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.
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