MSLD 641 Module 5 - Intentional Change Theory at the Team Level

Intentional Change Theory (ICT) at the Team Level

            Group development and transformation take place based on multi-fractal interaction; intentionality; and positive emotion, as follow (Akrivou, Boyatzis & McLeod, 2006):

1. Intentionality and shared ideals are the drivers of change and group transformation.
2. Positive emotion becomes critical for intentional group development, alternating activation of positive and negative emotional attractors (PEA and NEA), with PEA being the emotional anchor and NEA seen as functional to change.
3. Iterations must be grounded in positive emotion, enhancing the group’s conscious awareness, or mindfulness, the salience, as well as the coherence of its ideal.

To analyze the content of ICT in teams, Olympic US Women’s Soccer team and United States’ men’s basketball will be used as illustration.

            The US women’s soccer team has been an international force since the FIFA Women’s World Cup began in 1991 (The Washington Post, 2019). According to Klenke (2011), contact sport is not, socially speaking, a women’s strength. Women, to get to show their value in soccer and a to get chance to be in the spotlight, needed to strongly fight for it. This is the first reason, I believe, women soccer in the US succeeded in the past years. They had a positive vision of their shared ideal self, as a group, which was a driver for change and transformation. Their desire for equality in the field is a driver to this day (Spiggle, 2020). However, the team was aware of the reality and the challenges up ahead. They did not neglect the NEA. Negativity had its functionality purpose on the team, pushing them to their ideal, which was still grounded in the PEA. (Akrivou, Boyatzis & McLeod, 2006). Moran (2015) and Burke (2019) highlight the team’s perseverance, resilience, tuned to opportunity, humbleness, and hope as leadership lessons from US Women’s Soccer team, which goes in liaise wit Akrivou, Boyatzis and McLeod (2006) components of ICT in a team level.

            Another point important to make is that transformation at the group level can be catalyzed and facilitated by (1) formal or informal positive emotional leadership in the group, and (2) interaction on other fractions of the complex systems (Akrivou, Boyatzis & McLeod, 2006). This team has been influenced by former players, active players, coaches, as stated by Lisi (2010), apart from communities with the same beliefs and ideals, brands linked with the public tendencies, media, government support, so forth. All these factors contributed to the US Women’s soccer team performance along all these years, being considered a quite young group (independent of individualities), comparing with the US Men’s Basketball team.

            The latter has created high hopes, due to its media attention and previous performances. For the purpose of this paper, let me just consider the Olympics. Until the year 2000, the US Men’s Basketball team has won 11 Olympics, out of 14 (USAB, 2016). Chang (2016) lists the US point differential to show the team’s performance independent of winning. In 2000 the team won a gold medal, but its differential was in decline. 2004 was the worst year for the team, taking home a bronze medal (low profile for the “Dream Team”) and with the worst point differential in history. Grounding the analysis in ICT, the main reasons I believe the US Men’s Basketball Team did poorly in 2000 and 2004 were (Maisonet, 2017):

1. The disconnect/ dissonance between leaders and players and leaders with leaders.
2. The lack of union (shared ideal self) of the entire team.
3. The gap between the experiences between coaches and players.
4. The large gap between reality (real self) and vision (ideal self).
5. The lack of a learning agenda with time to experiment, as players were not used to playing together.
6. The negative tone/ approach from leaders to get results by threatening “motivators”

             Desired, sustainable change within the team occurs through the cyclical iteration of the group (Akrivou, Boyatzis & McLeod, 2006). While the US Women Soccer team intentionally self-developed, based on sustainability aiming the long run and having a higher purpose than just scores, the Us Men’s Basketball team was like boiling frogs, not seeing the warning signs, comfortable in their past and their illusion of the future, maintaining its status lacking awareness in the present. While all five components of ICT and prescription of group development, listed by the authors, were present in the former team, the same components were absent in the latter. 

References

Akrivou, K., Boyatzis, R. E., & McLeod, P. L. (2006). The evolving group: towards a prescriptive theory of intentional group development. Journal of Management Development 25(7), 689-706. doi: 10.1108/02621710610678490

Burke, K. (2019). 5 Lessons on leadership from the U.S. women's soccer team's second world cup Win. Retrieved from https://www.inc.com/katie-burke/5-lessons-on-leadership-from-us-womens-soccer-teams-second-world-cup-win.html

Chang, A. (2016). One simple reason the USA men's basketball team is struggling. Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/rio-olympics-explainers/2016/8/19/12524532/team-usa-basketball-struggle

Klenke, K. (2011). Women in leadership: Contextual dynamics and boundaries. Midlothian, VA: Emerald Publishing

Lisi, C. (2010). The U.S. Women’s Soccer team an American success story. Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press.

