In: Operations Management
You Make The Call! Professor Edwards’s “Fundamentals of Supervision” class was in the fifth week, and the class was discussing servant leadership. Professor Edwards identified three things for the students to consider. “Leaders need to create a vision for their team that will create a future for the organization based on resilience. Leaders need to use the talents and skills of their team members to get the best results. Leaders need to find ways to engage their followers to be the best they can be in doing the job they were hired to do.” The classroom door opened and someone the students did not know walked into the class. Professor Edwards introduced her as Alisha McDonald, a former student, who was now district manager for IHOP and active in the area Habitat for Humanity Women Build Projects. He said that she would share her story of how her work with Habitat had helped her. Most of the students had never done or even heard about the “hammer” experience. Alisha began her talk by saying that Professor Edwards had gotten her professional business fraternity, Delta Sigma Phi, to get off the bench and get in a game that none of the group had ever heard about. My fraternity got involved in building a home for Habitat for Humanity. It was the most fun project I had ever been involved in. Marketing and finance majors worked on securing funds for the build. Other majors worked on all aspects of the house. Habitat for Humanity put on “Women Build” classes to give us some knowledge, skills, and familiarity with working on a Habitat project. The area Habitat affiliate is planning on building over 100 homes in the next four years and they need volunteers. Projects like this have not just allowed me to be a better person, but also gave me a real appreciation for the leadership and teamwork needed to help those who are truly in need. I knew nothing about building a home, but I learned lots about working with a diverse group of people. Projects like this one and others allowed me to develop and demonstrate my leadership and followership skills and to get others to do some things they never thought they would be able to do. This year, we will begin our Women Build project on Friday, May 1, and conclude on Saturday, May 16. There is also a men’s build at the same time. As a team leader I have a critical role in making the Women Build program a success. A Habitat build is fun and rewarding, and I want you there to help. Habitat for Humanity also has a year-round program known as the Collegiate Challenge. Summer, fall, winter, and Spring Break trips are available for those of you who might like to travel out of the area and spend a week working in partnership with a local Habitat affiliate to eliminate poverty housing in their area. Last year, we took a group of students to Jacksonville, Florida, on Spring Break. More than 14,000 college students took part in the Collegiate Challenge last year. If you would be interested in doing that during your Spring Break, Professor Edwards will help you get in touch with me so that we can get you involved. Habitat’s Women Build program started in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1991 with a home completely built by a crew of female volunteers. Women Build projects provide an environment where women can feel comfortable learning construction skills they might not otherwise have an opportunity to learn. Women all over the United States will participate in a Mother’s Day build. I encourage you to become a volunteer to help those in need and change communities. Each Habitat home is sponsored, and we use private funds to purchase building materials and land for the homes. Each home built has a cost of $75,000, and we ask that each volunteer secure a gift of at least $250 to ensure that the home is properly funded. Last year, Professor Edwards and his wife gave us $2000 for a Women Build project, and he has told me that they will do that again. What questions do you have for me? Leadership: The Core of Supervisory Management Harry S. Truman, 33rd president of the United States, once remarked that leadership is the ability to get people to do what they don’t like to do and enjoy it.1 Simple as it seems, there still is considerable misunderstanding concerning the supervisor’s leadership role in influencing employee motivation and performance. This misunderstanding often stems from a misconception regarding the meaning of leadership itself. Occupying a position of responsibility and authority does not necessarily make someone a leader whom subordinates will follow. You Make the Call! 1 Define leadership, explain its importance at the supervisory level, and describe elements of contemporary leadership thought. Disclaimer: The above scenario presents a supervisory situation based on real events to be used for educational purposes. The identities of some or all individuals, organizations, industries, and locations, as well as financial and other information may have been disguised to protect individual privacy and proprietary information. Fictional details may have been added to improve readability and interest.
A simple definition of leadership can be an art of motivating others to achieve a common goal. However, it is always the context in which leadership changes its definition. It can be assumed as hand-holding, guiding, motivating, inspiring, etc. It depends on the role a person finds himself, that would define his/her leadership. Leadership is also not dependent upon the position one holds, it is more of a characteristic, then an attribute of a position.
At a supervisory level, a person is an overseer over a small group of persons. The task of it may involve the same parameters as a leader, to motivate others to achieve common goals. The role is empowered by knowledge and experience that can be used in getting the work done. However, mere instructions may not work, the supervisory level is also positioned with motivation, inspiration. He/she should be adept enough in communicating with the followers, get them to work, or make them engaged in a limited resource. Only at the supervisory level, the glimpse of intrinsic motivation can be seen, where workers are not motivated by monetary rewards but words and emotions.
Contemporary leadership is instrumental in influencing followers to take certain steps. For example, in the case example, is of the teacher Professor Edwards who was able to transform or influence, the life of followers like here Alisha, whose fraternity got involved with build a home for Habitat for Humanity. Thus, contemporary leadership is associated with influence, guiding them but not hand holding all the time.
Contemporary leadership is basically of three styles, transformational, transactional, and charismatic. While Transformational is about developing the potential of followers, or team members by inspiring them. Transactional is about using the power of position, believing in the "carrot and stick" approach.
in charismatic leadership, leaders use their style in charming others. They have self-confidence, use unconventional ways. They rely on charm than power for influence.
Here, if we talk about Professor, then he exhumes the style of transformational, by developing the potential of his followers, while, Alisha's personality is charming. She is confident about the task, is unconventional, and has knowledge and experience about what she is talking about.