How do theories of leadership provide practical advice on how to be an Essay

How do theories of leadership provide practical advice on how to be an effective leader Discuss, with reference to at least two theories or models of leadership - Essay Example Each of these theories is based on certain principles that have been used to define effective leaders. It is well known that there are individuals that have leaders naturally even without any form of training. However, there are those that require training in order for them to have leadership attributes. This essay will focus on the trait, behavioral and transformational theories of leadership. In addition, it will further address how these theories are applicable in practical leadership. Effective leaders naturally possess certain attributes that enables them to execute their roles effectively and efficiently. According to the trait theory, people are born or made to have certain qualities that facilitate their discharge of leadership roles. Ralph Stogdill advanced this theory in 1974 (Irvin 2007). An effective leader is obliged to exhibit certain traits such as being creative, have a sense of responsibility, be intelligent, be decisive, and have self-control among other important qualities. This theory argues that behavior modification is paramount for effective leadership. This indicates that a leader ought to conform to good values and attributes that will enable them to discharge their roles effectively. Through an analysis of the mental, physical, and social attributes, a leader can be identified through the values and attributes they exhibit and encourage in their respective jurisdictions. Upon the realization of the general traits that makes successful leader s, it becomes very easy to identify potential leaders. This indicates that an individual that endeavors to be an effective leader will strive to cultivate leadership values (Epstein 2010, p.7). Several traits have been identified as influencing the effectiveness of a leader. If such traits are embraced they can help a leader become more effective. While advancing the trait theory, Stogdill conducted a study in which he identified ten types of traits that are associated with effective leaders.

Discuss the social, political and econoic conditions of the 1950s Essay

Discuss the social, political and econoic conditions of the 1950s which lead to the social upheaval of the 1960s - Essay Example eal legislation, which created programs for employment and housing.1 Harry Truman, who followed Roosevelt’s presidency, continued Roosevelt’s New Deal initiatives with â€Å". . . a full employment bill, a higher minimum wage, national housing legislation, an extension of Social Security, and a new public works program, and the establishment of a permanent Fair Employment Practices Commission.†2 Truman introduced to Congress a twenty-one point program, but only two of his proposals passed the conservative Congress.3 However, after the 1948 election, with a liberal Congress in place, â€Å"Liberalism was vindicated,†4 Many of Truman’s twenty-one points were passed, and Truman called for Congress to pass an increase in the Federal Income Tax of $4 billion dollars to pay for it.5 By the time the 1950 New Year rolled in, America was experiencing an economic forward plunge. There would perhaps never be better times for Americans than the economic and pol itical abundance of the 1950s. During the 1950s, there was a housing boom,6 along with a baby boom,7 and America settled into an atmosphere of post-war comfort and focusing on the task of working and raising families. It was, too, during these years where middle class America experienced abundance and growth, that the cultural, political, economic and social disparities between blacks and whites in America began emerging as dark cloud over America. It seemed that Americans were pursuing the American dream, and that all was Leave it to Beaver and Father Knows Best.8 When Eisenhower was elected president in 1953, there was a loud and clear Black voice speaking up in America, and though it was not strong enough to swing the election in favor of Democrats, Black America had aligned itself with the Democratic platform.9 Seventy-three percent of the Black vote went to the Democratic candidate that voting year.10 Although there would be much unrest in the American south as a result of an emerging Black identity

Why free trade is both realistic and desirable in the real world

Why free trade is both realistic and desirable in the real world This paper is going to answer the question Why free trade is both realistic and desirable in the real world? and explain why I might be pessimistic about the prospects for global growth and development. In each issue, I support my opinions by firm arguments in real world as well as in academic The content 2.1 The concepts First of all, I would like to mentions about the main concepts that I am going to discuss about. Free trade is trade in which goods, services can move across countries without any barriers, i.e. tariffs, quotas or other restrictions. (Todaro Stephen, 2009). Or Free trade is a system in which goods, capital and labor flow freely between nations (What is free trade, WiseGeek [online], 2011). Free Trade has four main features: No taxes (tariffs) or other non-tariff barriers for producers to trade in goods and services Traders have free access to markets and market information The free movement of goods, services, labor and capital between and within countries No firms could distort the markets through relying on the monopoly power from the governments (Free trade, Wikipedia [online], 2011) Next, according to Nafziger (2006), Economic Growth refers to increases in