Leadership

PSYCH 485 blog

Ethics and Penn State

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Ethics is a very important issue in today’s society, and has become a subject that is increasingly gaining more importance. Ethical behavior and decision making is not just a function of leaders, but of all members of society. Colleges and universities have begun to place an emphasis on ethics, including Penn State. As a business major, it is required to take to take a course titled “Ethics, Social Responsibility, and Sustainability in Ethics”. This course outlines the importance of behaving in a socially acceptable, responsible, and ethical way. This is interesting because ten years ago, courses like this were not offered; if they were, they were not required. Although core values cannot be taught, taking courses such as this will reinforce the idea that ethics is a standard in today’s world.


Being a business student, you also encounter the Smeal Code of Conduct very often. At the beginning of every semester, professors remind you about this code. The Smeal Code of Conduct is as follows:

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The Smeal Code of Conduct can be found on the syllabus for every class, and we at the beginning of each semester we are reminded to read through it. Before every exam, professors always remind us of the Smeal Code of Conduct, and it is printed on the front page of every exam. The majority of the time we are required to sign that we will follow the Smeal Code of Conduct that is printed on the exam. This relates to what we learned in Lesson 14, because “studies found that unethical behavior was more likely to occur when there was no formal ethics policy governing behavior” (PSU, L. 14, p. 5). Penn State is hopeful that reminding us of the Smeal Code of Conduct, and the importance of behaving ethically, we will not only be ethical students but also ethical individuals once we graduate from Penn State. This is a prime example of the importance of ethics, and how I have personally experienced its’ importance in my academic life.


References:

Honor & integrity at smeal. In Smeal college of business undergraduate student exchange. Retrieved April 20, 2013, from http://ugstudents.smeal.psu.edu/honor.

Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2013). PSYCH 485 Lesson 14: Ethics and leadership. Retrieved on April 20, 2013, from https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/sp13/psych485/003/content/14_lesson/printlesson.html

Promotion Should Be Well Deserved

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I have been lucky enough to never have to experience gender inequality. Growing up I had both men and women teachers, coaches, and friends. Even in the sport of cheerleading, men were always welcome and were not treated any differently than women. Gender inequality was something that I never thought about until recently, when a friend of mine graduated from college. He graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering, and pursued a career in the engineering field. He has discussed many of his experiences with me, and has even said that sometimes he feels women are put into leadership roles not because of their knowledge and ability, but because of the need to meet diversification standards.


Being a woman, I understand the importance of gender equality. However I do believe that the gender gap that exists today can be supported by the pipeline theory in Northouse. (2013) The pipeline theory proposes that the reason why women do not hold as many leadership positions as men is because they have not held leadership positions for as long as men and have not become part of the natural promotion process. I feel as though this theory is valid in the engineering world. The number of women in the engineering field in the past was extremely small as compared to men. Women simply were not there to be promoted into the leadership roles like men.


In today’s world, the advocacy and stress placed on gender equality is increasing. Organizations that help support and address the issue of gender inequality have been established, such as the Society of Women Engineers. The Society of Women Engineers created a Corporate Partnership Council, where they partner with many major companies and share information about the best equality initiatives, practices, and steps to take to ensure gender equality. A lot of great things have resulted from organizations such as the Society of Women Engineers, however there is a downside.


Corporate partners must ensure that there are opportunities for women to grow within their companies. This may lead upper leadership to place women in management positions because of their gender, not because of their knowledge or ability. When companies have more women in leadership roles they appear to be more diverse and will be viewed more favorably by the public. There may be alternative motives behind why companies place women in the roles that they do, which will lead to negative performances. In turn, the company will suffer.


I believe that equality is necessary, but it must be achieved under the basis of knowledge, ability, and background. If a man or woman is deserving of a leadership role, they should be given it. If they are not qualified, they should not be placed in a leadership role based on gender alone.


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 9, 2013, from https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/sp13/psych485/003/content/13_lesson/01_page.html


Promotion Should Be Well Deserved

by

I have been lucky enough to never have to experience gender inequality. Growing up I had both men and women teachers, coaches, and friends. Even in the sport of cheerleading, men were always welcome and were not treated any differently than women. Gender inequality was something that I never thought about until recently, when a friend of mine graduated from college. He graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering, and pursued a career in the engineering field. He has discussed many of his experiences with me, and has even said that sometimes he feels women are put into leadership roles not because of their knowledge and ability, but because of the need to meet diversification standards.


Being a woman, I understand the importance of gender equality. However I do believe that the gender gap that exists today can be supported by the pipeline theory in Northouse. (2013) The pipeline theory proposes that the reason why women do not hold as many leadership positions as men is because they have not held leadership positions for as long as men and have not become part of the natural promotion process. I feel as though this theory is valid in the engineering world. The number of women in the engineering field in the past was extremely small as compared to men. Women simply were not there to be promoted into the leadership roles like men.


