Leadership Management Problem Solving - Assignment Example

Leadership Management Problem solving (Course Instructor) (University Affiliation) (Student’s Name) Date Question one (part 1) How can bill improve his emotional agility? Recognize any unhelpful patterns of thinking and feeling to which you are prone Reports indicate that business managers fail to perform well not because they harbor undesirable feelings and thoughts, but due to the fact that they get entangled by those thoughts in the same way that a fish is caught in a fishing net (Ibarra, 2015). This happens in two major ways. First, the manager buys into the thought by treating them as facts and avoids roles that are going to evoke the memories at all cost (David and Congleton, 2013). They go as far as not accepting to take the new challenge. Secondly, they do this at the behest of their subordinates by challenging the thoughts and attempt to rationalize them away. In both cases, the manager is focusing too much attention on their internal self that it could compromise their ability to make a better use of their decision making strategies (Ibarra, 2015). Instead of trying to control unhelpful thoughts and feelings, accept them Scholars have revealed that managers need to be confident and cheerful in order to suppress negative thoughts. All human beings have an inborn stream of thoughts and feelings that comprise of perception on priorities, envy about the success of others, fear of rejected and being distressed concerning perceived slights (Ibarra, 2015). That is what our minds are meant to do, trying to anticipate problems and avoid potential negative effects. Dr. Billings needs to manage his emotional reactions to the new task of introducing the new innovations. He needs to be motivated to trust in his ability to effectively handle the change as well as making sure that the subordinates embrace it to (Ibarra, 2015). Instead of acting on your distracting or discouraging thoughts and feelings, act on your values There is a better way of dealing with the negative emotions according to David and Congleton (2013) in such a way that one can do away with stress, eliminate errors, boost innovation and improves organizational performance. This is without having to compromise the relationship between the leader and the subordinates. To achieve this, Dr. needs to achieve the expectancy theory that was formulated by Victor Vroom to act on his values. The the theory states that the motivation of an individual will be huge when there is an expectation. If he believes that he can accomplish the task and the objective of reducing the cost of carrying the service, then he is aligned with expectancy (Cuddy et al, 2013). Question one (part 2) To help Dr. Billings overcome the confidence issue on his leadership, I am going to recommend four strategies designed to deal with such reactions. Behavior focused strategies: Dr. Billings needs to come to the terms with the reality that he is stuck before he can initiate any changes. Rigid and negative thoughts and feelings have no place at the workplace. Powerful leaders don’t get tied up with or attempt to stifle their internal emotions. Rather, they approach them in a careful, values-driven, and gainful way, creating what we call enthusiastic readiness (David and Congleton, 2013). In our unpredictable, quick changing information economy, this capacity to deal with one's musings and emotions is vital to business achievement. Various studies, from the University of London by Professor Frank Bond and others, demonstrate that emotional agility can individuals mitigate push, diminish mistakes, turn out to be more creative, and enhance work execution. The leader should be cheerful; they must project a lot of confidence and do away with negativity that boils within them (Ibarra, 2015). Natural Reward strategies: The clear strategy to help him consider the situation more objectively steer away from those activities that focus on the negatives and focus on the positives. He needs to call a spade a spade by calling a thought, a thought, and emotions, emotions (Cuddy, et al, 2013). When one is hooked, the attention they accord to their thoughts and feelings tend to crowd their mind so that is little or no room to examine them. That pretty the situation Dr. Billings is currently in. Human beings are tailored towards taking a helicopter view of experiences and setting scientific evidence show that simple, straight forward not only improves their behavior and their well being but also to promote biological changes. Constructive Thought Pattern strategies: Dr. Billings needs to take deep breaths and make his feelings known. This means not acting on each and every thought, but responding to ideas and emotions with an open attitude by paying attention and doing away with those ideas that do not deliver positive results. Dr. Billings face a very huge task of owning up to his fears about the introduction of the new innovations (Cuddy, et al, 2013). Question one part 3 How could a leader faced with low morale, insufficient resources, internal resistance, and woefully low organizational performance, turn that all around? To help Dr. Billings motivate himself to achieve the goals of the organization; he should consider applying the victor Vroom’s expectancy theory and the Tipping point leadership theory. The basics of the victor Vroom’s theory of expectancy are that the motivation of an individual will be huge when there is an expectation. If he believes that he can accomplish the task and the objective of reducing the cost of carrying the service, then he is aligned with