production or incomes or income per capita in a country. And Economic development refers to economic growth accompanied by changes in output distribution and economic structure (Nafziger, 2006:15). Therefore, growth is a necessary factor but not sufficient for development 2.2 Free Trade is realistic and desirable In this section, I am going to argue for the view that free trade is both realistic and desirable in the real world. First, about the view that free trade is realistic, I have six strong arguments to support that idea. The first argument is about the lost in tariff revenues. Free trade means no revenues in tariffs; however, the governments should reform their tax systems to make them become more efficiently and effectively through putting taxes on right objects with appropriate rates. That can compensate the lost in tariff revenues and even increase the tax revenues. The transportation and the communication are very convenient; people can travel faster, and they can communicate together from a distance. Thus, the workers are no longer afraid of traveling. Additionally, the developing countries are reducing regulations in labor market to attract specialists and high skilled labor from advanced nations. Thus, the mobility of labor markets is increasing. The decentralization is a current trend in the world, and it helps countries can reach free trade by eliminating the monopoly. That will increase the transparency in economies and trade regimes in countries, so no firms can rely on monopoly from the governments to distort the markets. In reality, decentralization is almost reached in countries such as: US, Germany; and it is progressing in developing countries such as, i.e. Brazil, Mexico, Bolivia and Eastern European countries. Next, there are many organizations that support and facilitate free trade such as World Trade Organization (WTO), North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and European Union. In Vietnam in 2006, the leaders of the 21 members of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) launched a process to negotiate and establish the largest single of trade liberalization in the world which is called Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP). That free-trade zone will account for 44% of global trade, and more than a half of the global gross domestic product. (Bergsten, 2007) and ( Article Bliss [online], 2011) In developed countries, the protectionists assert that free trade will make the unemployment severe by moving jobs from their countries to developing nations. But the governments can solve that problem by improving the social safety and welfare to compensate displaced workers and help them have jobs in high advanced industries that the developed countries specialize in. Finally, the developing countries can produce assistance in technology, finance and information system to help them adapt free trade easier and help domestic firms compete with foreign ones more efficiently. Second, I can say that free trade is desirable because free trade produce many benefits and advantages in the real world. Thus, many countries really desire free trade. The first significant role of free trade is that it is an important stimulator of economic growth. The free trade has proved its role through the success in economic growth in East and South East Asia countries (Todaro Stephen, 2009). For instance, Taiwan, which have the export-focus strategy, has average economic growth rate about 8% over more than four decades and grew nearly 10% annually in the 1965-80 period. It also has achieved its goals in education, health care and poverty alleviation successfully (Smith, 2003). Next, the international trade has a significant role in GDP in developing countries. Figure 1: Exports of goods and services (% of GDP) Source: Derived from World Bank, World Development Indicators, http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.EXP.GNFS.ZS, 15 March 2011 According to the figure, the exports accounts for about near a half of GDP in developing countries from 2005 to 2009. Free trade promotes the exports from developing countries, so it has a very important role in developing countries. Free trade increases the competitions in the world, because it helps foreign companies can trade as efficiently and effectively as domestic ones. Therefore, it will make the prices for goods and services cheaper through promoting competitions. Moreover, free trade also encourages innovation, since companies need to produce innovative products and solutions to obtain market share (Toye, 2004). Next, Free trade is an important means to achieve the development. Free trade increase national incomes and force nations to adjust and improve their infrastructure, policies, laws and society system to adapt free trade. Thus, free trade is powerful instrument to achieve the goals of development such as: stability, freedom, and quality of life (i.e. education, happiness and health). For example: based on the export of garment industry, Bangladeshs poverty reduction in 1990s was quite dramatic and it promote the process of achieving development goals in Bangladesh (Goldin Reinert, 2006) Next, there is the witness of the success of export promotion strategy and the limitation or failure of import substitution strategy in reality. Meanwhile, export-oriented countries such as: Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore have got rapid rate of economic growth; Latin America promoted import substitution policies in the 1960s, but they were not successful, and such policies have been replaced by export-led strategies. Import substitution produces some disadvantages such as: inefficient domestic industries, the deficit in the balance of