Monday, January 27, 2020

Personality Factors for a Leader

Personality Factors for a Leader Nature of Leadership: Laurie J. Mullins states that Leadership is a relationship through which one person influences the behavior or actions of other people (Mullins 2010: 373). He says that Leadership is all about determination, personality and innate ability at the right time for a particular competitive situation. Many effective business leaders have no formal academic qualifications and each has their own individual leadership style. Leaders can motivate their followers and can design organizational contexts and make them function effectively. Criterion of leadership: Though there are lot many criterion for leadership, we in our group selected a few of them. VISION: A good leader should work hard at communicating their vision for the organization to all staff at all levels. He has to understand that their vision must appeal to the staff at both an emotional and practical level. Basically a leader has to understand the culture and values of his organization and its impact on its future development. He has to recognize blind alleys. MOTIVATION: A leader has to understand that every member has a different set of motivational stimuli, motivate them accordingly. He has to explain his decisions in terms of their benefit to the organization and its members. Most importantly a leader has to find out the flaws if any or celebrate and reward individual and team achievements. EMPOWEREMENT: An empowered leader should believe that people generally respond well when given greater responsibility for their own performance without disturbing the organizations model. For that he has to allocate sufficient resources to training and development and get a buzz when staff set and achieve their own goals. He should realize that the organization would still function if you were not there. COMMUNICATIONS: One of the most important criteria for a leader is communication skill. He has to use his communication influence to encourage two way communications at all levels in your organization. He has to encourage personal contact rather than written, mechanical or technological alternatives. Finally has to encourage a diversity of opinion and constructive criticism and walk the talk. RELATIONSHIPS: A successful leader should work hard at countering a them and us culture within your organization and maintain relationships inside and outside his team. He has to set clear codes of acceptable conduct and take action against breaches of them and stress that everyone contributes to the success of the team(s) they belong to. One of the most important qualities of a leader is that he should be able to admit a mistake when you make it. EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Mullins describes emotional intelligence as abilities such as being able to motivate oneself and persist in the face of frustrations; to control impulse and delay gratification; to regulate ones moods and keep distress from swamping the ability to think; to empathize and to hope. (Mullins 2010: 144). Emotional intelligence is the ability to think, handle situations either in frustrations or success emotionally. A leader should have this emotional intelligence so as to lead his team in critical situations. ATTITUDE: Attitudes are learned throughout life and are embodied within socialization process. They can be defined as providing a state of readiness or tendency to respond in a particular ways.(Mullins 2010: 145). A result oriented leader should have knowledge, should be expressive, should be instrumental, and ego defensive. TEAMWORK: A good leader is the one who has to create an understanding of working in groups and teams. It is necessary for him to recognize the nature of human relationships, functions, roles and factors that influence team performance and effectiveness. TIME MANAGEMENT: Time management is one of the key factors for a good leader. They should not only manage their own time but also manage their staff or teams time. They have to establish key tasks, set objectives, identify performance standards, check for constraints and decide on action plans. PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS: Problem-solving is the removal of the barrier. A result- oriented leader should have good problem solving skills as the success of his mission depends on the problems they face and the way he solve. It may be an internal weakness, or any external threat. Group Feedback and My Capabilities: The group members in our group say that I have good visionary qualities and they say that I always plan for the future. I think that whatever plan I am making should be useful not only to me but for others and my plan should be like a generalized theory and have proofs. Coming to motivation, our group members feel that I can motivate them with my verbal skills and also induce confidence into them. One of the group member reviews me that I also reward and always give them a good feedback. My group members have trust on me and are able to rely on me and I feel that I have good empowerment skills. Whenever I lead them I dont feel authoritative rather I feel responsible which makes me a successful leader. I feel that empowerment should not be taken by yourself; members around you should choose you. I use my verbal skills and my body language in an effective manner so as to put on my thought in front of them. They will be always encouraged and convinced with my presentation skills and so I can make use them for the maximum extent so as to accomplish our mission. In any context whether it may be in formal situations, informal situations, in an organization, in completing a group activity, I feel the most important part is maintaining relations within a group. I have won my group members and they vote me positively in these criteria. I feel that as a leader, whatever I do should be convinced among my group members and the plan should be transparent. I feel that no group member should be in dark side. One of my group members states that I possess a bit low emotional intelligence. I dont agree with them completely because there are no such relevant situations where I got a chance to exhibit them. I have a few real time examples where I was chosen to convince people and I succeeded i n that. When coming to attitude, each person in our group has different viewpoints regarding this criterion. One says that I am egoistic. It might not be a false judgment but its true in some issues. I am a bit EGOISTIC person, but the way I exhibit it depends on the situations and circumstances.one more member in our group says that I calm down when things doesnt go well and look for a chance or a solution. That is also true and it happens most of the time when handling worthless issues. The other member says that my attitude is good and positive always. I feel that attitude varies accordingly with peoples mindset and it is the way how they receive. Team playing is one of the best qualities which I possess. My group members also agree with this statement. They say that I am always ready to help them irrelevant of the situation. I feel that in a team di Coming to time management, I am a bit lazy person which is a drawback for being a leader. But my group members except one, praise me that I am good at managing time. May be, only one member found out my drawback and it is true. Actual reason is I need a small push up to start of my work which I am trying to rectify it. I am good at allocating time resources but poor at implementing it within given constraints. When I deal with any problematic situations, I come out of the situation and analyze the problem, find the causes, starting from the basics, question myself and solve the problem and my group members accessed me the same. But I feel every time that I have to improve my problem solving skills. I dont get satisfied at any point of time and thinks of a better way to solve a problem. I give feedback to myself most of the time. Conclusion: Overall there are lots of important qualities like VISION, MOTIVATION, RELATIONSHIPS, and COMMUNICATION SKILLS in me which make me to emerge as a successful leader, though I have a few qualities like ATTITUDE, TIME MANAGEMENT which needs to be improved. In this present scenario one should have to develop lot many qualities other than these mentioned and emerge out as a Good Leader in this changing world.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Management and Smart Criteria

