A634.9.4.RB - A Reflection of Our Learning

The changing and modeling of ethics is a challenge that leaders will face every day. The implications and ramifications that ethics play needs to be focused on in order to become a better leader. I think that one of the biggest key lessons for me was that the golden rule isn’t the same for everyone. The golden rule should apply to everyone but it won’t be looked at the same by everyone. The rule changes with each situation and person.

A slippery slope ethical argument is the next key that I took away a lot of good insight from. With ethics, the slippery slope doesn’t need to go that far just because we think the situation can run out of hand, it doesn’t mean it will. I think this is important when trying to think about what other people will do or why someone acted a specific way. Another key point to go along with this slippery slope is punishment. I think that there is a lot of good arguments in punishment. There needs to be more open debate punishment. As leaders, we need to think about punishment that effects our lives. This would vary from punishment for our kids and our employees. Does the punishment fit the crime?

I think this course has given new light to a lot of subjects on ethics in my every day. I don’t think I have drastically changed any of my ethics but I think that the lessons learned will have a greater impact on my ethical behavior and actions. I think that a lot of these lessons will sink in when a situation comes up that I can apply them to. I have changed some of my thinking towards other people’s actions and why they do some things.

A634.8.3.RB - Gun Control: What is the Answer?

I don’t think that there is a good answer to the old question of, “Do citizens has a right to bear arms?” The question has too many implications and too many slippery slope answers. I think there was good proposition in Chapter 12, LaFollette (2007).

“A Third Way” is about having the owner be more responsible for their guns (LaFollette 2007). I think that there is too little responsibility for guns. The people who own guns should have to go through training classes and must provide proof of a storage container. There are too many children that have access to guns that can really hurt or kill themselves and others. I have heard too many times on the news that a child was playing with a fire arm and it went off. There is no reason or excuse for that, only lack of respect for the weapon. I don’t agree with LaFollette’s opinion that the owner of the gun is responsible for the actions of the gun. There are too many situations where this rule can go wrong. If someone child steals their gun and goes killing in the school, that parent is financially responsible for all those kids? Kids will get into anything when they try hard enough, if the gun is locked up tight with no access it won’t be of any use if there is an emergency that requires a gun.

As an avid gun owner, I find it too easy to swap and trade guns with other people. There needs to be a requirement for someone owning a gun. Maybe it could be on your licenses, that you have the proper training and education about guns to own one. I have gotten a gun from a coworker without any documentation. There isn’t any verification that my coworker could have requested to know that I knew how to handle a gun.

In the UK there is a ban on hand guns, decades ago it was banned and it is only recently that it has seen real fruit. It is working but it took a long time. “The real problem, of course, is that no one knows just how many guns are out there on the streets”. There is a problem with knowing who has a gun. I think this is the base argument for letting people have a gun but educate people if they want to own. I don’t think we placed enough emphasis on education of gun handling. People don’t know what a gun can actually do to a human body. It’s all movies and prop blood, people need to see the damage a 9mm or 20mm bullet can do.

David Barnett @davidmbarnett. (2017, December 17). Firearms Act: Twenty years on, has it made a difference? Retrieved from https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/firearms-act-twenty-years-on-has-it-made-a-difference-dunblane-port-arthur-a8110911.html.

A634.7.4.RB - Egoism: Psychological and Moral

Egoism

I think that everyone has an ego that directs them to self-satisfaction or interest.  Some people like to see others succeed; parents like to see their kids grow to be better than them. Egoism has different aspects that are complicated. Some parts of the ego are so subconscious that we couldn’t put a finger on the exact reason we do something. Some of our subconscious could have been because of an instance in our childhood.

I think that people are always after self-interest instead of only after self-interest (LaFollette, 2007). People must have a reason to do something, choosing dinner is always a debate in my house. What should we have for dinner? We choose what we have for dinner based on the self-interest of what sounds good or what will taste good. I don’t think we are only after self-interest because with dinner we keep in mind what the rest of the family will eat.

Workplace ego

Egoism will always get in the way of ethical decisions in the work place. The workplace is a do what is right for the company instead of what is right for each employee. If egoism wasn’t an ethical workplace issue then employees would be 100% efficient, work for the pleasure of a hard day’s work and we wouldn’t have to issue monetary gains.  Leaders in the workplace need to take great care not to push the ethical egoism to the detriment of the company.

