Class Discussions

Our last class, we discussed our personal goals in life. I wrote that I want to be both successful and happy with where I am in my life. Although making a lot of money is a personal goal to myself, I find it just as important to be happy and content with what I am doing with my life. Like the saying says, Money does not buy happiness, and I find it extremely important that I am happy with how I am living my life in the future.
We also discussed, if we were a leader, what type of leader we would want to be. Because I am a management major, it is possible one day I may be a manager. It is important to consider what type of manager, or leader I would someday play. I feel that because of my personality, I would be a less strict, controlling manager. Although I would make sure the work is completed, I would try to be an understanding friendly manager.
What type of manager do you think you would be?

In response to Kaitlin Gaglione's Question..

Kaitlin also discussed age discrimination in her blog. She left with the question, Do you think discrimination occurs in your job?

I personally do feel that there is some type of discrimination within my workplace. I do not feel that there is age discrimination because there are people of all ages that work there. However, I do feel that there is gender discrimination. My boss seems to hire a lot more women than men. Out of the 20 servers at the restaurant I work at, there are only 2 men. He is also super critical of the two men also. I also feel that there is discrimination on how people look. I have seen my owner not hire specific people because they looked grungy or trashy.

Age Discrimination

This Tuesday we had a guest speaker again. Although the presentation was quite rushed, the topic she chose was quite interesting. We discussed how age discrimination is a huge issue in workplaces today. She showed us a video where an older man had two separate interviews at the same business, one wearing makeup as an older man and the other as himself, a younger man. It was interesting to see how the interviewers were very stereotypical. The interviewers in the end chose the younger man because they figured that he would stay with the job longer. I guess it is proven that older people switch jobs more often. I found this strange because I would think that a young adult is more likely to switch jobs because they have more opportunities. I also would think the younger man would be less likely to get the job because they would seem less responsible. They have less responsibilities are typically do not have a family.
This issue was also interested me because my father is dealing with a situation similar to this. He was the senior salesman in his work, and made the most sales out of anyone there. He also had been there for almost 11 years. The company had recently hired a new manager, and he wanted to create a new "change". It was found that this change was new, younger employees. My dad, along with several other senior sales reps were fired. My father along with the others are currently suing the company.
In the end, I leave off with the question... who do you think deals with more age discrimination in the workforce, younger or older prospects?

In Response to Devan's Post

In Devan's blog, he discussed what he personally thought a leader was. He then left off with the question, Who in your eyes is a leader and why?

I find a leader to not be anyone in particular, but to be able to grasp and attain many important qualities. In order to be a sufficient leader, you must be good at making decisions, ecspecially on the spot. This can be a difficult skill to grasp, but it is very important to be confident in your choices. I also feel that it is important for a leader to make risks. Sometimes it necessary to go out of the box and risking failure is very possible. Being able to motivate your employees is also key. By inspiring people to work towards common goals you can create an excellent team. Lastly, I feel that a leader must be able to display important interpersonal skills to gain respect from your employees. Displaying integrity, trust, and loyalty is very important. By gaining a relationship with your team members they begin to feel comfortable with you. I feel that these qualitites are all very important in order to be a successful leader

Guest Speaker!

In class yesterday we had a guest speaker come in and speak to our class. She was a candidate who has applied for a faculty position in the Management Department at Keene State College. I very much enjoyed this presentation because it was interesting to see a young adult such as herself succeeding in the management field. She talked about the many job opportunities that are here in New Hampshire. She also continued to discuss the different options people choose after college. One professor in the audience shared with the class that it is now looked upon as a positive aspect for young adults just out of college to travel. I found this very inspiring because I myself would like to leave New England for a period of time after college. I find it important to enjoy your life and see what else is out there while you are still young. However, I was a bit discouraged about doing it because of how it would appear on a resume. This was definitely a positive aspect of the presentation because there are many different places I would like to explore after college

In reponse to Kaitlin Gaglione's question

Do you believe the hot and cold game was a good example of how it could motivate someone to want to find an object, or work harder at work? Why or why not.

After doing the hot and cold activity in class, I definitely thought it was a good example of how it could motivate someone to want to find an object and work harder at work. The difference between the negative and positive feedback portrayed examples of how someone would react differently to these types of feedback. When given only the negative feedback, it was much harder for the student to find the object. It seemed to more so discourage the student than make him want to continue searching for it. It also took this student much longer to find. The student who received both the positive and negative feedback, reacted much differently. She seemed more confident and motivated to find the object. She found the object much faster also.
From this activity, I learned that in order to motivate someone, or your employees especially, you must give them positive feedback. Positive feedback gives the individual confidence and a wanting to continue to work hard and succeed. Negative feedback is important too, however the combination of both makes the overall impression.

Leadership through the Eyes of Followers

After reading chapter 13, I came across an interesting topic. There is a recent perspective found where leadership experts experts focus on how leaders are now seen through the eyes of followers. There are three main approaches. These approaches are known as transformational leadership, Charismatic leadership, and Attribution and leadership theory. Transformational leadership refers to the set of abilities that allows the leader to recognize the need for change. It is a way to create a vision to guide that change. It then is important to execute the change effectively. Another approach is charismatic leadership. This is a type of influence based on the leader's charisma, or ones positive attributes. Lastly, the attribution theory is when applied to leadership, holds that when behaviors are observed in a context associated with leadership, other may also attribute varying levels of leadership ability or power to the person displaying those behaviors. I personally feel that charismatic leadership is the most important approach. Having strong interpersonal attraction helps your employees feel very comfortable and accepting. With strong charisma your employees will feel much closer and understanding. With this, I leave off asking, what approach do you find most effective?

Response to Bridget's Question

Bridgets Question was: Which of the four alternative work arrangements do you find appealing?

I found that the work arrangement flexible work schedules is most appealing to me. This is very appealing to me because I could work the same hours but work around my everyday needs. If I had something specific planned I could work around that. If I had an appointment it wouldn't be difficult to work around that and take the time off. If I wanted to go out the night before, I could come in later in the day. Also if I had a lot of homework and had to stay up late I again could go in late. These are all situations that people deal with everyday and it can be difficult to take the time off or work around. With a flexible work schedule it would be easy to do your everyday plans and also get to work and get the job done.

Enriching Jobs at Standard Decoy

I found this case to be very interesting. Enriching Jobs at Standard Decoy was about improving and motivating the employees at a specific company. Standard Decoy was a company that made traditional wood hunting decoys for years. Although they definitely made profit and it was a fairly successful business, the employees seemed happy yet bored and not completely satisfied. The owner's grandson, Alcorn, decided there needed to be a change. After surveys and talking to the employees, he came up with a new approach. He decided job rotation. However, this was not successful because no one could master their new jobs. Finally, Alcorn came up with a completely new approach. This was to create a brand new program, called Odd Ducks. Workers were still responsile for producing the usual numer of ducks, ut they were now allowed to use company tools and materials any time they wanted to work on their own projects. Employees were now creating their own ducks, in different shapes and styles.
I found the Odd Ducks program to be an excellent idea. This seemed to be successful because the employees were more than just workers on an assembly line. They were now personalizing their work. They were being creative and actually enjoying their job. This definitely motivated the employees because they now felt that they were making a difference in the company.