Week6: Summary and Thought on Chapter8 L@E

Strategy8: Find something to celebrate and something to laugh about

Hi there. In this post I am summarizing Chapter8, Lighten Up!, and introducing what I felt though reading this chapter as well. The chapter mainly discusses celebration and humor which are regarded as integral factors for a successful leader. First I am giving the summary of this chapter, and then I will express my thought.

Find Something to Celebrate

This section argues that leaders need to find the opportunity to celebrate something and what is more, they should create the atmosphere of celebration in their teams as well. This is because holding celebration strengthens team morale and eventually it leads to a team success. Shackleton used celebration effectively and he succeeded to enhance team morale, but on the other hand Captain Bartlett, who was the captain of Karluk, did not and failed. This comparison illustrates the importance of celebration very well.

Find Something to Laugh About, Too

According to the L@E, “humor is one of the most effective leadership tools” (p.123). Humor, laugh, banter or things like that allow us to break the monotony, to build a pleasant atmosphere, and to reduce members’ anxiety. But hurtful kidding and laughing at someone should be avoided – they just offend others and as a result, they break the relationships.

Thought

This chapter made me reflect on my own characteristic… I felt really difficult to make a joke. I like humor or a joke, but I am highly likely to listen to it, not make it. Although I knew humor was somewhat important for an effective leader, I did not expect it would be such a crucial skill for him/her. I am wondering whether humor is natural characteristic or can it be acquired, but probably humor is one of the most challenging leadership skills for me.

              By the way, I found it really interesting that the American presidents are expected to have a sense of humor, on the other hand, Japanese prime ministers seem not to be required. I guess this is the difference between Japanese prime ministers and American presidents, and I am wondering why this difference occurs.

Week6: My Introduction of the Essay

Hi all,

Today I am providing the introduction of my paper. I am wondering if I can finish writing 1 to 2 section(s) by Wednesday but anyways I will make an effort~ Have a good day :)

RW

Ken, Enochs

171144

Yu Ito

28, January 2015

Introduction

Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care - Theodore Roosevelt

              Although many of us are taught and are encouraged to empathize with others in daily life, it seems that the notion of empathy is likely to be underestimated in business context. Especially when we think about leadership skill, the ability to empathize others is frequently undervalued or even ignored for a long time. However, empathy is actually one of the most important leadership skills and more and more researches have shown that empathy would be a key, essential ability for successful leaders (Reiche). Moreover considering recent world’s circumstances, where many people from various cultural backgrounds work together, it will be deduced that leaders need to notice the differences between cultures and what is more, it will be required for them to empathize those who have various cultures in order to accomplish a goal as well. Thus, successful leaders should cultivate empathy but this is not sufficient for them; leaders ought to be aware of cultural diversity in an organization and therefore, they should acquire cultural empathy for the success in today’s globalization era.

The purpose of this paper will be to examine how and why empathy, and especially cultural empathy is required for a successful leader in today’s global context. This paper will be divided two sections, that is, empathy and cultural empathy. First, it will begin with an explanation of the concept of empathy, and then it will analyze the reasons why leaders need to have an empathy for others. After that, it will provide an example of a leader who succeeded to empathize his workers and eventually led to a goal. Then it will turn to cultural empathy section. It will define the term of cultural empathy and provide the reasons why cultural empathy is related to the successful leadership. Finally it will introduce Carlos Ghosn as the model of a successful leader who cultivated cultural empathy fully.

Week5: Summary and Reaction of Chapter7 L@E

Strategy7: Master conflict – deal with anger in small doses, engage dissidents, and avoid needless power struggles.

Hi all. I am, as usual, giving a summary and showing my impression about Chapter7 in this post. This chapter mainly explains how to manage conflict effectively, and it is divided into 3 sections, namely, “Deal with Anger in Small Doses”, “Engage Dissidents”, and “Avoid Needless Power Struggles” as in the strategy. I am, first, making a summary on this chapter and then writing what I felt though reading it. AND, at the bottom of this post, I put an invitation to our club’s performance held on Monday (1/26), so please check it out!

“Deal with Anger in Small Doses”

Conflicts can be seen in every single organization, and it is highly likely to be hidden in today’s cooperate culture. This section, however, argues that conflicts should be solved in direct way and in small doses. This is because, first, we cannot face the problems if the conflicts is underground. Second, it is possible that the conflicts will be expressed in other ways such as sabotage. And finally, conflicts can escalate into disastrous result which nobody can control if the conflicts is not expressed.

              So how can we deal with conflicts effectively? According to the book, there are 2 steps in managing conflicts. One is understanding and internalizing conflicts, and paying attention that the conflicts do not become exclusive mutually. The other is establish an environment in which all team members are encouraged to state their opinions and to identify the problems which is should resolved easily. For the second step, the author introduces his idea of using a metaphor as well. Moreover, from the Shckleton’s examples, it will be said that allowing other members to release small stress can prevent major, serious conflicts.

“Engage Dissidents”

Oftentimes, we tend to avoid or even ignored those who irritate others or those who cause others a trouble. According to this section, however, the successful leaders act in opposite way. That is, it is better to identify the troublemakers, take an action before any trouble happens, keep them close to you, respect them as well as other members, allow them to be involved in decision making process, and refrain from slandering them and at the same time, maintain your opinions in your mind. The author suggests that leaders also need to set a limit, or in other words, leaders are not required to permit all behaviors or attitudes of the troublemakers.

“Avoid Needless Power Struggles”

We need to understand which conflicts should we face and which conflicts should not. To put it another way, we can wait to resolve conflicts until we are prepared for them. Otherwise, it can cause escalate the conflicts more. Therefore, we ought to find out whether we will face the problems or not.

Reaction

I want to express my brief impression here. I was really surprised when I read “Avoid Needless Power Struggles” section. This is because this section remind me of my experience in the high school. I, as I wrote previous posts, was a leader of the percussion part in the brass band club, and I faced some conflicts in our part. As I encountered a trouble, I tried to manage it immediately. And obviously, sometimes I found that it just escalated the problem further. Now I realized that I should have waited until I (and of course others as well) was (were) prepared for the conflict. Thus I will keep it mind that there is an option to wait a while when I confront conflicts.

Invitation

There will be Winter Live “BANDA LAMBS ~Ação~” by LAMBS on Monday (1/26)!!

Ação means action in English and we will perform various kinds of Brazilian music as well as Samba!! It starts at 19:00 at Tamoku hall (a hall in Shin-D). Although you may have mid-term papers or exams, I am so sure that you will enjoy our performance! Feel free to come :)

p.s. It is FOR FREE