payment because the value of import inputs is higher than the value of export outputs. As the estimation, the import substitution waste about 10% of national income of developing countries. (Salvatore, 2011). Next, the benefits from free trade agreements such as WTO and NAFTA can explain why free trade is desirable in reality. First, WTO integrates countries in the world to the international system, and motivates them to protect and expand that system. WTO ensures that countries could not selectively open their market, and promotes economic relations between countries (Business Roundtabble [online], 2006, cited in 2011). Next, NAFTA help Mexico became attractive place for workers from Central America, where wages were only about an eighth as high as those in Mexico by 2002. That makes other Latin American countries seem eager to join in a free trade agreement as soon as possible (Smith, 2003). The classic academic theories support free trade such as absolute advantage theory, comparative advantage theory and relative factor endowments theory. These theory argue that the nations will increase welfare when they specialize in their advantages, endowment factors and conduct free trade together (Salvatore, 2011) The prospect for global growth and development is pessimistic As I mention above, free trade is realistic and desirable in the real world; however, I have seven firm arguments to support my pessimistic view about the prospects for global growth and development The first argument is that all resources in the world are fixed in quantity and they are being fully employed (Todaro Smith, 2009:606). The manufactures require a huge demand on raw material, fuels especially fossil fuels (e.g. coal, oil) which are non-renewable. When the quantity of these fuels decrease and become exhausted, their prices will increase so that the manufacture faces the stagnation. The price of oil (USD) increase constantly from 12.28 in 1998 to 100.12 in 201, and it is expected to increase more in the future (Source: Derived from OPEC, OPEC Basket Price, 2011), that will impact the global growth as well as the development. Next, the inequalities are increasing between and within countries (Todaro Smith, 2009:589). The disparity between rich countries and poor countries as well as the inequalities within countries is increasing. The inequalities will increase the conflict in economic, political and social benefits between people in different classes, religions and country. That will make the development and global growth more and more unsustainable. The environment problems become more severe; especially, the environmental degradation and global warming are increasing rapidly. It will affect all nations in the world, especially poor countries whose productions depend on climate and environment so much. However, the rich countries such us U.S, Japan, Russia and China have not acted sufficiently to prevent or reduce the global warming and environmental degradation because it will impact their productions. When the environmental life is degraded, the development as well the global growth will be hinder and maybe worse. Many countries are still in deep poverty and they are being depended on agricultural and primary-product export. There are more than 1 billion people live on less than 1$ per day and the number of people live in poverty has doubled in the last two decades in Africa. In addition, 70% people live in rural in developing countries depend on agricultural and primary product exports, whose incomes are very unstable and risky. That will make the growth and development in developing countries fluctuant (Todaro Smith, 2009) and (Salvatore, 2011) There is a trend of new protectionism in advanced nations (i.e. North America and Euro) against the exports from developing countries. They are trying to protect their domestic producers, workers and farmers from the lower cost products in developing countries. That will obstruct the free trade in the world as well as the welfare gain from exports in developing countries. For example, even though 8 liberalization round have occurred over 50 years, the trade barriers still remains in agricultural products and textile industry. Next, the population in the world is rising. That will impact and make the problems of poverty, environment and food more and more severe, especially in poor and developing countries. That is a significant factor, which will hinder and obstruct the global growth and development. Figure 2: Population Growth ( annual %) Source: Derived from World Bank, World Development Indicators, http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW, 20 March 2011 Finally, due to the World Financial and Economic Crisis in 2008 and 2009, the advanced nations faced deep recession and the developing countries face low rate of growth. Many countries such as U.S, U.K, Japan and Chinaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ have to spend billions dollar to rescue their economies. The worlds GDP growth rate slows down by 2% for 2008 and 2009 (Source: Derived from World Bank, World Development Indicators, 2011). In addition, the government will tighten their financial market through regulations. It will affect the manufacture, business and investment because they need money to expand and develop. The conclusion To sum up, the economies in the world can reach free trade; and because of free trades advantages and benefits, it is desired by countries in the world. I assert that fee trade is realistic and desirable in the real world. However, there are many serious problems that are impacting and will obstruct the global growth and development in the world. Thus, I have a pessimistic view about global growth and development.

