OLEAD 410: Leadership in a Global Context

Cultural Leadership blog

The Ebb and Flow of Synergy in the Workplace

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Operating like a well-oiled machine. Firing on all cylinders. These are phrases that could be used to describe teams that are experiencing synergy: a cooperative action that occurs when individuals collaborate for a common cause. (Pennsylvania State University, 2018)  When a team achieves synergy, it means that each team member understands their role, the role of others and the goal of the team. (Pennsylvania State University, 2018)

Almost two years ago, I was asked to create a new team in my organization that would be made up of 3 employees from 3 different locations. Although these employees had similar responsibilities, their new roles were brand new and they had never worked together as a team.

We had some growing pains in the beginning, but after the first year I could tell that the group was becoming cohesive and developing synergy. They naturally understood each other’s strengths and felt confident in their own roles and knowledge. We were able to produce work quickly and our value to the organization was widely-recognized.

 

But, like they say about trust, synergy can be quickly lost and is slow to recover. Mid-last year, my team and I got a new senior-level leader, a person that was hired from outside of the company. She had no knowledge of what we, as a team, were responsible for and no understanding of our methods and practices. Even worse, she really didn’t understand many of the goals of our organization as a whole or what challenges we faced. Just like that, the synergy that I had worked so hard to achieve with my team was gone. My employees began questioning their roles on the team, doubting the goals and feeling completely uninspired.

For the past several months, I have been working to include the new leader into the team dynamic so that we can once again achieve synergy. However, the team is not as willing to accept this new member and it is causing chaos across the department. I have noticed behavioral changes in all 3 of them that I never had to deal with before. Also, they are more often bickering among themselves on small issues like taking a day off or who is covering a project call. Having a new team member has created toxicity, which has become contagious and is causing the team to fail to reach our goals. (Pennsylvania State University, 2018)

While I am hopeful we will once again reach synergy, I know that it will take even more effort than our first attempt. With patience, time and (hopefully) understanding, I am confident that we can become that well-oiled machine that we were last year!

 

References

Pennsylvania State University. (2018, February 18). Lesson Overview. Retrieved from OLEAD 410, Lesson 06: Cultural Synergy: https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1916378/modules/items/23640545

Pennsylvania State University. (2018, February 18). Synergy. Retrieved from OLEAD 410, Lesson 06: Cultural Synergy: https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1916378/modules/items/23640546

Technology and the Communication Process

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In its simplest form, the model of the communication process is rather basic: there is a sender and a receiver, a message channel, and an idea being sent through the channel.  During the encoding and decoding process, there are call-outs where noise can enter into the process and cause errors. Overall, this simplistic idea of communication is a great starting point but, in today’s technological environment, no longer represents the various forms of available communication and the amount of activity impacting those messages.  In fact, very few messages that are sent today are as simple as this model describes.

In today’s world of technology, humankind is moving away from the basic method of communication and into a world where communication is rapidly becoming virtual. This shift in the paradigm of society has its benefits as well as its drawbacks, which we will briefly discuss an example of each.

With modern technology, the world around us has become a digital wonderland. While most of us grew up with just a “home phone”, today we feel lost if our phone is not within reach. It’s the first thing we look at each morning and the last thing we check at night. We are texting, Tweeting, FaceBooking, Instagramming throughout our days, and most of that has nothing to do with work. In the office, we have seen our face-to-face communications be replaced with emails, instant messages and Slack channels. These digital channels have made communication easier, removing barriers that once existed like looking for an old friend or trying to meet someone new. (Techspirited, 2018) Those things are no longer difficult to do with modern technology!

While our virtual selves are enjoying the champagne, our interpersonal selves are picking up the check. As we move more and more into a digital age of communication, we see younger generations that lack interpersonal skills like showing emotion and speaking face-to-face. (Techspirited, 2018) As a result, when people are communicating in person, they are losing their abilities to interpret non-verbal gestures from others. (Techspirited, 2018)  We also see the dependence on digital communication impacting the relationships in families. Children who are always texting with their friends aren’t spending as much time with parents or siblings, which is creating an even larger relationship gap over time. (Techspirited, 2018)

There is a way to reap the rewards of this digital age while maintaining your social and personal abilities, but the key is balance. Make sure that you are taking time to “unplug” and spend time with friends and family. As parents, ensure that your kids have some downtime from the devices and texting. We should all find that happy medium between the digital space and our here and now.

 

 

References

Techspirited. (2018, Januaty 31). An Overview of the Overall Impact of Technology on Communication. Retrieved from techspirited.com: https://techspirited.com/impact-of-technology-on-communication

Beyond Diversity – The Inclusion Revolution

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(Blessingwhite)

 

For the past few years, it seems like “diversity” and “inclusion” have been buzz words in my organization. Like many other global companies, a few years ago, we started making the shift from the idea of diversity as hiring employees from “protected classes” to creating and defining a culture that embraces people from all backgrounds. This new mindset and expanded corporate culture not only recognizes the differences in its employees, but actually celebrates them! It’s an inclusion revolution!

