Please read and respond to the attachment.

Note: Only up to 20% of the content in the written response can be quotes from third parties

Assignment Details:

This assignment has 3 parts.

1. What competencies were you able to develop in researching and writing the course Comprehensive Project? How did you leverage knowledge gained in the intellipath assignments (Units 1- 4) in completing the Comprehensive Project? How will these competencies and knowledge support your career advancement in management?
2. Reflecting on the discussions, readings, intellipath content and assignments in this course, what are the most important leader, follower, cultural and situational characteristics that contribute to effective leadership? Why?
3. What role does technology play in the efficacy and influence of leadership in the 21st century?

 Please reply to the presented statement(s) below.

 

Deliverable Length:   250 words (minimum) per reply

 

ONE:

I have learned the different types of leadership styles, how they are used to motivate your followers, learned about the types that do not motivate people in the right way. I believe that there can be success with each leadership style as long as you use them in the right situation and with the job that you do.

 

The knowledge that I have gained from intellipath include; what is leadership, how to motivate and empower change, leadership traits, power, and corruption, the impact of culture on leadership, strategic organizing, cultural diversity, cross-cultural differences, contingency models, managing and resisting change, participative management and change-oriented leadership, ethics and ethical dilemmas confronting leadership, and the sources of influence.

 

This class has helped me to determine the leadership traits and styles that will help me the best in my career. I feel I will be more of a charismatic leader because I am an emotional and empathetic person. I believe that having a good relationship with my co-workers and subordinates are important in a successful career and in personal relationships as well. One of the key elements of a good relationship is strong communication skills and that does not mean just being able to talk but also being able to listen. Trust and respect are another important element in a good relationship, and a good leader will lead by example.

 

The competencies that I have developed are how to motivate, inspire or influence my subordinates are very important traits to have in order to build a good working relationship with your subordinates.

 

One of the competencies that I believe will help me advance my career in management is the learning styles approach to leadership which is the focus on behavior of the leader that helps team members accomplish organizational goals. When you are working in customer service you need to use the people-oriented style where when working in a factory in an assembly line it would be more task-oriented style. Having the knowledge of knowing when to use these traits will help me to be a good leader.

 

I believe that learning change management has helped me to accept change and how to help others accept change in the organization. The knowledge of knowing when to use the four leadership styles of directing, coaching, supporting, and delegating will definitely help my career in management along with good ethical reasoning skills.

 

I believe one of the most important characteristics that is needed is good communication skills. Good communication skills are not just being able to talk but to listen to what is being said. Patience is another skill we need to have to be a good leader along with good critical thinking and ethical reasoning skills. I believe it is important to understand the culture of the organization in order to be an effective leader in your organization. A good leader will be able to consider each situation and react appropriately. I believe that a good leader should also be a good follower because we lead by example.

 

Motivational (charismatic) act as role models to influence their subordinates by actions and behaviors. They have high moral and ethical standards and are dependable. (American Intercontinental University,2020) “They possess high self-confidence and enthusiasm, strong convictions, and excellent communication skills. The model suggests they can influence followers by cultivating their emotional commitment to a vision and a set of shared values and succeeds in a time of crisis.” (American Intercontinental University, 2020) I would like to consider to develop the charismatic leadership style because it helps followers to take action and keeps them motivated to perform at their best and realize their full potential. I like the participating leadership style when working in groups because it makes everyone feel like they are involved in the decisions and it makes them feel important and that their opinions are being heard.

