I have learned a lot in this class. Still, one ultimate lesson is that leadership will always boil down to having the ability to take a group of individuals, all of whom come with different personalities and possess diverse roles, and finally drive them towards one goal. The intricacies involved in achieving this is to activate the leadership-ness in every individual. That is, it is all about self-motivating the team members to think and act as leaders on their right. This way, even though I may be the leader, the team members and subordinates can still feel deeply involved in achieving the common goal. From an organization’s perspective, a leader needs to embody a firm’s values and ethics and lead by example.The best lesson is to “raise other leaders,” which means finding the right people to fill the right positions within an organization.
I have also learned the importance of taking and accepting both criticisms and feedbacks, especially from the subordinates. Although it may be somewhat uncomfortable and challenging for any leader to be open-minded and accept criticism, it is crucial and necessary. For instance, I take the example of Jack Welch, the CEO of General Electric(GE) from 1981 until 2001. He was heralded as one of the most effective leaders, for he managed to transform the GE Company from a lesser-known appliance firm into a multinational corporation. Until his management and leadership, GE led to spread its wings into media and financial services. All this was attributed to Welch’s need to take feedback and criticism from team members. That is, through feedback, he changed his approach.
Instead of merely doling out instructions and assignments, Welch created a collaborative discussion where different members would chip in and give their opinions. Learning from Jack Welch’s style of collaborative discussions, I cannot wait to implement such skills and help in developing a strong and mutual respect amongst team members. This will surely improve communication, morale, and efficiency. At the same time, I have learned to lead by learning about one’s self. I derive a quote by Socrates, whereby he mentions that “an unexamined life is worth not living,” which translates to mean that we should first off know ourselves. Without this, we cannot be great leaders. Although this might seem like an easy task, it is a very challenging mission.
One other aspect that makes a great leader is to be humble and always take things lightly. I take another example from Jack Welch, who spent half of his managerial times searching and hiring the right people. He did this by taking his time to learn a lot about the people he was about to hire. That is, although he would have delegated such roles to the HR department, Welch was a hands-on kind of a manager, and so he would spare some of his time and go through the recruitment process. Such a gesture clearly showed his humbleness and humility. At the same time, Welch would occasionally interact with his employees, which helped develop a loving and caring workplace. However, I also understand that he would still prioritize his roles, and hence he would never sacrifice important meetings just to be with the employees. This is what I plan to implement in my future job.
Finally, I learned all these lessons –humbling myself, creating collaborative discussions, and accepting criticism – are all reliant on human assessment. As a leader, I am obliged to learn so much about the people I am leading. In other words, behavioral assessment is critical in a leadership role, and this usually begins with assessing one’s self in terms of strengths and weaknesses. Once I have had a better understanding of myself, I can easily lead others to achieve a common goal.