Carol A. Dannenberg

Club 85 – What I learned to be a better follower and leader

June 15, 2014 by Carol A. Dannenberg

I was invited to join Club 85 a few years ago. Club 85 is a team that meets to plan our high school’s best class reunions. During the non-planning years, we get together to socialize. Since I have been a member, I have learned that even informal groups follow some of the different leadership theories. The two leadership theories that I choose for Club 85 are path-goal and servant theories.

Path-goal theory is how a leader motivates the followers to achieve a goal (Northouse, 2013). The task for Club 85 was to plan the very best class reunion. Before Club 85, I had tunnel vision about reaching the goal and did not allow myself to be distracted from reaching the goal. At my first meeting, we spent about five minutes planning the reunion. The rest of the time we discussed parents, families, life events, and other classmates. I learned from Club 85 that as long as the goal is reached by the deadline, it does not matter the path the group takes even if there is a detour or two.

Servant leadership is defined as a leader that wants to serve others. Two characteristics of servant leadership are the ability to listen and community building (Northouse, 2013). Some of the members of Club 85 take turns in leading the group. One common feature of all of the group members is the ability to listen to all of the suggestions from the other group members without immediately dismissing the idea. The suggestion was discussed before either accepting or denying the idea was to discuss the logistics of the suggestion. The final decision whether accept or deny the suggestion was based on the logistics not who made the suggestion. Another aspect of servant leadership is the ability to build a safe place for everyone which is community building. I sensed a unity among the members of Club 85 from the very first meeting and is there for one another when life events occur.

I have adapted the leadership (and follower) skills into the team projects for school that I learned from my involvement in Club 85. I have found that it is OK to make another path to reach the goal; all suggestions are useful; and a sense of unity can build both team and personal relationships. Club 85 has taught me to enjoy the ride – you never know where the road will lead you.

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

President Bill Clinton – Transformational Leader

June 15, 2014 by Carol A. Dannenberg

A transformational leader is defined as a process that changes and transforms people by appealing to their followers’ values and create a connection between the groups. Some of the characteristics of a transformational leader are rhetorical skills, personalized leadership, and charisma (Northouse, 2013). Rhetorical skills are the ability to share the vision of what the world could be with your followers. The ability to grow strong bonds and understanding emotional cues from followers is personalized leadership. A charismatic leader wants to influence their followers achieve the goals of the team or even the country (Northouse, 2013).

In May of 1993, President Bill Clinton was the keynote speaker at the United States Military Academy’s (West Point) graduation. I had the opportunity and privilege to be in the audience to listen to his speech. Clinton exemplified the image of a transformational leader at that specific moment in time.

The rhetorical skill occurred when President Clinton stated that the best of the best will be protecting our country, although he hoped it would not be necessary. Clinton had the desire for the world to be peaceful but he knew about the world’s problems. The personalizing of the speech occurred when President Clinton addressed both the West Point graduates and the audience members. He appreciated the hard work and many hours the graduates completed in order to become commissioned officers in the US Army. President Clinton did not forget about the audience. He addressed the hopes and fears of parents, siblings, and significant others. Although most everyone was proud of the graduates, we knew that a world crisis could put their loved ones in harm’s way.

I generally have a short attention span and can begin to daydream: however, President Bill Clinton was one of the most charismatic speakers that I have ever listened to. Clinton has the intangible “it” factor. I felt as if he was speaking directly to me even with 1000s of people in the audience. I felt the power and confidence and radiating off of President Clinton.

A transformational leader, including President Clinton, tries to ensure a better future for their followers by sharing the vision of what the world could be.

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

Leader-Member Exchange Theory

June 10, 2014 by Carol A. Dannenberg

Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theory is based on the interactions between leaders and follower. One of the key components of earlier LMX theories is the premise of the out-group/in-group idea (Northouse, 2013). The out-group comes in, does the job, and leaves at the end of the day. The out-group usually does not receive any of the prime assignments and the in-group volunteers to do extra tasks which permits the in-group to receive the first choice in future assignments. The in-group might be considered the favorites of the leader but since kindergarten most people have been members of either group and does not change after the high school graduation. One of the limitations of LMX theory is that there is not a clear plan to move from the out-group into the in-group (Northouse, 2013). However, I had the opportunity to move from the out-group to the in-group.

This is my story how I went from being a member of the out-group to the in-group and then back to the out-group. When I started my job, I was a member of the out-group. Since I was a member of the out-group, I was able to observe the actions that the in-group did which was to accept any of the different jobs and shifts required for the department. After a few months, I had to replace someone on first shift and that day was the day that I started to become a member of the in-group. Eventually, I did become a member of the in-group by accepting any shift and almost any job that I was requested to do.

In April of 2009, I had a life-changing event that changed how I viewed work, family, and friends. My mother was diagnosed with cancer and 3 ½ weeks later; she passed away. At that time, I realized that I needed a balance between work and a social life (friends/family). I slowly stopped accepting overtime and double shifts. Since I did not work any overtime, I became a member of the out-group again but am not treated any differently from my bosses.

