Posted on: June 24, 2022 09:55 PM
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Along For The Ride
| Along For the Ride
Some may not remember Ziggy, a cartoon character that peeked over the fence and had a long nose. His nose was hanging over the wall, and this image became a popular car sticker. Everywhere you drove, Ziggy was riding along. People could go all night and work extremely hard to get somewhere; there’s Ziggy. He had ridden along and gotten there too. If you clean the car, Ziggy gets an excellent clean vehicle. It did not matter what you did; Ziggy rode along. He gained the same fun and the same fame. He was there just hanging out, peeking over the fence, literally along for the ride. Have you ever known an employee or teammate that seemed to be along for the ride? Can you get this person motivated? You and your team worked hard for your successes while some ride along, and they achieve the win when they have done very little. Project management is a difficult job, and many projects fail. The successful performance of the team is necessary. The project manager's job is to get everyone on the team on board, moving in the same direction, and motivated toward successfully completing the project goal. The following are ten recommendations for getting team members like Ziggy motivated.
“I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.” |
Posted on: August 27, 2022 05:03 PM
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Why Be Authentic
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Why Be Authentic Authentic leadership should be clearly defined to understand the relationship between it and the inclusion and understanding of various individuals and their differences. Authentic leadership leads to an increase in equity, inclusion, and belonging. Authenticity supports diversity and inspires others to live and lead authentically. A genuine leader can lead others successfully by demonstrating trust and organizational commitment. Authentic leadership combined with cultural intelligence can allow a leader to adjust to various cultures positively while maintaining their values and beliefs. In his book True North, Bill George explains that your internal compass is your true north. Your true north is what is most important, what you value, and what you are passionate about. Character and your compass are what guide you. He urges leaders not to get off track and listen to their inner voice, even if it is difficult. Authenticity leads to inclusion. When leaders are authentic, they encourage others to be. This leads to acceptance and understanding.
Authentic leadership encourages inclusion, diversity, equity, passion, and value while removing barriers. Authentic leaders conduct themselves in harmony with their values. They encourage diverse viewpoints and build networks of collaboration. Authenticity occurs when actions and behaviors match internal values. It involves activities that are true to yourself. Authentic Leadership- Be Yourself Bill George explains that your true north is an internal compass that guides you. It is led by what is most important, what you value, and what you are passionate about. You can’t be like someone else. You must be like yourself, be a star and follow your passion. You are the right leader. Being you makes you a very knowledgeable, respected, and influential leader. Who knows you and your passion better than you? Imagine if we all acted as ourselves and were accepted for our authentic selves. When you are different, masking becomes a way of life for many to fit in to be accepted. However, no one is flawed. No one is a sickness to be cured or a disorder to be fixed. Everyone is unique and authentic. As I try to be who I am, I am at times awkward and animated, yet I lead, and people follow. I seek to be my authentic self. I include others, and they include me. Authenticity leads to diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and acceptance. When we are authentic, we encourage others to be themselves. Everyone being authentic leads to acceptance of all and the inclusion of anyone. I want to encourage everyone to find their passion or purpose and inspire others to join your cause. Bring people together around a shared vision and encourage them to lead and further empower them to step up and lead authentically true to themselves and their plan. Recommendations for improved authenticity. Leadership is a journey, and you are the tour guide. George, William W. True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2007. The Kaizen Method is a method that allows organizations to make small changes over time aimed at improvement. These changes will either lead to improvement or be discarded. The process will enable organizations to improve over time continuously. The continuous improvement model provides an organization with a simple method to facilitate change and encourage flexibility. Learning about Kaizen and other continuous improvement practices can assist an organization in making positive organizational changes aimed at continuous improvement. Small Changes Build Great Things A series of small things do great things when brought together. The initial premise is based on a quote by Vincent van Gogh about The Starry Night in 1889. Small changes or steps can be taken to accomplish great things. Kaizen is based on small changes over time that lead to improvement. Kaizen could assist an organization in making positive organizational changes aimed at continuous improvement. Kaizen was developed in the manufacturing sector to lower defects, eliminate waste, boost productivity, encourage worker purpose and accountability, and promote innovation (Daniel, 2021). Kaizen encourages reduced waste, improvement toward perfection, and remaining committed to the process. Here are a few examples of Successful Kaizen implementations within significant organizations. Toyota used Kaizen and made the concept well known. Lockheed Martin. Used the method to reduce manufacturing costs and delivery time. Ford Motor Company CEO used Kaizen to execute one of the most famous corporate turnarounds (Daniel, 2021). Kaizen can be used for more than lean manufacturing, although that typically comes to mind when discussing kaizen methodology. Kaizen is a straightforward process that can be used in many aspects of our own lives. To improve and become a better version of ourselves every day, you must actively seek improvement. Matthew McConaughey states that his hero is himself in ten years in his Oscar speech. He acknowledges the expectation that he will be a better version of himself ten years from now. He recognizes his desire for continuous improvement over time. He wants to make sure that he is a better version of himself tomorrow than today. This is a goal we should all seek. Figure 1: Kaizen as a means of continuous improvement over time, Continuous Self-Improvement The practice of kaizen can assist you in improving by 1% per day and leading to continued success (Kelly, 2021). Kaizen