Skills Development and Leadership Class - Coursework Example

By looking at the exchange of smiles and overall gratefulness of the other participants, we began the first days of the MBA journey. On the whole, I was so excited to meet my new colleagues despite some latent fears that I had concerning what the result would be of this new adventure. At Lily Lake we started the orientation week of the MBA program and I was more than a little bit nervous and I remembered when Mrs. Deb, our orientation director, asked me if I was nervous to which I definitively responded that I was. Mrs. Deb started the orientation week by welcoming all the students and giving them some information about the program. The orientation week is considered the road map for the MBA and the means by which the students can set their plans by choosing a specific stream such as PM, IB, or GM. The orientation week opened my mind to the differences between the undergraduate and graduate levels; as well as the differences between the streams within the MBA. Personally, I understood what I wanted from this program and I tried to improve my skills specifically upon the communications aspect. The MBA program contains vital resources which can boost and develop my skills such as the inclusion of a variety of different cultures among the student body and a broad and over arching variety of material and resources used for each and every course. Prior to the program I had what I thought to be a good knowledge concerning some cultures and backgrounds; however, I had not worked with groups that were comprised of individuals from so many different countries. When we began forming the groups and started working together, I was highly enthusiastic and motivated to support my group and be an effective member among them. Accordingly my fellow group members were excited and keen to enrich the group outcomes. Each one liked to share his/her ideas and to be a beneficial member of the group. In the first module I had two main courses concerning the communication skills and the leadership strategies that would serve to be beneficial not only with respect to the broader application of MBA knowledge but with regards to benefitting each and every student in future coursework as well. As such, I worked with my group in different kinds of projects such as presentations and the completion of other group projects. In such a way, the group work was a vital component to successfully completing each and every aspect of the coursework and program that it came to be seen, at least within the mind of this student, as a core and fundamental component of the MBA program itself. My impression about working within the group did not reflect the overall target of the program in the initial stages. In this way I was looking to achieve high grades and gain the trust of my teachers by doing the assignments properly; albeit entirely on my own. I thought that this will help my group by contributing to the creation of a more competitive environment inside the group; however, I eventually realized these strategies drove me to stand closer to my own interest and farther away from my group. Each one of the group members was looking to achieve his/herown objectives and that was one of the main reasons that the group invariably faced difficulties. We had the same interest as individuals but not as a group; this necessarily meant that we did not share a common goal amongst us. In such a manner, each one of us experienced something of a conflict of interest with the others and this lead to clashes between the group members since each one sought to emphases more in his/her personal goals. It was within this stage that I realized the importance of talking with others and setting up the common goals for the group by seeking to maximize group performance. As a function of affecting this I decided to seek to build a close connection between my group members and started talking with them in many different subjects to break the barriers that existed between us. I used this technique to reposition myself inside the group and I found a positive response from the majority of these team members; however, not all were receptive to such a strategy. In this module I had previously been viewing a leader as a strong person who just gives the commands and draws a main strategy for his team. Yet, as is clear to the reader, this is a misconception of leadership. Within a more correct and actionable understanding, one soon comes to understand the different styles of leaders and leadership. This helped me to understand which style can be consistent with my nature as well as the dynamics of the team. I really like and see myself as a servant leader who can support all level of followers. To be the best leader, one must seek to be close to their team and to consider them as something more than the sum of their individual parts. At the end of module one I noticed the difference of my opinion about leadership and how effective communication can impact powerfully upon the outcomes. Module Two: This interval was something of a crossroads because I started working with different groups and taking a course about developing communication skills. The communication skills and communication style of each person can be different than others due to a variety of different reasons. These reasons can be concentric upon the fact that different individuals from different backgrounds exhibit different cultures and/or values. For instance, in my culture you can see two and three people talk at the same time and that is considered a normal attitude in the Arab world; however, in another culture or set of values, this may mean poor listening skills. In the western world communication skills play a vital role in the success any group work. One of my weaknesses is the listening and I worked hard to improve myself to be a more effective listener; specifically during this particular module. One of the first means to improve listening skills is by decreasing the overall amount of time spent arguing/talking and merely to increase the overall amount of time spent seeking to understand and gain a level of inference with regards to the vantage point or argument that other stakeholders are attempting to promote. By attending different classes on communication skills I could understand and gain more knowledge about the effective listening strategies which I could employ. It was in this class that I learned how to work in a team made up of many different cultures. Effective communication can reduce potential conflict between team members; especially when they come from different cultural backgrounds. Also, this course motivated me to be open-minded and accept the ideas of others. This helped me to look at issues from different perspectives. Working with a diverse team can produce greater results due to the fact that many ideas are shared. Moreover, this course helped me to enhance my listening skills so that I can be a better and more effective active listener. Modula Three: In this module I started to be more confident to work with many groups and I really started to feel free to deal with different cultures. We formed a group which consisted of a variety of backgrounds to include: Western, African, and Arab cultures. I can see many differences in the reflection on my friends about me. In the performance management course I was so excited to