bnr5041

Ethnocentrism

April 22, 2013 by bnr5041

The importance of culture in our world today is crucial. Culture defined by Northouse is “the commonly shared beliefs, values, and norms of a group of people”. As globalization has immensely increased over the past decade, it is important to value personal culture, as well as culture of other people. Globalization has been a positive in the world we live for many reasons. We have grown economically, socially, technically, as well as politically (Northouse, 2013). We have also learned that diversity in the workplace has been found to be extremely productive. Those companies who discriminate and do not open their doors to new ideas soon realize they are behind the companies that do. Bringing in new ideas and sharing them with one another helps everyone grow and feed off one another (Northouse, 2013).

One concept that truly irks me is that of ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism is “the tendency for individuals to place their own group at the center of their observations of others and the world” (Northouse, 2013). This means that a person thinks that his or her beliefs are better than others. They are not truly willing to listen to others perspectives, and if they do, they still think that their own is the right/better way. An example of this is one of my roommates. We get along pretty well, but one challenge is this idea. She is extremely close minded and sometimes it can cause arguments within our household. When it comes to the discussion of religion, she will not consider other people’s beliefs. I live with another girl who is the same religion as I am, and she attends church regularly as well as Bible studies. I am not into religion at the same level as her, but I can understand where she is coming from. However, the other roommate has slightly different beliefs and whenever the topic of religion comes up, she doesn’t listen but talks about how much better her religion is and that we are terrible for what we believe in. It really has upset me in the past, even though I am not a very religious person. It is more the fact that she is so easy to stick to her beliefs and not listen to other peoples perspectives.

It is important to understand where we are coming from just once. If she wants to be successful in our society today, I think this is the only way she is going to achieve anything. A leader cannot be closed off to other people’s ideas. They must be willing to share their own, and accept others, even if it is not what they exactly believe. I see how mad it makes me on just a small topic of conversation that doesn’t even mean anything. It upsets my roommate who is into the whole church scene even more. This is just one example I think has gotten people pretty upset. I couldn’t imagine how the conversation would go, when this is in the work setting and someone’s work depended on two people working together who come from different backgrounds! Today, this is a concept that needs to be overcome!

Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice (6th edition). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.

#Iwannaplaytoo

April 11, 2013 by bnr5041

Once again, the topic has been brought up. The one men probably don’t enjoy hearing, and one women probably get fired up about! In my opinion, that is the way I see it anyways. I am a female, and I love when the topic of gender inequality and diversity is brought into discussion. I can feel my blood boiling already as I sit here typing this! I suppose it could be that growing up I was the “tomboy” and loved playing and enjoying activities boys usually get involved in. Even though I am older now and have become much more of a “girl”, I know the feelings of wanting to be a boy are still in there. I just tweeted the other day, — Why is it as soon as the weather is warm boys get to play football and basketball and girls only focus on getting pretty and dressing cute #iwannaplaytoo– Although, in reality, I know I can play too. The gender roles we were put into when we were children, don’t make boys want to pick a girl to play on their football team very often.

A personal experience that stood out to me was my friend’s younger sister when I was in high school. Her sister was around 7 years old at the time and she would always be around when we were at the house. I saw her often and I would say she became pretty comfortable with me being around. I remember one day when she grabbed my hand and told me she had a secret for me. I acted all surprised wondering what it would be. She tugged my arm and made me follow her to her room. She closed the door behind us and everything. I had no idea what this little girl had in mind. She pulled out this box from way back in her closet. It was even wrapped up in a blanket and everything! I couldn’t believe it. With a huge smile on her face she opened the box and showed me this huge collection of pokeman stuffed animal characters. I acted so happy that she was sharing this with me, but I wondered why it was such a big secret. She looked up at me and said “Shhh, only boys are allowed to play with these, but I got some too”!

That is what is wrong with our society. It plays a factor in girls lives as they get older and become women and enter the workforce. The stereotypes women are given such as not being as effective leaders, or being gentle and caring, have a negative effect when it comes to women in leadership positions. In order for a woman to be successful in a leadership role, they often have to follow strict guidelines in order to proceed to these top positions. According to Hughes, Ginnett, and Curphy women are expected to

-Take risk, but not be consistently outstanding

-Be tough but not be too macho

-Be ambitious, but know they will not receive equal treatment

-Take responsibility, but follow others’ advice

The problem here is that if women act too much like men, they will be looked down upon because they do not fit into the “normal” gender role. However, if they act too much like women, they will not be looked at highly because they are female! (PSU WC, L13)

Therefore, we see the difficulties women are faced with at the workplace. Yet, studies have shown diversity is actually beneficial to companies in the fact it brings better ideas to the table (Northouse, 2013). So why the negative treatment?

