A631.9.2.RB_McNerneyLeighAnn

This week we were able to see one of the world’s most influential leaders, Steve Jobs begin a new adventure with the creation of a new computer company he called NeXT. In the spring of 1985 Jobs decided to leave Apple after losing a power struggle, and from there he took many key engineers from the former Macintosh team to join him on his new journey ahead. Throughout the video we witnessed how he made many bad decisions while developing his startup business, which ultimately lead to the unsuccessful hardware product. Jobs put a lot of his own money and time in trying to create a product around a company when he should have spent more time focusing on building his company around a great product. He was not flexible, unwilling to change, and unaware of what was going on in the market which caused many issues in the development. His employees were treated to retreats wherein he tried to encourage open discussions, but throughout the retreats he dominated many of the conversations and had a tendency to play a role in every single aspect of the company in a micro managing style leadership. Although Jobs is recognized for changing the way the world is today technologically his charismatic charm was not always the best fit for his leadership role.

Based on the results of my Management Assesment I would not fit well with the makeup and culture of the Next startup team. My profile concluded that the best type of environment for me would be in a large rapid growth venture business environment with independent business units and divisions. Working in a startup team would be a very risky move and I feel that I wouldn’t be able to reach my full potential since the type of chaos that exists is not suitable with my attributes. I prefer an organization that already has a solid structure with fluid change where I am able to make my own decisions and my own goals. Steve Jobs interrupted a lot throughout the retreats the team participated in when he didn’t agree with a point or when he was trying to make his.

Working in a group to resolve every single issue would be a challenge for me especially because I am not the type to take being interrupted well. I feel like some projects are good for working as a team but I would mainly prefer to work either alone or with a smaller number of colleagues such as two or three. I think that Jobs had amazing intentions using retreats to resolve issues, foster creativity and build strong relationships within the team but I do not think he was using them to his full advantage. It seemed as if every time one of the employees challenged him he was quick to shut them down along with the communication channels. He was so influential over the group they were not able to problem solve as well as I think they could have if they had a chance to speak.

The whole nature of the startup alone would be a very stressful environment for me because every day would be unpredictable and unplanned. Creating a new business involves finding a location, hiring employees, strategy, visions, product, capital, target market, competitors, overhead, and marketing all of which are not areas I would be happy doing per the results of my MA. Problem solving is one of my strengths and this many problems would probably make me shut down and feel overwhelmed since one of my weaknesses is how my decisions can negatively affect others. In my MA I learned that acting as a role model is important to me, and this is why I tend to struggle with making important decisions that will affect others. For example if I were Jobs and I was presented with the dilemma to let go of five of the employees that left their secure jobs at Apple to work on my new business in order for Next to remain open I would sit on the decision in hopes of revenue to come in before I would be able to fire my loyal employees. The way it would make me look to others and the way it would make me feel would be too hard for me to act swiftly and strategically to make the best decision for the company and the remaining employees.

I also learned throughout my debrief that my strengths of highly motivated to problem solve, create new products and services and be creative are all my weaknesses and create a double edge sword type of scenario. I tend to over think and over analyze many problems I encounter this creating a new way to resolve them either by creating a new process; however I fail to recognize that my time spent creating a new process could have been wasted if there was already an efficient process working. This would be another issue I would have working with the NeXT team as they were creating, solving and working to create efficient products and services.  I foresee myself at NeXT feeling very unhappy and unfulfilled and eventually trying to get my job back with Apple.

Overall this was a very interesting company and learning about Steve Jobs leadership throughout the startup process was much different than my previous assumptions. He was a very intelligent charismatic man that loved details to the point he sort of sabotaged himself. He failed to devolve responsibilities to willing and able employees and set their goals for them. He made unreachable deadlines and made a lot of financially poor decisions. He was a brilliant man who took a chance but I feel he was working with the mentality that his new company was already established like Apple was when he left and failed to realize he needed to go back to the drawing board and build the company up.

