jyb5358

Personal and Position Power in Leadership

April 24, 2013 by jyb5358

All my life I have tried to position myself as a leader. In grade school it may mean taking the lead on a small project, in College I might try and lead a group through an assignment, as a father I try to lead my 6 year old down the right path by setting examples of good behavior, manners, etc. As a professional, I am starting to learn each and every day what type of leader I really am. Northouse says, “In an organization, there are two major kinds of power: position power and personal power (Northouse,2013) Position power is the power one derives from their actual rank or position within an organization. Being at the management level at my company, I guess I have some position power. Personal power however, is the influence capacity a leader gets from being seen by followers as knowledgeable, or likeable. I strive for position power.

I am currently a Trainer and Analyst for a large internet company in Chicago. My job is to be an expert on everything we offer as a company, and I mostly work with the sales team to train them on technique to increase their sales ability. It is very important that the people I am training, at all levels including those with more ‘position power’ believe that I know what I’m talking about. If I don’t come across as extremely competent in my teachings, then nothing from my trainings will be retained. Because people look up to me at my company, I would consider myself a leader within the organization. As a leader, but also a trainer, my main goal is to initiate positive change so people can be more effective at their job. Like a coach would for his team. I don’t “manage” people in terms of schedule adherence, vacation requests, etc. but I do lead employees when it comes to self-promotion, skill building, and job efficiency.

In this position I feel like I implement a few leadership theories. For example, Northouse suggests that a situational approach is adapting to the “developmental level of subordinates” (Northouse, 2013). As a trainer, I have to adjust my training depending on the audience, and their current knowledge level. For example, a training I do for management looks and sounds much different than one I do for other employees. Overall however, I try to take a transformational approach in an effort to gain more personal power. The more personal power I have, the more likely it is that I am being effective at my job. By acting as a transformational leader, people will believe that I have their growth and development above my own, which is true. When working for this type of leader myself, I have found that I am more motivated by my own success because I don’t want to let that leader down. This style truly brings the best out of people.

Position power, is like a manager. Personal power, is like a coach. Some managers, good ones, have both. But just because someone is a manager, and has position power, doesn’t make them a leader. On the reverse, someone may have no position power, but have incredible personal power. These people could also be considered leaders. Overall however, leaders have to be adaptive, and that’s what I feel that I do best.

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

Changing Our Thinking – Raise the Ceiling

April 14, 2013 by jyb5358

This week’s lesson was easy to relate to as it probably was for most of the class. Anyone who has or has had a job has probably witnessed some form of leadership from a man or a women. This lesson spends a lot of time analyzing over the fact that female managers are shown to manage different from males, and when they don’t there at a disadvantage. It sounds like a catch 22 to me, at least the way its portrayed. However, my answer to the ‘ground breaking’ claim that men and women have different management styles, is who cares?

Can’t we agree that men and women, on the average, are different in many ways? Of course they have different styles. The problem is in the audience. We can’t change that different people will have different styles. The lesson states that there is a mans style and a womens style. I disagree, I think that there are directive or autocratic styles (mostly used by men and sometimes used by women) and then theres the diplomatic and participatory style (mostly used by women and sometimes used by men). Why must we be so literal in our assumptions. I personally see a shift, and I think the workforce will experience the shift in the next 10 years. The shift is, more women are getting Bachelors degrees than men, at a rate of 60% to 40%. Upper management positions, on the average, require a degree. Many men have dropped out of school to focus on work to support their family while women are graduating more. This means that there will be a shift in the workforce in management styles overall. The audience (which is every single person that has a boss) need to learn to adapt and learn from various management styles. Experiencing these different styles should be embraced. This will lead to more effective managers going forward who continue to work the needle toward perfect equilibrium. That is, the perfect amount of every trait, the perfect boss.

Speaking for myself, after going through many management styles and working under both men and women, I can say that my relationship was different and unique with each. Does that mean I’m treating my female boss different than I would treat my male boss? YES! Because they are different PEOPLE. I will treat all my colleagues, senior or not, with respect and professionalism. But my personal-work relationships will vary from person to person. This is okay, I assure you. I don’t believe that leadership has a gender preference. All of the theories we’ve covered thus far I can relate to a management style I have witnessed with no prejudice to gender. We should be raising the ceiling for each other. I am going to work my way to my own career goals. Whatever manager I’m dealt, I’m going to find a way to work with that person to succeed in my job. I take ownership for myself, and as long as people continue to take ownership, we can raise the ceiling and move closer to true equality in the workplace.

Authentic Leaders in My Life

April 7, 2013 by jyb5358

Authentic Leadership enjoyable to reach about because for me I feel like I can really relate it to real life. According to our commentary (PSU, Lesson 12) there are 3ways to define authentic leadership. Authentic leadership is interpersonal, meaning there is a relationship between leader and follow that is strong, and genuine.

Authentic leadership is about being true to ones-self, or ‘authentic’. This makes sense because in order to be an authentic leader, one should probably be authentic in emotion and thought. It’s critical for a leader to be self-aware, and understand their place in the relationship between leader and follower. Authentic leadership is also development. This style relates to dealings with life events that take people out of their ‘comfort zone’, “life events cause the leader to use their authentic leadership skills (PSU, Lesson 12).

