Management Perspective
Management entails organization, planning, and coordination of tasks and people to achieve some set goals. A manager is an individual tasked to work with people and guide them towards achieving organization goals and objectives. Over time the definition of management has become less precise because managers keep taking up a wide range of roles including controlling, leading, motivating and communicating among others ( Albrecht & Bakker et. al., 2015 ). Therefore, becoming an effective manager requires one to know the various personalities of people they are working with, leadership styles, effective communication, motivation and decision-making. In a typical organization, levels of management fall into three distinct categories: Top level, middle level and low level.
Interviewee
For this paper, I interviewed Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Margina Escobar. Escobar has vast experience in management having worked in different capacities such as Business Manager, Director of Financial Services and is presently serving as a Chief Financial Officer (CFO). On top of her experience, she has advanced education in management with a Master’s degree in Public Administration (MPA). Escobar has demonstrated effective leadership in several positions and continually updates herself with the latest practices through conferences, listening to TED talks and reading current news on management and finance.
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Leadership
Leadership is generally a way of influencing people towards a common goal. The terms leader and manager are used interchangeably to refer to those individuals who hold positions of authority in a company although there are actual distinctions between them. Kotter & Cohen (2014) distinguished management from leadership by stating that leadership is about causing change whereas management involves dealing with complex issues and that leadership is an essential part of management yet both good leadership and effective management are key in optimal organizational performance (Kotter & Cohen, 2014).
A number of traits such as honesty, intelligence, ambition, self-confidence and enthusiasm are identifiable in good leaders. Even if all the desirable traits are helpful, not all people who have them turn out to be good leaders. Apart from traits, leaders also possess some skills or competencies which they acquire during experience or training hence they vary depending on the number of people being led, the leader’s natural values, and organizational background (Albrecht & Bakker et. al., 2015). There are also different leadership styles such as laissez-faire, dictatorship, autocratic, democratic and participative.
Path-Goal Theory
I can relate Escobar’s take on leadership with the Path-Goal Theory because she expressed her disappointment with leaders who get too engaged with roles they would have delegated hence failing to lead effectively. Leaders who perform duties meant for other employees weaken their teams as they block others from doing their duties. The Path-Goal Theory is important to reduce and avoid such instances as it describes how leaders should support and guide their teams towards achieving their goals. Leaders clarify procedures for attaining the desired results, minimize hindrances and offer rewards to motivate the subjects in their course of duty to improve the outcome. When leaders apply this theory, they are unlikely to be lost into roles meant for their followers and they become more effective ( Hirt, 2016 ).
Personality
The more managers understand personalities of their team members, the easier it becomes to engage and inspire them. Different personalities produce the most desirable effects when they complement each other and result into problems when they conflict. Hence, it is imperative for managers to learn personalities and identify those that conflict so that they can come up with effective means of dealing with them. Learning personalities can be done by closely observing employees, conducting personality tests and integrating personality education into the organization’s talent management approach.
There are at least six types of personalities noticeable in every working place: introversion, judging, thinking, perceiving, extraversion and feeling (Robbins, De Cenzo & Coulter, 2015). The judging employees are mostly very organized, ambitious and decisive. They operate with written to-do lists, reminders and timed schedules. On the other hand, people with perceiving personalities are open-minded and spontaneous who easily adapt to unforeseen situations. Extraverts are energetic and lively. They are the kind of workers who are always looking for a chance to interact with their colleagues so they thrive in teamwork and brainstorming with group members. In contrast, introverts and focused and reserved who prefer to work independently. Thinkers are rational and analytical employees who like to pay so much attention to the details of a problem and always find ways of increasing their knowledge about their topics of interest while feelers are empathetic, passionate and supportive who are constantly looking for ways of impacting other people through their actions. Identifying the various personalities helps managers to create creative means of motivating them to be productive and reduce conflicts.
John Holland’s Theory of Career Choice
According to Holland, people who choose careers that fit their personality types experience more satisfaction, motivation and are more productive than those whose jobs and personalities do not match (Robbins, De Cenzo & Coulter, 2015). Personality types are broadly classified into realistic, artistic, enterprising, conventional, investigative and social and they have corresponding work environments. When individuals with similar personalities work together, they tend to form an environment that suits them. For instance, when enterprising people work together, they create a business environment which rewards enterprising behavior. Additionally, people consciously or unconsciously seek to work in places where they can use their skills to express their attitudes. Escobar was in a career that matches her personality considering the passion she had since childhood and the gradual success she experienced as she moved from one position to another. However, most people have overlapping personalities so a person should not be tied to look for one job depending on the personality type they think they have. Sometimes, trying different types of careers can unveil how much potential a person has.
Motivation
Motivation can be viewed as a driving force that everyone has although in different extents. For example one might be very energetic to perform a given task whereas another person is hardly interested in doing the same task. Often times, managers find it challenging to motivate employees because it is has to come from within a person and depends on personal needs, the capacity of a person to make decisions for satisfying their needs as well as the surroundings created by management to facilitate meeting the needs. A number of theories have been put forward to explain motivation because of its complex nature. Some of them include the Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory, Herzberg’s Two-factor Theory, Alderfer’s ERG Theory and McClelland’s Acquired Needs Theory (Robbins, De Cenzo & Coulter, 2015). The most basic model for understanding individual needs is known as content theory which explains the precise factors that influence a person’s motivation. The content theory classifies individual needs into primary and secondary needs. Primary ones include food, water, and sleep while secondary needs are psychological such as love, power and achievement.
Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory
Abraham Maslow is popular for his five levels of needs which are arranged in order of their importance and urgency. At the most basic level are physiological needs like food and shelter, the next are safety needs either physical safety or job security, and then social needs such as desire to belong. Esteem needs include self-respect and class while the highest level comprises self-actualization needs. The needs are usually presented in hierarchy because according to Maslow, the needs on the lower levels must be met before those in the upper levels. Besides, the first four needs are known as deficiency needs and the top most is called being needs. Deficiency needs exist as a result of deprivation and they motivate people when they are not met. The longer the period taken to realize these needs, the more the motivation. For instance, a person becomes more exhausted as they stay for longer hours without sleep. Meeting one of the deficiency needs leads a person to direct their efforts towards realizing the next higher need ( Einstein, Addams, & Roosevelt, 2016 ). Growth needs are not as a result of any deprivation but a personal desire to grow. Once a person achieves the needs of growth, they are at the self-actualization level where they feel accomplished and can even take frequent breaks from work or routine duties to rest and enjoy luxurious facilities. Every person’s desire is to move up the hierarchy and we all have the capacity but unfortunately some life events like loss of a spouse may delay the time taken to meet one need and hence move to the next.
Managers can use the Maslow’s theory to understand the needs of their employees and so award them with what they would consider valuable. For instance, a casual laborer who toils for basic needs can be awarded with increased wages to help them access better food or purchase clothing. This kind of motivation might be effective for the casual laborer but not for the chief executive officer who has met all his deficiency needs. Therefore, the top-level employees can be better motivated with get-away holidays to lavish destinations because those are their motivating needs. Furthermore, safety needs can be met by offering contracts that will give employees job security and promoting a conducive environment for them to work in ( Einstein, Addams & Roosevelt, 2016 ). Social needs can be addressed by scheduling team meetings where the members can participate in making decisions or solving issues that affect them or conducting team-building activities for organization members to celebrate periodical achievements. Lastly, recognizing the importance of each team member in a project, and assigning roles is an excellent way of enhancing achievement of esteem needs.
Communication
Communication is unquestionably the greatest determinant of how well an organization performs (Robbins, De Cenzo & Coulter, 2015). Communication is defined as the exchange of messages, ideas and information in form of writing, speech or signals. Disruption of communication in an organization results into delays, or breakdown of some systems whereas timely and accurate communication leads to a responsive and effective organization. There are four key reasons why good communication is critical for an organization: It represents power, it is the primary means of obtaining and sharing information, it creates a link between the management and employees and it is the most time-consuming role of a manager. It would be impossible to make decisions, negotiate with clients, handle conflict or lead without communication.
Communication in an organizational setting takes place downwards, upwards or horizontally. Downward communication is that which information moves from higher levels of management towards the lower levels and mostly entail delegations, plans, performance feedback and training (Robbins, De Cenzo & Coulter, 2015). On the contrast, in upward communication, information moves from the lower cadres to the higher ranks with messages of requests, reports and complaints. Horizontal communication entails movement of information from one person to another in the same level. For example, branch managers exchanging ideas or discussing a common problem in their areas of management. My interviewee, Escobar is a role model in demonstrating the role of communication because she stated that she believes in speaking to her managers out rightly about their weaknesses so that they can improve. In her words, “But I am straightforward with leaders and professionally and kindly point it out since people cannot change what they do not know.” Clearly, communication is the best approach towards solving issues and promoting improvement among employees and colleagues.
Decision Making
Whatever happens in an organization is a result of decisions made by a person within that organization regardless of their authority. The most basic illustration is the arrangement of desks in an office which might be determined by the manager or employees of that office and it ultimately determines the productivity of employees. Depending on the situation requiring decisions and availability of accurate information, the whole decision-making process can be instantaneous or take up to even months. The decision-making process generally comprises seven steps: Stating the problem, establishing the limiting factors, creating alternatives, analyzing alternatives, picking the best alternative, applying the decision and forming a system of controlling and evaluating the results. In order for managers to make the right decisions for organizations, they must be provided with supporting resources such as time, supplies, information, personnel and equipment (Robbins, De Cenzo & Coulter, 2015).
Knowledge about leadership, personalities and motivation theories make me understand why people make varying decisions at work. Those people who have leadership traits will often make decisions that influence other people to work towards organizational goals. On the other hand, employees will dedicate themselves to work hard relative to their motivating factors and the rewards they get for their effort. Therefore, if employees re not offered appropriate rewards, if their performance is limited. Above all, communicating is paramount to share the decisions made and enhance their implementation, it is also necessary in understanding the personalities of workers or colleagues as well as motivating others.
Conclusion
In conclusion, through the interview with Escobar and learning from this course, I have learnt that managers require good leadership skills and apply leadership styles that are effective for their followers and the circumstances. Moreover, to be a productive and a satisfied employee, it is important to seek careers that match your personality type. Lastly, application of effective communication enhances interpersonal relationships at work and in the society hence promoting good citizenship.
References
Albrecht, S. L., Bakker, A. B., Gruman, J. A., Macey, W. H., & Saks, A. M. (2015). Employee engagement, human resource management practices and competitive advantage: An integrated approach. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance , 2 (1), 7-35.
Einstein, A., Addams, J., & Roosevelt, E. (2016). Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
Hirt, M. J. K. (2016). Path-Goal Theory of Leadership: Leadership and Public Management. Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance , 1-6.
Kotter, J. P., & Cohen, D. (2014). Change Leadership: The Kotter Collection (5 Books) . Harvard Business Review Press.
Robbins, S. P., De Cenzo, D. A., & Coulter, M. (2015). Fundamentals of management (9th ed.).
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