Maisonet, E. (2017). The Miseducation of the 2004 U.S. Men's Olympic Basketball Team. Retrieved from https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2731575-the-miseducation-of-the-2004-us-mens-olympic-basketball-team

Moran, G. (2015). 6 leadership lessons from the U.S. women’s soccer team. Retrieved from https://www.fastcompany.com/3048231/6-leadership-lessons-from-the-us-womens-soccer-team

Spiggle. T. (2020). U.S. women’s soccer suffers setback in fight for equal pay.

Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomspiggle/2020/05/12/us-womens-soccer-suffers-setback-in-fight-for-equal-pay/#25d4cdc06107

USAB (2016). Men's Olympic games all-time results & standings. Retrieved from https://www.usab.com/history/national-team-mens/mens-olympic-games-all-time-results-standings.aspx

The Washington Post. (2019). The USWNT’s World Cup history: Eight tournaments, four titles. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/sports/soccer/usa-women-world-cup-history/

MSLD 641 Module 4 - Tipping Points of Emotional Intelligence

Tipping Points of Emotional Intelligence

           How emotions impact one's professional life is often underestimated. Emotional intelligence (EI) accounts for 85 to 90 percent of the difference between outstanding and average leaders (Boyatzis & McKee, 2005). Cognitive intelligence might be crucial in the workforce, specifically those related to specialized areas in which expertise is the foundation of the business. What if often neglected in how emotional intelligence impacts people in leadership positions. 

           To have a deeper understanding of EI in leadership it is necessary to look at it through the lens of competencies. Emotional intelligently speaking, competencies are the underlying characteristics of the person that led to or caused effective or superior performance (Boyatzis, 1982). It is defined as different sets of behavior organized around an underlying construct called the intent (Boyatzis, 2009). Cognitive and emotional intelligence competencies influence performance, however, 93% of the competencies predicting performance are from the emotional intelligence clusters (Boyatzis, 2006).

           Competencies have been shown to differentiate outstanding managers and leaders from their not so effective counterparts. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify which competencies are necessary for outstanding performance and to analyze the tipping point of these competencies, which is to examine how much of the competency is sufficient for outstanding performance (Boyatzis, 2006). Boyatzis (2011), in research about tipping point and its influence on leadership performance, listed the following EI competencies for analysis: initiative, planning, achievement orientation, self-confidence, taking a risky stand, self-control, adaptability, conscientiousness, values learning, oral presentations, networking, leadership, coaching, empathy, influence, facilitates learning, and distinguishes the firm’s reputation and resources. 

           There are instances where I have experienced a tipping point at my current organization. Using Boyatzis's (2011) list as a reference, follow below the competencies in my examples, which are among the competencies which have shown a significant impact in the financial performance, based in the mentioned research. For the purpose of this reflection, I will mention how positive or negative emotional attractors (PEA and NEA) played a role in them.

Valuing Learning 

           There was not one specific situation, but a continuous process of learning. It is not common in my department for employees, at any rank, to voluntarily look for self-development and learning, as it does not have a direct impact on promotions. Despite this tendency, I registered for my master’s degree, attended all the workshops available for my department, all webinars related to leadership (which involves my rank), and registered for e-learnings (including LinkedIn learning, which has a partnership with my organization).

           The result of that is my close relationship with my manager to discuss the topics I learn, our exchange of knowledge, and what I believe was one point of influence on her recommending me for a promotion opened a few months ago, which had a tight competition. In the current situation of expected lay-offs, my manager contacted me and informed me if performance criteria would be taken place for the layoffs, I should not concern, as apart of duty performance, my off duty competencies would count in my favor. 

           In regards to the PEA, I believe that my social skills and my relationship with my manager as an outcome of my ongoing learning, and my engagement with her in a positive way, focused on a positive outcome of the future, is what influenced me to experience a tipping point on valuing learning. There is nothing I would have done differently, apart from developing a journal of all my learning outcomes and sharing regularly with my manager.

Influencing and Distinguishing the Firm’s Reputation and Resources 

           A few months ago, I experience a suspect theft on board, where a customer crossed to a different cabin and took the premium perfumes from the business class cabin, which on that day, I was in charge. My onboard manager was the first one to notice and delegated me to solve the issue, although I was not in charge of the customer’s cabin. After a long process of decision making between me and the manager, security procedures to follow, and challenging communication I had with the customer, the theft was confirmed, and the perfumes returned.

