PPT Project

Week1: My Role Model I Leadership:

My role model is a film director named SS Rajamouli. Having known this director for more than a decade, I never knew he would be my role model until he made the biggest project leading thousands of artists and hundreds of technicians. His constant mindset to lead a large team showed his enormous leadership qualities and achieved results that one cannot imagine. The way he lead all the technical departments for a period of five years for one common goal took every ones lives to next level personally and professionally. More than the film content, it is his style of understanding all the possible scenarios and risks in making a product he imagined makes him a unique leader. As his follower I always try to inspire from him in my career, but one thing that prevents me to act like him is a constant mindset. He achieved his goal taking an enormous pressure and extreme risks, also boosting up his team with the progress. I always learn new things every time I try to analyze his mindset that made the entire industry to take a new dimension and an exciting future.

Week2: Cognitive biases:

Zero Risk Bias, Choice-supportive bias and Anchoring bias are the most relevant biases for me. I make most of my decisions that has minimal to zero risk. Though, some decisions may yield high results, my mind will tend to make a choice that has no risk. There was a situation where I had to take a decision of choosing an investment, I choose an investment which has very less profits and less risk too. The choice supportive bias is the next factor that has influence on my lifestyle decisions. I would buy a car that has a particular criteria I have created. Then I will make sure that the car had passed more criteria than it actually does. As a result, I feel confident about my decision that has less regrets. The third most relevant bias is Anchoring bias and the price I got for my car is an example to explain this. I had an average fixed budget of 15,000. The dealership offered me 14,500 for which I accepted it immediately. Later on I came to know that the same vehicle model was sold for 3,000 less at an other dealership. This made me realize that could have made some more research before making a decision based on the initial information I had.

Week3: Power and Influence:

The two sources of power that I am comfortable with are legitimate power source and reward power. In legitimate power is obtained from the position or role that one plays in an organization. For example, as a manager, I exercise legitimate power by delegating duties to my subordinates in my organization. On the other hand, reward power is one's ability to reward, for example, a pay rise, and an appealing job assignment. Another example of reward power is my father offering my young siblings a reward for good academic grades. The three influence techniques that I am comfortable with include: legitimating, personal appeals, and pressure. Legitimating is where the basis of the appeal is one's position power or legitimate power. Personal appeals are where one helps another person they like and need help. Finally, the pressure influence technique is where you exert undue influence on someone to compel them to obey your wants. The source of power that I rarely use is expert power. This source of power originates from well-developed knowledge and skills. The two influence techniques that I rarely use include: exchange and coalition.

Week4: Ethical Dilemmas:

In my first professional engagement, I worked as a sales representative for Green Oak Drinks Ltd. My friend Cate had the challenge of sexual harassment from our immediate supervisors, who headed the sales and marketing department in the Austin branch. Upon realizing that the two employees were blackmailing each other based on an illegal deal they had done and accumulated monies together, I was torn between reporting them to the head office so as to settle the matter or keep it to myself. Letting this known by the seniors would cost the two employees sacked as their past deal was against company policy. Keeping quiet about it would continue the blackmail and intimidation between them. I decided to bring the two together and mediate the two parties to get peace brokered between them. In chapter six we learnt that a leader’s personality influence the outcome of their interventions. From the ocean model of personality, I possess the traits of responsibility for others, sympathy and getting along with others. Additionally, from my previous social encounters I have developed a good level of intelligence emotionally. In the mediation process, I let the two parties give what was in their hearts. After accusations and counter-accusations, they gave me the chance to speak and I was able to establish a middle ground between them. Just by applying intelligence emotionally and a good personality as a leader, I solved the problem. To this day I still pride in the decision I made especially on the path to use mediation between Cate and our boss. Leadership qualities can only be determined by the outcomes of their actions and decisions. The result of my intervention was peace between the two employees and their retained jobs. I would use the same approach if faced by a similar situation.

Week5: Leadership skills:

The two concepts that I found revealing in the chapter are credibility and listening. According to the chapter, credibility has been attributed to success in two fields: expertise and trust. According to the credibility matrix quadrant, the first quadrant, which consists of highly credible leaders, are those leaders who have a high level of trust from the team, as well as a high level of knowledge. I find this revealing because I did not know that knowledge enough is not sufficient to attain credibility in the job. Communicating one's values earns the trust of people, and consequently, high credibility. The other concept of listening is also revealing. From the chapter, I have gained insights on how to be an active listener as a leader, and thus be in a position to become effective. In my experience, I have witnessed leaders who do not listen to others' opinions, and such leaders are not considered effective and are feared, instead of being respected. Also, in my experience, I have witnessed leaders who have high levels of knowledge but are not trusted by their team, and thus, the levels of credibility among these leaders are low.

