Reflection About the Group

Throughout this course I was fortunate enough to work with some cool group members, as I didn’t run into a single problem with any of them. The communication has been uplifting and informative most of the time. The communication methods that I found most useful was texting because responses would come right away. Phone calls would probably have to be the most difficult but not for any alarming or uncommon reason. We’re all busy individuals who may not have the time to sit down and make or take a phone call. Even when phone calls are planned, situations can occur that need are immediate attention, which could interfere phone call conferences. With texting we were able to stay in constant communication and get back to each other no matter what was happening in our individual lives. I personally prefer to communicate in person or over the phone, so that I can gain an understanding to how the other person is really feeling about things. I can do this by listening to the tone of their voice or watching their physical reactions, things I cannot do while texting. In our group we all took on the same roles from one time to the next, whether it was being the helpful, informative, assertive, or compromising member. I will say that early on, I was a bit held back on expressing myself but after a short bit of time, I felt more comfortable with my group and now freely communicate with them.

My Brand and Balancing Work & Happiness

My vision of my personal brand Control Your Mentality, is a cultural movement, that will lead to the marketing of my brand on various outlets. I want Control Your Mentality to be trademarked and used to express the freethinking spirit within each individual. I sometimes feel robots have already taken over and not the metallic kind. I think that many people have a robotic state of mind, that has been programmed throughout years of being spoon fed on how to think and act. If there’s no malicious intent or act, things should be freely discussed without anger or chastising. We don’t all think the same and that’s the beauty of being human, we shouldn’t close that part of us up, by trying to force people to think alike or act the same.     

I’m very fortunate when it comes to balancing happiness and work in my life, as basketball is my life and it’s brought me much happiness over the years. I’ve gotten to travel the world doing what I love and I couldn’t be more appreciative of that. Playing basketball professionally has had its ups and downs, as traveling, being away from family and friends for months at a time takes a toll on you, but it does have its many rewards. Rewards such as, winning games, experiencing new things as well as making new relationships. Now, I will soon be transitioning into the sales/marketing field where I believe I will find similar happiness because the field suits my personal traits. I know there will be difficult times ahead but feel as though I’m prepared to make the necessary adjustments to not only be successful but happy.     

Groups Vs Teams

I can recall a time I worked on a class project with three other people that required an entire presentation. A speech, poster board with labels and a power point guiding the way. The project was well done and received an A+. My group got along well, which is why we were able to do so good, as communication and understanding of what had to be done was not a problem. I would describe the experience as more of a group than a team. There were times when we worked together in class and times where we worked separately outside of class. I felt like we were working as a group when it came to individual task, as we all assigned ourselves different tasks to accomplish for the project. We could complete the tasks on our own, during our own time, which to me is more of an individual thing not a team thing. I felt that we worked more as a team when coming up with the order in which the presentation would be presented and when we gave our presentation. We had to be in rhythm so that the presentation would go seamlessly, which demanded a great deal of teamwork.  

The difference between being in a group and being apart of a team is completing a goal individually apposed to completing a goal in unison. In a group setting, task can be completed individually with out the help or comradery of others but in a team setting, it requires more than one individual to complete a single task. Basketball is a team sport, that requires at least five guys working together in unison to play and possibly win a game, where as a group project requires multiple people but not necessarily in unison to complete.

Ethics

Ethics is the guideline of how a business will be ran. The rules of how to treat one another, tactics used for successful dealings and the overall character of the brand all involve ethics. The ethical tone will be established by who I truly am as a person, which will be determined by the individuals in the relationships I obtain. People define your character by how you treat them, whether bad or good, it’s up to the opinions of the individuals in relationships I carry that will decide how successful I will be. I can’t do it by myself, the staff or team that will surround me, will have to respect and have confidence in me as well as belief in the consistency of my behavior. My personal ethical values will way heavily on the type of people I will not only attracted but maintain relationships with concerning my brand. The goal is to set an ethical tone that will be honored throughout the brand and spread to others who are fans of the brand.        

