management writing

Leader Name:

Monica Tolson

Student Names:

Stephanie Scott & Alexia Charlton

Email address:

[email protected]

Name of Organization:

B.C. Pension Corporation

Position or Title:

Assistant Director Business and Information Services

One paragraph summary of why you chose to interview this individual:

Stephanie’s father has worked at the Pension Corporation for a while now. He has always spoke very highly of the friendly atmosphere within the business. He describes his work environment to be more like a second family. We were really curious to see what type of leadership styles/traits help to make this such a family friendly environment. Not only is going to work an enjoyable experience for employees, the organization is very Work-Life balanced by providing flex days, family days and in some cases the ability to do some work from home. We were excited to discuss all of this with Monica and see just what it takes to make this environment possible.

Leader Name:

Student Names:

Email address:

Name of Organization:

Position or Title:

One paragraph summary of why you chose to interview this individual:

Criteria

Monica Tolson/Stephanie S. & Lexi

Leader 2 Name/Student Names

Leadership

What leadership style/s were identified? How does their particular style fit in with the theories discussed in Chapter 8?

Democratic Style & Laissez-faire Style.

Monica is very people oriented. She is very open-minded, transparent, collaborative. She works very hard to have a relationship with each employee so build trust and to inspire them. Monica’sMonicas leadership style falls between the DemocraticDemorcatic and Laissez-faire. Most of the employees already know what they have to do and come to her if they need guidance.

· Identified; Democratic Style & Laissez-faire Style-Monica falls between these two styles.

· Monica also talked about being open-minded, transparent, and collaborative.

· According to Hershey and Blanchard, Monica is a Delegating Leader because;

· her followers are able, willing, confident and come to her if they need any further guidance.

Does the interviewee consider themselves more of a manager or a leader?

Monica sees herself as more of a leader. She inspires her employees to help them move towards a common goal. “Leaders have to manage, but Managers do not necessarily have to lead.”

· Monica sees herself as a leader.

· She inspires her employee’s to work towards a common goal.

· Works towards being someone people can follow.

· Monica is not someone who “bosses people around.”

What characteristics/traits were identified as important?

One of the most important characteristics Monica identified was being authentic. To be able to create a connection with the employees. “If you don’t believe in a leader, the will not be able to take you in the direction you need to be.”

· Identified; Desire to Lead, Emotional Intelligence Drive, Inspirational, Honest, and Authentic.

· Authentic-being able to create a connection with her employee’s.

· Monica stated “If you don’t believe in a leader, they will not be able to take you in the direction you need to be.”

What characteristics/traits could potentially damage a leader’s career?

From experience, Monica has witnessed leaders who are not honest with their employees. Leaders whose own personal interests outweigh the interests/goals of the organization. “Being a leader, it’s not about you.”

Power

What sources of power does the interviewee use?

· Position power (reward, coercive, legitimate)

· Personal power (expert, referent)

Monica uses a very personal level of power. She “gives the power to the people” and in turn “manages the results.” Monica believes that if you help people do the best they can in their jobs it will motivate them to be the best they can be. She believes you need to be able to apply all the levels of power, but only use them as little as possible, as a last resort when there is a major issue. “Don’t wheel the power.”

Motivation

How does this individual motivate his/her employees? Theories? (apply Chapter 9)

Monica’s personal relationship with her employee’s is the base for keeping employee’s motivated. Monica describes is as giving your employee’s a sense of belonging. Having open communication, giving regular feedback, and ensuring a common purpose and goal are also very important aspects for keeping employee’s motivated. While giving regular feedback to employee’s, it is never dealt in a demeaning manner, rather, she gives them examples to try and address any issue that is ensuing. An example issue Monica used to describe this was if an employee is continuously late for work. Instead of docking them with letters or verbal warnings about being late, she sits them down and asks them why it is happening, and is there anything she or the company can do to help resolve the situation. The Pension office also has the ability to trace all work that has been done so each employee can see how their work is contributing to the organization. This helps the employee’s know where they fit in.

Developing Trust

Dimensions of trust – which ones were identified? What other traits or characteristics were mentioned?

Monica described the most important trait/characteristic for developing employee trust as openness. Having open and honest communication with your employee’s is the key to developing a trusting relationship. The open communication goes both ways, first Monica has to be open and honest with them, and in return wishes all of them to be open and honest with her. Second, being supportive of your employee’s. Monica makes sure she is there when they need it the most. Monica also used the phrase “walk the talk”-meaning do what you say you are going to do. Whether it be something simple for a specific person, or a larger project for the whole division. If you say you are going to do it, DO IT. Through are conversation she also implied that integrity was an important trait for developing employee trust as well.

Advice and Current Issues

What advice did this individual suggest?

Monica gave us some great advice for anyone going into leadership or management position. The most important of which is that you are there to learn. To do so you need to work with you employee’s to set common goals. Also need to find where exactly you fit into the organization and its employee’s. To do this you need to be a good listener. Getting to know you employee’s is also very important. You want to make a personal connection with each and every one. The best way to do this is to set up one-on-one time with them, not necessarily to chat about work, but to chat about life and learn about each other. Also, need to make sure your employee’s feel that you are there to listen, not to criticize in any way. If the employee’s feel that you criticize them, they will not want to come to you with issues or ideas, eventually leading them to not trust you like they should be able to.

What current issues were identified?

Monica has experienced that more and more often, leaders tend to be there only for themselves not for their employee’s. This is a very large issue with leadership. At the Pension office, they do a lot of leadership training to help alleviate the any possible problems with their leadership teams. Monica is always there for her employee’s and stated that “every employee is a leader in their own right.” We found this to be a very powerful and inspirational quote coming from someone in a leadership role. Monica stated that there seems to be less leader’s these days that believe their employees’ can be any type of a leader and that this harms the organizations.