Child Labor and its Effects Essay -- Child Labor

In today’s world, one would believe that the majority of Americans would oppose supporting a business that exploits the use of child labor to produce its goods. However, the odds are we all have in one way or another supported these businesses the last time we went shopping. Whether it is a toy for a child or a jacket to keep you warm, it was probably was made using child labor in one of the many different parts of the globe. The use of child labor is a major factor of the global economy in today's age of globalization where U.S. companies such as Nike, Reebok, or Wal-Mart have taken control of the market (Calucag). Western civilization has attempted to fight child labor for years now with little to show for it. The main reason has been the failure to come up with reasonable ways to communicate Western values and opinions on practices that should be eliminated and turn them into effective solutions. Third-world countries offer child labor (Low-cost Labor) as competitive advantage in the world market (Qadeer). As a result, companies from the west have let low-cost, high profitability, blind their morality. Consequently, rather than making sure no child labor is involved in the production of their product, companies have embraced it by running their operations in countries that allow it to occur. By doing this, companies are able to keep production costs as low as possible, thus increasing profits. Child labor is the employment of children who are under the legal minimum age. UNICEF defines child labor to be seen as happening along continuum, with exploitation on one end and the development of a strong work ethic on the other side (Stackhouse). When children are forced to work long hours, their ability to attend school or to co... ...izabeth. Child labor in sub-Saharan Africa . Boulder, Co.: Lynne Rienner Publishers Inc., 2004. Basu, Kaushik. Child Labor: Cause, Consequence, and Cure, with Remarks on International Labor Standards. December 1998. 21 11 2010 . Black, Ken. What is bonded labor? 08 september 2010. Burra, Neera. Born to Work. Oxford University Press, 1995. Calucag, Ernesto B. "International trade and labor (Popular Economics)." Business World (2004). Greenhouse, Steven. "Clinton to seek big increase in funds to fight child labor abroad." New York Times 7 february 2000. Qadeer, Mohammed. "why the third world still needs child labor; WORK." The Globe and Mail (Canada) 12 december 1996. Stackhouse, John. "UNICEF report says "child labor condemned hazardous work, betrayal of rights"." The Globe and Mail 12 december 1996.

Personal Statement Example

I was born and raised in a third-world country: Ethiopia. Even though Ethiopia is mainly known for her poverty and destitution, my life there was not that bad. Since my dad has lived in the USA since long before I arrived, I was able to go to private school in Ethiopia and get a good education. I came to the USA when I was fourteen years old. Nothing was as easy as I thought it would be. New country, new language, new home, new school, new friends: everything was new for me. Being a high school student made it even harder.It is obvious that all teens face typical problems during their high school life, like bullying, peer pressure, teen pregnancy, and boyfriend/girlfriend problems. Well, imagine how hard it is for foreign students to get used to a new country and new school on top of all those problems. It was not easy for me to make new friends, to get used to the new school, and, most importantly, to develop my English. However, those obstacles didn’t stop me from getting ou tstanding grades in my classes, even the ones that seemed like they might be beyond my level. It has been a lifelong dream of mine to go to college in Boston. When I was in Ethiopia, I always used to tell my friends that I was going to graduate from Boston University one day. After I came here, I realized that it is extremely competitive to go to college in the United States, especially top-tier colleges like Boston University. But that didn’t stop me from dreaming and working hard to accomplish my lifelong goal. As Gail Devers once said, â€Å"Keep your dreams alive, understand that to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard-work, determination and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe. So, I believe in myself and I know I can fulfill my dreams as long as I work hard. I believe Success is the son of Hard Work, so even if I have to suffer a lot to reach the top of the success ladder, I am willing to face any challenges. Without suffering, and without obstacles, life wouldn’t make any sense. The main reason I wanted to attend the summer high school honors program at Boston University is, as I mentioned above, that Boston University is my dream college. Attending the summer program at one of the world’s top universities would be an extraordinary experience for me. Also, taking ourses that are not available at my high school and earning up to eight college credits is a great opportunity for me to open the door into success. Since I am a junior right now, next year would be my last year in a high school. I wanted to take Precalculus and Calculus during my high school years. Because I want to major in pre-med paired with math, since i have passion for both science and math. But the problem is that I can only take precalculus next year. But if I attend the summer high school program, I would be able to take precalculus which it will allow me to take calculus during my senior year. My dream is to be a doctor, and I believe