Month: October 2017 (Page 1 of 3)

This is in response to Tim DeHaan’s post about andragogy

U6 – LA1 – BL1

I am very pleased to read that he like me also thinks that his adult learning was not related to his social role, rather it had more to do with what practical knowledge he needed for his work at that time. I hope the Leadership prof or one of the other learners could share their thoughts on this principle- “The readiness of an adult to learn is closely related to the developmental tasks of his or her social role.” ( Knowles, 2005)

Another observation he makes it that he can share his learning with learners younger than him. This shows his altruistic leaning. I believe adult learners can be role models or mentors to younger learners.

It is interesting how in the last paragraph he contrasts his motives for learning now vs when he did his previous degree in manufacturing. This goes to show how we evolve as we grow; our goals and motives also change .

Reference

Knowles, Malcolm S.; Swanson, Richard A.; Holton, Elwood F. Edition: 6th ed. Amsterdam: Routledge. 2005. eBook., Database: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)

Unit 6 Andragogy

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines andragogy as “the art and science of teaching adults”. The concept of andragogy was introduced in the 1970s by Malcolm Knowles. Since then it has been described as a “set of guidelines (Merriam,1993), a philosophy ( Pratt, 1993) , a set of assumptions ( Brookfield, 1986) and a theory (Knowles,1989),” in (Knowles, Swanson, Holton, 2005, p.1)

Here are a few of my experiences as an adult learner, in reference to Knowles’ assumptions/ theories about adult learners.

1.     Over the years I have indeed noticed a change in my personality, to a self-directing one. Looking back, it is hard to ascertain when that change happened. It definitely wasn’t an overnight phenomenon, rather a gradual transition, as is probably true of most adults. As children we are dependent learners, and as we grow up we become more self-directed. This transition is gradual and happens at different ages in everyone.

2.     I definitely agree with the second theory that experience is a great teacher. This is true not only for my formal medical learning, but also personal learning and growth. Come to think about it, in addition to learning something in my profession, I learn something new about myself almost everyday!

3.     My readiness to enroll in a master’s degree was a result of my desire to expand my skills. I am not sure if it was much of a change in social role that I was seeking, rather it was based more on my view of my projected change in my professional role.

4.     I agree with the theory about time perspective. A young learner learns things they think they will use at some point in the future, usually the distant future. In my case, I can envision a change in role for myself in the near future, hence this endeavor. Everything I learn in this course, I automatically try and put in practice.

5.     Young learners usually don’t have the foresight and hence the internal drive. They require external motivators. In my case, as I am is sure the case with the rest of my colleagues in this class, the desire to better ourselves and learn leadership was internal.

6.     We as adult learners can’t be led to learn something ‘just because’. We need to be convinced as to the reason ‘why’. The answer could come from within, or explained by someone.

I would like to mention here another challenge that I faced in this course. Getting familiar with the online learning format was a big leap for me, being used to the lecture, pen and paper format so far. I am still learning the nuances of blogging and virtual classroom interaction. No doubt I appreciate the flexibility it allows me, but I still miss the one to one interaction of a classroom.

References:

Knowles, Malcolm S.; Swanson, Richard A.; Holton, Elwood F. Edition: 6th ed. Amsterdam: Routledge. 2005. eBook., Database: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)

“andragogy.” Merriam0Webster.com. 2017. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/andragogy. (October29,2017)

This is in response to Ruth Leong’s post

Unit 5 Activity 2: Internal and External Actions

Working with someone who is a good team leader is a blessing. As we have learnt from out previous readings , one does not become a leader just by holding a position or designation. Ruth is fortunate to be working with a leader like Lisa. Reading Ruth’s description of Lisa’s leadership qualities was very encouraging . Working with someone who is such a great example of leadership not only makes the workplace a great environment, it is also an opportunity to learn and imbibe some of these characteristics in one’s own leadership. I have a similar experience with my division head. In addition to being involved in the team’s overall welfare, he is also a very good advocate for us should we need more support from higher leadership .

Reference

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Invictus, The movie

I have seen the movie Invictus before but did not realise it was such a treasure trove of leadership lessons. Here are a few incidents that shine throughout the movie. I mention them in order of their appearance in the movie-

1.    On his first day in office, President Mandela meets with his office staff and gives a speech to allay their fears and attempts to unite them. By doing this he demonstrates the strategy of creating trust (Bennis and Nanus, 1985), as mentioned in Northouse , 2016.

2.    In his selection of his bodyguards he attempts to create common ground for the team to be united. By doing this he creates a team spirit. One can sense the lessening of animosity among the bodyguards as the movie progresses.