References

Steve Jobs Brainstorms with NeXT Team [Video file]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loQhufxiorM&feature=youtu.be

NextSteps Research. (n.d.). Retrieved December 18, 2013, from http://www.nextstepsresearch.com/index.htm

A631.8.4.RB_McNerneyLeighAnn

After taking the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator (MBTI) it was concluded that I am an ENFJ, which stands for extraverted, intuitive, feeling and judging. I feel that this test accurately measured my personality. The test was created in order to gain a better understanding of the different psychological types and use this information to recognize random acts of behavior are not as random as once thought, as there are multiple variations of personality types. An extrovert is someone who likes to think out loud and actively engaged in a lot of activities with others.  An intuitive person pays a lot of attention to impressions or meaning and patterns of behaviors. They tend to think of future plans and remember experiences by how they felt not the details involved in how it happened. Feeling involves reflecting on multiple points of view in order to come to the best decision usually keeping the harmony. Values and taking care of others is important to feelers. Judging is not like making judgments, but instead it involves making decisions that can be changed easily. Life under control is a preferred state of judgers. (Personality test)

Following the test populated a result page that read a description of the type of person an ENFJ is. Some of the results included ENFJs see the big picture, can juggle an amazing number of responsibilities or projects simultaneously, have charisma in which others are drawn to and support their ideas, conclusions are drawn from feelings, have a tremendous power to manipulate others with their interpersonal skills, but don’t mean to manipulate, are benevolent pedagogues of humanity, know and appreciate people, will neglect themselves for the needs of others, are at risk of being hurt or abused by less sensitive people, and take on more of the burdens of others than they can bare. All of these resemble me as a person and they also resemble many leadership qualities.

According to CNNs 23 Traits of a Good Leader some of the traits incorporated “honesty, focus, passion, respect, confidence, integrity, shared vision, engagement, empowering, humility, self-awareness, communicative, genuine, and leverage team strengths”.  Every single one of these traits has been recognized within the MS Leadership Program, and I believe in every single one. My idea of what a leader is involves someone who can be respected, trusted and no matter what situation presented they remain true to their values. Leaders are people that don’t need a title to be a leader because they lead by example. Leaders support others, listen, empathize, care, teach, empower and help others believe in themselves to go further than once thought. This is the type of leader I want to develop into and I believe with my personality there is a lot of potential for me to achieve this goal.

Some of the drawbacks I know I suffer from and the test pointed out was my inability to say “no” to others when they need me even if it is more than I can handle. In the past I got an ulcer and was sick for a very long time because I took on more than I could handle. Since that experience I feel I have made slight improvements when making decisions to take on projects, but there is still a long way to go. The test pointed out that ENFJs are at risk of being hurt by less sensitive people and this is something I will need to be more cautious of in the future when dealing with others. As a harmonizer I believe it is going to be critical to be able to become more analytical in my decisions, because leaders are required to make good decisions that are right for the people and the company needs. I struggle a lot with analytical thinking in general and I believe this is because I tend to use my intuition and judging in order to make many decisions. I am aware of this pitfall and I am actively working on improving this by paying more attention to factual data while also recognizing how I am feeling and why I am feeling this way.

This test allowed me to recognize that if I am not able to interact effectively with others it may be because we do not have similar personalities. For example my old director was very quiet and reserved and I sometimes felt that he wasn’t interested in different things I would tell him; however I realized he was just thinking before he decided to speak where as an extrovert I tend to think out loud. Our differences show that we were still able to interact just in different ways so in the future I will try to think before speaking and see if this improves our communication.  These are important aspects of a leader as they deal with an abundance of personality types so becoming self-aware will help better develop interpersonal skills with others. When approaching someone on the opposite spectrum as myself I will now be able to walk in with a clear understanding of how to handle different issues successfully with them in order to prevent a misunderstanding due to communication perception and judging differences. .

Reading into my description I found that an ENFJ is described as “warm, empathetic, responsive, and responsible. Highly attuned to the emotions, needs, and motivations of others. They find potential in everyone, and want to help others fulfill their potential. They may act as catalysts for individual and group growth. They are loyal, responsive to praise and critism. They are sociable, facilitate others in a group, and provide inspiring leadership” (MBIT Basics). All the descriptions above describe my personality and how I treat others. I also found that four world leaders that are also ENFJs include President Bill Clinton, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Clara Barton who founded the American Red Cross and President Ronald Reagan. All of these influential leaders have done amazing things in their lives, which shows me that with the personality type I have it is possible to go further and dream bigger than I already due. The top four careers recommended are counseling, psychology, social work, and education which are all career interests I have had considered in my life. I even have my undergraduate degree in psychology! This test has helped me become more self-aware in ways I wasn’t able to identify naturally, and I plan to build on my strengths pointed out while improve my weaknesses.