Week6: SMART goal setting:

I have always dreamt of becoming a sales manager in future. The position of a sales manager many times is not elective neither is appointed out of academic success, it is usually given to a person as a result of the records. The following is the main goal, which is essential for attaining my career growth. “To advance from a sales representative position to a Sales Manager position in the next seven years.” To achieve the goal, several issues need to be accomplished, and the goal needs to be evaluated, as pointed out in Chapter 12. To attain the goal, I will be required to establish a positive track record of maximum sales, take an MBA degree, establish a firm leadership, communication and problem-solving skills. The SMART criteria of checking goals, my goal is specific and observable. This is in the sense that it clearly states the primary purpose of the goal and the time frame within which the goal need will be attained is offered. The goal is observable since the requirements to achieve it has been provided and can easily be attained. Although the goal looks attainable, it is someway challenging. Developing proper communication skills, problem-solving skills, and leadership skills is not an easy task. It requires full commitment from a person. There is a need to have feedback after every time throughout the process. This helps determine progress. Looking at the initial formulation and the final formulation after taking into account the SMART approach to goal setting, there is no change in the goal. The initial formulation of the goal was perfect.

Week7: Motivation Hygiene Theory:

Motivations are crucial to my career development since it creates the inner motive of working hard to achieve my goals in my workplace. The basis is fundamental since it helps me have the energy that drives me to handle the extra mile towards achieving my targets. Interests allow me to have the hygiene of making all factors to be consolidated in one aspect that is diving my motives to have a better experience in working. Self-motivation has helped me to have a hygienic way of handling situations, thus improving my career advances. Interpersonal behaviors have helped me have a better way of having my relationships with my colleagues; this has helped me grow and have better ways of advancing my career. Personality is a crucial way of having connections to work well with colleagues, facilitating teamwork, and better corporation. Having a good interpersonal relationship will help me have the right standard to make my career work well. Additionally, abilities have a good sense of belonging, where I can handle many functions and tasks that I am being assigned. My good knowledge has helped me manage my work and relationships with my managers and have my whole functions work well. Job security has been my favorite hygiene factor since it gives me the confidence to work out my job and meet the schedules that I have been assigned. Having the assurance of retention of a job is the best thing that has helped me have an excellent working condition. Good pay will facilitate a perfect inner motivation that will help me have the right way of handling my personal life and having my bills covered. Additionally, when the firm has paid insurance, it helps to cut off some expenses that will be solved within direct pay like medication bills.

Week8: GLOBE study

The perception of compassion in India is based on living creatures. They are so compassionate about animals such as dogs and that they should treat them well and provide food for them in order for the dogs to provide security in return. India has gone to the extent of creating fundamental duty in their amendment that people to have compassion for living creatures. In North America, it is perceived by reflecting it to public policy. North Americans, in terms of individualistic, are more likely to prioritize themselves over a group and value their independence and autonomy. India perceives individualistic in their Hinduism religion. They believe that society is individually accountable for how they control their lives and the effect it will have upon their reincarnation. This is according to their religion which beliefs in reincarnation that depends on how people lived their previous life. The sensitive attribute in India is manifested in three components of the environment. They include the place, time, and person. Sensitivity is based on them, which explains how Indians behave in various contexts. North-Americans view sensitivity based on animals like fish and birds. Ambitious is taken as professional growth in India and also a key to personal growth. For this reason, they are very ambitious, especially their women, as it is among the top ten in having working women. There is a commitment to achieving personal ambition and have the confidence to nurture their ambition. In North America, they view it as being successful in business so that they can change the way people live and work for the better. The attribute of formal leadership is perceived through the way one dresses and greet others. Indians are very strict in their modes of dressing as they believe that through them, one preserves his/her dignity and respect. Formality in North America depends on the context a person is at the moment and the type of audience around. It perceives formal as addressing people and depends on the place and participants.

Week9: LMX theory:

​I would instead belong to the in-group since the manager trusts the inner group. The manager gives this group his attention, challenging and exciting work, and offers opportunities, training, and advancement. The in-group is the favorite group to the manager; hence, they spend more time with them. If I find myself in the out-group, I would to the following things to improve my situation. First, I will identify my mistake, i.e., incompetence, untrustworthiness, or low motivation. Analyze or try to compare what the in-group did differently from what I am doing. What made the thing go sour with the manager? Then meet each person in the in-group one-on-one. Set aside time to see whether they're content with their work. What are their professional objectives? What I can do to make their work more testing or locks in? ​When I have got an opportunity to reconnect with my colleagues through one-on-one gatherings and do what I reasonably can to keep on connecting with them. I would practice the executives by strolling around or drop by their office to check whether they need assistance on ventures or assignments. Work on becoming acquainted with this in-group on an individual level, and with time I would have rebuild trust with the managers and the manager’s favorites’ time and hence improving my situation.

Week10:

This is current week, haven’t posted topic yet, but you can refer chapters 16 for ideas.