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When I started my undergraduate degree I didn’t want a major that soused mostly on the numbers, but wanted to work with the people because I think as managers we must always consider the human element of our organization. I have worked with managers who didn’t take into consideration that life will happen and when one is falling short of his/her daily duties, it isn’t because they are incapable of performing the Job, but perhaps foreign influences outside of their work. I recall reading this as part of “attribution theory. We all have different thought patterns, but I have a tendency to think optimistically and try and consider external actors as reasoning for poor performance. I enjoy working with people and want to be a manager who manages people in a department or a project, regardless of where, it must be with people. I think I have placed myself on the correct direction and look forward to the next level of my growth as a manger working with people. Now, who do I admire as a leader? I can point several individuals I have had the opportunity to work with over the years.
I can even point out some public figures who exude exceptional leadership skills. However, for the moment I want to remember my previous mentor, Dry. Appear. I had the distinct pleasure of working for this man for a few years. The leadership style I incorporated from him was “Servant Leadership. ” It was a leadership style he incorporated, but also wrote his dissertation on the subject. I learned to adapt some of his approaches and views of leadership. As I stated above, I tend to be a relational type leaders and strive not to be a manager in a box.
I chose this man because of all my mentors, he was the most soused on leadership and I had more tenure with him than any other. However, I must say that my current mentor exudes some of the same qualities of leadership, but with a different twist. But because of the length of time Vive spent with him (current) is limited, I haven’t had the real opportunity to evaluate his style in depth. He does tend to be personable type leader and values the human element and isn’t solely about the numbers. And this I admire!
His attitude is always positive and he constantly strives to be both the leader and protector of the workforce. Because we work in a contract environment with the government, there tends to be crossing of lines by the oversight team for the government. However, he stands ready to remind the government of when lines are crossed. This is good because most of the work force is use to the manger throwing them under the bus and so there tends to be that lack of trust. He, however, has built up that trust and is working daily to win over the work force.
One of the biggest learning opportunities I have been getting from my boss is all about communication. He offers his 20 plus years in service with the government as the template of how to effectively communicate with our customer (Government). Many times in this environment, messages can be lost or convoluted in the mix. Because we deal with numerous e-mails on a daily basis and have scores of people on the traffic, it becomes important to communicate effectively. The other aspect is learning to be an effective leader with multiple generations on my team.
I have done extensive studies on generations, but my boss offers some good insight on how I eight tweak my approach when necessary. One of the areas I really need to focus on is how I over react to a situation. I have found myself getting emotionally over reactive when there is a hot issue. One example happened recently and I inadvertently accused a good employee of being in the wrong. I have to learn to be a controlled and a fair leader when presented with critical situations. To over react may cause greater damage to the people or blow up the situation bigger than it is.