Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Ogl 200 Paper 6
Ogl 200 Paper 6
For the following questions, be sure to connect to the reading material in your book. This is a writing
assignment, so answers should be written in complete and coherent sentences and paragraphs. Answers
in the A range will refer to the text and fully explain how the concepts learned in the text apply to the
question.
1. Use the chart of defensive and proactive strategies for creating an ethical environment in box
11.3 (page 347) to evaluate your organization. Does your organization have a positive moral
climate? Why or why not?
The organization I chose creates a positive moral climate by first having a code of ethics called
“Business Ethics and Compliance: Standards of Business Ethics”. In this document they lay the
groundwork for ethics in the workplace, as a business, and in the community. They use both defensive
and proactive tactics in terms of moral standards. In terms of proactive tactics, each employee is
encouraged to “model moral behavior” (Hackman, 2013, p. 347) by being honest, holding themselves
accountable and engaging in other moral behaviors. I’ve also noticed with this organization that character
and values are important in the hiring process (Hackman, 2013, p. 347). This organization aims to
provide an environment that is welcoming and inclusive to all, so holding moral values is an important
characteristic of an employee. Some of the defensive tactics used here include “confronting offenders at
the first sign of trouble”, addressing the root cause of destructive behaviors, and having reporting
systems in place for ethical violations (Hackman, 2013, p. 347). These tactics help create a positive moral
climate by establishing clear guidelines for ethical behavior and encouraging employees to engage and
2. Discuss the steps a leader should take during a crisis event. Use an example event to explain the
steps (either make one up or use one of the case studies from the book).
The steps outlined in our book that a leader should take during a crisis are:
1.) Initiate action and coordinate activities: in this stage the leader recognizes the crisis has occurred
and devise a plan to deal with the crisis (Hackman, 2013, p. 422).
2.) Act as a spokesperson: During a crisis it’s important for an individual to step up and speak for the
organization so that information reaching the employees, members, and the public is consistent,
forthright, and to avoid miscommunication and conflicting information (Hackman, 2013, p. 424).
They become the “face and voice” of the organization during a crisis, appearing before their own
3.) Engage in vigilant decision making: Because crisis events are stressful and demanding, the
importance of making unbiased and clear decisions is amplified (Hackman, 2013, p. 426).
4.) Connect with vision and values: During a crisis it’s important for the leader to remind the group of
it’s core values (Hackman, 2013, p. 426). This helps to ensure that operations standards, decisions,
statements and actions are made according to the organization’s values, morals and ethics even
In the Miracle on the Hudson case study, Captain Sully took the first step, initiating action
and coordinating events, shortly after hitting the flock of geese: “he decided to put the plane down
in the Hudson River” (Hackman, 2013, p. 423). His flight attendants stepped up and helped brace
the passengers for impact, also engaging in the first step during a crisis. The case study doesn’t
mention there being a spokesperson, the second step in dealing with a crisis, but I imagine Captain
Sully eventually acted as a spokesperson reporting on the event and how he managed to avoid
tragedy. Although Captain Sully did act as a spokesperson by remaining calm and announcing to
his passenger “We are gunna be in the Hudson” (Hackman, 2013, p. 423). The third step, vigilant
decision making, occurred during the entire event. The captain and his co-pilot made quick and
vigilant decisions in the moment of the safest way to land the plane. The passengers also made
vigilant decisions, “making a human chain to in order to reach a lifeboat that was upside down”,
“carrying children and passing them to parents”, and “[tossing] fellow passengers into rafts”
(Hackman, 2013, p. 424). Captain Sully exemplified the fourth step, upholding core values, by
landing the plane to the best of his ability in a way that prevented injury, and checking that the
1. Take the Perceived Leader Integrity Scale Assessment on page 353 of your book.
a. Report on your scores
I scored a 33 on the PLIS scale.
I also scored it for my most immediate supervisor, my manager, and she scored a 38.
b. Reflect on what these scores reveal about your leadership behaviors and their
effectiveness
I like to think that as a leader I act with integrity all of the time. As I’ve aged, grown,
and gained work experience I’ve learned what it means to lead with integrity. I’ve learned
to hold myself accountable, which helps to avoid throwing my co-workers under the bus or
using them to advance my own career or get myself out of trouble. Besides learning
through experience, I don’t believe in treating people that way, anyway. While Hackman
mentions that “virtues are more ‘caught than taught’” (2013, p. 352), I have to disagree. He
bases this on the fact that behaviors such as honesty, generosity and being just are learned
through observing exemplary leaders (2013, p. 352). I believe I’ve learned these traits from
negative experiences and have responded by developing traits opposite of the negative
ones. Perhaps one impact on these traits was attending a church most of my early life.
Being a part of the church did teach me skills of integrity such as honesty, moderation,
compassion, love and strength, which Hackman mentions Aristotle notes as virtuous traits
c. Describe how you can build on your strengths and address any weaknesses.
conscious of how I direct others and make sure my own actions match my own words. When I was
a barista trainer I would train the new baristas on the importance of shaking our teas. During
other shifts I would not follow that standard and would prepare the tea in the cup without shaking
it. This is one small example of hypocrisy that I caught myself engaging in. Especially since I’m a
leader in our store now, it’s imperative that I lead by example and follow all of the Starbucks
standards.
