A521.9.4.RB_McNerneyLeighAnn

As I move forward into my future I will use what I learned throughout my leadership degree as well as personal experiences along the way to help navigate how I will lead and what kind of leader I will be. In chapter 12 of The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling Stephen Denning discusses several dimensions on becoming an interactive leader. The three dimensions I connected with the most were: The interactive leader works with the world rather than against it, interactive leadership builds on personal integrity and authenticity and the interactive leader doesn’t depend on the possession of hierarchical authority. Each of these dimensions manifests with my personality and style in different ways and I plan on applying them to my future organization when I become a leader one day.

The first dimension I connected with of Denning’s was the interactive leader works with the world rather than against it. This is about reading the world and letting the world do some of the work for me, rather than the use of manipulation and control as this can result in a noncompliant environment which in return will require more work for me as the leader. When I become a leader I will use my ability to tune into my fellow coworkers and get on the same page with them. I am a firm believer in the power of attraction and that positive attracts positive and negative will attract negative, and with that I hold true to the same beliefs when leading. If I want to be in a successful productive environment I need to be upbeat, positive and optimistic. If I can channel this positive energy to accomplish my overall objectives I feel that I will have a more efficient organization. This applies to Denning’s description because as an uplifting leader I will use my positive influence to encourage people to work with me and believe in me from every level of the organization.

The second dimension is an interactive leadership builds on personal integrity and authenticity. For me, this means being able to communicate effectively who I am and what I stand for with others and allowing them to accept me for who I am. More specifically this dimension resonates with me by “doing onto others as you would want them to do to you”. I live by this motto every day. If I want to be heard I will listen, if I want to change something I will make it happen and accept change as it is the inevitable. People will trust me because I will be open, honest and true to my word. As I develop solid relationships based off of my authenticity I will start to receive the same treatment in return. I want to be a transformational leader that can inspire others to identify within me as their leader and create their own objectives within my organization and strive to go the distance along side of me neither behind nor in front of me, and I will reciprocate the same in return for their loyalty.

The third dimension is the interactive leader doesn’t depend on the possession of hierarchical authority. I do not believe in following a strict pecking order. For me, from personal experience upper management does not always know every solution. Sometimes they get stuck in the ‘zoomed in’ mode and forget to ‘zoom out’ and look at the whole picture. A more relaxed hierarchical system seems to me to be more effective than a micromanaged organization. In order to grow and prosper successfully an organization needs boundaries, however too many boundaries and not enough freedom dims the mind and creativity becomes extinct. I plan to have an open door policy for anyone to come in and tell me their thoughts and concerns. Each employee plays a vital role in the organization and having one area start to decline in productivity will create a hiccup throughout the overall chain of operations, and that is why it is important to treat everyone as equals. Every individual will have the ability to voice their ideas and work collectively to accomplish difficult tasks. Having input from all levels of an organization allows a company to remain effective, as all the kinks will be worked out as they arise.

Each of these dimensions Denning’s discusses is very important in developing the kind of leader I will strive to be one day. Learning to work with the world rather than as a force against it, building personal integrity and authenticity and finally leading regardless of hierarchical authority all manifested deeply with whom I am today and who I plan to be tomorrow. As I move forward on my journey to becoming a successful individual I will reflect on personal experiences and my lesson I learned along my way to become an interactive transformational leader.

Denning, S. (2011). The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Dicipline of Buisiness Narrative (Revised and updated edition). San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons/Jossey-Bass

A521.8.4.RB_McNerneyLeighAnn

In chapter 14 of Messages, McKay, Davis and Fanning finally go over a topic I take pride in ‘Making Contact’. I am very good at making contact because I am just very comfortable talking to anyone and everyone. I am usually the first to initiate a conversation with someone new. I find myself drawn to the withdrawn and or shy; sometimes it feels like my sole purpose of attending an event is to help others feel more comfortable. I originally was pursuing to a career to become a psychologist because of my ability to listen to others and make them feel comfortable enough to disclose their personal information that normally wouldn’t happen in an average encounter.

 For example in December of 2011 I was 8 months pregnant at my doctor’s office undergoing my glucose screening when I ran into an older woman in the parking lot. I stopped to open the door for her and she was so grateful since walking with a walker made this very difficult for her. As I opened the door I asked how her day was going thus far and she responded with a not so happy response. Next I asked her if she was ok since seeing her facial expression and uneasiness and that is when she began to disclose her personal information about herself. I found out that she was undergoing a physical and her seeing me brought memories of when she was pregnant many years ago, however she lost her baby due to complications and was unable to get pregnant again. When hearing this I instantly felt a sense of sorrow for her loss and she could feel it too. She smiled at me and told me she was ok. In the five minutes of meeting her over a simple hello she was able to engage with me on a deeper level and in that moment we were able to share a connection. As she walked inside I could tell she felt better talking about a painful memory even though I was a complete stranger and she appreciated my concern for her.

These types of occurrences happen to me often, and that is why I have taken it upon myself to improve the way I communicate with others. In the text the author’s point out many important guidelines that I feel are very effective. Body language is extremely important while communicating. A person can fake a lot of the things they say or do, but body language is a secret language that is hard to fake. If you act uninterested by having your arms folded or looking away the other person will pick this up and feel a sense of rejection. It is very important to have good posture, make eye contact, smile and move towards the other person. These simple gestures make the contact between you and the other person more genuine. I find icebreakers are the easiest way to “break the ice”. If I am ever stuck in a line somewhere such as the DMV I will make a point to converse with someone because it makes the experience more pleasant as the wait times are normally lengthy. If I see a woman I will do a quick scan and find something I like such as her shoes. I will look at her directly and say to her that I like them and the conversation goes from there.

 Once I get a stranger to converse with me I maintain active listening and empathize in any way I can. If they are stressing about something I try to make a joke to lighten the mood. I do anything I can to extend an olive branch and show I am interested in what they have to say. If they self disclose I self disclose back and if I cannot provide a decent example I try and put myself in their shoes and make an educated response.

These different tactics have proven to be very effective in my personal life. I am working on dealing with my rejection better as there are many times people just don’t feel the need to engage with me all the time. Sometimes this leaves me feeling hurt or embarrassed. I made a list of the negative feelings associated with my rejection and two of the main feelings I feel are that I am annoying or stupid. I have replaced these thoughts with positive ones. If I feel stupid I realize I simply forgot the point I was trying to make and I remind myself they have had that happen to them before. If I feel annoying I tell myself that if they are not interested that’s ok and I need to be ok with it too. I will continue to make contact with anyone and everyone throughout the rest of my life regardless of a chance of feeling rejection. I would rather engage with people than feel lonely in a crowd.    

A521.7.4.RB_McNerneyLeighAnn

Working in the restaurant industry through college taught me a lot about life. I learned the true value of a dollar when not getting tipped on a party of forty people, taking up my whole section all night and finishing up that night detailing a nasty wait station all while making less than minimum wage. Then I learned how giving great customer service can earn me a 100% tip. I learned that in order to become successful in life you have to put your time in working for it and that’s exactly what I did. I worked forty plus hours while in four to five college courses every semester, which was at that time in my life the hardest thing I had ever done before. Working there taught me that I was never going to settle making less than minimum wage for the rest of my life; I was going to continue busting my butt to get through college so I could make something of myself. Being who I am, an over achiever, I knew just going through the motions while working there wasn’t enough so I looked for ways to better myself within the job I was working.

