Category: Unit 6

Posted on

Unit 6 – Learning Activity 2

Currently, John holds several leadership position as he is a pastor of a church, a director of church planting initiatives, and a research catalyst for an up and coming graphene company. I spoke to John to discuss his goals and professional development.

When are you at your best? Describe a time when you performed really well?

John believes that he performs his best when he has the ability to exercise his creativity when bringing together solutions from multiple disciplines. While he was the director of church planting, he helped train people for a competency-based program called the “Immerse Program.” John’s seminary is featured as one of the best seminaries in Canada as a result of that program. This was accomplished by bringing together behavioural training and correct goal-setting, combined with evaluating the purpose of the seminary training and developing a system where people are being trained for the exact results that are being evaluated (as opposed to educating that are based on preconceived notions).

What were the circumstances during that time?

Through Immerse, they were given a mandate to plant a certain amount of churches. However, they did not have the resources to recruit people and pay them sufficiently. For example, there was another organization that was able to offer church planter apprentices a salary of $60,000. It was necessary to think differently and creatively as to how to develop their own pool of potential church planters. There strategy was to find people early on with a heart for the ministry and help them discern if becoming a church planter was to be their pathway. The Immerse program was a much earlier buy-in in which training and recruiting was performed all the way through the process. Previously, church-planting systems would wait until people thought that they were qualified and would walk them through that process until they were qualified.

Where do you want to be in five years from now? Describe your idealized future as if it were already happening?

“In the corporate world, I would like to have the firm in a position where it is globally influencing, whereby the company is providing great products and resources for the under privileged. Whether that means providing safe drinking water or having an environmental or economical impact, the freedom to use some of that influence to direct resources to help hose that are less privileged. An integration of a business and global opportunity.”

How can you get there? What are your ideas for realizing this preferred future?

John takes a 2-prong approach with regards to his idealized future. He believes that he is growing a business that requires “priority, energy, clear decision-making, and ensuring we are assessing potential markets that have quicker pay-off, as well as longer term projection that have a greater future. It is all about finding the balance.” Second, John wants to work towards starting a non-profit organization to raise money for Christian schools in Pakistan.

What skills/behaviours are essential for success in your role as a manager (Rockwell, 2017)?

With regards to John’s role as a research catalyst with the graphene company, John spends a significant amount of time assessing partners and coordinating research, which entails finding the right researchers. Since the researchers are partners as opposed to employees, the company does not have as much access to them. This means the company cannot direct them as easily so there is a significant loss of control. Therefore, John must find people that are highly motivated, achievement-oriented, and capture the vision of the company. The researchers also need to be generous and willing to take on a collaborative approach. John describes it as a “together future.”

What’s important about communication in your role as manager (Rockwell, 2017)?

John believes that timeliness is the most important aspect with regards communication in his role at the company. He states, “There are thousands of people that have entrusted and invested in the company with the hopes that the management will bring it to fruition. Therefore, I need to ensure that the research team understands the goals that the company has, and bring together industrial partners to help make those goals a reality. The research team needs to have continual communication with management so that the key decision-makers are aware of both progress that has been made and hurdles as they come that may threaten the company.”

How do you want people to feel about themselves when you’re communicating with them (Rockwell, 2017)?

John wants people in his organization to feel empowered so that they can achieve more and ultimately he states that he wants people to “embrace the truth of who they are.”

Christina

 

Reference

Rockwell, D. (2017, March 5). The Anatomy of Performance Enhancing Coaching Conversations. Retrieved on November 4, 2018, from https://leadershipfreak.blog/2017/03/05/the-anatomy-of-performance-enhancing-coaching-conversations/

Posted on

Unit 6 – Response to Norm

Norm did an excellent job articulating an employee development plan for his manufacturing company. He briefly defined what a hybrid organization entails and then discussed how it encourages creativity and innovation while building trust and citizenship behaviours amongst employees. More specifically, the strong link between trust leading to innovation.

I thought it was interesting to read that a manufacturing company was determining ways to integrate technology into customer support initiatives such as using Skype. Furthermore, how management of the company is planning to send out customized product videos with each order quote. Norm had an interesting approach to his employee development plan that I really liked, where he used the Myers Brigg personality test to determine strengths and weaknesses of team members. I believe that a leader can use this test to create powerfully dynamic strategic teams to work together to stimulate innovation. Furthermore, this knowledge can safeguard against major personality clashes that inhibit cohesion within the organization, which is an important attribute to foster innovation and creativity. Within people-technology hybrid companies, they understand the enormous value of not only leveraging internal resources such as employees, but also external forces such as customers acting as ambassadors of the brand (Kandampully, Bilgihan & Zhang, 2016: p. 155).