Boston University will help me to become a well-rounded, generally educated, and most importantly, the best doctor. I am very thrilled and excited to attend the summer high school program at BU, because BU fits my kind of personality which is, capacious, conscientious, agile and orthodox. so for an imaginative girl like me, Boston University is the perfect place, and I am eager to meet like-minded students from different parts of the country. to broaden my experience of American Academic landscape beyond Orange,NJ. Personal Statement Example Photography is law-breaking. The possibilities are endless. Why should we stick with fashion existing notions when we can challenge them? Our world is our oyster and is there for us to use it. I find amazing how fashion is an ever-changing issue. Fashion analyzes the history of our world and re-invents it in a contemporary way (e. g the Dior Spring 2004 collection inspired in the Ancient Egypt). Fashion is not just what we wear; it changes attitudes, personalities, manners, the effects it has are unbelievable (e. g James Dean teenage look and making denim fashionable) this is why my passion for it is dazzling.My aim is to produce an original response to fashion photography which is edge-cutting & convey something more than a standard image. Since I was 4, I started to admire beauty; I drew portraits of my mother & started developing an awareness of what beauty & fashion is. During my childhood, I was attached to a pencil; my arising curiosity & admiration for the female form grew as I kept developing my art skills; specially drawing women. These activities started to hook me to fashion, photography & make-up. I have been lucky to have a close group of 7 girls. My amusement with photography started when I began to shoot them.Suddenly, photography started to fascinate me & I became really devoted & dedicated; always eager to learn a& keep doing photo shoots frequently. In my photography, I try to unearth the raw beauty with make-up, angles, lightning & directing model properly. I cherish observing at people; how the light reflects on them, their face, eyes and I imagine poses; my mind is a non-stop rollercoaster of ideas. My ambition & determination made me start working with clients when I was 15. These clients were other girls who saw photographs on social networks & started to want me to shoot them & I began to gain money.I prepared a portfolio and went to Carmen Duran (model agency) and they offered me a job as a photographer. I realized this is what I wanted to do with my life & to further develop myself I decided to study in London which is a global hub that will definitely give me creativity & inspiration. I then applied to fashion photography courses & LCF rejected me so I got a place in the SSU studying Fashion with Photography which I really enjoy but I think LCF is where I want to get taught this is why I decided to take the â€Å"Fashion Photography 1† course starting this February to keep broaden my knowledge and be more repared if I received the opportunity to study in this prestigious university. In the fashion industry, I worked for Marta Stella which designed hats for the â€Å"The Skin I Live† directed by Almodovar. Julian Mateo Atelier, Vicente Gracia, etc. I shoot the accessories campaign of Amparo Chorda, a designer who appeared on the NY Fashion Week & my work has appeared in press and TV. I photographed an event in London Cuckoo Club. This work experiences enable me to develop professional skills, meet d eadlines & work as a team.In my free time, I enjoy viewing contemporary magazines & sites: 125 magazine, Love, Tank, Let them Eat Cake, Lula, Self Service, Purple, and V Mag. Furthermore, blogs like Alice Point & websties like fashiongonerogue are a source of ideas for me. Furthermore, I enjoy researching & watching documentaries about photographers e. g: Bailey & the movement of the swinging London, I admire his tightly cropped high-contrast images. However, I appreciate fashion photography from Corinne Day style to Vadukul.Demarchelier is probably my favorite photographer; I adore the Pirelli Calendar 2008, is awesome: the Asian influence, styling, cold tones, etc. This is a clear e. g of what I want to do. Styling & make-up are others of my passions. I admire Babeth because of her minimalism & masculinity, C. Roitfeld and K. Grand. Finally, I know I am not the best applicant but I just feel sparkling emotions when I am doing a shoot, when I am styling & when I direct models which completely fulfills me. Personal Statement Example I was born and raised in a third-world country: Ethiopia. Even though Ethiopia is mainly known for her poverty and destitution, my life there was not that bad. Since my dad has lived in the USA since long before I arrived, I was able to go to private school in Ethiopia and get a good education. I came to the USA when I was fourteen years old. Nothing was as easy as I thought it would be. New country, new language, new home, new school, new friends: everything was new for me. Being a high school student made it even harder.It is obvious that all teens face typical problems during their high school life, like bullying, peer pressure, teen pregnancy, and boyfriend/girlfriend problems. Well, imagine how hard it is for foreign students to get used to a new country and new school on top of all those problems. It was not easy for me to make new friends, to get used to the new school, and, most importantly, to develop my English. However, those obstacles didn’t stop me from getting ou tstanding grades in my classes, even the ones that seemed