“The majority of people holding leadership positions in large corporations are men. For example, there are only 6 women CEOs in Fortune 500 companies (Sellars, 2002)” (PSU WC, 2016, L.13 pg.2). We all saw that static in the readings this week. While reading the lecture and the Northhouse chapters, I wondered why. Is it because we are smaller and weaker than men most of the time? Is it how we carry ourselves in the work environment? Or maybe even possibly our tone that may not carry authority and demands the same way a man’s does. I wondered these things only to find out many of the barriers we face as women are out of our control.  

There are so many barriers that women have to overcome in the work world, physical, emotional, and mental. In some ways it seems as though big companies do not want women to succeed in the business world. There are theories like the pipeline theory that try to explain while women do not make it to top positions like CEO’s and such, but each explanation has little to support their ideas (PSU WC, 2016, L.13 pg.3). So that leaves the question still, what barriers do women face and have to overcome in the work world? There were three specific barriers that were discussed in the readings, organizational, interpersonal, and personal, but I would like to focus on organizational due to the fact that many of the factors are pinned against women making it impossible for them to climb the corporate ladder.  

Organizational has a lot to do with stereotypes and the organization itself. Things like social standards, preferences and expectations from others are all barriers in this category that loom over every woman’s head in a business setting. I think corporate culture is a huge barrier that is very outdated. “In these cultures, values and norms discourage the balance of work and family; communicate that woman should not be in top positions; and require that women accomplish tasks without resources” (PSU WC, 2016, L.13 pg.4). In today’s society it is normal to have two working parents, and a lot of the time it is now needed to make ends meet. Another idea that is becoming normalized is reversed roles of a working mom and a stay-at-home dad. While I do believe that a stay-at-home parent is important for the child’s emotional growth, the stigmas in the corporate world need to change because people cannot control who makes more and what works best for their current situation. Another façade in the business world is gender preferences. While “people prefer to work with others that are similar to them” (PSU WC, 2016, L.13 pg.4), difference is what I think makes a company strong. With diversity of men and women in positions of power, this enables different ideas to be brought to the table and make companies successful and flourish. In reality like-minded people can hinder the growth of a company because of having similar ideas and opinions that squeeze out the possibility of expansion.  These organizational barriers are out of a womans control and directly hinder her growth in the work world. 

While other barriers were mentioned, organizational barriers are the ones that I feel are most detrimental to women. While a woman can change personal and interpersonal barriers, she can not change social standards, preferences and expectations from others. While these barriers make women seen as weak leaders, the differences that they bring to the table could change the business world if people gave them the chance. 

 

References: 

• Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2016). PSYCH 485 Lesson 13: Leadership and Diversity Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2181168/modules/items/35188663 
• Northouse, P. G. (2021). Leadership: Theory and Practice(9th Edition). SAGE Publications, Inc. (US). https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9781071834473 

We live in a society where service jobs make up 71 percent of the jobs that people work. That means that 107.8 million people are in some type of service-based job whether that be waiting on table or a mechanics that services people’s cars. With these overwhelming numbers, many of these jobs display servant leadership characteristics.  

While the characteristics of servant leadership may not be overwhelmly noticeable, they are there in the jobs and services we work and use every day. Many people choose a field of work based on what they enjoy doing or if they have prior knowledge of it. Both of these factors are antecedent conditions which are pre-existing factors in the leadership situation that set the backdrop for leadership (PSU, WC, 2022, L11, pg 3). Many service jobs also have a commitment to the growth of people indirectly. This characteristic involves helping individuals to grow personally and professionally (Northouse, 2021, p. 255). While people in service jobs are not directly helping an individual grow, many service jobs do provide steppingstones for growth or other factors that are overlooked that support the well-being of an individual. Another characteristic that is captured in service jobs is empathy. Empathy occurs when a leader shows that they understand what their followers are thinking and feeling (Northouse, 2021, p. 255). Many service jobs are specialized trades, which the everyday person does not have knowledge of. Due to average people not having the knowledge of certain trades, the worker that is providing the service has to explain what is happening in terms that a average person would understand. By changing their terms and explaining the service in a more simple manner, the person providing the service empathizes with whoever is receiving the service. While the characteristics of servant leadership can be hidden in service jobs, they are there for the good of the people.  

With 71 percent of jobs being service based jobs, this rases the question, do we live to serve? Servant leadership is very prevalent in our everyday lives without us knowing. We are a service-based workforce and servant leadership plays a big part in the workforce.  

 

References: 

• Northouse, P. G. (2021). Leadership: Theory and Practice(9th Edition). SAGE Publications, Inc. (US). https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/978107183447 
• Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2022). PSYCH 485 Section 001  Lesson 11: Servant Leadership Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2181168/modules/items/35188607 

Many people use the terms “group-work” and “teamwork” interchangeable, and in some instances they can be. However, there are times when you can be part of a group but not be part of a team. How is this you may ask, what makes a team different from a group? In lesson nine there was an example with Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan that really put the differences if the two in perspective. The difference is CODEPENDENCY! Tiger Woods’ success of a championship does not depend on the other people that are in the group. Due to the fact that Tiger Woods’ success does not depend on the other people around him, it makes him part of a group. Michael Jordan’s success has to come to him in a different way. He is a part of a team which makes him codependent on his teammates. For Michael Jordan to reach his goal of winning a championship he has to work with his teammates, and not alone. This makes his success dependent on others which makes Michael Jordan part of a team. While they both had dreams and aspirations of winning championships, Michael Jordan was unable to attain his goal alone without his team, and Tiger Woods did not have to be dependent on his group. (PSU WC, 2022, L. 9 p.2). 