University of Phoenix Material Goal Setting Worksheet Review this week’s resources (for example SMART criteria, and the Career Plan Building Activities). Respond to the following in 50 to 100 words each: 1. Describe one academic goal that you have created using the SMART criteria. How do SMART criteria contribute to your academic goals? One academic goal that I am using with SMART is passing my classes with a least a C. SMART contribute to my academic goals by helping me to improve in my classes, help me to allocate time to important activities such as my family and help me reduce stress due to college life work and personal life. . Describe one professional/career goal you have created using the SMART criteria and Career Plan Building Activities results. How did the results of the Career Interest Profiler and Career Plan Building Activity on Competencies contribute to your professional goal development? One professional goal that I have created with using SMART is to win empl oyee of the year at my job. It contributes to my professional goal because I am a good listener. I like to work with people and I follow my employer’s rules. 3. Related article: Example Essay How to Study SmartDescribe the stress and time-management strategies you have learned this week that will help you achieve your goals. Stress and time management strategies that I have learned this week that will help me achieve my goals are to prepare myself for that goal. When study I should take breaks so that I will not be stressed. I will also adjust my plan each day. 4. Describe how you will balance academic expectations and your personal and professional responsibilities. I will balance my academic expectations, personal, and professional responsibilities by Equally I will give my attention to them all.I would come up with a schedule where I would set time slots to give my time to each . I think by doing this I will not feel overworked and over whelmed. 5. How can understanding the importance of SMART criteria and your career interests and competencies help you move towards your career and academic goals? Understanding the importance of SMART and my career interest can help me move in my career and academic goals by helping me to stay focus and take control of my life direction. Using SMART can help me to be and stay motivated to see if I am succeeding in achieving my goals.

