Management Styles

Alberto Gil

                After watching the video of the “NeXT” company start up I was reminded of some of the techniques which I read about throughout the last two semesters and I was a bit surprised by Steve Jobs leadership skills. Although he is a very successful business man I believe that through studying his mistakes there are some different techniques which I could have applied to give the NeXT Company a chance at survival. As mentioned in this video what we were watching was the NeXT start up team, even though this was supposed to be a team I feel like it was not treated as a team where everyone had an equal say. I do believe that just by looking at this video that Steve was definitely in charge and he seemed to drown out everyone else’s voice.

                There are many different characteristics to a “self-managed work team” (Brown 2011), I think that if the strategic components of a self-managed work team would have been implemented in the case of this start up team things could have turned out differently. One of the characteristics of a self-managed team which I believe would have made a difference is that “team members have a sense of vision”; having a vision ensures that everyone is on the same page. One issue which I saw stand out to me was the fact that everyone had their own vision of what this new computer system had to be. Some people could not agree on the price and the technology, others could not agree on a deadline; Steve’s leadership style seemed to dictate all of these decisions. It seemed like Steve was so much in control that it made me wonder why he was having these retreats and team meetings if he was not going to seriously consider what his team was trying to explain to him. Even though it is important to be objective in a team it is also important to take your team members advice seriously even if you do not agree with them.

                Looking at my results from my management assessment I saw a couple of things which I was not surprised about. It said that I have more of a tactical leadership style than anything else, the characteristics of a tactical leader consist of persuade, negotiate, troubleshoot, and appreciate (Management assessment). I found this analysis to be spot on, I do not try to run the show in a totalitarian way; instead I like to persuade with facts and also negotiate. I believe that in a team atmosphere there is no characteristic more important than someone that knows how to negotiate, if we are to be team leaders we need to know how to deal with others and find common grounds. I believe that my leadership style could have been a good fit in a group of individuals similar to this one where everyone is very knowledgeable.

                Another characteristic of “Self-managed work teams” is that “there is a strong partnership between members and management”. So even if Steve was considered to be strictly management in these meetings there should have been a stronger sense of partnership. To me it seemed like Steve was acting as a team member but in the end he would make the management decisions on his own while keeping a supervisor/ subordinate relationship. I believe that since Steve brought these people over from another company to be partners then he should have treated them as such. I think I was able to sense a bit of resentment from some of the team members; there was a sense that they felt their opinions did not make a difference.   

                I do not believe that I have all of the answers to being a good leader but based off of my past experience and studying my personal management assessment I do believe that I can be a good team leader. I have noticed that I do like to listen to others and I take into account others opinions and weight them heavily prior to making a hasty decision. Even when I am in charge and accountable for being the sole leader I listen to others opinions rather than use the power of my title. Being in charge is a great privilege but I believe that with that power comes the great responsibility of knowing when to listen to others as well. I believe that if Steve had taken into account his team members advice the outcome for NeXT could have been different.

References:

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

Client Report Alberto Gil. (2015, May 20). Retrieved May 21, 2015.

                

Personality Test

            Self-reflection, an action which I have become accustomed to attempting every so often throughout the MSLD program. I am constantly reflecting on myself and rather or not I am a good leader or have the possibility to become a good leader. I believe that it is important for everyone to take a good look in the mirror and try to decide who you really are without lying to yourself. You have to realize if you are too compassionate, or perhaps maybe too strong willed. It is very hard to judge yourself but usually you can find the best answers by yourself to who you really are. As I went over the results of the personality test I found myself thinking that for the most part many things where accurate. I think that some parts I would not agree with but I think that for just fifty questions this personality test was pretty accurate.

            So the personality test diagnosed me as an “INTJ”, this is also known as an introverted, intuitive, thinking, judging. So what I would not agree with this personality test is that they pegged me as being a scientist or an engineer. I would not agree with that since I do not like putting puzzles together and building things because they take too long and do not hold my interest. Aside from my profession I do agree with other portions of the personality test; for example they said that I tend to be a perfectionist and this can many times be true. Many times I find myself wanting to do certain task perfectly; I do not like negative criticism so I will do whatever it takes to not have to receive negative criticism. They say that the perfectionist side of me will cause me to lose respect of authority which I might consider to be “slacking”. I can see how I might be standoffish with an authority figure but usually that will happen if I feel that they are almost too serious about their work. I am a relaxed individual and I tend to run my subordinates in the same fashion.