In our own everyday life, we are in teams with the other people around us to help us achieve our goals. This can happen inside and outside of the classroom or our workplaces. For myself as well as everyone else on this class we are working in teams to achieve the goal of writing a movie review paper that gets the letter grade of an A. In many workplaces, people are asked to work in teams or are just put in teams to get a job done in a timely manner. For my current job it is especially important that my coworkers and I work as a team, we all have group roles (PSU WC, 2022, L. 9 p.3). During the summer months many dogs check in to my workplace and in one wing there can be as many as thirty to forty dogs. No one person alone could provide proper care for that many dogs. In order for each dog to get proper care we divide the dogs among two to three workers. This way we can work as a team to provide exceptional can for our furry friends.  

On a broader scale we as a society work as a team. While everyone does have different views and opinions, overall, we work together for the common good of ourselves. An obvious way we work together would be during elections. While views do differ, we all have the common goal of trying to pick someone we believe that will help everyone for the common good. Other ways teams happen in society would be our public-school districts. In order for kids to get a proper education everyone pays school taxes. Most people do believe that kids should get an education since it is valued as important. People who live in the school district enable this to happen as a team. Teams go beyond our everyday lives and can affect others without our knowledge.  

It is not hard to look around and see how the world works with teams, from your own life to things that are happening around you. Everyone wants tasks to run smoothly no matter how big or small that task may be. The world is a better place when we work together in a team and can support one another.  

Many people are now retiring from the trades. The trades are made up of mostly the baby boomer generation, so now they are at the age of retiring. Due to many of them retiring, it is important to pass on the skills to the younger generation that are coming into the trades. In order to pass on these skills, there are two main key parts, followership and the leader’s behaviors. 

To start, followership is important to the learning of the trades. The followers need to be reciprocating to the teaching methods of the elder tradesmen. As stated in lecture followership is how followers influence leader attitudes, behaviors, and outcomes” (PSU WC, 2022, L. 2 p.2). In the trades everyone learns differently, and the best style of teaching varies from each intern. The way an inter learns the trade effects how the current trade tech chooses to teach. The followers attuite towards learning also affects the leader which in this case is the seasoned tech. Many of these older generation techs have certain ways that they stick to and do not want to deviate from, which can be hard for new techs coming in because in their schooling they may have learned different techniques. While many older tech do not want to accept the new ways in the ever-changing trade world, it is still important that the intern respects the ways taught by the seasoned tech. While a lot of incoming techs think they know it all in the trade world there is still a lot to learned from their elder techs and their actions in followership effects how the older techs leach and lead them.  

While followership is important on how the information is received, the leader’s behavior also affects the communication and reciprocation of the information from leader to follower. There are four different types of leader behavior, directive leadership, supportive leadership, participative leadership, and achievement-oriented leadership (PSU WC, 2022, L. 6 p.12). These are four different leadership styles that approach followers in separate ways. When teaching, it is important to have different methods to approach and handle the situation. Everyone learns in a different way so to be an effective leader a person has to be able to guide them in a way that they understand. A person can use multiple of the methods listed above, there is no one right way. Leader behavior is an important part of teaching in the trades field.  

While the baby boomer generation is retiring it is important to pass on the knowledge and skills to the new generation of tradesmen. To pass the knowledge on it is important that the leader’s behavior and the followship mesh together and match up. When these two aspects of leadership are achieved in an effective way, the knowledge from one generation to the next can be passed on.  

References

 

Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2022). PSYCH 485 Lesson 6: Contingency & Path-Goal Theories Retrieved from

https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2181168/modules/items/35188530

Northouse, P. G. (2021). Leadership: Theory & Practice (9 ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, Inc.

We hear the word “leadership” we hear it all the time in the workplace, at school, even just in everyday life. But what is leadership? If you google leadership, the definition that comes up is “the action of leading a group of people or an organization.” (Google 2019) However, when you ask someone what their definition of leadership is, they most likely will give you a different definition. Every person has their own idea of leadership, so let us dive into what dose leadership means.  

You might wonder, why do people have definitions of leadership that are so vastly different? Is it their experiences, the situation, or just the people that they have interacted with? I believe the answer is all of the above. People’s perception of leadership is based on prior experience or interactions that involved a leader. Whether the experience with the leader is good or bad, a perception of leadership is still created.  

I interviewed a few of my friends about what leadership meant to them. Each of their responses were quite different from one another. Marisa Chetsko gave a more straight forward answer of what leadership meant to her by starting leadership is “Constructing, delegating tasks, and following through” (Marisa Chetsko). When Cody was asked what leadership meant to him, he responded with, “One that has been trusted from followers” (Cody Hutter). I thought his response was interesting because few people involve the follower in their response of what is leadership. The last response included the leader as well as the followers. The last idea of leadership I got was, “Someone who can take charge, give good details and not hurt others while doing it” (Aaron Wilson). His definition embodies part of the leader as well as the followers. Even though they all had different responses, each of their responses related to some core idea from google definition.  

However, with leadership there is still the idea that even though someone is in a leadership position, it does not make them a good or proper leader. This is a valid point that many bring up. While many people are put in leadership positions, not all are deserving or capable of handling such an intense task. To be a good leader most can agree that one needs to influence others in a positive and motivating way.  

Everyone has their own idea and definition of leadership, but to me leadership is an honor that many have the opportunity to have. Every situation needs some kind of leader, whether it is solving a problem, giving a group motivation, or just supporting others. To me leadership is the ability to achieve and complete a goal that a group shares as well as influence those people in the group in a positive way. So, what does leadership mean to you? 

References: 

Google definition 2019  

Interviews from other people Marisa Chetsko, Cody Hutter, and Aaron Wilson