 

Transformational leadership is good to have when the organization has a lot of change going on. They know how to motivate and inspire their subordinates to deal with a changing environment. They are transformed in the areas of emotions, values, ethics, standards, and their long-term goals. Their essence lies mainly in charisma, high levels of consideration and caring for the individual, influences, and intellectual stimulation. The leader is required to recognize the dynamics of their environment and how their own behavior relates to the need of their subordinates. (American Intercontinental University, 2020)

 

Leadership styles vary according to organizational structure, people, environment and tasks. Leaders need to have an open mind, be self-aware, and be inquisitive. I believe that if you use some guidelines you can become a great transformational leader and they can include the following:

 

“Developing a clear, colorful, and realistic vision

Providing a viable strategy for achieving the visionary goal

Conveying a personal conviction and optimism toward goal attainment

Conveying confidence in the team’s/followers’ abilities

Continuing to build team/follower confidence with graduated milestone celebrations

Dramatically exemplifying organizational values

Creating, modifying, or removing cultural forms” (N.A, 1996-2020)

 

 

References:

 

American Intercontinental University, 2020, Unit 4, Management/C-O Leadership, Leadership Models, American Intercontinental University virtual campus, MGT615-2003C-02: https://mycampus.aiu-online.com

 

American Intercontinental University, 2020, Unit 5, What is Leadership, Transformational Leadership, American Intercontinental University virtual campus, MGT615-2003C-02: https://mycampus.aiu-online.com

 

N.A, 1996-2020, Leadership Styles and Methods: Assessing and Improving Your Skills, Fmlink Group, LLC, retrieved from: https://fmlink.com/articles/leadership-styles-and-methods-assessing-and-improving-your-skills/

TWO:

1. The competencies that I was able to develop while creating the final assignment were to find the time and quiet space to do my homework. Everyday I would do a little homework instead of doing it all in one day. That way I can start fresh with new ideas. Between going to work full time, raising three small children, being a wife and friend, and doing household chores, life has been a juggling act and I feel like I do well being busy. I would write notes while reading Intellipath and doing the quizzes to gain my knowledge. That way I can go back and re-read what I wrote to refresh my memory and put that information in my paper. My knowledge has gained quite a lot from my readings and understanding of becoming a better manager/leader. I have learned that what a leader is and different types of leaders/powers and influences. These competencies and knowledge support my career advancement in management made me become a better juggler of responsibilities and how to become a better influence-er to my future co workers and showed me what type of leader I could become.

 

2. To become a leader the characteristics to have an effective leadership you will need is great communication, influence others, accountability, and have great decision making skills to name a few. Without these characteristics, the company will not succeed. Followers, to have a successful workplace need to be open to learning new things, enthusiasm, loyalty, and good work ethic. A follower needs to learn new ideas and create better ideas/plans for the company with strong and dependable work ethic. With a vast culture diversity, we need to make sure, as managers, that peoples needs need to be met and feel comfortable while workings, If not, they will not be successful. Managers need to get to know their staff and know how to handle certain situations and be there for the staff. If there are situations to arise it will be best if the manager knew how to adapt and be flexible with the type of work or staff that are given to them. Then the manager needs to coach and support the staff to a clear goal. These characteristics will help contribute to a effective leadership so that the workplace will run smoothly in any given diverse situation.

 

3. Technology has improved live for many. Technology helps by reaching out to people in a distance, easier, embrace change, and learning. We can embrace new approaches and can build productive teams while all trying to complete a goal. Managers can make sure staff is on task with technology. With the pandemic that we are in today, most people are working from home now, managers can use technology, such as email or zoom meetings to make sure everyone is on the same page. With all the hassles the pandemic brought, technology made life and work life a little more bearable.

THREE:

During the research, there has been a lot of information that has been gained while researching the course comprehensive project. Some information stems from business circumstances, understanding ethical theories, and leadership. Understanding, analyzing, and furthering knowledge on traits by understanding the development of theories into more complex theories that are based not only on innate traits of an individual but also situational circumstances. This information has provided a stepping stone into understanding how to run a business through several different outlets that evolve moralism, ethics, and leadership styles too. One factor that stuck out more than any other is the fact that running a business is more than innate traits as it was thought to be initially.

