MGT60041 Leading Report Sample

MGT60041 Leading Report

Introduction

A key focus of this unit is developing your capacity for learning through reflection on your real-life leadership experiences in your Reflective Personal Diary.
Your Reflective Personal Diary is a detailed record of some of your key experiences (we call them critical incidents) and of your reflections on those experiences. For our purposes, a critical incident is an experience that you have in real time, involving other people (one or more), in which you attempt to influence the other person(s). Being able to capture your critical incidents in your diary and reflect on them to gain insight and to draw conclusions is an important leadership capability. Your diary work will contribute significantly to your learning in this unit, as well as to your leader and leadership development.

You will be given guidance to help you to record those critical incidents, reflect on them, use concepts from theory to understand what happened and then plan action for you to take in the future.

In your Reflective Personal Diary, you will:

• Reflect on your perceptions, cognitions, and behaviour and their impact on others.
• Clearly demonstrate that ideas/concepts from relevant theory have been used to deepen your sensemaking or understanding.
• Outline the specific actions you might take to confirm or to change your behaviour in future.
• Outline what type of experience might tell you that you have succeeded or are succeeding in making your change (your indicators of success).

To help you with this task, a method of systematically reflecting on your experience and developing action based on that reflection is outlined in the reflection guide on page 3 of this document. You are also encouraged to read the sample reflective diaries we have provided to develop a sense of what you need to do and what you will achieve in your reflective diaries and experimental work.

Assessment Task

One journal entry of 1000 words focusing on a critical incident from your past using the trigger questions set out in the Diary A Reflection Guide as a framework for this assessment (p. 3). You are required to meet the suggested word count for each section.

In your diary, you must write an account of a workplace-related default routine of yours in action in the recent past.
You then need to better understand what triggers this default routine and how it operates by using concepts/ideas from theory/literature.

Finally, you must develop a plan outlining the actions that you intend to take in the future, which might lead to a different result (e.g., by delaying or preventing the operation of your default routine).

Your submission must include a Reference List in the APA (7th) referencing style.

The following assessment criteria will be used:

• The quality of your description of your critical incident and your reflections on the nature and structure of your default routine. 
• The incisiveness of your reflection on your reflection, the depth of your analysis of your default routines, and the quality of your planned mini-experiment. 
• The extent to which Reflection Guide A is used to capture and reflect on your experience. 
• The extent to which your writing is clear and understandable.
• The degree of compliance with the APA (7th) referencing style.

The detailed marking criteria for evaluation of this assignment are presented on page 5.

Diary A Reflection Guide

Part 1: Picture yourself in the situation and try to recapture the key elements

What was the context? (50 words)

• Who were you trying to influence? Why?

What was your external behaviour at the time? (100 words)

• What did you do? What did you say? How did you sound?

What was your internal behaviour at the time? (100 words)

• What did you think at the time? What did you feel? What were you most aware of?

What were your thoughts/feelings and what as your behaviour afterwards? (50 words)

• What did you think, feel and do in the hours or days following the event?

Part 2: What are your reflections now, looking back at the situation? (200 words)

What were your action tendencies and intentions?

• What did you think you were trying to achieve at the time? What did you avoid doing?

• What did you think your real intentions were?

What was your default routine?

• What did you do when the first thing you tried didn’t work? What did you do after
that? And after that? And after that? Name the parts of your Default Routine.

• What core strengths and qualities of yours were you using well?

• What do you think you were trying to achieve at the time? What did you avoid doing?

What was your impact?

• What impact did you have? What did you notice were the reactions of other people?

What were your challenges at the time?

• What was most challenging for you at the time? Why?

Part 3: What is your reflection on your reflection? (100 words)

• What were the things you missed at the time that you are aware of now?

• What do think you do really well that you should do more of?

• What are you still uncomfortable or unsure about? What’s holding you back?

Part 4: How do diagnostics, feedback and ideas from literature help you to understand your default routine? (250 words)

• What does the literature say about your default routines?

• How does the literature create new options for you? Be specific.

Part 5: Mini-experiment plan: What do you plan to do differently in the future to inhibit your default routine? (150 words)

• Plan a real time mini-experiment for you where you will try and influence someone in real time while trying to control your default routine.

• Who will you try to influence? About what?

• What circuit breakers will you use if you want to interrupt your default routine?

• What will you try to do differently or better once your default routine has been interrupted? Specifically, how will your internal and external behaviour be different?

What outcomes will be achieved that are different?

Solution

Part 1: Context and Challenges Faced During an Experiment

The mini experiment found that a leader has a lot of work and pressure for a task. Due to this, if the planning is not working well for everyone, it will create a lack of communication which leads to the biggest challenge for a team. It includes several other obstacles.

As a team leader, my job was to impact everyone in a good way so that the work could be achieved within a period, as my behaviour was not supportive and didn't work well for everyone. I sounded like a rude and intolerant boss. My motive was always to complete the whole task as soon as possible. As per the MBA Assignment Experts, And in this race, I came out as an unsupportive and unpleasant team leader. My external behaviour towards the team members was due to plenty of work pressure and lack of experience (Stronge and Xu, 2021). But due to this, many other problems occurred in the team.