I believe it is the culture our society has created; and the same society that needs to fix it.

References:

Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.

Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2013). PSYCH 485 Lesson 13: Leadership and Diversity. Retrieved on April 11, 2013, from https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/sp13/psych485/003/content/13_lesson/01_page.html

SERVANT LEADERSHIP; THE GUIDE TO PARENTING

March 31, 2013 by bnr5041

Servant Leadership?

A leader who serves others? Yeah right! That is not leadership!

That’s exactly what I thought too, until I learned that there are many benefits to this type of style. Servant Leadership focuses on the fact that the leader is there to serve the follower’s needs in order to accomplish what needs to get done. In turn, these followers will develop into servants themselves and will help others which will help the production of the organization again. The leader focuses on developing the follower enough so that they can begin making decisions and acting on their own, which leaves more time for the leader to focus on developing other followers. Instead of being “in charge”, and telling others what to do, a servant leader follows characteristics such as:

-Listening

-Empathy

-Healing

-Awareness

-Persuasion

-Conceptualization

-Foresight

-Stewardship

-Commitment to the growth of people

-Building community

It is all about developing an individual who can get the work done themselves, as long as they are guided in the right direction.

I am not 100% percent sure as to why I have fallen in love with the parenting example of servant leadership, but I have. I believe it is an easy concept to understand once described in this specific situation. However, I do understand all parenting is different. But I also believe servant leadership can be done in multiple different ways as well. One may listen more, one may persuade more, but as long as the leader is helping to teach that person how to grow and make decisions on their own, this is what matters.

I’m not sure if it’s just me or not. But I know growing up, if my parents were to tell me to do something, or not to do something, well I would turn around and do the EXACT opposite. Not to say that I was a “bad” child, I actually was pretty good!- but the fact of the matter is, I did not want to be told what to do. Instead, I wanted to make decisions on my own, which led my parents falling into this servant leadership style pretty well. I did not know this until I recently sat down and thought about it either!

They listened, and showed empathy, they built community and fell into most, if not all, of the characteristics outlined for this type of leadership. By doing this, they helped me grow into a person who could make decisions on my own, and not have to be told what to do. When I had a decision to make, instead of telling me which side to choose, they were extremely good at persuading me into making the right decision. That way, I had their input, but at the end of the day I felt I was the one making the decision. This made me feel stronger and more independent. I didn’t even realize they were doing this at the time!

I think it is extremely important to realize that leadership does not always mean you are in charge, standing in front of people, telling them what to do. In fact, sometimes that is not as beneficial as “laying low”, and guiding the people in the right direction and allowing them to make decisions of their own. In a business setting, this is helpful because when people feel needed and important, they usually are happier which leads to higher productivity. When a boss is always telling you exactly what to do, that doesn’t always feel as good. Instead, one who gets you thinking and listens to your input, persuading you to take the right direction makes for a better situation.

I believe that parenting should be done following the servant leadership style. The last thing children want is being told what to do by their parents. However if the parents focus on a leadership approach which focuses on developing the child into making decisions of their own, both parties will be happy in the end. This has developed me into a strong enough individual, that someday I will have the knowledge to serve my children as well. I have experienced this myself, and would agree it worked pretty well.

Those sneaky parents of mine!

Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice (Sixth ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

Penn State World Campus (2013). Psych 485 Lesson 11: Servant Leadership. Retrieved from https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/sp13/psych485/002/content/11_lesson/03_page.html

Transformational Leadership; The Hunger Games

March 24, 2013 by bnr5041

hunger games.bmp While hanging out with my roommates this week, we decided to watch The Hunger Games. Although, I had read all three books, I had not yet watched the movie. I think I found myself focusing on the leadership qualities being portrayed because I had just signed off from doing homework, but throughout the movie I was focusing on the leadership qualities Katniss Everdeen (the main character) portrayed.

I found that qualities from transformational leadership were screaming out to me! These focus on a leader who is able to inspire others by having the ability to implement change or a specific view(PSU WC, L10). The people who belonged to the Capitol — which was the strong “district”, ruled 12 Districts. They did so by controlling each of the communities(district’s) food supply, and having technologies that took over anything or anyone who would try to fight against their ways.