Thank you for sharing your experience. Looking forward to reading more posts!

Christina

 

References

Kandampully, J., Bilgihan, A., & Zhang, T. (Christina). (2016). Developing a people-technology hybrids model to unleash innovation and creativity: The new hospitality frontier. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 29, 154–164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2016.07.003

Posted on

Unit 6 – Response to Dawn

I found Dawn’s post to be very insightful with regards to her experiences related to Andragogy. Dawn has first-handed experience in working with adult learners and how the 6 concepts of Andragogy effect learning. Whether in a Masters program or teaching adults in a professional setting, evidently the 6 components need to be implemented to ensure adults are committed to learning the material. In order to accumulate knowledge or skills, adults need to understand the reasoning behind why they should learn something, embody a readiness to learn, have intrinsic motivation (to accomplish a goal) and there must be immediate application for the material (Conaway & Zorn-Arnold, 2015). In addition, adults are self-directed and can draw upon their deep reservoir of experience to further facilitate learning.

In response to Dawn’s question: “Having not been in another profession, I wonder if this is also a common experience for leaders in other areas?”

I believe that it is very similar in a large array of professional settings. With my experience working in the financial industry, I would conclude that the 6 components of Andragogy apply. Employees will seek education to get licensed if they believe that taking the exams will accomplish their goal of working in the financial industry. Evidently, they have to have the intrinsic motivation and readiness to learn in order to devote their time and resources to studying an exam. Since the exam is quite difficult and adults are self-directed, many adults take the initiative to seek out workshops and courses that can help facilitate learning the complex financial concepts. Taking the exam has an immediate application because employees can be financial brokers and help families with their wealth management once they become certified. However, I am not sure to what extent having a large reservoir of knowledge and experience helps with this kind of exam. Perhaps if an individual has a background in finance or accounting; however, those without any experience can also write the exam.

It was fascinating to see that adults in most areas of life apply the concepts of Andragogy unknowingly; the concepts that inspire and motivate adults to learn. It is also interesting to see how the brain evolves as it matures by observing how children learn and comparing it to how adults learn.

Thank you Dawn for writing this post! I really enjoyed reading it as it challenged me to draw on my own reservoir of experiences and apply the concepts that I learnt this week. Looking forward to reading more!

Christina

 

References

Conaway, W. & Zorn-Arnold, B. (2015). The Keys to Online Learning For Adults: The Six Principles of Andragogy. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/299540188_The_Keys_to_Online_Learning_for_Adults_The_Six_Principles_of_Andragogy

Posted on

Unit 6 – Learning Activity 3

People-technology hybrid companies combine 2 different spheres that create powerful organizations that foster creativity and innovation amongst employees (Kandampully, Bilgihan & Zhang, 2016: p. 154). These hybrid companies recognize the competitive advantage that can result from using technology as a tool by leveraging both internal (people within the organization) and external forces (customers that act as ambassadors of the organization)(Kandampully et al., 2016: p. 155). Service firms understand that to provide the best possible experience for customers and thus increasing profitability, it comes from developing employees from within the organization (Kandampully el al. 2016: p.156).

As such, organizations need to adopt a hybrid people-technology business model, which allows firms to draw on the benefits of both sources to create an advantage.

Innovation and creativity results from empowering and energizing the human component of an organization. Whereas technology provide a medium for companies to further build and reinforce a relationship with customers through platforms such as social media and customer communities (Kandampully et al., 2016: p. 154). In contemporary society, firms understand the importance of customers’ perceived value, as there is a shift to service-focused firms (as opposed to merely productivity (Kandampully et al., 2016: p.157).

Organizational citizenship behaviours contribute to the overall success because it encompasses actions whereby employees are promoting the organization’s products or actions in a favourable manner outside of work (Kandampully et al. 2016: p.155). In addition, citizenship behaviours include going above and beyond what is expected to help or to listen another coworker. Furthermore, if an employee feels empowered and enjoys working for the organization, he or she will engage in customer-focused citizenship behaviours in which a positive attitude is maintained (Kandampully el al. 2016: p.155). Ultimately, this delivers more effective and memorable customer service. Technology, such as social media, can bridge the gap of innovation because creative ideas not only come from internal sources but also the external environment. As a result, the internal and external environment are co-creating the hybrid organization and contributing to its overall success.

