Jim Collins coined the terms Level 5 Leadership in his book Good to Great: Why Some Company’s Make the Leap and Other Don’t. It is a different way of looking at leadership qualities that can turn a good company into a great one. Even if this one is connected with organizations, the characteristics of good leadership can be well applied to my own kind of leadership. This kind of leadership is based on respect towards people, selflessness by the leader, as well as a dedicated kind of commitment to accomplish results and to bring out the best in subordinates. They are a mixed blend of fierce will and personal humility, being humble and ruthless at the same time. They also do not take credit for the accomplishments of their people.
Taking responsibility for my life at work and beyond involves self-management competency. Often, when things don’t go well, people tend to blame their difficulties on the situations in which they find themselves or on others. I have learned that effective self-management does not fall into this trap. Self-management competency includes integrity and ethical conduct and personal drive, and resilience.
My thinking has changed in some aspects because of our discussions on leadership. I agree with what Jay Greiner posts about the reason why it is most difficult to take personal responsibility for mistakes are that one feels threatened and insecure. The word responsibility itself is a misused word. More than postponing automatic assumptions, Perls, the renowned psychologist, sees growth as a move from letting others be responsible to taking responsibility for oneself.
He often refused to give a person the support he or she was used to getting from others in order to help that person learn to stand on his or her own two feet. Leadership in today’s environment will be successful if we formulate activities that are engaging as much as they are educational and if we adapt to new technologies that will help complement classroom interaction. I have further learned that drive and resilience are especially important when someone sets out to do something no one else has done or when that person faces setbacks and failures (Leading Quietly).
I think these critical thinking skills can help me in the workplace. For example, the responsibility aspect which Jay Greiner talks about will spur more insights into ethical dilemmas that arise at all levels in the business world. People, whether employer or employee, may face situations in their work or dealings with other people in which ethical dilemmas arise. Some may face several ethical questions in relation to customers, employees.
More often than not, the answers to these questions are difficult because it involves weighing values. Conflicting values in a given situation are not capable of compromise. There are times that the ethically correct course of action may be clear, and thus, the solutions will follow the course. But the answers are often not simple. The dilemma is most commonly presented when ethical concerns come into conflict with the practical demands of the business. Credit for this development belongs to many individuals (Business Ethics).
I think for any individual to be healthy, people should try to resolve any issue that comes up. For example, in the area of the workplace, situations arise in which there is a conflict between one or more of the parties. In that situation, serving the interest of one party is a detriment to the others. Unethical conduct of business is a catch-all phrase or umbrella term for anything contrary to business ethics. As such, unethical conduct of business encompasses those prohibited by law expressly such as fraud, those prohibited by law impliedly such as unfair and deceptive practices, and those that are not included in the definition of fraud or unfair and deceptive practice but which otherwise considered contrary to good or public morals or fairness.
As defined, ethical business conduct is doing something that is not required by law, contract, or other obligation and which is a positive contribution to society. Therefore, contrary conduct is unethical. This means doing something which is prohibited by law, contract, or other obligation or which has a negative contribution to society.
Knowing how to negotiate and persuade people would be essential for my future career. Through interactions with various kinds of people in a potential workplace, I got to know the particular complexities of people and use this to good advantage.
I believe that an effective leader is a pathfinder, a team builder, and a gardener. As pathfinders, they have to recognize needs and accommodate the legitimate needs and wants of all stakeholders by clarifying: Vision, Context, Direction, Location, Goals, Strategy, Purpose, and Pace. As team builders, they help others achieve together as they had to: Create healthy, safe conditions for risk-taking; help others become leaders; provide resources and be a resource themselves; help some move from dependence to independence; help others get things done; get out of the way.
Then, as gardeners, they work hard, often behind the scenes, to create a culture and mores that embody core principles and values; help determine how people work together; help them agree on worthwhile purposes; create enthusiasm and understanding in a critical mass of followers; identify and remove obstacles; provide support systems; provide recognitions and rewards; organize and supply raw materials; prune, when necessary; and plan for the harvest (Perls, 1975).
To become the person I want to be, I need to identify my core competencies. I have learned that it is important for me to have a sense of the actual operations of the organization. Skills are to be developed according to the actual needs of the organization and not merely based on generalities and perceptions. Work-based learning will address this concern by integrating actual experiences and practices in developing new knowledge about the organization. Practice and theories are merged together. (Sill, 1958). They must first be aware that barriers exist and can cause serious organizational problems. Then they must be willing to invest the effort and time necessary to overcome the barriers.
I have slowly come to develop specific communication strategies that help in conflict management and resolution. These early learning experiences seem to establish the more generalizable patterns I have used in later years. As I watch and hear my parents manage they’re own interpersonal and intrapersonal, I have slowly learned through imitation. Moreover, my conflicts are inevitable in any household, and the management methods used in these conflicts set patterns for later development.
In the course of coping with these conflicts, I, as well as my parent, is reinforced for certain coping styles, often on a partial reinforcement schedule. Thus, I am reinforced for compliance while others are reinforced for defiance, some for cooperation and some for the expression of hostility, some for disengagement. By the time I reached school age, specific styles of conflict management and/or resolution have been adopted. They are open for modification, but, like any other behavior, they increase in habit strength as age increases. Thus, each individual informally develops styles of dealing with conflict, which may well be unknown to the person.
Indeed, I think learning is a lifelong process. I believe that in order to get maturity, different kinds of leadership are required at different times. But at all times, it is a combination of character and competence that is needed. Inspiring leadership must be coupled with the organizational skill born of seasoned technical expertise. This integrated blend of character and competence is often evident by its absence more than its presence. It is rare, and like most rare things, it is extremely valuable. I have tried to develop this strength of character in all my dealings, and I intend to share that with my colleagues.
The dream of almost every parent, grandparent, or relative is to see the children in their lives find successful, rewarding careers. Everyone rejoices when a child in their family graduates from college and finds a rewarding and fulfilling job related to one’s chosen field of interest. It’s no secret that a college education can help expand one’s horizons and increase one’s earning power.
I know that although education expenses are high, investing in a college education pays off. Recent studies show that employees with bachelor’s degrees earn, on average, 85 percent more than those with just a high school diploma. They are given more opportunities to find fulfilling jobs.
This earnings gap is tremendous and can be as much as $1 million over a lifetime. Thus, parents are encouraging their children to continue higher studies rather than to work right after high school, even if that entails additional expenses for them. In the course of human interactions, there are many situations in which it is difficult to make a decision because values come into conflict. It is essential that a good leader engages in values clarification to develop a personal decision-making process that fosters ethical behavior.
References
Collins J., 2005 ‘Level 5 Leadership – The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve’ in Harvard Business Review. Volume 83. Issue 7/8. pp.136 – 146.
Business Ethics. Web.
Leading Quietly. Web.
Perls, F. Growth in the Human Personality. New York: New York: Julian Press. 1975.
Sill, S. Leadership. Salt Lake City. Bookcraft, 1958 p. 48.