A633.8.3.RB – How To Better Enable Leadership
How To Better Enable Leadership
According to Yukl, (2012), Leadership is the process of influencing others to understand and agree on the ways to accomplish objectives and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to achieve shared goals (p. 7). To be able to analyze and assess the effectiveness and different approaches to leadership, it is of the utmost importance to discuss various ways of how leadership is defined. Yukl (2012) indicated that leadership has many modes of denotation for different individuals. Therefore behavioral scientists and practitioners believe that leadership is a vital phenomenon that can be defined in various ways. Many organizations, may it be a not-for-profit, private businesses or governmental, benefit greatly when their workforce can collaborate to achieve organizational goals and have the capacity to get to know each other and understand how to work cohesively.
There are a variety of ways that teamwork can be vital to the success of an organization as well as developing the abilities and skills of the workforce. Team-building programs are some of the ways that can increase the communication skills of the employees and also improve staff’s morale and productivity. Enabling and trusting employees to solve their problems, making decisions, devising innovative determinations, and letting them feel that their contributions to the company are valued (Blanchard, 2008), is an essential form of employee empowerment.
Background
For this week’s research project, I went out of my organization to interview leaders and subordinates of the Council On Aging of Volusia County. Non-profit organizations like the Council On Agingof Volusia County, Inc. are distinctive in comparison to private business and government entities. Nevertheless, non-profit organizations are under constant pressure to become more business savvy, acquainting themselves with more of the forces within the market. While this process is ongoing, other agencies are encouraged or prompted to set their priority in increasing organizational reliability and accountability outcomes through hierarchical control of their internal structure and orientation processes. Hess and Bacigalupo (2013), claimed that as the knowledge-based entity, leaders of non-profit organizations are given the responsibility of providing the best determination to accomplish or advancing their organizational mission.
The Council On Aging takes pride in its mission by making its clients their priority from the beginning of the first contact. Providing high levels of service and care standards are paramount from their executive leaders down to the cleaning aides. Council On Aging leadership has very challenging responsibilities, achieving its difficult missions with insufficient human and financial resources. Through empowering and engaging their diverse workforce who are committed to serving their customers, peers, stakeholders, and community, they can rally support to and respond to the concerns of the community. Empowerment is helping individuals in developing their self-confidence, overcoming a feeling of helplessness (Hess and Bacigalupo, 2013). and in short, mobilizing their motivation intrinsically to accomplish assigned tasks.
The Council on Aging Executive Leadership Team
"Leadership is the art of getting someone to do something you want to be done because he wants to do it ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower
Sarah Gurtis – Chief Executive Officer. Sarah gained her Bachelor’s Degree in Social Welfare from Florida State University. She has extensive experience in business development and marketing of multi-million dollar organizations such as Camp Boggy Creek, Daytona USA, and Suntrust Bank.
Terri Karol – Chief Financial Officer. Terri received her MBA with a concentration in Accounting from Winthrop University. She is a Certified Public Accountant since July 2003 and has managed multiple companies’ finance departments in different industries such as Children’s Advocacy Center, York County Government, and Olivari & Associates CPA and Consultants.
Eveline Kraljic – Chief Operating Officer. Eveline holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Resources Management from Strayer University. She is a certified Human Resources Professional, Society for Human Resources Management Certified Professional, and is PHR California certified. She is very active in the Volusia County community, and her areas of expertise are Performance Management, Employment Law & Legal Compliance, Employee and Labor Relations, just to name a few.
The Interview of Leaders Outcome
Council On Aging Ormond Beach Dining Site
Servant leadership in the workplace is helping the workforce achieve a common goal by facilitating empowerment, collective work and individual development that is consistent with the long-term health and welfare of the team members (Yukl, 2012). A servant leader can best serve its employees by listening to them, learning what drives them, but he/she must be willing to endure their anguish and aggravation. Servant leaders have to stand up for what is right regardless of the decision or resolution does not result in a positive financial impact for their organization.
