Organizational Learning

For the past five years I’ve been playing basketball professionally overseas, which has presented me the great fortune of seeing new countries, experiencing different cultures, and adapting to interesting environments. Obviously, this is what I like to do during my spare time, but I also enjoy listening to music and staying up-to-date on current events. Besides working for an internship at the University at Buffalo for the Athletic sales and marketing department as well as in a factory packaging goods for a short period of time, I’ve never worked for an organization. The reason I decided to join this program, is due to the understanding that I believe it will help me transition into the corporate world, as I have asperations to work in the felid of sales in marketing. I’ve learned a lot so far within the course about being a leader within an organization and how-to mange employees as well as emotions. I’ve completed six of the courses so far and can’t wait to learn more about how to be an effective leader in working situations, as I stride toward completion of the program.

Objective Questions

What do you remember most vividly about the lesson?

What I remember most vividly about this lesson, is the question of does the organization lose critical knowledge when key people leave? Which I believe it shouldn’t because organizations should prepare themselves for the departure of employees, especially key employees. A level of talent may leave but the information should remain.  

Where does this lesson fit into the curriculum?

This lesson fits into the curriculum because it exposes why it’s important for leaders to make sure the company is preparing itself for all possible occurrences.

Interpretive Questions

What do these results mean to you in terms of future planning?

These results mean that communication is very important for leaders to have, when concerning employees and bosses. For a leader to be truly effective, they need understanding with the entire organization for the working environment may run fluidly.  

What other ways could you assess student learning?

Video presentation has always been a good way for students to learn and become more engaged within a lesson. Also, active learning which was discuss in the HR 651 course, is also a great way for students to learn, as it gives them hands on experience.

Reflective questions

How do you feel the lesson went?

I feel that the first lesson went well, as I learned more than I thought I would. I was especially engaged in the question, is the organization open to discordant information? Most employees are afraid of giving their bosses bad information or new ideas because the news or ideas may not go over well. Organizations who are truly willing to learn and listen to all information being presented will most likely be subjected to greater success    

Which activities do you think fostered high involvement?

Making sure that the organization is following a defined learning agenda, is something that takes high involvement from the leaders of the company. Knowing the vision of the company and how it should be perceived by customers, clients and employees, will be a very hands on job for leaders in the company.   

Decisional questions

Which skills will you further develop?

I will further develop my communication skills as well as my informative learning because I believe these are two key elements in being an effective leader. Having the ability to communicate with people and being informative on the workings of the company, will help me lead employees. Also, active listening as discussed in course 601, is a great way for me to learn and comprehend other’s viewpoints or teachings.      

What things will you do differently?

I will do more listening and less talking, while communicating with others and apply the 360-degree feedback method discussed in course 601 within my social life. This will give me some indication on how people are receiving me when I speak to them and what I can do differently to have more seamless conversations.    

These questions apply to my personal life because they allow me to look at ways to improve on my social skills. This lesson was about learning, not just individually but within a group setting. This takes an understanding of others and how they respond to my energy, behavior towards them, and the character that I display. Listening to comprehend is a key aspect to truly learning, which is something I feel I can always improve on.    

                

Project Management Week 1

Project management is a field of work that intrigues me and is something that I can see myself doing one day. Before week one of the course, I had a limited understanding of the project management position. I viewed the position as a general manger who needed to have a high understanding of the project being worked on. After the discussions and readings, I was enlightened to the fact that it’s more important the project manger has great communication with all involved with the project and is a problem solver. Also, that it’s very rare a project manager will have indebted knowledge of the core features within the project. A project managers job is to make sure a plan is established and carried out throughout the creation of the project. Understanding and managing financial responsibilities, social awareness, scheduled requirements as well as employee rights while completing the project, are some of the key aspects of a project manager.

One of the discussions this week, featured a case study between two candidates for a project manager position. Bill was well informed on the project and showed the ability to work well with others, but insisted on being hands on with the project’s inner workings. Andy was a proven problem solver and showed the ability to multitask understanding a little information about a lot of areas, but had limited information on the core elements of the project. I thought Andy was the best candidate for the job because he preferred to be hands off and observe the project from a far, understanding ways in which to improve all the facets of the project. A project manger too wrapped up in the inner workings of a project, may neglect the other areas of the project.

Dr. Cornel West 2

My thoughts about Dr. Cornel West are the same, as I believe he embodies everything that the course has illustrated about ethics and spirituality. It’s important to understand one key element about people, which is that no one is perfect. Everyone has their flaws and those flaws just show that we are human. I’m sure there’re things that Dr. Cornel west displays within his personality that goes against some of the principles discussed throughout the course in concerns to ethics and spirituality. What I’ve been able to further understand, is spirituality is a part of a person’s behavior, which is also a part of a person’s ethical values. These are concepts, feelings, and ideologies that are built into a person from personal experiences as well as culturally and religious teachings. Dr. Cornel West is a man that hasn’t changed his behavior since I’ve learned of his works and attitudes about societal issues. That speaks a lot to the kind of person he is and the kind of spirituality he uses to maintain who his values.                

Leadership

The three most important characteristics that a leader must have in the 21^st century is being able to coach individuals, show respect, and most importantly have patience. I believe that a leader must truly know how to coach/teach individuals in the 21^st century because of how diverse society has become. This will require potentially going over basic concepts with employees in ways that are understandable to them. Also, properly understanding what methods work with what employees. I feel respect is a key characteristic for a leader to have in the 21^st century because of how easily people can be offended. It’s important that leaders understand what is culturally, socially, religiously and personally needed or expected when showing respect. Finally, I believe that patience is the main aspect that a leader needs in the 21^st century because of the continuous changes occurring within society. Leaders need patients more than ever when dealing with employees because society has created a system more in favor of employees and less for the owners as well as leaders in concerns to behavioral actions. Firing/replacing employees isn’t as easy or acceptable as it once was, which means patience will be required.

