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Leadership Project

LEAD 515 LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATION & CONFLICT RESOLUTION

June 2009

Jessie D. Stament

Southwestern College

Professional Studies

Leadership Theory

Leadership can be a very difficult subject to try and understand because of the individualism associated with the subject. Each and every leader has their own beliefs as to what traits, characteristics, values, and behaviors will make them an effective leader. We each possess our own personal theories that have been influenced through our experiences, education, and by other influential leaders that leave a lasting impact on our leadership development. Our individual leadership theories are fluid and change as we gain more experience and knowledge. Sometimes we are faced with changing our leadership style because our own problem areas are highlighted either by ourselves or by someone else. Whatever the case is, our personal leadership theories influence every action and behavior that we make as leaders.

My espoused leadership theory is based upon the many experiences I have faced throughout my life. These experiences have shaped my values as a leader which has been primarily influenced in two ways: 1) the influential people of my life, and 2) specific life experiences. My values are continually instilled through the different teachers, coaches, pastors, friends, supervisors, managers, mentors, followers, and leaders that have had a lasting impression on my life. The lessons I learned from life’s experiences such as; playing soccer, my first job, going to college, dropping out of college, my first serious job, moving out on my own, meeting my wife, joining the military, going back to college, becoming an instructor, becoming an evaluator, graduating Airman Leadership School, completing my undergraduate degree, having our first child, separating from the military, and my experience since transitioning back to civilian life after six years, help shape me into the leader I am today. Of all of my life’s experiences up to this point, my experience of serving in the United States Air Force (USAF) is one of the most influential times of my life. During my service I learned many important values that I still cherish today and will continue to hold dearly for the rest of my life. My moral framework for leadership really started to mature during my time in the military. I learned some of my most highly regarded values from my experience in the Air Force, such as their core values: integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all we do.

I believe that integrity first is the most important of the three Air Force core values, because integrity is the foundation for which the other values are built around. In the book Uncommon, Tony Dungy (2009) describes integrity as, “what you do when no one is watching; it’s doing the right thing all the time, even when it may work to your disadvantage” (p. 12). Having integrity first requires us to take responsibility in what you do and be accountable for your actions. Service before self requires learning to be a follower even when it can sometimes put you at a disadvantage. Putting, Excellence into all I do requires giving 110% all the time, even when no one is around. I view these core values are just a part of my leadership foundation. I also believe in some specific traits that impact my espoused leadership theory.

Compassion is a leadership trait that I feel is very important in being an effective leader. A compassionate leader genuinely cares for their followers which in turn followers care for their leader. Most followers respond better to leaders they feel have their best interests at heart. There are too many people who are placed in leadership positions who only care about meeting deadlines or completing tasks. These types of people never take the time to think about the people in the trenches who are making everything happen. Right before leaving for the military, my father told me something about my job that I will never forget. He said, “Your office is going to be 30,000 feet in the air with just you and your crew. But always remember about the folks on the ground that helped get you there.”

Leading by example is a major behavior that I believe in. As a leader, I must set the example for my followers in all areas such as my behavior, attitude, and work ethic. Being the example requires getting my hands dirty every once and awhile and showing that I too am willing to do the same tasks I ask of my followers. All too often leaders demand so much of their followers without fully understanding the work and processes their subordinates follow. Getting in the trenches brings you to your followers’ world which allows them to see you in a different light and vice versa. They see you are willing to do some of the so-called dirty work which earns their trust, but most importantly, you earn their respect.

Other than integrity, respect is the value I believe to be most significant. I hold such a high regard for respect, because I feel that the success of a leader is directly influenced by the respect a leader and his or her followers has for each other. If your followers do not respect you, then their interests and goals can differ from your interests and goals which makes being successful impossible. Earning the respect of your followers can come in many different ways such as, putting the needs of your followers first, being compassionate, and leading by example. Followers who respect their leader are willing to do everything and anything in their power to support that person. Everyone in the workplace is so different and is motivated in different ways or by different behaviors. But the one constant is that everyone wants to be respected.

As a leader, I practice all of these values in some way or another. I practice certain values better than others such as integrity, service before self, leading by example, and respect. I try and implement these values into everything I do in life both as a professional and as a person.

Putting integrity first can be very difficult because we face so many situations that challenge our integrity on a daily basis. I sometimes find that my integrity is challenged because of the situations I deal with at work. For instance, when I first came onto the project, I found that we did not report specific problems in the warehouse to our customers. When I asked why we did not report these problems, I was told, “what they don’t know won’t hurt them.” This was a huge integrity issue for me. On the one hand, I understand that we do not want to expose our company’s problems to our customers. However, by not informing them of these problems, I was lying and covering up the situation in hopes that they would eventually go away. I decided to be straightforward and came forward about the problems knowing that it would be risky, but I value integrity too much to hide problems from anyone. I made a list of the problems in a prioritized list, and also provided possible solutions for each one. These problems were definitely not met with joy, but the customer was very happy to see that a plan was in place to resolve these issues. I also feel that really helped in building the type of relationship I now have with my customer. They know that I will not hide anything from them even if it means putting me or my company at a disadvantage.

