PJM460 MOD4 Peer Discussion responses

Please reply to both POST1: and POST2: in at least 200 words

Initial Post:

Think of a situation in which you observed a particularly effectiveteam leader. What actions, behaviors, and attitudes contributed to theeffectiveness of this team leader?

Then, think of a situation in which you observed a particularlyineffective team. What actions, behaviors, and attitudes contributed tothe ineffectiveness of this team leader?

Reflecting upon these two situations, what would you have done differently as the leader in this situation?

My Post:

Hello Class,

Team Leadership

The success of an organization or a project exercise depends on theeffectiveness of a leader. A leader can be effective or ineffectivebased on the types of skills used. I have worked for an organizationthat had a very effective leader. The leader created a culture ofshared decision-making when handling different organizational issues.He believed in consultation to brainstorm for multiple solutions toproblems. The leader’s actions toward employees were remarkably goodsince he was ever concerned about the well-being of everyone. For thisreason, he encouraged employees to share their problems. Besides, theleader used an assertive style, which encouraged employees to expresstheir suggestions freely. Assertive leadership is a guarantee for anappropriate relationship with subordinates (Lussier & Achua, 2016).Furthermore, the leader acknowledged the hard work of employees and madefriends with subordinates to create a united team.

I have also witnessed ineffective team leadership. The leader of aninstitution relied on the executive team when making any decision. Theexecutive team was his mouthpiece, and employees could only access himthrough this team. The leader always threatened junior workers tobecome productive or risk being fired. In doing so, workers were inconstant fear of their job security. In addition, the leader wasaggressive towards junior employees because he was a professor.Aggressive leadership discourages the possibility of mutual staffsupport (Black, 2015). For this reason, he believed a worker could notchallenge his opinions. Lastly, the leader was quick at making decisionswhenever the executive team suggested such a move. He could not conducta personal investigation to ascertain the truthfulness of theinformation provided by this team.

Ineffective leadership hinders the success of an organization anddamages public reputation about the same organization. I would encourageshared decision-making if I were the leader of the institution. Thisapproach makes employees feel valued and respected. In doing so, workersbecome more productive at work.

References

Black, S. A. (2015). Qualities of effective leadership in higher education. Open Journal of Leadership, 4(02), 54.

Lussier, R. N., & Achua, C. F. (2016). Leadership: Theory, Application & Skill Development. Australia: Cengage Learning.

POST1: (A question from the professor concerning my post, please reply)

Hello Darby,

Thank you for sharing your experiences with effective and ineffectiveleaders. I have to say that the scenario you described regardingineffective leader is quite shocking and unacceptable! Could and did anyof the junior employees seek HR help with the toxic leader?

Dr. Harrison.

POST2:

Aspecific situation I can reflect on where I observed an effective teamleader, was during my professional transition from being an hourly teamlead to becoming a supervisor. The hiring manager at the time (which isnow my current role) was a very effective leader. His effectiveness canbe measured in multiple ways, including employee development, fosteringinnovation, engaging individuals to think critically, continuousimprovement, and finally though the team’s performance and delivery ofmeeting schedule, cost, and quality goals and objectives. The actions,behaviors, and attitudes he displayed all led to his effectiveness as aleader and manager. One specific action he continuously did was simplyask “Why____?” 99% of the time, he already knew the answer. His purposefor doing this was to get individuals to think critically aboutsituation or cause the to think about them in a different way. The Powerof Why was synonymous with the father of the TPS, Taichi Ohno, and isoften a trait of effective Lean leaders, ensuring the continuousimprovement of processes and people.

A specific situation I can reflect on when I observed a particularlyineffective team was the team I eventually absorbed into my scope as asupervisor, which was the Paint department in production operations atmy current organization. The leader at the time of ineffectiveness hadshortcomings in basic leadership skills and managerial aptitude,including the inability to effectively communicate and facilitate, lackof strategic foresight, and inability to understand basic business andmanagerial metrics, as well as, their interdependencies. Operationswise, he had the team practicing conventional Batch & Queueproduction, continuously increase production lead times and WIPinventory, as well as, decreasing throughput.

As the leader in this situation (which I eventually because) Istarted performing differently from the ineffective supervisor in 2distinct ways, including focusing on the team (their development andeducation, fostering innovation and inclusion, facilitating anddelegating, and being empathetic), as well as, focusing on the processes(establishing basic lean concepts like standard work, Pull, continuousflow, kaizen, 6S, and tiered accountability, as well as, focusing on thestrategic foresight of the shop and the triple constraint. Ultimately,the day of inception, the team was successfully able to burndown 3000hours of behind schedule work in a little over 3 months.

References

Liker, Jeffrey K. (2004). The Toyota Way : 14 Management Principlesfrom the World’s Greatest Manufacturer. New York :McGraw-Hill,

Lussier, R. N., & Achua, C. F. (2016). Leadership: Theory, Application & Skill Development. Australia: Cengage Learning.

Project Management Institute [PMI]. (2017). A Guide to the ProjectManagement Body of Knowledge (Links to an external site.) (PMBOK ® Guide– 6th ed.). Newton Square, PA: PMI Publications