           Then it was time to decide what to do with that information. I asked for a meeting in the cockpit, with the pilots, the manager, and the other supervisor, so we could, in collaboration, find the best outcome. We called the network control officer, who gave three alternatives. Thinking about the company’s reputation and resources, I influenced my peers to decide on calling security on arrivals, to meet the airplane and deal with the customers (thief and complier). My thinking was in the long term, and the consequences of letting the situation go with no further actions towards the customers. With this action, I believe I passed a message to those customers (and perhaps to their counterparts) that taking items from different cabins, designated to remain onboard is not acceptable.

In regard to the company reputation, I believe with this decision a message was passed of how my organization takes security measures seriously, independent of the explicit consequences, the monetary value involved, and the short-term negative impact of strict decisions. In the influence competency, I involved all parts, listened to opinions, discussed possible impacts of the decision, and using this collaboration as a resource, I critically though and together, me and the onboard leadership team, reached a decision, which was ultimately passed to me to decide, as I was the one directly involved with the incident.

           Regarding the attractors, I believe NEA played a role when communicating with customers. I believe a created a defensive posture by imposing assumptions based on the information I had at hand (which was not known for the customers yet). I tried to be open and give the chance to resolve it with no further consequences, but after I noticed resistance and lies, I pushed perhaps harder than I should get the confirmation of the theft. It took a toll on the communication flow, as it turned from solving a simple situation, into a threat of accusation, to finally, get the outcome I wanted. Because of this defensiveness, the entire process took three hours. On the other hand, with my peers, I believe the PEA played a role, through engagement and genuine care about other’s opinion.

           Learning about competencies increases my awareness of EI. As it is a broad subject, it becomes hard to accurately measure and understand it, but studying it through the competency lens, it becomes clearer why EI has such a significant impact on leadership. Through this reflection and the materials studied, I hope to enhance my self-awareness, sharpen my self-management and social skills, and improve my relationship, now based on a deeper understanding of the topic.

References

Boyatzis, R.E. (1982). The competent manager: a model for effective performance. New York: John Wiley and Sons

Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2005). Resonant leadership. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press

Boyatzis, R.E. (2006). Using tipping points of emotional intelligence and cognitive competencies to predict financial performance of leaders. Psicothema, 18, 124-131.

Boyatzis, R. E. (2009). Competencies as a behavioral approach to emotional intelligence. Journal of Management Development, 28(9), 749-770

Boyatzis, R.E. (2011). Neuroscience and leadership: the promise of insights. Ivey Business Journal. Retrieved from https://iveybusinessjournal.com/publication/neuroscience-and-leadership-the-promise-of-insights/

MSLD 641 Module 3 - Emotional Intelligence: Getting Results!

Emotional Intelligence: Getting Results!

           Psychologist David McClelland found that leaders with strengths in emotional intelligence (EI) competencies are more effective than those who lack them. Unlikely cognitive intelligence, it can be learned at any age, over time, with practice, and with a good dose of self-awareness and reframed behaviors. Emotional intelligence covers four domains/dimensions (Boyatzis & McKee, 2005; Big Think, 2017; Daniel Goleman, 2000). Below follow how they apply to me as a human and social being, along with which ones represent my strengths and the ones I need to develop, also including their impact on my performance.

1. Self-awareness

I started practicing self-awareness in 2016 when I registered to major my master’s degree. As I have weekly self-reflection activities as part of my studies, it pushed me to internally analyze myself, reflect upon it, link with real experiences I have had, therefore increasing my awareness about the source of my behaviors. During regular performance reviews in my company, one of the competencies discussed with my manager, based on work experiences, is self-awareness, especially with accurate self-assessment and self-confidence. It is also a competency analyzed for promotion in my current organization, as I have been through in February. I have been taken self-awareness tests to understand traits of my personality, and how I perceive myself, which have been helping me and all my relationships immensely.

I believe self-awareness to be a dimension I strongly need development. I am often self-aware of my emotions, but I often fail at the speed of self-assessment. It impacts me daily, as I supervise teams of up to eight employees, and I work in the front line with customer service. Dealing, engaging, and interacting with people along all my working days requires me to be aware of my motivations and the resources of my attitudes, as it directly influences the effectiveness of my decision-making process, especially in times of intense emotion. 

