Apartment Complex Parking Issues

The change challenge I recently faced involved my neighborhood. I live in an apartment complex that is a block away from a bar which recently changed ownership. After the change in ownership the bar became very popular and was regularly attended by numerous patrons. The problem was that these patrons would take the parking spaces assigned for residents in the building, and all the other spaces within a six block radius every night of the weekend the bar was open. The major problem was the residents of my complex had to look for parking far away and were displaced from the spaces supposedly reserved for them. This issue became all the more delicate because of the landlord's role in it. He had previously met with the new owners to discuss any concerns regarding the loud music they played inside and outside of it. As such, he was perceived throughout the building as having been aligned with the club and insensitive to the needs of his tenants. Moreover, the building parking spaces are accompanied by signage stating that non-resident vehicles will be towed from those spaces. However, this policy was largely unenforced -- primarily due to quiescence on the part of the landlord regarding this matter.

I decided to take a prominent role in the rallying of the tenants to reclaim their parking spaces on nights in which this bar was open for business. Analyzing my role in this matter, it becomes clear that I utilized a transformation leadership style to gain the support of my peers and reach a modest degree of success in regaining our parking spots. There were several reasons the transformational approach was effective in helping us to achieve our goals. Firstly, the objective of my leadership efforts was to produce a change, which is one of the core tenets of transformational leadership (Langston, 2009). That change was manifested in the securing of tenement parking spots from club patrons attempting to take them. But it also reflected a deeper change within the apartment complex community. Previously, the complex had merely functioned as a collection of disparate individuals who happened to live together. There was no solidarity among the tenants -- except for on a very impersonal, amicable basis. My efforts were able to unite the complex under a common cause and get it to consider the effect that such solidarity has on addressing whatever grievances affect all of the tenants. This was the larger change I was able to produce, and it occurred because I was able to rally the tenants around this particular issue.

It is critical to discern exactly how the nature of this change coincided with some of the core attributes of transformational leadership. The change I was able to produce got my neighbors to effectively consider a higher form of needs as identified by Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Most of the tenants were simply thinking about their basic physiological needs -- defined by Maslow as the bottom rung of his hierarchy (Mathes, 1981, p. 69)-- when they were apathetic and unresponsive to the parking situation. No one wanted to cause any commotion and present any problems with where they lived. However, after I was able to convince them to follow me and assert their rights to park where they lived, they began to think about a higher set of needs defined by Maslow as those pertaining to security and belongingness (Mathes, 1981, p. 69). Therefore, the nature of the change produced was certainly transformational in nature because it cultivated my neighbors to concern themselves with higher needs on Maslow's hierarchy. Compelling others to do so is regarded as one of the chief characteristics of transformational leadership (Mccleskey, 2014, p. 120).

Perhaps more importantly, the transformational style of leadership was effective in this instance because of my specific characteristics as a leader. I have always been told that I am fairly charismatic. Furthermore, I have lived in this complex (which houses approximately 50 residents) for longer than all but six of them. As such, I know the majority of the tenants and, on an individual basis, have always had a good rapport with them. Therefore, I was able to utilize my relationships with people as individuals, in addition to my charisma and admitted charm with some of the male tenants, to get them to believe in my vision. Charisma is an innate characteristic of transformational leadership (Mccleskey, 2014, p. 120).

The vision I presented and which took hold of my neighbors was a relatively simple one, but one that I used to inspire and ultimately motivate them to follow me. I devised the idea that each tenant should write a number on the space in which they usually park. Doing so would allow them to effectively claim that space as their own. I also took the initiative to print out computer generated replicas of those numbers which tenants could put on their dashboards and which one could view through their windshields. I disseminate these numeric replications to everyone who expressed interest in my program. Armed with this vision, I was able to get tenants to believe that they could not only prove a particular parking spot was theirs, but they could also use it to get the civil authorities to tow any cars that happened to intrude upon their respective parking spots.

My overall conviction with the tenants was aided by a number of additional integral aspects of transformational leadership One of the chief obstacles I had to overcome pertained to the general apathy of many of the tenants, several of which were foreigners to the country. They were not property owners and were not used to protesting or doing anything to change their circumstances which they did not like -- other than go somewhere else. I used my savvy as a writer and a natural proclivity to communicate effectively with others to change this facet of them. The tool I used was a complex-wide letter in which I was able to appeal to them via the cogency of my vision. I emphasized the fact that I was a tenant just like them, and discussed how inconvenient and arduous it was to attempt to locate a parking spot several blocks away late at night because outsiders had taken all the available spaces. Eventually, the landlord informed the police about the situation and they began towing the vehicles which were wrongfully parked in the spaces of residents.

Considering how natural it was for me to utilize a transformational style of leadership, I also realized that I employed a trait approach as well which coincided with the former. Some of the more salient features associated with the trait theory of leadership include gender, personality, and intelligence (Derue et al., 2011, p. 7). As previously mentioned, I have always been charismatic which is one of the more distinguishable facets of my personality. Viewed from this perspective, the way I was able to compel others to listen to me and actually follow my leadership pertains to transformational leadership as well as trait leadership theory. Furthermore, I am convinced my intelligence was a factor in getting others to seriously consider my proposal and to allow me to act on their widely unvoiced concerns. The letter I dissmeinated to the tenants stating our collective concerns and the idea about claiming individual parking spots associated with a specific number attests to this particular trait of mine.

Still, in a situation as unorthodox as this one, there are certain other characteristics I demonstrated that indicated that trait theory was responsible for my success. In fact, some of these attributes attest to the fact that trait theory was even responsible for the leadership role I volunteered for. Some of the preeminent traits associated with leaders include "drive, the desire to lead" and "self-confidence" (Germaine, 2008). All three of these traits were demonstrated by my actions in this situation, since it was entirely voluntary on my part. I was the one who organized my neighbors, and demonstrated the alacrity to present a unified response to the club's patrons. I largely believe part of my success is attributed to the fact that on some level, my neighbors realized these traits about me and even believed in them.

Additionally, it seems as though these traits of mine were able to motivate others -- my followers-- to manifest some of these same qualities. The fact that they were able to progress through Maslow's hierarchy of needs certainly suggests as much. They went from merely caring about their physiological needs to have shelter to attempting to solidify their sense of belonging and security of having a place to park as well. Doing so requires confidence and drive which they were able to perceive in my actions and, ultimately, mimic.