Name: Peter Lim

ITOM (MTh 4:30 – 6:00)

Chapter 14: Essentials of Leadership

Leadership is a common word for all of us and we tend to compare leaders with the
images of well-known people. Some may compare it positively, some are negative. In this
chapter, we will be able to see what leaders are inside an organization. I personally learned what
their motives are and it really is different from the definition of a “leader”, that I know.
The first concept that I want to highlight is the relation between leadership and power. In
this chapter, power is broken down into two main categories namely: position power and
personal power. In this segment, position power is broken down into parts wherein managers can
offer three things to others: rewards, coercion and legitimacy. For a better understanding, a
manager can say “If you do this, I will give you a reward”, “If you don’t do this, I will punish
you”, or “Do this because I am the boss”. Moving on, position power alone is not enough for a
manager. This is why there is a second category called personal power. To summarize this
category, there are two main things that are highlighted which are: reference and expertise. These
two serves as a basis on how people look at managers. In other words, a manager can be viewed
as someone who possesses specialized knowledge and information, and someone whom others
like to identify.
The second concept are leadership behaviors. Based on my own knowledge, success can
be connected on how leaders behave and act. In this concept, there are two identified types of
behaviors which are: a leader high in concern for task and a leader high in concern for people. In
summary, a leader may behave in such a way that he/she is more of an objective thinker, which
focuses more on plans and task definition, or more of a people-oriented person, which acts with
warmth towards his employees/followers. When these two behaviors are present inside the
leader, then the organization would have a better flow of tasks because of the good
communication produced between the leader and his/her followers.
One personal experience that I can share is being a leader of a small group back in High
School. Back then, I was the manipulative type of leader because I did not and cannot trust
others in doing their tasks. My mindset was “I do not want them to do their own work because
the grade I might get is low because of their capabilities”. It was a wrong mindset because as a
team, we must work together and the communication between the members of the group and the
leader is very unhealthy. Instead of helping each other, I did all the work by myself and I faked
all their contributions. Even though I got the grade I want, they were not able to learn a single
thing throughout the activity. In other words, the goals and objectives of the team were met; but
the process was filled with flaws and if it kept repeating again and again, the team will soon fail
because the leader was not able to do his role.
 Another experience I can share is the work of my dad. There were times wherein he
managed multiple teams in the Operations area of his company. His way of leading people were
very lenient and objective as well. For me, he is a Democratic leader because building
relationships is one of the key components of succeeding in tasks. After all, if you do not have
good relationships between the people in your work, then problems will be worse if conflicts
arise inside your area.
One thing I learned from this chapter is that a leader is not always the bad image that we
are thinking of. Sometimes I too compare the real definition of becoming a leader to a negative
image that came from history. A leader is someone who guides the whole team towards one
common goal. Just like from my personal experience, I took all the work by myself without
seeking help from my groupmates nor working together. Even though the goals and objectives
were met, no relationships were formed. In the end, there were not any benefits from the actions
taken by the leader.
In relation to the past chapter namely “Human Resource Management”, it is not only just
hiring the right people and putting them in the right place, it is also by maintaining and
supporting them along the way. Even though people are comfortable about their work, they still
need the guidance of someone that could initiate healthy communication between different
people. In addition to this, one personal problem I faced was that being the “too kind” leader
spoils some people. They abuse your leniency and produces faulty results.
From my past personal experiences, I changed the way I handle the role of being a leader
by simply forming connections between the members. The time pressure for decision making
may be high, the pressure for achieving objectives may be stressful; but with the use of
leadership skills and the application of the succeeding chapter namely “Teams and Teamwork”,
it will flow smoothly because of good communication skills. As said in chapter 17, which tackles
about teamwork, teammates can be frustrating and inspirational at the same time. They can
accomplish great things or simply bring the team down. Since there is a leader/team
leader/manager, his/her job is to make sure that everything flows smoothly.
In summary of my whole learning, being a leader takes a lot of hard work and experience.
At first, your perspective of a leader is someone who controls; but the right idea is that he/she
does not only control but he/she inspires the workers or the people under him/her to accomplish
their tasks. Leadership is one of the most important roles inside the company, since it is also one
of the four functions that contribute to the management process. Being a leader is not just all
about controlling and manipulating, it is also about building enthusiasm, communicating the
vision, working together towards one common goal and commitment.