Balancing Life and Responsibility - Research Paper Example

Balancing life and responsibility Work environments are often demanding and sometimes require additional inputs in terms of time and efforts. Extremecircumstances also induce dilemma that require critical approaches to decision making. This paper, based on Badaracco’s article, ‘The discipline of building character,’ responds to questions about managerial position and responsibilities. A situation I have faced that could be considered a right vs. right dilemmaI have faced a number of defining moments in which right but conflicting interests required attention within limited resource base.

My most significant defining moment occurred in my first employment as a project manager in an organization. The project involved operations in different locations. While operations within the office majorly required office work, field operations were more involving and subjected team members and their supervisor to adverse conditions such as cold weather and dust. It was therefore equitable to alternate team members between office and the field for a fair experience. My two project supervisors were therefore expected to alternate but one of them reported allergic reactions that could not allow her to work in the field under the then conditions.

The other supervisor equally needed a break from the field as members of his team were accorded. This created a dilemma because while each of the supervisors’ needs was justified, I did not have extra personnel to supervise the field apart from the two. I therefore had the option of compelling the allergic supervisor to honor her contractual obligations and go to the field or to protect her life by compelling the other supervisor to work in the field since that was still part of his contractual obligation (Badaracco, 1998).

I applied a directive approach of situational leadership to resolve the dilemma (Blanchard, 2008). How I balance my professional identity and my personal identity and difference between the two identitiesI balance my professional identity and personal identity by avoiding conflict of interest in my professional scope of work and avoiding personal attachments to involved processes. This is because personal identity involves personal traits with emotional attachments and a conflict with professional identity may undermine decision-making and compromise professional roles.

I therefore ensure a balance between the two identities by being emotionally sober and ensuring that I identify organization’s interest and policies in every decision (Badaracco, 1998). Professional identity and personal identity are different in their scope of development and application. Personal identity is derived from social setups and experiences and majorly applies to family setups and informal relationships. Professional identity is however developed from academic knowledge and work experience and applies to official interactions in work setups (Lebeer, Candeias and Gracio, 2011).

A manager’s responsibility to listen and incorporate others’ views of right and wrongA manager’s responsibility to listen and incorporate other’s ideas is in the manager’s duty to ensure an understanding of factors around a decision and factors that will affect implementation of the decision. A manager also has a responsibility to listen and incorporate other’s opinions in order to facilitate managerial-leadership role that is an essential element to a manager’s scope of duty. The responsibility to listen and to incorporate others’ views is therefore the duty to identify and explore approaches towards effective management for achieving organizational objectives (Tannenbaum and Schmidt, 1973).

Conclusion It is therefore important to identify responsibilities and identities at personal and professional levels. This facilitates appropriate decision-making and eliminates conflict of interest in professional roles. ReferencesBadaracco, J., Jr. (1998). The discipline of building character. Harvard Business Review, 76(2), 114-124.Blanchard, K. (2008). Situational leadership. Leadership Excellence, 25(5), 19.Lebeer, J., Candeias, A. and Gracio, L. (2011). With a different glance: Dynamic assessment of functioning children at development and inclusive learning.

Apeldoorn: Maklu. Tannenbaum, R., & Schmidt, W. (1973). How to choose a leadership pattern. Harvard Business Review, 51(3), 162-180.