expectancy. For example, in the case of the great western hospital, the head of surgery knows what exactly he needs to achieve and that is the expectancy level needed to help him achieve those objectives (Cuddy et al, 2013). The problem was however how he intends to introduce the innovations especially for fear of the reactions of the subordinates that would derail the introduction process. If he believes that his performance would result in the attainment of the objectives, or coming up with the desired outcome which in this case is to reduce the cost of carrying out a surgery, then this is what is known as expectancy. Figure 1 (Quinn et al 2015) To achieve the goals of the organization, the individual and the organization needs to understand how to effectively motivate themselves and others. In the case of Dr. Billings, I recommend three strategies that he needs to employ Expectancy theory to increase motivation (Cuddy, et al, 2013). It entails giving feedback, setting the targets and applying of incentives to motivate his subordinates. The strategies mentioned above could either have positive or unintended effects of the goals of the motivating strategy. It is therefore very important that Dr. Billings set up strategies that would make it possible to achieve positive outcomes that would aid in the achievement of organizational objectives (Cuddy et al, 2013). The tipping point leadership on the other hand is a concept developed by W.Chan and Rebee Mauborgne where it creates a number of tools and systems that a leader can use to overcome their hurdles (Kim and Mauborgne, 2003). a) The cognitive hurdle that deals with the popular belief that change is not necessary that is often referred to as the addiction to the status quo. b) There is the resource hurdle that deals with the lack of adequate resources which can make it difficult to make changes in the organization. c) The motivation hurdle where low morale amongst the workers that would make it difficult for him to influence them into implementing change. d) The political hurdle that has to do with the vested interests from both within and outside the organization that could influence people to oppose change (Kim and Mauborgne, 2003).. Figure 2 (Kim and Mauborgne, 2003). Benefits of Motivation to Dr. Billings, The Doctors and The Organization The main benefits of motivation are often the least understood with people who hold crucial leadership positions in organizations. Motivation simply allows the leader to meet and in most cases exceed the organizational goals. Additionally, without a motivated workforce the organization will be in a very precarious position (Houghton, 2006). The level of motivation varies depending on what position you occupy in the organization. For the purpose of Dr. Billings, there are a number of benefits to him as an individual. There is nothing as good as leading a group of doctors who are motivated. A motivated workforce is one where productivity is improved due to improved performance. Good performance means that profitability is improved while wealth maximization is enhanced (Houghton, 2006). The benefits of a motivated workforce are many. They range from cost savings, improved productivity and improved quality. When all this is achieved, it contributes to the satisfaction of the consumers. The ultimate objective of any organization is to ensure that they achieve their objectives (Houghton, 2006). This can only be achieved if the people tasked with the implementation of these tasks are well motivated. This therefore requires that Dr. Billings focus his attention on motivating his subordinates so that they can embrace the new innovation. He has to explain to the employees that prudent implementation of the innovation would be beneficial both to them as individuals as well as the organization. For him to introduce the innovations to the staff since the cost cutting innovations and reduced cost to be precise is the value that the surgeon needs to act upon as soon as possible so as to make it profitable to do business (Cuddy et al, 2013). The resistance from the employees should not worry him into being too emotional about the probable reaction of his subordinates. What were the keys to William Bratton’s success with the police force in New York City? It is common to find a leader who is faced with a situation where their subordinates are unwilling to embrace change due to one reason or another. Dr. Billings is faced with a low morale and insufficient resources, resistance from the subordinates and low organizational performance that needs to be turned around at all cost (Houghton, 2006). People have various reasons to resist the new innovations. Some could be valid, but nevertheless, there is need to make sure that the staff is motivated enough to ensure that the innovation is implemented for the good of the organization. The turnaround of the staff can be achieved by offering them with incentives that would make it possible to embrace and happily work with the new system (Houghton, 2006). William Bratton the head of police in New York conducted a turnaround of in a period of two years without any increase in the cost of operation with a high level of resistance from the people who worked under him. If Mr. Bratton could succeed under such conditions, then leaders like Dr. Billings have a lot to learn from him (Houghton, 2006). The turnaround by Bratton can be unleashed by people who are committed to being change agents, who are ready to make UN regrettable decisions as well as valid calls for change. Bratton used a consistent approach to achieve change. He achieved his