After taking a moment to reflect on the information I have absorbed regarding leadership, I find the idea of a process towards becoming a leader empowering. For many people, their past or the ideas and stories they tell themselves about who they are and who they will become are bogged down with external negativity incurred through failure and listening to the wrong people. Therefore many people shy away from the idea of becoming a leader. They assume leaders are born because it is safe, they don’t have to hold themselves to the flame of being in a position to assume leadership and not, because well, hey, “leaders are born and I’m not one of them”, is what they tell themselves. The idea of leadership being a process makes everyone accountable to try and build upon quality characteristics to become a better leader.
The idea of leadership is often looked at as some treacherous task that involves the governing of thousands of people. But really leadership is something that can happen within your home, or in a class room, or a group class project, or at work. I believe the ability to take a leadership role with small tasks in life will add up to the ability to lead larger projects. For example at work you are entrusted to work with two other employees to complete a project or task and you perform with competence. Your supervisor will applaud your praise and entrust you again with a larger task to lead, requiring more people. The quality of your leadership will ensure the ability for the team to accomplish its set goals. The process of leadership as noted in the lesson commentary will include “influence, group context and goal attainment” (Lesson 1 Commentary., 2018). Through your interaction with the people in your group, the influence you have over them and the proper goal attainment, you will, yet again have shown your supervisor that you retain the qualities for leadership. Through the leader-member exchange theory (LMX) illustrated in the lesson commentary “Conceptualizes leadership as a process that is centered on the interactions between leaders and followers. (Lesson 1 Commentary., 2018). For the work example, in which your supervisor has entrusted you to lead projects with more detail, requiring a larger team, the process of adapting to the different personalities of your subordinates, would require your understanding of the leader-member exchange theory to leadership. Other theories on leadership would enhance your ability to influence subordinates depending on the situation or different personalities of the people your leading.
The process of learning about the different theories and approaches to leadership is in itself building us (Students of Penn State) to become better leaders. Just by being aware of the different approaches, can we adapt ourselves to leadership situations in the future. Transformational leadership, which states in the lesson commentary “Is a process that changes and transforms individuals. It is concerned with emotions, values, ethics, standards, and long-term goals. Transformation leadership moves followers to accomplish more than what is usually expected of them” (Lesson 1 Commentary., 2018) I now understand that when I am listening to motivational speakers like Jim Rohn or Tonny Robbins, I understand that they are speaking to me from the role of a transformational leader. Because I had the opportunity read the theory of transformation leadership in our lesson commentary I was able to identify it in my own life.
I have seen in my experience of working many jobs as a teenager that many people work places because of the paycheck they generate from working there. They are motivated by the external paycheck they receive. That is why a lot of times people receive bonuses for more sales, or a free gift card for a higher quota. Many employers offer monetary incentives to motivate employees. The leadership approach path-goal theory as mentioned in lesson one commentary examples Path-goal theory as, “Leaders motivate subordinates to accomplish designated goals. The goal of this leader is to enhance employee performance and employee satisfaction by focusing on employee motivation” (Lesson 1 Commentary., 2018). Through the lens of path-goal theory we can see that many employers assume monetary incentives will drive employee motivation. When in fact, employees will still leave a job even if they make great money, because it has little to do with money and more to do with satisfaction, job creativity and engagement. But by understanding this approach to leadership, my thinking has been shifted to understand the approach that many employers take when trying to get employees motivated.
Through the process of learning about what leadership involves and the theories on how leadership is applied I have become a better leader. Proving that leadership is in fact a process. Information changes situations, and through understanding and applying principles of leadership to our everyday lives we become more open to the idea that we too can become great leaders. That our input and influence adds up little by little everyday and eventually puts us in a situation to demonstrate leadership.