like they might be beyond my level. It has been a lifelong dream of mine to go to college in Boston. When I was in Ethiopia, I always used to tell my friends that I was going to graduate from Boston University one day. After I came here, I realized that it is extremely competitive to go to college in the United States, especially top-tier colleges like Boston University. But that didn’t stop me from dreaming and working hard to accomplish my lifelong goal. As Gail Devers once said, â€Å"Keep your dreams alive, understand that to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard-work, determination and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe. So, I believe in myself and I know I can fulfill my dreams as long as I work hard. I believe Success is the son of Hard Work, so even if I have to suffer a lot to reach the top of the success ladder, I am willing to face any challenges. Without suffering, and without obstacles, life wouldn’t make any sense. The main reason I wanted to attend the summer high school honors program at Boston University is, as I mentioned above, that Boston University is my dream college. Attending the summer program at one of the world’s top universities would be an extraordinary experience for me. Also, taking ourses that are not available at my high school and earning up to eight college credits is a great opportunity for me to open the door into success. Since I am a junior right now, next year would be my last year in a high school. I wanted to take Precalculus and Calculus during my high school years. Because I want to major in pre-med paired with math, since i have passion for both science and math. But the problem is that I can only take precalculus next year. But if I attend the summer high school program, I would be able to take precalculus which it will allow me to take calculus during my senior year. My dream is to be a doctor, and I believe Boston University will help me to become a well-rounded, generally educated, and most importantly, the best doctor. I am very thrilled and excited to attend the summer high school program at BU, because BU fits my kind of personality which is, capacious, conscientious, agile and orthodox. so for an imaginative girl like me, Boston University is the perfect place, and I am eager to meet like-minded students from different parts of the country. to broaden my experience of American Academic landscape beyond Orange,NJ.

Life Style Inventory Essay

As I look at my results from the Life Style Inventory my primary thinking style that I scored the highest in was the affiliative style at 83%. As I looked deeper at this style it fit me to a tee. I have always been warm and sincere because I always try to see the best in other people. My interpersonal relations with peers and subordinates alike have allowed me to be trusted and liked by others. This has helped me to be both diplomatic and tactful in my decisions as a manager. My genuine concern for people and ability to accept change easily has placed me in a leadership position many times just because I am able to listen and feel that people are more important than things. Next we will be looking at my backup personal thinking style and I had a two way tie between Self- Actualization and Humanistic- Encouraging at 75%. In the Humanistic-Encouragement thinking style I love to teach and enjoy sharing knowledge with others. I am very supportive of others and encourage others to strive for excellence and to think for themselves. As a good listener I am supportive of others and always willing to take time with people. Now with Self-Actualization I am a creative thinker and can communicate easily and very aware of my own feelings. I tend to be optimistic and realistic with my judgments and I have a high level of personal integrity. As I look at these three thinking styles I completely agree with them as my strengths. I have always been the equalizer and the manager called upon to best deal with conflict. I value my employees, focus upon perceptions, and know their needs. Honor and Integrity direct my morale fiber and I hold respect as being the most important element that people need in their lives. These styles are all important for training and developing a strong working team and have made me valued as a good leader and well thought of by my peers. When I at look at any of these thinking styles that may be limiting me I would have to turn towards Approval. I feel that I can be overly trusting too fast and too agreeable with others opinions. Whether you are overly seeking approval or accepting others values too much this style can work against you and be called being too generous to a fault. I feel that I would like to have better control upon being overly sympathetic with people. I have the ability to give people too many chances to improve or correct their behavior when in all actuality it would have been better to have cut our losses after the first counseling session failed. Giving an employee a fair chance is fine but when I go too far it can appear like favoritism or special treatment. If the employees know that you are overly sympathetic they will also play to this weakness to get out of the hot seat. The team likes you and shows approval on the surface but really they do not respect you and view you as a push over. I sometimes fight this behavior because there is a fine line between the perception of not caring and being not sympathetic enough and being overly sympathetic to a fault. I always know that you cannot please everyone as a good leader and some may even oppose you, but if