References:

Personality test based on C. Jung and I. Briggs Myers type theory. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp

My MBTI Personality Type - MBTI Basics. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/

23 traits of good leaders - CNN.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2011/LIVING/08/03/good.leader.traits.cb/

A631.7.4.RB_McNerneyLeighAnn

Throughout this program we have researched and reviewed leadership development, winners of a prestigious award called the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, which is the importance of teams, developing high performance teams, anticipating change, the culture of an organization an its affects on change, overcoming resistance to change, implementing change, and improving individual excellence. All of these evolve around one practice called Organizational Development. OD is making it possible for organizations to remain relevant while globalization becomes the new norm. We are no longer competing with our next-door neighbors; instead we are able to collaborate with diverse cultures around the world. The new norm is holding meetings with people in China while working form home as a teleworker or taking an organization and never actually meeting co-workers because they are spread out across the globe in different continents. Somehow organizations are expected to remain successful in uncharted territories using technology as the main resource of running the entire operation. All all of this valuable information has led me to believe that OD isn’t going anywhere.

Organizational development is changing the way people are doing business one company at a time by forcing them to become more aware of their employee and customer’s needs. Brown was able to describe OD as a “long-range efforts and programs aimed at improving an organization’s ability to survive by changing its problem-solving and renewal processes” (Brown, (2011). Throughout his text he writes about the beginning of the OD application and how it continues to develop as continuous changes emerge everyday. For example what we once viewed was a hierarchy structure where each employee had to follow a certain protocol that involved asking their supervisor for permission to make a decision they were well equip to make so that their supervisor could ask their manager if their employee could make a decision, and so on all the way up the chain of command. By the time the employee was given the okay to make the decision so much valuable time was loss that it was almost irrelevant to make the decision in many cases. With growing concern from employees the focus began to shift on empowering employees so that many management responsibilities could devolve to other capable employees allowing the managers to focus on important issues. This is where the need to develop better practices and employee proficiencies became very critical to an organization’s success; thus OD surfaced.

There is a growing concern that OD applications are not evolving as fast as they need to in order to remain up-to-date with organization’s needs, or that the OD practitioner is not adequately trained to perform. Reviewing Brown’s points on how others in the world tend to view the topics of OD as resembling a fad instead of a serious practice only brings me to the conclusion that organization’s need to do their research prior to bringing in an OD practitioner. I also believe that anyone possessing the title of an OD practitioner needs to have satisfactory training and education prior to earning the title, and also ongoing training should be mandatory in order to stay up with the times. In an article I found involving the growing concerns of OD, the author noted a very key ingredient in the development of an OD practitioner is that “individuals entering the field either need to have amassed a significant amount of work experience or, in the absence of experience, need to have internships or other supervised field work to understand the intertwined nature of practitioner, practice, and theory” (Worley, C. (2002). This rings true with most mastery positions in any field because it is not impossible to perform a role or responsibility with lack of experience; however it is impossible to do it well.

I am considering taking a stroll down this avenue professionally and I plan on working my way towards becoming a practitioner, but prior to making any strides I plan on doing a lot on training and preparatory steps. For example I have started looking at different internships or looking for an HR position at a company because I believe you need to work your way up so that experience can be a guidance tool.  OD of the future in my opinion will be a necessity in every HR department in every large organization. What I foresee is a continuous change in structure as far as hierarchy and processes because of all the increasing advancements of technology. For example Amazon was in the news recently advising they are looking at using drones to deliver packages cutting out the middleman. This alone shows that just when everything settles down something new and innovative will take the world by storm and cause a chain of events to follow. No one can predict the future, but they can plan and prepare by having trained and certified OD practitioners on board their teams ready to impalement all of the needed changes for their company to remain successful and flourish.

