Reflective paper-Effective leadership

Reflective Paper
William Malik Kincheloe
COM425COM425: Communication in Organizations
Instructor: Charles Kaye
Date 08/29/11
Effective Leadership
A leader can be anyone who has a person that is willing to follow their every action, but an effective leader is a person who can get a person to follow them that was reluctant to follow.
Through the use of leadership approaches, traits, procedures and styles we are able to determine a general consensus of qualities effective leadership encompass in order to be effective.
Effective leadership within an organization doesn’t have a strict set of guidelines that you can teach to someone. Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus (1985) suggested, “effective leadership can move organizations from current to future states, create visions of potential for organizations, instill within employees commitment to change, and instill new cultures and strategies in organizations that mobilize and focus energy and resources” (Zalabak 2011 p. 213). Being a leader is something that is a gift and usually known by the individual. A leader in my eyes was someone that was positive, educated and had morals. The book states “the knowledge, sensitivity, skills, and values we bring to particular situations powerfully influence our behavior choices” (Zalabak 2011 p.231). This is true with leaders because when faced with a tough dilemma or situation: A leader will know what the right thing to do and not have to second guess the correct path.
“Most companies do a poor job of spotting and grooming innovative leaders because they don't know what to look for” (Cohn, J., & Moran, J Vol. 28, Iss. 8; pg. 17, 1 pgs). In high school, I was invited to play varsity football as a freshman. This was a very big achievement while attending school because no freshman has ever been invited to play with seniors due to school regulations. One weekend, several football teammates went to a rival schools house party where underage drinking was involved, drug use, and fighting occurred. The police were called and several kids went to jail as a result of this incident. That following Monday the head coach from the my high school held a meeting and discussed what happened over the weekend and issued severe punishments to those for going to jail and partying with cross town rivals. Three captains were kicked off the football team indefinitely and told that they lost their chance to be part of the first freshman class to ever play varsity. I was later called into the office and told that due to the misjudgment of my teammates I would be the only person to play on the varsity team since I was the only person offered to play varsity and did not attend the party. The main thing about my decision not to attend the party is because I knew that there would be underage drinking because this was a fad at all parties during high school. It was more important for me to have the chance to play a high level sport in college and as a result I was able to play football longer than anyone of the guys who were suspended in defiantly due to the blessing of playing football as a freshman.
Leaders that I thought was effective were people such as my youth pastor, my guidance counselor in middle school and the principle of my high school. These people all exhibited effective leadership by the way they carried themselves while at work and home. The book states “those high in anxiety about communication, for example, are less likely to engage in leadership attempts than those lower in communication apprehension” (Zalabak 2011 p.231). Effective leadership within an organization has multiple approaches that can be used in order to determine what is best for the organization. “Leaders help guide individuals, groups, and entire organizations in establishing goals and sustaining action to support goals” (Zalabak 2011 p.212).
There are several prime types of effective leadership such as autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire. The book states “Chief among the style theories is the autocratic-to-democratic continuum first proposed by Ralph White and Ronal Lippitt (1960) Style theories help strengthen leadership behaviors associated with the book. Style approaches help understand the wide spectrum of an effective leader and the techniques used to motivate others. The following theories are ideologies about how to get goals accomplished and becoming an effective leader. The autocratic approach is a single decision maker leaving little regard for outside opinion from followers. Autocratic leaders view followers as a need to keep the business moving fluently with little regard to the employees needs. The book states this approach “led groups to produce more in quantity than democratic led groups: however, the quality of output is better when more democracy is practiced. The autocratic approach would be the best approach when dealing with quantity based rather than quality base in terms of my goal being high production. The second leadership approach is more involved with the followers than the autocratic approach. The democratic approach allows followers to make decisions and become more involved with helping reach the goals of the organization. When the goals are getting accomplished and the follower’s needs are satisfied then the manager is being an effective leader. An example of this leadership is when a coach takes his team to the championship. Democratic leadership occurs when a coach puts the correct team together, beginning with the players the coach allows helping delegate secondary leadership to while playing. The book states” both Democratic leaders, as do autocratic leaders both succeed and fail” (Zalabak 2011 p.216). The next leadership style is the laissez faire approach. This approach is very basic and usually not the most effective approach out of all the approaches.
Laissez leaders depend on the followers to make them deem effective. I have had personal experience with this type of leader and approach. My former employer had a sales manager that was very new to the transportation industry. This sales manager would attend company meetings and give updates on the progress of the company even though he had no clue about the entire operations. One day the president of the company attended a meeting and began asking procedural questions about a specific job to the sales manager. Due to the lack of knowledge about the job the sales manager was fired because while being manager he wanted to be a social butterfly and talk about non related work issues to everyone in the office. Coincidently, the president of the company became the sales manager resulting to an autocratic style of leadership that eventually got the best of him because all the employees staged a rebellion and quit all the day after payday. Effective leaders have different powers associated with their leadership style and approach. John French and Bertram Raven (1968) “gave a now classic description of five power types: legitimate, reward, coercive, referent, and expert. Legitimate power derives from certain roles, titles, or role occupied. Reward power is based on how a leader can influence through rewards in order to get the most from the individual. Coercive power is associated with punishment for not being able to act in accordance with what is expected. Referent power occurs when others choose to use the leader as a reference. This power is not gained but given to from others who are usually the followers. Expert power is used when a leader has specific knowledge concerning the subject or issue at hand. Strategically the ability to help others reach their goals is related to the power bases of a leader. The book states “leadership effectiveness increases by understanding the guiding principles for principled leadership and understanding responsibilities in task, procedural, and interpersonal areas” (Zalabak 2011 p.244).
