3.
What three specific course materials from this week's course materials would you suggest to Ken that he should carefully review to enhance his future leadership development. You must explain the rationale for each of your three suggestions. (Thee three suggestions must not overlap with the three recommendations in #2.)
The three specific course materials from this week’s resources that I would recommend to Ken are Section 7: Building and Sustaining Relationships by M. Axner, The Emotional Bank Account
by M.J. Clark, and Authentic Leadership – To thine own self
be true
by S. Robinson and V. O’Dea, and
The first reading, Section 7: Building and Sustaining Relationships
, is a powerful resource that Ken would benefit in learning how to build relationships. Within this reading, the author explains
how building positive relationships can help overcome challenging obstacles. Whenever people work together, they need to have trusting relationships, 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. More importantly, Ken would learn how to sustain healthy and happy relationships with his subordinates and tips that may assist him in the event a relationship gets messy or hard. The second course material from this week I would recommend is The Emotional Bank Account
. We are all aware of how a regular bank works with withdrawals and deposits, but an emotional bank account is based on trust and safety instead of money (Clark, 2014, p.1, para. 1). Throughout this article, Ken would gain the knowledge of how to understand his team and create higher levels of trust. In addition to understanding, this reading provides valuable information about keeping commitments, clarifying expectations, communicating, showing personal integrity, and apologizing when necessary. Finally, the third recommended reading is Authentic Leadership – To thine own self be true
. Robinson and O’Dea explain the key behaviors of authentic leaders in this valuable resource. The central component of authentic leadership is genuineness; even though every authentic leader is different, there are several markers that these leaders tend to share (
Robinson & O’Dea, 2014, “The Key Behaviors of an Authentic Leader,” p. 2, para. 1). These markers include demonstrating behaviors that enable trust, taking ownership of mistake and/or sharing the responsibility of any mistakes, and showing courage. Additionally, Robinson and O’Dea explain the importance of a commitment to lifelong learning and a deep self-awareness (2014, “The Key Behaviors of an Authentic Leader,” p. 2, para. 2). By reading and taking notes from this reading, Ken would learn how to remain authentic in his leadership approach while still being an effective, productive, and inspiring leader.