success rates by combining the personalities of individuals and techniques that made it possible to motivate people to achieve change. He believed that if we engage in beliefs and committed energy on a course to a mass of people, converting them to like the new idea could spread like an epidemic, bringing about a fundamental change in record time (Houghton, 2006). William Bratton the commissioner of police in New York turned the city into the safest in the nation. Statistics indicate that between 1994 and 1996, the crime rate reduced by 39 percent, murder cases reduced by 50 percent, while Public confidence up from 37% to 73%. He achieved this by overcoming four hurdles that stood in his way and that of success (Houghton, 2006). The hurdles include the cognitive hurdlers, which include putting managers face to face with the problems and ways of solving them; political hurdles on the other hand can be achieved by identifying the reasons for resistance and dealing with them internally. Politics is the source of resistance in most cases where individuals want to exert their influence over the rest. He also faced a resource hurdle; he overcame this by making sure that he motivates his officers to work under the available resources without compromising the quality of service delivery. The fourth hurdle is that of motivational challenge. To overcome this, he needed to identify the challenges that are brought about by lack of motivation and dealt with them accordingly (Houghton, 2006). Question 2 part 1 Usually when leaders lack confidence in themselves, they usually mask their frail confidence by avoiding tasks that would test their confidence level. Lack of confidence in oneself in most cases will curtail the confidence of others in the leader (Govindarajan, et al. 2013). The Johari Windows The model is a simple tool for illustrating and improving self awareness and a mutual understanding amongst individuals in a team. The model can also be used to asses and at the same time improve the relationship between the group and other groups. The model focuses on four regions; what is known by the person about him or herself (self awareness) and also known to others. What is not known to the person about himself but is known to others, known to the person but unknown by others and lastly, what is not known by the person about himself and also unknown to others (Neckand Houghton, 2006). ). It is therefore very important that Wing, having been tasked with leading the new changes of task shifting where the family members will be tasked with nursing their sick family members in order to reduce costs and improve the post operation nursing both in the hospital and at home, to improve her level of confidence so that the nurses who report to her can have confidence in her Figure 3 ( Neckand Houghton, 2006) One does not need to have gone to a leadership class. The reason Wing is avoiding the responsibility of leading the change is because she is not confident of her herself as well as her ability to lead. For this reason, this paper recommends a number of ways of making sure that she restores confidence in oneself and that of her leadership She should create a greater self awareness: By doing so, Wing can comprehend her qualities and shortcomings as well. Recognizing the shortcomings or areas of advancement in a positive way will make it possible for her to consider them to be challenges as opposed to snags. In most cases, contracting the services of a leadership coach is very crucial in getting the necessary skills that would enhance their level of confidence (Govindarajan and Ramamurti, 2013). Self awareness means the ability to identify the strengths that one has that could have a positive impact on the organization and maximizing on those strengths so as to make sure that the negatives do not overshadow the positives. She should not be afraid of failure: Many leaders like Wing have failed in one way or another during their working life, but have gone ahead to accomplish extraordinary things in their life. Richard Branson began just about a hundred organizations in his profession a significant number of which failed to kick off well; be that as it may, individuals just recall his effective management skills as well as his existing successful companies (David and Congleton, 2013). She should always ask for feedback: Requesting for feedback demonstrates not only an enormous measure of courage, but also enables the individual to learn their weaknesses. While getting the feedback, it's essential to be open avoid being defensive about it. Feedback could either come from her superiors, her subordinates or the people who benefit from her services (David and Congleton, 2013). Feedback is very essential in that it gives you a leader a preview of what people think about what you are doing. Some will impress, but some might not. It is therefore very important that she puts in more resources and efforts on the positive responds and find a way of turning around the aspects of her leadership that are attracting negative responses (David and Congleton, 2013). The self leadership strategies Behavior focused strategies: Wing needs to come to the terms with the reality that he is stuck before he can initiate any changes. Powerful leaders don’t get tied up with or attempt to stifle their internal emotions. Rather, they approach them in a careful, values-driven, and gainful way, creating what we call enthusiastic readiness (David and Congleton, 2013). Various studies, from the University of London by Professor Frank Bond and others, demonstrate that emotional agility can individuals mitigate push, diminish mistakes, turn out to be more creative, and enhance work execution.