To me, the most impactful change that my organization made was the introduction of the Employee Resource Groups or ERGs. By definition, ERGs are “voluntary, employee-led groups that foster a diverse, inclusive workplace aligned with organizational mission, values, goals, business practices, and objectives.” (Catalyst, Inc., n.d.)  In short, ERGs allow employees from normally excluded groups to create a resource group where they are included. The company promotes and values these groups, which drives the concept of inclusion.

While building our roster of Employee Resource Groups has taken time, there are now 8 ERGs for employees to join and participate in. The most recent ERG to launch is OUT – a group supporting the LGBTQ community and its allies. I was nominated to be a Steering Committee member when this ERG was being formed last year and since our official launch, I moved into the role of Membership Chair. The experience of working with this team has been invaluable and I have learned much more about building a community of inclusion than I ever expected. Our mission itself is inclusive – to empower the LGBTQ community and its allies. I love that we are able to embrace everyone that wants to know more about the LGBTQ community and the challenges OUT employees face.

While there are still opportunities to improve our corporate culture and to further encourage inclusion, I believe these ERGs are a great way for employees to feel empowered and to learn more about culturally diverse groups. I am excited about the possibilities for my OUT group as we head into our first full year as an organization. I am also encouraged by the effort put forth by my company to support and embrace these Employee Resource Groups.

2018 – To Inclusion and Beyond!

 

 

 

References

Blessingwhite. (n.d.). To Inclusion…And Beyond. Blessingwhite.

Catalyst, Inc. (n.d.). ERGs (Employee Resource Groups). Retrieved from Catalyst: Workplaces that Work for Women: http://www.catalyst.org/knowledge/topics/ergs-employee-resource-groups

 

 

Conflict in Culture

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In today’s society, we are constantly reminded that conflicts based on cultural differences are universal. Conflict seems to be everywhere: from Black Lives Matter, the Confederate statue encounters, the TimesUp movement, even not-so-politically-correct statements from our own leaders. All of these are examples of situations where differences in cultural groups are driving sometimes volatile situations. I find myself asking “why can’t we all just get along?”

To answer that question, we first have to look at culture – the driving force behind human behavior – and how it is created. (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014)  Even further, we need to understand the values tied to a particular culture and how those are formed. After all, our values are what “determine our behavior”. (Penn State University, 2018)

Creation of values in a human starts at birth and continues throughout our lives, although most of our values are formed by the age of 21. (Penn State University, 2018) As we move through our lives, forming our values, we transition from relying on caregivers, to modeling the values of others, and then finally to our peers by connecting with other people that share similar values to our own. (Penn State University, 2018)  These values that we develop shape our behavior as humans and in turn, the collective behaviors in our culture determine our cultural values. (Penn State University, 2018)  This is how cultural groups are formed with like-minded values and behaviors.

Stepping back into where we are today as a society and the question of why we see so many conflicts between cultural groups, we now have a sense of just how embedded these cultural values are in each of us. It is not so easy to for some groups or individuals to ignore the actions of others, because they have a deep personal connection to their own cultural values. Even though the actions of another group or person may not impact their lives directly, these actions can sometimes been seen as damaging to the overall integrity of a culture and the values of that culture.

In recent years, as we have transitioned into a more global economy, we have seen companies shift corporate values into a space of diversity and inclusion. This is to recognize the importance of understanding other cultures that we now share work and information with on a daily basis. In similar fashion, we need to now focus on shifting the human culture into a space of diversity and inclusion. To do this, as we are teaching values to our children, those values must include not only diversity and inclusion of others that may be different, but also tolerance. If we can make this shift as a human culture, we may be able to all just get along.

 

 

 

References

Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., & Moran, S. V. (2014). Managing Cultural Differences (Ninth ed.). New York: Routledge.

Penn State University. (2018, January 15). Values. Retrieved from OLEAD 410, Lesson 02: Introduction to Culture: https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1916378/modules/items/23640509

 

Happy OLEAD 410!

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Hi everyone – my name is Jennifer Rosson and I am excited to be sharing in OLEAD 410 with all of you!

I am currently located in Pittsburgh, PA where I am a Process Manager at my company. I have been in this position for the past couple of years and I lead a small team of analysts. In addition to pursuing my BA in Organizational Leadership at PSU, I am also currently working toward a Fundamentals in Design Thinking certification and participating in Women Unlimited, a one-year program for female high-potential leaders, which is based out of Boston, MA. Once I complete the certification and WU, I am interested in pursuing my PMP and moving into Project Management.

One of my favorite quotes is from Albert Einstein, “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” This is something I try to live by in my life and career and something that I apply to my employes, as well. To continue growing, we need to be willing to try new things, which can sometimes lead to mistakes. But mistakes mean we are making progress!

I am a single mother of a fur-baby, Calvin Klein, a 9 year old toy fox terrier.

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