Caproni - “The ability to earn trust and create work environments that promote trust throughout the organization is becoming increasingly valuable in today’s global, diverse, and technology- driven economic environment. Managers must be able to help people who don’t share a com- mon culture (and whose cultural groups may share a history of animosity and distrust toward each other) learn to work together productively to serve organizational goals. They must be able to help employees involved in alliances, mergers, and acquisitions build trust and interdependence quickly. They must be able to develop trust and respect among employees who work in virtual teams and who rarely, if ever, see each other. They must be able to trust employees enough to provide them with the training, resources, and support that empower employees to take independent action so that their organizations can be responsive, flexible, and fast. And be- cause of the business and political scandals that have dominated the media in recent years, man- agers must work harder than ever to build trust. Undoubtedly, in today’s work environment, trust is a must-have, not a nice-to-have, quality.”.

References

Caproni, Paula. Management Skills for Everyday Life, 3rd Edition. Pearson, 20111121. VitalBook file.

Relationships

I feel the relationships that I have today can help me a lot in establishing my brand Control Your Mentality. I know individuals who share a similar vision of creative thinking as I do and can contribute towards the brand. When starting from a root level, thing won’t be perfect, so it’s key that good relationships are formed through this process of figuring things out. The relationships that are created in the beginning are the purest and if treated right will blossom into something amazing in the future of the brand.

A lot of my current relationships that will help, won’t be active members of the brand. This is because sometimes good relationships are strong enough to draw in other people off the recommendation of your friends. It’s important to create out side relationships when building a brand or any type of business, so that no bias is taken but only genuine actions and feedback. Having outside preferences, from trusted relationships, can help with difficult interior decisions being made within the brand.   

Caproni – “Although a well-designed task environment is critical to a team’s success, a team’s performance can be undermined by dysfunctional social relationships.47 A well-designed task can’t be expected to over-ride the negative effects of a team’s social environment in which team members don’t want to spend time together, don’t listen to each other, don’t support each other, and don’t develop supportive relationships with people and groups outside the team. Team members do not need to become close friends, but they do need to respect each other and develop mutually supportive relationships.”

The relationship that could hurt my brand are political relationships. Political preferences are aspects that I believe could damage my brand and is something that would have to be thoroughly watched for. With my brand being so out spoken and freethinking, it can’t help but have politics within it, but the key is to make the messages so subliminal that no side is clearly taken. Also, that one singular message doesn’t t trump the overall message of the brand. I believe this will be difficult but attainable, that people of all sides of the spectrum will take the art in its entirety and not in singular parts. This is also up to the artist to remain open minded with their material, which also falls on me regarding my judgment of who I decide to bring into the brand.

References:

Caproni, Paula. Management Skills for Everyday Life, 3rd Edition. Pearson, 20111121. VitalBook file.

Thomas-Kilmann Conflict mode results (TKI)

In which quadrant of the TKI did you receive the highest score? What about the results surprised you? What is one thing you can do to become more flexible in your style?

The quadrant I received the highest score in the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict mode was Collaborating and problem solving. I feel that these results resemble a lot of characteristics within myself because I’m constantly solving problems that arise in my life. Also, I like to compromise with others if the problem involves multiple people. Although, I do understand that compromising has its limits, I feel it’s the best way to solve a problem. Even as an individual with a personal problem, sometimes compromising with traits within yourself may help solve the problem.

What I was surprised with the most, is that my competitive quadrant wasn’t higher in the Thomas-Kilmann conflict model. As an athlete I’ve always been extremely competitive and know that it has transitioned into my life and personality off the court. It was shocking to me, that area of the test wasn’t the highest. I would contribute that to the type of questions that were asked, as being competitive can sometimes result in selfishness and a lack of teamwork. I like to believe that I try to display selflessness and teamwork while playing basketball or in my everyday life in general.

Something that I can take from the test is to become more inviting as an individual. Just because your friendly and sociable doesn’t mean that your immediately an inviting person. It’s not surprising that the quadrant mode avoiding was high in my scores within the Thomas-Kilmann conflict test results. I prefer to avoid conflict situation, unless they’re at a point in which they must be addressed. I don’t take pleasure in disciplining people but encouraging is a different way to address conflict situation. Like I’ve stated in multiple forums during this course, it’s not so much what you say, it’s how you say it.