A couple of questions to ponder: How would I describe my leadership style? Do I lead by example? Do I delegate? Do I rule by consensus?
Honestly, I am still honing my leadership style…at least at work anyway. I have only had about a year of direct supervisory experience so I am still learning how best to manage a team. I currently have 3 direct reports but this number is expected to grow over the next couple of months as we build out the department and fill staffing needs. So considering my style and ways to change or improve are important at this point.
Objectively speaking, I’d say my style is a combination of leading by example, delegation and consensus. This may sound as if I’m just covering all bases but with a team as small as mine, I feel the manager must be nimble and flexible in order to make the process work. For instance, I lead by example when it comes to behavior and professionalism. I’ve found that it’s better to guide employees towards the behavior you want them to exhibit when you are actually taking part in it too. Therefore, I make sure to come to work on time, dressed appropriately. On the chance that I am late, I inform everyone and make up my time (even when my boss is not around or doesn’t request me to do so.) By showing my reports that I follow the same rules as they do, a relationship of trust and respect can develop.
I also delegate when appropriate. I didn’t always do this because in the past I believed my way was the best way. But through experience I recognized that ‘there is more than 1 way to skin a cat’ and so I apply that theory and look to delegate tasks to the person with the corresponding skill set. This reduces my stress but also improves efficiency.
Lastly, there are often times when crucial decisions need to be made. Due to the small size of the group it is especially important for everyone to feel heard. Therefore, I will put certain items to a vote or move forward with the group’s consensus versus making the decision independently.
Working in teams: In business and business school, students are often asked to work in teams. What are some of the challenges faced on team projects? What role does communication play with teams? How important is digital communication with teams?
My biggest challenge with team work is time management. Especially at Baruch, some students work full time in addition to full class loads whereas other students do not work at all. This can be challenging when certain members want items completed well in advance, while others won’t have the time to get to an assignment until 2 days before it’s due. Open communication is what saves the group dynamic. Personally, if I know I’m swamped with work and unable to get to a project or meet with my group, I let the members know immediately and also offer alternatives so they know I’m invested in the project. Reliance on digital communication is number 1 for me, but I have been in groups where in person meetings are preferred. In these cases, I usually compromise by meeting at least once before I insist on virtual meetings and email exchanges.
An individual’s approach to leadership must be flexible. Leadership styles must be tailored to the particular situation. It is my preference to lead through collaboration and team building. I feel this to be the best way to garner support for implementation of goals and execution of objectives. The reason being, is a collaborative approach develops buy-in from all parties on an ongoing basis through active engagement. This becomes critical when tasks require the input of many individuals but result in a single goal or outcome.
All of this being said, there are many times when decisions must be made and there are conflicting stand points. It is essential that a true leader is will to be decisive and forego collaboration and consensus. This “tell” based leadership strategy has its place. Overly used, this strategy leads to animosity from followers, but under utilizations leads to the community seeing the leader as weak and indecisive. It is essential for a true leader to be able to adapt to the situation and realize when the “consult” or “tell” strategy is best.
In regard to working in teams at Baruch, I would say the biggest challenge stems from the diversity of the student body. There has been little to no homogeneity in any of the groups I have worked in. Team members are often from different professional backgrounds, cultures and very often from different countries. Speaking the same language, both figuratively and literally, presents a challenge. Often the language used in business means different things in differ industries. It is important to control and limit “jargon” when working within a multi-disciplined group. This is even more important when communicating through email.
Digital communication greatly benefits group collaboration at Baruch. Most of the students within the part-time MBA program are working professionals, and it is nearly impossible to gather the teams to collaborate on group assignments in person. Email and phone present tools for effectively collaboration. They are often not as efficient as face to face interaction, and often there is confusion on final deliverables. However, by interspersing some in-person team meetings, this is effectively eliminated. It is important to note tone and instant feedback from body language and tone are lost in email and text communication. Diligence must be maintained to ensure effective communication
My leadership style is very clearly leadership by example, I have always strived to be the best at what i do, no matter what that is. Doing anything well requires discipline, patience, and the ability and willingness to learn and improve, those are the things that I focus on in everything I do and I have found that the people around me usually recognize and are motivated by, my discipline and drive.
When interacting with my coworkers and peers I have always focused on how I may be able to help them, whether personally or professionally, and I have found that this approach has allowed me to build a lot of credibility and influence. I believe that leaders must first demonstrate their own capability and willingness to add value to their team, this creates the type of team where everyone feels equally commited to the mutual benefit of the whole and eath member of the team.
Teamwork is absolutely essential to success, whether it is the collaboration between two partners (spouses) or a group of coworkers, Aristotle’s assertion that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts always holds true. There are many challenges in groupwork, mostly arising from differences group members’ opinion, ideology, personality, work ethic and more. Effectively addressing these requires open communication between group members, which is essential in establishing roles, responsibilities and expectations of group members.
These days, digital communication allows groups to collaborate remotely and in nearly real time. It is now possible to hold live meetings across the world and connect team members that may be dispersed across many remote locations at one time. This is obviously revolutionary in terms of the timeliness of collaboration and the timely exchange of ideas. Digital communication has definitely increased the scale and scope of team collaboration and made it far more efficient.
ATTENTION: Ms. Hakuta, Messrs. Douglas and Shevorykin –
This is a good exchange. You all do a very good job of explaining your backgrounds in terms of your educations, career experiences, and future objectives. As you know, the purpose of the Communication Blog is to offer students a platform to comment on their performance with class projects and assignments. For many of my students, the blog provides a forum to verbalize their individual concerns.
While your comments can be private and sometimes personal, it is important for you to know that it is intended for instructional use. Specifically, you have a safe environment to say what you want, express your concerns, and receive feedback.
On this point, I will comment on the content and suggest some changes. Since blogs are not as formal as many of the assignments, I will neither edit nor suggest re-writes. If I see recurring errors in grammar, usage, mechanics, spelling, etc., I will make you aware of the problem and expect you to work toward correcting the mistake in future assignments. In these blogs there are several grammar errors which indicate either a failure to proofread or you may not know how to correct the mistake.
Although there are run-on sentences, you all do an adequate job in clarifying your thoughts and reactions. Further, you must pay close attention to number agreement and parallelism. In the future, you should make time to thoroughly proofread each assignment for grammar, structure, and content. By making this a regular practice, you will begin to see dramatic improvement in your work.
Thank you,
Emmett Green