While most girls worked their shifts and went home I decided to develop my skills and look beyond my normal duties. When I was hired as a server I had no experience and was thrown out on to the floor to serve on my own after only two days of training. I had no knowledge on how to serve other than the shadowing I did during those two days. I learned the hard way the dos and don’ts of serving. In my pondering to make my job a more meaningful and useful experience I decided to go to my manager and talk about developing a better training system as two days of shadowing didn’t teach me anything. He agreed it was a good idea and told me to present him with a rough draft of what we needed to be in the restaurant’s manual.

I started brainstorming through all my memories of my first few days on my own as a server. I remembered all of the common questions customers would ask me. I reflected on the different menu options and substitutes we were allowed to do although not listed on the menu. I jotted down specific techniques and tips in completing side work efficiently. I also wrote down some helpful tips I felt needed to be relayed to newly trained servers that I wish I would have known. For example I believe it is extremely important to be in tune to all of your customers needs and check on them often in order to prevent them from doing without. I also feel very strongly about drinks running dry so I added in a personal example of how frustrating I feel when I don’t have a drink when I’m still eating to allow them to identify things they could relate too.  

Once all of my notes were compiled I presented to my manager my plan of action in training all new girls better. I advised that in having better trained girls we not only made the customer’s experience so much better, but it kept them coming back for more. When I developed the manual I hit a lot of main points and then elaborated on the importance of customer service. My section was always the most requested every weekend. People at one point were on a list to sit with me which was an amazing feeling! I had great relationships with many of my reoccurring customers and through getting to know them better I was able to network professionally. I developed a lot of great contacts that have been very beneficial now that I am in my current career.

A521.6.3.RB_McNerneyLeighAnn

The Financial Aid Department at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Worldwide is a rather small department consisting of a Director, Manager, Manager of Direct Loans and Verification, Manager of State Grants and Scholarships, International Counselor, Online Counselor, Western Region Counselor, Central Region Counselor and I am the Eastern Region Counselor. We all work together as a team with one objective: to award students the financial aid needed to attend ERAU. There are roughly 6,000 students receiving financial aid for the 2012-2013 academic year and only five counselors handling their requests and that is why it is very important we all work together as a team.

We have a lot of similarities to that of a high-performance team as we all are connected; yet we work interdependently on our specific regions assigned. I feel as though we all are voluntary members as we chose to apply for our positions and invest a lot of time in learning all of the processes and procedures of the financial aid. Financial aid requires us to adjust our performance to the different needs of each individual we deal with. Sometimes we are just packaging their account for the academic year, where other times we are reviewing their personal information because they were selected for a process called verification.

As our team develops over the passing months and years we have grown together and became dependent upon one another. When a counselor is out we all re-group and pick up the counselors work responsibilities. I personally have experienced this type of commitment. While I was out on maternity leave for 12 weeks my fellow team members all collaborated to complete all of my tasks. One team member answered all my emails, while another called all of my students. Every member chipped in to make sure that while I was out my students were taken care of and reassured me to enjoy my time away as they were going to take care of everything. When I returned I only had present day emails, calls and tickets. I was completely caught up because of their willingness to take care of me, as I would do for them. Our relationship with one another is deeper than just as co-workers, we are a family unit working together towards accomplishing our team’s objective to give students financial aid.

We are connected through our shared passion and dedication in growing as a department and as individuals. We all act as each other’s cheerleaders. If one of us fails we all fail with them. We care for one another and want to see everyone succeed at one point or another. Recently our manager of Direct Loans and Verification received an award for ‘going above and beyond’ her normal call of duty. We were all at our annual awards ceremony when she was announced and in front of all Worldwide Headquarters our department was screaming and clapping because of how proud we were for her. We all felt like her award was a demonstration of “our’ accomplishments. She represents us and we all experienced ‘mirror neurons’ as she accepted her award with tears in her eyes. We are a team that lives by the motto “one team one dream”. Our Western Region counselor developed it and since he announced it we all have it written on our dry erase boards to remind us daily.

According to Denning there are four ways in which we as humans work together: Work Groups, Teams, Community and Networks. Each type of relationship has different benefits and challenges which in my opinion can be predicted by the type of project you are working on, different personalities associated with the project and environments they are encountered in.

In my past I have participated within a working group where each of us were assigned our own specific task and reported directly to the supervisor. When I was in high school I was forced to get a part-time job to pay for my own gas and cell phone bill so I applied at a doctors office. I was a jack of all trades meaning I did whatever they needed me to that day I wasn’t really in charge of only completing one task. The positive of working within this working group was I was given my responsibility that day and then left alone to complete it. I wasn’t forced to interact with anyone unless I needed assistance. The challenge of being so independent was that I was very lonely. I felt like the hours would go by slower than molasses dripping from a tree. I hated my job and couldn’t wait to quit.

My current place of employment gives me the opportunity to work as a team and I really enjoy it. We are all very different in our interests and hobbies, however we all share common values such as being helpful, supportive and strive to go above and beyond the normal call of duty. We are more of a family unit, which is the biggest challenge for me. We are so tight knit that we tend to bicker about the stupidest things like a family would. On a positive note we can usually read when one of our team members is having a bad day and re-adjust how we behave towards them for that day.

As a financial aid counselor I am not only apart of the financial aid team I am apart of the ERAU community in that we are a pretty close group of individuals all working towards ERAU goal in recruiting, retaining and graduating our students. As an employee I am able to be around people with common interests such as furthering my education. Employees I work around are currently pursuing their master degree and this is very motivating to me. I feel like since I have started working here I fit in better with my co-workers than I do with my friends at home because at ERAU we all are working towards bettering our students and ourselves. The challenge of being apart of this community is that I develop deep connections with my co-workers but as we all evolve into better employees comes more opportunities to grow and many employees go on and receive better jobs. It is hard when co-workers leave because I am forced to develop new bonds with the new hires.

A network I am apart of would be Facebook. I use Facebook to network and stay in touch with family and friends or potential resources. Although Facebook is a fun sight for many it is also a superficial way of communicating with no deep connection. This type of relationship is a great way to stay up-to-date with what’s going in the world, but it is also serves as a useless way for people to portray a pretend version of themselves. Networking can be beneficial in that you can stay in touch with resources for future opportunities, however if used inappropriately it can also be very harmful to ones self imagine.

For me I would prefer to work as a member of a team within a community like I do now at ERAU.

A521.5.8.RB_McNerneyLeigh

As the Eastern Region Financial Aid Counselor it is my responsibility to award roughly 1,600 financial aid recipients year round. I have around 63 campuses and the numbers are climbing every year. With this tremendous responsibility I have developed my own personal objectives that I would like to accomplish. One objective is to increase my customer service to my students and give them a more personal experience. I value having a better relationship with my students because to me each student is an individual with different aspirations and dreams. Every one of them struggles with their own battles and challenges daily. If a student is applying for financial aid it is not because they want to collect loan debt it’s because they have no other options. These students want to attend college no matter what situation they might be in.

Our students come to us for guidance and help attaining the funds needed to attend college and better themselves. Treating these students as a faceless number or email address really takes a toll on delivering the customer service they deserve, but being in charge of 1,600 plus students makes this objective unattainable as I am only one person and there are only 24 hours in the day. Since we are a Worldwide University we are all over the world. My eastern region campuses start in Florida and travel all the way up to the New Jersey and as far west as Indiana so this makes it impossible to develop the kind of relationship necessary to fulfill all my regions student’s needs.

