Mission and Vision Statements

In last weeks leadership class, we discussed the concept of a mission and vision and how companies try to create a business and environment that encompasses both ideas. A mission, or mission statement, presents a purpose or core values that are accepted by a certain group or individual. A mission statement cannot necessarily be completed or achieved; it is not a list of goals to complete.  A mission statement is a set of values that the company wishes to embody, and hopes that the public views them in the same light. A vision is a future goal or success that is pictured in the mind(s) of the individual or group. this, in essence, is something they work towards and hope to successfully complete one day in the future. Once that vision has become a reality, a new vision is formed and other types of goals are set. Both of these concepts are very important for a company because both set the premise and the building blocks for the company. If the building blocks are shaky, then the business will not grow to its full potential.

I found examples of mission and vision statements all over the internet this weekend as I looked for a part-time job to do during summer break. I went to several different companies to see what job opportunities each company/business had available.  JCPenney, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Sear’s, Target, and many more, all had mission and vision statements alike, explaining what they wish to accomplish and what they want their sales associates to accomplish. For example, Target’s mission statement is, "Our mission is to make Target the preferred shopping destination for our guests by delivering outstanding value, continuous innovation and an exceptional guest experience by consistently fulfilling our Expect More. Pay Less.® brand promise." Their vision statement is, "To support our mission, we are guided by our commitments to great value, the community, diversity and the environment." This company definitely lives up to both its mission statement and vision statement. Recently, a comparison was done between both Target and Walmart. Both stores were given a set list of certain foods a family would buy on any given week: this list included bread, milk, cereal, etc. It turned out that, given a certain shopping list, Target actually beat out Walmart in price. This fact follows their vision statement that they want to fulfill their mission by providing “the community” with products at “great values”. Simply by providing lower prices to the community, they are working to make Target “a preferred shopping destination”, which is part of their mission statement. Target has made and continues to make “innovations”, which helps bring in consumers with multiple diversities. Their “Expect More. Pay Less” slogan is more true today than it has ever been, considering the fact that the comparison to Walmart could not be made five or ten years ago. Overall, I believe that Target is one of many companies that follows its mission statement and looks to its vision statement in order to determine what employees will best fit for their company. While looking for a part-time summer job, I will keep that in mind and know that companies that follow both statements grow strong and stay strong.

Toxic Leader

In this past class, we discussed the concept of a toxic leader. A toxic leader, in short, is a person in a leadership position that ends up injuring or hurting the corporation they are working for, either intentionally or unintentionally. In lecture, we briefly touched upon different characteristics a toxic leader may have, as well as different types of toxic leaders exist. 

Over spring break, I managed to come across an example of a toxic leader. This particular person had about 25 children under her supervision, and the children were in a library looking for books. I happened to be working at this library at the time that the children had the ability to look for books. The first thing I noticed was that she left the children in the care of the librarian for most of the given time period the children had in the library. Upon arriving, she then tried to get the children to calm down before they went about the library to select books. After she dismisses all of them, one child comes up to her and asks her how to find a book within his reading level. The teacher simply says that he needs to “eyeball” what type of book may be in his reading level. I overheard this conversation, and politely turned around and told both the teacher and the child that he would need to look for a certain sticker color to find books in his reading level. The teacher then sneers the word “oh”, turns around and walks away from the child and myself.

This person hold many characteristics in common with a toxic leader, which is shown through her behaviors and actions. She is incompetent when it comes to searching in the library for a book in a person’s grade level, based on her advice to the child on how to select a book. She is arrogant to others who try to help her and her followers, as shown by her reaction to my help. She also shows how irresponsible she is when she leaves her children to be supervised by someone whose job does not entail handling a class of students for about half an hour. She holds these characteristics and many more in common with those of a toxic leader. Because she holds a number of characteristics in common with those of a toxic leader, she can be considered one

Based off of some of the characteristics held above, we can place this person into several different categories when it comes to identifying this person as a toxic leader. This person cod be seen as an absentee leader, one who is either physically or emotionally detached from her followers, as shown by her act of leaving the children to wreak havoc in the library. We could also call this person an incompetent leader, simply because she does not know how the system for identifying grade levels for books works, considering the fact that this program has been at this school/district for over five years. This person can also be considered a rigid leader, simply because she did not accept my viewpoint and obviously has no interest in learning about a system that determines the grade levels for certain books.