By increasing self-awareness, I can possibly neutralize my emotional state to make rational and impartial decisions, in emergency onboard situations, for instance. When serious safety, security, or medical situations arises, suppressing emotions becomes crucial. This is not to say that suppressing emotions is something positive, however, there are situations, usually professional ones (especially in aviation), that subduing them is the key to the success of the outcome.

2. Self-management

This is my weakest EI dimension. As mentioned before, I lack speed on self-assessment, and this leads me to fail when controlling my emotions before acting. In emergency situations, when I am at the leading role (especially on incidents with little time to think), for some reason I can shut my emotions, as it does not exist. However, if I do not have control over the situation, then emotion kicks in. I feel like it is a survival mode I am in because based on my background (both regional and family) I am very affectionate, and I am usually driven by emotion. It changed a lot after working for complex organizations and taking leadership roles on all of them, but it is a journey I am in. My goal is to be able to recognize emotions fast enough to control its influence on my reactions in any type of situation.

Self-management itself has a high impact on an adults’ life. I believe this dimension sharpness is what mainly differentiates a person with emotional maturity or not. I recall a time I have been operating a flight, at 37.000 ft altitude, and the pressurization system failed, to eventually losing all artificial pressure from the cabin. To avoid a catastrophe, the pilots needed to perform a rapid descent to 8000 within what felt a minute. From the beginning of the incident to touching down, it took 90 minutes. Throughout this time, several things happened which turned into an emotional roller coaster for me. As initially, I did not know what was happening, simply being asked to sit down immediately, I felt uncertainty. 

When I realized the plane was diving like a bird, I was afraid, as I still did not know what was happening, so I froze. After reaching 8000ft the pilots briefed the crew members about the incident. Gaining knowledge and seeing my team breaking down in fear, I ignored all my emotions. Instruction from the cockpit went on and on, changing constantly until the decision was made to burn fuel and return to origin. This was my highest point because I am good at shutting emotions in stressful environments. 

I delegated tasks, coordinated with other leaders onboard, attended medical cases, reassured panicking passengers, confirmed the cabin was secured, and after landing, completed all tasks on the ground as per SOPs as more time was available and I wanted to minimize the workload for the teams taking over that plane. I dealt with more medical cases upon landing, wrote several reports, stayed in the office assisting my online manager on general reports, all without giving any attention to my “emotional roller coaster”.

Although it does not look like to me after reading this post, my self-management is my weakest point, as its strength is just present in very specific situations. Overall, I try to suppress my emotions or to consider them maturely, but usually, I fail. This is a good example of my inconsistency. During the rapid descent, when it crossed my mind we could be crashing nose down in the ocean, my heart rate was high and I was dizzy (to this day I am not sure if due to hypoxia or intense fear), and after reaching home I could not see the company’s name, pick up the phone to attend the office’s call, neither I could brush off the idea that I could die in a blink of an eye.

3. Social awareness (involving empathy)

Upon reading the capabilities that social awareness covers, I believed it to be my second strongest dimension in EI, although I do not master it (Boyatzis & McKee, 2005). Regarding organizational and service awareness, I mainly on top of my game. I read the current decisions, try to understand, or consider the politics at the organizational level, and I often juggle well with organizational, followers, and clients' needs. 

When it comes to empathy I can sense (feel) when someone is disinterested, aloof, and unsympathetic, but I often fail on breaking the emotional barrier and get to know more, as if I am invading their emotional privacy. With this freezing reaction, I fail to understand perspectives and unfortunately, I show a lack of active interest, although I feel exactly the opposite. The times I decide to break this barrier I am genuinely interested in people’s concern and to understand where their behaviors come from.

At work, because of my “problem-solving” mind, sometimes I interrelate empathy with sympathy, which is another point I fall short. I remember a specific time when I had a four sectors journey, and my team was excellent, apart from one new employee which was completely lost and slow, to a level I have never witnessed before in new staff. I have noticed the team mocking her on her back, and some of the members annoyed with the impact in the workload to those more experienced. I needed to gather my team, when the new staff was not present, and guide them on empathy, asking them to think in all possible reasons that could explain why she was behaving that way. I also committed my self to have a thorough conversation with her, and work by her side, along with the team, so the workload would be shared more evenly and I could guide her in more details and hold her accountable. Having empathy for both sides of the “game” was a challenge for me, but it is a great example that reflects my strength when I decide to truly embrace it and show it.