An example of ethical egoism in the work place is a problem I run into constantly. In my facility, we have cells that have an overabundance of work and other cells that are steady. We must borrow employees from one cell to put in the overabundance cell to complete the workload.  When we borrow employees, we must be selective not to move too many employees to make the other cell lack manpower to keep up with the work. The ops managers don’t like to let us borrow employees to help any other cell because that means they will get backed up. Their self-interest to look good trumps their want to serve the company’s needs.

There are rewards for looking better than other leaders, even if it’s only the praise from the boss. Gains and rewards aren’t always money, some leaders like to be noticed rather than money. I think there should be team rewards as a whole and everyone should suffer as a team. If someone fails, then they need help from another leader. If only one person gets a reward, there is too much “only self-interest” LaFollette, H. (2007).

LaFollette, H. (2007). The practice of ethics. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing

A634.6.3.RB - What are Virtues?

Of the 13 different virtues I think that I relate to Silence, resolution and tranquility the most.

Silence has always been what we have been taught growing up, “if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all”. I have always been a quiet person, I never thought people really wanted to hear my opinion. Silence avoids confrontation with others, it is the other reason I am normally quiet. There is no reason to start an argument for no reason, just because I have a different opinion. People are weird about the silence between someone and feel they need to fill the void. The fill the void with chatter about things they don’t understand or gossip they don’t know if it is true or not. I think silence is better than spilling lies and trying to sound intelligent about things that I don’t understand.

Resolution is an important virtue to me because of my supervisor roll. I think that one of my most disappointing things to an employee is telling your boss that you need something and then nothing ever happens. It takes a lot of confidence and courage to tell your boss that you want something, especially when no one else has needed it before. I want to have resolution to my employee needs, it’s a trust that can easily be broken. Resolution is also about doing what you say, say what you mean and mean what you say. If I say I am going to do something, I want to mean it. My employees need to know that they can count on me to get it done and not just say it.

Tranquility is the last virtue I picked because I lack it the most.  I always find myself stressed out over nothing. Brooding or grumpy because of a small situation that I made bigger than what it needs to be. I think that I take stress that I don't need to and bottle it up. I need to have better tranquility. I can normally get over things once I have really thought about them and reasoned through my emotions, but I need tranquility in the moment. This virtue is more important to me than most of the others because of my kids. I need to have tranquility with my children.

Franklin, B. (n.d.). Benjamin Franklin . Ben's 13 Virtues. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/pop_virtues_list.html.

A634.5.4.RB Is Marketing Evil

Marketing is a growing industry that is a slippery slope of ethics. If a company wants to sell a product when the market is flooded with similar items, that company may decide to cut corners with quality or reduce the pay wages of its employees. Company’s need to have an ethical balance when it comes to marketing a product.

I don’t think that it can be viewed as ethical to sell someone something they don’t need. If a product is not required to sustain life, then we don’t need it. Marketing is all about getting consumers to buy a product that isn’t needed. Companies need to have a balance when marketing.  A desirable product is one that has quality. I think that there are a lot of products that are made to be expensive but cheaply made. The quality of an item needs to be from how it’s made to how it’s sold. There is a need for products to be cheap and only used a few times, like harbor freight tools.

Companies that have shown a good ethical practice to marketing is Amazon. The customer reviews for Amazon have a great function for customers. The honest customer reviews are a great way to show the quality of a product. There is a new trend that Amazon has to combat for false reviews that are called “deceptive opinions, spam opinions, or spam reviews”(Cardoso,2018). These reviews are false to the actual quality of the product. Amazon has done a great job to combat the growing trend in false reviews with verified purchases on reviews. I think that reading the review from a verified purchase can reduce the number of false reviews. A quality review shows the actual integrity of the product.  It shows that a product will withstand close scrutiny. This is in direct contrast with Yelp, they have a total projected 16% of false reviews for restaurants (Cardoso,2018).

As a leader, I think that my ethical aspect to marketing would be a trial period. People need to try a new product out for a time to see if they are going to use the product. A lot of new product have a free month long trial period that I think it a great way to test the quality and see if a product will work for them.

Cardoso, E. F., Silva, R. M., & Almeida, T. A. (2018). Towards automatic filtering of fake reviews. Neurocomputing, 309, 106-116. doi:10.1016/j.neucom.2018.04.074

A634.4.3.RB - Is Affirmative Action Ethical

The practice of affirmative action is “giving special consideration to minorities and women in hiring and school placement”( LaFollette,2007). There are several arguments for and against affirmation. After some review, I think that affirmation is situational and needs to be handled ethically through diversity.

