PART tremendous amount of pressure on me.

PART AReflection piece onleadership experienceIntroductionAs part of this critical reflection assignment, it is arequirement that I reflect and focus on my own experience as a Leader where Ihave demonstrated a high level of emotional intelligence. I am also required touse the theory to demonstrate my learning’s.Example 1I was a Human Resources Manager for a Mining organisation,supervising four staff members at various locations within Queensland, my goalwas to oversee and ensure that all contract employees were processed in atimely manner, for example, inducted, reference checked, accommodation bookedand cleared for medicals before entering a mining site, all data was requiredto be updated in the company’s data base. Furthermore all letters of offerswere to be cited for my approval. I found it difficult to manage one of my staff members’s whowas habitually taking time off or not turning up for work, this was proving tobe detrimental in the organisations ability to function, and furthermore herabsence was notably having an adverse impact amongst the other team’s members,which in turn was creating animosity,  this in turn was placing a tremendous amountof pressure on me.

 I was able to exhibitand maintain self awareness, (Goleman, 2009) by organising a team meeting to consult andupdate the team on their accomplishments and reinforce the organisations goals. During the team meeting,members were encouraged to participate, be proactive and articulate a visionfor the organisation.  Effective teamworkis critical for success and teamwork starts with team players (Parker, 2011).

The team were enthusiasticas this involved them in decision making.  They were informed during the team meeting thatI would be having a one on one informal catch up, which provided me with anopportunity to discuss my concerns with the staff member’s absenteeism. As the meeting concluded, I observed that the team weremotivated and empowered, this concept of Leadership  connotation was amicable with TransformationalLeadership Theory (Burns, 2012),  which inturn lead on to positive outcomes associated with intrinsic motivation (Brown et al., 2015), furthermore this enabled theteam member to feel at ease and upfront when faced with the situation ofabsenteeism.  I chose to approach TheTransformational style of Leadership based on the discussion with the teammember after I was provided with a considerable amount of information togetherwith an explanation.

In conclusion of our meeting, I drew her to the attentionthat she was a valuable member of the team, furthermore I enabled to provideher with an opportunity to enhance her performance and initiate a vision thataligned with the organisations goals, by referring her to an agency to supporther, by doing so I wanted to create a positive change, furthermore enable tocreate a culture of trust and respect. This created synergism amongst the team;as a result of great performance, we reached our organisation’s goal, witheveryone being on board, harmony was created within the team. Having empathy and social skills as a Leader is paramount,by delegating more responsibility within the team, provided an opportunity ofownership, growth and accountability.

 Example 2I was a Recruitment Manager for a labour hire company,overseeing four staff members. My goal was to develop and manage strategies,lead the team and report on their performance. Oversee that all labour hireemployees paperwork was entered and updated in the database. Manage majorshutdowns, furthermore to monitor costs, as well as contribute toorganisational growth, by seeking out new opportunities.I found it arduous in managing one of my employees who wasdemonstrating unsatisfactory performance, for example, arriving late for workon a regular basis, leaving early, making personal phone calls and notfollowing up on customer’s requests for labour hire therefore not filling inorders or following my instructions. Even though she had just returned back towork after maternity leave, I felt that was no excuse and seemed unfair thatthe rest of the team was left to complete her work, I felt that everyone wasrequired to pull their weight to reach the organisations targets.Due to increased work pressure, I found that I was becomingirritated, frustrated and showing a dark side personality trait of scepticism,  (Hogan, 2004), towards the staff member for example I wasconstantly checking and questioning work that had  not been completed, she was observeddemonstrating no motivation, ultimately this type of behaviour was interferingwith my ability to maintain the team’s performance within the organisation (Tilin),furthermore, I felt  she was enticing me andthereby attempting to cause instability within the team (Kellerman, 2004).I assessed the situation before deciding which leadershipbehaviour would be the most effective to approach the team member; I came tothe conclusion that Directive Leadership style (House, 1971), in this instance would be best, I felt I neededto set firm boundaries, clarify how the work that she did connected with theother team members, remind the team member of the organisations targets thatwere expected to be met quarterly, I explained that an organised a daily workschedule would be maintained, in addition mandatory meetings  once a week to monitor their performance.

The impact of this style of leadership was used on thisparticular team member as there was a sense of urgency, the team were showingsigns of stress at the possibility of not meeting their targets; eventually theteam member left the organisation; however the team members expressed theirrelief as we had an opportunity to employ another team member and  meet the organisations quarterly target.  ConclusionI believe that my Leadership styles played a crucial role inboth examples in the team’s development in meeting their goals which I haddemonstrated through solving problems that arose, delegating and creatingharmony together forming a positive relationship between leader andfollowers.   These examples alsoidentified and areas where I required further personal development, for exampleon reflection, I could have managed the team member in example two by beingmore understanding and empathetic for example she had come back from maternityleave and was not coping emotionally.  PART BReflection onLeadership and MotivationIntroductionIn this part of my assignment required to reflect my leadershipstyles in motivation, identify a strategy where I demonstrated motivation as aLeader to staff that was successful. There is an old 12th Century English proverb, you canlead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink –  the horse will only drink water if it isthirsty – this is the case when you are dealing with human behaviour, unlessstaff are motivated in some way to reach targets or goals, they will simply notdo it. I believe that to motivate or be motivated is a skill that can belearnt, for any organisation to reach its targets or goals.

I am currently employed as an Advisor; my goal is to target early intervention by assisting parents who are atrisk of long-term welfare dependency, identify their education and employmentrelated goals and to participate in activities that help them achieve them.Connect parents to local community services that can assist them to addresstheir barriers to employment; furthermore I am required to interpret TheParents Next Deed and Guidelines, monitor service delivery and performancereporting on key performance indicators together with drafting management andDepartmental reports as required. We were in the process of applying for anotherround of funding for the Parents Next Tender, as I was collating data t presentto the Regional Manager, it came to my attention the team had not met one ofthe stipulated KPI’S, which was utilizing a tool to measure outcomes for ourparticipants, we were in fact far behind nationally.

This was serious, furthermoregoing to prove to be a challenge as we are not target driven.