References

Worley, C. G. (2002). Consulting today. Retrieved December 8, 2013, fromhttp://www.consultingtoday.com/downloads/Consulting%20Todayarticle%20-Is%20OD%20Still%20Relevant.pdf

Brown, D.R. (2011). An experiential approach to organization development (8th ed.).Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall

A631.6.4.RB_McNerneyLeighAnn

Looking at the approach Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale took versus the approach Stanley McChrystal spoke about in his video Listen, learn, then lead; it was clear that both of them were effective in getting what each needed in the end result utilizing similar strategies. In our text Brown points out two different types of strategic change implementations the 15.4 Relative Strength of Corporate Cultures and 15.5 The Strategy-Culture Matrix; each encompasses planned change. The Relative Strength of Corporate Culture is “characterized by the organization’s basic values being intensely held, and widely shared.” (Brown, 2011). This specific type of strategy relates to the degree of values and the commitment to them which will show the strength of the culture at the organization. The Strategy-Culture Matrix is similar as it involves the culture of the organization, but it is more flexible when it comes to the strategy change that is implemented. In this matrix implementing changes can be done more effectively when the culture of the organization is taken into consideration” (Brown, 2011). Each of these requires participation of the organization and each strategy can be evident in each of these men’s experiences.

McIngvale is the owner of a Gallery Furniture store in Houston, Texas which is “a national leader in sales among independent furniture stores in America”, however they faced many obstacles once the recession hit the housing market in Texas. The recession opened their eyes to a much-needed change if they were going to remain successful. McIngvale realized that his company would need to make drastic changes in order change the way in which his employees were behaving to provide his customers with what they were looking for. McIngvale decided to implement the Influencer Training throughout his entire company training every single employee on how to change the way they did business. The end result has shown that not only have his employees stepped up their game, but also that their customers have responded positively to the implementation which led him to continue utilizing the Influencer Training tactics. The organizational change helped McIngvale employ “six different initiatives to innovate the way they do business, including: revamping their sales approach, reducing delivery reworks, improving safety and employee wellness, and reducing inventory” (Gallery Furniture). McIngvale focused on developing a strategy that worked for his organization and would impact the culture to a certain degree that would yield successful results. He openly communicated to his staff a need for change, developed a plan of action, brought in a third party to train employees and mentor them all the way through which lead to a successful result. In this situation the culture was impacted but the strategy was monitored in order to prevent retaliation.

Stanley McChrystal, Four-star general, conveyed lessons learned in his Ted Talk Listen, learn, then lead. Within his life experiences in the military he was able to account for great leadership that affected him positively and not so great leaders to discover that if you “can build a sense of shared purpose…by listening and learning – and addressing possible failures” you will affect others both positively and effectively. Throughout his account within his stories it is clear that although each time within his career he was preparing for what may come somehow every time it came there was a new way to handle the situation, which required a lot of communication and training. Learning to embrace change was critical to every situation and many times lives were at stake.  Thanks to a strong culture in a sort of band of brothers type of relationship each soldier promised to “never leave a man behind.” These men revolved their entire lives to what each other was trained to do and trusted that they would do their jobs accurately. Each one relied on the other and this required an abundance of communication and training to take place because as time evolved so did the technology and the type of soldier enlisting and serving beside McChrystal. These soldiers all had a very strong commitment to similar values and cooperation which was a key ingredient. Each woman and man had to provide support through the changes in the hopes that everyone could embrace it openly and smoothly reinforcing one another through any change implemented. These experiences serving relate directly with the Relative Strength of Corporate Culture in that the military’s culture is described as being “sometimes stronger then a marriage.” Any obstacle presented required a great deal of acceptance among all individuals involved in order to be effective.

Whether an organization is utilizing The Relative Strength of Corporate Culture or The Strategy-Culture Matrix while developing a strategy for change it will be necessary for them to pay attention to the degree of the culture of their organization if they want to make sure they succeed successfully. Both of these men shared their experiences of facing challenges and having to implement a change and each of them had very similar results. In the future no matter what the environment of change may be the strength of the organization’s culture will be a major factor in the implementation process so applying strategies that will impact them more positively will be key.

Gallery Furniture - Case Studies. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.vitalsmarts.com/casestudies/gallery-furniture/

Brown, D. R. (2011). An experiential approach to organization development (8th ed.). Boston: Prentice Hall.

