A511.8.3.RB -Gender_DiazBrian

Rosabeth Moss Kanter discusses several relevant issues that women face in today's workplace.  Kanter mentions how "getting up to the very peak is still an issue" for women in the workplace.  She explains that the one of the reasons for this is that these top managerial positions require dedication and commitment on a 24-7 basis.  These demands make it difficult for the people that have these jobs to have any other responsibilities.  She feels that there may be discrimination and behind the scenes discussions about the best candidates for these positions.  Women might not be viewed as viable candidates because they may not be as dedicated due to familial obligations.  Kanter says "It's the greedy and demanding nature of these jobs."

Another issue of contention Kanter touches on is compensation for women in managerial positions.  Do women earn less because they are less valuable than men?  Is it because they are not very good negotiators?  At high levels in organizations, women are disproportionately found as opposed to their male counterparts.  These positions often pay more.  So then the question become do men make better decisions than women?  Is it fair to say that the two reason differently when reaching conclusions?  Based on statistics, I do believe women are unfairly paid less than men. This practice of discriminating salary based on gender needs to be eradicated and there is no reason women cannot and do not earn as much as their counterparts. 

Another issue Kanter discusses is the challenge of  having a work-life balance.  This issue is one I believe affects both men and women but more often than not moms are the one that stay home to take care of their families.  When my wife had our son she was home with him for 3 months.  We felt extremely fortunate that she was able to be home with our baby for 3 whole months and more importantly that she had a job that paid her for her entire stay at home.  What we didn't anticipate however, and I believe many professional women wind up feeling this way, is the sense of guilt about having to go back to work and leaving their newborns in someone else's care.  My wife cried almost everyday for a week when she arrived at work because she missed our son.  Being with him basically 24 hours a day for 30 days really left her feeling like she was abandoning our baby.  My director is currently 8 months pregnant and this is her first child and I wonder, will she want to come back to work?  Men don't form the type of bond that mothers due with their children.  

In talking about sex-based discrimination Yukl (2014) says "Widespread discrimination is clearly evident in the ow number of women who hold important, high-level leadership positions in most types of organizations.  The strong tendency to favor men over women in filling high-level leadership positions has been referred to as the 'glass ceiling'." (p. 371).  These points seem to parallel Kanter's feelings on the subject of sex-based discrimination.

While I am aware that women might not hold as many high level positions as men, I don't believe that there exists outright discrimination in all organizational leadership positions simply based on gender.  Am I saying that sex-based discrimination does not occur?  I would not dare to be so naive.  I am sure that there are certain corporations that will only consider men for their highest positions.  Organizations that practice this from of discrimination have no moral values and I would not want to associate myself with a company that didn't give consideration to the bet candidate regardless of gender, ethnicity, or personal beliefs.  As Yukl (2014) noted "Throughout the twentieth century, gender-based discrimination was supported by age old beliefs that men are more qualified than women for leadership roles." (p. 371).  We are no longer in the 20th century and I think it's time women should be not only considered for the highest leadership positions, I think it is time for them to make claim for these positions.  If it is not far fetched to see a female President in the White House, how far fetched would it be to fro a woman to be CEO of Microsoft or Apple?

Kanter, R. (2010). Women, Ambition and (Still) the Pay Gap. Harvard Business Review, Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhquUOlBuOY&feature=youtu.be&t=5s

Yukl, G. A. (2013). Leadership in organizations (8th ed.). Boston: Pearson.

