Reference no: EM133028028

Being the boss Chapter 1. 

QUESTION 1: Compare and Contrast the definition of "Management" to the definition of "Leadership".

Definition of "Management": "Management is responsibility for the performance of a group of people.

Definition of "Leadership": "Leadership is a process whereby an individual influence a group of individuals to achieve a common goal".

QUESTION 2. Think about the paradox of management and combine that with Northouse's Trait vs Process views of leadership.

Paradox of Management

Management is Difficult Because of Its Inherent Paradoxes :

• Managers are responsible for what others do
• Managers must focus on the work, and the people doing the work.
• Managers must develop people and evaluate them
• Managers must make a group into a cohesive group without losing sight of individuals
• Managers not only must manage their own group but also manage within a larger context
• Managers must focus on today and tomorrow
• Managers must both execute and innovate
• Managers must sometimes create harm in order to serve a greater good- all simultaneously

Northouse's Trait vs Process views of leadership.

We have all heard statements such as "He is going to be a leader" or "She's a natural leader". These statements are commonly expressed by people who take a trait perspective toward leadership. The trait perspective suggests that certain individuals have special innate or inborn characteristics or qualities that make them leaders and that it is these qualities that differentiate them from non-leaders. Some of the personal qualities used to identify leaders include unique physical factors (e.g., Height), personality features (extraversion), and other characteristics (e.g., intelligence and fluency).

To describe leadership as a trait is quite different from describing it as a process. The trait Viewpoint conceptualizes leadership as property or set of properties possessed in varying degrees by different people. This suggests that it resides in select people and restricts leadership to those who are believed to have special, usually inborn, talents. The process Viewpoint suggests that leadership is a phenomenon that resides in the context of the interactions between leaders and followers and makes leadership available to everyone. As a process, leadership can be observed in leader behaviors and can be learned. 

QUESTION 3. What do you think about Trait theory, and how it fits with the Three Imperatives of Management? 

Trait Theory

The trait approach has its root in leadership theory that suggested that certain people were born with special traits that made them great leaders. Because it was believed that leaders and non-leaders could be differentiated by a universal set of traits, throughout the 20th-century researchers were challenged to identify the definitive traits of leaders.

From the multitude of studies conducted through the years on personal characteristics, it is clear that many traits contribute to leadership. Some of the important traits that is consistently identified in many of these studies are intelligence, self-confidence, determination, integrity, and sociability. In addition, researchers have found a strong relationship between leadership and the traits described by the five-factor personality model. Extraversion was the trait most strongly associated with leadership, followed by conscientiousness, openness, low neuroticism, and agreeableness. Another recent line of research has focused on emotional intelligence and its relationship to leadership. This research suggests that leaders who are sensitive to their emotions and to the impact of their emotions on others may be leaders who are more effective.

On a practical level, the trait approach is concerned with which traits leaders exhibit and who has these traits. Organizations use personality assessment instruments to identify how individuals will fit within their organizations. The trait approach is also used for personal awareness and development because it allows managers to analyze their strengths and weaknesses and to gain a clearer understanding of how they should try to change to enhance their leadership.

There are several advantages to viewing leadership from the trait approach. First, it is intuitively appealing because it fits clearly into the popular idea that leaders are special people who are out front, leading the way in society. Second, a great deal of research validates the basis of this perspective. Third, by focusing exclusively on the leader, the trait approach provides an in-depth understanding of the leader component in the leadership process. Last it has provided some Benchmarks against which individuals can evaluate their own personal leader attributes.

On the negative side, the trait approach has failed to provide a definitive list of leadership traits. In analyzing the traits of leaders, the approach has failed to take into account the impact of situations. In addition, the approach has resulted in subjective lists of the most important leadership traits, which are not necessarily grounded in strong, reliable research. 

Furthermore, the trait approach has not adequately linked the traits of Leaders with other outcomes such as group and team performance. Last, this approach is not particularly useful for training and development for leadership because individuals' personal attributes are largely stable and fixed, and their traits are not amenable to change.

The Manager's Three Imperatives

• Manage yourself- focusing on how to develop and maintain one on one relationships,
• Manage your network- focusing on exercising influence with integrity,
• Manage your team- focusing on what's needed to execute with a real-life team

QUESTION 4. Begin your journey of self-discovery.  Where do you see yourself on the continuum of the Three Imperatives? The paradoxes?

Scenario: You are a Graduate student who will achieve your Master's Degree in December 2021. You have never worked in Human Resources field before. You are hoping that you can apply the skill and knowledge that you learned in school in the future and become successful in HR .

Reference

Hill, L. A. (Linda A. (2011). Being the boss: the 3 imperatives for becoming a great leader. Harvard Business Review Press.

Northouse, P. G. (2019). Leadership?: theory and practice (Eighth edition.). SAGE.