I have done this to achieve the goals and complete our project. Also, I needed to familiarise myself with the other team members. So, I decided to be a bossy leader but inside, my main motive was to complete the work, achieve good feedback, and reach our teacher’s expectations. I was nervous about being the leader. But I was excited too. Being a team leader, I had some goals to achieve daily with the team (Stronge and Xu, 2021). I used to think that letting the other team members work on their terms would decrease the product quality, and I could think for everyone and everything. 

I used to command them and instruct the other team members. It became self-evident for me that I am the only important part of the team and think the best for the project. So, they all must follow my instructions properly. I started enjoying the phase of leading everyone.

Part 2: Impact, Default Routine and Action Tendencies

Due to my bossy behaviour, everyone thought my main motive was to be a leader. But it was not the truth. My work might be different and rude, but my intentions were not. I was concerned if we could make it by the deadline. My main motive was only and only one. And that was to achieve the target with maximum quality. For me, I was being chosen as the team leader was less like responsibility and more pride. I started thinking I could lead and guide people. It started bothering me when we didn’t work well, even after so many tries (Ciulla, 2020). My daily routine became a thing of rethinking. I used to study the project at night.  The following day, I used to go to the team and tell them what I have decided about today’s tasks. At the time, they used to follow my instructions (Ghazzawi et al., 2020). Meanwhile, I went to everyone asking if they were only following the pre-decided work conditions or not. Afterwards, I used to check everyone’s work. And this became a regular work cycle for me. I was trying to use my leadership qualities in the best possible way. But my leadership qualities were not welcomed by the other team members. Because it was leading me towards being a dictator, they started feeling unimportant due to a lack of proper communication and a lack of interest.

Part 3: Reflections on The Last Reflection

Reflections and guidance are always critical, but as a fresher, it becomes the light in the dark. I also made many mistakes during my first leadership. I was unaware of everything aspect of being a leader, which led us to the unsuccessful completion of work (Ghazzawi et al., 2020). Now I understand that every team member plays a vital role. So, everyone’s critical thinking should be appreciated. Also, it is a must to discuss before deciding. Because everyone has a different thought process and might know a better way to do a task, these are some of the essential points I wish I had known earlier (Stronge et al., 2021). So, my first project as a leader could have had a better ending. But I guess it is never too late to start. And next time, I will be a better leader than earlier by implementing all these points. There is nothing I am unsure about at this phase of learning. But I might feel uncomfortable next time as leadership is different for me than it was earlier. So, I might need some time to get comfortable with my team members, but this time, I will trust their abilities more than my pride. That will make good compatibility within the team.

Part 4: Improvements By Understanding Feedback

Various signs and actions started making me feel that my way of leading everyone was not convenient. It started with fundamental team disputes, misunderstandings and a lack of mutual understanding. Some tasks could have been more straightforward, but we never discussed them due to a lack of coordination. This led towards the unsuccessful completion of regular duties. Due to this, obstacles started creating, such as egoistic nature and a lack of confidence, and even they seemed uninterested in the work. They started doing only what I used to instruct them. Sometimes, not even that. That is how we lost our productivity on daily routine tasks. And all this I realised after the deadline of the project (Ghazzawi et al., 2020). When I went through various internet resources telling me about good leadership qualities. So, then I realised I was not having any one of them. I realised it is always a way to instruct people. Else people will lose interest in your business. And all this was happening not because of their fault but because of my too much interest and interference. Being despotic, I could not see it happening at that time. But now I understand my faults and trying hard to improve. 

In my daily routine, I used to do what I had decided. I used to instruct what I had studied. And this dictatorial behaviour started bothering my team. I researched many articles that show everyone has a unique understanding and creativity. One should always continue that. My team members also had creativity, innovation and willpower to do something. They also wanted to win this race. But I made them lose through my failures (Ciulla, 2020).

After various learning sources and diagnostic research, I found that sincerity and specificity are essential values of human nature. And if any of them gets avoided, it leads to a lack of interest, reliability and trust issues. These reflections, which I got from the internet and my previous experience, created a comprehensive image of my thought process. That time, I was new to this role, I was excited, and with that excitement, I forgot everything else. I forgot that my team members are also new to their positions. They also need guidance. Their work should also be appreciated. They must be valued for their actions, how they are, and what relationships we share (Dawson et al., 2019).  There are many good leaders in the industry, and these leaders themselves stated that being a boss is different, but being a leader is different. According to Steve Jobs, owner of Apple, "Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.". According to Theodore M. Hesburgh, "The very essence of leadership is that you have to have a vision. You can't blow an uncertain trumpet." These are some points which came across while surfing on internet and understanding the qualities of a good leader. It became apparent that my way of leading everyone was the biggest reason for our failure as a team and my failure as a leader. I should have supported them right from the start till the end. 