               The ethical practice of affirmation needs to be carefully considered by management or a council. A person can’t be selected for any position or education because of a tax break or a minimum requirement by the board. Affirmation needs to be the sole choice of the manager or council selecting for the position, not an out entity that doesn’t care for the person or position. The situation needs to be assessed without bias towards fulfilling a prior requirement. 

There is a large argument for the diversity in the workplace that brings new ideas. A workplace needs to have a large diversity while trying to come up with new ideas and planning. It may seem like a hindrance, if not managed correctly, but there is a lot of good outcomes for a diverse deep-thinking group. With affirmation through diversity, a team can exhaust all ideas and examine an idea from all angles. Affirmation selection needs to be considered in the right situation. If someone is selected for diversity it may be disassociated with affirmation. “From the implied premise that there is an injustice or an inequality that needs to be remedied, such as sexism, racism, homophobia or disablism: diversity obscures the issue of inequality which is at the heart of the matter (Thornton, 2001, p. 94)” (Burns,20008).

If affirmation selection is used to place a person that doesn’t merit the position or can’t fit the demand. that person has only been set up to fail their team and themselves, it is also unethical. Affirmation needs to be applied correctly towards diversity.  The selection without regards to the situation is an unethical practice. The selection process with diversity in mind is an ethical form of affirmation.

Burns, P., & Schapper, J. (2008). The ethical case for affirmative action: JBE JBE. Journal of Business Ethics, 83(3), 369-379. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/10.1007/s10551-007-9625-8

LaFollette, H. (2007). The practice of ethics. Malden, MA: Blackwell.

A634.3.4.RB - The Harder They Fall

There are always the risks and rewards for people who want to achieve the best in life. The rewards are always great but the sacrifices can outweigh the rewards. It is only at the end of the road that we can look back on all our decision and know if we made the correct one.

rise to success doesn’t happen overnight. The consequences of our decision are not always black and white. In society we see that without risk, there is no rewards. The question is what are we willing to risk? “Walking away from a marriage that no longer seemed right, abandoning her two-year-old daughter in the process” is a huge risk (Kramer,2003). The rewards for some are the only goal. Who is really reaping the rewards and who is taking the downfall? I can’t personally say that there is any job that I would abandon my kids for. I also can’t say that there is a calling for more power in my life. In this situation, I think that the children would have the ultimate downfall. They will always know that they weren’t good enough for their mother and that a job was more important than time with them. That would be so devastating to a child. 

The action of seeking and taking power needs to have a self-reflective response. Self-reflection “can reduce the tendency to overestimate one’s abilities” (Knapp,2017). Self-reflection can also limit the amount of risk a person will take. The right amount of reflection is required to make sure that the end goal is worth obtaining at the risk of everything else or if there are acceptable points to stop along the way.

The ethical pursuits of ever higher power don’t reap many rewards. It takes a ruthless person to bend and break rules and to sacrifice. Through self-reflection a leader needs to look at the road they are on and make sure that the sacrifices are worth living with.  

Reference: 

Knapp, S., Gottlieb, M. C., & Handelsman, M. M. (2017). Enhancing professionalism through self-reflection. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 48(3), 167-174. doi:10.1037/pro0000135

Kramer, R. M. (2003). THE HARDER THEY FALL. (cover story). Harvard Business Review, 81(10), 58–66. Retrieved from https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=10986098&site=ehost-live 

A634.2.4.RB - Theories of Ethics

The relationship between consequentialist and deontologist is a comparison between the reason and the outcome. A deontologist wants to adhere to a strict moral code that often leaves no room to wiggle. To a deontologist, there is normally only one answer and that's it. To kill is wrong, to lie is wrong, and the only right thing to do is the right thing. 

I find deontology to be too strict on the decision. If someone kills in self-defense, how is that wrong? To protect yourself from harm from someone else can’t be disputed. However, in the same argument, what if someone goes too far in their defense and kills the attacker when that action wasn’t necessary. I don't think that a lot of life's decisions can be put into a defined box of right or wrong. There are too many situations that don’t conform to a right and wrong logic. 

“Consequentialists claim that we are morally obligated to act in ways that produce the best consequences” (LaFollette,2007). The decisions we are given are not always the best, sometimes we have to make hard decisions. Life puts us into uncomfortable situations. Consequentialists want to pick the best outcome, which may lead to an immoral decision. Just because the outcome is ethical or moral doesn’t mean that the pathway to get that conclusion was ethical. The outcome doesn’t outweigh how you got there. 