Service before self is another area that I feel that I use quite often. I try and put the needs of my followers before my own personal desires because I am responsible for making sure that my followers are setup to be successful. When I first came to the project, I noticed that one of the major problems was that the current task manager did not care at all about the logistics department. The majority of our work revolves around the logistics department, but my predecessor did not care to know their processes. He was definitely not a team player and most in logistics felt that he intentionally was setting them up for failure. One of the first things I was faced with was trying to create a better work environment between me and logistics. They did not care that I was new, the damage was done and they felt that I was probably going to treat them the same way. But I do not operate like my predecessor because of my value for service before self. I place the needs of the team before the needs of my own. For instance, I had to learn quite a bit when I first came onboard and could have easily ignored logistics processes. Or at least that was what my predecessor was trying to convince me to do. But I felt that I needed to help them first because they are the tip of the spear for the entire project. Without them, no gear is being shipped to the military units around the world. So I met with their supervisor and asked him what his pressing needs were. The most important was the need for an inventory. The inventory was in disarray and they never were given time to conduct a complete wall-to-wall inventory. I discussed the issue with my customer and my supervisor. I was able to get the customer to slow down the tasks for two weeks and conjure up extra bodies for help. During the inventory, I was out in the warehouses as a volunteer while my predecessor, who was still attempting to train me at the time, was sitting behind his desk.

Leading by example is one of my favorite aspects of being a leader. I get the opportunity to learn and to get to know my followers on a different level. When you lead by example, you show your followers that you too are willing to do the same things you ask of them everyday. At the same time, I get to learn what my followers are doing so that I can relate if they have issues or questions. For instance, I recently had to fill two technician positions that will work for me that will be responsible for building electrical racks to be installed in military vehicles. This type of work was new for our company on this project and I had no working knowledge of how to do this. Rather than having the two technicians learn by themselves from our competitors, I went over with them and learned how to build racks. I wanted them to know that I too am willing to get my hands dirty and that they can rely on me to help them out when they need it. Now I know what all goes into building a rack. They have not had to install a rack yet on a vehicle. But when the trip gets scheduled, I have already cleared it with my supervisor to go so that I too can learn how to do the install.

Respect plays a major role in how I live my life as a leader. Respect is something that I feel must be earned and maintained. Respect can be the determining factor in success or failure. I think that respect is so important that some people would rather choose to be respected over loved. I try and respect everyone as long as they are not intentionally disrespecting me. Followers who respect their leader are willing to do anything for their leaders without question. For example, we received a task late one afternoon for equipment that had to be shipped overseas. None of my employees were required to stay late to finish and could have easily left me that day to finish on my own as my predecessor had done to them on numerous occasions. I did not even have the opportunity to call my supervisor and ask for overtime approval in order to ask for any volunteers. Instead, as soon as I received the task, I had people standing at my desk ready to work. They did not care that it was already time to go home and they did not complain when eight o’clock passed. We were there until almost eleven o’clock that night, and we were able to complete the task. When it came time for my employees to go home, they did not even mention overtime, being paid extra, or for permission to come in late the next day. I did not even need to ask why they chose to do it. I already knew the answer when they were waiting at my desk. But that is the power respect has and why I feel so strongly about it.

There is one specific area that I feel I really need to work on. Excellence in all I do is an area that I feel I am very strong in, probably too strong. I am always trying to give 110% in everything I do. I think this is influenced by my competitive nature, my work ethic, and my desire to be the best at whatever I do. I always try and give my best effort in everything because I expect people to do the same. However, when I feel that people are not giving their best effort or their effort is not up to my personal standards for myself, I tend to take the work on myself, because I sometimes think it is just easier that way. This is definitely not the best approach and an area that I feel I need to make some changes in.

After reading the text, I felt the area that I need to change the most in to address these issues as my delegation abilities. De Janasz, Dowd, and Schneider (2009) described five specific areas when identifying “challenges in delegation” which are, “lack of time, perfectionism, fear of surrendering authority, lack of confidence in staff, and dual accountability” (p. 397). Of these five areas discussed, I feel that I need to work on three of the areas which are lack of time, perfectionism, and dual accountability.

Because of the timelines we are given for certain tasks, I find it easier for me to complete the tasks rather than taking the time to train someone else how to do it. Because I am a perfectionist, I feel that I can usually do a better job than everyone else. Because my customers usually call me directly and ask me the question, I typically feel that it is my responsibility to provide them the answer myself. But by doing all these things, I am not doing anybody any good, because I am failing to delegate responsibilities to people who are perfectly capable of completing these tasks which in turn means they are not learning or becoming better. One example is when my customer calls and asks specific questions about the quantity of a specific part in the warehouse, typically I will stop what I am doing, look it up myself, and report the numbers rather than allowing my assistant to do so. I probably answer anywhere from 15 to 20 of these types of calls a week. But what I fail to realize is the fact that by doing this, I am failing to teach my assistant about inventory management. So my plan of action is to ask my assistant what areas he feels are his strong points and his weak points. I will then start training him in the areas he feels he is weak in until he feels comfortable enough that he can handle them on his own. One area I will help teach him is the one I described above. The next time a call comes in I will get with him and we will work the issue together. I will show him everything I do in the process until he has a clear understanding of what needs to be done and he feels comfortable enough to handle the calls on his own. Once he does that, I will inform my customer to call him with those types of questions.

Kotter (1990) stated, “One way to develop leadership is to create challenging opportunities for young employees” (p. 51). Looking back on my life, this is how I learned to become the leader I am today and so I must constantly remind myself that it is my responsibility as a leader to challenge my followers so that they too will develop into better leaders. One thing that I need to personally implement more into my life is a lesson I learned from the military and that is too always be training your replacement. It is my job to teach somebody how to do everything I can do so that any given moment they can be prepared to fill my role. I think I am a pretty good example because of the values I follow, and that I can be better by following my plan for delegating more to my assistant.

REFERENCES

Covey, Stephen. (1990). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. New York, NY:

Fireside.

De Janasz, S., Dowd, K., & Schneider, B. (2009). Interpersonal Skills in Organizations.

New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Dungy, Tony. (2009). Uncommon: finding your path to significance. Carroll Stream,

IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Kotter, John. What Leaders Really Do. In, Harvard Business Review on Leadership.

Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing. (Original work published in

1990).

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