A511.7.3.RB_DiazBrian

After reading "Getting personal on the topic of leadership" I could not help but get nostalgic and reflect back on some of my childhood phases.  My family did not have much money growing up.  My mother was a stay at home mom and my dad worked hard to provide for my three brothers and I.  I thought back to how I felt when I was in 6th grade.  If you didn't wear certain name brand clothes you were looked down upon.  Even then there were cliques and obvious "classes" we all fell into.  I didn't belong to the "popular" crowd which is why I think I focused so much on sports and used that as a social crutch.  As I got past middle school and was entering high school, to make up for not having the latest "in trend" name brand clothes, I worked an entire summer cleaning at a pre-school.  I cleaned toilets, swept, mopped, and waxed floors.  I picked weeds.  I busted my butt all summer.  My reward was going to the mall at the end of the summer to buy my very own, brand new, in fashion clothes.  I bought 2 new pair of expensive sneakers, and about 10 different outfits.  I did this because I wanted to fit in.  But the funny thing is that I didn't need to try so hard.  I should have just been me.  I learned a valuable lesson the next year from an upper class man.  It was the first day of school and he wasn't wearing noticeably new clothes.  I couldn't figure out why anyone would come to school on the first day without new school clothes?  So I asked him.  He said "I come to school to learn.  Not for a fashion show."  I was really stunned but I thought about it and he was right!  What was I thinking this whole time.  I was trying to be someone I wasn't instead of being myself.  The person I was trying to portray was not me.  It was my idea of who I thought others wanted me to be.

Goffee and Jones (2006) wrote "What characterizes effective leaders is a sense of what works for them with others.  They know and show enough of themselves to win over their followers."  Fast forward to today after a considerable amount of learned life lessons.  The one thing I have always taken pride in is that I treat others the way I want to be treated.  I am no better than anyone else.  I do my best to make a positive impact or interaction with anyone I come into contact with.  From the janitor at my school, to the clerk in the gas station, to the cashier in the supermarket.  When people meet me and get to know me one of the things they will usually confide in me is that they appreciate my sincerity (my wife jokes that I must pay them all).  I consider this my competency in emotional intelligence.  This is my strength and I will utilize this trait to be an effective leader. Yukl (2014) states "Emotional intelligence is relevant for leadership effectiveness in several ways.  Leaders with a high levl of emotional intelligence are more capable of solving complex problems, planning how to use their time effectively, adapting their behavior to the situation, and managing crises.  self-awareness makes it easier to understand one's needs and likely reactions if certain events occurred thereby facilitating evaluation of alternative problems." (p. 152). 

Because I grew up in a family that valued hard work when it came time for me to work I worked hard.  Any job I ever had I worked from the bottom up.  I enjoy proving myself and I owe my values and strong work ethic to my upbringing.  I could have easily decided I wanted easy things and easy money but that was never me.  I value integrity.  I value ethics.  I have an opportunity to become a valuable leader in the future.  I can borrow from the theories we explored this week such as transforming leadership, servant leadership, spiritual leadership, and authentic leadership to achieve my future goals.  Yukl (2014) summarized "The theories of ethical leadership emphasize the importance of integrity and ethical behavior.  Ethical leaders influence followers to recognize the need for adaptive problem solving that will improve their long term welfare rather than denying the need or settling for superficial remedies." (p. 357).  It is my goal to continue to treat others as I want to be treated and to follow an ethical path to leadership.

Goffee, R., & Jones, G. (2006). Getting personal on the topic of leadership. Human Resource Management International Digest , 14 (4), 32-34.

Yukl, G. A. (2013). Leadership in organizations (8th ed.). Boston: Pearson. 

A511.6.3.RB_DiazBrian

Reflecting on this week's materials I find myself asking "What is my meaning?  What purpose am I serving my organization?  Is there a way for me to better position myself and prove I can be an essential asset to my organization?"  Recently I have been giving a lot of thought to the last question.  I feel that there are opportunities for me to take advantage of that might put me "on the radar" and help me to advance my career.  The real challenge will be whether or not I decide to take a "leap of faith" or play it safe and hope that opportunity will present itself to me over time based on merit.  I will  answer my first two initial questions a little later on.