Followership

This week in class, we discussed to idea of followership. Followership basically states that in order for leaders to be leaders they must have followers. We also discussed the importance of followers in a movement, as well as what makes a good or bad follower. If there are no followers in a movement to create change, then the movement being done will either not be completed or will not gain the popularity it needs to continue for a longer period of time. A movement or organization doesn’t just need any type of follower, it needs good followers, willing to engage, participate and argue, not bad followers who will either do nothing or not engage. 

For example, this week I decided to go onto a couple of websites that are featured by certain authors to see if either or both authors had recent works published that I had not read so that I could read some books over spring break. While doing this, I realized that if either of these authors had not had followers willing to buy their books, neither author would be as popular as they are today, and maybe one or both of the authors would not in the business of writing books. These authors also needed good followers, ones committed to reading more books they were producing, either for a series or just in general, so that when other books came out on the market, they would receive money from sales. These authors depend on followers to keep them employed, therefore the idea of followership is one that is prevalent concerning their job.

I then decided to go onto the Forever 21 and American Eagle online shopping sites to see if either of them had anything cute for spring or summer break. I once again realized that followership plays a major role in their survival as a store, especially during he time of the Recession. If Forever 21 or American Eagle do not offer sales or clothing that the consumer might want to purchase, then both companies have a drop in sales, resulting in debt accumulating, which, if repeated several times over a year, could constitute either American Eagle or Forever 21 to declare bankruptcy. So, they need to provide clothing and accessories that the public will purchase. These stores also need people who will only or mostly buy their clothing. In short, they need costumers that want to return to their stores to buy more things. They also need to offer these returning customers with coupons and other savings that will keep them coming back for more. By offering incentives, such as AEREWARD$ and discounts, these stores are able to stay afloat in a time where many are saving money versus spending it. The people who will return to the store to buy more are, in essence, good followers that are good for the business of the company. So, in conclusion, stores rely heavily on followership in order to stay afloat in a time of economic crisis.

Process Theory and Social Change Model

In class, we recently have learned about process theory and the social change model. The process theory, as quoted from a slide show shown in our class, is “a relational and ethical process of people together attempting to accomplish positive change.” In short, it is a process that empowers others, provides a sense of “we”, makes moral decisions, and has a shared vision/ purpose. The social change model incorporates a group, an individual, and a community, to create change in a societal structure that is existent in everyday society. I have had experiences with organizations that have incorporated both the process theory and social change model throughout my life, in both the past and present, and hope to be introduced to more in the future. One such organization that is present in my family today is detailed below.

The other day, I called home to have a conversation with my mom, dad, and my disabled sister, Liza. My sister immediately gets on the telephone, and starts to explain to me the day she has had at her program, one of many different programs that she has attended ever since she was two. Liza starts to explain that she went to the ASPCA, a local senior center, and the library, doing different types of community service for the greater Los Angeles County. She could not stop talking about the work she was doing and would do, and how she had so much fun doing it. I immediately realize that my sister is participating in a program that has incorporated both the process theory and the social change model. My sister has become part of a process that brings high-functioning disabled people together to attempt to1) do good in the community and 2) change the ideas about disabled people not being able to function in the workplace. By volunteering at animal shelters, senior homes, and libraries with some of her  other friends, my sister is promoting positive  changes to be made in the community, including raising funding for public libraries and animal shelters, as well as increased help to senior citizens in need. All of these changes are moral ones, and would better help the community she lives in and loves. She also feels as if she is part of a larger group of people, all who are disabled, like her. She is creating social change because her acts as a volunteer challenge the social structure that states that disabled people are not able to work in a normal-functioning society. She also works with job coaches, fellow volunteers and numerous organizations that she volunteers with to bring about this social change to individuals, to other groups, and to other communities as well. She is working with an organization that empowers her, makes moral decisions about their volunteer work, provides her a sense of belonging, and has an overall purpose shared by different organizers of the program.  She is promoting social change as an individual, in a group, and with the community to challenge ideas about those who are disabled. In short, because of the actions my sister has taken on behalf of this program, she is now part of an organization that incorporates both the process theory and the social change model.

