in the circus" by Saphiere, Mikk, and Devries, and I altered by definition to reflect what I learned. The point that stood out the most to me was that communication, like a circus, needs a coach or facilitator. No matter how much responsibility is placed on each individual employee in a company, someone still needs to take charge and make sure that everyone can come together and collaborate effectively when needed. As the reading states, "At times, the intercultural facilitator or coach is figuratively making a video so that the performers can "rewind" or "replay" the performance, experience it from a different perspective, with the clarity of hindsight to focus on details. The coach also demonstrates the power of the "pause" button- the importance in intercultural interactions of taking a mental step backward, taking a deep breath, and calling for a break from the discussions at hand to better understand where each performer is coming from, what they are intending, and how to refocus on desired outcomes." Someone must be able to step up and perform these tasks if effective leadership is desired within an organization.

Saphiere, D. H., Mikk, B. K., & Devries, B. I. (2005). "Factors Affecting Communication Style: Starring acts in the circus." 47 - 82.

]]> Emerging Definition of Leadership: Change tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2012:/selck005/taylortalks//15584.351092 2012-04-14T21:40:53Z 2012-04-14T22:48:35Z Last week's definition: To me, leadership means having the ability to encourage and inspire a group of people, no matter what the size, through your actions. One must possess certain leadership types and first evaluate their owns beliefs about leadership... selck005 Last week's definition: To me, leadership means having the ability to encourage and inspire a group of people, no matter what the size, through your actions. One must possess certain leadership types and first evaluate their owns beliefs about leadership in order to be effective. Although individualism is key, effective leadership also involves collaboration, especially in a virtual setting. In the current state of the economy, adaptability is key in order to achieve success.

This week's definition: To me, leadership means having the ability to encourage and inspire a group of people, no matter what the size, through your actions. One must possess certain leadership types and first evaluate their owns beliefs about leadership in order to be effective. Although individualism is key, effective leadership also involves collaboration, especially in a virtual setting. In the current state of the economy, adaptability is key in order to achieve success. The willingness to change is also crucial.

This week, I altered my definition to reflect the article we read about change. I think change is an important step in the process of becoming a leader because all leaders need to acknowledge that there is room for improvement. As Richard Boyatzis states in "An overview of intentional change from a complexity perspective," "It is important to note that often an intentional change process must begin with a person wanting to change. This desire may not be in their consciousness or even within the scope of their self-awareness" (p. 610). However, this change does not happen all at once. In order for change to be sustainable, an individual must go through five discoveries:

(1) the ideal self and a personal vision;
(2) the real self and its comparison to the ideal self resulting in an assessment of
one's strengths and weaknesses, in a sense a personal balance sheet;
(3) a learning agenda and plan;
(4) experimentation and practice with the new behavior, thoughts, feelings, or
perceptions; and
(5) trusting, or resonant relationships that enable a person to experience and
process each discovery in the process.

(Boyatzis, p. 613)

In my opinion, the discovery that is most important is determining the ideal self and personal vision because this sets the framework for what an individual/leader wants to achieve.

Boyatzis, R. E. (2006). "An Overview of Intentional Change from a Leadership Perspective." Journal of Management Development, 25(7), 607-623.

]]> Emerging Definition of Leadership: A Virtual Setting tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2012:/selck005/taylortalks//15584.349879 2012-04-07T15:27:23Z 2012-04-07T16:01:49Z Last week's definition: To me, leadership means having the ability to encourage and inspire a group of people, no matter what the size, through your actions. One must possess certain leadership types and first evaluate their owns beliefs about leadership... selck005 Last week's definition: To me, leadership means having the ability to encourage and inspire a group of people, no matter what the size, through your actions. One must possess certain leadership types and first evaluate their owns beliefs about leadership in order to be effective. Although individualism is key, effective leadership also involves collaboration. In the current state of the economy, adaptability is key in order to achieve success.

This week's definition: To me, leadership means having the ability to encourage and inspire a group of people, no matter what the size, through your actions. One must possess certain leadership types and first evaluate their owns beliefs about leadership in order to be effective. Although individualism is key, effective leadership also involves collaboration, especially in a virtual setting. In the current state of the economy, adaptability is key in order to achieve success.

