Leadership and Social Influence - Case Study Example

Leadership and social influence Subordinates are different from followers. Rita failed to create the latter. As d in the case, after she initiated meeting with her group there were usual informal ones her subordinates conducted after the formal. There was a usual meeting after the meeting that took place. Had Rita only developed followers and not mere subordinates, she would have produced a loyal team, more cohesive than a usual group and with individuals ready to walk on the vision and the direction she set for her entire department. Her leadership crashed as she failed to create followers and so her level of influence has fallen short to inspire or motivate people at the workplace. At this point, influence shows a remarkable impact on how the entire team would be formed with it. Rita was not influential enough and less empowered to sustain order within the group. System, group circumstances, structure Rita also did not realize her subordinates were forming social networks where informal communications overflowed. Failure on her part to demonstrate how to manage communication within the group, Rita ended up having subordinates not willing to participate and obey her point of view. After all, the key players or executives were very territorial and possessed extreme supremacy, so they belong to a group though in a simple hierarchical structure, but still they could implement high individualistic authority based on seniority complex. However, in general, Rita was working with a kind of work group with key players ready to do well if their potentials would only have been effectively tapped. The danger in working with this group would be the failure to recognize its open system of interaction, as the external inputs it might have received would develop a certain output. In the case of Department 8101, it has its open system that from any time would possibly result to negative entropy, differentiation or integration, depending on the prevailing approach implemented for managing with change and complexity. Rita should have been aware about the communication pattern of her group as the various inputs could actually penetrate here. Her failure to recognize this resulted to disorder in the system. Rita failed to recognize general systems approach or the group’s interaction, not minding about general system concepts like input, output, cycles, negative entropy, feedback, dynamic equilibrium, differentiation, integration and etc. She overlooked the fact that the new group she was trying to work with has its own balance and influence from surrounding environment and even has its identifiable distinct culture. The group was an open system because of external inputs it constantly received outside from those what Rita initiated. Cognitive consistency, cognitive dissonance Rita was trying to be consistent, but her actual move in the department 8101 was a form of inconsistency among her key players as she was implementing something new for them, change in general. As a result, to eliminate this inconsistency on the part of the key players, who were not motivated to go for change, they plotted something against Rita to ward her off from their department. This justifies the cognitive consistency theory which makes individuals create something in order to stay away from the dissonance created by inconsistencies (Tubbs). Decision making There was a failure on the part of Rita on her decision-making ability. She did not inquire information from her group especially among the key players, who based on the Johari Window analysis below might have appreciated the thought of being recognized. Tapping them for information might have contributed to Rita’s successful decision-making activity. Johari Window The following is a Johari Window analysis that could have helped Rita understood her key players well. Key players Open/free area Blind area Hidden area Unknown area Hank Determined to achieve something Selfishness, pride Setting objectives not only for the team, but also personal that others might have not known about, recognition The need for personal enhancement or improvement Terry Strong personality and would want to argue Unwilling to embrace change Insecurity, recognition Character enhancement or formation needed Denny Smart, informal leader As source of influence The need to be appreciated, recognition Leadership skills enhancement and development Helen Biased and partial One-sided, not open minded Implements authority to hide her insecurity, recognition Needs to enhance social awareness The Narrator Novice Inferior based on seniority complex The need for experience, recognition Need to develop effective stand Reflection Rita did not only fail as a manager, but also as a leader. She failed to cope with change and complexity. After all, leadership could mean about managing with change as coping with complexity to management (Kotter, 37). So her mistakes include inappropriate implementation of management and leadership skills at the wrong time and persons. Prior to initiating these, and in addition to her mistakes, in general she was not able to study the micro and macro details of the prevailing systems and interactions in her group. Recommendation If I were the new boss like Rita, here are the following things I would like to do differently in order to develop an effective working group. I have to ensure that I have integrated all management functions necessary to build a team. In doing so, I would ensure integrating the necessary skills and knowledge needed in coping with change and complexity in an organization. First, I would implement plans, but this would include the key players in my department in order make them part of it. However, the very point of this is to empower them and make them realize they need to embrace the vision, create a strategy in achieving it and evaluate strategies through setting goals or objectives. The end result of this would be to create followers and not just mere subordinates. Then I would organize everything, and this would include understanding the very nature of existing social networks, culture and all of these can be done through effective communication process. Then I would always evaluate how I actually lead my team. This requires constant but effective communication, leading and motivating followers. My goal at this point is to ensure I am being consistent in creating followers and not subordinates, or forming a more cohesive team, working in harmony and unity. Then finally, I would initiate evaluation to be followed by corrective measures if necessary in order to proceed to other much better plans if required. Sources Kotter, John P. Harvard Business Review on Leadership: What Leaders Really Do?. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1998. Print. Tubbs, Stewart L. A Systems Approach to Small Group Interaction. 11th ed. New York: McGraw Hills Company Incorporated, 2011. Print. Read More