The Journey in the Career - Coursework Example

The Journey in the Career Unit 1 Looking back at my journey in my career, I know I have achieved much. Being promoted from the position of a manager to an advisor meant I had to leave my comfort zone and face up to the challenges of a position with different responsibilities. Being a manager for me meant being in charge of things whereas the position I have been promoted to entailed an entirely different set of responsibilities. However, I would like to believe that in both positions, I can be a leader. I have read somewhere that the difference between being a leader and being a manager is in the role played by each. Leadership is giving the organization direction, having an overview, setting standards and making tough decisions while management is concerned with setting up and managing systems. A good leader has vision whereas a good manager has organization for the establishment. Leadership is about development, vision and growth. Management is about attending to the status quo and ensuring that systems work. I know in my position as a manager, I have been seriously involved in the goings-on of my team and led them to succeed. I have been struck with the lines: “Great managers look inward. They look inside the company, into each individual, into the differences of style, goals, needs, and motivation of each person” (Buckingham & Coffman, 1999). It is imperative for managers to get to know what is going on inside before projecting outcomes outside. A solid foundation need to be established before it can effectively grow and work towards its goals. That is why there is much troubleshooting within systems first before it can operate effectively. This may be translated to having enough reflective practice and constant evaluation in teams as facilitated by the manager. Unit 2 Managers are imbued with positive characteristics that qualify them to lead. The manifest traits of a good manager are usually skill and talent. Talent is definitely an asset that can be used to advance the ladder of success if this is used in the right way to influence others. It lends much credibility to a manager to actually know what is being done by his team, and can do it excellently. Buckingham & Coffman (1999) contend that “Whether the excellence is “celebrated” or anonymous, great mangers know that excellence is impossible without talent” . The overriding talent meant here, is theirs. However, I am also aware that a manager will not be effective with talent alone. He needs to possess good interpersonal skills to be able to influence others to work well with him in the pursuit of excellence. The manager needs to have the ability to establish and maintain harmonious relationships with diverse people and groups, especially with those different from themselves. He is the glue that fuses the group together with diplomacy and commonality of goals. He possesses high emotional intelligence, maturity and understanding of people coming from various backgrounds. As a manager, one needs to bridge people together regardless of their backgrounds and temperament. To quote Buckingham & Coffman (1999) again, “The key to excellent performance, of course, is finding the match between your talents and your role” . A manager needs to use his talents to its full potential and be a good role model to his staff while knowing how to blend the talents and personalities of his team. Mastering such combinations will result in excellent performance of the whole team. Unit 3 Each member of a team comes from his own unique background. He brings this to the table and depending on his flexibility and adaptability, he adjusts to other people’s various backgrounds as well. This is where the beauty of diversity comes in. I remember the best and the worst team I have been in. The best team comprised of three other members apart from me who came together with different thoughts, questions and points of view, however, as we brainstormed towards a common goal, our diversity worked to our advantage. Together, we shared a focus which allowed us to communicate to each other openly. No matter the goal, we always talked it through and reached a decision as a collective group. On the other hand, the worst team I have been part of was made of seven other members apart from me each specializing in different aspects of power line construction. When we came together with different thoughts, questions, and points of view, we did not succeed in compromising with one another. There is nothing more frustrating than one individual deciding to stray from the group and thus, disrupt the work to be performed. The Herzberg model may be applied to both teams. The motivator factors prescribed in this model are based on an individual’s need for personal growth. Such factors create job satisfaction which may then motivate the individual further to achieve above average performance and effort. Motivator factors include status, opportunity for advancement, gaining recognition, responsibility, challenging / stimulating work, sense of personal achievement & personal growth in a job. These motivator factors seem to be suited to the members of the best team I have ever been on. For the worst team I have ever been part of, the Herzberg model may suggest the contributing factors to be based on the need for a business to avoid unpleasantness at work. If the following factors are inadequate, it would obviously cause dissatisfaction with work: company policy and administration; wages, salaries and other financial remuneration; quality of supervision; quality of inter-personal relations; working conditions and feelings of job security. Unit 4 I believe that a manager should be an enabler. He sees the talents and potentials of the people under his jurisdiction and should be able to harness their strengths. Each person may manifest varying degrees of greatness, and the manager sees the proper places they need to be in order to serve the company best. Leaders need the ability to maintain the focus on the real purpose of the organization. A good leader has a clear vision of where he is going and sets directions to others towards that vision. He collaborates with other people on ways and means to reach their goals and not focus the authority on himself. In doing so, he empowers them to be confident in their abilities and motivates them to welcome challenges and opportunities. Because of his positive influence, he gains the respect of everyone to follow his lead while pursuing a common mission for the growth and development of the organisation (Leithwood & Riehl,2003). Unit 5 The adage that “Knowledge is Power” has been adhered to by many people as a rule of strategy in achieving personal or professional empowerment and advantage, or as a protective measure against the uncertainties and unstable conditions of life’s situations. In order to succeed working as a team, organizations must be aware of relational power, or the give and take of power and knowledge. Hence, this would involve knowledge transfer from individuals who possess it to those who do not. Knowledge comes in the form of factual knowledge as well as experiential knowledge. Both forms add value to a person that helps him become a contributing member of society. However, the idea of confident leaders who are comfortable with ambiguity is equivalent to the concept of leaders being not knowing everything. In a research reported by French, Simpson and Harvey (2001), a good leader is also equipped with ‘negative capability’. “The underpinning image of leadership is based on knowing and is manifested through activity, work and achievement. There is, however, a quite other dimension of leadership, based on not knowing, on not doing, on being-done-to, and on being no longer in control of one’s own situation.” (French, Simpson & Harvey, 2001). I interpret such a construct as being humble enough to admit when one doesn’t really know instead of putting up a façade of being all-knowing. Tolerating enough ambiguity to keep the creative juices flowing in the organization is balanced with seeking coherence in the chaos. Fullan (2004) states, “All of this complexity keeps people at the edge of chaos. It is important to be at that edge because that is where creativity resides, but anarchy lurks there too” (p.5). This peculiarly human capacity to live with and tolerate ambiguity, of being content with half knowledge is quite a refreshing concept. “It implies the capacity to engage in a non-defensive way with change, without being overwhelmed by the ever-present pressure merely to react. It also indicates empathy and even a certain flexibility of character, the ability ‘to tolerate a loss of self and a loss of rationality by trusting in the capacity to recreate oneself in another character or another environment’ (Hutter, 1982, p.305). I believe that a good leader is always open to learning something new, and not haughty enough to claim that he is already “made”. Being human and fallible is one trait that all members of the group share, and what better quality to relate to than that? Group members will even feel important enough to share the burden of thinking up solutions to problems with their leader. I am humble enough to admit when I do not know what to do, and I believe this humility will endear me to my followers to help me be a better leader. I know I have a long journey yet to go through, however, I know each step I take brings me closer to my destination of being a highly effective manager and leader. References Buckingham, M., & Coffman, C. (1999). First, break all the rules: What the world's greatest managers do differently. French, R., Simpson, P. & Harvey, C. (2001), ‘Negative capability’: the key to creative leadership. Presented at the International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations 2001 Symposium. Retrieved on November 4, 2009 from www.sba.oakland.edu/ispso/html/2001Symposium/french.htm Fullan, M. (2004) Leading in a Culture of Change Personal Action Guide and Workbook. Jossey-Bass Hutter, A.D. (1982) Poetry in psychoanalysis: Hopkins, Rosetti, Winnicott. International Review of Psycho- Analysis 9, 303-16. Liethwood, K.A. & Riehl, C. (2003) What We Know About Successful School Leadership. NCSL. Read More