I was faced with a conflict that arose due to our lack of customer relationships more specifically our lack of delivering better customer service to communicate what information we need from our students. We depend on technology to link the student to us and this can be quite the challenge. A lot of the other departments within the Worldwide Headquarters correspond with student via their personal emails, however with the sensitive documentation the Financial Aid Department is required to use a secured email address to protect our student’s information. This inconsistency presents many challenges and here is one that I experienced most recently.

I had a student that was selected for verification by the Department of Education and we were required to review the student’s federal tax return, a Verification Worksheet and Financial Aid Status form before we could award him financial aid. Since all correspondence was sent to the student’s Ernie email account it was the student’s responsibility to check this email for more information regarding their financial aid account. Well this student was a transfer student unaware of this and was getting frustrated because he felt that the Financial Aid Department was “taking advantage” of our students and not processing any of their requests. He was contacting our call center and not getting through to me, his Financial Aid Counselor, which posed the main problem because he wasn’t getting the information he needed to resolve his issue.

Once he finally reached me he was beyond upset and threatened to quit the University completely because of the lack of service. It took a lot of patients to calm this student down as he was screaming at me for not being able to process his requests. Once he was finished getting everything that was bothering him off of his chest I learned that the student had recently lost his job, was getting divorced and was depending on using his financial aid not only for classes but his living expenses as well. He was behind on rent and basically felt like his whole world was crumbling around him. He didn’t know to check his Ernie email and when he did he didn’t understand what to do because he had never been selected for verification before. My heart went out to him and his struggles. I went out of my way to attend to his financial aid needs and I was able to process his verification within the day, set his awards up and monitored it until his corrections were reviewed by the Department of Education. His financial aid disbursed into his account 5 days later relieving some of his stressors. 

Although I felt a sense of satisfaction in completing this students financial aid requests and I was able to retain him as a student I wasn’t happy that the student that was going through all of that turmoil and on top of that got so upset with the financial aid service he received. As the counselor it is my responsibility to manage the accounts and deliver great customer service and this instance I wasn’t able to until he was almost beyond consolable.

In order to prevent these instances from reoccurring the Director of Financial Aid conducts quarterly training for all of our call service representatives which has reduced many obstacles. We also remind students via technology services that the Financial Aid Department corresponds with students via their Ernie email. We send text alerts to student’s phones, state this on our website and this is also something the campuses are informing the students. Although these ways of communicating have helped, in my opinion the personal customer service is still lacking.

I would like to add a Skype option for our students at all of our campuses. To me this would better develop our communications with students because they could see and hear what we are trying to communicate with them. If I could talk to a student and see them and go through their account this would better serve their needs thus improve our customer service and promote a more personal experience between the students and their counselors. Obviously not every student requires this type of service however for the ones who do it would be available for them to use.

A521.5.1.RB_McNerneyLeighAnn

Working at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has taught me more about myself and what is important to me. The university in itself is a prestigious school giving students the chance to to excel in their programs and graduate with degrees. The education ERAU provides their students gives amazing opportunities to work for large well known organizations worldwide such as the Pentagon or NASA. I feel proud to call myself an Embry-Riddle employee and student because they set the bar high and remain at the top of their game. Embry-Riddle values their students, faculty and staff and motivates us to go above and beyond what is expected of us to accomplish our goals while also accomplishing the universities.

Although I enjoy the opportunities ERAU offers I have found that my current role as a Financial Aid Counselor will be short lived. I am a person with a wild imagination and feel the need to use my creativity daily to feel fulfillment. I love to be outside and I love a sense of adventure. Working an 8am to 5pm job sitting inside cooped up in a cubicle with no windows does not satisfy my needs. I feel like every day I live in a kennel and I use a mouse wheel for exercise. Every morning I wake up dreading going to work because I hate the way I am trapped inside away from the outside world. I am stuck sitting at a computer all day emailing and calling faceless students. I never see the people I am helping and this drives me crazy because I am a people person. At ERAU we are a school focused on handling all of our student’s needs and I enjoy this aspect of the job, however they use distant learning modalities in accomplishing these needs. In order for my values to correspond with ERAU’s I would prefer to actually see our students not just treat them as an email address or phone number. I like people and I like interacting with them every day.   If they could incorporate Skype in the Financial Aid Department I believe the lack of interaction would be less daunting on me. I feel like placing a face with a name or number would enable me to feel like I am dealing with real live individuals.

Work life balance and family life is an extremely important factor in any career I am in whether it be a waitressing job or my current position. I am a very dedicated family oriented person. I will do whatever it takes to take care of my family, but I will not sacrifice unnecessary time away from them. I feel ERAU also has strong values towards developing a work life and family life balance for students and employees. Every year employees are encouraged to bring their children to ‘family day’. This day is specifically tailored to employees with children. Employees bring their kids to work and attend a full day of activities while ‘working’. It is pretty fun from what I have heard and I plan on attending the next one. Also around Christmas they have a Santa Clause that comes to bring employee’s children, grandchildren, nieces or nephew presents that everyone chips in so that every child receives a present. This type of atmosphere is exactly what I am all about. I feel like the family or ERAU is about being a family and living every day with this mentality.  ERAU promotes this balance by also making discounted theme park tickets available to us and we are also given a full week off in December over the Christmas break to use for family time. These values ERAU promotes are exactly aligned with my same values.

ERAU is an organization on the cutting edge of technology and they are all about using technology to become more educated and educate their students. They are very concerned with being the best at everything they engage in and this value is not something I can relate to wholeheartedly. I am not intrigued by technology. I am not interested in adapting the newest software program because I am not really into computers. I would much rather develop a new way to get in touch with our community then learn how to build a robot. Everywhere I turn they are promoting the idea of research and exploration of technology and I just cannot relate. My values are with helping people and solving problems people are facing daily such as communicating better or working as a team.

I value being with people and helping them very much like ERAU does, however I would prefer to do it differently than I am currently practicing. I don’t want to be someone working in a small cubicle alone every day I would rather work in a livelier environment where I see the people I am helping. Embry-Riddle is a place focused on advancing technologically and I am not interested in that aspect. My values are to be mentally challenged not mentally bored and my challenges tend to be specifically with real life problems. I seek adventure and want to explore the world and feel the rush of excitement without compromising my work life balance with my family life. I feel that ERAU is a great place of employment for now, but not forever. I was never someone that was supposed to work inside handling financial aid issues I am supposed to be interacting with people solving problems creatively with flexible hours.

A521.5.4.RB_McNerneyLeighAnn

In an ethical community Denning identifies the three basic components that are necessary for an organization and they are trust, loyalty and solidarity. I am an employee at Embry-Riddle University Worldwide and I work in the Financial Aid Department. We are a team of only eight employees handling roughly 6,000 financial aid recipients yearly. Our Director is a very level headed, logical and organized individual that somehow keeps us running efficiently and happily. We call ourselves the “dream team” and live by the motto “one team one dream”. This idea or objective was imposed through the motivation our Director encourages within his department. He instills the three basic components upon our department every day.