can be applied in personal life by embracing the spirit of continuous improvement. Kaizen can be a life motto for growth-minded individuals that want to improve, and it may become a way of life. Kaizen is the practice of improving yourself through small, incremental, daily actions and forming habits that help you succeed. Kaizen requires that one live for each moment, prioritize productivity, and encourage upward progress through tiny steps. Kaizen's focus on gradual improvement can create a gentler approach to change. Drastic changes aimed at achieving immediate positive results are often abandoned. Ongoing positive changes can reap significant improvements. (Daniel, 2021). Kaizen can assist an organization and individuals seeking positive changes aimed at continuous improvement over time if they are willing to change, evolve, and remain flexible. Implementing small changes over time and keeping the differences that produce positive results while discarding the others leads to long-term success. The Kaizen Method is a method that allows individuals to make small changes over time aimed at improvement. These changes will either lead to improvement or be discarded. The process will enable organizations and individuals to improve continuously. The ability to continuously improve over time allows people to survive and thrive. The continuous improvement model provides individuals with a simple method to enable change and encourage flexibility. Self-leadership Self-leadership is not something to discount in the new remote workspace. Every employee should be encouraged to self-lead. In the remote work environment, it is vital to master self-leadership. If you do not lead, then who will? You are the best at teaching, motivating, and encouraging yourself to complete top-quality work. I love working remotely. I can control the noise level and the temperature. I can play music while I work and choose what to listen to. It saves me time, and it helps conserve my energy making it possible to be more productive. I have often thought about leading those that you cannot see. It isn't easy, so do not do it. Teach remote workers to lead themselves. Show them how to motivate, encourage, and educate themselves. As many of us work from home or other locations, we are not always under the direct supervision of managers, leaders, or mentors. Many workers are hurrying back to the office, and they are very excited to go back to the traditional way of working. However, many workers prefer remote work, and they feel like the arrangement is cheerful and evolving continuously. Recent studies have shown that millennials prefer flexible work relationships, and many will not accept a role that does not allow remote work. The concept of self-management is becoming very important. It is essential to understand its value and to learn techniques to self-manage. While performing my dissertation research on the best leadership style for remote workers to achieve positive work outcomes, I worked with two subject matter experts. One was employed at Bank of America and one from Autommatic. Both SME’s stated that I should not discount self-leadership. For leaders to feel comfortable allowing remote workers to make their own decisions on how they will lead themselves and complete their work, they will need to trust their employees. Trust is necessary for the leader/ follower relationship to be successful. All workers want to be trusted in their work environment, whether at home or in the office. Trust is a basic need for all people. Many remote workers feel that they are not trusted, and many managers think that remote workers cannot be trusted with this much freedom and autonomy. If trust is established, then e-leaders can allow remote workers to self-lead. Self-leadership is the ability to manage oneself without other leaders, e-leaders, managers, or supervisors. Self-leadership includes setting clear personal goals and limits (Hertel et al., 2005). Remote employees must set personal goals and meet them without close supervision (Hertel et al., 2005; Macduffie, 2007; Nurmi, 2011). Leaders can encourage and reward autonomy and self-advocacy, encouraging and leading to self-leadership. E-leaders can help remote workers set goals and limits and allow remote employees to work independently. Autonomy is associated with trust, self-advocacy, and coping skills. The remote worker must possess coping skills, self-advocacy, and the ability to set goals and limits. Autonomy was shown to encourage the ability to self-lead. The correlation may be due to increased trust given by the leader. Therefore, trusting remote employees may promote and increase the capacity to self-lead. Remote workers must work autonomously (Horwitz et al., 2006). “Autonomy from the parent organization led to higher performance” (Hertel et al., 2005, p. 82).“Differing levels of worker autonomy are reflected in the level of trust held by employers” (Clear and Dickson, 2005, p. 227). This may explain why some employees are given more autonomy than other employees. The remote worker must be able to work independently, and e-leaders must encourage autonomy and self-leadership. Researchers found a significant relationship between autonomy, learning, and engagement. Autonomy leads to positive outcomes, including work motivation and job performance (Grant et 95 et al., 2013). Autonomy can lead to the ability to self-advocate and eventually self-lead (Van Kortenhof, 2013). Self-leadership skills are critical for avoiding overloading work situations (Hertel et al., 2005; Nurmi, 2011). Self-leadership skills include setting clear personal goals and limits (Macduffie, 2007). Self-leadership requires that an employee be a self-starter (Hertel et al., 2005), and remote employees must set personal goals and meet them without close supervision (Macduffie, 2007; Nurmi, 2011). Increasing remote workers’ ability to self-lead may alleviate some of the burdens on e-leaders and the remote workers that know to set limits and self-advocate. Employees with good self-leadership skills were better able to cope with strain, possibly due to their ability and willingness to prioritize their workload (Nurmi, 2011). Employees identified the need to develop self-advocacy skills and express their needs to their leaders and other coworkers (Macduffie, 2007; McNaughton et al., 2013; Nurmi, 2011). By prioritizing workloads and self-advocating, self-leadership allows teleworkers to better cope with the strain. Self-leadership increases motivation and discourages procrastination. Relationship-based leadership is most effective when leading remote workers. This includes transformational, empathetic, authentic, and servant leadership. These types of leadership encourage trust. This trust can allow remote workers to thrive and lead themselves when away from the office. Be good to yourself; we are all in this together. Dr. Even I have made good judgements in the past. I have made good judgements in the future. - Dan | ||||||||||||||