Photo Credit: Gogle
References
Williams, J (2018) Leadership in Work: Lesson 1: Introduction to Leadership [Lesson
Commentary] Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1923777/modules/items/23736127
Natalie Kopes says
Hi Jessica,
I found your post to be rather relatable. Your line of “For many people, their past or the ideas and stories they tell themselves about who they are and who they will become are bogged down with external negativity incurred through failure and listening to the wrong people,” truly resonated with me. I think many people, myself included, have a fear of trying new things, and being afraid of change. It’s difficult for people to want to lead when they don’t know the correct path to take. This line reminded me of the psychoanalytic perspective of leadership, in which our family of origin reflects largely on how we lead, and how we feel about ourselves (PSU 2018).
For leaders, there is always pressure to maintain order, and complete goals. In fact, most companies look at leadership staff, and reflect the company’s progress on just that one person. You said it well, in which “The quality of your leadership will ensure the ability for the team to accomplish its set goals.” Leaders in any work environment will have the pressure of the whole business on their shoulders. If we think about it, any sort of leadership mistake could cost a business millions of dollars. Any slip up like this could cost a CEO, CFO, GM, etc. their career. A good leader is vital for business growth.
The photo posted at the end of your post is rather insightful. I like how the left side says that a “boss” is someone who depends on authority and inspires fear. This is something I’ve noticed about some managers I’ve had to deal with at my various jobs. It’s interesting how the leadership side of the photo states that they “coach” people, while the boss side says they “drive employees.” Although the two qualities sound good, it does make sense that a boss would “drive” people to complete tasks, while a leader would “coach” people. In my opinion, to drive someone to accomplish a task, it would mean to constantly ask them when they’ll have something done. To coach someone would be to not simply ask for a time frame for a project, but to also offer advice for accomplishment. This reflects the process of leadership, in which communication between the leader and followers is used to develop relationships within the group (Northouse, 2016). A large aspect of leadership is communication, and I feel like this can be overlooked during the leadership process.
References:
Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications
Pennsylvania State University. (2018) PSYCH 485: Leadership in Work Settings. Lesson 1: Introduction to Leadership. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1925331/modules/items/23786463
Armin Vossooghi says
Hi Jessica,
I have to say that out of the few blogs I’ve read, I enjoyed reading yours the most and that’s because I can very much relate to what you are saying. Just to touch on some of the key points that you’d mentioned, we do tend to listen to negative people and as a result and consequence we don’t always do what we are set out to do and sometimes totally give up on our quest to make something great and beyond ourselves, thus like you’d mentioned shy away from the idea of becoming a leader.
In my opinion that’s very sad because of couple different reasons. For one I’m sure it’s safe to say now leaders are not born rather than created. We all have the potential to be leaders in one or more ways than we think. I.e work, school, relationships and even standing up for what’s right, even though by doing so it might benefit others but not ourselves necessarily.
You’re definitely correct when you mentioned becoming a leader is a process and that is very true, since individualistically we can take everything that we do in our daily lives as a personal growth and if you will a practice to be a leader. It’s ok to start with smaller tasks and then move on to the bigger responsibilities such as managing a small basketball group or even take charge and managing a surprise party for a coworker. These are some small ways that we can demonstrate our leadership capabilities and eventually build up enough confidence to take on bigger and more serious leadership task, at work for example.
I’d mentioned my own work in my blog and I believe I spoke about my bosses interaction with me and every other single of his employees. I’d mentioned that even though he has been doing “managerial” or “leadership” work within these past couple decades he has not shown any leadership qualities and it makes me wonder, does he even know what it takes to be leader. Most employees don’t and refuse to accept him as their leader and they usually gravitate towards the foreman’s guidance and instruction.
I guess the point that I’m trying to make is that everything that you’ve mentioned in your post in my opinion holds valid and one last thing that I even mentioned in my blog is called trait approach. Even though it’s a different topic from what I’ve been talking about, in some ways does relate. With trait approach the hiring agent have a designated leadership profiles and know exactly whom they are looking to hire and what they’re looking for in a employee. I believe that’s better than just hiring whomever for a job based on personal beliefs that I this person will be successful because of “x,y,z” rather than a guideline that they’re suppose to go by for a successful process which at the end would turn out great for both the hiring management and the employee (Northouse, 2016).
References:
Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications