Manager Was a Person Who

¶ … manager was a person who was highly organized and a skilled motivator. You always felt good doing work for this person, even when this work was difficult. The least favorite manager was the opposite, somebody who could convince you that your good work was actually something tedious and unnecessary. In the military, you must do some unpleasant tasks at times. Having a manager that would instill in the team the confidence that even the worst task was an important component of a greater mission -- even when that mission is unknown -- was to me the sign of a great leader. Both leaders organized in a similar way and the tasks we performed were similar, but one simply had more ability to instill confidence and a sense of unity among the group while the other made our work seem relatively pointless in comparison.

DQ2. The tasks at the shop are largely routine, although they vary from customer to customer. The subordinates are generally experienced and competent. The environment is positive and the leader has a high trust relationship with his workers. Alan has a task-focused leadership style where he schedules the workers with an eye to optimizing the effectiveness of the shop in terms of customer output. This type of leadership is appropriate for this situation. Alan does not need to be wholly directive beyond the scheduling as the mechanics are sufficiently experienced to make their own decisions about the best methods of doing the job. Cognitive resource theory predicts Alan's behavior well. His own experience is irrelevant for simple tasks, yet his experience is important when stressful conditions arise. He only contributes when he takes a directive role, for example in scheduling.

DQ3. A desirable vision should have a number of traits. The vision should be clear and realistic. The vision should contain a path by which it can be achieved and be relevant to the context of the organization. The vision should also provide a sense of motivation for the employees. In my experience, vision comes from the top down. Vision has been a successful guideline by which decisions are made. For the most part, the vision is broad and there is some room for interpretation, but most of the major strategy I have seen has come from the broad vision.

DQ4. There are a number of factors that determine team performance. The abilities of the team members play a role -- if the team members are incapable of achieving the objectives the team will fail. The team's cohesion and ability to communicate with each other is another factor. Having clearly delineated roles is another factor. Homogeneity can be a helping or hindering factor -- too much may lead to groupthink and narrow-mindedness, too little may lead to conflict. It is important for self-managed teams to have strong leadership roles to help keep the team on track. This includes fundamental managerial skills such as measuring, analyzing and correcting. Leaders can improve team cohesiveness by making strong team selections, by identifying leaders within the team and by periodically evaluating team performance.