(Ibarra, 2015). Natural Reward strategies: A clear strategy to help him consider the situation more objectively steers away from those activities that focus on the negatives and focus on the positives. She needs to call a spade a spade by calling a thought, a thought, and emotions, emotions (Cuddy, et al, 2013). When one is hooked, the attention they accord to their thoughts and feelings tend to crowd their mind so that is little or no room to examine them. Constructive Thought Pattern strategies: Wing needs to take deep breaths and make his feelings known. This means not acting on each and every thought, but responding to ideas and emotions with an open attitude by paying attention and doing away with those ideas that do not deliver positive results (Cuddy, et al, 2013). Question Two: part two Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Having gone for MBTI training, it is very easy to understand why Wing has problems with her leadership abilities. The indicator was developed by Katherine cook and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers (Limited, 2011). They came up with four scales that have some correlation with the personality traits. The scales include: Introverts vs. extroverts: The index is designed to give a reflection of whether an individual is an introvert or an extrovert. The two traits are regarded as complementary whose differences generate the tension that the individual and the society needs to live. The extroverts are oriented towards the outside world and focus their judgment on people and objects. Introverts, on the other hand focus on the inner world as well as concepts and ideas (NERIS Analytics Limited, 2011). Wing is an extrovert if her actions are anything to go by. This explains why she is more concerned with what her employees would think rather than the reasons as to why the change is needed. Sensing vs intuition: It is designed to reflect the preferences of individuals between two opposite ways on perception. Those who rely on sensing reports facts such as one or more senses while intuition focus on the first ideas, relationships, the future and so on (NERIS Analytics Limited, 2011). Thinking vs. feeling: it focuses on how individual make decisions. On thinking, individuals focus on the basis of logical consequences while feelings focus on the personal or the values of the society. The nurses led by Wing like most other subordinates faced with the prospects of change will be unwilling to embrace change and that is why Wing is more oriented on feeling. Judgment vs. perception: it deals with our attitude towards the external world and how individuals orient themselves to it. Those who prefer judgment reports the preference for the use of the judgment process for dealing with the outer world while in perception there is preference for a perceptive process for dealing with the outer world (NERIS Analytics Limited, 2011). Wing has a perception that if she was to spearhead the new ways of doing things in the hospital, then there is a likelihood that the nurses who are answerable to her would be reluctant to embrace the new changes. Being an ENFJ, Wing is expected to get attracted to leadership roles and would be expected to organize people in order to take advantage of their talents. They have a strong vision and would normally use their abilities for the good of the organization. They also appreciate teamwork and would put organizational resources and turn them into action. Emotional Competence Model Daniel Goleman, an American psychologist Came up with a system of elements known as the emotional intelligence to assist individuals in knowing the emotional needs of other people. The model is very useful to Wing in enabling her to influence her subordinates into embracing the new changes that have been introduced in the organization. Being the leader, her self confidence, self management, empathy and self management skills will determine if the project would succeed or not. The following are the qualities needed by Wing in her leadership role. Self confidence- people with high emotional intelligence understand their own emotions and will usually not their feelings to dominate them (Goleman, D. 2013). Self management- people who practice self regulation, normally do not allow themselves to be angry or jealous and do not make careless and impulsive decisions. These individuals usually think before acting (Goleman, D. 2013). Empathy- this refers to the ability to pinpoint with and comprehend the needs, wants and the views of the individuals around you. Such individuals are very good at identifying the needs of others, even in cases where the needs are not obvious (Goleman, D. 2013). Relationship management- those individuals that have strong social skills are the typical team players. They do not focus on their own success, but rather help others in their development and success. They can easily manage disputes and are good with communicating as well as building and maintaining relationships (Goleman, D. 2013). Question two part Three a and b Managerial leadership The difference between leading and managing lies on how the employees or the team member’s tasks are structured in the organization. Management tends to be more rigid and a hierarchical process that emphasizes on the personal development aspect of the business rather than the practical aspects of getting work done (Quinn et al, 2015). Visisonary leadership The key to leading has to do with working as a team while retaining the decision making roles