My definition changed this week in order to reflect the importance of virtual leadership skills, as alluded to in the reading "Interacting in Teams and Groups." Through the processes for forming, storming, norming, and performing, leadership is truly "process oriented" and, as opposed to one individual taking charge, virtual group projects tend to be more collaborative. If an individual does not feel comfortable performing a role, another group member can step in to execute a task. Komives, Lucas, and McMahon give a good example when he writes, "...you might be terrible at summarizing discussions because it all seems a jumble to you, but if you know that a summary is needed before the group makes its final decision, you can intervene. [...] Someone who is comfortable with that role will provide that needed process" (p. 174).

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.

]]> Emerging Definition of Leadership: Warren Harding tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2012:/selck005/taylortalks//15584.348604 2012-03-31T16:51:51Z 2012-03-31T17:11:39Z Last week's definition: To me, leadership means having the ability to encourage and inspire a group of people, no matter what the size, through your actions. One must possess certain leadership types and first evaluate their owns beliefs about leadership... selck005 Last week's definition: To me, leadership means having the ability to encourage and inspire a group of people, no matter what the size, through your actions. One must possess certain leadership types and first evaluate their owns beliefs about leadership in order to be effective. Although individualism is key, effective leadership also involves collaboration. In the current state of the economy, adaptability is key in order to achieve success.

This week's definition: To me, leadership means having the ability to encourage and inspire a group of people, no matter what the size, through your actions. One must possess certain leadership types and first evaluate their owns beliefs about leadership in order to be effective. Although individualism is key, effective leadership also involves collaboration. In the current state of the economy, adaptability is key in order to achieve success.

Of the three readings that we were assigned this week, I found the chapter from Blink to be the most compelling. Before reading about the Warren Harding error, I had never thought about my tendency to mentally place people in a position of leadership simply because they "looked" like a leader. According to Malcolm Gladwell, "The Warren Harding error is the dark side of rapid cognition. It is the root of a good deal of prejudice and discrimination," (p. 76). However, this phenomena did not affect my emerging definition of leadership. As a woman, I will never fit into the definition of a Warren Harding (a tall, strong, white male) and I believe my ability to lead is based on my personal characteristics and strengths, not on my looks.

Gladwell, M. (2005). "The Warren Harding Error: Why we fall for tall, dark, and handsome men." Blink: The power of thinking without thinking (pp. 72 - 98). New York: Pushkin Enterprises.

]]> Emerging Definition of Leadership: Step Back and Evaluate tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2012:/selck005/taylortalks//15584.345725 2012-03-09T15:16:54Z 2012-03-09T15:33:55Z Last week's definition: To me, leadership means having the ability to encourage and inspire a group of people, no matter what the size, through your actions. One must possess certain leadership types and first evaluate their owns beliefs about leadership... selck005 Last week's definition: To me, leadership means having the ability to encourage and inspire a group of people, no matter what the size, through your actions. One must possess certain leadership types and first evaluate their owns beliefs about leadership in order to be effective. Although individualism is key, effective leadership also involves collaboration. In the current state of the economy, adaptability is key in order to achieve success.

This week's definition: To me, leadership means having the ability to encourage and inspire a group of people, no matter what the size, through your actions. One must possess certain leadership types and first evaluate their owns beliefs about leadership in order to be effective. Although individualism is key, effective leadership also involves collaboration. In the current state of the economy, adaptability is key in order to achieve success.

My definition this week did not change. In my opinion, the readings demonstrated "useful tips" for leaders, but did not necessarily offer anything that should be included in my definition of leadership. In particular, I strongly agreed with Heifetz and Linsky's "Get on the balcony" chapter from their book, Leadership on the Line. Throughout this text, they emphasize the importance of a leader's ability to take a step back, position themselves to look at the bigger picture, and ask "What's really going on here?" According to the two authors, "The only way you can gain both a clearer view of reality and some perspective on the bigger picture is by distancing yourself from the fray. Otherwise, you are likely to misperceive the situation and make the wrong diagnosis, leading you to misguided decisions about whether and how to intervene" (p. 53).

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.