Financial aid is a very private department in that we handle very sensitive documents with student’s personal information. This type of atmosphere requires us to be very trustworthy employees. About 30% of students are selected for a process called verification every academic year where they have to submit certain documentation to be verified before they can receive financial aid. The Department of Education requires us to review student’s federal tax transcripts, w2 statements, household clarification, divorce decrees, child support documentation and military paperwork. Students trust that when they are submitting these documents we are going to follow our process and procedures to complete their verification, which we do. Our Director stresses the importance of trust within our department and leads by example. When anyone in the department has an issue no matter what it might be about we know we can go to him and talk about it and he will keep the conversation private. Having a director that I can trust with anything and everything means more to me than making a higher salary because there is a sense of comfort and ease in our department that other department’s lack. I feel like because he is a trustworthy director we follow this same characteristic and remain trustworthy to our students and fellow coworkers.

Loyalty is an extremely important component in the Financial Aid Department as we are very close with each other. We are more like family then coworkers as we fight  and bicker as a family will, but then the next 10 minutes we are already over it and moving on to the topic at hand. If someone hurts one of us the other 7 coworkers are standing at the hurt coworker’s side ready to defend and protect against whoever caused the pain. This type of loyalty is also demonstrated by our director. I have never been in a situation where I felt like he has turned his back on me. If one of us makes a mistake he will defend us and take the blame and suffer the repercussions before he will ever let one of us receive the brunt of the consequences because that is the type of leader he is. He is loyal and trusts us to perform our job to the best of our ability without micromanaging us. Since we are treated this way we also treat him the same. No one in our organization is unaware of how loyal we are to our director because we make it known that he is the best, even though it really embarrasses him! We go out of our way to inform him and his upper management just how special, caring and hard working he is any chance we get because he deserves it.

The last component necessary according to Denning is solidarity and this is also a part of the theme in the Financial Aid Department. I practice solidarity for students all the time because if I believe I can make a difference for their benefit, I will. Recently I had a student who can be quite a challenge at times because he does not always hear what I am trying to explain to him. Recently he maxed out on all of his undergraduate loans he can receive and he’s a junior. Maxing out on your undergraduate loans as a junior isn’t good because he still has another whole year of schooling before he can graduate and he was using financial aid to pay for all of his classes. The student enrolled in May classes to finish up his junior year unaware that he was going to be required to pay out of pocket and he didn’t call to check on his financial aid until week 6 of the class. This was a very difficult predicament because I couldn’t award him any more Federal Stafford Loans according to the Department of Education, but I wanted to find a way for him to attend school because after talking to him I found him to be a very passionate man in his 50’s trying pursue his dreams. The student informed me that he was disabled and ineligible to receive a private loan because he didn’t work and didn’t have anyone to cosign for him. With all of this information I went to my director knowing I we couldn’t do much, but I wanted to try anything I could even if it meant bending the rules somehow to give him more funding. This was against my personal beliefs however since it meant so much to my student to attend college I had to exhaust my efforts for him. In the end I was able to find him an additional $500.00 dollars in scholarships he qualified for that we applied towards his balance for his May classes. Before ending our conversation we went through the different scholarships he could apply for during his senior year together. I have never felt more satisfied with my job then that day knowing my student didn’t lose hope. I empowered him to fight through this challenge. I reminded him to never to let anything stop him and he was so grateful for that.

The three basic components Denning discusses that are necessary in an ethical community are trust, loyalty and solidarity and these components are all found within my department. I don’t believe we are lacking in any areas except maybe we need more help to handle our tremendous responsibility in serving around 6,000 financial aid students. We are a pretty fortunate bunch of employees to be lucky enough to have a director that can lead by example. We all look to him for guidance in developing into successful leaders ourselves one day.

A521.4.5.GA_McNerneyLeighAnn

Communication is a very difficult task in its self let alone making sure you are communicating how you feel without coming off the wrong way. There are so many things a person needs to be aware of when they are in a professional atmosphere such as their body language, your paralanguage, meta-messages and hidden agendas. In order to become a successful professional you have to learn how to develop a way to deliver a positive message without showing your inner struggles. This can be a very difficult task because most people are unaware that they are communicating in an ineffective way. I have been guilty of saying “I am ok” but giving the opposite message to someone. I have also experienced what it feels like to have someone tell me one thing but their inner message comes out completely different.

My co-worker is a very sweet lady who would probably do anything for you if you needed her; however she would also make you feel like any favor was a complete inconvenience to her. I don’t believe she is aware of her tendencies to treat people this way. For example I came into the Financial Aid Department and took over her region so she was the person assigned by our Director to train me. Through my training she taught me an abundance of information and was very patient with me. We got to know each other very well and developed a great friendship. Now that I am on my own there comes times when I still have questions and must refer back to her for help in learning how to handle these situations. Recently when I have asked for her assistance she has made it very clear that she does not want to assist me with her body language, paralanguage, meta-messaging and hidden agenda.

The other day I asked her to help me with a scholarship questions which is her department as she is now the manager in scholarships and grants and her first reaction was a smile and then she said “well of course doll”, but then as she stood up she slammed her pen at her desk with a force. I knew right there I was annoying her. She then stood over my desk; arms crossed listening to my question. She replied with a very monotone answer that had no rhythm but was straight to the point. I felt stupid for even asking my question, as she stated after answering me with “is that all you needed?” emphasizing on the all. I answered automatically with a pleasant “yes!” feeling like I just ruined her day. Shortly after she returned to her desk she started talking about “how annoying it is when people ask you questions when she is in the middle of doing something”. I knew she was referring to me so I automatically responded with “sorry” and she replied “oh not you doll!” This experience had many incongruent messages that were not matching up with her true inner messages.  

From these experiences I have now made myself more aware of how I react when someone reaches out to me for help. Although I am new I have picked up certain aspects of financial aid that other people still struggle with. My other co-worker frequently asks for my assistance in completing a packaging process as he still struggles with it. When he asks me I always take a minute to reflect on my negatives experiences and react in a much different way. I simply let him know if I can’t jump up at that moment because I am in the middle of something to prevent my message communicating a sense of annoyance for being interrupted. If I am available I roll my chair over to him to make him feel comfortable and relaxed in knowing I am here to help and I will be right next to you at the same level. I keep my arms uncrossed; both legs on the floor and all of my responses are in an encouraging tone. For example in completion of a task I tell him “you’ve got it!” and smile. All of the words are emphasized to show I am very pleased with his results. My volume and articulation of words I use also show my enthusiasm for him. I am not phony in my responses or reactions as I try to focus at the task at hand and put all of my hidden agendas aside.

I am the type of person to have a hidden agenda of “I’m tough” giving off a degree of an overwhelmed attitude because I am currently dealing with more stressors than I have ever experienced.  I don’t want to convey these signals to whomever I am speaking with because I know that they don’t want to hear about my responsibilities anymore than I want to be overwhelmed with theirs. So in keeping a positive attitude and leaving my home life at home and vice versa when I leave I have been able to maintain a pretty healthy relationship with all of my co-workers from the sour attitudes to the positive ones. I regroup and try to recognize the type of person I am dealing with and then adjust my own responses to fit theirs as this allows me to remain friendly and drama free in my professional atmosphere.

A521.3.4.RB_McNerneyLeighAnn

In 1990 my parents owned a very successful dish garden business that they built from the ground up. We were living in Lake County at the time on 33.5 acres of beautiful property in a large house with 3 green houses surrounding it. My Mom was in charge of creating the dish gardens while my Dad maintained and delivered them all throughout Florida and Georgia. We lived a pretty luxurious lifestyle. We went on family vacations every year and there were many times my Mom would take us shopping at the mall around lunch time and she would not leave until the doors were closing for the night.

