Learning from other people, picking up bad habits as well as good ones seems to be a deliberate action according to our Lesson and Albert Bandura. As naturally social creatures we help each other and we also learn from each other, (PSU, WC, L.4, P2). Modeling, a certain type of social learning identified and coined by Albert Bandura is so practical, easily implementable and effective; organizations have put this into action for changing work environments (PSU, WC, L.4, P2).

Modeling in a social environment allows for creativity in addition to learning from others, (PSU, WC, L.4, P2). The person or group learning replicates certain actions but also exhibit modification based on their own experiences and desires, (PSU, WC, L.4, P2). These socially learned behaviors happen in a four step process proposed by Albert Bandura, which involve attention, retention, reproduction and motivation (PSU, WC, L.4, P3). In this case I would like focus on social learning from an organizational perspective, in which groups adapt to meet changes in the work environment. Keeping up with technology in an organization is very critical in the world we live in today.

In my own experience; I have worked for the government for most of my adult career in some way, shape or form. My current official title is a Financial Systems Analyst. My directorate concentrates on a debit card program that is owned by the United States Department of the Treasury and is fiscally managed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and proliferated and implemented by us for the different military branches of service.

I am responsible for the direct management of the program for the continental United States, my colleagues are responsible for Europe, the Southern and Western parts of Asia and the Gulf Cooperation Council, GCC area, which is a fancy way of saying the Middle East. The U.S. government as a whole tends to keep up with the latest in technology. As a directorate, as a small part of the military industrial complex, we have had to change our mind set as an organization to come up with better, more efficient ways to run programs through technology for the U.S. government. As a group it can sometimes be hard to agree on how this can be done.

Some argue that it is the individual who learns in a group and not the organization as whole but according to R. Moran, people tend to learn differently in a group, people appear to think in conjunction with others and with the help of culturally provided tools. Look up the word organism, you will find varied definitions but one definition I found at Dictionary.com had to say an organism is: any complex thing or system having properties and functions determined not only by the properties and relations of its individual parts, but by the character of the whole that they compose and by the relations of the parts to the whole. This is not a far cry of what a business organization is made up of or how it functions and the end state is to do it together because one person, one piece cannot.

Electronic commerce is an initiative that has been directed to us from as far up the chain as the President of the United States. Where we had free reign to change as much or as little of the program as we decided, collectively we are now obligated to come up with more cost efficient ways through technology to administer the governments programs across the board. The status quo is no longer accepted in these parts. There had to be a total change in mind set starting from the top tier of management to the lower echelons of personnel. Unfortunately, sometimes this change even meant getting rid of personnel that were no longer suited or had the capacity to lead us into the 21 century.

This is what it has come to in big business and sometimes it is not so nice. Technology is essential to every business, even if they are not considered a “technology company”. To compete in today’s business world, keeping up with the technology “Joneses” is important. It is now part of the social fabric of our lives. The issue is not necessarily the technology itself but how to systematically keep up with it in efficient ways.

References:

Pennsylvania State University, World Wide Campus (2017). OLEAD 410 Lesson 4: Global Communication. Retrieved on February 8, 2017. https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1826457/modules/items/21654116

Moran, Ph.D., R. T., Abramson, Ph.D., N. R., & Moran, MA, S. V. (2014). Managing Cultural Differences; Ninth Edition. Chapter 4: Global Leaders Learning from Others and Change. New York, NY, USA: Routledge: Taylor & Francis Group.

Being a kid of color but not really knowing it until later in my youth was an eye opening experience to say the least. I have random memories sometimes, which are a collage of pictures and videos that are jumbled in my mind. I remember some childhood friends. I remember some shenanigans I got into here and there while growing up, but ask me who my 5^th grade teacher was, or how my 13^th birthday was and I have no idea. I say all this to say that as we begin to delve into our studies and read our lesson commentary, I try to relate to what we learn through an unbiased eye, through an open minded perspective of the world around me. But I have come to realize that instead of pushing my biased aside I must acknowledge it, think about how it affects my thoughts and decisions and then act accordingly. So, as I go back in my youth trying to think about how I was treated as a kid and what I come up with is that I don’t remember much. What I do remember and thinking about it now as an adult, is that all the way up until around middle school I didn’t really know what the significance of being a minority was. I didn’t realize there was an internal secret war going on between societies, groups, and intra-groups etc.