]]> Emerging Definition of Leadership: Individualism & Collaboration tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2012:/selck005/taylortalks//15584.342261 2012-03-01T22:08:58Z 2012-03-01T22:24:00Z Last week's definition: To me, leadership means having the ability to encourage and inspire a group of people, no matter what the size, through your actions. One must possess certain leadership types and first evaluate their owns beliefs about leadership... selck005 Last week's definition: To me, leadership means having the ability to encourage and inspire a group of people, no matter what the size, through your actions. One must possess certain leadership types and first evaluate their owns beliefs about leadership in order to be effective. In the current state of the economy, adaptability is key in order to achieve success.

This week's definition: To me, leadership means having the ability to encourage and inspire a group of people, no matter what the size, through your actions. One must possess certain leadership types and first evaluate their owns beliefs about leadership in order to be effective. Although individualism is key, effective leadership also involves collaboration. In the current state of the economy, adaptability is key in order to achieve success.

After reading A social change model of leadership development: Guidebook my definition has evolved. The biggest take-away I got from the article by H.S. Astin and A.W. Astin is that while individualism is a part of leadership and you need to have a sense of self-knowledge, working in a group and collaborating is also very important. The authors explain,"This basic agreement is clearly analogous to the shared values that we seek to discover in forging a common purpose for the group [...] Not only must there be some sure understanding of what the purposes and functions of the leadership group are, but each member must understand what his or her particular part or contribution will be" (p. 5). So while a group comes together to accomplish one goal, every individual member has something different to add to the mix. In this way, I think everyone can demonstrate leadership skills.

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.

]]> Emerging Definition of Leadership: Adaptability tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2012:/selck005/taylortalks//15584.340269 2012-02-25T22:45:58Z 2012-02-25T23:11:39Z Last week's definition: To me, leadership means having the ability to encourage and inspire a group of people, no matter what the size, through your actions. One must possess certain leadership types and first evaluate their owns beliefs about leadership... selck005 Last week's definition: To me, leadership means having the ability to encourage and inspire a group of people, no matter what the size, through your actions. One must possess certain leadership types and first evaluate their owns beliefs about leadership in order to be effective.

This week's definition: To me, leadership means having the ability to encourage and inspire a group of people, no matter what the size, through your actions. One must possess certain leadership types and first evaluate their owns beliefs about leadership in order to be effective. In the current state of the economy, adaptability is key in order to achieve success.

This week, my definition of leadership expanded because, as our reading emphasized, being adaptable is a key part of leadership in today's economy. We are in a permanent crisis and in order to survive, leaders must "press reset." They must foster adaptation, embrace disequilibirum, and generate leadership. This is crucial because even when a leader is prepared for the worst, "Economies cannot erect a firewall against intensifying global competition, energy constraints, climate change, and political instability" (p. 62). Although we are slowly emerging from an immediate economic crisis, it could happen again at any moment.

Heifetz, R., Grashow, A., & Linsky, M. (2009). "Leadership in a (permanent) crisis." Harvard Business Review, 87(7), 62-69.

]]> Emerging Definition of Leadership: Ethics tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2012:/selck005/taylortalks//15584.339120 2012-02-18T22:06:53Z 2012-02-18T22:37:03Z Last week's definition: To me, leadership means having the ability to encourage and inspire a group of people, no matter what the size, through your actions. One must possess certain leadership types and first evaluate their owns beliefs about leadership... selck005 Last week's definition: To me, leadership means having the ability to encourage and inspire a group of people, no matter what the size, through your actions. One must possess certain leadership types and first evaluate their owns beliefs about leadership in order to be effective.

This week's definition: To me, leadership means having the ability to encourage and inspire a group of people, no matter what the size, through your actions. One must possess certain leadership types and first evaluate their owns beliefs about leadership in order to be effective.

This week, my definition of leadership did not change. Although ethics are important, this week's readings did not convince me that they should be a part of my emerging general definition of leadership. This is because everyone has a different set of ethics. As demonstrated in "Overview: The Ethics of Right Versus Right," sometimes there are two separate and equal possible answers to difficult situations, and not everyone will chose the same path. As Rushworth Kidder writes, right versus right choices "reach inward to our most profound and central values, setting one against the other in ways that will never be resolved simply by pretending that one is 'wrong'" (p. 17). Therefore, while it is important to have a sense of your own morals, values, and ethics, it is impossible to incorporate them into a broad definition of the term 'leadership' because ethics may change from person to person and based on the situation.