Times were good all around us until the economy took a hit. My parents business was no longer booming with business. They had to let their workers go and my Mom was forced to get a job with Publix because she married young and didn’t go on to college after high school. Sooner than later the bank would no longer let them borrow anymore money and they were forced to file bankruptcy. This was a devastating blow to our family. We eventually lost our beautiful home and we were forced to rent a small home in town from my Grandma. All of these events changed my parent’s relationship. They were no longer spending everyday together creating beautiful dish gardens they were now both working long hours apart in jobs they didn’t really enjoy. They began to fight and blame one another for all the mistakes they made along the way that eventually led to their bankruptcy.

We lost everything when we lost that business our house, income, happiness and family because my parent divorced shortly after the move. After my parents divorced my mom took my sister and I to live in an even smaller apartment where I actually had to share a room with my mom. I was now in middle school and I was sharing a room with my mom, this was very humiliating for me to experience. We lived right behind my middle school and instead of hopping the fence, because I of course had to walk with my mom always at work, I would instead walk around the entire block so that no one would see me coming from the apartment complex. I was so ashamed of what my life had become. I went from having it all to having nothing. As time passed my Mom was finally financially stable enough to buy a new home for us. She worked many long hours day and night to become a deli manager at Publix. With this promotion also came a few luxuries and we were able to start going on vacations again.

These experiences taught me to appreciate everything I have. I learned that in order to have nice things you have to work hard for them. I also learned that material items are not what matters in life because they can be taken away at any given time. What matters in life is working hard to earn a decent living to support your family. What my mom was able to do for my sister and I means so much to me now that I am older and have a family of my own. Her dedication and strength is what motivated me to graduate high school and continue on to college. Her highest level of education was a high school diploma and this made it very difficult for her to start over. My Mom encouraged my sister and me to be independent woman and to never rely on anyone to take care of us. Her message was to earn an education and get a job where you can take care of your family yourself.

Now that I am working at Embry-Riddle and earning a Master degree I am in the process of completing this dream she had for me. I am able to take care of myself as well as my husband and child and as I continue pursuing this degree I am opening up even more opportunities for career advancements in the future. I have learned that in order to have success you have to earn it. These experiences have kept me very humbled. Working hard for everything I have has also made me appreciate it so much more than when everything was just handed to me. I plan to continue pushing myself throughout life the way my mom pushed herself every long day and night. I have a greater purpose in life than just being rich I want to accomplish a lifetime of achievements. I plan to graduate with my degree and look for the next opportunity to grow wherever that may be. I want to inspire others around me to push themselves to accomplish these difficult challenges as my Mom did for me.

A521.2.3.RB_McNerneyLeighAnn

Chimamanda Adichie: The Danger of a Single Story had all the main points of a springboard story. It was told with a clear and worthwhile purpose, based on true events, it was positive and authentic. The stories she told the audience were based on actual examples from her life starting at the age of two years old. Chimamanda’s tone throughout the story was carried as if she were having a conversation with each individual rather than everyone at the same time. She related to her audience with her typical examples many of us could relate too, but each example was linked to her overall purpose of opening people’s minds to the dangers of hearing or telling single stories. Her confidence in herself as she presented and word selection projected a well educated experienced woman that we could all relate to and trust. As she told her story she was able to laugh with her audience and remain serious when need be and her ability to do this left me feeling inspired to change my bad habits of believing and hearing singles stories.

Chimamanda’s personal experience with her college roommate was a very interesting example of how a single stories’ misgiving can change the way we view an entire culture. This part of her presentation really opened my eyes and made me relate to her on a personal level, leaving me with a feeling of similar guilt. When Chimamanda arrived to the U.S. to attend college her roommate was shocked to learn Chimamanda was from Nigeria, or in her roommate’s mind Africa, and was nothing like she imagined her to be. For one Chimamanda spoke English very well, she could use a stove and her ‘tribal music’ was a tape of Maria Carey! Her roommate’s perception of what an African would be was quite different than what she actually was because her understanding had been influenced through different versions of single stories. Chimamanda changed her roommate’s perception and opened her eyes to the mistakes that can be made form only hearing a single story.

Instead of being an African who spoke a tribal language, using fire to cook their foods dancing to music in a native language Chimamanda was a well educated, English speaking young woman from Nigeria. Her country was not Africa, but Nigeria composed of many states. She had actually never even been to all the countries located within the continent of Africa. She grew up in a very nice middleclass family with domestic help. Her parents were educated and held respected careers who donated whenever they could to less fortunate families in nearby villages. In my opinion Chimamanda lived a better lifestyle then most Americans do.

My own experience of developing a stereotypical view was also similar to Chimamanda’s roommate. When I started Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Worldwide I was extremely excited to get to know a coworker better after learning he was born in Senegal located in Africa.  I imagined my coworker riding to school on an elephant, speaking a native language and dancing around a fire covered in paint. However, much to my disappointment he was raised in a much different way. My coworker grew up a pampered lifestyle full of lavish amenities. He is a son of a former highly respected political figure; his father was Foreign Diplomat with clout all over the world. He grew up traveling to countries I have only dreamed of going to. He is very educated as this was a main priority in his upbringing. My coworker loves Usher and has never even been on a safari! His first experience of wild animals was when he went to the Atlanta zoo. I could not believe he never had any experiences with animals like I envisioned from the television shows. My coworker is a very intelligent man with a huge fear of snakes to the point he ran from his own home to a nearby neighbor because he was so frightened and needed someone to get the snake. Although I assumed he was going to be more like the people portrayed on most news stories he is actually extremely different. He has lived a better lifestyle and had more experiences with other cultures than I have ever been able to.

Chimamanda’s ability to provide me with the example from her personal life allowed me to relate and come to the realization I am at fault with only hearing a single story and developing a stereotype. I have made a mental note to not jump to assumptions when I read, watch or hear stories from now on. I want to change this bad habit and evolve into receiving more than just one point of view. Instead I will try to use the lessons learned from Denning as well as the message in Chimamanda’s The Danger of a Single Story to change my entire outlook on everything I have ever learned.

A521.1.4.RB_McNerneyLeighAnn

A common story at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University Worldwide or ERAU is our dedication to our students in providing them with the necessary learning modalities to enable them to pursue their education according to their lifestyle and schedule. Our goal is to give students the education they need the way they need it through our Five Ways to Learn. The Five Ways to learn include Classroom, Blended Learning, Eagle Vision Classroom, Eagle Vision Home and Online Learning.

Classroom learning gives the student the ability to learn in a traditional setting with a professor and a chalkboard. Blended Learning provides the student with a classroom environment as well as online technologies. Eagle Vision Classroom allows the student to attend classes in a classroom setting alongside with other students from all over the world at the same time. Eagle Vision Home gives the student the opportunity to learn from the convenience of their own home while participating with the rest of their classmates from all over the world. Online Learning gives our students the flexibility they need to continue their education no matter what their schedule may be.