3.    President Mandela sees the bigger picture, ‘conceptualization’ (Spears, 2002; as in Northouse, 2016, p.228) Spears mentions conceptualization in the context of servant leadership, but I believe it applies to all leadership models. A leader is one who has a vision, and sees the bigger picture. Nelson Mandela stands up against his own political party when he sees that their move to abolish the Springboks team’s colors and emblem would create more racial differences.

4.    He sees the opportunity to unite his country around the rugby World cup. He sends the white players into predominantly black neighborhoods to hold rugby ‘clinics’. In this situation he is a ‘social architect’ as per Bennis and Nanus (1985). He mobilizes the polarized black and white population to find common ground in the sport.

5.    He inspires the rugby team captain by inviting him for tea and motivating him to better himself. This translates further by the captain challenging his team to excel themselves. Here he demonstrates the practice of ‘inspire shared vision’ as per Kouzes and Posner (1987, 2002).

6.    Mr Mandela memorises the names of his team mates before he is due to meet them for the start of the tournament. With this he demonstrates his desire to engage and involve his followers.

7.    The team captain demonstrates discipline and focus. Before his big game, when is girlfriend comes to meet him, he holds her off. He does it so he can focus game.

In this move, the depiction of Nelson Mandela’s character is the epitome of a transformational leader. He possesses the characteristic charismatic behaviors as mentioned by Northouse (2016, p.164), based on House’s charismatic theory ( 1976) – he is a strong role model, appears competent to his followers, articulates ideological goals, has high expectations of followers arouses task relevant motives in his followers.

References

Bennis, W.G., Nanus, B. (1985). Leaders: The strategies for taking charge. New York: Harper & row.

Kouzes, J.M., & Posner, B.Z. (2002). The leadership challenge ( 3rd ed.(. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Spears, L.C., (2002). Tracing the past, present and future of servant-leadership. In L.C. Spears & M.       Lawrence ( Eds), Focus on leadership: Servant-leadership for the 21st century ( pp. 1-16). New York: Wiley.

Eastwood, C. (Director) & Eastwood, C., McCreary, L., Lorenz, R., Neufeld.M Producers) (2009). Invictus. United States: Liberty Pictures.

This is in response to the post

Unit 5 – LA2 – BP1

Of all the characteristics mentioned by Spears (2010), it is interesting that William should choose putting followers first, and treating them fairly. In this sentence he displays his belief in the values of servant leadership. This is especially true in the context of a group project. A leader has a better chances of having the team work with them towards a common goal , if they admire and respect the leader.  We saw this clearly defined in Maxwell’s ( 2013) video about the 5 levels of leadership. The higher one goes on the leadership levels by making connections with their followers, their chances of making an impact on their followers increase.

Another interesting observation made by him is that for a leader to be effective they have to be self reflective. Self awareness not only makes one a more effective leader, but also a better person .

Reference

Spears, Larry C. (2010) Character and Servant Leadership: Ten Characteristics of Effective, Caring Leaders. The Journal of Virtues & Leadership, Vol. 1 Iss. 1, 2010, 25-30. ( as mentioned in Mrwilliamsphysed)

John Maxwell : The five Levels of Leadershihttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPwXeg8ThWI

Unit 5 Activity 2

There are three leadership decisions that a leader needs to make regarding team functioning: whether to monitor the team or intervene, is the intervention needed at the task level or relationship level, is the intervention needed internally or externally? (Northouse, 2016).  If the leader decides to take action, they need to identify whether the action required is internal or external. Internal actions can further be divided into task related or relationship related. (Northouse, 2016; Rowe, Guerrero,2016) . As per them the internal task actions are taken to improve the team’s ability to improve task performance and get the job done. These internal actions are:

-Goal focusing.

-Right structure/structuring for results.

-Facilitating decision making.

-Training team members in tasks through development, education/seminars.

-Setting and maintaining standards.

The most important of these in terms of a group project are keeping the team focused, structuring of the team, training, and setting standards. Depending on how long a project takes to completion, it is vital for the success of the project that the team members stay focused on the ultimate goal. The team needs to be structured according to the task at hand, making sure the right people are designated the right job to maximize their potential. Roles of team members might change during the course of the project; the team leader needs to make sure that they receive the right kind of training in these situations. Team members also might need training in task skills as the project moves along. For the team to perform optimally, all team members have to be held to the same standards of punctuality and efficiency.

Internal relationship actions are those required to improved team members’ relationships (Northouse, 2016; Rowe, Guerrero,2016).

-Coaching team members on interpersonal skills.

-Encouraging collaboration.

-Managing conflict and power issues.