Saturday, January 11, 2020

AT&T’s use of Total Quality Management

The following is an attempt to analyze AT&T's use of Total Quality Management throughout its organization. Since AT&T is an elaborately enormous corporation I will focus my study to AT&T Power Systems/Lucent Technologies. This division of AT&T has been the industry standard for excellence since TQM was first introduced to the company. AT&T Power Systems has become one the world's most dynamic companies because of its use of TQM. I will provide a brief description of who AT&T Power Systems is, a description of the events that lead up to its use of TQM, AT&T's TQM philosophy, and how this philosophy was implemented. Finally I will discuss the benefits AT&T Power Systems realized through their use of Total Quality Management. AT&T Power Systems provides a verity of power products for the data processing and telecommunications industries. Power System and its 4,200 employee's design, develop, manufacture, and market electronic power systems, components, and power supplies to an increasingly international marketplace. In the past ten years AT&T as a whole has gone through a dramatic metamorphous. It was forced to change from a large telecommunications monopoly providing universal telephone service, to a competitive global corporation roviding a full range of communication services and technologies. The â€Å"new† AT&T is a potpourri of smaller, highly focussed entities. Each entity has its own customers, competitors, and operational functions. Power Systems is the pinnacle of the â€Å"new† AT&T. In less than five years Power Systems has become the prototype for successfully implementing the cultural and organizational revolution know as Total Quality Management. It has not only received internal recognition, but external achievement as well. In 1994 Power Systems was the first American company to win Japan's prestigious Deming Prize for Quality Management. In the ame year AT&T's long distance division won America's Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. AT&T's TQM philosophy made it the first corporation to win these two awards. Why did Power Systems change to TQM? Prior to 1990 Power Systems provided equipment for only its parent company AT&T. Power Systems was a lackluster division of AT&T that reported losses in numerous quarters. As the scope AT&T and business as a whole changed Power Systems was forced to survive on its own. No longer would losses be tolerated, if the work couldn't be completed in a cost-effective manner the division would be sold and the work would be given to an A. M. (Andy) Guarriello, Vice President & COO of Power Systems, was given the job of implementing TQM. Guarriello along with Power Systems management team launched the â€Å"Dallas Vision† project, an initiative involving physical, organizational, and philosophical changes that soon led to the adoption of Total Quality Management as the management system for the future. Power Systems consolidated several of its locations into several small internal business units. These units would become to foundation that Power Systems operated on. Each units is given the resources to develop, engineer, manufacture, and its products. Functions such as human resources, finance, marketing, and sales are provided by smaller organizations developed to support the internal Power Systems Dallas unit was completely redesigned. This 900,000 square foot facility was rearranged into what AT&T calls â€Å"focused factories. Each â€Å"focused factory† has the capability to accept incoming material, manufacture, and ship finished products. This layout was designed much within the guidelines of the Japanese JIT system. Power Systems took the Japanese approach to TQM and modified to fit the AT&T culture. The TQM riteria developed within Power Systems were selected to ensure the company's ongoing focus on high standards for customer orientation, process excellence, employee involvement and continuous improvement. AT&T's TQM philosophy has three main components Quality Policy Deployment, Daily Work Management, and Quality Improvement. These three components combine to ensure robust solutions and continuous improvements. Quality Policy Deployment is the process of aligning the company's attention and resources on a few high-priority, customer-focused issues. This is done to achieve to realize vast improvements in performance. Daily Work Management is a process of defining, measuring, and managing the day-to-day work of individuals and groups to obtain incremental improvements. This gives individual employees the opportunity to see improvements in measures they understand. Quality Improvement is a team-based problem-solving methodology that uses the seven-step process known as the â€Å"QI story process. † The â€Å"QI story process† is designed to detect and eliminate errors that cause defects. Together these three concepts formed an effective solution to Underlying these three concepts are four principles that are the foundation of AT&T's TQM philosophy. These four are customer satisfaction, management-by-fact, respect for people, and P-D-C-A. P-D-C-A is Plan-Do-Check-Act developed by Shewhart. These four principles helped Power Systems implement its cultural change. Without any one of these TQM will not work, so Power Systems' management instituted a training regiment that had every employee had at least two full days of training within the first year of implementation. Power Systems has instilled pride in each one of its employees, which perpetuates outside the business to their customers. Each manager, worker, team member, and internal group believe that they can make a ifference in the operation of the company. Each also believes they have the responsibility to produce a quality product efficiently that not only meets their customer's needs, but also makes profit. This attitude as propelled Power Systems, or as it is now known Lucent Technologies, to the top of its industry. What Benefits did Power Systems see from TQM? Power Systems surpassed the expectations of management to realize colossal growth. Below is a list of improvements from a 1994 AT&T press release. These improvements pertain specifically to Power Systems.