ERAU’s Five Ways to Learn promotes the organization’s goal of providing our students with the opportunity to continue their education as adults, as they embark down the road to success. Embry Riddle gives a new meaning to flexible learning with their five different modalities offered. Many of our students are active military and are currently serving our country in the Middle East. With the opportunity to partake in one of our learning modalities it is almost impossible for students to be unable to continue their education. ERAU has brought the physical classroom to the internet giving students the ability to solve problems, learn together and engage with one another even though they may be thousands of miles apart.  Worldwide has more than 150 locations throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Middle East and now Asia giving our student population a culturally diverse education. Our aim is for adult learning and through this flexible program that is what our students receive according to their schedule and lifestyle.

The Five Ways to learn does describe who we are as a company in that it promotes our university to remain on the verge of technology.  “At Embry-Riddle Worldwide, we want to help you achieve those goals and advance your career even if work responsibilities and family obligations preclude you from attending classes on a traditional college campus” and that is why our Five Ways to learn enables students to do just that!

As a student myself I am partaking in Embry Riddle’s Online Learning. Through this program I am able to work full time, have a family full time and also pursue my Master degree. I have never been happier going to school because I choose what works best for my schedule not the other way around. I previously attended a traditional college where classes were always scheduled in the middle of the working day or at night when it was time to be with my family. This type of learning made it impossible for me to work in a professional career field. Once I graduated with my Bachelor degree I thought it was impossible to go back for my Masters as I accepted my position here at ERAU. However to my surprise I learned of the amazing Five Ways to Learn program and immediately changed my mind and decided to go back to school. Since starting the Online Learning I have maintained straight A’s while giving birth to my first child. This would not have been possible without Embry Riddle’s commitment in providing to their students with an adult learning style of education through the Five Ways to Learn.


https://ernie.erau.edu 

A520.9.5.RB_McNerneyLeighAnn

Many powerful and successful organizations are run politically and there is never a guarantee that the best person for the job will actually get the job. It is important for future leaders to become aware of their sources of personal influence. I personally feel comfortable developing my own sources of personal power because I feel as technology continues to transform our culture so will the need to recognize personal attributes in order to climb the ladder of success. Expertise, attraction, effort and legitimacy are the areas in which an up and coming leader can enhance in order to advance.

Expertise is the process of knowing different aspects of the job inside and out. A person can become an expert through hard work and dedication. Once the person has acquired enough knowledge he or she becomes an asset to the likelihood of the company success. He or she possesses the knowledge that their higher-level managers do not and they depend on the experts to make decisions to better their company. I feel this is something I am currently working on achieving as there are many rules and regulations to learn in the Financial Aid Department that have to be learned every day. For example as we implement a new software system it very crucial we all understand the different processes. I have been reading through our manuals to learn these processes so that my Director can call upon me if and when he has a question since he is unable to learn every process with all of his responsibilities.

Attraction is the ability to be viewed by others as a likable and agreeable person.  Someone who posses this trait can be seen by many as a charismatic and inspiring leader who can be trusted. I believe that this source of personal power is very influential in every aspect of a person’s life. People judge others naturally no matter what the setting is and having this type of power will help anyone get ahead in life. When I think about my life I feel I can understand the power attraction has over others because I have experienced what it is like to get something based solely on my looks. I am certainly not the best looking person out there however I notice I can usually get away with more because of the attraction aspect of my personal power.

Effort is another personal power, it is being a reliable and dependable individual who will do “whatever it takes” to get the job done.  This is the most important power because this is what most managers look for in an employee. They want to feel like they can rely on the employee to complete the task at hand successfully. Currently I am putting a lot of effort into my job however I feel I should improve my level of effort since returning form maternity leave. I have been a little distracted with my emotions since the transition from being home all the time to working full time. In order to lead effectively it takes dedication and dedication comes from effort.

Legitimacy is the ability to be accepted by others, which in return helps, you become an influential person thus a successful leader. In order for people to believe in you, you must be able to be accepted and then once they accept you they will start to follow you. I feel this personal power of mine is still in the developing stage. I am able to feel accepted however I do not have enough legitimacy for others to want to follow me. In order to improve this I will continue putting forth the effort to learn to hopefully become an expert in an area of financial aid. For example we have a scholarships and state grants manager who knows the different scholarships and state grants inside and out. No one possesses as much knowledge as she does so she has become an asset to the Financial Aid Department.

I feel I do embody many characteristics of a likable person such as I am very supportive, honest and loyal to my coworkers. I try to be emotionally accessible and provide positive regard and acceptance. I try to treat people, as I want them to treat me. If sacrifices need to be made I will try and do it honorably.  When dealing with any and all situations whether I agree or not I try to be empathetic and understanding to others point of views. I also will engage in relationships with all of my fellow coworkers even if I tend to disagree with them on most decisions. In order to work as a team it is important to be open and honest with coworkers. My goal is not to become friends with everyone I work with but instead try to get along for the sake of the company’s success.

In my organization I am at the bottom of the totem pole, but I am working on changing that. Starting at the bottom and working my way to the top using my personal influential powers will help me succeed. I am going to put forth effort in order to gain expertise knowledge in different areas of financial aid. I plan to use my agreeable likable attitude to develop legitimacy with others. My objective is to one day call myself a Director of financial aid.

Whetten, D.A., & Cameron K.S. (2011). Developing Management Skills (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

A520.7.3.RB_McNerneyLeighAnn

Throughout my professional journey I have had the pleasure of being able to be provided with an amazing mentor and or coach from a professional standpoint but also from a family member. I feel that these relationships are very important in the overall success I have had thus far. My sister Julie has provided me with support, guidance as well a great role model for me to follow. My Director Frederic has also provided me with support, guidance and he is also a great role model for me to follow. Each relationship offers different support systems, guidance and role models but combined they are the reason I have come this far successfully.

My sister Julie is an outstanding individual she is a wife, mom, sister, teacher, group leader, master graduate and is always going above and beyond her normal call of duty. Julie is the reason I have educated myself and continue to pursue my education, as she was the first in our family to attend and graduate college with an undergrad degree. Then while working full time as a teacher and throughout the birth of her son she obtained her master degree in Leadership. I have followed in her footsteps and have also decided to obtain a master degree in Leadership because I was inspired by her ability to take every challenge head on and make good decisions overall.

When I started my masters’ degree in October I was about five months pregnant. The program was finally available to everyone after hearing about it for months and I was overly excited to start it since seeing the success my sister had gained from the same degree. As a psychology major there were not many options for me here at Embry Riddle to continue my education in that area until the Leadership degree came about. When considering starting the degree at five months pregnant I talked to my sister and she was honest with me in that she advised it would be very difficult, but I could do anything I put my mind to. I weighed out the pros and cons and in the end I decided that starting in October would be the best option for me.

Once January came I was again stressing over the ability to continue my education as I had just given birth during the middle of my course. Julie came to my rescue, she provided me with the support I needed to remain motivated to push through this difficult and stressful time. She reminded me of my overall goal of graduating and offered to help me tutoring if needed. As I pushed forward she always expressed her feelings of how proud she was of me, and I reminded myself that if she could do it I could to. Julie is a great role model because she is the essence of what a good leader is. With her degree she has accomplished many obstacles and bettered the overall experience her class has. They have a teacher who is requested by parents every year because parents see the results of what an amazing leader and teacher she is. Since graduating Julie has also taken on the challenge of helping to better the benefits teachers receive as well as she is now getting ready to take the test to become a principle. Julie was also recently chosen to attend a training session in Washington DC to be become a Professional Development trainer to teach Professional Development to our local union.  Without Julie’s support and guidance throughout my life I would not be where I am today.