and making it clear to all the employees. In the context of the hospital, Wing occupies a unique position in that the nurses are compiled. Due to expected resistance to change, Wing has to deal with conflicting personalities with different backgrounds and therefore needs to communicate with and constantly motivate the team into making sure that organizational goals have been achieved (Quinn et al, 2015). Coaching Being a good leader means that one is able to pull together their team members and align the members with the common objective of the organization in order to meet the goals. Change within the organization can always be pushed by the leader in this case Wing. This kind of initiative can only be achieved by leaders who are not prepared to sit down and watch as events unfold, but rather want to actively participate in trying to make the organization a better place to operate in (Quinn et al, 2015).. Affliative The leader aims at making people feel valued and puts less emphasis on the goals, but more emphasis on the emotional needs of individuals. By working together and making things done with positive results that would change the organization for better, the organization is more likely to reward wing by retaining them and giving her more advanced roles (Quinn et al, 2015). The Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs It is important for Wing to deal with the fear of the nurses about the possibility of loosing their importance in the organization. This is a security need issue as stipulated in the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory (Kotter, 2001). The nurses that Wing leads like most other subordinates faced with the prospects of change will be unwilling to embrace change. People have various reasons to resist change. There is need to make sure that the staff are motivated enough to ensure that the innovation is implemented for the good of the hospital as well as the patients and their families. Addressing the fears of the staff can be achieved by assuring them that the new changes are not meant to victimize them, but rather to improve efficiency for the good of the organization (Houghton, 2006). The expectancy theory If she believes that he can accomplish the task and the objective of introducing the much needed changes, then she is aligned with expectancy. The however is how she intends to introduce the innovations especially for fear of the reactions of the subordinates that would derail the introduction process. If she believes that his performance would result in the attainment of the objectives, or coming up with the desired outcome which in this case is to reduce the cost of carrying out a surgery, then this is what is known as expectancy (Kotter, 2001). Question two part Four The authenticity paradox The authenticity paradox has become a standard measure for leadership in the contemporary world. Wing has to fully understand to be an authentic leader since failure to do this would curtail her ability to achieve her goal as well as that of the organization. It involves the following; Being true to yourself Wing feels that who she really is as a person, is a nurse, not a leader so in her mind, to take on a leadership role would not be authentic according to her. She is actually running away from the leadership role simply because in her opinion, she does not have the qualifications that are needed to be a nurse (Swiggart et al, 2009). Her reluctance to take over the leadership role however has nothing to do with her ability, but rather the confidence she has for herself and her leadership skills. Leadership, however, is not for those who have gone to a leadership class, but rather those who believe in their ability to lead. Creating coherence between what you feel and what you do or say She needs to learn that she doesn’t have to have been trained as a leader and that the role she is called upon to perform is not a management role that requires that she be held responsible for any deviations (Swiggart, W et al 2009). The fear of the unknown in a leadership position cannot be underestimated since coupled with the motivating factors play a very key role in influencing the decision of an individual on whether they are willing to lead or not. Making value based decisons Any effort to get Wing into accepting the leadership role has to do with explaining to her the advantages that will accrue if she was to lead the changes. They go as far as not accepting to take the new challenge. They do this at the under pressure from the subordinates by challenging the thoughts and attempt to rationalize them away. The leader is focusing too much on her internal self that, it could compromise their ability to make a better use of their decision making (Swiggart, et al 2009). The obstacles are many, especially for the nurses, but she needs to turn around the nurses and gets them to support the initiative into a success story both to the employees as individuals, to the organization. She has to be reminded of how the selection process led into her being the choice to lead the new initiative. It means that the selection panel saw a leadership potential in her that she needs to work on in order to make a positive impact in the organization. References David, S and Congleton, C 2013, “Emotional Agility” Harvard Business Review, November pp. 125-128. Goleman, D. 2013 “The Focused Leader” Harvard Business Review, December, pp51-60 Govindarajan, V and Ramamurti, R 2013, “Delivering World Class Health-Care, Affordably, Harvard Business Review, Nov. 2013 issue, pp. 117-122. 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