After reflecting on both theories, I can't say that I perfectly fit into either one. I have made a decision based on the strict rules of deontologist and have made decisions that are based on the outcome not the means in which I got there. I do tend to lean more towards the Consequentialists. I think that the outcome is what matters, the intent is what makes it ethical. There are a lot of situations that make this a bad argument but within reason. Consequentialists have good intent. I think that if we apply the Golden Rule, “You must treat others in the same way that you would want to be treated in the same situation” then we can say that Consequentialists is moral and ethical (Putnam,n.d). 

LaFollette, H. (2007). The Practice of Ethics. Malden, MO: Blackwell Publishing.

Putnam, M., (n.d.). The golden rule in business.  Global Ethics Solutions. Retrieved from: https://www.globalethicssolutions.com/articles/2016/11/28/golden-rule-business/

A634.1.5.RB - The Train Dilemma: When no Choice is a Good One!

The train dilemma is an interesting topic. I find myself not answering the question because I need to know so many other details. The ethics of the situation aren’t important to me until I have details about the situation. Even with all the other details, I don’t know that I would be able to fully answer the question.

In the first situation, we have unknown children with an unknown age and condition. It is hard to say in the situation how I would react. Are the 5 children diseased or is the one child a serial killer in the making? These are the important and key facts that are required for anyone to make an ethical decision. 

The elderly man is the same questions and situation. I can’t place myself in that situation because I can’t see it or know any information about the situation. The last question in The Train Dilemma I found myself at the answer before I finished reading the question. I don’t think I would hesitate to save my children. If I was given the situation of picking between my children I don’t know what I would do. I can’t reason picking between my 2 girls.

                I found that after reviewing the questions in The Train Dilemma that ethics really are in how much I rely on details. If someone ignores portions of an ethical dilemma, I think that is worse than being ignorant of important information on a decision. I have seen a lot of managers make poor leaders only because they make quick decision on blaming someone without all the details. The details of a situation take a long time to find but they are there. People need to be justified or held accountable by those details.

                Leaders need to dig into details. If someone is constantly late for work, find out why. Is that person having a rough time at home with their spouse, or are they just a lazy person? I find too often people who are supposed to be a leader ignoring details just because they want to move on to the next Train Dilemma and make a rash decision. We as leaders need to have a drive to understand and not just look at a situations details as too soft. Ethics is about details and to be a leader you have to dig until you have found the bottom or root of the situation.

                Ethical decisions take time to develop. Managers who make rash decision are only going to be manager. Leaders are going to have supporters and followers because they developed the solutions instead of letting the train hit the random person.

                In closing, my final thought on The Train Dilemma is: Why are children playing on train tracks? Where are these parents? I couldn’t get past this question in my ethical decision.

A641.9.3.RB - Becoming a Resonant Leader

Dear Me,

As we grow, we need to keep mind that there always needs to be an end goal. To keep a goal in mind is to grow. Without a goal, we are only wandering around aimlessly and we will not continue to improve.

The goal that we should always be going towards is mental fortitude. We need to get into the habit of being able to control our own thoughts and emotions. With mental fortitude. I will be able to be a better leader by control of our emotions, being more efficient and learning.

Mental fortitude is about the ability to say or think about something that we want to do and put a plan into motion. Planning is a key aspect of wanting to do something but having the mental fortitude to go do it is key. The first goal is to have better control of emotions. Emotions show plainly on our face and features. We need to keep in perspective what is on our face. Working towards this will be hard but the key is to always have in our mind what we are showing. How our emotions look on our face will direct a conversation. The first step will be anger, we need to keep it off our face and in our mind till we can really dig deep on why we feel that emotion. Keeping a neutral expression and focused on the conversation will keep the emotion off our face and we will be able to focus on the issue at hand. Your employee will feed off your emotions.

Being more efficient, means to me, that we can read a book without distractions. I constantly read a page or email and the thought of what I brought for lunch springs into my mind. Being more efficient or less distracted mentally, can be continuously worked on by addressing the times that I am distracted. When I get distracted, I need to stop and analyze why I got distracted and work towards improving my focus and mental effancy. Kim has an excellent focus, she needs to coach me in how to read without distractions. She reads constantly and gets through a lot of emails quickly.