Situational and Behavioral Theory

In class this past week, I was taught the concepts of both situational and behavioral theory.  Situational theory suggests that each situation that a leader encounters is handled differently. The difference in leadership is based on several variables, such as the type of follower being addressed and/or the type of situation that is occurring at the time. Behavioral theory suggests that a person can learn the behaviors are needed to succeed in higher leadership positions, one such behavioral example being public speaking . Both of these theories are present in everyday society, including the television shows we watch every day.

After learning about situational theory, I decided to relax myself by watching an episode of House, a show about a doctor named House and his team, all of whom research bizarre and interesting cases that come into their hospital. I realized that House treats each individual he works with differently based off of his relationship to that individual. For example, Cuddy, who is his supervisor at the hospital as well as his girlfriend, is treated with some respect and with less rude remarks than Martha Masters, who is a young and gifted graduate student on House’s team, hoping to gain some experience as a doctor before earning her doctorate at a local university. Perhaps House feels that he has to treat Cuddy with more respect because she is his boss/ girlfriend or feels that, as a newbie, Masters must learn to deal with House’s sarcastic and hurtful remarks, to become a better future doctor. Either way, House has exemplified the situational theory. By treating Cuddy different from Masters, and his patients different than his staff, House has incorporated the concept of situational theory into his workplace.

After watching an interesting episode of House, I decided to procrastinate by watching the newest episode of the Biggest Loser, a game show that encourages overweight people to lose their extra pounds by offering a jackpot to the person who has lost the most body fat in a given number of weeks. In this game show, they teach contestants how to count their caloric intake and how to effectively exercise to lose the most amount of weight possible. In a way, they are teaching them the behaviors needed to have a healthy body and a healthy lifestyle. In order to insure a healthy life, one must eat foods that are nutritious for the body as well as get in at least a half hour of exercise each day. Bob and Jillian, the two main trainers on the Biggest Loser, teach contestants on the show how to do these things, as well as how to get the extra body fat off and keep it off. I believe that they incorporate the behavioral theory into their training program. The trainers believe that overweight people can learn certain behaviors to later get them onto a healthier lifestyle. By their belief in this motto, one can assume that the trainers believe in the idea that behaviors can be taught, which, in short, describes the behavioral theory.

Great Man and Trait Theories

Two of the topics discussed in last week’s class were ones that peaked my interest were emotional intelligence and McClelland's Achievement Motivation Theory. Emotional intelligence describes your overall ability to work well with people. It is measured by what is called an emotional quotient (EQ), which is the ratio of four different characteristics in proportion to one another; the four characteristics are self-awareness, social-awareness, self-management, and relationship management. McClelland's Achievement Motivation Theory “attempts to explain and predict behavior and performance based on a person’s need for achievement, power, and affiliation.” According to McCllellland, a certain combination of achievement, power, and affiliation in a person result in a person who is an effective leader. The are several different types of tests ad studies that may tell a person whether or not they are emotional intelligent or an effective leader, but I personally believe that a study or test does not determine whether or not a person is an effective leader or emotionally intelligent; I believe that a person’s actions the ones that truly indicate whether a person is emotionally intelligent and/or are an effective leader.

