Leadership and come to mean different things to different people. One of the biggest reasons that I took this class was to become a stronger leader in my personal life, as well as professional. I did not take this class because I have a desire to me in management at this point in my career. What is important to me was to look at this way to be a better employee, in reacting to management styles. I also wanted to take different aspects of management and implement them into being a leader in my family. I have had several managers that I have respected during my career and certain attributes I wanted to emulate. My current manger David Taggerty took the time out to discuss his role as a leader and how he got into leadership. We took a look at what he values as a leader and how he also attributes this to his personal life. I took some of his learning experiences, along with information I have obtained in this class, to help me determine what leadership is going to look at in my future career as well as my life.
One of this biggest influences that my current manager has had on my as an employee is his energy and positive energy. It is infectious and it motivates you to not only succeed for him, but it encourages you to want to be better. I asked David what causes him to be an effective leader and what type of self reflection did it take for him to get where he is today. His biggest assertion is that negativity will not get you anywhere, optimism is the key to success. When he encounters someone or something that is causing a negative energy he makes a point to redirect this energy to something more positive. Something that he has tried with my, and I found helpful, is self reflection in the situation to help realize where the negat...
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...telling ourselves a story about the intentions of someone else. This can lead to to further frustration and strain on a working relationship. Taking the time to understand the rationale and thought process behind a decision can help it be eliminated in the future and better communication with all of the team. This one example that although not in a management position, I was able to use leadership skills to help my team build better communication amongst one another.
My biggest take away is using these skills to benefit my home life with my husband and with kids if we decide to have any. Something that my husband and I have worked on over the years, having both been in retail and sales, is communicating at a high level. We talk to each other with respect and always check for understanding to makes sure that whatever we are talking about was interpreted correctly.
It is one thing to have the knowledge of “the practice of mobilizing people to tackle tough challenges and thrive”. What I am persistent to do with that knowledge is what is important. My biggest take away is that I need to get on the balcony. By being on the balcony I can see that is it really the bold guy with the dance moves who starts the party, not the DJ. Silly to me that I never realized that is where I needed to be, that is where people could find me in a real life party. A year from now I hope that is still where I will be, looking for new data and learning more about myself in new circumstances. There will always be more to learn, although every once in a while I will have to intervene in situations that will make me uncomfortable. To carry on improving on the skills I picked up during the course of this class, it will be crucial for me to reevaluate the goals I set for myself. I plan to reset them all and provide myself with a timeline to achieve the goals. KU offers a minor in leadership studies and this classes is the foundation for all of those leadership classes to come. This class will be impossible to forget as I move forward in complete my minor. I will be using what I have learned in this class still three years from, it is kind of
... they are surrounded by authentic leaders. They know their work is valued, their input is valued, and their time is valued. Thus, listening to others serves to be beneficial in multiple ways. Furthermore, actively listening to others improves a leaders ability to effectively manage team conflict and improve group dynamics. By listening to the team and understanding the issues that are occurring, a leader can provide control and guidance to the team through effective conflict resolution skills and in turn attain a more productive and cohesive team. Group dynamics continue to improve when utilizing great listening skills as a leader because team members become more engaged and talkative as they air out any internal information. The ability to listen will truly make someone a great leader for these reasons and may more as they all tie into everything you do as a leader.
Leadership at times can be a complex topic to delve into and may appear to be a simple and graspable concept for a certain few. Leadership skills are not simply acquired through position, seniority, pay scale, or the amount of titles an individual holds but is a characteristic acquired or is an innate trait for the fortunate few who possess it. Leadership can be misconstrued with management; a manager “manages” the daily operations of a company’s work while a leader envisions, influences, and empowers the individuals around them.
...team dynamics “depends largely on how willing team leaders are to share authority, responsibility, information, and resources”(p.119). Hence, it is important that managers are actively involved in the development of teams, address conflicts immediately, and allow team members to participate in the planning, decision making, and problem solving in regards to team goals.
Leaders are considered as an important part to any successful organization because the leader is not just being a successful leader but also to bring achievement to the organization and its employees. “Leadership is the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of goals.” (Robins, page 221). Leaders insist employees on entering training courses to improve the productivity, and to expand their knowledge.
I believe a great leader should first seek to understand, then to be understood. This is the belief in which I hold most dear. There have been too many times when I have failed to follow this creed and too many times in which I have unintentionally created discord and misunderstanding amongst my peers and students. Now, when I first listen to a teacher who is having trouble with another colleague, I can understand the situation fully before I discern which piece of advice should be given, what action should be taken, or if the teacher simply needs an ear to fill and a moment to reflect on the bothersome situation.