I started working as the Eastern Region Financial Aid Counselor with no experience at all other than receiving financial aid as an undergrad at the University of Central Florida. Frederic took a chance hiring me as financial aid counselor as it is a very difficult process to learn. There are many areas that change yearly and it mandatory that we not only learn but also teach our students the changes. Frederic has developed a very successful program in how he wants his counselors to learn the information. My training began with reading all about financial aid. I had to know who gets it, who disburses it, how its acquired, the federal regulations as well as what my responsibility were as a counselor. Once I completed the reading process he then coached me through the different tasks I was assigned. He helped me better understand the job and what part I played in it.

As the months passed I learned enough to be on my own and took over the region. Now that I am on my own I have gained a better understanding of what an amazing Director Frederic is. He is the type of manager who sets the example of what we can be if we continue down this path. He provides us with a tremendous amount of support when we are behind, support as we struggle to understand a new process and emotional support as well. No time is a bad time in his opinion meaning if we are upset about a student or even something personal we know we can always go to him and he will guide us in any way he can.

Frederic is always extremely busy but never makes you feel that way. He has just recently taken on the responsibility directing a new team in charge of the VA. I cannot imagine the amount of stress he has but he always is there guiding us down the right individual path. He wants to better each one of us. He spends time with each of us asking us how we are feeling and or what we would like to do with our positions, and with that knowledge he makes adjustments to his individual plans he’s mapped out. He wants to better not only Embry Riddle’s organization but also each of us personally. Frederic is my role model, of how to one day become a successful leader. He has inspired me to better my self and sharpen my critical thinking skills. With his guidance I hope to continue down my career path hopefully one day become a Director myself having my subordinates looking to me for guidance like I look to Frederic.

In my experiences I have understood the importance of having a mentor or coach and why it is important to one day become one as all benefit from this relationship. With these experiences I have also gained a better understanding of what it takes to become a mentor and or coach. It takes dedication from all parties involved, loyalty, respect; empowerment and believing in yourself and whom you’re coaching and or mentoring. Using your coaches and mentors to make better informed choices, becoming more self-aware, using personal experiences, and understanding importance of using critical thinking to make better decisions will ultimately lead you to become a successful leader.

A520.6.5.RB_McNerneyLeighAnn

In order for a team to be effective the members must work together encouraging each other along the way in order to cross the finish line. The members of the team must also have an equal balance of task-facilitating and relationship-building roles in order for the team to be successful in completing the task at hand.  Task-facilitating members will be focused on accomplishing the objectives. Relationship building members will be focused on keeping the group’s morale up and the member’s relationships in good standing. Members of the group will usually be one or the other, but as long as there is a balance of both the team will be more effective.

Personally as a team member I feel I take on both roles as a task-facilitator and relationship-builder, but I will favor one or the other depending on the assigned task. If I am extremely interested in the assignment I find myself being more intuitive and working as a task-facilitator. I will give others direction, research information and ask others for information. I really enjoy learning and I always want to accomplish my tasks to the best of my ability. I am really good at analyzing and elaborating and encouraging others to do the same. If I am enjoying the task I will usually become encompassed in it until we finish it.

However if the task at hand is something I find little interest in I find myself being more on the relationship-building side. As a psychology major I have found my skill is helping people understand and relate each other better. So if I see the group start to butt heads or argue over different ideas I am always the one who will step in and try and mediate. I believe that supporting and encouraging others is extremely necessary while they are struggling in order to achieve a goal successfully. When the group I am involved in starts to feel burned out I will try and give a pep talk and or try to pump the group up with lots of energy to remind them why we are all there.  Everyone needs that support or else they will go insane! When I have been apart of a team in which the members start to become tense with each other over a disagreement of opinions I will either crack a joke or do something silly so that they will laugh and release some endorphins to lighten the mood.

I try and always actively engage within my team in order to accomplish a mission or goal. While in the group I will always pay attention to what others are saying or I will ask questions to help get people thinking more critically about the topic. I really enjoy being apart of a group because I feel I am provided with a broader perspective and given different outlooks that are very helpful in my learning process. Being apart of a team gives me the chance to understand the topic a little better because no one thinks the exact same. When everyone comes together with their ideas about why something is the way it is the solution to the problem becomes a lot richer in that a collective solution has many outlooks all in one.

When working in my group I will always try my best to be a necessary factor, meaning I will try my best to be useful to the group. Whether I am providing support, recognition, information or direction I will do whatever I can to positively enhance the team. I believe in order to function effectively we must all work together cohesively and collaborate in order to accomplish the over

A520.5.3.RB_McNerneyLeighAnn

Empowering an individual isn’t giving them the power to do what you think they should do but instead it is giving them the power to do what they want to do (Developing Management Skills P 443). In reviewing the text as well as the article Empowerment: Rejuvenating a potent idea by Russ Forrester research has shown that individuals empowered to do what they want to do are more satisfied, innovated and produce more desirable results than that of those who are not empowered. To empower employees to want to want to do their work and motivate them to complete the task efficiently a manager will have to relinquish control and let their employees make their own decisions, accomplish the task and then allow them to receive recognition. In order for this to happen there are a number of things that must be attained, such as having a stable environment for the employees to do their work. If the environment is free of unnecessary chaos and drama then the employees will not be distracted and will be able to remain on task uninterrupted. Employees will also feel empowered when they can find an empowered manager to follow. A manager who can lead by example will provide his or her employees a better sense of how this can be a very effective way to accomplish tasks.

In our text they identify five core dimensions of empowerment, as well as how these employees will feel when they are empowered. The five core dimensions are self-efficacy the feeling that you are capable of completing the task successfully, self-determination this is the feeling that you have a choice in your own actions, personal consequence which is the feeling of being able to make an impact or produce a result based on the choices you have made, meaning which is the feeling employees will have when they can value the task they are completing and trust which is the feeling you will have that allows you to feel confident in your employer that they will treat you fairly. These will all exist if an individual is empowered. Empowered individuals are “ more confident, feel more freedom, feel more important, feel more comfortable in their work and work setting” (Developing Management Skills P 447), thus everyone wins.

Empowering employees is not a “one size fits all” solution (Russ Forrester 2002). In this sense an organization will need to develop a system to empower employees based on their abilities if they want to efficiently motivate the employees to take on new responsibilities. I feel a good way would be if an organization practiced in a more family friendly atmosphere so everyone was able to get to know each other and feel as though they are apart of an organization that cares about their employees. This would allow the correct employee to receive the correct task. When it is time for the manager to delegate the new responsibilities they would have a better idea of who could handle what tasks, and if no one was able to they could then properly train the employee chosen to do the job. Employees would feel more confident knowing their managers believed they could appropriately handle the task at hand.

 A lot of the reasons empowerment can fail are because the employees receiving the power to make decisions are not equipped with the skills needed in order to make good decisions. Another reason empowerment can fail is because a lot of organizations are not able to correctly implement the power in a timely fashion. Some companies will move too quickly while others will never move at all, but instead “say” they are.  If the company moves too quickly then no one is able to adapt to the sudden change and this can breed a bit of hostility among those affected directly. Moving too slowly will also result in discouraged employees that feel they cannot depend on their organization to give up any of their power to trust the employees to do the job. If a company wants to successfully empower their employees they need to make sure they are moving at the right pace determined by their organization.