The last goal for our personal vision is learning and being about to retain what I learn. One of the biggest learning aspect that is very important to me is spelling. I need to learning to spell and punctuate correctly. To correct this we need to follow some of the Khan academy. By completing the entire series on grammar in the next 6 months I will have vastly improved grammar. Carl is always commenting on my punctuation in emails. When he stops replying to my emails with grammar corrections, I know I will have achieved my goal.

A641.8.3.RB - Personal Balance Sheet

People are made up of different strengths and weaknesses. It makes us who we are. The leaders who recognizes their weakness and overcome them with their strengths are resonant leaders. A weakness in leaders needs to be a part of the Real Self that leaders take into account during self reflection(Boyatzis & McKee, 2005).

During the assessment of my weakness and strengths, I found that it was easier for me to own my weakness. While assessing my strengths, I tried to put them off as not as strong as they need to be. The weakness that I know I don’t do well is my defense. Whenever there is a problem presented about one of my employees, I instantly go on the defensive. I always want to defend my employees and point the finger at others. I think this is a weakness because it causes a lot of tension between me and the person bringing the offence to my attention. To change this weakness, I want to listen more intently. I think that most problems are not about the employee with a problem, it’s the action or situation that needs the attention. For example, a production planner complained to me that a part sat on the quote rack for 5 days instead of being in production because my employee put it there. I went on the defense and said that the planners needs to have better accountability with parts and what is on their shelves. After reflection, I found the planner wasn't just complaining about my employee, the planner was seeking a solution to a problem. We needed to label the racks quote hold and production.

One of my biggest strengths is being able to own it. I have a strength that I own my faults, problems and weaknesses. Whenever someone says there is a problem and I did it, I instantly think it was my fault and how can I do it better. I use this tactic to get past the feeling of defense and resentment that most people feel when presented with a problem they caused or a fault. Being able to own my problems has opened a lot of doors for people to be able to come and approach me. When we own our faults first, people aren’t as slow to present problems to us. If we blame ourselves first and then with evidence present that it wasn't our fault it is easier to fix the problem.
I think that this exercise, for me, was more about how to identify my real self in terms of strengths and weaknesses. Before this exercise, I viewed my real self as a post reflection, while this exercise shows that we can pre reflect on actions by knowing our strengths and weaknesses(Boyatzis & McKee, 2005). For example, I need to step back before I send an email or text and reflect on what I am actually saying. Am I using my defensive nature in this email and if so what am I missing? If I can, how will I put some of my strengths into this email? I think that I need to reflect more in the moment and not post action.







References

Boyatzis, R. E., & McKee, A. (2005). Resonant leadership. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

A641.7.3.RB - Appreciating Your "Real Self"

After doing the reflection exercises in the workbook for “Your Wake Up Calls” I found that I have not really had any real destructive routines or situations(McKee, A., Boyatzis, R. E., & Johnston, F. ,2008). In the exercises, we were to reflect on the hard times, our sacrifices syndromes and what we are doing in our defensive routines. I don't think that I have had any extremely hard experiences for an extended period of time that I have become self destructive for long enough to get into a sacrifice syndrome.

During my college classes, I experienced some of the first stages of the sacrifice syndrome. When I

attend college classes, I have a tendency to stop working out. This is one of the first states of knowing “Where I Am” (McKee, A., Boyatzis, R. E., & Johnston, F. ,2008). I know that when I start giving up on working out that I am starting down a stressful path. The time that I normally spend working out is in the mornings. The mornings are also my most creative writing times. The mornings are normally when I can get the most school work done so I give up on working out. I know I feel better when I work out but I know I don't get as much done when I do my school work in the afternoons. I also can't bring myself to workout in the afternoons. This is an example of the “limiting beliefs” I have. The time that I could spend working out then doing my homework is blocked because I tell myself I can’t do both or I don't have enough energy to do both. I continue to tell myself that my college classes won't last forever and I'll start working out when they are over. I need to stop breaking my healthy habits for petty excuses.

The next finding I had for sacrifice is the food that I eat. I tell myself thats its too much effort to cook healthy food when I am stressed. When I am on a normal schedule I will meal prep. After doing the sacrifice exercises, I noticed that I don't care what I eat and when I eat during my sacrifice syndrome. Eating is such an important aspect of a healthy lifestyle. I know that I should eat better but I dont have the time or energy when I am attending college classes or in a sacrifice syndrome.

