Peer Responses-english

Respond to two students discussion post. Just type the paragraph under the discussion. It doesn’t have to be in essay form.

Also, make sure that your response(s) are substantial and at least 100 words.  In your responses, you must include connections to course learning objectives. 

Discussion Post #1

By: Linda Coleman

Barefoot Leadership, according to Bregman (2014), is about acting in ways that change the way others act. It is about shifting a room, a team, or even the culture of an organization by taking a risk that others are scared to take. Risks are necessary at times in leadership. For a leader to be successful, the risks outweigh the “what-ifs.” In any organization there are changing demands, a leader should accept the risks as a challenge and as a learning opportunity. The type of calculated risks that will lead to success are the ones that are well thought out and where the benefits outweigh the negatives.      

For Richard to hold others accountable, he needs to allow the employees to have an active role in identifying, managing, and mitigating their jobs. This creates a sense of responsibility amongst the employees and they will go about the business more seriously. Richard needs to learn how to say “No.” This is a definite life skill that he needs to develop. Saying no isn’t about denying yourself and others. It is about choosing and prioritizing what deserves your limited time. He is exhibiting the Socialized Mind of the 3rd Order of Consciousness, according to Kegan and Lahey (2010), one of the three plateaus in adult mental development. Richard has his own beliefs and definitions and expectations of his interpersonal environment. 

Thomas needs to change his signature strategy-preserving tactical fixes. Thomas’ basic mindset reflects on “riding out the storm.” Thomas should find new challenges and acquire the skills to meet those challenges by reflecting on his behavior. According to Kegan and Lahey (2010), Thomas displays the 4th Order of Consciousness of the Self-Authoring Mind by the aligning the self with his own ideology.

Both Richard and Thomas need to develop a critical awareness of new insights and new behaviors. This is characterized by “the ability to subordinate or regulate “opinions,” “values,” “beliefs,” “ideas” to a more complex system—which can prioritize them, combine them, create new values or beliefs we didn’t even know we had (Kegan & Lahey 2010).

Discussion Post #2

By: Patricia Curtis

Thomas and Richard have done well in their roles at Whole Cloth until Thomas promotes Richard. Richard was familiar with his former role but in his new role, he will have to form a new strategy that is making him uncomfortable and frustrated. His relationship among his coworkers is also different which poses challenges that he was not expecting. An internal shift in supply and demand has Thomas realizing that his usual strategy is not as reliable with this change. His strategy to just persevere is not going to work in these circumstances. In Bregman's article, the narrator assesses his situation by stating his about the consequences of his choices. Richard and Thomas would benefit from this type of analyzing their situation.  By identifying their own feelings about their situations they would be better equipped to make a decision of what actions they need to take. In another part of the article, the narrator discusses how the senior executives were quarreling about who was at fault for the decline in revenue. Once someone claims their part of the responsibility, others start doing the same. By owning his responsibility, the head of customer service was able to develop a strategy for improving what was lacking in his department. Deflecting always detracts from the root cause which keeps people from addressing the real issue. With Thomas and Richard, if all they focus on is their frustrations then they cannot fully assess the situation to decide what changes need to be made to create a positive impact. They have to change how they think about their situation in order to change their situation.  

At the end of the article, the narrator reveals that the well-dressed man took off his shoes because "seeing your bare feet gave me permission to take off mine" reveals that we all have hesitations, reservations, and fears and we are all looking for someone to else to make us comfortable or feel not so alone. (Bregman, 2014) Pushing ourselves beyond our comfort zone can make us more adaptable and resilient.