Stanley McChrystal: Listen, learn ... then lead | Video on TED.com [Video file]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/stanley_mcchrystal.html

A631.5.4.RB_McNerneyLeighAnn

Throughout the Leadership Program I have read books that include the following titles: Complex Adaptive Leadership, Messages: The Communication Skills Book, The Leader’s Guide to Story Telling, Leadership in an Organization, Wharton on Making Decisions, Getting to Resolution, The Leadership Experience, The Practice of Ethics, Interpersonal Conflict and many others. The only book that truly changed my thinking though was Learning to Think Things Through by Gerald M. Nosich because this encompassed the entire program.  For me one of the most critical skills necessary to lead effectively is learning to critically think about everything in our lives. The author wrote a message to the students reading his book and within this message he stated, “The aim of this book is to help improve your critical thinking about the subject matter of the courses you are taking. A secondary goal, a by-product of the first, is to help you improve your ability to think effectively in your life as a whole.” Critical thinking is sometimes difficult when you are not using it all the time.

For example when I wake up I do not critically think about brushing my teeth or getting dressed because I usually just want to do it and run out the door. However, when I making big decisions that will impact my life such as having a child I will think and think until I can’t think anymore before moving forward with a decision. Neither of these is a good example of critically thinking after reading this book because I am not thinking about every possible outcome that may follow my decision I am just deciding. Critical thinking requires being conscious on the knowledge you have prior to researching about the decision so that when you are making the decision you are more aware of how and why you are deciding. Critical thinking requires you to actively listen to any and all information coming your way in order to be open and embrace everything you can before making a decision.

Some of the main characteristics of critical thinking includes being reflective on why you already have views about the topic and involves developing standards that have been reasonably assessed. It is authentic and is applied to real problems so that you can make good judgments, and lastly it involves being reasonable so that can evaluate rules and regulations enforced. Asking questions and finding answers that you can believe in is also a major part of the critically thinking process which is a challenging process at times and this is why I find that leaders have a difficult time growing into a person who can lead a system-wide change effectively. Leadership cannot be defined in one short sentence and no matter how many books you read on this topic there is never a black and white answer on what exactly the traits a good leader has.

In my opinion good leaders set the example and follow through with everything they attempt, and if they fail they do it learning something more valuable then actually succeeding. Leadership is not a title it’s anyone who is living their lives pushing the envelope in order to see what else is out there  while making decisions after critically thinking about the issues at hand. I also believe that no leader is the same, thinks the same, acts the same or even believes in the same values because I think every follower of a leader and every leader of a follower empowers one another to meet one another’s needs no matter the situation. The leader fits the role because they are flexible and adaptable to recognize when its time to make a change for the better, and then they rely on others to help them get there together at the same time. No one is stepping on others because its not the right thing to do instead as one moves up the other reaches back to help the other one up and this type of relationship builds and builds on a solid foundation of trust. 

In every book the morale of every story appears to be that in order to become successful you have to be a good person and you have to do the right thing because it’s the right thing, and not because it’s what’s best for you. Every professor I have taken within this program has taught me a valuable lesson and that is you won’t get far unless you believe that you can, you have to work hard, and you have to make calculated risks and embrace the changes that will follow being prepared for anything that could come next. After starting this program in October of 2011 I have started to understand these important lessons and I feel like my mind has finally started to open up and critically think about my life in general. I try to be a leader in every situation I am involved in whether it’s as a mommy setting an example, a wife empowering my husband who works so hard to achieve his goals, or when talking to old friends scared to take the next step and go back to school.

Being a leader in this manner does not give me a title and there is absolutely no structure I am following. I am just trying to make a difference by going out of my way to do the right thing because it is the right thing to do, and this is how I am trying to make a system-wide change everyday. I have witnessed friends and family rise and fall from their success because they were unable to critically think about their decisions, whether it was doing the right thing because it was the right thing to do, or choosing to stay quiet which ultimately lead to their business closing. No matter the situation each of these people suffered from making bad decisions because they didn’t know why they were making them, it was for their own pleasure and benefit, or because they didn’t take the time to think about what may follow. Being able to be effective and make changes where people will want to go with you instead of against you takes someone who can be the example, make good decisions for the good of everyone, is trustworthy, empathetic, a good listener, communicates well, is adaptive, open to diversity and change and remains ethical in all situations. All of these in my opinion start with developing good critical thinking skills.

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