One person that I believe has high emotional intelligence would be my mom. In her team at work, she interacts well with all of her colleagues. She also is aware of how her current emotions affect others around her; if she is depressed, others in her team are, so everyday she tries to put her “best foot forward” when it comes to her attitude. She is able to empathize with others around her who are having a hard time, and help them come to a better mind set about their predicament. Overall, My mom shows that she has self-awareness of how her emotions affect others, social awareness in her ability to relate to her colleagues, self-management skills when it comes to altering her attitude, and relationship management skills when it comes to working with others. 

Personally, I believe that my TRACK an Field coach from high school is an effective leader, not because a study or test proves that he is, but because I have seen him demonstrate a need for achievement, power, and affiliation. One of the things he most wanted to achieve was a Sierra League Championship title in the years that I was his athlete. He also wanted each of his athletes to enjoy the sport and succeed in their chosen field. He also demonstrated the power he had in his role as a coach; you respected him and, moreover, you trusted him. He had the ability to pull a person out of a race, as well as put a person into one.  He did not abuse his power, and he use it when necessary. He also like being affiliated with the school team he helped coach; he was proud to be the coach of the Saint Lucy’s Reagents, and never regretted his coaching position. Because he wanted to achieve a goal for his team, display his power as a coach, and be affiliated with a school he supported proudly, I believe he is a role model for an effective leader, simply because he displayed all three characteristics that are prevalent in McClelland's Achievement Motivation Theory.

Definitions of Leadership

     In HED 201 last week, our class discussed different definitions of leadership and how the definition of leadership changes due to various types of circumstances that occur throughout different times in history. A couple examples used in class show this idea to be true. One such example of a definition of leadership during the 1960's is as follows:"[Leadership is] acts by a person which influence other persons in a shared direction." This definition of leadership is influenced by current events that were prevalent in this era; one such event was the Civil Rights Movement. Several leaders, such as Martin Luther King, Jr., W.E.B. Du Bois, Booker T. Washington, Rosa Parks, and many others helped lead a movement that inspired many other African-Americans to pursue their legal rights provided for them in the Constitution.  In this case, the leaders performed acts that encouraged others like them to move forward for a similar cause(much like the definition above states). Another definition of leadership, instead in the 1950's, states that, "Leadership is the result of an ability to persuade or direct men, apart from the prestige or power that comes from office or external circumstance." This definition was inspired in part by the actions taken by world leaders in World War II. Adolf Hitler, ruler of Germany and other surrounding provinces, was able to persuade many men to believe that the Jewish people and current government were the cause of all the economic problems that had developed in the country during the decade. He then lead the men help him take control of the country, all the while  persuading them that he was to be their leader, one to which they could go to for all their troubles to be solved(much like the definition stated for the 1950's). As one can see, the definition of leadership greatly depends upon certain key actions taken by other people throughout a specified time period.

     In my personal experiences, I find that the definition of leadership changes for me depending upon the setting and circumstances that are surrounding me. When I was captain of my TRACK and Field team, my role as a leader meant to organize a group to obtain a common goal. The goal, in this case, was having the most girls possible compete at the C.I.F League Prelims in either varsity or junior varsity. My role as a leader was to instruct them as to 1) how to warm up, and  2) how to compete, while inspiring them, so that each girl could reach her full potential. I find that my role as a leader changes when I am put into a laboratory setting with three other people an told to perform an experiment to gather certain information. Instead of teaching and inspiring others, I am now trying to learn alongside my lab partners, while all of us are orchestrating what steps we should take to further gather information. My role is not necessarily to teach, but to be more of an integral part of the group. I also find that my attitude and my outlook changes with the different types of responsibilities as a leader. As a captain, I took my role very seriously, as if it were a job I was being paid to complete. In the lab group setting, I am more likely to openly state my mistakes made throughout the experiment, as well as successes. Although I try to be a role model for both the lab group and the TRACK team, more pressure is put on me for later, because I am expected to model, perform, and do well; in my lab group, mistakes are likely to happen, simply because we are all learning, and trying our hardest not to mess the experiment up. Overall, I find that both positions of leadership have different definitions assigned to them and require different attitudes when being performed.