Same leadership concept in HTM students?

            We all might used to have different concepts of leadership a couple of years ago, but as we started taking all the leadership classes for the HTM major it seems that most undergraduates have a similar concept of leadership now. When I was reading all the blogs in order to find one that had a different point of view from mine I just couldn’t find it. We do have different personalities and results in the PMAI, but we all look for similar values in leaders and have the same thoughts about the trait based leadership theory. All the blogs agree that we can use the theory as a guide or to learn more about us, but we don’t believe that leaders are born, like Flora Elman stated  in her blog “ To say a person is born with leadership traits is the same thing as saying a person is born knowing how to ride a bike”. Moreover, I totally agree with Nikki’s post that says “traits such as drive, leadership motivation, self-confidence, cognitive ability, and knowledge of the business illustrate that these are learned traits rather than ones we were simply born with”. As you can see we all agree that leaders are not born and I think it’s great to be thinking that way, otherwise we would be discouraged if we didn’t have the exact number of traits “needed” to be a leader. I believe these classes have been motivating us and setting our mind in positive mode in which today we all believe in ourselves and that we have the capability to be the great leader we have in mind.  

The observer's perspective

After I took the LPI (Leadership Practices Inventory) test I realized that at least in my case sometimes people see the things I do in a different way or I do things that I don’t even notice I’m doing. In order to have accurate results I decided to ask one of my friends at work to evaluate me.  And it surprised me that in the area of challenge the process I put high scores and she wrote down numbers lower than 6 so I asked her why because I was sure I took risks and challenging opportunities. However, she said that I always thought things through for a long time until I was totally convinced that it was the best idea. That didn’t surprised me at all because in the PMAI my highest score was for Sage, so that made me realized that she was right because I take challenges, but after researching and making sure that it is  the best decision. Furthermore, in the section of model the way and encourage the heart  I scored myself with average numbers (5-7) and she only wrote down 9-10.That was the moment when I realized that some of us might be doing things that benefit others frequently and we don’t even notice it until someone else points it out. I thought that only once in a while I asked for feedback or set a personal example of what I expected, but apparently I do it more often that I thought. In the other two sections (Inspire a shared vision and Enable others to act) we had really similar scores that didn't differ by more than a point. Therefore, this demonstrated me that there is a big difference between the perspective we have of ourselves and the one our employees or observers do.

The 3 phases of leadership in LOST

     The episodes of LOST are a great example to exemplify how leaders behave in certain ways according to the Path/Goal theory and as the season advances, we are able to identify the 3 phases of leadership (LMX).

We can distinguish the three phases of leadership (LMX) by just watching a few episodes. In the first episode, the stranger phase is showed when the plane just crashed on the island. Everyone was a little distant and didn’t want to share a lot of information, but Jack acted as a leader immediately and started giving everyone different duties. For example, when Boone was trying to save the lady that was in the plane next to Jack, Jack interfered immediately and asked him to get something while he gave her CPR. Boone didn’t know Jack at all, but he knew that if he followed his instructions he was going to be able to save the lady. Later on, we can identify the acquaintace stage as days pass by and people realize that they might be in the island for a long time. Everyone starts talking to each other and testing the relationships during this stage. Michael realizes that he has to maintain certain distance with Jin-Soo’s wife, Walt talks to John, who tells him that his dog will return, and Charlie tells Kate about the band he had. Finally in the third phase, partnership, we can see how negotiations start like when they are deciding who will go for a hike to get signal for the radio or decide that Kate is going to keep the gun to stop the fights between James and Sayid. This group has a common objective, therefore, they need to have more high quality exchanges to survive in the island. During the next episodes we will see how they remove the obstacles they will face and the goals will become clearer.

What is an archetype?

An archetype is a universally understood term or pattern of behavior, a prototype upon which others are copied, patterned, or emulated. Archetypes are often used in myths and storytelling across different cultures. In this case we are going to use this term as a model of a person, personality, or behavior. These new forms of categorizing people in different groups have a lot of benefits because they teach us more about ourselves and make us realize why we react in certain ways during different situations. In addition to that, leaders are continuously changing as well as the work environment, which is becoming more complex and competitive. Companies don’t want an individualistic leader anymore; they are looking for leaders who have a good dynamic with the followers and similar values to the company. Sometimes it can be hard to find the person that will fit the role or position, but fortunately now we can use the archetypes to learn more about the people we work with. Once we know the archetype, it will be easier to figure out if it can be a good candidate for an organization. As I mentioned before, the work environment is continuously changing and the assessment of leadership potential and the development of leaders is now a top priority for every organization. Therefore, the different types of archetypes will make the job easier in order to find the combination of archetypes needed to be effective in specific kinds of organizations.

