Module 5 Critical Thinking – A Resilient Communicator Despite progress being made in alleviating the gender gap, and breaking the ‘glass ceiling’, gender continues to play a role in the perception we have of the ability a leader has to be successful and have an equal share of the real power in our country. Three women that have pioneered changing this perception are Hillary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice and Sarah Palin. These three women have displayed true, successful leadership throughout their careers. All three women are of strong character and display a high level of self confidence. These ladies also are driven by their deep-rooted values and beliefs. This is Self-Concordence. In the text Organizational Behavior, the authors described self-concordance as the degree to which peoples’ reasons for pursuing goals are consistent with their interests and core values (Judge & Robbins, 2011). Believing in one’s self is critical to being a leader. Being confident that one is capable of meeting the goals that have been established for her and by her, improves her motivation and this can be perceived by others positively, making the ‘can do’ attitude spread. This is called Self-Efficacy Theory- An individual’s belief that he or she is capable of performing a task (Judge & Robbins, 2011). These three leaders all share a common, specific, powerful characteristic that propells their leadership style. Ms. Clinton, Ms. Rice, and Ms. Palin all are extrodinaary, persuasive, resilient communicators. Being an effective communicator is the key to success for a leader. Communication is defined by the authors in the text Organizations: Behavior, Structure, and Processes as transmitting information and understanding, usi... ... middle of paper ... ... create an inspiration to women around the world. These women have shown success in leadership with a specific, predominant and common characteristic; resilient communication skills. These superwomen are resilient leaders. Works Cited Bumiller, E., (2007). Condoleezza Rice: An American Life. New York, NY: Random House. Donnelly, Gibson, Ivancevich, Konopaske, (2009). Organizations: Behavior, Structure, Processes. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Holland, D. A., Mansfield, S., (2010). The Faith and Values of Sarah Palin. Lake Mary, FL: Front Line. Judge, T.A., Robbins, S.P., (2011). Organizational Behavior. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Shambaugh, R., (2010). Leadership Secrets of Hillary Clinton. New York: NY: McGraw Hill. Northouse, P. G., Rowe, W. G., (2010). Leadership: Theory and Practice. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Leadership is an important attribute in individuals such as managers, academic experts, and researchers. The topic of leadership continues to gain popularity and importance in almost all sectors. The way leaders in managerial positions communicate determines their effectiveness and success in achieving high levels of performance and success in their organizations. There are numerous books that provide an insight into effective leadership and communication. One of such books is by Atwater and Waldman (2012). This paper provides a summary, contextual analysis and critique of the book.
In relation to leadership and women, historically women who wanted to seek leadership roles were often seen projecting the traditional masculine model of leadership. This model means to be rational, unemotional and analytic. It also, means in order to succeed traditionally women needed to look and act like a man to be taken seriously in leadership positions. Women in the past often dressed up in suits and ties and anything feminine was seen as an internal “weakness”. To be a leader in power meant to exude confidence in masculinity and shy away from anything remotely girly. As opposed, to the feminine model which casts power as focused on connection and harmony instead of power over something, someone. This power can be skilled through collective gain or physical attractiveness (Kruse 22).
...tional obstacles to those faced by male counterparts. One common predicament, identified by the former Equal Opportunities Commission, is the requirement for women leaders to spend extra time and energy not just leading, but ‘proving’ that they can lead. Women leaders are penalized whether they confirm, or contradict a specific stereotype. A female leader can expect to be viewed as less competent when her behaviour is consistent with stereotypical ‘feminine’ behaviour, and as ‘un-feminine’, when her behaviour is inconsistent with stereotypes Ritvo et al (1995).