   

Playing basketball has given me a great understanding to an important element of leadership, which is having the ability to coach. Understanding the role that coaching plays for leaders is right up my alley, as I’ve witnessed coaching, been on the receiving end of coaching and coached others myself. Coaching has a huge effect on a leader’s ability to lead because it consists of observing, advising, motivating and being strategic. These are all traits that leaders must have to properly lead their team/organization. To coach someone is to motivate that individual to perform in a way greater than what they’re currently showing or to maintain the great level of performance that they’re displaying. Coaching also entails strategy, which means that sometimes encouraging someone to commit to a certain role may be for the betterment of the team/organization. 

There’s been so many times in basketball where I had to step up and be a leader. A time I can remember is when a team I was playing on was up against an opposing team that was undefeated. There’s only so much a coach can do to rally the team because he/she isn’t on the court as a player. This was a time where the coach couldn’t say anything, it had to come from the players. I rallied my team together and told them that the individuals on the other team put their shorts on one leg at a time just like us and they can be beat if we truly believe we can beat them. The game was tight the whole way through. During the course of the game, I noticed a mismatch on the court with one of our players and one of theirs. I keyed in on it and began to expose the situation, which gave us the advantage. Our goal as a team was to keep the game close until the fourth, then steal it from them in the end. I told my team as we were up by two with five minutes left, that we were going to win this game. I went out on the court and scored the next two offensive possessions, putting our team up by six with three minutes remaining. The look in my teammates eyes, was one of determination as we proceeded to finish the game on top, effectively beating the other team. Within this moment of leadership, I displayed the ability to be strategic, motivate and most importantly lead by example through my actions on the floor.       

Spirituality At Work

For me, as I’ve stated throughout this course spirituality is a part of a person’s behavior, which can’t always be seen. I believe it’s a part the calmest part of a person’s behavior. In the world of basketball, the time where I see spirituality the most is right before a game. Almost every team I’ve ever been on, players are either individually meditating, praying, or zoning out to get focused for the game. I personally pray before every practice or game, after zoning out to prepare. In sports, it’s almost a ritual to huddle up with your team, to become one unit and share the desire and aspirations to win, to have a strong practice, or to appreciate the time spent playing basketball.

Some teams I’ve been on, pray as a unit in the huddles before games, which is silently agreed upon by the players even if they don’t believe in religion or the religion associated with the style of prayer being established. They do this because it’s a sign of respect for the overall team and even if they don’t believe in religion or the religion being established, they believe in the team. This is how the team infuses spirituality within the players, because it’s a part of being on the team, just like wearing the same jersey. Spirituality isn’t the focus of the team, it’s just a small element associated with the team, which is why it works. If spirituality isn’t overwhelmed on people, then they will be more inclined to tolerate it with no complaints.

Virtual Communication

During my professional career as a basketball player, one thing that has been a common theme is the use of virtual communication. I’ve used skype and WhatsApp for video conferences with coaches, GM’s (General Mangers) as well as agents from different countries when completing contractual agreements. Virtual communication helps multicultural, diversity and global relationship in many ways. One way is with the difference of language, as technology within virtual communication, allows for translations to occur. This helps for a faster line of communication to take place, while allowing both parties understand each other. Another aspect that virtual communication brings is the ability to have face to face conversations without having to physically be in the other person’s presence. This helps for human reactions, behaviorism and a sense of comfort to take place. Most people find it easier to talk with someone that they can see, so they can read physical emotions.

Virtual communication has been a key aspect to successfully allowing me to travel the world playing basketball on a professional level. Without virtual communication, I’m not sure of how easy my journey would’ve been because of the possible miss communications or uncertainties build up due to lack of solid communication. Unfortunately, technology has corrupted tradition ways of life in some sense, but it’s for the best in my opinion because it allows for us to reach out and respond to people all across the world for various reasons. Businesses can successfully be run in other countries without the owner ever stepping foot in the country where the business is located. Although, this has been accomplished before the boom of technology, now an owner can do it while being there virtually. This way, all employees can meet and greet them on a personal level. Virtual communication has been a positive for multicultural, diversity, global leadership, and motivation strategies around the world. I’m looking forward to the advancements of virtual communication in the future, as I believe it will only increase its success.

Integrate spirituality

I personally believe that my spirituality is a part of me, it’s a part of who I am as a person and is a result of the region that I adhere to. I don’t believe in forcing or integrating spirituality into anyone or any situation. I believe there’s a difference between leaders being spiritually sound and applying that within their leadership skills than forcing your spiritual beliefs on a situation or person. Everyone has their own concept of spirituality, which could lead to some confusion and miss understandings. To me a person must be one with themselves in order to be spiritual because the big part of spirituality is the word spirit. That’s the inner soul of a person, the outer worldly concept that makes up a person existence.

I feel that people must first, figure out if they even believe in this concept of spirituality and then second, understand what it means to be spiritual in their eyes. In this era, spirituality has taken on different meanings but are all centered around the same concept, which is life beyond earth and preparing your mind, body and soul for it. If I absolutely had to try and integrate spirituality in a workplace, I would create meditation, prayer, or relaxation departments. Soothing activities, like yoga and massages while soft music is playing, this will relax the mind and body, which are key aspects to spirituality. I would also allow my behavior and lifestyle to show what being spiritual is doing for me and hopefully employees would inquire.