4. Relationship management (involving social skills)

This is, in my perspective, my strongest dimension in EI. In my daily meetings with my team, I link the plans for the day with the organization values, trying to inspire my team in personal customer service, by placing their names on their seat as I change teams every working day. I leave a sweet treat for them to remind how small touches make impacts on customers' emotions, therefore their long-term memory about their experience. Every briefing I start by talking about leadership, and how, in the deep sense of the word, is a choice my team members can make in every situation, and not simply a hierarchical rank in the company. I also develop new team members, by walking with them around the plane, showing details is not seen in training and common shortfalls in the crew community. 

Relationship management is something that impacts me every single and determines the success of my work. For the past six years as a leader in this company, I have never been called in the office to explain something happened in my flight which I was not aware of. Apart from documenting everything happening onboard, through words and actions, I communicate to my followers they have a safe platform to share with me issues and any ad hoc situation. With a communication flow not being interrupted, it is just a matter of consistency, transparency, and team building. 

My organization is constantly changing service and safety procedures. Every time a major change is implemented I carry a folder with me with printed and laminated copies for quick access for the team, and when I need to implement a change, I gather all members together, ask for opinions a suggestion (if possible), define and present the change and support my team as much as possible on its implementation. I foster collaboration by putting people with more experience close by new joiners in the company, I take over my team member if necessary, and I constantly switch role with my employees so they experience my tasks, while I remind myself how it is being in their position.

Conflict management is my weakest capability, not on the management itself, but in the initiative. As I am a conflict avoider, I let it go so many conflicts to allow the emotions to cool down. This applies to the conflict of my followers towards me and among themselves. Although it is working positively on results so far, I do not believe the meaning to end have been always being fair. I can recall a few situations I let it go too long, then team spirit was broken, or one of the members finished the duty drained by the emotional toll it took. 

An important trait in EI is compassion. Although it logically applies to the social domains, compassion, when present in every dimension, enhances its results. While being critical but compassionate with oneself, his or her awareness, and management strengths. Compassion used to understand the people around and to relate to them is key to boost relationships (Goleman, 2007; Halifax, 2010).

References

Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2005). Resonant leadership. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press

Big Think. (2017). Daniel Goleman introduces emotional intelligence. Retrieved from Daniel Goleman Introduces Emotional Intelligence | Big Think

Goleman, D. (2000). Leadership that gets results. Harvard Business Review, 78-90.

Goleman, D. (2007). Why aren’t we more compassionate? Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/daniel_goleman_why_aren_t_we_more_compassionate

Halifax, J. (2010). Compassion and the true meaning of empathy. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/joan_halifax_compassion_and_the_true_meaning_of_empathy

MSLD 641 Module 2 - Am I a Resonant Leader?

Am I a Resonant Leader?

            Most people understand what it takes to be a great leader, technically speaking, but few people understand how to mobilize energy, inspire, motivate and empower other, and to build a resonant culture. Most of what it takes to excel in leadership has to do with vision and relationship with oneself, with others, and for others. Emotional and social intelligence makes the difference and distinguishes a good from a great leader, along with practices of renewal to dribble the sacrifice and power stress (McKee, Boyatzis & Johnston, 2008).

                The biggest surprise I discovered about myself while trying to figure out if I am a resonant leader, is the consistency of each resonance dimension. For instance, I find myself inspirational but not always, and the techniques I use sometimes fall short, as people feel inspired through different channels and tools. When it comes to positive emotional tone, I am overall positive and hear that quite often from my followers and leaders, but I fail sometimes when venting about something I faced as if I need to talk to process and then have a closure in my mind. This approach creates negativity, and although I do it unaware or well-intentioned, I can create a negative tone to my teams.

                I am often connected with others, but rarely I cross the line to really get to know in-depth what is in others’ hearts or minds. I consider my observation skills and situational awareness sharp, but I lack skills to break the barrier and have a more tuned relationship with others in my professional environment, which is not an issue in my personal life. I believe I demonstrate compassion by listening to people (when I decide to cross the line I am not comfortable with) and trying to do whatever is in my control to relieve their pain, but sometimes, with my “problem-solving” mind, I turn into a sympathetic leader instead of an empathetic one (see the difference simplified by RSA, 2013, with an explanation from Brene Brown). The dimension I think I am more consistent with is the tune. Except in stressful one-on-one conversations, in which I struggle with self- awareness, and management, I am quite often tuned with myself, others, and the environment.

