A631.5.4.RB_PALUGODCAROLYN

Ironically yesterday I watched the movie Jobs and today I am being asked to reflect on what it takes to become a successful leader and how successful leaders unlearn some of the habits that got them to the top so they can succeed in their leadership roles.  If you have not watched Jobs, then I can tell you that it is the story of Steve Jobs, one of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time and founder of the company Apple.  Jobs was well known for being a jerk, neurotic, arrogant, cruel and a little bit insane; all qualities that propelled him into technological stardom.  The movie moves us through the many stages of his life from college, to his early endeavors and then to the formation of Apple.  There is one scene in the movie that really stood out.  The scene takes place in his early days when his boss tells him, “You’re good – you’re damn good—but you are an asshole” (as cited by Garber, 2013).  The boss goes on to tell him that he needs to learn to work with other people.  Later on in the movie, we see Jobs speaking with a friend and admitting that he cannot work with other people, At this point I think the switch turns off in Job’s mind, the switch that subdues us into conformity.  From then on he decides he will stop trying to mold himself to society and instead make a new mold.  Jobs is a great case study that represents great leaders who lack in many of the elements that make for a great leader such as interpersonal skills, communication, loyalty, trust, and still went on to become one of the great men of history.  The one great leadership trait that Jobs did embrace purely, and in all its totality, is the passion and vision to change the world.  And he did this with Apple.  

This raises the question, how far should a leader go to reach to achieve their vision or the vision of the company?  Good leaders learn to maintain their balance and drive towards the “vision” while never losing focus of the road that takes them there.  That means awareness of the people who you interact with on that path.  It is about the bridges you create on your road to success, not the loyalty you accumulate.  Loyalty comes from building bridges.

One important characteristic about a good leader is to understand that failure opens doors to opportunities.  It is easy to run a well-oiled machine, but the challenge comes when we have to run a machine in need of repairs or broken.  A leader learns to profit from their mistakes.  Problems are viewed with multiple solutions.  We can take Walt Disney for instance.  He was fired once because "he lacked imagination and had no original idea.” (Truong, 2011).  Disney’s first company went bankrupt.  Every experience is another stepping stone.  A wise leader sees in all directions, past, present and future and anticipates change.

References

Garber, M. (2013, August 16). Jobs's great-man theory of technology. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/08/-i-jobs-i-s-great-man-theory-of-technology/278720/

Truong, L. (2011). 13 business leaders who failed before they succeeded. Retrieved from https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/articles/13-business-leaders-who-failed-before-they-succeeded/

A631.4.4.RB_PALUGODCAROLYN

As Paul Tesluk explains in his video interview, self-managed teams are no longer a rare occurrence in today’s businesses (Insead, n.d.).  Companies are moving towards flatter hierarchies and more decentralized management practices as both Tesluk and Brown conclude (Tesluk, n.d. and Brown, 2011).  I think there are a lot of advantages to self-managed teams and feel this is the route for improved performance in most cases.  I think that moving away from hierarchical team management allows for a more fluid way of working.  Removing the authoritative element gives employees more freedom to individualize their practices and I believe opens the doors for creative and innovative thinking.  Directive or even micro-managed environments stifle creativity which I believe is an important element for organizational growth.  I also feel that in self-managed teams, members feel more personally invested in the goal which increases not only performance but motivation.  When you are directly involved in the decision-making process you also have a higher degree of investment and responsibility in the outcome.  It is as simple as flipping the perspective switch between doing something for someone else and doing it for yourself.  In fact, you could have two teams working towards the same end   result, one team is organized, managed and led by management, while the other is self-managed.  Both teams may have the same objectives, same resources, and even the same talent, but the self-managed team will more likely perform better because they have the perspective of doing it for themselves or in this case, the team.  This type of perspective translates into everything we do in life.  Things are good and bad, depending on how we view them.  The end goal is always the same, but how we choose to arrive there and the state of mind we choose to have makes the difference between failure and success.   