Ulrich & Ulrich (2010) wrote that "Meaning is not a dropped coin we pick up by chance.  It is more like fine pottery we craft.  People have to create the meaning of their work and their lives, and that process requires skill and practice, not just luck.  Those who succeed at creating meaning - either on their own or with the help of their boss - tend to work harder, more creatively, and with more tenacity, giving the companies that employ them a leg up in the marketplace." Retrieved from http://blogs.hbr.org/2010/06/getting-beyond-engagement-to-c/

Leaders can help us find our "meaning" by articulating a meaningful vision for the future that appeals to our beliefs and values.  Yukl (2014) wrote "The appeal of a vision depends on its ideological content as well as on its relevance for the challenges facing an organization.  If the vision embodies shared values and ideals for most members of the organization, it is more likely to illicit their commitment." (p. 93).  I agree that if an organization has a vision it is imperative to present it in a manner that will garner support, excitement, and appeal.  Since change is a constant, in order for leaders to successfully navigate implementing change Yukl (2014) notes it is important to:

• Communicate a clear vision of the benefits to be gained from change.
• Identify the supporters/opponenets, and reasons for resistance.
• Build support for the change.
• Prepare people fro change by explaining how it will affect them.
• Provide opportunities for early success to build confidence.
• Monitor the progress of change and make adjustments as needed.
• Keep people informed of the progress of the change.
• Demonstrate optimism and continued commitment to the change. (pp. 85-88).  

This week my organization held our end of year meeting.  The new Dean of Online Learning shared with us his vision for our department.  He began the meeting by going over the previous year's goals and how we did as a whole.  Once we reviewed the information he presented us with this year's challenges and goals.  He has set the bar pretty high and our target goals are greater this year than last.  He was able however to convey the importance of the work that we do and how we impact the organization.  He really zeroed in on us building stronger relationships with our students.  We then had our breakout sessions by teams and my Director further explained the vision that leadership has for our department and how we are going to achieve our goals.  I feel that the leadership team was able to effectively identify with my team's shared values and beliefs.  I have commented in the past that we are a pretty cohesive unit and our shared values and beliefs are what I think makes us such a great team.  The leadership team was also able to link the vision to our core competencies and prior achievements effectively.  Yukl (2014) notes "One way to build follower optimism about the vision is to link it to their ability to collectively solve problems and overcome difficult obstacles." (p. 94).  Our Director noted that our progress would be more closely monitored through the year in order to offer encouragement and support.  At the end of the day I think I walked away from the meeting with a renewed sense of urgency, a clear objective of my expectations, and a genuine desire to not only meet but exceed my expectations.

I think I left that day with "meaning" to what I currently do and how I plan to do things moving forward.  Looking within myself I have always wanted to do something that helped others.  I am fortunate to be able to do that today by assisting graduate students in accomplishing their educational goals.  The last few days have been a whirlwind of brainstorming sessions on how to improve my processes, what I can do to be a better team member, and  formulating a strategic plan to accomplish my goals. I consider myself to be a "spoke on a wheel".  However, I would eventually like to consider myself a part of the "engine" that helps to drive my organization.  I want to be a leader.  Ulrich & Ulrich (2010) wrote"Leaders who help shape a vision that is engaging to others, who weave the stories that help people make sense of the past and imagine the future, who tap into the unique desires and values of individuals engage people's hearts as well as their heads and hands." Retrieved from http://blogs.hbr.org/2010/06/getting-beyond-engagement-to-c/ 

So earlier I asked myself "What is my meaning?  What purpose am I serving my organization?"  I think my "meaning" is to help others.  Since my end of year meeting, a fire has ignited inside of me to be the best I can possibly be.  I want to be a role model to my teammates and an example of hard work and dedication.  I want to dedicate myself to accomplishing the goals that have been set for me and that I have set for myself.  I am serving my organization as a representative who's purpose is my commitment to serving my students and making sure they are successful.  If my students are successful my organization is successful.  Having the opportunity to be a part of that process is my reward.

Ulrich, D & W. (2010). Getting Beyond Engagement to Creating Meaning at Work. Harvard Business Review, Retrieved from http://blogs.hbr.org/2010/06/getting-beyond-engagement-to-c/ 

Yukl, G. A. (2013). Leadership in organizations (8th ed.). Boston: Pearson.