Katniss Everdeen was the character who finally began to make change happen. Transformational leaders are able to infleunce others and have a clear vision of what they want to change or make happen(PSU WC, L10). Katniss wanted to stand up against the capitol and not fall into being forced to live a certain way. In doing so, she had confidence and sacrificed her own life multiple times in standing up the these people. As she stood up to the Capitol, she inspired people from every other District to begin to fight for their rights as well. She built trust with others, especially a boy from her distict named Peeta who fell deeply in love with her. If it was not for Katniss, he would not have believed in this idea of taking the capitol over. He had too much fear and not enough confidence in himself. However, she heightened his emotional levels which changed his views which are characteristics of a transformational leader(PSU WC, L10). Katniss became a role model to her peers which changed their views and made each of them want to stand up to the capitol little by little. As time went on, enough people from all 12 districts were willing to sacrifice their own lives in order to fight the “bad” people and earn a life which they were able to enjoy with freedom! If it weren’t for Katniss, the change may have never happened. More importantly though, if it weren’t for the followers allowing Katniss to inspire them and suspend their own ideologies, there would not have been enough strength to destry the capitol. The only way they were going to win was with numbers of people. Katniss was unable to complete this mission by herself. It became her job to turn the districts into strong, powerful people.

Penn State World Campus (2013). Psych 485 Lesson 10: Tranformational Leadership. Retrieved on March 24, 2013 from https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/

Situational Approach in Track and Field

February 10, 2013 by bnr5041

Outline of Situational Approach:

The situational leadership theory has been revised numerous times since its development in 1967(Northouse, 2013). This approach focuses on the situation of a leader and follower. The idea is that different leadership styles are necessary according to different situations which the leader and follower may find themselves in (Northouse, 2013). This theory encompasses directive and supportive behaviors which are the main components of this theory (Northouse, 2013).

Directive behaviors are task oriented. This means the focus is on the goals, directions, and actual methods of evaluation which will be followed in order to accomplish ones desired goal. Supportive behaviors are those which are made to make the individual “follower” more comfortable. These include solving any issues which may arise, asking for input, listening, and forms of encouragement or praise (Northouse, 2013). Directive behaviors focus on one sided communication where a person is directly telling another what to do. Supportive behaviors focus on two sided communication where communication is followed with a response and some form of emotional support (Northouse, 2013).

Examining the situational approach further, we can focus on four distinct styles: high directive-low supportive, high directive-high supportive, high supportive- low directive, low supportive-low directive.

1: High directive/low supportive style (DIRECTING): This approach focuses on a leader giving directions directly to the follower(s) and supervising them carefully without any supportive behaviors.

2: High directive/high supportive (COACHING): This approach focuses on achieving goals as well as supporting the individual emotionally with communication.

3: High supportive/low directive (SUPPORTING): The main focus is not on the achievement of goals, but supportive behaviors which allow the individuals’ skills to come out without necessarily being told what to do.

4: Low directive/low supportive (DELEGATING): This approach focuses on allowing the subordinates to take control without much input from the leader. The leader does not give much supportive nor directive behavior input.

Relation to Real World

The main idea around this theory is to understand that each situation may demand a different leadership style. An example from my personal life is focused around Coach Sullivan who is the track and field coach here at Penn State University. Every member who participates on the team has his or her own specific role. The team consists of sprinters, hurdlers, jumpers, throwers, long distance runners, and several events in between. With such diversity in the sport of track and field, every athlete has his or her own needs which need to be met by one individual (Coach Sullivan). Although, each member helps make up the entire team, the difference between one athlete and another may be quite drastic. The importance of Coach Sullivan’s flexibility to change her style of leading on a daily basis from athlete to athlete and situation to situation is extremely important.

For example, a freshman who is just joining the team is often led very different than that of a senior who has been around for four years. In addition, the longevity of a single person’s track career can also make a difference of style necessary. I am a senior this year and my coach leads me in a very DELEGATING or SUPPORTING style based on the objective at hand. There have been several meets this year where she has actually asked me what race I would like to run. This has allowed me control of my own work and gave me the power to decide what and how I will compete at a meet. Depending on the meet and the level of competition I range between the S3 and S4 blocks this year.

However, when comparing this to my freshman year significant changes have been made over time. My freshman year I fell in the range of DIRECTING AND COACHING. I did not have much experience at the division 1 level, and I needed to be told what to race at every meet. Not only was I told what to run and not run, but I was given a certain level of emotional support when I ran a good race or bad race. When I race now, the emotional support is nowhere near the level it was back then. The four year difference made a significant change of where I fell in S1 and S2 compared to my senior year of S3 and S4.

References:

Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice (6th edition). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.

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