April 2012 Archives

Last Week's Definition
Leadership is the way in which an individual acts to influence others around him or her to produce results. Effective leaders should be able to match their personal vision to their actions and utilize different leadership styles in different situations. Leaders are ethical people and understand that there isn't always a single right answer and are able to make decisions based on their personal values. Leaders should be unbiased and should not quickly judge people based solely on their physical appearance.

This Week's Definition
Leadership is the way in which an individual acts to influence others around him or her to produce results. Effective leaders should be able to match their personal vision to their actions and utilize different leadership styles in different situations. Leaders are ethical people and understand that there isn't always a single right answer and are able to make decisions based on their personal values. Strong communication skills are one of the most important tools a leader can have.

Analysis

Communication is a vital tool for the success of leaders. Being able to effectively communicate can mean the difference between success and failure for a leader. Thus, I added a sentence about the importance of communication.
I removed the bit about leaders being unbiased simply because it seems redundant and unnecessary to state.

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

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

Last Week's Definition
Leadership is the way in which an individual acts to influence others around him or her to produce results. Effective leaders should be able to match their personal vision to their actions and utilize different leadership styles in different situations. Leaders are ethical people and understand that there isn't always a single right answer and are able to make decisions based on their personal values. Leaders should be unbiased and should not quickly judge people based solely on their physical appearance (Gladwell).

This Week's Definition
Leadership is the way in which an individual acts to influence others around him or her to produce results. Effective leaders should be able to match their personal vision to their actions and utilize different leadership styles in different situations. Leaders are ethical people and understand that there isn't always a single right answer and are able to make decisions based on their personal values. Leaders should be unbiased and should not quickly judge people based solely on their physical appearance.

Analysis

I have not made any changes to my definition this week. The readings were primarily about working effectively in team environments which is something that everyone should understand, not just leaders. The main takeaway I had this week was from the "Interacting in Teams and Groups" reading but it simply emphasized what I already knew. Leaders should be able to adjust their leadership style and tactics for each stage the group is in (forming, storming, norming, performing) which relates directly to the part of my definition about adjusting leadership styles to fit situations. Otherwise, these readings didn't make me think about what defines a leader quite as much as how to effectively understand team dynamics.

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