A developmental plan for my organization would consist of orientation, performance review, and creating an action plan with future goals and objectives.

  • I believe that it is important to properly integrate a new employee into the organization and the team that they belong to. Leaders should talk to the new employee and learn about their goals, interests, career aspirations, and values. This helps increase empowerment among employees and build organizational citizenship behaviours.
  • Unlike most organizations, the performance review would consist of skills that are not normally measured such as innovation, creativity, and technological skills. This is the coaching aspect where employees are mentored to determine how they can be improved. Management should determine competencies and potential learning opportunities. My organization will create appropriate incentives to encourage employees to engage in such skills. If there are deficiencies, workshops will be arranged so that employees can further fine-tune skills on how to interact with technology or how to increase creativity.
  • It is important to tie employees to the overall success of the organization by creating an action plan to help them understand how their actions contribute to achieving organizational goals. Adults learn in different ways than children. According to Andragogy, adults are self-directed and must understand why they are exerting effort to learn something; it must be tied to a goal that they wish to achieve (intrinsic motivation) (Unit 6 Notes, 2018). Therefore, the leader must learn about the employees’ career aspirations (building a relationship) and then link desirable skills (i.e. creativity and technological skills) that can be learned, which will help the employee achieve their long-term goals.

Technology sometimes makes organizations lose the human touch; therefore, have you experienced a loss of team cohesion due to the emphasis on technology?

 

Christina

 

References

Kandampully, J., Bilgihan, A., & Zhang, T. (Christina). (2016). Developing a people-technology hybrids model to unleash innovation and creativity: The new hospitality frontier. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 29, 154–164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2016.07.003

Unit 6 Notes (2018). Retrieved on October 31, 2018, from https://create.twu.ca/ldrs500/unit-6/unit-6-notes/

Posted on

Light of Many Lamps – Unit 6

James Allen was fascinated by many great philosophers that wrote about the idea that an individual’s thoughts ultimately create their reality. Allen was greatly moved and it inspired him to write “As a Man Thinketh,” which originates from the Bible: “As he thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs, 23:7). He famously drew the analogy that our mind is like a garden where it cultivates whatever seeds we plant, whether negative or positive thought: we reap what we sow. As Allen states, “good thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bear bad fruit – and man is how own gardener” (Watson, 1951: p. 170). Our character is the byproduct of the dominant thoughts that we hold in our mind. As we think, so we are: as we continue to think, so we remain (Allen, 1903: p. 31).

Everything that man has and will ever achieve began as a single thought: after the individual dwelled on that thought, it turned into a dream and through persistence, that seed of a thought was manifested into reality. The dominant thoughts we carry eventually seep into every aspect of our lives, affecting our relationships with all of those around us. Our choice of words become hints on the thought processes going on in our heads. Similar to how water can refresh on a hot day or wreck havoc in a storm, words have the power to tear down and destroy or become a fountain of love and joy to lift others up. Words express our deepest sorrows, convey passionate love, or unite others for a noble purpose (Jameson, 2014). Therefore, it becomes the dominant thoughts, the seeds that we plant in the garden of our mind, that ultimately determine our destiny.

After reading this short story, I remembered the old Chinese proverb (Jameson, 2014) that I heard many year ago while attending elementary school:

Be careful of your thoughts, for your thoughts become your words.

Be careful of your words, for your words become your actions.

Be careful of your actions, for your actions become your habits.

Be careful of your habits, for your habits become your character.

Be careful of your characters, for your character becomes your destiny.

 

Evidently, this proverb had a profound impact on me because I went on to study the power of thought during my personal time. I came to the conclusion that our thoughts should be considered things. They are the ingredients that make up our life. When enough ingredients are mixed together, they create a feeling, which eventually becomes a driver for our actions. With such ramifications, we should be conscious of their power as it rules the very outcome of our lives. As Allen states in As a Man Thinketh:

“Into your hands will be placed the exact results of your own thoughts; you will receive that which you earn – no more, no less. Whatever your present environment may be, you will fall, remain, or rise with your thoughts, your vision, your ideal. You will become as small as your controlling desire, as great as your dominant aspiration” (Allen, 1903: p.40).