            One example I can cite, which I feel I fell short on being inspirational and setting a positive note, happened few months ago, when I was in a room, waiting a new team to arrive for a meeting, and decided to set up the room with motivational quotes, sweet treats, putting people’s name on their seats, standing to receive people and walking around welcoming them. I made small conversations about their country, or greeted them in their native language, when I realized that some people in the room didn’t like it, or ignored. It could be for lack of interest in the job, for some careless attitude commonly present in the workforce in my company, but it made me think that people are driven by different "forces", also that people are skeptical when a leader is too positive, especially in my role. My inconsistency is related to not doing that in every meeting, and just picking random days, as it is a trial initiative.

            Another situation I feel I fell short on not being connected with a follower's heart and mind, happened last year. I could feel something was wrong by his body posture, lack of facial expression and lack of active listening, but instead of sitting down and having a proper conversation to try to understand the source, I just started small conversations to break the ice and to lift the person up. I failed on my goals, since at the end of the day, I was not connected, not tuned, neither compassionate by the follower’s feelings, and my well-intentioned approach did not achieve anything apart for making me a poor skilled leader, afraid of creating a discomfort.

            My examples are mainly related to the relationship management domain of Emotional Intelligence, as shown  by Boyatzis & McKee (2005, p.29). Resonant leaders need to know what inhibits effective individual and team performance, and how to address issues (McKee, Boyatzis & Johnston, 2008). My goal, for the next couple of months, is to develop skills to enhance my ability to lead resonantly.

References

           

Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2005). Resonant leadership. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press

RSA. (2013). Brene Brown on empathy. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Evwgu369Jw

McKee, A., Boyatzis, R., & Johnston, F. (2008). Becoming a resonant leader. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

MSLD 641 Module 1 - What is Great Leadership?

What is Great Leadership?

            Dr. Boyatzis (n.d.), while introducing the concept of effective leadership, gave me refreshing news about my awareness of what effective leadership means. Although not being able to put my concept into words, I reflected on his statements and simplistically I agree that a great leader is the one who inspires me, helping me to manage my emotions and convincing me through emotional arguments.

            Choosing a great leader took me back to 18 years ago. By the age of 16 I was chosen to host a symposium organized by my technical school at the time, two days before the event, as the professor hosting it could not attend due to personal issues. My responsibility was to introduce the event in front of the audience, including introducing speaker by speaker and closing it. I was nervous as I have not prepared in advance, neither have written the script (although I was the one who needed to memorize it). The event would have three successful professionals in the field as speakers (which I needed to be in touch with due to my role) and one of them was well known in town. After the symposium was over the well-known speaker approached me offering a trainee opportunity in one of her companies, stating that she liked my posture, confidence and communication skills.

            I worked with this leader for over a year as trainee. I still remember how she inspired me, initially trusting me based on the potential she saw in me, at such a young age, and then by giving a lot of responsibilities beyond the trainee role I was entitled. She made me feel valued with the “you can do it” approach since the beginning and she had the patience to explain all my duties in details or assigning someone to do so. I was part of social gatherings with all employees, including larger ones involving employees from all her companies. She was inspiring with her positive and “can do” attitude, that by the time she entered a room the “energy” changed. She had the knowledge, connections and integrity, combined with humility, hands-on approach and passion for her job and the people working for her. Years later, already working for another company, she called me to work in some random events with her and on our first meeting, after two years not seeing each other, she shared with me how she neglected for so long her health due to her career, and was by then, focus on life balance. Nowadays she continues to succeed on her career, while engaging in sportive events as a participant and saving time for her family, which shows me what a great leader she is, as a leader of others and herself, as a resonant leader should be (Boyatzis, 2005).

            On the other hand, I had a leader whose I have not had any will of meeting again right after our first encounter, which is exactly what I accomplished although she was my manager for two years. There was a change in management structure in my organization and the teams were regrouped and assigned to different managers. Since that day I was asking for an introduction meeting as the nature of my job does not required regular meetings with managers. After six months I managed to book it, and when I got in her office and mentioned with excitement that finally we got the chance to meet, she busted feeling accused with my words and spent around 10 minutes venting about how overwhelmed she was. I listened, confused and feeling sorry at same time, and when we got to the introduction part (the purpose of the meeting) she started testing my knowledge for a promotion she knew I was preparing for, since we had exchanged some emails. I left her room in shock with her defensiveness, negativity, “threatening” approach and unprofessionalism. I avoided her for two years after that, and eventually there was a restructuring again and I lost touch with her.

