This course has benefited us in various ways, equipping us with the knowledge and skills necessary to lead and manage organizations, departments, divisions, or even teams. The course materials have been coherently spelled out by the professor, who has helped us demonstrate the interrelatedness of leadership and management. The course material has helped introduce thought-provoking ideas on what it takes to lead a positive change and promotes our intellectual efforts as well. My classmates have been wonderful students pursuing different professions, with most of them working full-time and having families. This has taught me the value of hard work, resilience, and determination in life.
The introduction of chapter 10 from the material “developing management skills” by Whetten & Cameroon (2016) endowed us with the knowledge to create and leading a positive change in an organization. This provided us with the know-how and skills to help us develop and mobilize the capability of achieving a positive change in modern and real-life corporations’ problems. Chapter 10, according to Whetten & Cameroon (2016), asserts that to effectively lead a positive change and achieve an organization’s goals and objectives, there are five basic management skills and activities to apply.
The first skill is the establishment of a climate that emphasizes and reinforces positivity. This skill helped us foster a compassionate, forgiving, and grateful climate and create a positively energized network of people in our personal lives and work environment for a better self. The second skill obtained is in creating a readiness for change, which helped us understand the importance of urgency for change, the standards to use when comparing our performance with that of others, and ways to create and foster a new language.
The third skill learned from the course material by the professor was articulating a vision of abundance. This was taught through effective discussions in the class as the groups ascertained that a vision of abundance has an enduring impact on the organization. The fourth management skill taught was on generating commitment to the articulated vision of abundance. This helped us stay committed to the vision and adapt it as our own in academic and professional environments. The last skill is on fostering sustainability of the positive change to be executed. In this course material, as most of the students were working, each student’s opinion and work experience in management was aired. Discussions and individual assessments helped us improve our performance.
My favorite discussion experience was the video by Ted: How to Speak so that people want to Listen. This helped me greatly in my personal life as well as my social and professional life. It was entertaining and elicited knowledge as well when Ted (2015) introduced the habits that we need to move away from when communicating. The video also taught the powerful cornerstones to help make a change in the world using the acronym HAIL. Different students’ guesses were first allowed before the Professor explained what the acronym stood for. A toolbox illusion was given to explain the concept of voice when speaking. A discussion and practice were on the concept of register, prosody, pace, volume, pitch, and timbre when talking.
My interactions with the course material and video were educative, and my experience was amazing. I am grateful to my classmates, whose self-determination and dedication in their work, studies, and family life were iconic to me. I am grateful to the professor for helping us go through the materials in an articulative yet easy way and giving us a cheer. Thank you, everyone, and I wish you good luck.
References
Ted. (2015). How to speak so that people want to listen. [Video]. YouTube. Web.
Whetten, D., & Cameron, K. (2016). Developing management skills. Pearson