Unit 3-Leadership is Power

With leadership comes power. In this unit we discussed the different approaches to leaderships and the challenges and advantages that come with being a leader. In another class of mine, Organizational Communication, many of our topics overlap and one important aspect of leadership that I felt was left out of these sections was power; the types of power, the way leaders gain power, and the way individuals keep power. Leaders are leaders because of the perceived power that they hold over employees. I believe that in order to be an effective leader, one must be granted power from their employees and be able to maintain that power with a sense of respect for the subordinates as well as the organization itself. I don't know about you all, but think of a time when a manager, a group leader, or even someone who thought they had decisive power over you abused that power and you lost a little bit of respect for them as a leader; many situations come to mind.

Unit 2

So recently in class we've been discussing the cultural influences from individuals on organizations and work groups. These vast differences in cultures got me thinking about my future; I am senior, graduating in May and after graduation I am moving to Germany for a job with a military personnel ski resort. Before this unit I hadn't really even considered the differences that might exist between me and my future co-worker besides an obvious difference in language. However, throughout this unit I never really got a handle on just how different these two cultures are. We discussed the extremes; such as the severe differences between many Asian cultures and our American culture. So if anyone out there know about the German culture let me know! Not that knowing these types of differences and similarities isn't helpful. I think it's crucial for anyone, even those not involved with multinational organizations, to be able to have some kind of cultural competency. Being able to communicate and understand both verbal and nonverbal communication from someone of another culture is vital to the success of any organization, especially for the managers and leaders of these companies.

What Makes a Successful Leader?

Hello fellow classmates! Welcome to my blog...I'm not sure about all this blog stuff, but here goes nothing.

So as we began this Unit's reading I begun to wonder what combination does it really take to make a successful leader? As a Communications major I have taken many classes in Organizational Communication and was somewhat familiar with the concepts presented in the first chapters of our books. But as I read on and drawing from personal experience wanted to know what really makes a difference.

Does leadership success depend on the structure of the organization? Does it depend on the leader's qualities? How about the strengths and weaknesses of the employees?

A majority of the organizations I've been involved with have definitely been severely bureaucratic and traditionally organized. Low-level employees (me) report to middle management who in turn report to upper level management. From my personal experience this formal flow of communication through a chain of command is not only inefficient, but also makes at least lower level employees feel inadequate and undervalued.

Fortunately for me, most managers that I have dealt with have been easy to work for and enjoyable to be around at work. For me personally, I feel like the success of leader depends in large part on the qualities and abilities of the leader him/herself. But like any team, the whole is better than its individual parts. And from this I believe that success depends greatly on the employees; job satisfaction leads to increased productivity which leads to a successful organization.