-Building / enhancing team commitment.

-Satisfying needs of individual team members.

-Modelling ethical and principled practices.

For the success of a group project, the most important relationship actions are coaching in interpersonal skills, managing conflict/power issues, and building team commitment. The leader could intervene if the team members dont seem to be getting along. The team members might need to be educated to consider each other’s opinions, and support each other. The leader should encourage team members to separate intellectual conflict from personal conflict. It is also important for the leader to promote by example in-group and out-of-group fairness.

External actions. These are actions a leader might need to take in order to protect the team and connect it to the external environment. (Northouse, 2016; Rowe, Guerrero,2016).

-Networking to form alliances and gain access to information.

-Advocating and representing the team to environment.

-Negotiating with senior management for recognition, support and resources.

-Protecting team members from environmental distractions/diversions.

-Accessing external indicators of team’s effectiveness.

-Providing team members with environmental information, to keep them educated about the changes in the environment.

An effective leader should introduce the team members to leadership out of the team. The leader also plays an important role in bringing to light the team’s success to superior leadership and help them get their due recognition. Team members feel appreciated if they are included in the bigger picture. If the leader feels that the team is not getting enough resources to accomplish their goal, the leader can advocate on their behalf.

References

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Rowe, G.W., Guerrero, L. ( 2016). Cases in leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE

Unit 5 Activity 1

The two critical functions of team effectiveness according to Hill (as mentioned in Northouse, 2016, pp. 367,368)) are performance and development. Performance is measured by whether the team achieved its goals and objectives in a quality manner. Development refers to whether the team members were able to satisfy their own needs while working with other team members as a unit (Nadler,1998). An effective team is on that is able to achieve its goal while working together, without compromising on individual members’ needs.

The six enabling conditions for effective team leadership as per Hackman (2012) are “right people, real team, compelling purpose, clear norms of conduct, supportive organizational context and team-focused coaching’. Larson and LaFasto’s (1989) eight characteristics of team excellence are listed as “clear goal, results driven structure, competent team members, unified commitment, collaborative climate, standards of excellence external support, principle leadership”. If you look at these 2 lists closely, they have a lot of similarities. The first and foremost characteristic in my practice is that the right people are designated to work in the right place. Secondly, we have a common mission and shared values of respect, stewardship, collaboration and social justice. Third, we all work towards one common goal, that is to provide care to seniors who come to our clinic, at the same time respecting and caring for them and each other. Finally, leadership in our organization is quite responsive to our concerns, and try to address them in a timely manner.

Principled leadership, as I understand it, is based on the premise that the success of an organization depends on the effectiveness of its leadership. “Effective team leadership has been found to consistently relate to team effectiveness” (Zaccaro, Heinen, & Shuffler, 2009), mentioned in Northouse (2016, p.371).

The four sets of processes that influence leadership are: cognitive, motivational, affective and coordination (Zaccaro, Rittman, & Marks, 2001). As per them, cognitively the leader helps the team understand the problem. Motivationally the leader challenges the team to perform as a unit to better themselves. Affectively the leader helps the team deal with the daily challenges. Coordinately, the leader designates right people to the right roles, monitoring and helping the team adapt to changes. In my clinical work, I don’t have to use the cognitive and motivational process everyday, these are mostly required when we are developing new processes or when we are working on process improvement. Working in the healthcare field does have emotional repercussions. We work in a very emotionally charged environment, dealing with sickness everyday. I am called upon on a regular basis to help my team (and myself) deal with stresses of these situations. This is done through affective modulation of our responses to those in need and to our own needs. I also rely on the fourth process of coordination by getting input from all members of the team, in creating the best possible care of our patients.

References

Hackman, J.R. (2012). From causes to conditions in group research. Journal of Organizational Behavior. 33, 428-44

Larson, C.E., LaFasto, F.M.J. ( 1989). Teamwork: What must go right/what can go wrong. Newbury Park, CA: SAGE

Nadler, D.A. ( 1998). Executive team effectiveness: Teamwork at the top. In D.A. Nadler & J.L. Spencer (Eds.). Executive teams ( pp. 21-39). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

Northouse, P. G. ( 2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE

Zaccaro, S.J. Heinen, B., Shuffler, M. ( 2009). Team leadership and effectiveness . In E. Salas, G.F. Goodwin, & C.S. Burke (Eds.), Team effectiveness in complex organizations: Cross-disciplinary perspectives and approaches (pp. 83-111). New York: Taylor & Francis Group.

Zaccaro, S.J., Rittman, A.L., & Marks, M.A. ( 2001). Team leadership. Leadership Quarterly, 12, 451-483.