Tomorrow's Leaders

The most interesting game to me is the recruiting negotiation. When playing the game, my partner and I just focused on getting the maximum personal benefits. We did not understand that compromise would bring higher score for two people as a whole. From the game, I learn that hiring managers should not try to give recruitees as fewer benefits as they can because this will lower new workers' motivation. Then firms will bear loss because of lower labor productivity.

The book Social Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion is my favorite in this class. The influence tactics it describes are really useful for building leadership. So far, I often it hard to influence people, especially someone in higher positions, and I can use these tactics in the future.

BUS262 Team6: Final Blog Topic

While I really enjoyed all of the topics and activities, my favorite topic was conflict and negotiations. The reason why I enjoyed this topic the most is because I learned greatly about how to handle uncomfortable situations through negotiation and collaboration. I also really enjoyed the activity as I negotiated my new job benefits with my future boss. Before this lecture, my method of handling uncomfortable situations was to simply say “yes” to the other person. Through this topic, I learned how to negotiate more effectively by having options and by understanding my bottom line.

I really liked all of the books. My favorite one was Predictably Irrational because it was an eye-opening experience learning how we can be irrational individuals even when we think we are not. It’s important to understand people’s behaviors and their motives and influences.

I don’t have a specific book to recommend however I would like to learn more about how to increase my leadership confidence.

Tomorrow's Leaders

Of all the class activities, I really liked the one where we were trying to figure out which day of the made-up week that the Atlanteans finished building their obelisk. Although each person had a small amount of information, it gave us the opportunity to exercise our leadership skills and collect all the information that each person had and figure out the answer.

Of all the books (other than our own), I really liked Predictably Irrational, because people are irrational creatures and thus it is important to find out what makes each of us tick and how to lead different people who perceive things differently.

I don't really have a book to recommend, but a suggestion is to implement how to lead cross-culturally with the course. The book we focused on (Geography of Thought) did focus somewhat on the Chinese and Western dynamic, but something a little bit more culturally diverse would be extremely useful. The world is getting a lot smaller and having that multi-cultural aspect in the leadership program would ultimately benefit the leaders of tomorrow who most likely have to lead a culturally diverse team.

Final Blog Topic

Out of all the class activities I really enjoyed the survival one. Picking items by yourself then with a group showed me that if you want your opinions to be considered you need to speak up and have some valid reasoning to back them up. If you have sound logic your initial advice can actually put you in a credible leadership potion. Even though this assignment was small I feel that it actually had the biggest impact on me. I also felt it was one of the more fun projects.

Out of all the books I liked Drive the most. This was purely on the reason that there were two groups. I felt that being able to contrast between two different approaches on the same topic allowed me to see more into what the book was trying to say. It also created a bit of competition and possibly more out of the box thinking to top the other group.

Final Blog Topic

We've reached the end of this part of your leadership journey - and hopefully you are ready to continue on your own! In this posting, please write about what activity, topic, or reading you found the most interesting and useful. It may be interesting to see how others saw the class and what they found of value.

Also, please briefly describe which book - other than your own - you think was most useful to learn about and if you know of other books that you think would be useful for a future class, please provide the title!

Leadership in Groups

My leadership style changes along with various situations. When facing my subordinates in the company, I usually use the combination of authority, incentives, and inspiration to get the subordinates do their jobs better. In the case of volunteers, I usually give them detailed explanations of what to do and praise them for help. When I am with my friends, family, or group members, I often follow the consensuses made by the majority.

I am always a follower in my family. I always listen to my dad and my mom and follow their decisions, because in Chinese culture younger people should respect and listen to elders who have the final say in family matters.

In my work place, some leaders develop not only strong working relationships but also personal  relationships with workers. These leaders care about the feelings of the subordinates and sometimes give them a hand when subordinates encounter difficulties at work or in personal life. I should learn this kind of leadership to have more harmonious relationships with my workers.    

BUS262 Team6: Blog Topic 12: Groups and leadership

I have always recognized how different my interactions are with different groups. The differences in my leadership behavior are actually quite the opposite depending on which group I am involved with. I tend to be a stronger leader in groups that I am the most comfortable with like friends and family. If someone asked a member in my family who they think the leader is, they will most likely say that I am. My leadership role with my family is quite obvious. On the other hand, my leadership skills tend to lessen in power when I am in a group of people that I am very uncomfortable with. Sometimes being around people that I don’t know makes me fall into a follower position instead of a leader.

I like to observe other leaders in my various groups in order to learn more about leading. Sometimes the main difference between my leadership skills and that of another person is the level of confidence. I really admire those leaders that can lead with such great confidence. I know that I can enhance my leadership skills by increasing my confidence level.