A511.5.3.RB_DiazBrian

In the article entitled "Remote Transformational Leadership" the author's goal "is to broaden our understanding of remote transformational leadership, specifically the effects of intellectual stimulation and charisma in remote leadership contexts" (p.167).  Remote leadership is defined as "Leadership interactions that are characterized by electronically-mediated communication between geographically and physically isolated leaders and followers are what we term 'remote' leadership" (p.164).  The authors contend that due to globalization, leaders are faced with the need to communicate with their subordinates by electronic means such as e-mail, video/teleconferencing, and instant messaging.  As a result of relying on technology based communication, the authors were concerned that these interactions may be less than optimal for leaders to effectively manage their subordinates.

In this study the hypothesis was "that individuals exposed to e-mail messages containing a charismatic or intellectually stimulating message would express higher levels of task motivation, and demonstrate higher levels of performance on a laboratory task than individuals who received e-mail instructions that did not contain these aspects of transformational leadership.  Based on previous experimental research on transformational leaders, we hypothesize main effects for both intellectual stimulation and charisma but no additive effect between the two dimensions of transformational leadership." (p.167). 

In my organization (in my capacity), we know what our goals/expectations are for each academic term during the course of the year.  It is something we go over in our end-of-year meeting.  Our director will present to us target goals to be met and from there we are off and running for the year.  During the course of a normal work week I may see my director once or twice in passing.  95% of our communication is done via e-mail or instant messaging.  She sends us reports daily and updates our team accordingly.  We meet face-to-face every two weeks and beside the occasional "drive by" "Hi, how you doing?", we operate mainly by "remote transformational leadership".  Last year we faced some challenges with the government shut down and in an effort to make up enrollments, upper management added additional terms for our students in an attempt to attain our goals.  There was one instance where we were literally working on 3 terms all at once, being asked to do double the amount of normal work, and "challenged" to make up lost registrations (or revenue).  It was around this time that a discernible difference could be interpreted in the e-mails we were receiving.  The transitional leadership we had come to love and expect was soon replaced with management-by-exception.  Gone was the warm and fuzzy and in its place was a very rigid demand for performance.  I can imagine the pressure my director was under for our team to perform so I couldn't be mad at her.  However, as a team this really effected morale because we felt like we were being given all of these additional tasks with no system of reward or recognition.  Feelings were made known and the response was "you have a job to do and it must be done".  These were a tense few weeks.  The demands were great but as a group we conceded that there were only so many hours in a day and we all tried our best.  I wish upper management would have approached us in a face-to-face meeting and heard our concerns regarding this situation.  I believe each side would have benefited greatly from direct communication in this instance.  It got to the point where we were scared to open emails from our director for fear it would be additional tasks!

For this particular study two separate experiments were analyzed.  In the first a vignette approach was utilized.  175 students received an email depicting either laissez-faire, management-by-exception, or transformational leadership.  The goal was to determine whether students could differentiate and identify the different leadership styles.  In the second study, 105 undergraduates completed individual and group problem solving tasks after reading an e-mail containing either an intellectually stimulating or charismatic message.  Identification and motivation of these tasks were then analyzed. 

The result of the first study concluded that "individuals can indeed differentiate between different leadership styles within emails"  (p. 166).  In the second study the results yielded that "Participants who received an e-mail in which the leader expressed intellectual stimulation rated that leader as being more intellectually stimulating than the leader who did not express intellectual stimulation.  As predicted, no differences emerged between these two groups for charisma." (p. 168). 

This study further suggests what previous studies into transformational leadership have indicated.  That transformational leadership (even remote) can influence tasks and attitude related results.  The result of this study suggests that electronic communication can be just as effective as direct face-to-face communication.  I found this study to be quite interesting because of the relevance e-mail and other electronic mediums play into our professional lives today.  Today's leaders have little choice but to use these methods of communication to get their ideas, goals, and directives across to us.  I would agree with the findings of these results that these methods definitely are effective in managing subordinates.

Kelloway, E. K., Barling, J., Kelley, E., Comtois, J., & Gatien, B. (2002). Remote transformational leadership. Leadership and Organization Development Journal , 24 (3), 163-171.