Relationships in leadership
What do you currently consider to be the most important accomplishment or outcome of leadership?
Pre: Currently, I consider workplace relationships to be the most important outcome of leadership. I believe that happy employees produce high quality work and that every organization is a direct reflection of the people who produce the product. I put this outcome above others when it comes to leadership because a leader is directly responsible for implementing a structure and instilling a culture. Organizations can experience successes and failures despite negative workplace relationships but sustainable success can only be achieved through positive workplace relationships. Every interaction with an employee or co-worker is an investment into the future success of the organization. If a leader can effectively build positive relationship between all members of the community, all members of that community will work towards the betterment of the organization. Think about that, a whole organization of people who want to see their company succeed. It would be hard to bet against an entire organization of people working together to achieve a similar goal and/or vision. I also think that workplace relationships take the “work” out of work and instead, instill a degree of “contribution” that all members experience while working. You’ll never work a day in your life if you truly love the work you are doing.
Post: After reading the chapter, I still say that relationships are the most important outcome of leadership. Some of the topics covered in the chapter are necessary to build positive and effective relationships and enhanced my perspective on what relationships should look like within an organization. The two concepts that stood out to me were results and communication. The term leader, indicates that someone is guiding a group of people towards a common goal. This goal can also be identified as a result. I view the result as an important accomplishment of leadership and feel that this outcome is built upon the relationships within an organization. Another key concept outlined is communication. All of these things tie in together as communication is vital to creating a shared vision and also informing followers how we plan to achieve a specific result. I am not as quick to identify workplace relationships as the most important outcome of leadership as the author makes a strong case for each of these other characteristics. It kind of like the “chicken and the egg” idea to me.
How do you now (or how would you in the future) go about effectively building relationships and managing interpersonal conflict in a sport organization?
Pre: I feel that the most effective way to build relationships and manage conflict is to act with authenticity and within one’s own leadership style. I consider myself to be an outgoing person so talking with families and co-workers comes naturally to me and that is how I, personally, build effective relationships. However, a person who is not comfortable in social situations can push themselves to build relationships in the same manner but will ultimately break down because this behavior does not support their individual character or leadership style. There is no perfect way to interact with people. One thing that I struggle with during leadership training is that people go on to emulate behaviors that they truly do not understand. Instead of acting with authenticity, some leaders rely on their social and/or emotional intelligence to manipulate a situation to achieve a desired result or experience for the people they lead. This is the same for managing interpersonal conflict. I cannot be warm and friendly in social situations and then become cold and harsh when presented with interpersonal conflict. Instead, I can still maintain my character and use that to manage conflict. Managing conflict is never comfortable but this does not mean that we need to add fuel to the fire by unpredictably behaving in a way that goes against our character. I have managed interpersonal conflict by remaining warm and fuzzy and passing along information in a serious tone but with the same supportive attitude. These conversations come across in the forms of disappointment and concern. We never know what is going on in the lives of others and it is easy to jump to conclusions and reprimand someone because we simply disagree.
Post: I stand by my original answers and can now call upon some terminology that more effectively articulates my thought process above. Building trust is significant to me and the key concepts of competence, congruity, constancy, and caring touch on the multi-dimensional tools needed to achieve this trust. As I’ve stated in previous writings, one cannot lead from one of these concepts. There needs to be a well-rounded approach to developing effective relationships because everyone needs something different. The same can be said for conflict management. Leaders need to establish a certain credibility so that followers take them seriously and listen to criticism or management concepts. It would be hard to reprimand someone if you, as a leader, are illustrating some of the same behaviors in your work too. I feel affirmed in my perspective on authenticity. This chapter does a really good job of capturing the essence of authenticity and hashing out some of the hidden impacts that authentic leadership has on followers.
What does professionalism mean to you in your role as a sport leader?
Pre: As a sport leader, professionalism means that my actions consistently represent the culture I want to implement within the organization I serve. Positive or negative, my behavior shapes the organization I work within and affects everyone around me. From my co-workers to my customers, it is important that I always carry myself with a degree of professionalism so that everyone knows what my expectation is for myself and for others. When I think of professionalism I think of integrity. Integrity to me, means that my values align with my actions. I would also throw in social maturity as an important factor because we need to be aware of the proper times where we can and need to exhibit certain behaviors. Contrastingly, we need social maturity to avoid negative behaviors in certain situations.