A leader does not have a set strict of guidelines to adhere by. Through the use of leadership approaches, traits, procedures and styles we are able to determine a general consensus of qualities effective leadership encompass in order to be effective.
Developing and delivering presentations in Organizations In every organization presentations will arise for you to present information. There are three broad types of organizational presentations which are training or educational presentations, informational, and persuasive.
In order to develop and deliver a presentation within an organization it is imperative to know the materials so you can really sell your style of presentation. Within every organization presentations are given in order to render a goal or objective. There are different goals and objectives to each presentation pending on the requirements set forth by the organization. Most presentations are given to a specific audience with the thought of some type of audience interaction or feedback reciprocated via verbal or non verbal. Training presentations help teach others in the organization their job and requirement in order to stay employed. The book states “training/educational presentations teach organizational members their job and people are trained in new processes, interpersonal relations, communication skills or new technologies. I have worked in the transporting business for about nine years and each year our system on the computer is updated with a newer version of the software. The president of the company makes sure that every team member is trained annually, so he has a training day that everyone in the entire office comes in on a Saturday and Sunday to watch the new presentation over the new software. Most of the presentations are all day with a 2 hour break and a thirty minute lunch. The president also makes each individual perform part of the presentation in order to help everyone stay focus and on task. I like going to the presentations because all the information is being given again helping to reinforce the knowledge over the industry which helps increase sells. Educational presentations are longer and require a high level of audience participation in order for the presenter to fully help the audience grasp the concept of what is being taught. The book states educational presentations also include technical writing, basic skill training, interpersonal development and management training.
Informational presentations focus on providing the most current information. These types of presentations assume that the audience is unfamiliar with the topic being presented therefore instead of beginning with the last point of reference instead of beginning with the issue. Persuasive presentations are aimed to influence a decision a certain way while informing the audience of the benefits gained by the influence. This type of presentation is a bit coerced in order to try and get the audience cognitive process to feel the same way the presenter views their topic. The book states “we can enhance the likelihood of a positive response if we consciously think about how to describe ourselves, our intentions, and our concerns” (Zalabak 2011 p.273). These are factors that help enhance the delivery and presentation helping the audience understand what they are watching and listening too. Another key element that will help increase the delivering presentations in organizations is by being fair, providing alternatives, and express concern for values such quality, creativity, and teamwork.
When delivering a presentation it is important to have some idea of what type of audience analysis in order to know if they are understanding what your are presenting. It is generally accepted that the maximum concentration span during a presentation or lecture is between 15 and 20 minutes (Jamie Butler May 2010. pg. 77, 1 pgs). I remember being in speech class and I gave my topic over the benefits of not smoking. Later after class I went for a smoke break and while I was entering the class room again a wise woman said that I must have did not believe in my presentation because I went for a cigarette break after I was finished. This brought to my attention 2 things. First thing I needed to do is pick topics that I actually believe in so that my audience will believe me as well, and second I found out that you don’t give a presentation about not doing a specific thing, then turn around and do the opposite this is considered perpetrating or being fake. Another key element is preparing the material that you are going to present over. The worst presentation is one that the presenter has little knowledge about the topic and as a result they depend on multiple handouts, babble, and stutter profusely. Another key component with delivering a presentation is to prepare for presenting by going over a mock presentation with family members, friends, or sisters and brothers. This will help with the continuity and overall deliverance making the presentation believable and real. The last key component is being able to handle questions from the audience at conclusion of the presentation. This is important because if you only memorized your note cards without actually studying the material then you will appear to have a lack of knowledge about a topic you presented to an audience. The worst feeling is to present a topic and have someone in the audience ask you a question about your presentation then that same person answer your question to see if you really know your material.
In every organization presentations will arise for you to present information. The way you deliver your presentation and how well you know your material will determine the effectiveness of your topic. There are three broad types of organizational presentations which are training or educational presentations, informational, and persuasive.
References

Bennis, W., and B. Nanus. 1985. Leaders: The strategies for taking charge. New York: Harper and Row
Butler, J.. (2010, May). HINTS & TIPS. Training Journal,77. Retrieved August 30, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 2028171671). Cohn, J., & Moran, J.. (2011, August). Choosing Leaders. Leadership Excellence, 28(8), 17. Retrieved August 30, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 2428789771).
French, J., and B. Raven. 1968. The bases of social power. In Group Dynamics, eds. D. Cartwright and A. Zander , 259-268-. New York: Harper and Row
Schockley-Zalabak, P. S. (2012). Fundamentals of organizational communication: Knowledge, sensitivity, skills, values (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc./Allyn & Bacon.
White, R., and R. Lippitt. 1960 Autocracy and democracy: An experimental inquiry. New York: Harper and Row