There was an article in the New York Times written by Maria Russo interviewing a couple of Latina friends, R.J Palacio and Meg Medina. They were from the “Bronx” and were childhood friends who went to school together. They were separated at the age of 11 with one of them moving resulting in them losing touch. They both ended up being adult children book writers and later in life meet up with one another. Ms. Russo somehow ended up interviewing them. The main theme taken from this interview was that the environment proved to be a huge catalyst in the way these two approached their writing of children’s books. They both had respectively earned a good living in their profession and genuinely cared about the youth but because they ultimately grew up in different environments they handled ethnic issues differently and identified to their culture differently as well. They were similar on the surface but at a deep level of diversity they were very different. Palacio was quoted saying “I very much consider myself Latin American but I have never identified as a Latina, if that makes sense.” (M. Russo NYTimes 2017)

It wasn’t until middle school that I started feeling my Mexican(ism). We didn’t have a middle school per say in our community so we were bussed a few miles down the road and this is where I started to experience things outside my community. Clicks started to form. Rich White kids were part of the demographic. This was about the time I started to see and hear racial slurs and racist rhetoric. Gangs were a big thing during my time where I grew up. I remember right around this time I started to become introverted and rebellious. I don’t remember if there was one particular reason but I know that I started physically and emotionally building walls and protecting myself from all the hate and meanness around me. I became more aware and in tune with my culture. I started to hang out with people that looked like me.

I read our lesson and came across Surface Level Diversity, which are the characteristics we can notice about each other that distinguish us and Deep Level Diversity, which are the differences in beliefs, values and attitudes etc., that affect much more directly how a person behaves, (PSU WC L3 2017). I started to think about this subject as it related to me and how I felt growing up. According to our lesson deep level diversity can change sometimes based on surface level experience, (PSU WC LS 2017). I know deep down inside this was my case but did others see it this way? Did others just see another Mexican kid running around in a “gang” acting the way a poor Mexican does? Getting together with his kind and causing havoc. Or did they see me as a product of my environment. I am glad that this is a part of my past but it is scary to think that if I didn’t learn later on in life that things aren’t always what they seem and we can evolve, what could have been my path in life.

References:

PSU (2016) Lesson 1 Introduction to global context. Retrieved August 25, 2016 from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1802572/modules/items/2117904

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/20/books/review/rj-palacio-and-meg-medina-talk-diversity-and-childrens-books

My name is Joshua Bustos. I am currently in my senior year with PSU. I am majoring in Organizational Leadership with a concentration in Business Administration.  I am originally from Texas by way Florida and I currently work for the government as an Financial System Analyst out of Indianapolis Indiana. Professionally I am at my midway point I suppose. I did my time in the United States Air Force as a Financial Analyst. I am currently a government civilian in the financial sector, just a different part of it. I oversea a debit card program the U.S. Treasury owns, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston fiscally manages and the United States Army implements. I love my job, it gives me the opportunity to lead, apply my knowledge and talent but it is not what I want to be doing in the long run.

I ultimately want to own my own business. I have a few ideas but real estate is one of my loves. All aspects of it. Buying, selling, commercial, residential, interior and exterior design, architecture. So, I see my self eventually headed that way. Its been a process but I have only begun.

As far as leadership goes, I manage and I am responsible for how our program runs for the continental United States, which are units comprised of 25 different sites. I am blessed as I have traveled all over the world previously doing this for the Air Force as well. I have two other colleauges that are responsible for the Europe area and one that is responsible for Western Asia area. I am the subject matter expert on what goes on with this program. I am responsible for the implementation, training and the administration of the program in my area of responsibility. I can say I have some experience with leadership from being in the Air Force and from my current job in where everyone is looking to me to make sure each site knows how to use this program, not only from a technical standpoint but from a rules and regulations aspect as well. No one works directly for me but I have many people who depend on what I say.

I have several favorite leadership quotes  but the one I would probably like to share with you all at this time is one from President Ronald Regan. “The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.” —Ronald Reagan

Not to get political at all but Reagan has to be one of my favorite presidents of my time. He seemed very personable and was part of a lot of change in our world during this time. I know he didn’t single handedly do it all by himself. He needed everyone’s help and he got it. He made people act. Not by force but through inspiration. I look forward to working with you all.

Thank you

Joshua Bustos