PMAI Results: Sage

One of the main purposes of taking HTM 491 is to learn more about ourselves and that is the reason why we took the PMAI assessment. After I took the assessment, a lot of things started making sense. I had three archetypes with high scores (Magician, Jester and Sage), but I thought only one, the sage, was close to describe the way I am. A sage is curious and loves to think things through, always tries to be as objective and fair as possible and likes to make well-planned decisions. I believe that one of the strengths I have from this archetype is that I have the gift for staying calm when everyone is panicking. Moreover, this test made me realize that these stereotypes might help us understand the people we interact with, but it doesn’t mean that the person is exactly the way the archetype says all the time. In my case, I had 26 points in sage and 25 in magician and jester, so definitely a person can have an idea of how I am, but it doesn’t mean that I am always a sage. Depending on the circumstances I will react in different ways. I definitely have a sense of humor, but I don´t have a tendency to be irresponsible as the jester archetype says. Furthermore, the PMAI confirmed the pros and cons of the trait based leadership theories I wrote in the previous post. We can use the archetypes and the trait based leadership theories to find a leader for an organization and/or learn more about the personality of others, but we always have to remember that people change depending on the situation and they can have some characteristics from other archetypes. For that reason archetypes are a good guide for us, but we cannot rely on them all the time.

Pros and Cons of trait based leadership theories

“The function of leadership is to produce more
leaders, not more followers.”
Ralph Nader

Trait based leadership theories tell us that people are born with inherited traits and some of these traits will make you suit into a leader position. Therefore, the people who become good leaders were born with the right combination of traits. Furthermore, the theories list the traits that a person must have to be a leader, but unfortunately, having the traits on the list does not guarantee that you are good leader. Another con of the theories is that if a person has just a couple of the traits on the list, then it will not be considered a leader. And I disagree with that idea because a person can gain one of those traits in the future as they face different situations. On the other hand, these theories are useful because they can be a source we can refer to when we are comparing or trying to find a leader for a company or group. Once we look at the list it will be easier to identify if a person will fit in the company or group depending on the traits he/she has. Moreover it can be useful for us because it will let us find out if we have some of those traits and if we do, it will encourage us to take on a leadership role.  In case we know we have one of those traits, but it’s not as outstanding as we want to, we can work on it in order to improve our leadership.

Traits I Admire

 "Good leadership consists of showing average people
how to do the work of superior people."    
John D. Rockefeller

The leaders from today are totally different from the ones in the past. Nowadays, leaders are more people oriented and have a stronger sense of integrity. From my perspective a good leader must have at least the next three traits. Honesty is important because a leader that is honest will inspire you trust so you can feel free to ask him anything and you know he will tell you the truth. A leader’s honesty also helps the team be better because if there is something wrong he will tell the team as soon as possible to fix the problem. Unfortunately, not everything is perfect in life and sometimes we find ourselves in difficult situations and that is the reason why we need an enthusiastic leader. Leaders motivate others by recognizing when they are doing a good job and this at the same time will make people work harder to improve what they have done. The last trait is goal oriented; a leader needs to have vision in order to motivate others by inspiring on a common goal. People need someone to remind them what the team is working towards in order to reach the goal. 

Leadership and Me

 “Leaders must be close enough to relate to
others, but far enough ahead to motivate them.”      
John Maxwell

When I transferred to SDSU and looked at all the leadership classes I had to take, I thought that taking one class was enough, but I was wrong. Being a leader is more than just being the person that gives orders and people follow. In order to be a good leader, you need to find out who you really are, what you know and the things you can do. After taking a couple of leadership classes, I started to differentiate between leadership and management.  I opened my mind and apply my knowledge to work situations, where I realized that leaders are not born, they are made. As a person grows and faces different problems and situations, he/she will realize if it they way he/she reacted to it was the best.  We acquire skills and knowledge as we grow. However, these can be influenced by the leader’s values, ethics and character.  I believe this will makes us react different depending on the situation we are facing. I have to admit that I didn’t consider myself a leader, I thought I was follower, but after I learned more about myself, I changed my mind. I looked back at difficult situations I’ve been involved where I had to be the leader and that made me realized that sometimes you are a leader for others and you are not aware of it.