Situational Leadership

Out of all the leadership styles described in chapter 9, the view of leadership that resonates with me most is the situational theory; while the theory that I do not like is trait theory. Trait theory suggests that “leaders are born”, you are born with those skills and that if you are not, then tough luck, you cannot be a leader. I believe that trait definitely does affect our potentials, but of course, it’s always up to our environment and our experiences that can make us a leader as our potential will be fulfilled. The best theory on the other hand, I think is situational theory as it suggest that “appropriate leadership emerges from behavior that is responsive to varied situations” (Eisenberg et. al, 278). It argues that leaders are only good if they can adapt to the situation and use the right style using leadership styles such as selling and delegating.

Communication Imperative

Communication Imperative, according to our web lecture “suggests that we're social beings, compelled to connect and interact with others”. Small groups or organizations do have communication imperative. In my fraternity, we only not use text messages, e-mails, phone-calls, face-to-face conversations, and meetings, for our chapter functions. We even use online social networks to communicate. We also sometimes use them to advertise our fundraisers and philanthropies to get the most turn out. It is true that people do like connecting and interacting with others. Sometimes even, people including myself talk online with someone on the next room or upstairs of where I am.

Virtual and Real Communication

Today’s technology gave humans many ways to communicate other than face-to-face; technologies such as phones, e-mail, audio messaging, and video messaging. Most people call these new technologies as a way of communication as virtual or unreal communication. I disagree. Although they are virtual they are still real communication as the sender of a message sends the message while the receiver receives the message. Even though emotions are not as easy to communicate with those technologies they are still being communicated; it is just harder to understand the message and we sometimes misinterpret it. But that is also the case when communicating face-to-face, we misunderstand people’s messages. I believe both face-to-face and virtual communications have their goods and bads. With face-to-face, it is easier to communicate the message and emotions as you can see who you’re talking to. However, virtual communication for some people can also be easier to communicate some things as they can’t do it in face-to-face conversations.

Group Think

According to Eisenberg et. al, Groupthink occurs when team members go along with, rather than evaluate, the group’s proposals or ideas. Psychologist Irving Janis believes that this can be problematic in team decision making. I totally agree with Dr. Anis, groupthink can be a big problem. In my fraternity, there are times that groupthink occurs. I think this happens when members of an organization becomes too lazy to think for themselves, not confident about themselves so they fear that people won’t listen to them, or don’t care enough. Sometimes, when a respected leader speaks, members listen and sometimes just go along with him or her even though the leader himself or herself asks for their suggestions. I believe everyone can be a victim of groupthink, meaning someone who just go along with what the group thinks. I myself sometimes notice myself agreeing with the decision and then when I think about it realizes I disagree.

Work/Life Conflict

According to Eisenberg et. al, work/life conflict “refers to the simultaneous influence of work on members’ lives away from work – at home, at leisure, and in families and communities – and the influence of personal life responsibilities and aspirations on member’ experiences at work. Work, either wanted or not, is a big part of someone’s life, especially when he or she works with long hours. Workers spend so much time at work that their experiences there affects who them and can be a big influence on them. At the same time life outside of work affects how someone acts at work. Sometimes, people have different “roles” with their family, friends, and work. Someone that is very nice and calm with family and friends have to be aggressive and hot headed with work as a police officer. Sometimes those roles conflict with who they really are and that it affects both work and family and sometimes they do the wrong role at the wrong situation.

Metaphor

In the online lecture Metaphor and Culture, Prof. Coopman explained metaphor by giving the love example, which gave me a better understanding of what a metaphor is and how people use it in their everyday lives. You can use metaphor to describe your company and create or influence a culture influenced by that metaphor. You can describe your company as a person, where personal development is emphasized which gives the idea that the company and its members can always grow to be better. You can also describe your company as a journey as well, a journey to the top which gives the idea that the company is not the best right now but it is on the right track and we should get to our destination (which is the top) by working harder and being more effective.

Hegemony

Hegemony is the term used for the dominance of one group over another: the dominant and the oppressed. According to the lecture online from Prof. Coopman, hegemony are constructed by both parties as not only that the dominant take advantage of the “power relationship”, but the “oppressed accept and contribute to their oppression”. This concept is real. In organizations, there is always a power hierarchy and that dominant people take advantage and oppressed people just “reify” things and “take things as they are”. This do happen a lot in the workplace as the employees rarely ask questions about the management and its decisions.

Reification

Although it makes sense, reification is a concept that I have never heard of. According to Eisenberg et al., Reification “refers to the process whereby socially constructed meanings come to be perceived and experienced as real, objective, and fixed, such that members “forget” their participation in the construction of those meanings”. This happens a lot with culture in general, not just in organizations. People forget that cultures are socially constructed, they are not “just the way they are”. An example of this in an organization is when in the history of a certain company, the CEO have always been a guy, the women in the company gave up their dreams to be the companies CEO as being a CEO is impossible as only guys can be CEO’s. Those women unaware of the constructed issue, did not realize how they also participated in constructing it.

Socialization

Socialization as defined by Eisenberg et al., is “a process by which people learn the rules, norms, and expectations of a culture over time and thereby become members of that culture”. Considering that I am majoring in Behavioral Science and Psychology, I know a lot about socialization. I am aware that organizations have their culture and that they are to be changed as members come and go. However, I have never come across a theory about organizational culture such as of the cultural approach which focuses on organizational socialization. The three parts of organization socialization in the cultural approach gives us a better understanding of the topic; there are anticipatory socialization, organizational assimilation, and organizational turning points.

