Leadership Simulation - Term Paper Example

?Synthesis Paper: Leadership Simulation Synthesis Paper: Leadership Simulation Leadership plays an integral role in the management of an organization. It is an essential trait of successful managers and is one of the prime motivators of efficiency and productivity of the business. A good leader must have several qualities to enable him or her to supervise the workforce and to lead the organization for the achievement of its desired outcomes. For this purpose, a leadership simulation course is a productive means of inculcating leadership qualities in individuals. Taking this course has enabled me to fully appreciate the various facets of leadership and to realize that leadership is an art in itself. The 9100 class required me to participate in a leadership simulation program online. I assumed two main roles: a state representative in economic development to head of funds distribution. Being in the economic development board, I was exposed to the myriad of challenges one faces when he or she has been granted the power and authority to make decisions. Before taking the course, I, like many other people, used to avoid discussing power since each one has a different opinion about it. However by this course, I came to understand that it is the trait which distinguishes leaders from followers and using it the right way is a very challenging task. This course has equipped me with the necessary qualities needed to be a good leader by making me work my way through problem-based experiences. In this paper, I will reflect upon how the leadership simulation course has helped me develop leadership traits and how the concepts of leadership apply to my experiences and learning. Being a member of the economic development board in the leadership simulation program allowed me to develop and hone my leadership skills. The program was a platform for me to come across the experiences that senior leaders face in their respective disciplines. By assuming a placement position in the economic department, I was exposed to the brunt of real responsibilities. The various skills that the simulation experience honed included better communication ability, making decisions in the spur of the moment as well as putting them to the test of thoughts and brainstorming, solving conflicts that may arise in the course of activities and performing other responsibilities of a board member. Being a simulated board member also opened the opportunity to interact with my peers and to work as a team. I realized the importance of team work and the importance of each and every member in interprofessional teams. This not only helped me to direct the decisions taken towards the optimal performance of the board but also to develop value-generating strategies which served to improve the efficiency of the processes. In the program, I came to identify my leadership style and to create a leadership plan2. The leadership program helped me to make my way through the problem-based scenarios in an organized and structured way. I was given different situations. In one such situation, being a member of the economic development board, I was required to evaluate the feasibility of a funding proposal. A lump sum of $1 million was proposed to be given to an economic development group, over a course of three years. My job was to investigate and decide whether the investment was worth it and if it contributed towards the betterment of the community as a whole. $1 million is a lot of money and in order to make such a decision, I had to evaluate the aims of the economic development group in detail. The situation allowed me to further upon my accounting skills and to weigh the profits against the possible losses. Discussing the situation with other board members allowed to me to diversify my communication and negotiation skills and to use the collective opinion in making a decision which is for the greater good of the community. Moreover, since I had a senior role and the amount of money being invested was large, my responsibility of keeping an accountability check on the economic developers was also put to test. According to the Emerging Leaders Program (2011), an individual may come across with several challenges in his professional life; but the most challenging of all would be the transition from a “high-performing individual” to a successful “manager of others”. Experiencing such a situation, I was required to take decisions that affect the lives of the general population. Therefore in the process, I came to manage others as well. One of the major learning experiences in the simulation program was when I was given the task of developing a brand for a state which could be used to represent it at the international level. The purpose of the brand was to capture the attention of investors, retain the existing investors and increment the degree of capital investment in the state. Initially the task seemed to be very intimidating, primarily because of the magnanimity of the objective. However, I pulled myself together and started work on it. The project provided me with some invaluable learning experiences, a major one being the development of a plan. In fact, the first thing I decided to do when I was given the project was to develop a leadership and action plan. This was meant to provide me with a means of guidance and to give me direction so that I do not digress from my objectives. Before I proceeded on with the project, I did some background search on the strategies of community branding projects and how they can be used to effectively promote capital investment. Then I proceeded to draft an action plan. I set out the objectives so that they are clearly articulated in written form. Before finalizing the objectives, I ensured that they can be met and are not impractical. Moreover I also came to appreciate that I need to strictly adhere to the objectives throughout the course of the project since wavering commitment