In conclusion empowering can be easily attained through setting clear goals for employees to follow. These goals need to be specific, measurable, aligned, realistic and time bound in order for them to be successful. Another way to empower employees would be to set up a “small wins strategy”. This can be accomplished by taking a large task and breaking it into smaller tasks in order for it to be completed in a building block fashion. Modeling as stated before is a great way for a manager to empower employees because they can follow examples of previous success. Supporting employees will be helpful in providing the emotional support they will need throughout the processes. A manager could also evoke enthusiasm through a charismatic form of leadership and create a sense of confidence in order to empower them. Managers will need to provide employees with all the information and resources needed in order for the employees to remain empowered and successfully complete the tasks. When all of these have been completed you should have a more successful organization filled with empowered employees willing to take on new responsibilities.

Whetten, D.A., & Cameron K.S. (2011). Developing Management Skills (8^th ed.).

Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Forrester, R. (2000). Empowerment: Rejuvenating a potent idea. The Academy of Management Perspectives, 14(3), 67-80. http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/docview/210518384?accountid=27203

 

A520.4.3.RB_McNerneyLeighAnn

The Three Things We Work for (Money Isn’t One of Them) by Andy Mulholland discusses the motivations behind every employee in the work environment. He determined the three motivators are: to do interesting work, expand skill sets and to be recognized or actually to be valued. I have to agree with his findings.

As an employee myself I want to be interested in what I am doing every day, especially since the working day consists of eight hours equaling out to forty hours a week. This is a very long time to be away from my family and the comfort of my home doing something I do not enjoy. If an employee can go to work and find some enjoyment within their daily tasks then they will want to go back to work the next day and the next because it won’t feel like work. Having a job where you are doing something you find interesting and or challenging helps the employee stay curious and involved.

I am a financial aid counselor and I find my job to be very interesting. Every day is a new experience and a new challenge. The Federal Guidelines are always changing year to year and we have to stay up-to-date with all of the Federal Regulations. We attend conferences yearly as well as receive emails daily on the ever changing laws. Knowing that I play an important role in my student’s education makes me feel accountable and encourages me to strive to succeed for their well being. I am compelled to stay on task at my place of employment as I am the Eastern Region Financial Counselor and have roughly 1500 students depending on me. Feeling like these students need me also helps me stay interested to learn and complete my daily tasks. I feel like every day I am up against a time clock and I have to be on "top of my game" in order to win or complete my assignments because I know the next day I will start all over again.

The next motivator Andy discussed was the need for employees to expand their skill sets. To me this means the need for the job to challenge the employee every day. This motivator is extremely important to me and everyone else in the working environment. In order to succeed employers must push their employees to work hard. If the employees do not feel like their work challenges them then they will not be motivated every day to think critically and the outcome of the organization will suffer.

I go to work every day to learn something new and that is why I love my job as a financial aid counselor. Every day presents a training opportunity for me to learn something. I cannot think of a day in my year and a half of employment that I went home without discovering a new process or law that in turn changed my job responsibilities or routines. My skill set that I believe is improving the most is my adaptation to change. It is becoming second nature to adapt to change everyday. As I am advancing throughout my master degree in the Science of Leadership it is becoming more and more obvious that change is the inevitable. I look to learn this ability in how to adapt through my education as well as my job. 

The last and most critical motivator Andy discusses is the need for the employee to feel recognized. Recognizing the employee is not just acknowledging their presence, it is more than that. The employee needs to feel as though they are valued within the work place. Feeling like you matter helps you feel like if you were not there then things would be affected. I completely can relate to this motivator. I have experienced a job where I was one of many and then a job where I was the one. Feeling like you do not matter or feeling like you do not exist makes you feel like it would not matter if you came to work or stayed home because no one would care. Having a leader make you understand your worth will motivate you to succeed. This is a great form of positive reinforcement.

In my current job I am reminded of my worth and I feel as though I matter. I know people depend on me and my Director makes it well known to me when I do a good job. He helps me stay involved by reminding me that I am very important part of the team and without me things would suffer. I am informed of my worth through fellow employees as well which keeps me very interested in doing a good job everyday because I know we are a team and everything we do affects one other. Having a positive leader and team helps me want to do a good job because they make me feel like I matter every day.

The three motivators Andy identify: to do interesting work, expand skill sets and to be recognized go hand in hand with many other underlying motivations that are involved in the overall process of success of the organization and the individual. Some other motivators I feel encourage me are feeling challenged every day, staying up-to-date by being educated or trained through attending workshops/conferences, positive reinforcements and feeling as though I am part of a team all striving towards one common goal. I really enjoyed watching Andy’s video and would recommend it to others.

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In my present position as the Eastern Region Financial Aid Counselor I have many opportunities to integrate supportive communication in order to become a more effective communicator. I do not currently have anyone under my direct authority; however I do have the ability to participate in many of the behaviors. We are a close knit team in the Financial Aid Department and try to have each other’s back. Some of the ways I could partake as a more supportive communicator would be to first identify some of the behavioral characteristics I already posses and then recognize the ones that I need to work on.

I consider myself a very great friend and coworker. I will lend a helping hand when it is needed and give my undivided attention to listen when someone needs to talk. I feel I am pretty good at determining when I should be coaching a coworker or when I should be providing advice. When I am upset I am also good at speaking my true feelings without acting them out. I have good control over my emotions and remain calm even in stressful situations. For example I was on the phone with a student who was becoming very irate with me because he did not understand why he was not approved for a portion of a Grant due to his documentation he had provided. He began to cuss and talk down to me in a very belittling tone. Instead of losing my cool I asked for another coworker to come and assist me with the call, and we handle it in a professional manner. Although the student blamed me for his loss of financial aid the situation was resolved.

When dealing with coworkers or students I feel as though I am also able to give recognition where it is due. I believe in positive reinforcement and I practice this whenever I have the opportunity. If someone has the ability to improve a process or comes to a better conclusion I give credit where credit is due. Even if I am just admiring a person’s ability to be witty I will call them out and let them know how I feel. This will be a necessity when I am a leader one day because it not only strengthens the trust between coworkers, but it also strengthens the morale. Another quality I posses would be the ability to own my mistakes, statements and encourage others to do the same. In order to be a great leader one must be able to take responsibility for their actions. Blaming others will not solve the situation, but instead make it worse. People will not respect and believe in someone who is always making excuses.

Some of the things I need to improve or start to incorporate is to be able to use descriptive statements rather than global. Learning to focus on things that can be changed rather then things that cannot. Since I am not currently able to manage anyone I do not have the authority to correct someone’s behavior. When I have a situation I am not happy with I have to go to my Director in order to have the issue resolved. I need to learn to use problem-oriented statements. A problem-oriented statement is a statement that refers to a chain of events. I will also need to learn how to be better at describing my reactions and suggesting alternatives. I am pretty good at analyzing things and thinking through my options so I feel this behavioral improvement should be simple.

Finally I will need to be better at ensuring equal speaking opportunities. I am not always great at this because I tend to talk a lot and sometimes I will talk over people. Learning to listen more and talk less will be my first way to discipline myself in order to integrate this behavior. I will also need to learn how to take more initiative in taking on projects in order to better prepare myself for situations such as implementing a personal management program. I lack confidence but I feel as I continue to work on discovering my core self I will improve my confidence.

In conclusion after reading over some of the behavior guidelines in how to develop good supportive communication I feel that I posses many characteristics but still have a lot to learn. With practice these are things that I can improve on now before I take on a management position.