A640.9.2.RB - Final Project Reflection

A640.9.2.RB - Final Project Reflection

One of the major tasks of this course was the completion of a service-learning project. Using the elements of thought, walk through your thoughts, observations and experiences from the service-learning project and how they relate to the course material.

 

The purpose of the service-learning project paper was to complete a course requirement and to apply the leadership theories we were learning about to a real-life situation. The questions I started with were, “What kind of leadership styles will I find at XPO? How do XPO and Boeing leadership styles differ –if they do at all - and how?  The research I did for this project allowed me to start thinking about the work at XPO differently and already it has taken on a new dimension. I wanted to explore the relationship between XPO and Boeing and its inherent challenges.

The information I gathered for this project came from my volunteer activity at XPO Logistics. The leadership style I most observed was a path-goal leadership theory. XPO is not very nuanced. The work is simple and the instruction and all communication is succinct. XPO is a gigantic tightly run ship because it has to be. XPO has big customers – Boeing being only one of many – and these customers have high expectations. So it was an interesting study to see how these things were accomplished in the short amount of time they actually have to get these huge shipments processed and delivered. My conclusion was that there are several leadership styles prevalent within XPO. It really seemed as though they tried to pair up leadership styles with departments and what those departments are trying to accomplish.

The concepts I used were the leadership styles of servant leader, path-goal leadership, and team leadership. I researched other studies on logistics companies and path-goal leadership theory. Insights that I added to my final paper were just that organizations benefit from the right-sized leadership fit. Innovation is important in logistics so having a strategic leader is important but it is the day-to-day hustle that brings money and a positive or negative reputation to the table. 

I don’t think I had any assumptions coming into this project – or at least the volunteering and what I’d find at XPO. I’d worked in factory and warehouse environments before so I knew a bit about what to expect and what questions I needed to ask. The implications and consequences that I found were that if organizations don’t think carefully about the styles of leadership their leaders exude then they could mismatch styles with needs and create a negative working environment.

My point of view as I went about answering these questions was that of a Boeing employee, woman, basically an outsider in the XPO organization, and with a background in supply chain and warehouse activities. The limitations of my POV were that it had been a while since I worked daily in a warehouse environment and that the shipping and receiving technology could have changed, my limitations were also that because I was an outsider and a Boeing employee that people might not be willing to talk to me or would not behave as they normally would if there wasn’t a stranger observing them.

A640.8.2.RB - Women in Leadership

A640.8.2.RB - Women in Leadership

Sheryl Sandberg’s Ted Talk covers many of the issues and challenges facing women leaders today. Sandberg briefly mentions some topics that companies use (mentoring, flextime and training programs) that she did not discuss in depth in her talk. Evaluate either Sandberg’s discussion of the importance of messages (self-talk and words we share with others) or one of the methods that she did not focus on. Use the elements of thinking to frame your discussion and provide any examples (personal or theoretical) to your explanation.

            Women in Leadership is such a hot-button thing for me. Watching this TED Talk I was nodding my head along with the women in the audience. Working in the aerospace business is mostly about trying to challenge the ideas of yesterday. It’s also about the good ‘ole boys club. In my organization, I can see things just starting to change for the better. Our site leader is a woman. She has a strong personality without being masculine. She is caring and tough. She is a woman in leadership. We need more female leaders who are unafraid of bringing up more females with them. Other explanations for the lack of representation of women in the top levels of management include women having fewer developmental opportunities, having less responsibility in the same jobs as men, having less access to mentors, and being in jobs that do not lead to leadership positions. (Rowe & Guerrero, 2013) Women can be petty and competitive when we should be supportive and collaborative.