In closing, I want to continue being mindful. I think that a good way to prevent sacrifice is knowing that it can happen and what it looks like when it does start to happen. I think I will continue to refer to this book in the future to continue to resonate with my life changes. Challenges in life are always right around the next corner. Life will never stop changing so we have to adapt, having the mindfulness to know that you are starting to sacrifice resonance and leadership quality is the start. Knowing is half the battle.

References

McKee, A., Boyatzis, R. E., & Johnston, F. (2008). Becoming a resonant leader: Develop your emotional intelligence, renew your relationships, sustain your effectiveness. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press.

A641.5.3.RB - MullBrandon

A team needs to have a dynamic that everyone understands the goals of the team. The goal of any team is to win but how to get there isn't as easy as to just say get better. A team that has a plan on how to get better with a common goal outside of their overall goal is the team that is going to win in the end.

“Desired change in groups can be intentional and will be more effective and efficient when it is conscious and intentional”(Akrivou, K., Boyatzis, R. E., & McLeod, P. L. 2006). There are a lot of different reasons that the mix bag of great basketball players didn't work well together. In the USA men’s basketball dream team, there was a lack of intent. One of the main reasons that the team didn’t succeed with all of their combined talent is the intentional desired change. The team was formed based on talent not the compatibility to work together.  While the team had all the talent to take home gold both years in the olympics, the team was made up of stand alone players. The players were good individually and were great when it came to making up a weakness in their original teams. However, when put together, they didn't have a desire to change. They were best by themselves and making up for the gaps in other teams.

The USA men’s basketball dream team also had a lack of leadership. Duncan and Iverson were chosen captains of the team but when it came to working together for a common goal “the two couldn't have been more different”(Maisonet,2017). Two untested leaders not working together lead to a lot of heartache in the team. With an uncommon goal and Duncan nowhere to be found, the team could not find their rhythm.The team couldn't overcome the “norming stage”(Akrivou, K., Boyatzis, R. E., & McLeod, P. L. 2006). “In the norming stage, resistance and conflict are overcome and together with the development of cohesiveness, new standards, norms and new roles emerge for the group member(Akrivou, K., Boyatzis, R. E., & McLeod, P. L. 2006)”. It was in this lack of overcoming and togetherness that the team lost what they were really supposed to be doing, acting like a team instead of a team of individuals.

A team that represented togetherness and cohesiveness is the USA women's soccer team. Not only does the team exhibit overcoming conflict with new players and injuries, they came together for a goal outside of scoring goals. The team created The SheBelieves Movement (Bowker,2019). “The movement helps to encourage young girls and women and provide them an inspiration as they chased after their goals and dreams. The movement was launched prior to the 2015 World Cup and has evolved to develop a strong bond between the national team and its fans(Bowker,2019)”. The team shows the example of a “resonant relationship” by working outside of their team and inspiring others(Akrivou, K., Boyatzis, R. E., & McLeod, P. L. 2006).

The “norming stage” and “resonant relationship” are just a few of the reasons that the USA men's basketball dream team didn't do as well as promised(Akrivou, K., Boyatzis, R. E., & McLeod, P. L. 2006). With a better team leadership that resonated, the team would have gone down in history instead of being a textbook example of lack of cohesion. If the USA men's basketball team would have had better leadership or management to pull together for a coordinated effort they would have had multiple opportunities outside of their team to pull together and improve the lives of a lot of the younger generation like the USA women's soccer team continues to do.

References

Akrivou, K., Boyatzis, R. E., & McLeod, P. L. (2006). The evolving group: Towards a prescriptive theory of intentional group development. Journal of Management Development, 25(7), 689-706. doi:10.1108/02621710610678490

Bowker, P. (2019, February 26). 7 Things To Know As The U.S. Women's Soccer Team Enters The SheBelieves Cup. Retrieved April 17, 2019, from https://www.teamusa.org/News/2019/February/26/7-Things-To-Know-As-The-US-Womens-Soccer-Team-Enters-The-SheBelieves-Cup

Maisonet, E. (2017, September 05). The Miseducation of the 2004 U.S. Men's Olympic Basketball Team. Retrieved April 17, 2019, from https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2731575-the-miseducation-of-the-2004-us-mens-olympic-basketball-team

A641.4.3.RB - Tipping Points of Emotional Intelligence

I have recently started doing certification on aircraft engine components. Completing the documentation FAA 8130/EASA Form 1, for release of an aircraft engine components after an overhaul or repair. This was a major undertaking for me. The documentation of the repairs/work performed was not the difficult part. The tipping point was the unnecessary additional information the customer wanted on their certification documents.