            As Dr. Boyatzis (n.d.) says, leadership goes beyond one individual (the leader) to the actual relationship between this individual and the follower. A great leader, according to his research, needs to be less controlling and commanding and have a more inspiring and open approach. Data shows that 70% to 80% of people in management position could be removed with no negative effect on overall performance and productivity.

            Based on Boyatzis (2005) findings, effective leaders move and inspire people, while getting results. Great leaders are aware, awake and attuned to themselves, to others and the world around them, facing any negative or positive situation with empathy, compassion, hope, knowledge and consciousness, while still capable to sustain effectiveness. Self-reflecting on my abilities as a leader, I believe my strengths are related to self and social awareness, as well as passion, commitment and genuine concern for people, but I fail in self-management, empathy (often being sympathetic instead) and renewal.

References

Boyatzis, R. (n.d.) Inspiring leadership through emotional intelligence. Case Western Reserve University. Retrieved from https://www.coursera.org/lecture/emotional-intelligence-leadership/watch-what-is-great-leadership-mX5X3

Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2005). Resonant leadership. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

MSLD 634 Module 9 - A Reflection of Our Learning

A Reflection of Our Learning

The Leadership Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility course expanded my perspective on ethics in every sense and scope. Initially I thought ethics in leadership was either covering a more philosophical approach, or covered legislation related to the corporate world. I got to learn that there is no definite answer for any of the ethical issues, neither a right nor wrong answer. Instead, ethical analysis involves the process of critical thinking and the ability to choose what is less harmful overall taking in consideration a deep and thorough thinking process, from the individual to the societal level (Nosich, 2012; LaFollette, 2007).

One key lesson I have learnt is that having choices is not necessarily a positive aspect in the decision-making process. The train dilemma studied at the begging of the course made me think about the impact that alternatives have on the quality of our decisions. Choices can blind and freeze us. The challenge is often increased when the amount of options is increased, because the ethical issue is not only faced on the consequences of our decisions, but on our decision itself. Often, when it comes to alternatives in complex and sensitive situations, less is more.

Another lesson from the course is based on Kramer’s (2003) article “The Harder They Fall”. The author defends that the higher one climbs, the harder can be (not necessarily is) the fall. This statement has no correlation with risk taking, neither neglect the importance of ambitiousness in the societal, corporate and personal success. It simply alerts the precautions necessary to climb safely to the top and know your grounds when you are there. Blind ambition, aversion for rules and for failure, the prioritization of efficiency over effectiveness, and the down and upward omission to unethical behaviors can lead a individual (as follower and leader), a corporation and even an entire society to drastic and almost irreversible collapse.

Last, but not least, my key take-away from the course is the importance of formally teaching (or touching base on) ethics from a very early age to the highest degrees. The impact the educational institutions have in our behavior is powerful and can be drastic. Including ethics in school and universities can be a challenge but if it involves the inclusion of professionals (in philosophy, psychology, public science, etc.) in the course development, linking the materials with real and ordinary case studies, it can create fruitful impacts (Pavlo, 2014; Podolny, 2009; UW, 2015).

These three examples expanded my views in the individual, professional and societal level, as mentioned, as they illustrate situation on every scope. The presence of ethics in our everyday life, and the ethical impact of our small actions on ordinary daily situations stroke me. I have learnt that I face more ethical issues that I have ever thought. Every single word that comes out from my mouth and every small decision I make can gratefully or drastically impact individuals, my organization and even society as we are all part of it.

References

Kramer, R. M. (2003). The Harder They Fall. Harvard Business Review, 81(10), 58-66.

LaFollette (2007). The Practice of Ethics. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing

Nosich, G. M. (2012). Learning to think things through: A guide to critical thinking across the curriculum (4th edition). Boston, MA: Pearson

Pavlo, W. (2014, January 13). An MBA's Thoughts On Being Taught Ethics. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/walterpavlo/2014/01/13/an-mbas-thoughts-on-being-taught-ethics/#6e7d36476c26

Podolny, J. M. (2009). The Buck Stops (and Starts) at Business School. Harvard Business Review, 86(6), 62-67. 

UW Philosophy for Children (2015). Philosophical Children. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/136588083

MSLD 634 Module 8 - Gun Control: What is the Answer?

Gun Control: What is the Answer?