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Why College Athletes Deserve a Salary - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1539 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2019/05/28 Category Career Essay Level High school Tags: Should College Athletes Be Paid Essay Did you like this example? The NCAA was created in 1905 with help by Theodore Roosevelt. When the late president helped organize this organization he never would have believed the success and popularity over the years. The Ncaa started out to be a place where young athletes could go to further their career. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Why College Athletes Deserve a Salary" essay for you Create order Now the Ncaa is a 11 billion dollar industry. How much of that money goes to education or the players less than ten percent. These young athletes barely can manage in the these circumstances some go hungry and even some go clothless. Even though these athletes arent given a salary they still are given many accentitives. Most college players are given stipends of two hundred to three hundred dollars a month. Lets not forget that these players get a free college. But to further prove the point this still is not enough. College players dedicate their lives to these sports in college hoping to grow pro but lets face it alot dont make it pro. These players who dont go pro have received nothing but a college scholarship in classes they barley attended. Players are said to be given the chance of a lifetime to compete in the closest thing to professional sports, but thats not true all these players do is go out and risk their bodys every time they go to play. But some may say its their choice to play so why should they be paid? These players are given some incentives but not enough. Players are given scholarships but those scholarships can be taken away at anytime the player starts do bad or gets seriously injured. Colleges take advantage of these players names. The average jersey sales for around one hundred and ten dollars. A fraction of jersey sales alone could help players financially. College players are not always in it for the money, a lot of the players come from poor families. These players go into this with the mentality that they need to hurry up and get drafted to change their families lives. People who come from poor families understand this alot better when you grow up in a family barely making ends meet. When you have an ability to change that outcome why not do it. This causes players declare for the draft a lot earlier then they should. The best thing for Athlete is to stay and develop their craft in college. But when u h ave a chance to make millions why not go for it. If these players made a little bit of money they could send their families that could impact their whole life. But also help these players become better athletes. This makes players have an urgent decision either try to go make money or stay in college and watch your family go thru four more years of struggling. Players also lose an education when this happens, colleges have rule called one and done that doesnt allow the players to come back and finish their education. Professional sports could only be a short time thing, these players always need a plan b, which in this case could that degree that they lose. This rule does make sense but not every player is gonna get drafted so the ones that dont thats it for them,they neither get to play or pursue a higher education. This rule also loses the colleges money, the fans love these players and grow an emotional attachment to them. When these players leave some fans stop coming and buying merchandise. If college athletes had more incentives to stay it would benefit the college. As said previously an average jersey costs one hundred and ten dollars thatrs a lot of money these colleges lose out on. This is why college athletes should earn a salary it not only helps helps the players but the Ncaa and the colleges. One of the biggest reason colleges are so successful is their sports teams. If a college has a good athletic department that makes students want to attend these schools. These colleges make lots of money off these athletes, they have put some schools on the map. These colleges dont see it like that college athletes are a marketing tool. All this money is made but nothing back to the players. College coaches are paid an average of a million dollars. Thats crazy when their not even the ones on the field risking their bodies. If a college can pay a million dollars to a coach why not a salary of say thirty hours a week at minimum wage to a player its just ridiculous. Pay would vary to players though not every player is gonna be as good as some, so yes some should make more than others. But even if players dont get paid this money should get put towards education. When the NCAA was first founded in 1905, the opposition to paying student-athletes was akin to the opposition to paying coaches. (If you doubt this, research early criticism of Alonzo Stagg).(Forbes) Colleges cause players to miss class time. When March madness starts players lose a quarter of each class day for practices, when the actual tournament starts they lose full days of school. So this causes players to lose the best possible education for themselves. March madness is a nine point eight billion dollar industry over the last eleven years. These colleges prioritize making money over best possible outcome for their students. Lets not forget these are not just athletes but scholars. Paying college athletes could be a great life lesson. Seventy three percent of americans are in debt. Colleges could help by paying these players, most athletes waste a lot of their money, being given a salary could help these players learn to manage their money. Budgeting is one of the hardest things to do because most people make it that way. Implementing paying athletes in the Ncaa could help these athletes live better lives. Some would say paying college athletes would lose competitiveness when playing. But thats makes no sense, if you got paid to play in college that is an incentive to be better. As said previously pay will vary better players get paid more money thats just the case. If anything it will get more competitive. These players wont just be competing for a championship but a living. College players cannot seek jobs while playing sports. A average student can get a job but a athlete is prohibited to try and obtain a job. So if a student can get job why cant a student athlete get a job are they both not students? This is t he case in many colleges players can try and make money but Ncaa or the colleges dont want to compensate them. This rule is ridiculous this just shows athletes are not considered students but a marketing tool. College athletes are basically working a fulltime job. The average practices are forty three point three hours a week. Thats three point three more hours then an average person works per week. So much of these athletes time is spent towards practice that doesnt count scrimmages and games. These athletes are being used to make money and they receive nothing in return but a college education that on average twenty four percent of them dont even receive. Colleges do not allow players to seek money making opportunities. For examples like partnerships with brands or endorsements. These athletes cant get a job, dont get a salary and cant seek these endorsements. This is a full time job playing college sports these players dedicate their mental and physical bodies to these organizations and they get barely anything in return. Some may say they get scholarships but thats only eighty to one hundred thousand dollars that still seems like a lot but compared to what these layers bring in for these schools thats not that much money. Being a professional athlete is tough. There is billions of people on this earth but only fractions of them play sports at this high of a level. This again is a full time job, these players deserve to be paid. The Ncaa and colleges are taking advantage of these young players. They work day end and night out trying to work hard for these schools. In the end they are very poorly compensated. College athletes deserve to be paid thats all there is too it. From trying to help out their families to a working a full time job practicing. These pl ayers work hard and deserve to be compensated. These players lose cass time and sometimes go hungry which is terrible when they work extremely hard. This will hopefully be implemented into the Ncaa one day and these players will get what they rightfully deserve. Works cited Edelman, Marc. 21 Reasons Why Student-Athletes Are Employees And Should Be Allowed To Unionize. Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 06 Jan. 2015. Web. 07 May 2018. Jabbar, Kareem Abdul. Why College Athletes Should Be Paid. The Washington Post. WP Company, 05 Mar. 2016. Web. 07 May 2018. Wilbon, Michael. College Athletes Deserve to Be Paid. ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, 18 July 2011. Web. 07 May 2018. Mama, Raman. Viewpoint: College Athletes Should Be Paid. USA Today. Gannett Satellite Information Network, 24 Dec. 2016. Web. 07 May 2018. Hartnett, Tyson. Why College Athletes Should Be Paid. HuffPost. HuffPost, 23 Jan. 2014. Web. 07 May 2018.