The Council On Aging Executive Leadership team exemplifies to its 155 paid employees and around 400 volunteers within the Volusia County of Florida, servant, and supportive leadership. According to Greenleaf (1998), a servant leader first and foremost is a servant whose primary focus or desire is to serve. What drives the Council On Aging Executive Leadership team is to help their employees, volunteers, and stakeholders aspiring them to be of excellent service to their colleagues, team members and the Volusia County's senior citizens who are in need of companionship and care. Greg Longstreth, the Dining Site Manager of Council On Aging of Ormond Beach, epitomizes servant leadership.
As Greenleaf (1998) wrote, the best test of the effectiveness of servant leadership is the result of the development of those who are being served like Greg. Greg has autonomy to run the dining site as he sees fit, he is emotionally vested and healthy, and he is an excellent servant to his volunteers. On a daily basis, Greg has 14 to 15 member regular diverse group of volunteers whose responsibilities are to pack the Meals on Wheels packages at the exact time to ensure compliance with the state and federal guidelines for serving food. According to the federal and state guidelines, the food has to be served at the specified temperature (140 F degrees) and deliver these meals to elderly residents and to Respite Program locations. A minimum of about 50 daily meals had to be packed within ten minutes and be delivered before noon. Greg timed volunteers to start packing and sealing hot meals from 10:30 to 10:40 am. Every food serving has to have one-third of the daily nutritional requirements for a 70-year-old adult.
Developing teamwork is critical to the success of any organization. It is to the advantage of the company when every member of the team works cohesively to accomplish departmental and organizational goals. It is not only of the utmost importance that team members have the autonomy and freedom to achieve assigned tasks (Blanchard, 2008), but it is also of importance that they can work well with other members of the team. It is also of significance that members of the team not only have the skills to communicate their aspirations or ideas to other members of the team and be collaborative to accomplish departmental projects and tasks successfully but also have the willingness to accept constructive criticisms to improve themselves.
As a leader, Greg gives his volunteers autonomy to decide who does what, except for the Meals on Wheels and Respite drivers who have their assigned route of delivery. They are responsible for making sure that there is enough food remaining for those elderly clients who come into the Dining Site to play bingo and network with other seniors. One of the volunteers was in charge of filling the meal container with chicken. This volunteer has a little bit of mental disability. While in the packing process, she realized that we were running out of chicken. She kept on apologizing for her error. Greg, without uttering a word, stepped-in and the packing continued smoothly. When the preparation of the food was completed, the volunteers and senior visitors played bingo and spent lunch together. As Cerff and Winston (2006) said, a servant leader is one who can serve members of his/her team that would enhance hope, nurturing the followers, strengthening their weaknesses, and has the confidence that things are going to work out fine.
Council On Aging Ormond Beach Senior Center
Becoming a real leader is growing to be a strong individual/person with a strong foundation of principles, values, and ethics to have the ability to support and nurture others that are weaker than him or her. The real leader focuses on becoming excellent at the things that they love to do most in their life to inspire others in doing the same. It is very common to find unit supervisors or administrative leaders who get employees or subordinates to do what they want to accomplish their own personal or professional goal merely because they have the power to do so and they have the authority to impose punishment if the subordinates fail to comply. Although we have to admit that, even though such abhorring action gets employees to do what they want due to fear of losing their employment, it harbors resentment and dissatisfaction in the workplace.
At Council On Aging, the Executive Leadership team inspires and motivates its employees by allowing them to take action on their accord without creating an aura of negativity or threat in the workplace. They possess a compelling and passionate vision of what they want to accomplish in their organization, and they share those visions with members of their team. The Executive Leaders of Council On Aging instills hope within their employees when things are not working right or when things seem to be failing. When Brenda Bayer joined Council On Aging as the Center Manager for the Council On Aging Ormond Beach Senior Center, she was tasked to strengthen the Center’s activity and be innovative to find different means of raising funds within legal means, a responsibility that she openly and energetically accepted.
Supportive behavior is the extent to which one engages in two-way communication, listening, providing support and encouragement, facilitating interaction, and involving people in decision-making. In three simple words, supportive behavior can be defined as praise, listen, and facilitate. The support of the Council On Aging Executive Leaders is what strengthens and empowers Brenda to strive for excellence. The Center’s activity schedule is planned one month in advance. As of today, delightful and energetic senior citizens of the Volusia County look forward to the Wednesday Dance Gala where they donate whatever they can afford to fund the Center. Membership is rising for a minimum donation of $12 per year which gives the Senior members annual access to the Ormond Beach Senior Center as well as to other senior centers in Volusia and Flagler County.