The customer is always right has been the golden rule since the dawn of time. When a customers want something, even if it’s unnecessary, they want it and they are going to get it. On certifications, customers want additional information like dimensions, last engine operator, 3rd party customer information, the type of paint used, and my personal favorite which is where it’s being shipped to. All this information is required by the customer to be on the legal documentation of an 8130 because they asked for it once and now it has to be on there every time, even if the customer didn’t provide the information I am responsible for it. I have to stop and ask for it. If I misspell anything, get any additional information wrong or forget to add anything I get a corrective action report (CAR) against me. This CAR is then brought up in meetings with the top facility managers and my manager. I have to have a personal meeting to discuss what I am going to differently to correct this problem. To say this was frustrating is an understatement.


On top of all this I had 3 new people in my cell asking me questions on the induction side of the part. I was trying to get the part out the door while people were asking me how to bring parts into the door. I found the tipping point one day when I had a personal meeting with my boss. He said “if I didn't think you could handle it, I wouldn't have let you struggle through it”. I knew then what I had to do which was to buckle down with no excuses and just do it. This sound cleshay but it was the mental attitude I was in. All the negativity and additional questions were my responsibility and I could handle it when I stopped trying to make excuses.


I changed when I mentally took on my responsibilities correctly. I reviewed my cert’s when I had quiet time to myself with no additional distractions. I found what I was doing wrong and taught myself what needed to be done.

A641.3.3.RB - Emotional Intelligence: Getting Results!

“Salovey and Mayer (1989-90) originally defined emotional intelligence as the "ability to monitor one's own and others' feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and use this information to guide one's thinking and actions" (p. 189) (Carson, K. D., Carson, P. P., & Birkenmeier, B. J. 2016)” EI comes down to awareness. What emotions are being emitted from the self and from the world around us. EI does not just take into account that the other person has clenched fists and is stating that they are going to hit you. EI is the awareness that you are causing the other person distress or happiness.

Being self aware means not only do I know what makes me mad or disappointed, it's what I do with the feeling. I think that being self aware has a lot to do with the situation. If a person is trying to give sympathy by listening and not giving advice, it is better than telling that person a simple answer. I also think that even by being self aware you can't always control how you are going to feel about something.  A Forbes article said it best “you can’t control how something makes you feel. You can only control what you do”(Markey,2018). To take a controversial argument for example: how people feel about religion. When a devout religious person meets an atheist there needs to be self-awareness. For both people, the other person makes them angry but it's what you do with that anger that matters. Will that person throw a punch or start an argument? Having self-awareness means that you know you are feeling something, but not acting on that feeling.

That feeling needs to me managed. “Nothing makes you angry. You get angry. Nothing makes you hopeless. You decide to feel hopeless. You are the master of your own mind, so you should dictate how your emotions make you feel, not the other way around”(Brubaker,2017). Nothing will make you act on your feelings. Nothing is forcing me to be happy or mad. Managing my feelings is about how do I want to react to this. Some people want to see passion, distress in a leader, or to see a stalwart leader. Self-management is not the feeling or the impulse that I feel. It's the action or reaction that I should make based on the situation not my feelings.  

That reaction to the situation is based on the awareness of the social aspect of the person or people you are trying to engage, enlighten, fear, or warn ect.  A person can only act on their managed feelings to best fit the social ramifications. The desired outcome of the conversation or situation has to be aware to the leader who is trying to manage the feelings and emotions of the situation.

I think that social awareness and social skills both are misrepresented in the comparison of the good samaritan and the man in the subway by Dr. Daniel Goleman. The two situations are not comparable because the good samaritan is taken too far out of context. A college campus is not the place to make sure a man is ok when he is throwing up or making gagging sounds. In my college experience, this is a common occurrence. College adults tend to drink and have natural reactions. I think that the correct amount of self passion was illustrated by not stopping. People today are not trustworthy, this situation could have been a setup for robbery, the person could have had a spreadable disease from their blood or vomit.  The Good Samaritan Act is a perfect argument for why these are not comparable for compassion. The Good Samaritan Act has to protect doctors and nurses by law from getting sued if something goes wrong. That is self awareness and social awareness. Awareness that you could be robbed or maimed in the act of helping or that someone has probably had too much alcohol.

