Running head: CHAPTERS 5-6: KEY CONCEPTS LEARNED
Management and Leadership – Integration of Satterlee Chapters 5-6
Christian Farris, Ashley Gauldin, Nicholas Harvey, Tammie Jones, Artur Karapetyan
Liberty University
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CHAPTERS 5-6: KEY CONCEPTS LEARNED
Integration of Satterlee Chapters 5-6
Three concepts are outlined by Satterlee (2018) that can be described as being essential in
the workplace. Communication is a crucial concept for success in the workplace, specifically the
skill of listening. All organizations will have conflict, and knowing how to handle this through
conflict management can be the difference between success and failure. Additionally, teamwork
and collaboration allow each member of a team to offer ideas and solutions so that everyone is
involved in creating success.
Consensus
After discussion and collaboration amongst the team, the determination has been made
that the three most important concepts discussed in Satterlee's Organizational Management and
Leadership: A Christian Perspective are: communication and the skill of listening, conflict
management, and collaborative teamwork. The group believes that these three concepts allow
organizational leaders to fulfill the obligations described by Satterlee (2018) of leading with clear
and concise communication, managing workplace conflict, and motivation and encouragement of
collaboration.
Communication: Listening
Communication is often the difference between success and failure; teamwork,
collaboration, delegation, accountability, and feedback all rely on communication. It is arguably
a leader's most powerful tool and the differentiating factor between understanding and
misunderstanding (Bergman, Dellve, Skagert, Skolan, Hälso- och, Ergonomi & KTH, 2016). The
communication process includes several components: a sender and a receiver, the encoding of a
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CHAPTERS 5-6: KEY CONCEPTS LEARNED
message by the sender, the media of communication, and the receipt and decoding of the
message by the receiver (Satterlee, 2018). As a required skill among employers, listening is
crucial to comprehending and accomplishing tasks (Lear, Hodge, & Schulz, 2015). Often,
someone listening can be a vital component to problem-solving, as listening allows for proper
analysis of the situation by listening to all the input provided (Lear, 2015). Spataro and Bloch
(2018), in the journal article titled Can You Repeat That? writes, "the goal in active listening is to
develop a clear understanding of the speaker's message" (pg.171). Also, listening skills used with
empathy have shown to create higher levels of trust within relationships (Lear, 2015). Active
listening skills are essential in ensuring effective communication.
Conflict Management
Conflicts arise between employees for several reasons, from miscommunications to
differences in opinions, values, ethics, and definitions of completeness or success (Avgar, 2019).
Managing conflict aims to realign resources back towards company goals and away from
wasteful behavior. When conflict arises in the organizational environment, employees are less
productive, less motivated, less likely to meet deadlines, and less likely to provide an excellent
customer experience. When not appropriately managed, it can also result in the turnover of
valuable staff caught within the conflict as they become less pleased with their work
environment (Popovic & Hocenski, 2009). Conflict in an organization viewed to be virtually
inevitable at this point, and it is considered by human resources management and leadership
teams, in general, to learn how to handle conflict and deal appropriately with the situation at
hand. Additionally, conflict can serve as a distraction from group-think tendencies and allow for
growth of goals and performance through functional and constructive conversation and criticism
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CHAPTERS 5-6: KEY CONCEPTS LEARNED
within those involved in the conflict (Satterlee, 2018). It is the responsibility of leaders, and
managers, to establish interventions and strategies to achieve collegial workplace relationships
(Almost, Wolff, Steward-Pyne, McCormick, Strachan, & D’Souza, 2016)
Collaboration: Teamwork
Collaboration is the key to successful results, no matter what the situation (Boynton,
2012). Collaboration helps to create healthy work environments, build trust among team
members, and create robust and lasting relationships; also, collaboration is a leadership style that
promotes employee involvement to meet the organization's goals and builds success for everyone
involved (Boynton, 2012). Collaboration through teamwork is a quintessential element to the
foundation and framework of an organization. In the general workplace, setting teams provides
an avenue for people with complementary skills to come together and accomplish tasks toward a
common purpose while being able to hold each other mutually accountable (Satterlee, 2018).
