Analysis of a Personal Experience
Phoebe015
IndividualExperiencePresentation4.pptxIndividual experience presentation
Yongiie “Jeff” Zhu
Disclaimer: The content below is strictly to be used for academic purposes only for the course titled “Managing Organizational Change” for the Summer 2019 session at University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. Any other use, to include other academic sessions for the same course at UMass Dartmouth or any other institution is strictly prohibited without the written consent of all authors
Background
I would like to discuss a learning and leadership experience I had with the U.S. Air Force
I originally worked as the Hardware IPT Lead on a rocket launch program
Nature of the work was technical, not leadership / managerial oriented
Had an opportunity to be the program manager of a relatively small defense procurement program and took the opportunity
I will discuss the leadership styles I used as well as the knowledge transfer / knowledge learning experience I had
Image Source: bbc.com
Leadership style used
Looking back, I believe the leadership styles I used were collaborative & strategic leadership
Program was facing a number of programmatic and technical issues that seem to came out of nowhere
I felt I was like a busy firefighter putting out fires everywhere which took away a lot of time and resources to actually manage the program
Wanted to implement a risk management program, but faced questioning and doubt within my team
Realized in order to successfully implement a risk management framework for my program, I needed to gain support from within my team
Convinced the contractor team first, then followed on with the Government team
I believed I used a collaborative style of leadership in instituting a risk management framework, working both with the industry partners as well as our internal Government team
Leadership style used
The second challenge I faced was dealing with program funding cuts
I pondered on what the best course of action to take
Realized efforts could still be made to salvage the program
Wrote and submitted a program defense document explaining the importance of my program
Held an internal All-Call to boost morale
Visited stakeholders and rallied support from my program’s customers and advocates
As a result of my effort, my team successfully flight tested Air Force’s first wide-band, low profile MILSTAR antenna
Knowledge transfer
As the new program manager, I learned about the program through document repositories such as sharepoint, old emails, and embedded knowledge within the other team members
Content on sharepoint was often incomplete
The transfer of embedded team member knowledge was also a bit haphazard due to turnovers and retirements
I felt a more structured knowledge transfer mechanism could be put in place by my organization to better facilitate transition and program personnel turnover
One idea is on-the-job training and shadowing of previous program manager by the incoming program manager
The other idea is a structured electronic continuity folder
conclusion
Through this experience, I believe I became a better leader
Different environments and situations require different leadership styles – situational leadership
Knowledge transfer in organizations is critical in ensuring job continuity and success