Of course there is the downside to everything.  You cannot have ying without yang and nothing is ever perfect.  There must be synergy and balance as this is nature at its best.  Therefore, self-managed teams are not always the answer to everything.  There will be occasions were the cure-all self-managed team just won’t work.  I found this great article, although it’s outdated from 1994 but amazingly enough, the information in the article is still useful and practical in today’s businesses.  The author, Brian Dumaine, explains that sometimes companies create teams for situations where teams are not needed (Dumaine, 1994).  He explains situations where sometimes a single person will resolve a problem faster whereas a team will just become an obstacle.  Also, you cannot “force” certain individuals into team situations.  Some people are more productive and more creative on their own and will be more beneficial to the company when working alone with minimal management.  When I used to work for an IT firm, we contracted a lot of IT specialists.  They are the epitome of the “lone-wolf” workers that Dumaine explains in his article (1994).  Many of these folks lacked the social skills to work in groups which posed a challenge for me as an account executive.  My job was to make sure that things went smoothly for our clients as well as our contractors who were also employees.  That meant that I had to make sure that our IT contractors played well with others.  This was not always the case and I found myself intervening on many levels because our contractors had a difficult time integrating with the company teams that they were contracted to help.  An added stressor was that 95% of my contractors were Indian and therefore there were culture roadblocks we had to deal with.  A last factor to consider in regards to these ‘team dynamics’ was the length of the projects these contractors were hired to do which could be as short as a few months.  By the time everyone worked out the internal kinks and interpersonal conflicts, the contract was ending.  So to resume, self-managed teams are not always the one-stop solution to organizational evolution.

In the end, I think that self-managed teams are a very effective tool that companies can adopt for growth and success but they have to be formed and integrated properly.  Dumaine points out some very important factors to consider when forming teams (1994).  Here are the main takeaways from his article (Dumaine, 1994):

a) “Use the right team for the right job”.  Don’t just form teams haphazardly, instead think about the skills needed, the project at hand, types of personalities needed to make the teams work and type of team.  Will it be a problem-solving team? A product-development team? A virtual team?  

b) “You can’t have teams without trust”.  This takeaway needs no explanation.  Individuals who are working so closely together need to know that they can count on each other.

d)  “Tackle the people-issues head on”.  Clashing personalities and interpersonal conflicts need to be addressed first off.  This is where intergroup team-building sessions come into play.

Tesluk (n.d.) explains the difficulties of teaching teams how to lead themselves.  He describes it as walking a balancing beam.  His analogy makes me visualize someone walking on a balancing beam while someone holds their hand.  The balancing and the work is done by the individual on the beam, the other person is only guiding and supporting that person and ready to catch them if they fall.  I think this is a good way of looking at how external managers lead self-managed teams.  Tesluk also points out the importance of being an inspiring force and role model.  Our energy, excitement and way of behaving as leaders influence those we lead.  If you inspire trust in your team members, they will be more likely to model themselves after you.  A good external manager knows how to create the mold while giving teams the flexibility and control of filling it however they see fit.

I personally feel that being in a self-managed team would bring out my best qualities.  I also tend to be stifled by authority and become reserved in my opinions.  I like the idea of disclosing information and group communication.  I feel my organization is very hierarchical, and although I see an effort to make us feel equal and valued, the foundation of how my organization is run is more traditional.  I also feel that the geographic factor, of campuses in different countries, makes it difficult to adopt this type of model.  There is too much distance between all our centers and a hierarchical type of management is more convenient and appropriate.

References

Brown, D. R. (2011). An experiential approach to organization development (7th ed.). Retrieved from http://www.coursesmart.com/9780136106906/firstsection

Dumaine, B. (1994, September 5). The trouble with teams. Fortune, 130(5), 86-92. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/ehost/detail?sid=c564a45f-5d66-4860-acd5-245290105e02%40sessionmgr113&vid=1&hid=127&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=bth&AN=9408187554

Insead. (n.d.). Self-managing teams: Debunking the leadership paradox

A631.3.4.RB_PALUGODCAROLYN

Feedback and performance goals are essential components to good management and I think are necessary elements that all individuals should learn to incorporate into their professional and personal lives alike.  Unfortunately, in many professional settings it seems managers are uncomfortable with giving feedback because it means confronting or overly praising an individual (London, 2008).  Without set goals and ways to measure our progress, we are just aimlessly swimming around in an immense and bottomless sea of experiences without purpose.  I know from experience where a person ends up if they don’t know where they’re going as this has been the story of my life.  Although I’m not disappointed with the life I have, I am disappointed that I didn’t set goals for myself and more upset that I didn’t have ambitious mentors that motivated me to aim higher in life.  I’ve always been happy with substandard experiences and just took what came my way instead of questioning if there was something better.  I see these young go-getters who know exactly what they want from life and fight for it and I think that even my generation lacked the fiery impulse that is needed to rise above expectations.  

