Leading Organizations

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1) For my contemporary business leader, I have chosen Billy Beane. Some might not know who Billy Beane is, so here is a quick summary of his career. Beane was the general manager (1997-2015), now a front office executive for the Major League Baseball's Oakland Athletics. He infamously came up with a way to use sabermetrics, or as us commoners know it, statistics and data. To create the best possible baseball team for the cheapest amount of money possible. Author Michael Lewis made Beane and his profound strategy the centerpiece of his 2003 book, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game.Which in 2011, was turned into the filmMoneyball. He was played by Brad Pitt earning him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. So you are probably asking yourself what does this have to do with the 4 elements of leadership in communication? Allow me to explain. In the beginning of Beane's tenure as the Athletics' GM Beane was known to be standoffish around the team. He wouldn't travel with the team, he would barely engage in conversation. Beane learned early on that his, then head scratching theory to winning championships would only go over well if he was able to convince the players to buy in. But once he started to engage and connect with the players, laying out his strategy to them and how they play a role, telling them he believes in them more than themselves, they start responding with higher intensity. After his rocky start from a communication standpoint, Beane quickly gained the confidence of his players. This speaks to his interactivity, inclusion and intentionality 3 of the elements of communication in leadership as described by Groysberg and Slind. But, it does not stop there. The 4th element of communication is established with his assistant general manager, Paul DePodesta. Many experts believe that to be a great leader one must be able to recognize talent and empower those individuals. In the film, Moneyballhis intimacy of communication is depicted perfectly. It is seen throughout the movie, Beane grooms DePodesta, a low level analyst at the time, to use his potential to take the Athletics to a much higher level. Eventually, with Beane's intimate leadership, DePodesta is tasked with much more difficult assignments. While many wouldn't consider Billy Beane an A list business mogul, throughout his career he certainly blossomed into an extremely successful and effective leader with his communication skills and ability to create opportunity for those around him to thrive.

2) In my opinion, truth number 2, there is no best way to lead, is the one that rings most true to me. While having good character, being able to collaborate and being adaptable are all important qualities, not going into situations thinking a one size fits all approach is key. As the article said, each workplace has its own culture with its own way of doing things, so reading these ques and then adapting your leadership style will create the most space for success. For example, having a very strong and hands-on leadership style would not do well in an environment where people are used to autonomy and independent work conditions. My biggest example of this is how Ive helped lead the different groups Ive been in for various projects both in school and at work. Every dynamic has been a bit different meaning the way the group meshes and gets work done is different. Some groups needed a stronger hand in leading while others flow well together and things move along smoothly naturally. I have learned over the years to read peoples personalities and this is usually a good first sign as to what type of leadership a group is going to need and who the strongest leaders are going to be. If I were to add a 6th truth, it would be Leaders inspire and motivate. Often times when hearing people talk about leaders, I hear about how they just completely took over and fired all of these people to just start over and how the company is thriving now. In my opinion, this is very, very rarely needed and a good leader would be able to turn the company around without letting those who grew it go. I was working at a bar when we got bought by a new company which brought in people from corporate to observe. Within a week or so all of the managers and over half of the staff had been fired. The people that were left hadnt been there long enough to help keep things running smoothly and the new managers that were brought in changed so much so quickly that it caused the loss of many regulars. While the previous managers all had their quirks, they created a safer and more fun space for us than the new ones did. Because of that, people were more motivated to work harder which overall created better quality of work and better attitudes.

3) As Allio careful depicted what he believes to be the 5 truths of being a leader those being: Good leaders have good character, There's no best way to lead, Leaders must collaborate, Adaptability makes longevity possible, and Leaders are self-made. Personally I have found that of the those 5 pillars the most impactful is Adaptability makes longevity possible. Adaptability in my mind, is the ability to roll with the punches. An experience I have had with this came a few years ago, when I used to own and operate my own landscaping business. I had a situation where I had a new competing business coming into my area, and doing everything they could to sweep business out from under my feet. The difference between my competitor and I was that I offered higher quality service with far superior customer service. So, through this tumultuous season I made the decision to adapt to the market in order to maintain my customer's loyalty. This was certainly not an easy choice, but nonetheless it was the right choice for the long term outlook of my company. Just as Allio states in the article, "Indeed, helping organizations adapt to change is perhaps the single most important leadership competency." In addition, I feel that the "truth" I selected also ties in with the second "truth"; there's no best way to lead. I believe this correlation is found when change occurs, and adaptability is critical to your success. This adaptability can come from a change in strategy from a business approach, but it may also require a shift in leadership style. Which refers back to the previously mentioned "truth", there's no best way to lead. A 6th "truth" I would add to Allio's list would be "effective leaders are great listeners". Those who are considered effective leaders, in my opinion, have that keen sense of knowing when to listen to their followers. At the end of the day, no follower ever wants to their ideas or opinions to fall on deaf ears. In most cases, when a leader is faced with a challenge they can turn to their followers to gain a better understanding, and decide what angle to attack this challenge from. In my field, I have found that the best way to achieve process improvements, gain higher efficiency, and/or have an overall better work environment, come from those who perform certain tasks on a daily basis, or as we refer to it as the followers.