To become a truly effective leader, one must encapsulate the various behaviors related to the aforementioned course learnings in his/her persona and demonstrate such behaviors daily. This course has allowed me to identify four behaviors that all leaders must portray to be effective. The first of which is that a leader must be inspirational. To do so, a leader must set the appropriate vision and direction for the organization and provide a path to achieving defined goals. Additionally, a leader must induce the proper levels of motivation so that each employee has sufficient incentive to work towards the organization’s goals. As discussed in the class, motivation can be accomplished by factors such as rewarding hard work and providing the correct opportunities to employees. While these are motivating in that employees desire to be fairly compensated and to be doing work they deem valuable, inspiration comes more from organizational culture. A leader will be inspirational by setting a tone that appreciates each employee’s contribution, no matter how small in scale it is. Further, employees are inspired when they work collaboratively in a group setting and can capitalize on individual strengths to drive organizational goals.
I like the fact that the teacher pointed out that leadership can be found everywhere. Leaders don't necessarily exist only in a company where there are a lot of people following you. “Everyone has the potential and possibility to be a leader”. They could be the best at inspiring others, or best at solving problems or dealing with criticism. By and large we all have the necessities to lead and I find, during the group discussions, that the difference and uniqueness of us that give us our own perspective to view and do things. Leadership is also about understanding and combining many different talents and to make them work together to create the best result. There are many kinds of leaders out there, and so many leadership styles. Yet I think we shouldn’t categorised ourselves into one or identify our superiors into one. Why? Because I think it is crucial to be flexible and adapt to which way to lead according to the situations For example, the Democratic style maybe the most popular and most effective, yet it is proved to be counter-productive in urgent occasions requiring instant and firm decisions from one person only, and that is the
A manager needs to be in constant communication with his staff. The lack of communication can lead to misunderstandings and dissatisfied employees. “Communication is the single most important skill of any manager.” (About.com) I believe this is statement from about.com is absolutely right. In order to lead, a leader must communicate his orders to his followers.
After the self-assessments from the book, now I know what kind of leader I can be, what are the weakness I need to work on and how I can influence my team and the people outside my work environment. This course has taught me many different type of leadership style and one cannot be an effective leader but just following one specific style. To be an effective leader you need to assess the situation and act according to the situations.
Overall what I learned in this class will help me in my career as a leader and will eventually help further my career. I learn that a leader is one who has a direct relationship with the people they are leading. The leader is one who also gives direction to the staff. They must have motivational and technological skills which is also a good trait to have. Transformational leadership style is the leadership style base on the quiz. I also learned there are a few things that I have to work on to better my leadership styles. With the information given in the book and what I learned in class will help me in the future.
Leadership is not a position or a title it is action and example. In this Reflection, I will write about course topic, Leadership examples and me as a leadership. In course topic, I turn to what was the most interesting topic to me, which topic I find it difficult and which topic I find it useful for the future. In the Leadership examples, I turn to the most interesting thing I learned about a famous leader. The most important thing that great leaders all have in common, and I describe one famous leader’s approach to leading. In me as a leadership, I turn to what did I learn about being a leader from doing the classroom activities. What I will do is I was given a job as an office manager after graduating and if I would like
First and foremost, leaders help to motivate and develop employees in a workplace. There is a popular quote that states, “a manager
Communication is a very important aspect in leadership. It involves the ability of managers and other leaders in an organization to engage employees through effective listening and understanding of any issues that may be making it difficult for them to realize their full potential. The need for good communication capabilities in the workplace is to make sure that leaders give employees enough time to air their opinions before any binding directions are made. It is always necessary for leaders to remain mindful of the manner in wh...
Being in a position of management, it is your responsibility to ensure that your team of associates are well informed on what they need to accomplish. With poor communication, there may be a lack of understanding of what is expected. This creates a domino effect in which every step down the way is performed. Beyond the consistency of strong work production, the morale in the workplace may be affected. It can be disheartening to an individual to put so much effort into what they are being paid to do just to find out that because of poor communication their work may have all been for nothing. Being a good leader doesn’t only require that you have the ability to communicate, but to be able to listen. Taking in the information and comprehending it is the first step to conveying what you are looking to accomplish. Getting to the point with people immediately with a task at hand can prevent the inability to finish any given responsibility in a timely manner. Sometimes change in the workplace can bring out a side in someone that you wouldn’t normally face with a normal interaction. People become comfortable with how things go on a day to day basis. When changes in management occur or policies change after a longer period of time, the most loyal of employees can take an offense to a change and have it not sit well with them. This ties in to not only being able to effectively