In regards to Brown’s observations of generational differences when it comes to giving and receiving feedback, I can definitely agree that there is an observable difference in the attitudes of these different generations.  Baby-boomers have been characterized as people who are leaders that understand the integrity and worth that comes with  hard-work.  Yang and Guy elaborate that “they are a special generation capable of changing the world, have equated work with self-worth, contribution and personal fulfillment” (as cited by Tolbize, 2008, p. 2).  This type of attitude also lends itself to a high level of pride, which makes it difficult to accept feedback (especially if negative) since this would admit that they need improvement or have made a mistake.  Tolbize explains, because of their high level of confidence in completing tasks, that too much feedback may be taken as insulting (p. 3).  Although she does go on to say that they are very goal-oriented, they are careful not to step on anyone’s toes and prefer to avoid conflict.  This may have a lot to do with the respect they have for authority.  Also, their sense of self-entitlement may lead them to resist asking for feedback as well, since they believe that they should know what they are doing, and asking for feedback could come across as a sign of weakness.  As far as the Generation X group, Tolbize agrees with Brown in that this generation is more comfortable with feedback.  Part of this is attributed to the Gen X being raised in an era of computers and games where immediate feedback is common. This is also a generation that is not afraid of authority figures and therefore may not feel threatened by feedback.  In addition, this generation values “continuous learning and skill development” which may further explain why they welcome constructive and critical feedback (Tolbize, 2008, p. 4).

Although most of my jobs have included some type of performance monitoring and evaluation, my current organization is very good at managing this.  We have yearly performance evaluations and also we work with our direct supervisors in creating our own personal goals.  The goals are discussed between me and my director and then sent to headquarters for final approval.  Every year during our evaluation, we have to review our previous goals and explain whether they were met or not and how we could have improved.  Our directors also assist us by providing feedback and even documentation that supports our performance goals.  In my case they can be emails from students or instructors that support my performance. 

I have found my performance goal-setting sessions and yearly evaluations to be extremely helpful in keeping me on track and becoming more adept at my profession.  My director and I have even decided to keep a copy of our goals taped on our wall as a constant reminder of what we want to accomplish that year.  This new habit is refreshing and helps us to stay focused and not get lost in the daily tasks of our administrative work.  I’ve reviewed my goals for the past 4 years and can honestly say that I have made progress.  I feel that the most important element of my success has been the ability to contribute in the goal-setting process and have a significant voice in my objectives and how to achieve them.  Brown explains that being involved in the process creates a higher likelihood to succeed and I definitely feel this has been the case (2011).  Another important element of the performance evaluations, and something our directors have been advised to be careful with, is to not inflate positive feedback.  It has been in our experience that directors that have an especially close and positive relationship with their employees, tend to inflate their performance evaluations.  The problem with this is that it does not create realistic comparison between employees from different centers and therefore is not fair to the employees who are getting realistic, fair and unbiased performance feedback.  This is why, all performance evaluations have to go through our headquarters and directors have to justify any feedback that is above average with documentation.  

My takeaway from this assignment is that, in addition to performance goals and feedback being necessary for personal and professional growth, more importantly, it must be specific and significant.   It’s not enough to just set goals as it is to set goals that make a difference in the future.  Thought and purpose must be taken when thinking about what we want to achieve and how we convey feedback to another individual.  Without thought and purpose, goals are just objectives without a measurable end and feedback are just empty words without any significance.

References

Brown, D. R. (2011). An experiential approach to organization development (7th ed.). Retrieved  from http://www.coursesmart.com/9780136106906/firstsection

London, M. (2008). Job feedback: Giving, seeking, and using feedback for performance improvement (2 ed.). [Google Scholar]. Retrieved from http://books.google.es/books?hl=en&lr=&id=xhKDnSIGdlYC&oi=fnd&pg=PT12&dq=%22feedback%22+and+%22performance+goals%22&ots=oNm1bee6m-&sig=UssoAloMIE_Yy1GOalB7aOi4bfs#v=onepage&q=%22feedback%22%20and%20%22performance%20goals%22&f=false


Tolbize, A. (2008). Generational differences in the workplace. Unpublished manuscript. Retrieved from http://rtc3.umn.edu/docs/2_