Leadership Rolodex

Leadership Rolodex

         I joined the Navy when I was 25 years old. On the second day of boot camp, I was forced into a leadership role by one of my Recruit Division Commanders. There were about 6 other leaders randomly chosen that day. We were meant to guide our division of fresh recruits and lead them through Boot Camp. We each had a specific role or job to do. I was the Master at Arms, the rule enforcer. If you made a mistake while in your leadership position, you would get fired on the spot, and a replacement was made immediately after your departure from that role. That's when I learned that all people are replaceable and the  machine will keep turning even when I am not there. While I was performing my duties as Master at Arms, I learned to stand by the choices I made, and found conviction in those choices. I quickly realized that the choices I made, did not just affect me, but, my entire division. Until joining the Navy, I hadn't been placed in too many leadership positions. I graduated boot camp as their Master at Arms for Division 050 with the confidence that I could handle any leadership position.
         During my 15 years in the Navy, I have been placed in several leadership positions that required different roles and duties. During my time in the military, I experienced all types of leadership. Every leader I encountered, good, bad, or indifferent. I took a trait or something I learned from them. I incorporated that trait and put it into my leadership Rolodex. No situation is always the same, and when needed, I would thumb through my Rolodex and apply that trait, style, or learned skill to the situation.
         My leadership transition into the civilian world has been relatively seamless, except for a few techniques, or motivators that I once used while in the military. I am currently in a job position where leadership is not part of the job description. However, I am earning my MBA, taking this Leadership and Organization class, and still adding to my Rolodex. I have learned quite a bit from my peers in this class. I enjoyed the Scandura textbook and its comprehensive approach to Organizational Behavior. The students in the class offered real-life instances and application of the many principles that we learned from the class and reading materials. The class seemed a daunting endeavor in the beginning, however, all the material synthesized and I was able to see the intended connections. Dr. Gower was an excellent facilitator, and being a great facilitator is an excellent leadership trait. I will continue on my life's journey with an open heart and mind, exploring all the facets of leadership and its principles.

Delicious Leadership Reflection

        I am immediately apprehensive when I am assigned a group with whom I am to expected to work with. My apprehension has been grounded in disappointment and unequal work distribution. However, Delicious Leadership, extinguished any apprehension after our first meeting at Kim's house. I truly believe that our Group Formation exercise facilitated in creating the strong foundation in our group, and set us up for success. Clear, direct paths were given on how we were to meet our objectives from the beginning. I have since learned to employ these techniques from this point going forth in any group that I am to work with.
       Communication on a group and individual level has proven to be a key component of our success. During our preparation for the Lincoln assignment, I had voiced my concerns to the group. My concerns were addressed by the group with sincerity, empathy, and professionalism. My concerns sparked a group conversation that embodied what this class was all about. I wished it had been recorded and incorporated into this iBook. I have grown as a person and leader because of this class and group. I want to personally thank each member of Delicious Leadership for their keen insight and support these past 8 weeks. I would certainly welcome any chance to work with these fine individuals again. I will always remember, that leadership can be delicious!

Skills USA

         For our final volunteering event, we attended a Skills USA workforce competition located at Germanna Community College. I first heard of Skills USA from my wife, Sandra. Sandra works for Germanna and enjoyed the experience last year. Sandra asked if I wanted to be a part of it. I accepted her invitation and extended that invitation to my team, Delicious Leadership. Delicious Leadership had no idea what to expect, but, we were determined to help out any way that we could.

         Details were sketchy on what our duties would be, and mired in ambiguity. Of course we laughed about it, and decided not to let that derail the team. Our team was split into 3 groups. I was to sit upon a panel of 4 of judges and we were to judge an Extemporaneous Speech on, Leadership! The participants were given 5 minutes of prep time, and their speech was not to exceed 5 minutes. The grading rubric consisted of professional appearance, voice, opening, closing, transitioning, speech cohesiveness, and understanding.
         During the competition, two students stood out to me for different reasons. One student's speech was about his prospective career field, Cosmetology. His speech talked about gender perception and equality in the workplace. I thought that was a very mature topic for someone of his age to discuss. He was well-informed, and executed his speech almost flawlessly. He was one of the best presenters that day. The second student, spoke of her speech impediment and how Skills USA empowered her and helped turn her disability into her greatest strength. I remembered the courage, passion, and determination that resonated from her. I walked away inspired from what I had witnessed.
         I had an amazing experience from Skills USA. The greatest take-away was empowerment and courage. I will remember the feeling I had as I exited the conference room from the competition, forever. More importantly, I will remember to empower any member of a team that I am apart of. People will pleasantly surprise you and overcome any obstacle, if given the chance.

UMW Multicultural Fair Volunteer Refelection

I woke up at 4:00am this past Saturday and was out the door 45 minutes later en route to UMW. I immediately thought back to my time while on active duty. I regularly woke up at this time for 5 years! I needed to arrive by 5:30am. I found parking along College Ave. a few blocks down from the meeting spot. Mike spotted me walking by and we arrived together for the event. When we walked through the door, Kim greeted us with a pleasant smile and I immediately noticed that most of the volunteers were those from my class. By 6:15am we had received our assignments. My group was to set up a stage and 75 chairs. It was an enjoyable experience working with my group. After the initial assignment was completed, we started roaming the area to see where to help next. We worked with another group helping them set up a large tent that accommodated 250 people. As I was setting up for this event, I felt like I was back on the ship setting up for a command picnic or something. Needless to say, I was experiencing many fond memories from my time aboard the USS Monterey. I felt our team worked well together and I enjoyed watching Kim and Sarah chase down Sammy D. Eagle for a group photo opportunity. They were literally running after that mascot! I have to say that was the best part of day. Those girls were on a mission and were not to be denied.

