How would you describe your own leadership style? Which theory from our reading best explains your personal leadership style? Evaluate its strengths and weaknesses.
Personally, I admire the Transformational Leaders the most: The charismatic leaders who inspire, evoke emotion, and cause followers or workers to identify with them, and have the ability to communicate his or her vision or goals for the organization to subordinates - who will make the vision possible. I also really respect the Theory Y approach, which focuses on people’s intrinsic desire to do their work well and motivates them by providing freedom and opportunities. I know from experience, working under these types of managers, that it leads to the most positively engaged, satisfied, and productive workers.
I'm also the kind of person that also pays attention to the emotional aspects of the job. I want to inspire employees to do their best work, and part of how this is done is by showing an understanding of the challenges the workers face; that empathy will inspire an employee to try harder, while a domineering boss might cause a worker to resist or revolt.
Essays:
How will you use the material on "Personality and Leadership" to improve your life in the areas of your life where you have to take the role of the leader?
Aside from agreeing with the Transformational Leader and the Theory Y approach to leadership, the material we covered also warns on what to avoid, and why.
Traditionally, many people have assumed that leadership is based on a single person imposing his or her over-sized personality over others, but a domineering and easy-to-anger leader is less likely to receive feedback from the people who work under him, and such feedback is crucial to stay informed. The threat of insult or punishment may not be the best motivator for producing good work results. By recognizing that interactions with others have emotional content and impact, they can be more effective because managers and the people they manage can avoid being divided by negative emotions.
How could someone in a leadership position related to you (professional, community, government) use the material on leadership to be a more effective leader? (What should your boss do to be a more effective boss?) If they are already the perfect boss, what is it that they are doing that makes them so?
I like how Fergus O’Connell [How to Run Successful Projects (O’Connell 34)] summed up a leader:"When I say “leader,” I mean not so much the person with the title, but a person who is going to get the project done. She lives, eats, and breathes the project. She is going to get it done or die in the attempt. At any given time, she has her finger on the pulse of the project."
A team’s leader has a primary role in the creation and ongoing coherence of the team. Leadership failures often derive from unequal work distribution - some members may take on less work than they should, and others may claim far too much. Personally, for me, as far as my last job was concerned, the former was an issue with me - I never had enough work, even though I was more than willing to take on a greater share of the work, and my ability to do the work assigned was never in question. This can lead to workers feeling unappreciated, frustrated and resentful. The job prior to that, I was assigned way too much work [managing a department completely alone, and without a raise or even given insurance - hence, my decision to quit].
Leadership failures also often derive from flaws in the clarity of the team’s goals—which should provide a clear sense of the point toward which the team is moving. This challenge can be overcome by prioritizing, planning, communicating, clearly defining roles and responsibilities among team members, and building trust. As a leader, it is vital that you know how to gauge members’ assets and liabilities and assign them the right roles, and also how to keep them motivated and in motion.
No comments:
Post a Comment