A633.9.3.RB Polyarchy Reflections_Reyes,Cassandra

Most leadership models have the assumption of oligarchy – leadership is done by a few leaders over many followers. If polyarchy is fast replacing the old oligarchy assumptions does this make these old leadership models redundant?  Reflecting on traditional leadership from the perspective of complex adaptive leadership, address the implications and how they will affect you as a leader in the future.  What impact will they have on your future strategy?

                In my personal opinion I think that polyarchy is replacing oligarchic leadership modules however I believe that while it appears to be happening at a rapid pace, oligarchic leadership will continue to be here a bit longer than some organizations or individuals may want it. This is because there are still some old world leaders who believe in the traditions top down method of leadership. They are not as open to ideas coming from the bottom and are not as welcoming to upward communication.

In order for polyarchy to take place leaders have to open to the ideas of the new revolution and treat their followers as more of an equal than a lower level subordinate. Leaders need to open their eyes to all of the knowledge and skill that a lower level employee can bring to a position and create an atmosphere where those skills are welcomed by their employees instead of seen as a threat. If this was to occur it would allow for workers who are not in management positions to gain the skills necessary to lead teams and gain the proficiency and dexterity to become leaders on their own teams and later prove their leadership aptitude in various other positions in their current organization or another.

The idea of polyarchy affects me as a leader as it has opened my eyes on how to become a better leader with more effective means of teaching my employees and co workers the skills that I have learned over the years and how they can incorporate those skills into their own leadership training. It has also changed me into a believer of effective following and how I can learn to be a better follower and learn various ways of making the importance of followership known across my team so it is welcomed as a competitive edge rather than a disadvantage. I think that my future strategy would be to use all the skills I learned in this class and many others in this degree program as they have all enhanced my learning and leaderships skills in one way or another. The teachings in this course provide a strategic competitive advantage for me to achieve the goals I have set for myself as I am able to see a clearer picture of who it is I want to become and how I deem myself successful.

Cassandra R.

A633.8.3.RB - How Do Coaches Help?_Reyes,Cassandra

As Obolensky states in the text “coaching is a good technique to bridge the divide, as well as move individuals towards level 5 followership.” Coaching as individual assists them to build confidence and resolve issues without the need for supervision and say from upper level management. In my opinion how effectively one is coached can make a huge difference in who the individual later becomes and how they deal with things on a professional level.

Coaching is imperative to a team’s success but more importantly builds a relationship between the coach and the coachee, while motivating the coachee to perform duties and tasks that they may not have thought possible to complete on their own. Coaching is important as it helps to build leaders and strengthens followership. Without coaching, the success of an organization can be at risk as it is a vital aspect to both leadership and strategy. Leaders in an organization should coach their employees to define clear goals and set a specific timeframe to meet those goals. Doing this can ensure that there is little to no confusion for workers. “The goals can be anything from overcoming a problem with personal interactions to achieving a professional objective” (von Hoffman 1999).

I think that one of the issues with coaching is that all too often leaders confuse the difference between managing and coaching which leads to confusion for workers. “Making sure someone achieves certain performance levels is, managing. Helping them handle problems for themselves, is coaching” (James Waldroop 1999). Once a leader understands the difference between the two they are then able to better provide a mission to be completed with specific tactical operations in mind. Even more confusion occurs when a leader is unable to distinguish the difference between mentoring for coaching. When some leaders hear the word coach, they immediately become anxious as to feeling the obligation to build a one on one peer mentoring relationship. Mentoring and coaching are very different. “Mentoring is a long term relationship, while coaching is time limited.  Mentoring has the connotation of bringing up someone in your own image. Coaching doesn't have that” (Waldroop 1999). While coaching should empower workers, it is not a relationship of continuous encouragement. Motivation should stem from the employee. They should already have the drive and determination to get the job done. Coaching just finesses that fortitude and keeps them pushing toward the direction they are already wanting to go.

To me coaching means that there is someone who sees something in you that is willing to take out the time and energy to get you where you want to go. Prior to the restructure that my organization has recently experienced, I had a boss who was very in tune with coaching his team. He did his very best to ensure that we were taking the necessary steps to build for our present but even more for our future. Any time I had questions he would ensure that I did my best to use every resource I had first and come up with some sort of resolution on my own. He would ask me questions, and challenge my thought process. He made me think outside the box and always tried to get me to see the bigger picture. He never just gave me the answers. He expected me to find them myself by opening doors to other individuals; teams and departments that I may have thought were closed.

Due to his coaching diligence, I see myself as a much stronger individual. When I first started, I saw myself as a good worker, however I needed constant positive reinforcement to ensure I was doing a good job. As time has gone on, I no longer need that reinforcement. I am much more confident in my skill and will in completing my assigned duties and tasks and in turn have become more self-reliant. I question things when need be, however I research my answers and have made myself more open to communication and interdepartmental relationships. My boss was a great leader as he was able to challenge me enough so that I was able to see inside myself and really look at the person I was and who I have now come to be. This program has also provided me that self-observation and all the aha moments that life can offer someone. This is what this program and my coach has meant to me. If everyone experienced a change and challenge such as this, I believe that any individual ready and willing to take the time to coach someone could make a huge difference in not just an organization but someone life as well.

Cassandra R.

        References  

Obolensky, N. (2010). Complex adaptive leadership. (1st edition.). London, UK: Gower/Ashgate

von Hoffman, C. (1999). Coaching: The ten killer myths. Harvard Management Update, 4(1), 4.

A633.7.3.RB - Leader Follower Relationship_Reyes,Cassandra

Complete the exercise at the beginning of chapter 10 and use the scoring table at the end to assess your responses. Reflect on what this assessment means in terms of you as a leader and your relationship to your followers.

Has your thinking changed over the course of the past six weeks, if so; why, and, if not; why?