Socialization is one of the concepts I am most aware of. As in every culture, every group, for it be country, state, school, fraternity, family, or other groups, there are always a culture and that they always change as a culture is made, kept, and changed by its members and often outside influences. I belong to many groups such as my Filipino family, American society, and my fraternity so I am always reminded by the difference and similarities between the cultures.

Interdependence

A major concept of systems theory is interdependence. Everything is connected to each other. Everything we do affects other people and the people that will be born in the future; while others’ action can affect us as well. However, your effect in other people’s life does not end in your “death”, it goes on and on as the effect you did to others will affect others, and so on and so forth. You’re ideas, emotions, and physical doings, affect people continuously.

A great example of this concept is a book called The Five People You Meet in Heaven, by Mitch Albom. The book shows how the main character’s actions affect others and others’ actions affect his life. I think as people, we need to be aware of this concept that what we do affect others more than we think, and we affect more people than we normally think.

Systems Theory

Last semester, during Spring of 2009, I took an anthropology class called “Behavioral Systems” by Prof. William Reckmeyer. The main topic of the class is about systems theory and how it is related to human behavior. I learned a lot in the class and I still am aware of what I have learned. A system is a whole, which is composed of parts that are called subsystems (which can be a system of their own). Let’s use the United States’ country system for example. The United States is the whole system, and its subsystems are region (north America and south America), states (California, Arizona, etc) which has counties, which has cities, which has streets, and so forth. All those subsystems can be the whole system and have parts that can be subsystems as well. Even the smaller things can be a whole system as well, such as the nervous system. Knowing this makes you think of things at a bigger scale; “looking at the bigger picture”. So with the class I learned how to look at the bigger picture with a lot of my actions.

Systems theory has many parts in it. With the class, we talked about many concepts and it will take a lot to talk about all of them. So I also wrote about another major concept of the systems theory, which is the idea of “interconnectedness”, which I will talk about in my second blog as it requires more explanation.

Theory X and Theory Y

Theory X and Theory Y, theories about human motivation were discovered by Douglas McGregor. In Theory X, managers assume that employees are simply lazy and unmotivated that they will avoid work if possible. Employees do not like work and they just do it for the money as it is necessary. Theory X managers will normally use threats to persuade their employees to do their job right. Theory X managers put all the blame to his or her employees when they do not perform well. In Theory Y on the hand, managers assume that employees are motivated and career driven. Employees like their job and enjoy doing it as it challenges them mentally and/or physically. This kind of employees loves responsibilities (that they can handle) as performing in their job well means something to them. Theory Y managers motivate their employees by giving promotions, recognitions, bonuses, and anything positive that employees love to get.

I believe that Theory Y is a far better technique in motivating employees. I myself will probably be a Theory Y manager if I do become a manager one day. I believe that rewarding positive performance is way better than punishing bad performance or no performance. With this theory, employees want to do a good job and will end up having good relationship with the manager, and the more likely the job will get done the right way.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

In some of my psychology classes, we talk about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. According to Maslow, we human beings have basic needs and that these needs have a hierarchy where certain needs are more important than the other. This is the order of needs that we humans have to fulfill: biological / physiological needs (food, water, clothing), safety needs (shelter, security), love needs (sense of belongingness, affection), self-esteem needs (status, confidence). The last need that only few people actually achieve is self-actualization as in order to achieve it, you have to achieve the first four needs.

I have encountered many theories about humans. Many are amazing; others are too far-fetched and do not make sense (at least to me). Many of these psychological theories are disproved or became unpopular because of its unlikelihood to be true. Such theory is Freud’s theories about children and their Oedipus and Electra complex. Maslow on the other hand, although it was discovered more than half a century ago, is still relevant and seems to be true today.

In the workplace and management operations, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is also being used as it is a theory of motivation. Managers use the theory to motivate their employees to do well on their jobs. Employees look at their needs (mainly security, shelter, food) first with work. Because of this, the main attraction of work is the money (for house mortgage, food, etc). Some employers’ uses other needs such self-esteem (with promotions for status) to entice their employees. Indeed, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is still useful.

Introduction

Hello ladies and gentleman. My name is Earl Villorente. This is my first time in this website. I made an account in this website for an online class (COMM 144) at San Jose State University. The class is called Organizatonial Communication. Our first assignment is to talk about our history in the workplace. First and foremost, I wasn't born in the U.S. I was born in the Philippines and moved here when I was 16. My first job was at Jamba Juice. It was an okay job but I hated the work. my second job was in Canada College working as a Math (Algebra, Trigonometry, and Statistics) and ESL tutor. It was fun, easy, and rewarding. Believe it or not, I even got tips (money) on every meeting by one of my students. Third and latest job I had, was in a business called Vector Marketing. I was a salesperson selling knives. With this job, I learned a lot and earned quite a lot of money for the time I spent for it. But I ran out of leads so no business is coming to me. Also, the job is very fulfilling as selling knives isn't really influential nor does it make a difference in someone's life (except for the fact that you have sharp but expensive knives).

Just to mention, my major is Behavioral Science and Psychology (Double Major). I am also minoring, in two areas: Communications Studies and Spanish. My dream job is unknown even to me. All I know is that I want to be surrounded with people and work with them and for them. One of the jobs that I will be okay at will be a teacher since you can make a big difference in your students lives depending on the class you're teaching and how you approach it.

Anyway, this is quite long for a first blog isn't it. So yea, this is me, Earl Villorente.