can be an obstacle to success. This would also be helpful for the employees, providing them a clear understanding of their roles (Hicks & Goo, 2008). An essential of an effective plan is the ability to deliver the aims and objectives (The Burghard Group, 2011). The plan helped me to organize my resources effectively and to make realistic estimates of the capital and labour requirements for carrying out the branding project. During the course of the implementation of the project, I also came to appreciate that a good leader has to be flexible with some of the plans. This is because with new information and resources, one has to update the plans to achieve better results. Although I may have foreseen certain obstacles in the start, I had to change a few strategies to overcome other unexpected problems. The learning experience also taught me the importance of inter-professional teamwork and of involving the right people in the project. Since my project involved developing a brand for the state, I had to bring together the expertise of graphic designers, engineers, economic developers, lawyers, marketers, economists etc. I gained the experience of effectively breaking down the project structure and performing division of labour- a component of leadership simulation programs (Mayer & Mastik, 2007). Each of the members was given a specific role and a deadline to perform it within a specific time limit. Being the head of this time, I was automatically delegated the responsibility of keeping the team together and directing the team towards the achievement of a common objective. I learnt the art of resolving conflicts that arose amongst the members and to encourage healthy negotiations. Designing a brand for the state made me appreciate the details that one has to address when developing and marketing a product. Firstly, the team has to take into account the culture of the region they are targeting the product at. In the case of branding, I realized the importance of being more culturally sensitive to the state I was representing as well as ethics and social norms in general. Since the purpose of branding was to attract capital investment, the project aimed to be both appealing to foreign investors and be a satisfactory representation of the state. Moreover another important trait of a good leader is having knowledge of what is going on and to develop effective communication with the employees. In fact clear and coherent communication with employees is regarded as an integral trait by successful leaders (Agard, 2010). During the course of my project, I was often confronted with conflicts between the members of the team, particularly in the start. However I realized that these conflicts could have been avoided had there been better communication amongst the members. Therefore not only did I bridge the communication gap between me and the members but also encouraged negotiations amongst themselves. This caused a significant decrease in the conflicts. The project also provided me with the experience of working within deadlines and learning to meet them on time. Since I was in charge of the project, the real challenge lay not in completing my individual work, but in making the entire team complete the work in time. This is one of the skills of a good leader; one I believe that has been honed quite well during the simulation exercise. After the completion of the project, the next task was evaluating its success. According to Fulmer and Bleak (2008), leadership performance can be measured by evaluating the “value of the investment”. For this purpose, both quantitative and qualitative measures are used. There are a number of criteria which can prove to be useful for performance evaluation; these include the fraction of employees the leader is able to recruit and retain, the capital investment attracted, the percentage increase in capital investment, customer response and satisfaction etc. Another way of evaluating performance is by keeping a growth chart to be filled in during the course of the project. By keeping my objectives in mind all the time, I also negated any chance of digressing from my aims. Therefore I believe that the leadership simulation honed my self-evaluation skills considerably. One learns from mistakes and experiences. I believe that both these factors have contributed to making me a better leader. The problems that arose in the leadership simulation exercise both in the granting of funds to economic developers and in the development of a state brand have allowed me to function effectively in the capacity of an economic developer. I used a range of skills that I have learnt in school and college and to apply it in simulated experiences. A good leader is one who is aware of his or her strong and weak points (Daft & Lane, 2007). In this aspect, the simulation experience helped me to realize my strengths and weaknesses and to find solutions to overcome my weaknesses- a trait that will help me for the continuing application of my leadership skills. Reference List Agard, K. A. (2010). Leadership in Nonprofit Organizations: A Reference Handbook. California: SAGE. Daft, R. L., & Lane, P. G. (2007). The Leadership Experience. Ohio: Cengage Learning. Emerging Leaders Program. (2011). Emerging Leaders Program (ELP). Retrieved from http://business.rice.edu/ee_elp.aspx#tabs-2 Fulmer, R. M., & Bleak, J. L. (2008). The leadership advantage: how the best companies are developing their talent to pave the way for future success. New York: AMACOM Div American Management Association. Hicks, A., & Goo, S. H. (2008). Cases and materials on company law (6th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Mayer, I. & Mastik, H. (Eds.). (2007). Organizing and learning through gaming and simulation: proceedings of Isaga 2007. Postbus: Eburon Uitgeverij B.V. The Burghard Group. (2011). Effective Project Leadership in Economic Development. Retrieved from http://strengtheningbrandamerica.com/blog/?p=740 Read More