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Summation Assignment
During this semester, I have learned a lot during this course. Strategic Leadership and
Management has expanded my knowledge in different management and leadership concepts.
Using what I have learned, I am able to look at my previous employment and identify certain
areas in which the company could improve. Also, I can look back at situations I have
experienced as an employee that shaped the way in which I lead. In this summation, I will focus
on my previous employer’s leadership style and their workplace culture. I will also look at the
lack of autonomy in which directly affected me as an employee.
Concepts Affecting my Organization
In my previous role as the Human Resources Manager for a small privately own Golf
Club and Inn, who I will refer to in this summation as “The Inn”, there were two factors in the
way the Executive Board and Leadership Team lead, developed, and implemented policies that
stood out after reading Satterlee’s text. One factor affecting the organization was their leadership
style, more important, the lack of a consistency in the leadership. Satterlee (2018) identified
good leaders as producers of positive change who provides vision to their followers while
maintaining alignment with the organization’s direction for the company to succeed. However,
influence plays a major role in the success of leaders. At the Inn, the owners and executive board
was unwilling to change their way of leading. The policies, mission, and vision were outdated to
the current climate. The upper leadership managed the company in ways that trust was not
earned or given by the employees. The lack of trust directly affected the working environment.
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“You will earn the trust and respect of others if you work for good; if you work for evil, you are
making a mistake” (Prov. 14:22, Good News Translation). As the company began to move in
another direction due to the change in the hospitality climate, the leadership failed to develop and
implement the necessary strategic plan to garnish employee trust and buy-in. Islam et al. (2021)
highlighted transformational leadership as a suitable leadership style to manage organizational
change by gaining the trust in leadership and championing effective behavior by employees. The
lack of a consistent and identifiable leadership style resulted in low retention and employee
turnover.
The second factor that affected the Inn was workplace culture. The culture that is
established in the work environment and the employees has an impact on the satisfaction of the
employees, employee engagement, and the growth of the company. Unfortunately, the workplace
culture at the Inn was affected by the lack of diversity and equity within the workplace. One of
the areas that seemed to be the most impactful was the Executive Leadership team. The
Executive Leadership team included each Director, Vice-president, the President/CEO and the
Board of Directors. The executive leadership team has a major responsibility of shaping the
culture and establishing the values of the company. Unfortunately, the team lacked diversity in
gender and race. Like most privately own country clubs, the makeup of the executive leadership
team did not mirror the makeup of their employees. With that being said, the gender and race
make-up of the executive leadership team, played a major role in employee satisfaction.
Hakovirta et al., (2023) noted “Diversity ties in with the culture of an organization by
influencing thought leadership and opinions as well as influences how an organization conducts
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its business” (p. 3). Understanding the impact of diversity and how organizations are successful,
companies should build teams that match the climate in which their businesses are functioning.
By doing so, the company fosters a workplace environment that is positive and effective.
Another factor under the workplace environment is the lack of equity in salaries. The Inn
had a salary scale that was antiquated and did not allow for proper increases that needed to be
adjusted due to the changes within the hospitality industry. In some areas, salaries were assigned
to new employees based on the starting pay of the previous person in that role. This was done
without any consideration of the new employee’s qualifications and experience. However, from
the employees’ perception, the salaries were being diverted to the leadership team. According to
Ferdian et al., (2022), “salary is crucial in motivating individuals to work in the hotel industry”
(p. 2). In their study, Ferdian et al., also noted the vast difference in the salaries offered to the
frontline, operational employees as compared to the salaries in other service industries, which
was relatively low. In order for the Inn to increase its employee satisfaction and retention of
employees, my recommendation is for the executive leadership team to complete a SWOT
analysis as well as a climate survey. The SWOT analysis will provide them with the necessary
information on the potential outcomes to the company’s bottom line if an adjustment was to be
made to all current and futures employees’ pay. A climate survey will provide a real-time look
into how employees view leadership and the mission, vision, and the strategic plan for the
company.
Concepts Affecting my Leadership
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The major aspect from my previous employment at the Inn that affected my leadership
was the lack of autonomy in the workplace. Having autonomy in the workplace is important
because it allows for an individual to have some control and or discretion in their methods of
completing their responsibilities and in some cases scheduling. In my case, I experienced neither.
As a Human Resources Manager, I was not allowed the autonomy to make decisions and or
complete certain tasks without the review of the director. As a manager with other companies,
my roles always had the autonomy to manage the HR department and to adjust based on the
needs of the business. Unfortunately, at the Inn my role as a manger seemed to be reduced to an
assistant’s role without the ability to manage and adjust when necessary. The workplace
environment at the Inn functioned in a setting of micro-management. According to Kwok (2020),
micro-managing is a form of work control where power is unfairly distributed and is a sign of
inequality where managers exercise a high degree of power and influence over their employees.
In my role at the Inn, I experienced unfair stress caused by the repeated questioning
related to my tasks and continually being assigned tasks and other responsibilities that were not
under my role, however, I was required to complete them. However, my plans were not Gods’
plan for me. Romans 8:28 reminded me that because I love God, everything that I was going
through and the inequality I faced was working together for my good, so I continued to have
faith in God and his promises to me. Needless to say, my employment at the Inn was short,
however the door that God opened for me has been filled with everything I was missing
including autonomy, diversity, and equity in pay.
Conclusion
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Over the course of this course and others that I have taken, I have been able to learn more
about leadership and management and all of the aspects that are involved in ensuring the success
of the company while also maintaining a workplace culture that is positive, effective, and
increases employee retention. As a Christian leader in HR, knowing the different aspects of
leadership, especially under a Christian worldview will be helpful to me as I lead my team.
Reading the text by Satterlee and Dees provided me with the necessary insights into my
leadership style and how I can continue to grow and develop. The final summation paper
included the concepts of leadership needed to be successful, such as having a consistent
leadership style, diversity and equity in pay, and the need to offer autonomy in the workplace.
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References
Bible Gateway Passage. Good News Translation. Bible Gateway. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.biblegateway.com
Ferdian, F., Zahari, M. S. M., Hanafiah, M. H., & Patah, Mohd Onn Rashdi Abd. (2022). Hotel
workplace environment, millennial culture and graduates career commitment: An
empirical investigation. Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism, 1-19.
https://doi.org/10.1080/1528008X.2022.2112806
Hakovirta, M., Denuwara, N., Topping, P., & Eloranta, J. (2023). The corporate executive
leadership team and its diversity: Impact on innovativeness and sustainability of the
bioeconomy. Humanities & Social Sciences Communications, 10(1), 144-10.
https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-01635-9
Islam, M. N., Furuoka, F., & Idris, A. (2021). Mapping the relationship between transformational
leadership, trust in leadership and employee championing behavior during organizational
change. Asia Pacific Management Review, 26(2), 95-102.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmrv.2020.09.002
Kwok, C. (2020). Work autonomy and workplace democracy: The polarization of the goods of
work autonomy in the two worlds of work. Review of Social Economy, 78(3), 351-372.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00346764.2019.1690671