“Your employees come first and if you treat your employee’s right, guess what? Your customers come back, and that makes your shareholders happy. Start with employees and the rest follows from that.” This quote from Herb Kelleher, co-founder of Southwest Airlines, embodies the attitude of leadership at the airline. Southwest dares to be different from other airlines because their philosophy revolves around people both internal and external. Communication, culture, and leadership are the cornerstone of their success. This paper explores key leader’s communiqué tactics, the role communication plays in daily operations, how the mission, vision, and culture reinforce the goals, and the importance of efficiently connecting to
Lashinger et al highlights the need for communication within leadership as effective communication is essential to influence change and motivate others. Emphasising the need for communicating effectively towards all staff members, whilst undergoing change to ensure all staff feel supported and understand the process, allowing implementation to be more successful.
Wilson, Marie C. Closing the Leadership Gap Why Women Can and Must Help Run the World. New York: Viking Adult, 2004. Print
Communication strategies pose a direct influence on job performance, degree of job ability, and career development of employees, and thus have a direct association with leadership effectiveness (Argyris, 1962). Several challenges arise from communication deficiency , including the consequences of differences in cultural value, language, and situatedness. SAHC leaders can conquer these difficulties by striving to comprehend the root causes of the difficulties and integrate appropriate communication skills to manage the
Communication – Strong leaders know how to speak viably with staff at both higher and lower levels in the organization. Seeing how to obviously disclose errands and tasks to staff while conveying the significance of your area of expertise's work to managers is an urgent ability that takes practice. Great communicators keep staff educated when changes or redesigns to undertakings happen, are promptly accessible to staff and hold consistent gatherings to guarantee that all colleagues are mindful of the status of activities.
The reading assignment for this unit included reading several articles and one book in particular, The Female Advantage, by Sally Helgesen as an introduction into varying leadership styles. Leadership, as a honed craft is practiced continually in different ways and varying circumstances, no two individuals will have the same leadership style. Certain distinctive traits brought into the forum and on display for followers to observe. Some traits can be visible, clothing or skin color as examples, others, however, are not as visible such as upbringing or family situation. Each of these factors could play a role in the leadership style of a leader. One trait that the author of the book uses to distinguish leaders is gender. As much as men and women must be treated the fairly and equally, it cannot be denied that outside of the biological aspect, men and women are slightly different. Each gender brings a unique approach to leadership situations.
Madlock, P. E. (2008). The Link between leadership style, communicator competence, and employee satisfaction. Journal of Business Communication, 45(1), 61-78. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Interest in the impact of gender on leadership is relatively new. The first studies were conducted in the US in the early 1970s when male managers at nine insurance companies were asked to characterise ‘women in general’, ‘men in general’ and ‘successful managers’. Successful managers were overwhelmingly identified exclusively with male traits. Many similar studies have been carried out since that time and all have demonstrated that the successful managerial stereotype remains male.
Women have qualities that make them more adaptable to the emotional climate, to handling conflicts, to think about the development of people and their human needs, compassion, care of the planet, commitment and responsibility. Who better than a woman who is prepared to deal with responsibilities in leadership positions with unique features to handle such matters. Female leadership is a model to take into account, a model to support and one which we can expect excellent results in a sustainable and equitable manner for all involved. Every day women face the challenge of reentry into the job market, and being the primary caretaker for their children, compounded with diversity issues and concerns. For these reason it is challenging to be a women with power in leadership.
A Primer on Communications Studies. (2012). Licensed by Creative Commons by-nc-sa 3.0. Retrieved October 5, 2017, from: https://2012books.lardbucket.org/pdfs/a-primer-on-communication-studies/s14-leadership-roles-and-problem-s.pdf
Commanding the workplace, women outnumber their male counterparts, but are often overlooked for holding leadership
Today, women are entering the leadership sphere, which is mainly occupied by men. Many women leaders believe that people perform best when they feel good about themselves and their work. An effective leader creates results, reaches goals and deadlines, and quickly recognizes vision and objectives with high level of quality and productivity. To accomplish these, a leader should have special qualities like able to motivate others, specific and technical skill set, clear sense of purpose, mission, clear goals, focus and commitment. Over the years, women have proven themselves to be successful leaders as men. For instance, Oprah Winfrey, one of the most successful and famous African-American women in history to have made a huge impact and difference