Strategies
As a group, we recommend that the approach used to implement these concepts remain
simple. First, improve the communication skills of all leaders. Secondly, prepare leaders for
conflict management. Thirdly, encourage teamwork and collaboration.
Communication: Listening
As an organizational leader, a focus on improving the communication skills of all
members within the organization is essential. Communication skills, particularly listening skills,
are crucial to the success of an organization. Leaders should seek out employees that have strong
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CHAPTERS 5-6: KEY CONCEPTS LEARNED
communication skills and encourage, as well as train, employees in their communication skills,
to improve the communication of the organization as a whole.
Conflict Management
All leaders within the organization need to be prepared to manage conflict. Conflict will
always arise within an organization, and being prepared for this can create success in the long
run. The organization should offer training for all leaders on successful conflict management.
Training provides tools to prepare all leaders for events that they will face in the future so that
they are capable of successfully handling conflict.
Collaboration: Teamwork
The organization should encourage collaboration and teamwork whenever possible. An
organization utilizing collaboration and teamwork recognizes that is methodology represents a
group of individuals working for the success of the organization as a whole instead of just the
individual. The encouragement of these concepts allows for the organizations team members to
strive for organizational success.
Biblical Integration
The common theme among these concepts is that relationships among team members are
essential to the success of an organization and that relationships should be positive, and members
of the organization should work together. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (GNT) tells us
Two are better off than one because together they can work more effectively. If one of
them falls, the other can help him up. But if someone is alone and falls, it's just too bad,
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CHAPTERS 5-6: KEY CONCEPTS LEARNED
because there is no one to help him. If it is cold, two can sleep together and stay warm,
but how can you keep warm by yourself? Two people can resist an attack that would
defeat one person alone. A rope made of three cords is hard to break.
Just as The Bible tells us that in life, two are better off than one; the same applies to an
organization. One person cannot create all the successes for an organization; it takes a team.
Conclusion
Communication is how messages are transmitted between a sender and a receiver. In the
workplace, instructions, expectations, knowledge, and goals are all transmitted via
communication (Bergman et al., 2016); this is important for leaders because, without
communication, confusion would paralyze productivity. Managing conflict helps leaders and
managers realign human resources towards productive goals and away from wasteful behavior; it
can be the difference between success and failure (Avgar, 2019). Finally, the utilization of teams
within an organization for various functions, including project or task completion and the use of
groups, is a beneficial method of increasing motivation and employee satisfaction to meet shared
goals or missions.
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CHAPTERS 5-6: KEY CONCEPTS LEARNED
References
Avgar, A. (2019). Integrating conflict: A proposed framework for the interdisciplinary study of
workplace conflict and its management. ILR Review, , 1979391988581.
doi:10.1177/0019793919885819
Almost, J., Wolff, A., Stewart-Pyne, A., McCormick, L., Strachan, D., & D’Souza, C. (2016).
Managing and mitigating conflict in healthcare teams: An integrative review. Journal of
Advanced Nursing. 72(7), 1490-1505.
Bergman, C., Dellve, L., Skagert, K., Skolan för teknik och hälsa (STH), Hälso- och
systemvetenskap, Ergonomi, & KTH. (2016). Exploring communication processes
in workplace meetings: A mixed methods study in a swedish healthcare
organization. Work (Reading, Mass.), 54(3), 533-541. doi:10.3233/WOR-162366
Boynton, B. (2012). Nurse leaders' critical role in and collaboration strategies for creating safe,
positive workplace cultures. Journal Of Legal Nurse Consulting, 23(2), 31-34.
Lear, J. L., Hodge, K. A., & Schulz, S. A. (2015). Talk to me! Effective, efficient
communication. Journal For Research In Business Education, 57(1), 64-77.
Popovic, K., Hocenski, Z. (2009). Conflict management. IEEE Computer Society. P. 15-19.
Satterlee, A. (2018). Organizational management & leadership: A Christian perspective (3rd
ed.). Raleigh, NC: Synergistics International Inc.