Often, the gun control issue is faced with only two starting points: support or opposition. With this limited mindset to the issue, we fall in the trap of defending ideas but jeopardizing effective solutions. A broader, but still limited way of thinking about it is the NA, MA and AA consideration, or respectively: no abolition, moderate abolition and absolute abolition. One important reflection is that restriction vary in strength and in content. For instance, the issue and possible solutions surrounds not only on the right to bear, but who owns a gun, how it is obtained, where and how it is stored and carried, so on and so forth, enabling us to have a content approach to the issue (LaFollette, 2007; Farrell, 2018).  

I believe citizens have the right to bear arms, but the context must be taken in consideration as the ones mentioned above, for example. I do not believe it is a solution for violence though, and neither I believe it is necessarily a good idea. The right to bear guns is supported, in the United Stated of America (USA), by second amendment, which says "a well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed"  (Yuhas, 2017; Mervosh, 2020, Cornell Law School, n.d.) . LaFollette (2007), however, says that the right to bear arms is a moral question, not a constitutional one, highlighting the importance of compelling arguments. In this subject matter, for instance, Governor of the State of Virginia is making news headline lately, and people involved are already paying the price of every meaningful and complex change (Mervosh, 2020; Beckett, 2020; Schneider & Vozzella, 2020).

Back to my perspective of arms possession, let’s zoom out take a bigger picture of the issue. Gun control is a complex issue in most of country, and different countries with same approaches have different results, because the context matters. Here follows the background of my thoughts, which I believe must be taken in consideration:

1.      What the law says, in detail? If there is a gap, first this gap must be filled, to allow powerful discussions.

2.      How is the public safety of the country? If the police are not doing their job, citizens will find a way to protect themselves, obeying or not the law.

3.      What is the purpose of bearing a gun? Self-defense, sport, work, selling, etc.

4.      What is the minimum age to buy and bear guns?

5.      How is it stored?

6.      Who runs background checks (federal government, state, city, county, private organizations) and how often? Systems on background checks should be linked, and purchase should be under approval after a detailed analysis. Background should not only be necessary during the time of purchase, but in a regular basis, being part of a regulation to keep a license to bear guns.

7.      How many guns one can have? Which type of guns?

8.      If it is allowed for sports only, dedicated areas (not open and public) should be designated and guns could be the facility’s property.

9.      Arms should be carried or only permitted at home?

10.  Does background checks should involve only criminal backgrounds, or psychological?

Only when these and other important questions are answered, gun control can be discussed with a moral perspective. Rallies as the one planned for 2020 January 20^th, in Richmond, does not only put solutions farther that they already are, but increase the chances of a shift in focus (Schneider & Vozzella, 2020; Mervosh, 2020. There are no effective changes without all parts sacrificing a piece of their believes, pride, money or whatever holds them to an extremist point of view and to an “either or neither” solution. People will keep fighting about guns, while in the meantime others will be using guns to fight. Until a decision is made, one, if not both parts, is using a rhetorical speech in social media, news outlet or streets, instead of using this time and platforms to have a meaningful debate about the subject.

Leaders of militias and public figures, including the President of USA, as stated in Schneider and Vozzella (2020), are so determined on fight for their interests, that they fall in the trap of missing the big picture and jeopardizing their impact in society. While I have no issues with my ideas being opposed, I do not believe that by standing and watching, the mass shooting issue in USA, for instance, will be solved. It takes efforts from all parts and forces, and a piece of all pies. But who is willing to share that piece? Who is willing to get up and move the needle towards the “opposite” side? Until then, the constitution will be the only stable field to step on, the only common ground among us all. Perhaps this, in fact, is the greatest moral issue: defending written words while neglecting human lives.

References

Cornell Law School (n.d.). Second Amendment. Retrieved from https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/second_amendment

Beckett, L. (2020, January 17). Pro-gun activists threaten to kill state lawmaker over bill they misunderstood. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/17/virginia-lee-carter-school-strike-bill-guns

Farrell, D. (2018, July). A Solution to Gun Violence found in US History. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/david_farrell_a_solution_to_gun_violence_found_in_us_history#t-787124


LaFollette (2007). The Practice of Ethics. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing


Mervosh, S. (2020, January 17). What to know about the Virginia Gun Rally. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/17/us/virginia-gun-rally-explainer.html


Schneider, G. S., & Vozzella, L. (2020, January 18). Richmond braces for giant gun rights rally on Monday. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/richmond-braces-for-enormous-gun-rights-rally-monday/2020/01/18/0dc41a76-3702-11ea-9541-9107303481a4_story.html


Yuhas, A. (2017, October 5). The right to bear arms: what does the second amendment really mean? Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/oct/05/second-amendment-right-to-bear-arms-meaning-history