What is the significance of this in the context of your future leadership goals and objectives?-

            Leadership is the art of balancing all acts of collaboration, coaching, empowerment, implementation and control. While traditional leadership in some organizations is very much needed, in most organizations they are a thing of the past as upwards leadership and communication are being seen more and more with today’s generation. As time goes on I believe that upwards communication and leadership will be used more and more as leaders and management begin to realize the quality of the people that are in their organization and the knowledge and skill that they hold and can offer to their team.

            When taking the assessment I did my best to choose answers that I felt would best reflect my leadership style. I noticed quickly during the assessment that most of answers I was choosing contained aspects of upward communication. In each answer I chose I did my best to ensure that I was taking my followers concerns into consideration. I have always felt that a follower should always feel as though they are able to come to their leaders and inform them of any issues they may be having without the fear of consequences. Therefore when answering these questions I felt as though I wanted my followers to know that I cared about their concerns with all aspects of their life including work and home life. I wanted to feel as though I was being helpful to their situations and like they were able to come and speak to me if need be.

            I think that my thoughts on leadership haven’t changed the past six weeks as I have always felt as though there should be more open communication and leadership in all directions in many organizations. I think I have felt this way for quite some time as I have spent a few years in this position and have grown to understand how important it is to include your subordinates on the actions and changes that ultimately will affect them in the long run. I think that leadership has played a major role in my choices and personal actions I have taken to succeed , however prior to this class I never really thought about followership. I think that if anything has changed significantly in the past few weeks, it is how I view followership, not leadership.

            Before this course I knew what it meant to be a good follower; however I never really understood how being an effective follower could show leaders your true potential in being an effective leader as well. While the concepts makes complete sense the more I think about it, I never really put the two together. The material in this course has allowed me to broaden my perspective on followership and to grasp a comprehensive understanding of what true followership is and how I can use it to my advantage.

            The significance of this context is substantial. It is interesting because followership is always looked at as such a bad thing. From childhood, into adolescence and even into adulthood we are told “Be a leader, not a follower.” I think this type of idea stays engrained into our memory and we grow up fighting to maintain our role as a leader in the universe, all the while forgetting and not even fully comprehending how much more we could be and become of we were more effective followers. This class has even made me realize the importance of raising my daughter to understand the difference of the two and how one can complement the other as she grows and learns how to better effectively lead and follow in her own personal experiences. As I move forward I will also keep a keen eye as to how I am following my leaders so they are better able to lead me, which may open more doors for upward leadership in any future position I hold.

Cassandra R. 

A633.6.5.Circle of Leadership_Reyes,Cassandra

Considering all of readings in this module and the learning exercises regarding upward and downward leadership; reflect on the diagram (figure 9.5; p.152) "the vicious circle for leaders".  Does this happen in your organization?  What are the effects on the organization? Create a new circle that would promote strong followership and even leadership at the lower levels of the organization.

            While leaders are important in an organization, it is important for leaders to remember that the effectiveness of their leading also stems from how effectively their followers will follow. Leaders sometimes are so caught up in the act of following that they fail to recognize when they should be listening and allowing their subordinates to lead them. Effective leading goes hand in hand with effective following. The more and more leaders take recognition to this, the more successfully reinforced leadership we will see and the less frustration and confusion will occur when trying to effectively figure out the balance of leading and following a team.

            When looking at the “vicious circle for leaders” I do feel that this occurs in our organization, however I also feel that the cycle occurs more in departments that have less upward communication and leadership than those that do. I also think that the vicious cycle of leaders can occur when there is a miscommunication between the leader and the follower. In some instances I feel as though a follower may ask questions just for verification on something important or significant to their daily duties. Because the leader may not have a full picture of the issue occurring, then they may feel in that instant as though the follower is demonstrating low skill and gets concerned, when in fact the follower has already taken initiative in getting the problem solved and just needs a quick verification of information. I think that minor issues like this can add to the misunderstanding of the vicious cycle of leaders.

            Departments that run with more upward leadership may have fewer issues in regards to the vicious cycle of leaders as there may be more communication between team members and their leaders. The effects of upward leadership are significant as it can lead to effective followers that are able to manage themselves, and who are committed to the organization’s purpose and principle.  Effective leaders are able to lead in their own way by building their competence and focusing their efforts on what actions will have a maximum impact on the organization as a whole. A few qualities of effective followers include courage, honesty, and credibility. When commitment to one’s work is expressed it boosts morale and colleagues are likely to take lead. This can help bridge teams together and build trust and promise amongst coworkers.

            In order for the organization to maintain positive effects on its business both internally and externally effective followership needs to be continually fostered and cultivated.  Leadership and followership should be redefined in a way where stereotypes of each are restructured to break down the unarticulated definitions of their pasts. Expectations of leadership and followership should be experience a transformation of roles and duties in cohesion with the strength, capacity and character of the organizations mission and vision. Once this occurs an organization will maintain better control over the effectiveness of leading and following in their business structure.

            A more effective graph to promote the efficiency of the delegation and cultivation of leadership and followership would include the follower being able to ask for advice without the fear of looking as a low skilled worker. The leader would therefore need not to get concerned, instead they would promote and welcome upward communication allowing the follower to become empowered to lead and make decisions for themselves. Leaders in this scenario would actually take a step back and allow the follower to take lead and even perform leadership duties and responsibilities. The follower’s confidence would then increase instead of decrease which would lead to the follower being more confident to take on more responsibility and managerial behaviors. If a cycle such as this one occurred, I feel as though it could have enormous benefits not just an individual, but a department, a team and an organization as a whole.

Cassandra R.

                                                                   References

Obolensky, N. (2010). Complex adaptive leadership. (1st edition.). London, UK: Gower/Ashgate