In terms of my strengths, I plan on continuing to treat others with respect and hold myself
accountable for my own faults and failures. I enjoyed reading Aristotle’s list of virtues for an
exemplary leader which include “courage, moderation, justice, generosity, a mild temper,
truthfulness, and proper judgement” and “love, empathy, compassion, and strength” (Hackman,
2013, 352). Being aware that these are virtues of a good leader, I plan to remain conscious of them
Read The Case of the Missing Cutlery and answer the following questions:
1. Explain how this case illustrates Kevin Allen’s concept of buoyancy.
Kevin Allen explains buoyancy as “floating, because the people you’ve inspired believe you should”
(2014, p. 17). In the first part of the book, the case in which the cutlery is missing, Mr. Allen is able to
establish a connection with his employees when he assures them that they will figure the problem out
together. He continues to build their trust and support as he gathers with them in the cafeteria to
brainstorm on several occasions and remains kind and patient through the process of trying different
methods to repair the silverware. He makes the issue about “us” and not just about him or them; he is on
their team. He also converted Daisy, a vocal resistor, into a catalyst by taking the time to address her
negative (and influential) attitude. When there was a setback, he continued to inspire confidence in his
team to press forward, and remained diligent. Because of his inclusive, confident and caring mentality,
Mr. Allen was able to “reach them” through authenticity and show them that he truly understood them,
an important part of becoming buoyant (Allen, 2014, p. 22). Mr. Allen was able to connect with his
employees by initially realizing their hidden agenda: they wanted to “go home proud of what they had
accomplished” (Allen, 2014, p. 8), and in this particular case, defeat the villain (Allen, 2014, p. 12).
Throughout this process, Mr. Allen was able to connect leveragable assets to his team's hidden agenda;
their wants, needs and values, to the real ambition, the credo and the core (Allen, 2014, p. 24). Overall, his
belief in his team, his personal connection to them, and his compassion led to him becoming a buoyant
leader.
2. Reflect on the case presented in part 1. Was there anything you found particularly
interesting or useful? Anything that surprised you?
What I found interesting about the first part of the book was that Mr. Allen’s response to the
situation made the entire difference in whether or not he became a buoyant leader. There was a small
moment between finding the missing cutlery and addressing his subordinates in which he made an
important decision: the problem was not his or theirs, it was everyone’s (Allen, 2014, p. 7). The second
most important decision he made was to “don his blues” (Allen, 2014, p. 7) and see what a night was like
in the kitchen. I appreciated how Kevin Allen, an assistant manager of Marriott’s in-flight services, was
not beneath experiencing a day in the kitchen. He really became a part of the team by not being afraid to
One thing that surprised me what that Mr. Allen confronting Daisy actually had an impact on her.
Mr. Allen addressing Daisy and telling her, “people will listen to you, Daisy, for good or for bad. It’s really
for you to decide” (Allen, 2014, p. 11) really helped change her perspective on the situation, and really
was the distinguishing difference in the success of solving the mystery of the stains on the cutlery. It
caused me to reflect on how one simple conversation can make the biggest difference. I can only hope to
have success, and muster positive responses from resisters like his in my own future.
3. How could you use the leadership concepts discussed in part 2 of the book in your job
today? Relate these concepts to the other course materials and to your own experiences.
Everything about part 2 in this book can be related back to my current job. My current job, and my
position, was all I thought about while reading this book. At the company I work for, as I’m sure there is
with most corporate companies, there is a push to meet and break sales goals. Outside of the sales goals,
there is also the goal of creating a welcoming, warm environment for customers as well as to create a
connection with each person individually. While the social aspect of the job seems to come more easily to
my co-workers, the balance of meeting sales and customer service goals at the same time has been a
struggle. My focus lately has been to uncover the secret to motivating all of the employees to equally meet
both standards. Becoming a buoyant leader, I believe, is the key to the success of this.
My first goal in understanding my co-workers and what motivates them has been to get to the
roots of their reason for being at our company. Mr. Allen mentions that “buoyancy is a process of
understanding the collective desire of your people, and connecting that desire with your ambitions...”
(2014, p. 22). I want to use this concept to first identify the desires of team individually, and then
examine those desires to draw out the collective ambition of the team. One comment made by Kevin Allen
that stuck out to me in terms of connecting employees with the real ambition was the comment that
“numbers, facts, or figures do not motivate people. Rather, people are enchanted when they have the
chance to create something extraordinary and when the can see clearly the opportunity to participate”
(2014, p. 29-30). While I personally am motivated by numbers, this statement caused me to realize that
not everyone will be. Mr. Allen states a real ambition as “a picture of an exciting future” (2014, p. 30). I
hope to be able to share a picture of an exciting future with my coworkers in the hopes that it mobilizes
Another tool that I plan to utilize at my workplace is recognizing catalysts and converting resisters
(Allen, 2014, p. 40). Our company has rolled out a new initiative in order to improve the customer service
experience. Already I have seen some people take action in implementing the program into their daily
work. On the other hand, before the meeting even occurred I heard “vocal objectors” (Allen, 2014, p. 41)
make negative comments about it, which in turn caused others to speak negatively about it. In terms of
the catalysts, I intend to continue to support them in hopes that they will inspire others on our team.
Aside from celebrating the catalysts, Allen suggest “neutralizing the resistors” by rallying the catalysts
and taking action against the resistors (2014, p. 42). Already I take action to speak up against the
resistors by pointing out the positive components of new initiatives in an attempt to combat negative
objectors. I plan to continue using this method to help set the tone for our work environment, and to
The final piece of Kevin Allen's book that will stay with me and inspire in my journey to become a
buoyant leader was his encouragement in the epilogue: “Do not take no for an answer...no matter what
stands in front of you, leap over it, go around it, or, well, just knock it over. Success belongs to the
References:
Allen, K. (2014). The case of the missing cutlery: a leadership course for the rising star.
Brookline, MA: Bibliomotion.