When considering an authentic leader, my father is the first one to come to mind. My dad has had the biggest impact on my life by far compared to anyone else. He was a single father, and raised me almost solely on his own. He did this and immigrated to the United States with nothing but a few garbage bags full of clothes. My dad taught me a lot of things, like many parents, but at a very young age I was living in a very real world. He showed me with his actions what hard work could get, how to be respectful, and he made sure I understood where we were coming from and how easy it would be to take the wrong turn in life. My Dad went from single, homeless father, to successful business owner over the course of 15 years. He went from food stamps to freedom, and lives a very happy, stress free life. I believe that to truly understand authentic leadership, one must have a good grasp and understanding of their life. The story of one’s life really provides a framework for one’s experiences which someone can use to find the inspiration to leave an impact on the world.

In my opinion, it’s one’s personal account their life that really matters, not just the literal facts of one’s life. Your personal life account is something that you draw from to make decisions, take actions, and generate opinion. We attempt to make sense of our lives and find our personal place in the world. While the ‘life stories’ of an authentic leader of course vary from one case to the next, including the positive experiences with their parents, coaches, mentors, school teachers, etc. many times a leader cites difficult or troubling life experiences as their source for inspiration and motivation. One of my mentors is author, serial-entrepreneur, and billionaire 30 year old Ryan Blair. His book his called “Nothing to Lose” and it’s a great story of overcoming difficult circumstances to gain success. To me, Ryan Blair is also an authentic leader, because the principles he shares are to use for one’s own personal success. Ryan Blair truly cares about other entrepreneurs their success and time freedom.

Ryan Blair

An authentic leader, like my Father or Ryan Blair usually have experienced transformative effects of personal tragedy, illness, job loss, etc. and also describe feeling rejected by society or their peers or being excluded. But instead of seeing themselves as victims, an authentic leader uses these negative experiences to give their lives certain meaning. To give them motivation and inspiration to help others see the same success. These types of individuals overcome these events and rise above roadblocks and later discover a passion to lead others. I must say, I think it’s a very motivational type of leadership to follow. I really enjoy the understanding of authentic leadership, it’s been one of my favorites thus far.

Servant Leadership in the Modern Workplace

March 31, 2013 by jyb5358

Reading about servant leadership style was a real breath of fresh air for me. This entire semester we have spent time reading and analyzing types of leadership that are may be complex in theory but basically focus on what we might expect a leader to look like. Someone who is in charge, someone who tells people what to do, someone that other people literally “follow”.

The last 4 years or so I have worked for two Fortune 500 companies where I experienced many different types of more traditional leadership as we have discussed up until this point. About 2 months ago I started working for an up and coming internet company based here in Chicago. Working here really helps me to better relate to the idea of servant leadership. It is a completely different environment from the cube and tie environment I was used to. Employees at my level in the company have ownership in the company, take pride in innovation, and have an honest desire to help those around them grow. My manager is absolutely a servant leader and I just didn’t realize it until I read through this section of of the text. Servant leadership has a prescriptive overtone that implies that good leaders put others first (Northouse pg.235). When evaluating some of the traits of servant leaders some of the ones that stick out to me is empathy and listening. My manager always asks my opinion on feedback, tells me to tell her what I need to be more successful, and asks me to be honest with her if I ever disagree.

What a unique idea in management! You mean to tell me that if I disagree with you, as my manager, you want to tell you I think your wrong and do things my own way. The answer is, as long as it’s helping me progress to my goal in a positive way, then yes! My management team gives me full creative reign. They tell me, we hired you because we trust your ability to do this job at a high level, and we trust your decisions. I think this fits perfectly into servant leadership style. The focus is on my personal growth first, while my manager focuses on building a team of great, independent people.

This may not be the “norm” yet, but I think that with technology growing at unprecedented rates we are likely to see more companies that manage this way. Less of a carrot and stick style, and more of an intrinsic, fulfilling style. Companies like Google, Facebook, Apple, etc. are making changes to the old corporate world and I think this new leadership style is great.

Transformational Leadership in the world

March 20, 2013 by jyb5358

Transformational leadership is the style of leadership in which the leader identifies the needed change, creates a vision to guide the change through inspiration, and executes the change with the commitment of the members of the group (Northouse). Northouse goes further to explain transformational leadership as the process whereby a person engages others and creates a connection that raises the level of motivation and morality in both the leader and the follower.

Two of the most inspirational transformational leaders that come to mind for me have been Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy. King, with his “I have a Dream” speech inspired the Civil Rights movement. President Kennedy’s vision of “landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth” inspired the space race of the 1960s and 1970s. These men filled the categories of transformational leaders and with their popularity, charisma and confidence; they inspired a nation to change from their old ways into a new millennium of national, social and political improvement. The leader must be confident, charismatic and inspirational, pay attention to their surroundings and followers, creative and open to new ideas and have a vision and the ability to communicate that vision.

If the leadership is transformational, its charisma or idealized influence is envisioning, confident, and sets high standards for emulation. Its inspirational motivation provides followers with challenges and meaning for engaging in shared goals and undertakings. Its intellectual stimulation helps followers to question assumptions and to generate more creative solutions to problems. Its individualized consideration treats each follower as an individual and provides coaching, mentoring and growth opportunities.

Transformational Leadership can be very effective due to the fact that its motivational and inspirational effects can be long lasting and felt by every employee in the organization. In my own experience I have performed best when working under charismatic managers. There is something to be said about following someone who is passionate and believes in what they are doing. Transformational leadership encourages its members to be more proactive and more productive without any specific direction or a reward in mind other than that it benefits the organization as a whole.

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

PSU World Campus. PSYCH 485: Lesson 10