1. Key Concepts and Group Process
Leadership
People interpret organizational and individual
leaderships in many different ways. The core values that make
good organizational leaders as well as individual leaders
should be the same. Leadership techniques have been studied
and taught throughout history however, experience proves to be
the best teacher. No person knows how others will react to
their individual leadership skills. Nor will you know how
your leadership is accepted by others and proven capable until
challenged by being in a position of leadership. A simple
formula for being a good leader does not exists however,
traits of good leaders have been studied. Group One attempted
to provide our class with examples of leadership in action.
Group One was assigned the task of providing speakers for
class weeks forty-five, forty-six and forty-seven. We brought
in leaders from our community to share their insights on
leadership values. Each of the speakers was asked to speak on
the topics of leadership and integrity. Our first speaker,
Mr. Hank Hershey was director of managed care for Aventis
Pharmaceuticals Company. The second speaker was Mr. Timothy
Finchen from the Veteran's Administration, responsible for
improvements in the delivery of health care to VA patients.
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2. COMPARISON AND CONTRAST OF THE SPEAKERS
Both speakers emphasized the importance of honesty in the
business environment. Mr. Hershey focused very much on values
as a foundation of developing a leadership style. He talked
about leadership qualities which we should all strive to
posses. He referenced both corporate and personal values,
stating that there should be cohesion between personal and
corporate values in order for work life to be satisfying.
Because of this, he recommends that we pick our company and
industry wisely. Personal values influence personal
leadership perspective. He feels that if a leader has these
qualities and portrays these qualities, they will be strong
leaders. He emphasized possessing these skills are a must to
pursue careers which require leadership.
Mr. Finchen spoke more about the 'things' that are
affected by leadership rather than the leadership qualities
which most affect people. These 'things' such as quality
processes and procedures are important to creating an
environment where quality work can happen and people are
satisfied with the work produced. His primary focus was
quality improvement, tailoring the product to the needs of the
customer and using honesty in all interactions. He advocates
organizations should have philosophy, tools and techniques to
improve processes in a systematic manner. Important to Mr.
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3. Finchen's philosophy is the philosophy of heading Northeast,
or doing right things right. Heading northeast will stop re-
work, which is a major time waster for all corporations.
Collectively he estimates that thirty-five to fifty-five
percent of time is spent in re-work. He states that
corporations have to build a culture that supports constant
improvement and deliver clear expectations to workers about
the standards. He lists four ways to deliver a quality product:
a. Do the right things right
b. Find out who the customer is
c. Give the customer what they want
d. Constantly improve.
Both speakers empahsized that leaders have to walk the
talk. People look at what leaders do, not what they say. Mr.
Finchen says the top characteristics of a great leader are
honesty, learning to let others lead, learning to appreciate
diversity and doing the best job you can, expecting the best
from other people. Mr. Hershey stresses that values are the
foundation and time should be spent on building that
foundation. He states that the foundation will be tested over
many times in a career.
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4. INSIGHTS FROM THE SPEAKERS
Leadership, is a personal statement of who you are and
the environment you create as you lead others. This
environment stems from a personal set of firmly held values
that extends to creating an environment where people are
treated with honesty and integrity. Realize your own values
and morals, and let others know what they are. Try to
integrate your personal values them into the company values as
much as you can so that the values seem natural to others.
The values most important to creating this environment are
conscience, character, morality, humanity, sacrifice and
principles. (From the Seven Deadly Sins - handout from Mr.
Hershey). In this environment people are allowed and
encouraged to do their best and continually improve. This
treatment extends beyond employees to the customers. Personal
best leadership should lead to personal satisfaction,
fulfilled employees and customers who are delighted with the
products and service they receive.
CONCLUSION
Leadership begins with understanding ourselves. This
understanding leads to knowing our values and beliefs. With
this understanding, we are able to choose industries and jobs
that suit us without compromising our values. As leaders, we
are responsible to create the environment for growth of other
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5. people in our organization. This environment leads to
improvement of the organization and ourselves. The term
leadership implies leading others, it is very much a process
that begins with personal growth.
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6. people in our organization. This environment leads to
improvement of the organization and ourselves. The term
leadership implies leading others, it is very much a process
that begins with personal growth.
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