Understanding how situational circumstances along with leadership styles can determine how effective leadership styles are within businesses or organizations is key. This goes into depth about what makes a leader effective and those things that could make and leader be a complete failure such as focusing on personal wealth and gain over promoting your worth and involving subordinates with the proper channel of authority (Board, 2019). More information was provided on directing, supporting, coaching, and delegating are a part of situational and contingency which has come in handy for the final project (Board, 2019). This source information mostly provided in the book was a door opener and went hand in head with Intelli-Path.

Intelli-Path helps to make connections and provide a more active part in the understanding of the book concerning discussion boards and increased the interactive participation with fellow students. There was information that you had to obtain first through Intelli-Path to fully grasp some concepts and further your knowledge. The information that came in at a clutch moment was the information you needed to complete the final project which could be found in Unit 4. This information was about leadership styles and how they were related to leadership powers such as referent power, expert power, and coaching, just to naming a few (American Intercontinental University, 2020). However, was not all the information that was utilized, understanding the difference between a manager and a leader is crucial and was presented as well. Understanding that managers work more with outside organizations on a macro level and that leaders worked within the organizations, but still, managers had to have leadership qualities was a must retain (American Intercontinental University, 2020). The combination of all three learning avenues provided imperative information into the leadership and ethics of managing.

Reflecting on all the learning materials sets a stronghold and foundation for a concise but effective understanding of how things should work for a person pursuing a career in management. When thinking of a leader and leadership you have to understand that your subordinates or followers are looking for you to have the answers, they need to complete a job successfully (American Intercontinental University, 2020). Being a leader means that you may have to take an unknown risk and be communicative with your subordinates about the actions that are going to take place during a job or at a work location in any position of management. (American Intercontinental University, 2020). The followers want to be sure in the leadership and know they have input at times even when you may not do what they have recommended (American Intercontinental University, 2020). Creating that healthy environment and openness help to keep other things in line such as business ethics and this is addressing the inclusiveness. Making sure that gender discrimination is not taking place that you and your subordinates are not putting the company at risk by disclosing confidential information (Board, 2019). This means fair treatment for people of different ethics backgrounds and speaking out against unjust and unfair treatment any or nationality of people and this includes equal pay (American Intercontinental University, 2020). Making sure that things stay within these guidelines and that everybody has access to information that is within these guidelines has been the cornerstones of the twentieth century.

 

With the world advancing every day and technology at the fingertips of almost everybody in the world ensuring that CEOs, followers, and leaders have information readily available to then for all circumstances is paramount and priority. Technology has helped to increase responds times and when it comes to managerial positions helps them to communicate with external organizations. This could be to discuss new mergers or new alliances, but this along with social media provides implications about a company and its responsibility to the world (Board, 2019). Technology gives people a choice about who they feel they would want to spend either their time or resources with one click of the button and a consumer can view a mission statement or see how actively involved a company, business, or organization is in the community(American Intercontinental University, 2020).  Technology brings other challenges such as, security, privacy, and responsibly using company internet or proxies. One issue that was discussed was the use of company internet for social media uses like Facebook, should employees be allowed to or not (American Intercontinental University, 2020). Here it is obvious the ethical issues and positive use of the internet.

The information provided as opened a new door on how to look at things in business from several different points of view. Understanding what it means to be a manager and leader and how both of these positions will require you to know your roles and play your role accordingly. Focusing on ethics and understand the factors that surround discrimination and the different bills and acts that have been implemented to ensure equality on different levels are all important parts of leadership and ethics in management the principles build the foundation for leadership styles and powers to be effective inside an organization or business. The information that has been gathered still is only a stepping stone to get that firsthand experience and build off the principles learned would be the idea. Revisiting the information learned will be the most effective and idealistic way of utilizing the information learned so you will be prepared, but there was no stone left unturned.

 

American Intercontinental University, (2020). Unit1- 4 Management. American Intercontinental University virtual campus, MGT615-2003C-02: https://mycampus.aiu-online.com

Board, Editorial. Leadership and Ethical Decision Making. Words of Wisdom, LLC, (2019). [American Intercontinental University].