During the interview, I decided to job shadow Brenda on her event of the day, the Dance and Gala Social. Attendees slowly arrived while the five-piece band set-up. The entrance fee was by donation only. The event raised some funds for the Center, and I had a grand time entertaining Hugo and Sal. Hugo and Sal were both married once for more than 50 years. Their wives passed away, and they gave me the best marital advice I could ever have. First, they taught me that dancing is not all about being in the rhythm. Dancing is all about an individual feeling the music and enjoying the music without regard if one is out of rhythm. Don’t fear nor be embarrassed that other people may think you are out of rhythm. Everyone is dancing just the way they want, and nobody cares how you feel the beat (make sense).
As a retired businessman and entrepreneur, Hugo said that if he had to go back in time, that he would have communicated more to his employees his appreciation and gratitude for the work they have done and their commitment to excellence. He further reiterated that Executive Leaders of any organization have too much on their plate that they at times, forget who the real assets of the company. Yes, without customers, there will be no revenue, but without hardworking and excellent employees to provide services to your clients, it will be impossible to retain those customers. Running a company can also be compared to running your family. Honesty, loyalty, respect for each other, and a two-way communication should be considered as essential factors to a successful marriage and to wit, successful organization.
Conclusion
“Before you become a leader, success is all about growing you. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” ~ Jack Welch
According to Reives and Deimler (2011), a leader or a company has to be attuned to the different signals of the transformation of their external environment, assessing the change, and acting on those change to either reinvent or refine the current model of their business or transforming the industry’s landscape. Beslin and Reddin’s (2004) article titled “How Leaders Can Communicate To Build Trust” indicates an essential element of the leadership of a particular organization in winning the trust of its stakeholders was open communication. Trust cannot be given but must be earned. Leaders of today must strive to build trust with their stakeholders rather than just talking about having trust. Leaders cannot afford to take trust for granted since both the internal workforce and the external public are increasingly pessimistic.
In summary, although communication may not enable us just to trust a leader blindly, open, sincere, and honest communications can assist in creating a culture where trust can thrive (Beslin and Reddin, 2004). Trust is the most influential factor when building loyalty and reinforces compelling communications. As Berlin and Reddin (2004) defined trust, it is the unquestioned belief that another person has our best interest at heart. In my current workplace, our new CEO not only talks the talk but most definitely, she also walks the walk. In her ten months of leading our organization, it is very evident that our employees accept and respect her sincerity. She is continuously gaining our trust through consistent open communications, visibility, and transparency.
References
Beslin, R. & Reddin, C. (2004). How leaders can communicate to build trust. Ivy
Business Journal Improving the Practice of Management, November/December Issues. Retrieved from: http://iveybusinessjournal.com/publication/how-leaders-can-communicate-to-build-trust/
Blanchard, K. (2008). Situational leadership. Leadership Excellence; May 2008; 25, 5;
ProQuest Central pg. 19.
Cerff, K. & Winston, B. (2006). The inclusion of hope in the servant leadership model an
extension of Patterson and Winston’s model. Servant Leadership Research Roundtable. School of Leadership Studies. Regent University
Greenleaf, R. (1998). The power of servant leadership. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler.
Hess, J. D., & Bacigalupo, A. C. (2013). Applying emotional intelligence skills to leadership and
decision making in non-profit organizations. Administrative Sciences, 3(4), 202-220.
doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/10.3390/admsci3040202.
Obolensky, N. (2014). Complex adaptive leadership (2nd ed.). London, UK: Gower/Ashgate.
Reeves, Martin, and Deimler, Mike (2011). Adaptability: The new competitive advantage.
Harvard Business Review, July-August 2011 Issue. Retrieved from:
Whetton, D. A. & Cameron, K. S. (2016). Developing management skills,
9th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson.
9th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson.
Yukl, G. (2012), Leadership in the organization (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice.
Comments
Post a Comment