Self Reflection Weeks 1-3

Week 1

Where to begin? After the first class, I felt, overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by the amount of material to cover in such as short amount of time. Where am I going to fit this ONE class into my daily life? How is this going to come together? Our group met over at Kim's house. Kim was hospitable and gracious. Mike was energetic and enthusiastic.  Sarah was unexpectedly funny and well organized. Ray was insightful and sincere. I felt the group worked well together, and we were off to a great start!

Week 2

Trying to maintain a regular reading schedule so I won't fall too far behind  on my reading. I work second-shift from 3-11 every night and have to work weekends every two weeks. Biggest challenge is staying awake at night after I get home from work while reading. This was not working for me in the least. After I get my daughter around and ready for school, it is approximately 8:45. The way I see it, I have 3.5-4.0 hours of productive time for my studies. Time to clear myself of distraction and learn better time management skills. I am struggling with time management.

Week 3

I am now fully aware that I need to dedicate at least an hour a day to my group activities, so as not to play catch up. We are doing our first group volunteer at the multicultural event this Saturday. I am looking forward to helping set up the event and interacting with the members of the group. The more I am writing in this blog, the more comfortable it is. I view it as a "message in a bottle". Throwing my thoughts out to cyber space. 

Toolkit 3.1, 4.1, 5.1

Toolkit Activity 3.1 Generations at work

I belong in the Gen X category
40 years

1. What is the preferred length of a workday and the number of days worked per week?

I prefer to work 8 hours a day, Monday thru Friday 9:00am-5:00pm. 

2. Are you interested in flexible working hours? Working from home? Why or why not?

Flexible hours do not work well for me because of having two small children in daycare and school. Being on a regular schedule helps with managing my professional and family life. Working from home would be difficult. There would be so many distractions that may take you away from work. I would have to possess excellent time management skills.

3. Do you multitask  (do more than one thing at once) ?

I multitask and have no problems multitasking while in the workplace. It helps to be flexible and understand that multiple distractions occur.

4. What frequency and form of team meetings do you prefer?

I prefer small team meetings on a weekly basis.

5. What leadership style do you prefer? Why?

I like the transformation leadership style.   It inspires motivation while treating everyone as an individual.

6. What organizational rewards are meaningful to you? Why?

Organizational respect is the most meaningful to me. Of course, more pay is a close second.

7. How important is a balance between work and personal life to you? Explain.

Maintaining a balance is tricky between the two. I find it best not to overcompensate in either. Too much in either leads to the other one getting neglected.



Toolkit Activity 4.1 What Do Workers Want From Their Jobs

Promotion in the company - 4
Tactful discipline - 9
Job security - 3
Help with personal problems - 10
Personal loyalty of supervisor - 7
High wages - 5
Full appreciation of work being done - 6
Good working conditions - 2
Feeling of being in on things - 8
Interesting work - 1

1. In comparing the different ratings, what might account for the different opinions between you and your group?

Ratings are subjective and reflect each individual's mind set within the group. Some factors are age, what stage they are in their career, etc.

2. What might be the cause of the supervisor's rankings being so different from the employees?

The supervisor's ranking would differ from the employee's because of their mindset within the company. The supervisor may be well seasoned and has been with the company for a number of years already, thus, potentially ranking job security lower than an employee who is new and out to prove their worth to the company.

3. Do you think the results of this survey would change over time?

Absolutely. Rankings are dynamic and will change with an employee's experience and growth within the company.



Toolkit Activity 5.1 Understanding the Pygmalion Effect

Scenario 1

1. Is the manager communicating high or low expectations to the employee by his or her behavior?

The manager is presenting a daily status report outlining each employee's productivity. This does not communicate the manager's expectations.

2. How do you think the employee(s) will react to the manager's behavior? Choose several adjectives that you believe describe this reaction (e.g. , angry, motivated).

defeated, hostile, complacent, and jubilant

3. If low expectations are being communicated by the manager in the scenario, answer this question: If you were the manager in this scenario and wanted your employee(s) to respond in a positive manner, what would you have done differently?

I would set benchmarks for goals and have an award system in place for those who exceed them first.

4. If high expectations are being communicated by the manager in the scenario, discuss what benefits might result. For the sake of contrast, pretend the manager in the scenario held low expectations for the employee(s). What might that low expectation manager have done in these scenarios, and what would the result be?

The low expectation manager should get on the floor and observe the work habits of his employees. The observations could determine the causes of low productivity and error rates within the production line.

Case Study 5.1 Lombardi's Packers: From Last in the League to the Best Legs in the League

1. How did Lombardi’s actions help change the players’ perceptions of themselves and their abilities?   Coach Lombardi set a clear guideline outlining his expectations for the players and the team. He held everyone accountable for their actions, even the superstars and veterans.  

          

2. The Packers culture was tolerant of losing before Lombardi took over. How might this culture have created a Golem effect?  The coach prior held low expectations for the team which enabled the team to accept and tolerate loss.

3. How did Lombardi’s changes to the team's’ professionalism and physical ability help change the identity the Packers had created for themselves and their team? Coach Lombardi was teaching them how a professional football player should act and feel like. He empowered his players and made them accountable for their actions off and on the field.

4. Lombardi instituted a rule that players could not drink standing at a bar.  While not all players would drink alcohol or visit bars, the actions of those who did would be attributed to the entire team.  What kind of effect is this?  Why is it important to manage perceptions held not only by oneself but also by others?  The primacy effect. Perception is everything within any organization. This is important as your peers will hold you accountable as well, creating strength and unity throughout.