            Sheryl also talks about partners being real partners. She says, “I think, as a society, we put more pressure on our boys to succeed than we do on our girls.” This means that we don’t put enough pressure on girls to succeed. We as a society have not adequately challenged our little girls. We give them Barbies with impossible beauty standards and tell them they are sweet princesses but we don’t praise them for being smart or clever. We dress them in pink and tell them to be nice – nice doesn’t challenge their brains and bodies. We have to be equal partners with our men. We have to partner with each other and take up the slack where we can for each other. Mutually and without judgement. In order to do that, we have to make sure that our girls and boys are raised as equals. And that the societal roles of men and women are allowed to evolve. [A]as companies…instate paid paternity policies — it’s worth keeping in mind that a law or on-the-books rule is just the first step in encouraging dads to take time away from work. Just as important are those fathers who are willing to actually use their paid time off; their actions can set a lasting and meaningful precedent for other men, even many years down the road. (Gavett, 2014) If we talk about equality, it means for everyone – men who want to stay home and watch the kids or women who want to run the world. We need to cut down archaic societal norms and expectations for everyone.

            Sheryl talks about sitting at the table. I do this. I always sit at the table, if it’s a room full of managers and I’m just support, I still sit at the table. I don’t worry if there are enough seats for all of the managers, I just sit at the table. I listen and I take notes. My colleagues don’t always do this. To be honest, I do it because it’s easier to hear everything and write when I’m at the table. I didn’t know it was something that is actually helping my career. But now I see how it diminishes them to be sitting on the sidelines when the action is taking place…at the table. Why does this matter? Boy, it matters a lot. Because no one gets to the corner office by sitting on the side, not at the table, and no one gets the promotion if they don't think they deserve their success, or they don't even understand their own success. (Sandberg, n.d.) I don’t always keep my hand raised though. This is something I’m going to do in the future, literally and figuratively. This is excellent advice.

            So yes, women in leadership is a very hot-button topic for me and I try to not get defensive or up on my soapbox. I should be more unapologetic for my passion about it though because the women who fought for our place at the table would be so disgusted with us for taking it all for granted. The thing is though - now we’re at the table. We’re there. We’re even sitting at the head of some of those tables. We don’t need to posture or bully people anymore. We don’t have to act like men to be equals. We can begin to develop as women leaders – different from male leadership. Different – not better or worse. Just different. And isn’t that the point? Isn’t that prospect exciting? I think so.

References:

Gavett, G. (2014). Brave men take paternity leave. HBR.org. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2014/07/brave-men-take-paternity-leave

Rowe, W. G., & Guerrero, L. (2013). Cases in leadership (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

Sandberg, S. (no date). Why we have too few women leaders. TED Talk. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/sheryl_sandberg_why_we_have_too_few_women_leaders

A640.7.3.RB - How to Answer Case Study Questions

A640.7.3.RB - How to Answer Case Study Questions

The approach I’ve been taking with the case studies is that I’ll read them on Monday and let the studies and questions percolate for a few days. I start writing and answering questions on Thursday and it takes me several hours to research and put the paper together. I wait until Sunday to submit the assignment just in case I come across something that might fit with the case that I could add to enhance. This approach works most weeks but sometimes I just don’t have a strong understanding of the study. One of the elements I wish I had taken was a derivative of this: A week or two before the case study, locate a practice test and run through it a few times on your own. The more acquainted you are with the word arrangement of this type of test, the more comfortable you will be during either a written or oral case study assessment. (King, 2017) It’s similar to what I’ve been doing but the key phrase in that element was to get acquainted with the word arrangement. This is excellent advice that I will take and put in my toolbox for future studies.

I took on the case as a whole and only focused on answering the assignment questions. I didn’t take a holistic approach and try to see the studies from different angles or perspectives other than the ones given. Note word arrangement, facts, figures or statistics in the text that will help come up with a solution. Think of different ways that you can answer the case study question and then determine the effects of each answer on your outcome. (King, 2017) King also talks about visualization which is a very essential analytic tool.

I do think that the article had several valid points. We only had the week to do our case studies and they were more analysis as opposed to tests but the message reads true for both types of assignments. Do not skip, skim or gloss over the content. Otherwise, vital information that you will need to answer the question might be missed. (King, 2017)  This is good advice for life in general!

References:

King, J. (2017). How to answer case study questions. CareerTrend.com Retrieved from https://careertrend.com/how-8342765-answer-case-study-questions.html

Rowe, W. G., & Guerrero, L. (2013). Cases in leadership (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.