In today’s world, the advocacy and stress placed on gender equality is increasing. Organizations that help support and address the issue of gender inequality have been established, such as the Society of Women Engineers. The Society of Women Engineers created a Corporate Partnership Council, where they partner with many major companies and share information about the best equality initiatives, practices, and steps to take to ensure gender equality. A lot of great things have resulted from organizations such as the Society of Women Engineers, however there is a downside.


Corporate partners must ensure that there are opportunities for women to grow within their companies. This may lead upper leadership to place women in management positions because of their gender, not because of their knowledge or ability. When companies have more women in leadership roles they appear to be more diverse and will be viewed more favorably by the public. There may be alternative motives behind why companies place women in the roles that they do, which will lead to negative performances. In turn, the company will suffer.


I believe that equality is necessary, but it must be achieved under the basis of knowledge, ability, and background. If a man or woman is deserving of a leadership role, they should be given it. If they are not qualified, they should not be placed in a leadership role based on gender alone.


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 9, 2013, from https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/sp13/psych485/003/content/13_lesson/01_page.html


Servant For A Coach

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Servant leadership can be found in many forms. As the lesson states, servant leadership occurs “when leaders truly believe and act upon a desire to make their followers successful” (PSU, L. 11, p. 5). This is the base premise that I believe servant leaders build from. Thus, I believe that great coaches epitomize great servant leadership.

I remember the first time that I met my coach; little did I know the significant impact that she would make on my life. Only now when I look back on my childhood do I realize how her leadership skills enabled me to accomplish many different things in my life. I met my coach at age six, when I first joined an independent all-star cheerleading organization. I cheered for the program for a total of twelve years, and much of what I learned was not cheerleading related whatsoever. My coach depicted every one of the ten characteristics described by Northouse, but three stood out to me the most.

The first characteristic that my coach presented was the ability to listen. Northouse explains that, “servant leaders communicate by listening first”. (Northouse, 2013) This is something that my coach did without us even knowing it. She was always an easy person to talk to. Despite her busy schedule, she always made time to sit down to lunch with any of her athletes. She was always willing to listen to the comments and suggestions of parents as well. Due to her ability to listen, she was able to comprehend our desires and wishes. She would take our concerns about our skills or suggestions about our routine into consideration and work with us to make improvements. We were always able to open up and talk to her about everything and anything. This helped not only in regards to cheerleading, but also if one of us happened to have a bad day we had a shoulder to cry on. As a result, we formed a very strong relationship. When I look back on it today, I realize how great of a listener she really was. This has allowed me to learn how to listen to others and build strong relationships with them just as my coach had done for me.

The second characteristic that my coach possessed was the ability to conceptualize. Conceptualization “refers to an individual’s ability to be a visionary for an organization, providing a clear sense of its goals and direction”. (Northouse, 2013) My coach established her cheerleading organization from scratch; she had a clear goal from the very beginning. Her vision was to develop a cheerleading organization that not only produced high-quality athletes, but also developed individuals into high-class leaders that would contribute significantly to society in the future. My coach was the founder of the cheerleading organization and wrote the mission statement. While at the same time, she developed personal relationships with every single one of her athletes. My coach maintained her vision through implementation of clear goals. We had a set of very straightforward rules that we had to follow. Our parents were very closely knit and involved in the organization. Hard work and dedication to one another was the basis of everything that we did. Community involvement was a priority; we often participated in many volunteer initiatives in the community. All of these examples were part of her vision and directed us to become great cheerleaders as well as great leaders today.

A third characteristic that my coach possessed was her commitment to the growth of people, or in this case, her athletes. To me, this is the most important characteristic that she encompassed. Northouse describes: “servant leaders are committed to helping each person in the organization grow personally and professionally”. (Northouse, 2013) My coach did just this by fostering an environment to grow as a cheerleader and also one to grow as a person. In addition to becoming better athletes, my coach was very concerned with our ability to be great people. For example, if we were struggling with our academics, my coach would ask an older member of the team to help us with our work after practice. If it became a problem, you would be dismissed from the team. Academics was always a priority, even though the cheerleading organization was in no way related to a school. As I said before, community involvement and dedication to one another was also a priority. As a result of my coach’s commitment to helping me grow as a person, I have been able to take on leadership roles and help others to grow into better people through my involvement at Penn State and my dedication to helping others.

These three characteristics that my coach possessed helped me to become the person I am today. I learned the importance of listening to others and how to listen correctly. I can clearly conceptualize my own goals and define a path in which to attain them. Most importantly, I can help others to grow into great people that will make a positive impact on society. My coach’s servant leadership has allowed me to develop into a servant leader myself.

 

References:

Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice (5th edition). Los Angeles: Sage Publications.

Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2011). PSYCH 485 Lesson 11: Introduction to Leadership. Retrieved on March 31, 2013 from https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/sp13/psych485/003/content/11_lesson/05_page.html.

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