Later studies have shown that the LMX theory empowers some followers (Northouse, 2013). An empowered follower usually does not leave their job and has an increase in job performance. I do feel empowered by my leader/manager is make certain decisions and does increase my self-confidence. An empowered follower is a happier which makes the leader happier.

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

Leadership and “Criminal Minds”

June 4, 2014 by Carol A. Dannenberg

“Criminal Minds’ is a procedural show on CBS and depicts the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU). The head of the BAU is Aaron Hotchner (Hotch) whose leadership style, at first glance, appears to be authoritarian style which is defined as “expecting or requiring people to obey rules and not allowing personal freedom.” Yet, underneath Hotch’s cold exterior, he deeply cares and respects his team because he is willing to adapt and change his different leadership styles for each team member.

Spencer Reid is the youngest and the smartest member of the team who did have the abilities or knowledge to be an FBI agent when the show first premiered. Hotch took the time to teach Reid how to pass the field requirements, although Hotch was busy with other aspects of the job. Hotch’s leadership style towards Reid is the paternalism style of leadership. Northouse defined paternalism as one “that regards the team as family, rewards loyalty, and punishes non-compliance” (p. 81). When Reid stepped out of bounds during a case, Hotch informed Reid that if the incident happened again, Reid would be dismissed from the FBI. However, Hotch also told Reid that he should go back to his support group meeting. The specific incident is one that shows how much Hotch cares about the welfare of the team. As a result of Hotch’s time to teach Reid, he as grown to be an excellent FBI agent.

Hotch are uses socialized power to “empower” some of the team members. When “Criminal Minds” premiered, Garcia was the team’s computer analyst and never went into the field. However, Hotch needed her on a case and asked Garcia to come along. Since that case, Garcia has become an invaluable asset to the team and has increased her self-confidence.

As Hotch as taught me, there is not one specific way to lead. Each member has different needs and abilities that must be addressed so the team members can learn and grow to be successful in work and life.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Retrieved from: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/authoritarian.

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

Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2014). PSYCH 485 Lesson 7: Power and Influence. Retrieved from https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/su14/psych485/001/content/07_lesson.

Leadership Traits

May 22, 2014 by Carol A. Dannenberg

Northouse (2013) wrote that Stogdill performed two survey trying to identify what traits individuals have to lead successfully. The first survey was between 1904 and 1947 and the second survey was completed from 1948 to 1970 (p. 20). Although the first survey was completed over a 100 years ago, the traits are still applicable in is digital age. Some of the traits are intelligence, alertness, insight, responsibility, initiative, persistence, self-confidence, and sociability (Northouse, p. 20). In my leadership assignments, I have tried to use all of these traits to lead the team at one time or another.

Intelligence is the ability to assign teams projects that address their core strengths. When team members are marketing, management, and accounting majors, the leader should not assign the marketing major the financial information for the paper. One it will overwhelm the team member which it will negatively affect the team grade and more importantly, will discourage future contributions from this team member. PSU Altoona is a small campus and the business majors know each other and can find out each other’s major and interest.

Alertness and insight are knowing when the team is getting burnt out by the work load and can suggest to end the team meeting or take a break to relax. An effective team leader should be in tuned to other’s emotions during the meeting. When a team member becomes impatient, ask the agitated team member their opinion on the discussion topic. The feedback given by the agitated team member may direct the team into a different direction which would be more successful than the previous discussion.

The leader has the responsibility to influence the team in a positive manner. The follower also have the responsibility to question the leader for clarification or suggest another method to resolve issues. One of the most negative aspects in either work teams or school teams is the habit of groupthink. Groupthink is not a positive technique for a successful project.

Although the leader should initiate the activities, one of the followers may become the emergent leader (a team member that communicates successfully with others, Northouse, 2013, p. 8). One of the most positive experiences that I had as a group leader was when one of the team members suggested to practice our presentation before class. Although I was hesitant, I was aware how important it was to him and agreed. The practice before class allowed the team members to do their speech and work out any issues.

As one of my professors told me, I can be very persistent. Although I was taken back at first, I realized what a fantastic compliment it was. Persistence is the ability to address the important issues and not worry about the little things.

The self-confidence trait is the one trait that I am still working on. However, it does take self-confidence to admit that a person cannot do all of the assignments themselves and ask for assistance in order to complete the project.

If I am lacking in self-confidence, sociability is one trait that I am excellent in. I understand that some team members need time to chat before tackling the work. I try to find out the interests or week-end plans from the team members. The next time we meet I ask how the week-end was.

One method of trying to explain successful leadership skills is the trait approach. There are both positive and negative aspects of using the trait approach theory. One positive aspect is that there is “research which validates the theory” (Northouse, 2013, p. 40). One negative aspect is there is not a “definitive list of leadership traits” (Northouse, 2013, p. 41).

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