Achievement and failure are all but a result of thought. Our worldly achievements and successes boil down to conscious effort directed towards the development of our plans and consistently seeking a higher purpose (Allen, 1903: p.40). I believe that it is a good reminder to fill our minds with material that reap a good, righteous life: thoughts that bring forth generosity, kindness, honesty, compassion, love, and acceptance. One can achieve this by reading wholesome material such as the Bible or the work of great philosophers that have studied how an individual may live a purposeful, fulfilling life. In addition, one must avoid planting destructive thoughts that will bring forth greed, envy, lust, and hatred. Thoughts become who we are, so this short story is a good reminder to be intentional about what we feed our heavily impressionable mind.

How can we protect our mind when close family members are not open to filling their minds with wholesome and righteous material?

Christina

 

 

References

 

Allen, J. (1903). As A Man Thinketh. New York, NY: Penguin Group.

Jameson, R. (2014, April 28). Be Careful of Your Thoughts: They Control Your Destiny. Retrieved on November 1, 2018, from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/be-careful-of-your-though_b_5214689

Watson, L. E. (1951). Light from Many Lamps. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.

Posted on

Unit 6 – Learning Activity 1

I would describe my experience as an adult learner to be substantially different as opposed to learning as a child. Malcolm Knowles argues that there are 6 principles of Andragogy, which include: an individual’s evolution from dependent personality to self-governed adult, a growing reservoir of experiences that becomes a rich source of knowledge, readiness to learn is based on development tasks required in social context, becoming problem-centered with immediate application, intrinsic drivers of motivation, and adults need to know the reasons for learning something (Unit 6 Notes, 2018).

Andragogy is vastly different than pedagogy because adults have a large reservoir of experience to draw on whereas children rely mostly on what the instructor teaches (Conaway & Zorn-Arnold, 2015). For example, with regards to this Masters program, students draw on their personal experience to apply the theories taught. A professor guides and facilitates understanding by posing questions that can be discussed and investigated by relating the concepts to past experiences, interpreting the information in a rich and meaningful way (Conaway et al. 2015). In contrast, a schoolteacher provides students with a store of knowledge that can be eventually drawn upon in the future.

Becoming a self-directed adult evolves with maturity as individuals are driven to make choices and decisions, and take responsibility for their actions. It is important to encourage children to make wise decisions so that they learn to predict and accept the consequences (positive or negative) of such decisions (Conaway et al. 2015). As children evolve into adults, they not only wish to have the ability to make decision but also want to be recognized for their autonomy and ability to do so (Conaway et al. 2015). In my recent experience while completing my undergrad, I found professors were incredibly frustrating when they did not treat students as adults. It was insulting when they were condescending and did not allow students the autonomy to make connections in unique and creative ways in order to facilitate learning.

In addition, adults need to know the reason for exerting effort and thereby learning something where there is immediate application because adults are problem-centered. Otherwise, their time and effort can be directed towards more meaningful tasks in which they believe have a better outcome. In addition, adults understand the value of knowledge and the key component it plays in pursuit of their goals. With Andragogy, the difference is that adults have a gap that they wish to fill in the present in order to achieve a specific goal in the future. For example, my goal is to become a management consultant; therefore, I must complete a Masters program in order to open up the doors necessary to achieve my goal. Therefore, I currently have a problem or gap that I need to fix in order to achieve my goal in the future.

Lastly, adult students must have a readiness to learn based on their developmental position and this must come from an intrinsic motivation. A developmental task inspires an adult learner to go back to school and finish a degree because they understand the value it will add to their career. Generally, adult learners return back to school to enhance their quality of life or that of their family’s situation (Conaway et al. 2015). These are both intrinsic motivations, whereas children have extrinsic motivations (reward or punishment) in order to learn. For example, I did not complete grade 12 Functions or Calculus while I was in high school; however, I found out that it was required in order to complete a marketing degree. As a result, I had the intrinsic motivation to self-teach myself both math subjects over the course of one summer.

What is an experience in your life where you lacked 1 or 2 of the 6 motivational principles for Andragogy and it resulted in a lack of motivation to complete the task?

Christina

 

References

Conaway, W. & Zorn-Arnold, B. (2015). The Keys to Online Learning For Adults: The Six Principles of Andragogy. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/299540188_The_Keys_to_Online_Learning_for_Adults_The_Six_Principles_of_Andragogy

Unit 6 Notes (2018). Retreived on October 31, 2018, from https://create.twu.ca/ldrs500/unit-6/unit-6-notes/