References

Brubaker, K. (2017, November 22). How to Develop Self-Management in The Workplace. Retrieved April 2, 2019, from https://www.bizlibrary.com/article/self-management-skills/

Carson, K. D., Carson, P. P., & Birkenmeier, B. J. (2016). Measuring emotional intelligence: Development and validation of an instrument. Journal of Behavioral and applied Management, 2(1), 810.

Markey, M. (2018, September 18). How To Increase Emotional Intelligence On Your Team. Retrieved April 2, 2019, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2018/09/18/how-to-increase-emotional-intelligence-on-your-team/#68dc8b4b1fa1

A641.2.3.RB - Am I a Resonant Leader?

After reading and doing the work assignment “Am i a Resonant leader”(McKee, Boyatzis, & Johnston, 2008) I think I realized a few things about myself. I am in tune with my emotions but I need to overcome them faster.

Being in tune with your feelings and emotions means that you know how you are feeling and you know what you are expressing on your face. However,  just knowing what is on your mind and on your face doesn't mean that you have mastered your feelings.

I have reflected on the times that I have influenced others with my feelings. I have expressed being calm, taking on any project, not diminishing the company with slander, not belittling others, and fixing others mistakes without sending a scathing email or copying in my boss to tell on them.

However, at times, I have also lacked overcoming my feelings and angers. As a leader, I need to notice my anger and deal with it. I don't lash out or say harsh things but I hold the anger. My anger makes me short tempered and irritable when things go wrong. My anger needs to be noticed and dealt with. By dealing with my anger in a rational way, I can become a better “resonant” leader (Boyatzis & McKee, 2005).

Dealing with anger will come from shoving the anger aside in the critical moment and then through different types of renewal letting the anger go or rationalizing it. The different types of renewal will be dependent on the different types of anger without the self destructive resonance (Boyatzis & McKee, 2005). If I am angry at myself for a lack of ambition or a mistake, I can take the time to realize that I'm only human and am going to make those mistakes. If I'm angry at another employee, I need  to take a ten minute deep reflection on what that employee may be going through or his current situation.

I think this is a hard thing to admit to myself. I need to actively work on how I suppress and resonate to my anger.

References

Boyatzis, R. E., & McKee, A. (2005). Resonant leadership. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

McKee, A., Boyatzis, R. E., & Johnston, F. (2008). Becoming a resonant leader. Boston, M

A641.1.3.RB_MullBrandon

What is Great Leadership?

Great leadership in my opinion is someone who inspires me to do my best. During my task, whatever I'm doing, I want to think of that person and say what would they do or what would they think if I showed this to them.. During the video, I thought of several people who have inspired me to be better than myself, to do a better job for someone else.

Contrastingly, I thought of several people who would be put into that category of shouldn’t be in management. I thought of those managers that have the ability to enter into a situation and everyone groans. Being a part of the Lean Facilitators of my company, there are both sets of people, great leaders and disappointing leaders. Great leaders are those that a group of trained and certified Lean Facilitator see in their group charter and think, oh good someone else I can count on. A great leader doesn't have to stand out in their diverse knowledge or come up with the best ideas. A great leader is someone you can count on when the work needs doing.

A distasteful leader is the one who is getting the group sidetracked on their own person problems. A distasteful leader always has a problem but never has the answer and is always wanting someone to come up with a solution. However, they are never happy with the solution.

One of the aspects of a great leader that I find to be the best quality is “compassion”(Boyatzis & McKee, 2005). I think compassion can mean a lot things but one of the most important to me is compassion for learning. A great leader needs to understand they don't have all the answers, they are not the smartest person in the room. Great leaders will always learn from others and let others express their ideas.

Of all the ideas that I came up with for great leaders, a lot of the concepts came from continuously learning. A great leader will continuously learn. Leaders who think they know everything have no compassion.”Leadership requires learning”(Campbell,2018). Without learning and adapting to new and ever changing environment, a leader will grow stale even if they started out as a great leader. “Compassionate leaders possess the modesty to continually seek feedback under the belief system they can only grow their team to the extent they grow themselves”(Campbell,2018). A leader can’t inspire or continuously be great if they themselves cannot grow.

References

Boyatzis, R. E., & McKee, A. (2005). Resonant leadership. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Campbell, S. (2018, March 15). 7 Inspiring Traits of Compassionate Leadership. Retrieved from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/310391