Personal Action Journal, Essay Example

Background

This is a day-to-day record of what I have observed in relation to the actual distinction of the lessons learned from class as seen in the actual business world. In the aim of providing a structured picture on how classroom lessons are implicative of the real aspects of business development and operations, this journal shall be an evidence-based description on how classroom based theories, discussions and explanations actually provide a good distinction on how the real world works.

Summary of Journal Entries

Throughout the stretch of the course, I have personally taken note on the most important lessons that I grasp from every presentation in class. To summarize, I have understood that ethics and leadership are to particular factors that cannot be separated. Although many among the leaders today try to set aside ethics when they lead, it could not be denied that the effects of such approach to leadership has resulted to catastrophic situations leading people into tumultuous situations in history. The same thing is true when it comes to having unethical leaders in business organizations. Business administrators, at most, are expected to apply high regard for ethics especially as they operate alongside an existing community of human individuals who they may refer to as ‘the market’ or their ‘stakeholders’.

Presented herein are among the key lessons I have personally found important in relation to my understanding of the aspects of ethics and its connection to efficient leadership:

a) Management and Entrepreneurship

For this particular part of the lesson, I have learned that the desire to establish a business comes with a huge responsibility that should never be set aside. From the very point of asking what business should one establish, a prospective business owner should be able to consider the society, what they want, what they do not want, what they need and what may provide them better options of living without having to destroy the current systems that are already functioning towards the society’s development. Considerably, it has been pointed out during the presentation of this lesson that management and entrepreneurship are two different things requiring separate skills of leadership. This is the reason why it is most often than not that entrepreneurs hire their managers. Owning a business and directing it towards success are two different responsibilities requiring separate attention. Nevertheless, this does not mean that an entrepreneur cannot become managers or vice versa; instead, this simply means that for one to be both, he needs to master the art of knowing how to lead in both aspects of organizational administration.

The difference between these two aspects of developing a business is that an entrepreneur is usually concerned on what the business yields. Most likely, he focused in setting the goals for his business and the people working on it. However, when it comes to directing the people, another individual having a completely different view of the situation is needed. Instead on simply focusing on the capacity of the organization to yield profit, a manager is expected to see through the people, understand their strengths and weaknesses and be able to motivate them accordingly to make sure that they perform at their best. Not only that, a manager is also expected to provide a clear distinction on how the needs and demands of the people are provided accordingly, how their concerns are given attention to and how they are specifically given importance hence allowing them to grow and develop satisfaction with their job.

b) Employee Relations

A leader who knows what he is doing is most often than not appreciated by his own people. Every leader does have his own style of managing people. Some may choose an indirect way of motivation while some others may be a bit demanding. No matter what leadership style a manager takes into account, what is important is how he is able to affect both the thinking and the performance of the employees. Serving as the bridge between the administration and the working people, a manager ought to be approachable; however, there is a thin line between being approachable and being too-close of a friend to the employees. While it is not prohibited for a leader to become the ‘people’s friend’, it is also not advisable that a manager be too close to anyone in the work or at least during the time when there is work. This will help the manager avoid favoritism and retain integrity on how he impartially deals with the people working under his command. Understandably, a person who is ready to remain balanced even in the middle of personally knowing some of the employees has a potential of being a good leader. True, balance is an important element in one becoming a goo and effective leader to his subordinates.

c) Policy and Strategy

When it comes to making policies that are supposed to guide the organization towards progress and development, a manager needs to seek assistance through knowing the basic rules and legal sanctions of establishing such rules and regulations especially involving the concerns of the people. When the term ‘people’ is used, it denotes the individuals involved in the operation of the organization both internally and externally. Understanding that what they need and what they demand for plays a great role in establishing workable policies that would improve the relationship of the organization to people within and outside its operations.

d) Social Responsibility

Every organizational leader should be aware that he is in need of recognizing the fact that every organization is considered an existing entity that has responsibilities towards the society. The people in the society, being the primary receivers of the whatever final produce the organizations have, ought to be taken into serious consideration by businesses all around the globe. An example of which is how an organization measures its operation directing it to a more environmental-friendly conditions as it is first and foremost the need of an organization to give high concerns to how it affects the environment, the place where the society it serves lives.

e) Ethical Person, Manager and Leader

Being a leader is a responsibility, however, it coincides with the overall being of a person. A leader who is specifically ethical is then considered to be a good leader. Ethical measures of leadership however can be developed; the attitude of being specifically mindful of how one completes his tasks according to expectation and according to what is right constitutes the foundation of good leadership.

Key Lessons Learned in Class

Notably, as seen from my notes and journal, I have specifically absorbed the idea of being an ethical person first before becoming an ethical leader. Ethics is an elemental factor that guides one in noting what is acceptable in the society and what is not. It is a natural instinct that serves as a pendulum to a person on whether or not he is going to push through with a decision especially that it involves affecting the lives of others. Hence, for a person to become a good leader, he must be able to use that pendulum successfully to make sure that his decisions do not trample anything or anyone along the way thus making it easier for the organization to develop within a smoother pattern of growth.

Improved Understanding on Ethics and Leadership

What improved on my understanding of ethics and leadership is the fact that I now realize the importance of research and survey before any particular decision is made to be dedicated to the progress of an organization. Apparently, every aspect of an operating organization needs to be guided by ethics. From the points of production, distribution and even in marketing, business administrators and leaders should know the basics of social ethics to make sure that their approach would not cause dismay on the people thus causing their immediate downfall.

Reflection and Application of Lessons Learned

As an individual hoping to be a leader someday, I personally think that this course provided be with a useful understanding on how I should develop my views on social ethics starting today. Being interested on how I might be able to carry into account such social measures of good and bad would provide me a sense of cautiousness when I make my decisions. Personally, I decided to develop my inner-leader beginning today. There is no better day to begin such progressive growth but the present time when I still have the possibility of researching and further improving my knowledge on how to ethically face particular decisions, both easy and crucial. As noted in the lesson, being an ethical person is a state that is honed through time and not something that is learned overnight. Starting today would mean a better possibility of becoming a good leader in the future for me.

References:

Kickul, J., & Neuman, G. (2000). Emergence leadership behaviors: The function of personality and cognitive ability in determining teamwork performance and KSAs. Journal of Business and Psychology, 15, 27-51.

Smith, J.A., & Foti, R.J. (1998). A pattern approach to the study of leader emergence. The Leadership Quarterly, 9, 147-160.

Foti, R.J., & Hauenstein, N.M.A. (2007). Pattern and variable approaches in leadership emergence and effectiveness. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92, 347-355.