Thank you for sharing your recommendations and thoughts for this week’s discussion. I fully agree with your first recommendation that Ken should focus on building trust. I believe that fostering a work environment of trust and confidence is possibly the most important leadership competency that one can possess. According to Manion, trust is the first essential component in
establishing a positive and healthy relationship and without it, your ability to influence your team in the direction needed is significantly impaired (n.d., “Trust,” p. 156, para. 4-5). By building a trusting relationship, Ken will ensure his team can successfully meet deadlines while encouraging a stress-free environment with open communication, ultimately gaining support from his team to ensure LSN remains a top competitor. If Ken were to read and utilize
the course reading, Section 7: Building and Sustaining Relationships
, he would develop the knowledge required to build strong and positive relationships. Whenever people work together, they need to have a trusting relationship, and a lack of trust leads to the inability to function cooperatively because they are too worried about risking too much (
Axner, n.d., “Relationships are the Groundwork,” para. 1). Additionally, this article offers tips for getting the relationship off the ground, including taking it one step at-a-time, be friendly, ask questions, be open, overcome the fear of rejection, be persistent, and enjoy the company of others.
References
Axner, M. (n.d.). Leadership and Management: Chapter 14: Section 7: Building and Sustaining Relationships
. Community Tool Box. https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/leadership/leadership-functions/build-sustain-
relationships/main
Manion, J. (n.d.). Week 6: The Leadership Relationship. Part I: Understanding Trust
. Document posted in UMGC BMGT 365 7380 online classroom, archived at https://learn.umgc.edu/content/enforced/640930-M_001034-01-2218/The%20Leadership
%20Relationship,%20Part%20I%20-%20Understanding%20Trust.pdf
The third recommendation you give, to try to be authentic, is a great recommendation. I too, recommended that Ken develop charismatic, servant, and authentic leadership skills. Based on your recommendation of maintaining honesty, Ken would benefit most with implementing servant leadership skills. Servant leadership skills would significantly improve Ken’s ability to achieve humbleness and reduce employee’s fear of making mistakes (UMGC, n.d., “Develop Your Servant Leadership Skills,” para. 1). The reading from this week, Authentic Leadership – To thine own self be true
, is an excellent resource to understand these contemporary approaches to leadership. The central component of authentic leadership is
