Leadership Exercises

Leadership Profile Exercise 5-3 There are a number of leadership issues I have witnessed in the past. First, in a firm I used to work in, there were strategy and marketing decisions made that I definitely did not agree with. Using social media and web 2.0 tools for marketing is a vastly successful and cost effective marketing strategy (). It can help a business get out marketing campaigns cheaply and easily, while also building networks between potential clients and other strategic relationships.

However, some businesses have been slow to adapt to such new and innovative trends. In one firm I worked in, management made it quite clear they did not want employees using any sort of social networking to promote business operations. This was based on the idea that it was not as an effective technique that more traditional and costly campaign methods, like direct mail and print marketing. Thus, social media marketing was highly discouraged.

Ultimately, I would have encouraged employees to network and advertise on their own brand-tailored social media networks. This does not mean allowing employees to surf the web for personal reasons, but a company driven approach to already established networks that would benefit the business. The second leadership issue I encountered in the past was when I worked in a small, family-run firm. There were a number of employees who had direct relationships to the owner. Several of the workers there were actually the children, nieces and nephews, and other relatives.

It made the job very fun to work in because of the relaxed family environment that created the organizational culture. Yet, the style of leadership used by the management often suffered because of the tendency for family relationships to outweigh work relationships, resulting in the isolation of non-family member employees. Often times, family and business identities are blurred within the context of family businesses.

According to the research, "culture and other institutional factors, formal and informal, affect the composition of family businesses and the social networks used by family members who are managers" (Stewartt & Hitt, 2011). This can create a situation where family member employees may be treated more informally than other employees. For example, if a family member was late, he or she may get yelled at or scolded, but there were never formal sanctions placed against them.

However, non-family member employees received written warnings and write ups for the same types of offenses. This clearly sends a very disorganized and bias message of leadership. I would have used more formalization for both family and non-family members. This would require a formal standardization of leadership practices, including disciplining, in order to streamline management and create less distance between employees/ Exercise 6-4 In such tough economic times, saving money is a huge necessity.

We often have to look for ways to save money or get the best deals on items that we need. However, there are some situations where saving money may conflict with social or economic ethics. This was one scenario that I recently encountered. I was purchasing groceries at my local grocery store and wanted to pay cash in order to avoid interest on a credit card. I only had larger bills on me, mainly $100s and $50s, but my purchase was only about $14.99.

I apologized to the cashier and handed him the $50 bill. He was young and the store was busy. This made it a little more complicated for him to count out the change, because he was clearly trying to rush himself in order to get through the line faster. Ultimately, he was just trying to be more efficient at his job. When I received the change back, I quickly glanced at it to double check he had not accidently short-changed me. In the contrary, he had actually given me an extra $10.

There was a moment where my mind was excited.