Post: The reading touches on some of the concepts explained in my pre-analysis. I go back to credibility for this question to as it is an encompassing term for what I was trying to get at. In addition to having maturity and integrity, a leader must be credible to maintain a professionalism. Being a professional means that you have an investment in your work and ability to model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others, and encourage the heart. Again, this multi-dimensional approach further supports my perspective that there is not a “one size fits all” approach to any of these concepts. A leader must have the social intelligence and experience to utilize certain characterizes at appropriate times to achieve a desired result both within the team and as a team.
What do you consider the core values and ethical principles by which a sport organization should operate?
Pre: I believe that a sport organization should operate under the core values of safety, development, and fun. A sport organization should always maintain a safe environment for all members of the community. From facilities and equipment to behavior and practice, safety must be ensured within every sport organization. Development should also be a core value because the goal of any sport organization is to develop people who go on to lead meaningful lives in addition to athletic development. Development does not end when a practice or game ends, development is a continual process by which each member of a sport organization uses the life lessons they are learning to help them to make informed decisions that shape their lives. I put emphasis on fun as a core value because this core value is essential to maximizing sport experiences for participants. I believe that we as people achieve a state of proficiency when our mind, body, and soul enjoy the activities in which we involve ourselves. Sport organizations should be about fun, first and foremost, because this is what keeps people coming back and participating in your programming. Not only does this notion apply to participants but also to employees. Employees will also be more effective if they are enjoying the work they are doing.
Post: I didn’t expand upon my view of the ethical principles needed by a sport organization and fully support what is explained in the book. Each of the core values I listed must have the support of ethical principles guided by sport leadership personnel within an organization. My biggest issue here is that most athletic administrators can spout out the core values within their organization and comment on the ethical principles need within the club. However, this all tends to go out the window when a scoreboard is turned on and competition takes over. The overall ethical principles by which a sport organization should operate should ensure the well-being of every participant and see that everyone develops regardless of situational context. What I mean to say is, an organization should not carry a “win at all costs” mentality if they are promoting equal play and player development. A crack in these ethical principles will lead to inconsistency and inconsistency yields exceptions. This downward spiral will eventually lead to a loss of control by the organization and see that the parents/customers are the ones dictating both the goals of the club and the way in which those goals are achieved.
Three Topics that Resonate
1.) Authenticity: This topic resonates with me because I have personally experienced times when I’ve maintained authenticity in my leadership style and also experienced times when I tried to be someone else. This is tougher than it may seem within sports organizations. I look back on my previous experience as a Hockey Director and Coach. The world of coaching often times asks us to fall in line with some of the other coaching styles and philosophies that are around us. I really struggled when I started because I had a belief that every player deserved a chance and that I would not carry a “win at all costs” mentality on my teams. The coaches around me did not all carry this approach and often times chided me for losing a game because I didn’t leave my star player on the ice or giving me a hard time for spending so much time with a struggling player. The reality is that acting with authenticity does not always yield positive results. I can be an ass hole and coach my team in that manner. I am authentic in my actions and am a bad coach because of it. *apologies of that is too candid for a submitted assignment.
2.) Ethical Leadership: Kind of in line with authenticity, this topic resonates with me significantly. This week, a former colleague of mine was found guilty on numerous charges of distributing child pornography and soliciting a minor. When I think about ethical leadership, this is a former coach who abused his position to exploit young kids. It makes me sick. While this is such an extreme example, the idea of ethical leadership is so important because an organization needs to have a position on the grounds of ethical behavior so that they can work through difficult situations and exercise decisiveness in a timely manner.
3.) Credibility: The final topic I resonate with is credibility. All three of these topics intertwine for me as I look back on my experiences in hockey. I will say that credibility becomes ever more important when you are leading a group of knowledgeable people. These people already have a pretty good knowledge base of what is going on and how things need to get done. If you, as a leader, cannot establish credibility within the group, then it will be hard to gain support and trust. I’ve seen coaches who try to dictate the actions of their team and, in the process, fail to convey a sense of caring. As the book states, we need to encourage the heart and enable others to act instead of dictating their every move.