            I believe that this personality test might be useful to me and my leadership skills for many different reasons. I believe that to understand yourself is one of the best qualities a leader might have because sometimes you will have to go against the grains on some of your natural instincts. Knowing yourself lets you know how you will handle conflicts, communications, and different personalities which you will eventually hire for your business or to work under you. Many times we have to understand that as leaders our natural instincts are not always the best ones, in fact for some of us they can be harmful. For me I have come to understand that I do not like conflict, I do not like handing out orders and I think that this is due to the fact that I have always been a very young leader in the past. It seems that I have always been younger than those which I have been in charge of; at times I will still feel like a child giving orders. During my time in the military I had to learn to overcome those fears so that I could be the most effective leader possible. “Recognizing potential limitations”(MBTI) is what can make a leader or a business recognize what they have to get better at to improve their organization.

            Aside from knowing yourself you have to know who is working for you, understanding if you have a group of “A” type personalities can be beneficial; it might feel like you are trying to tame a cage full of lions. When you are trying to have control of a group of lions it is important to know what you are getting yourself into. If I were a leader of an organization I would recommend that every employee of mine take this personality test; I believe that knowing who you are working with is half the battle. Depending on a person’s personality you might have a better understanding of how to punish or reward them; you will also learn how to motivate certain personality types to get the most potential out of an employee.

            There is a wide range of personalities that we will encounter as leaders, some people will be easier than others to work with. Understanding the person you work with can make things much easier for a boss. Understanding who you are can also improve the situation for your organization; the work place is full of obstacles and understanding everyone in the office is half the battle. I believe that these personality test do have an important position in any business and should be taken advantage of.

Reference:

 Briggs, M. (2015, May 13). Humanetrics. Retrieved May 13, 2015, from http://www.humanmetrics.com/hr/JTypesResult.aspx

Brown, D. R. (2011). An Experiential Approach to Organization Development (Eighth ed.). Prentice Hall.

The future of Organizational Development

                The OD discipline is here to stay, I can say that in a very confident manner since I now know how important OD is to any organization. With times changing as rapidly as they are it is hard to imagine how a business can survive without applying some of these tactics which we have learned about over the past several months. Rather we like to admit it or not business is changing just as fast as technology and trends do, it is truly difficult for a company to keep up with new styles of leadership, how their employees are feeling at work, and the culture and values which they have created. How can someone who is not a trained professional know how to identify and work on making the changes that matter for a business?

                All throughout the last several months as we learn about OD we are constantly talking about the Micro and Macro problems which are occurring on a daily basis. To understand these problems it is important for a trained practitioner to look more in depth into an organization, perhaps it is not possible for someone who is not trained to see that there are many underlying problems. One thing which an OD practitioner can do so well is that they can also understand the importance of the culture of an organization. When we talk about the “Psycho-social subsystem, we are talking about the network of social relationships and behavioral patterns of members such as norms, roles, and communications” (Brown 2011). As we have learned about OD we have come to understand that systems just like this one are essential to an organization, having a negative culture can easily hold a company down from achieving their goals.

                Through my readings I have understood that those which say that OD is a passing fad say that because it has only been around for about sixty years so some do not consider it a discipline. To that theory we can make the argument that so many things which are part of our society today would be considered just a fad that will eventually pass. If we look at items such as cell phones, and the internet we have to agree that these things will be around for quite some time and will not just pass away. These type of items make are lives and our jobs much easier and helps us be more efficient; in my opinion this is the purpose of OD. Companies that use OD have had major improvements these companies have found that their employees “find more meaning in their work, learn how to work better in teams, and make greater leaps towards accomplishing the mission and goals of an organization”( Business balls).

                I do believe that as time goes on we will in fact start to see that businesses will recognize that it is very hard to keep things functioning without OD. It is important that we understand that every business wants to succeed; not only do they want to succeed but they want to see growth and increase their profits. Most businesses will understand that they have to develop their organization if they are to succeed. Business that invest in their employees, infrastructure, and technology can witness growth; these are some of the aspects of business which OD focuses on. I believe that much like our text states that the future of OD will find practitioners “creating a vision, instilling the importance of innovation and empowering employees” (Brown 2011); OD seems to change behaviors and bring out the best in organizations.

Reference:

Brown, D. R. (2011). An Experiential Approach to Organization Development (Eighth ed.). Prentice Hall.

Blanchard, K. (2014, February 12). Gung Ho. Retrieved May 9, 2015, from http://www.businessballs.com/gunghokenblanchard.htm