understand many issues related to the work inside the organizations. Mrs. Deb gave us different cases about the performance system and asked us as group to discuss these cases and find the best way to deal with them. Some terminologies such as KSA (knowledge, skills and ability), appraisal system and 360 degree approaches of system performance were presented. These approaches opened my mind of how I can set up performance management system when I want start my own business. Moreover, I had a misconception about who is responsible for the performance system. Previously, I had thought that the HR department is fully responsible for this; however, this is uninformed and completely wrong. In fact, HR, the individual heads of departments, and supervisors are all responsible for this process and they have to cooperate to build a network between them and their employees. There are some challenges and issues inside any organization and to overcome these issues one needs to develop knowledge, skill and desire within a performance system. Finally, I started to see how the tools such as training, appraisal, promotion and motivation are related to one another and play a vital role as inputs for the organizations to get high outputs at the end. Module Four In module four I started to be less stressed and feel more comfortable to do my assignments and see myself as a valuable contributor and team member f the respective groups which have previously been discussed. With regards to my overall level of progress, I have included some points within this analysis to help the reader to measure whether or not progress was achieved. These points are as follows: communication skills, self-esteem, dealing with others cultures and attaining new infofmration. In communication skills I achieved progress especially in listening skills and I tried to be active by being more patient and showing interaction with others. Moreover, I noticed changes in my way of expression about my feeling on some issues. In the self-esteem field, I was happy to improve my speaking skills, and the overall shyness which I had previously exhibited. Through the MBA program I did many presentations and entered in debates with my class mates about many issues that helped me to become more extroverted and less shy. During the MBA program I started to build new relationships with many students in the program and understand their cultures and how they are looking to some issues. As such, I started to compose good information about each culture that would help me in future to deal with international or overseas organizations and cultures. Mrs. Deb encouraged us to understand ourselves and what were the strengths and weakness of each one of us. I believe that to avoid any threat and exploit any opportunities that the future might hold, I have to understand my strengths and weaknesses. In this module Mrs. Deb explained and reviewed some concepts about leadership style and how some skills for the students can determine the style of leadership for them. There are some skills for the leader such as delegation, trust, confident and has ability to motivate the followers. We discussed the leadership concepts and what is the meaning of leadership and how we can differentiate between the leader and the manager. In my opinion the leader who does what he sees right in his mind regardless to the rules, while the managers adhere in the rules and the processes. There were different views in the class about the leader concept. Each one has a different perception about the leader’s character; however, most of them agree that the leader can be made or born. Thus, leadership as a concept has many styles and forms. In addition, most of students argued about the nature of leader, and whether or not we can consider the leader as a manager and vice versa. For more clarity, each leader can be a successful manager. Further, I believe that the followers play a vital role in the success of the leader. Also I believe not all the leaders can play a manager role inside any organization. Some leaders can achieve high rate of influence in the politics filed and some in the business filed. The leadership concept can be analyzed from different perspectives psychological, philosophical and sociology. The main questions which always come to my mind how can become a leader and do I have the leadership elements. Mrs. Deb showed us many documentaries movies; one of them was Argo, a historical drama where the hero of the movie represents one kind of leadership known as silent leadership. It was a great example about how the leader can be silent and at the same time confident for the team members. I am happy to see myself more developed in my skills and I have achieved powerful steps forward in becoming a better all around student. Computing Values Leadership Each one has specific skills; some of these skills are tangible and some intangible. This means that one cannot notice each and every one of these skills easily. The main issue is how you can assess yourself in managerial aspect to see which leadership skills you possess. Mrs. Deb asked us to assess our skills by utilizing a friend at work or in class. The results of this assessment were various between the students and reflected the real facts concerning their personality. Actually, achieving a high score in some skills and dimensions such as innovator role, producer role, Mentor role and coordinator role meant a lower score in others. The map indicators look like a circle crossed by an X-axis (Flexibility – Control) and Y-axis (Internal- External). Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. SciVerse® is a registered trademark of Elsevier Properties S.A., used under license. ScienceDirect® is a registered trademark of Elsevier B.V. By looking to the above figure one can notice that each coordinate forms a specific leadership style and can give us a right vision about one’s strengths and weaknesses. The idea of this assessment is how one can seek to make a balance and reform any weakness in managerial skills to become really qualified leaders. There are some points that one must understand; these include the fact that the very best indicators are when the scores are close the center of gravity. This basically means that the individual is more balanced and has the ability to manage the team work more effectively. Moreover, within this section we discussed some elements which included honesty, integrity, compassion, fairness and good relationships. The five traits can help one to be a strong as well as ethical leader. Computing values empowered me to understand myself and where I stand among these skills of leadership and showed some specifications for me to seek to leverage. The MBA program enriched my knowledge and experience about the leadership and the differences between these leadership styles. Like any other concept in human society, leadership is also a concept that needs to be human-friendly and nature-friendly. I believe only through certain levels of spiritual inclination can one develop this trait and maintain it without any internal or external contradiction. The magnificence of what humans can achieve together has always given me hope. Wherever I work, whatever money I earn, and whatever success that I achieve, it would be the joy of collective work and qualitative change that will drive me and be my source of energy. Read More