Part 5: Reflection on The Mini Experiment 

The project team was new to me. But the team members were newer. I wanted to spend my time on something other than knowing each other. I would only increase my time consumption and decrease the team’s discipline level. My way of thinking was that if we did not know each other, we would not talk to each other, which would save us so much time. So, I tried to change the concept that we can also build a good team without communication (Thoroughgood et al., 2018). However, it was a disastrous move on my side. Whatever actions I took to avoid so much contact in the group led me towards the failure of that experiment. I realised how important it is to have a good bond with the team. I was influential in creating a communication team, but earlier, it was a success for me, and later, it led me towards a disastrous move. I realised that communication and coordination are the backbones of the team. So that was the worst move to underestimate other team members. Maybe I was assigning the right task to the wrong people because of a lack of communication (Dawson et al., 2019). These are some actions which had a terrible reaction to my leadership experience.

Plans for Future Work 

My previous experience as a team leader was not good, but in the end, we all learned from our mistakes. I would love to take a job as a leader, and this t, time I will imp, element all the points I have learnt from my past experiences and internet resources. I will be happy to implement all my knowledge into the projects. In the future, if I get a chance to become a team leader again. I will assure everyone that I am the leader, but leadership is not all about me. It is about everyone. That means I am here not just to instruct my team but to empower them as well. The second thing is Integrity, Honesty and humility. These are critical terms, but their meanings are even more critical. I will always make my team and myself accountable for all rights and wrongs we will do in the project (Saputra, 2021). So, it should never be a blame game but teamwork. After all, for a good team, we need to engage ourselves in the best possible way. I will also consider that my team and I should be decisive and vision-centric because a commitment is always a crazy drive to go for. It includes goals, aims, mission and how all these factors matter in our lives. A team should have a clear vision. But a team leader should be committed towards his goals. Only then can he make others understand the value of imagination.

I will try to use all my circuit breakers to ruin my regular of leading the team. Motivation is the key to the successful completion of tasks. And I will make myself and keep my team always motivated. This will help us in increasing productivity (Purwanto, 2019). I will break the stereotype of regular leaders that a team is essential for everyone. But everyone is critical to the team. This will create value for the team members. Once they know it, there is no way back. I can experiment with customer choices beyond prices and quantity. I can experiment with what business is profitable for children, a candy shop or a medical centre. These basic ideas have some traditional stereotypes and need a new wind of thought. These experiments differ from my previous work, but when you socialise more with strangers or anyone, you will learn a lot. Only sometimes of your interest, but this is a skill of communication which is essential either this way or that way.

Learning Outcomes

Respect is the lesson which I have learned from this experience. I realised that whatever I did was because I was not respecting my team fellows. I was not valuing their ideas. I was not respecting their time, their thought processes or anything. All my respect was for my pride. I realised that giving them the space and value they deserve would increase our productivity (Dawson et al., 2019). They will feel more comfortable with me. We could share our issues and find better solutions. They would also give my instructions the same respect if I gave them respect. This would have created a bond between us. We could have worked even better (Saputra, 2021). It is always a good idea to be self-confident, but it should never turn out to be overconfident. There is a small and thin line which differentiates both. If one understands when he is exceeding the line, he will control himself and vice versa. My way of working was different and rude. But I was new to the field of leadership. But now I have learnt a lot from my experience. So, I will now implement my learning and will become a better leader.

References 

Purwanto, A., 2019. Influence of leadership, motivation, competence, commitment and culture on ISO 9001: 2015 performance in packaging industry. Scholars Journal of Economics, Business and Management. Stronge, J.H. and Xu, X., 2021. Qualities of effective principals. ASCD. 

Badura, K.L., Grijalva, E., Galvin, B.M., Owens, B.P. and Joseph, D.L., 2020. Motivation to lead: A meta-analysis and distal-proximal model of motivation and leadership. Journal of Applied Psychology, 105(4), p.331.   

Saputra, F., 2021. Leadership, Communication, And Work Motivation In Determining The Success Of Professional Organizations. Journal of Law, Politic and Humanities, 1(2), pp.59-70.  

Ghazzawi, I., Lee, B. and Jagannathan, C., 2020. Preparing College Students to Become Future Leaders Through the Power of Social Entrepreneurship. International Leadership Journal, 12(1).  

Dawson, P., Henderson, M., Mahoney, P., Phillips, M., Ryan, T., Boud, D. and Molloy, E., 2019. What makes for effective feedback: staff and student perspectives. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 44(1), pp.25-36.   

Thoroughgood, C.N., Sawyer, K.B., Padilla, A. and Lunsford, L., 2018. Destructive leadership: A critique of leader-centric perspectives and toward a more holistic definition. Journal of Business Ethics, 151(3), pp.627-649.    

Ciulla, J.B., 2020. The importance of leadership in shaping business values. In The search for ethics in leadership, business, and beyond (pp. 153-163). Springer, Cham.