upper management sees you as being too soft and overly sympathetic then you are not taking care of the business. Impact on Management Style: Planning When I think of my primary and back up styles of thinking I can see the affiliative style having me motivate my team through using praise and friendliness. This can help me in the planning phase by getting valuable input from my team through building trust and meaningful relationships that are reciprocated. This helps us to feel like a team and make informed decisions from data collected by our team and helps us to build a sound plan of action. Through self-actualization I would use my sound judgment and optimistic and realistic nature to set solid goals. When making company plans my humanistic-encouragement style would have me utilize my knowledge of the company’s needs and the teams needs to make good plans. Being a good listener also makes planning a lot easier. Organizing With my ability to develop and teach others and listening to my team while easily adapting to change I am able to better organize my team by setting SMART goals and using my communication skills to keep my team well informed. By thinking outside of the box and using my creative and original thinking skills I will be able to keep all of my team on the same page with our eye on the target of success. Leading My primary and backup styles give me an excellent leadership skillset in that I listen and set own goals, but I also understand how people feel and make sound judgments. My genuine concern for others and communication skills not only give me great leadership skills but my ability to use my intuition to read people allows for proactive decisions to be made. Perhaps it is my ability to be diplomatic and tactful and see the best in others that allows for me to be respected and well thought of as a leader. Controlling Some people use intimidation and threats to control their team but giving them respect and a sense of ownership of their job allows my coaching and development style to allow peer pressure to control our team. The ability to set common goals and encourage our team to think for themselves, gives ownership and control through respect, honor, and integrity. Never asking my team to do what I am not willing to do myself and giving them the resources and tools needed to be successful keeps the respect and lines of communication open. Genesis of Personal Style: If I was to critically evaluate what has contributed the most to my personal styles it would have to be my family and growing up in the restaurant business. Always being in the public eye and dealing with guests face to face gave me a comfort at an early age of being in front of people and taking the time to listen and enjoy people. I was in the entertainment business and learned how to set goals and run a business by watching the controllable costs and giving quality service so that our guests would return. I developed understanding, humility, confidence, and personal integrity from my family. Growing up in my community and having great friends and families really made a big difference with being sincere, warm, and open. It was sports and Boy Scouts that offered discipline, commitment, and goals to my life. From my relationships built in high school and the Navy to the relationships built in business I continue to learn and strive to improve my styles to compliment my ability to lea d. Conclusion and Reflection: As I look at my Constructive skills I see how my developments of Affiliative, Humanistic-Encouragement, and Self-Actualization styles have all contributed to my ability to be a good leader. My intuitive ability to read behavior and develop teams is second nature to me and my ability to listen and be real to my team has earned me their respect. Now my Passive and Defensive styles show me that dependent and conventional may be an area to watch out for but I felt that approval was the area that concerned me the most. Specifically it may be too easy to become overly sympathetic and this could lead to being overly generous to a fault. Looking at my Aggressive and Defensive Styles I look at oppositional and competitive styles and giving me the ability to question everything and always inspect everything before making a decision, be the best at what we do, and set the benchmark of our industry. I feel that the LSI shows us our strengths and opportunities and while we are always striving to improve our behaviors we must look at our beliefs in why we find our behavior acceptable and seek to make changes here, because in order to improve one’s behavior we must change our beliefs first. I feel that I would like to improve upon being less sympathetic and watch my procrastination by setting clear boundaries a staying to the specific rules. It is important for me not to put things off for tomorrow if I can do it today. I also would like to not get overly involved in team members personal issues that are affecting their work. This exercise helped me to look closely at how other styles can overshadow the positives of other styles and be counterproductive. This has helped me because as I see that several of my styles help me to be a good leader but now I have a better understanding on what other styles can limit my constructive styles ie, if I have a high affiliative and a high power style then I would desire to have close friendships but try to control and dominate these friendships which will result in a negative relationship. Overall this has been a great tool for my future in management and beter understanding my thinking and behavior process.