Kidder, R. M. (2003). "Overview: The ethics of right vs. right." How Good People Make Tough Choices (pp. 13 - 29). New York: Simon & Schuster.

]]> Emerging Definition of Leadership: Beliefs tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2012:/selck005/taylortalks//15584.338031 2012-02-11T21:21:19Z 2012-02-11T21:36:58Z Last week's definition: To me, leadership means having the ability to encourage and inspire a group of people, no matter what the size, through your actions. A leader must possess certain leadership types in order to be effective. This week's... selck005 Last week's definition: To me, leadership means having the ability to encourage and inspire a group of people, no matter what the size, through your actions. A leader must possess certain leadership types in order to be effective.

This week's definition: To me, leadership means having the ability to encourage and inspire a group of people, no matter what the size, through your actions. One must possess certain leadership types and first evaluate their owns beliefs about leadership in order to be effective.

The biggest change in my definition from last week was adding the component about beliefs. This was something that was strongly emphasized in our readings this week, particularly in "Deciding what you believe" by Robert Terry. In his introduction, he states that there is no general agreement between researchers, professors, and consultants as to what leadership really is. He says, "All those who write and teach about leadership make consequential choices as they define and explore its character and operation; however, they rarely tell their audiences the details or the reasons for these choices" (Terry, 2001, p. 21-22). This is because everyone has to define leadership based on their own experiences. Deciding on my beliefs about leadership was never something I had really thought about before, but after this week's readings, I learned a lot about myself. For example, I believe that leaders can be made, that leadership focuses on the individual, and that leadership is both coercive and noncoercive.

Terry, R. (2001). "Deciding what you believe." Seven zones for leadership: Acting authentically in stability and chaos (pp. 20 - 40). Mountain View, CA: Davies-Black Publishing, Inc.

]]> Emerging Definition of Leadership: Leadership Types tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2012:/selck005/taylortalks//15584.336760 2012-02-04T17:34:46Z 2012-02-04T18:44:08Z Last week's final definition: To me, leadership means having the ability to encourage and inspire a group of people, no matter what the size, through your actions. This week's definition: To me, leadership means having the ability to encourage and... selck005 Last week's final definition: To me, leadership means having the ability to encourage and inspire a group of people, no matter what the size, through your actions.

This week's definition: To me, leadership means having the ability to encourage and inspire a group of people, no matter what the size, through your actions. A leader must possess certain leadership types in order to be effective.

My definition of leadership has evolved since last week. Although I still believe that leadership means having the ability to encourage and inspire a group of people, the readings assigned for this week have taught me that in order to be an effective leader, you must possess certain leadership types. Out of all of the leadership types in "Leadership that Gets Results," I concur with Goleman that the authoritative style, defined as "mobiliz[ing] people toward a vision," (Goleman, 2000, p. 78) is most effective. When a leader jointly demonstrates an affiliative style that puts employees' happiness first, you have a winning combination. On the flip side of leadership, one must examine why people follow. From my experiences, I work best with a supervisor who is compassionate, which is one of the characteristics mentioned in "Part Three: Understanding Why People Follow." Defined as managers "who truly do care about each of their employees," (Rath & Conchie, 2009, p. 85) I enjoy working with a compassionate boss because I feel like I can come to them with any problems I may be having, whether in my personal life or work life.

Goleman, Daniel (2000). Leadership that Gets Results. Harvard Business Review, 78, 78-90.

Rath, T., & Conchie, B. (2009). Part Three: Understanding Why People Follow. Strengths Based Leadership (78-95). New York, NY: Gallup.

]]> Defining Leadership tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2012:/selck005/taylortalks//15584.332208 2012-01-21T05:33:50Z 2012-01-21T05:43:11Z To me, leadership means having the ability to encourage and inspire a group of people, no matter what the size, through your actions.... selck005 To me, leadership means having the ability to encourage and inspire a group of people, no matter what the size, through your actions.

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