HTM 491
Leadership Blog
The Lone Tiger
Blog #1
Leadership in 3's
Blog #2
Leadership & Me
Over the past four years, I have taken many management classes which have taught me about all the different leadership styles in this world. Additionally, through the plethora of jobs I’ve had since 2015, I’ve gained much hands-on experience being on both sides of leadership positions. I’ve also developed a majority of my leadership philosophies from Peloton Fitness instructors, who have been extremely successful in leading me to live a life focused on health and staying active for the past year
Being a leader is uncomfortable. The role requires one to exude much confidence when displaying their beliefs, as it is essential that the leader truly trusts in what they are trying to convey to the entire group, or else nobody will have enough faith to follow.
I think a leader must be willing to do what they are telling others to do and to lead through example. If a leader is unwilling to do the work they are telling others to do, they simply will not cooperate. Leading by example is the most efficient way to lead, as it sets a precedent and standard for the entire group/organization to follow.
As I enter the time of my life where I will assume leadership positions, I hope to display this “lead by example” philosophy. This tactic worked very well with me while being on the receiving end of leadership, so I now want to be that leading example for others to follow and strive for in the future. I want to be able to inspire people to be the best version of themselves, not only through words, but through everything I do everyday.
Blog #3
Trait Based
Trait-based leadership theory focuses on the idea that certain personality traits and characteristics are linked to being a successful leader. This theory is controversial because it suggests that these traits automatically make you a great leader, but in reality, there are a lot of situational variables that could affect results.
My most valued leadership traits are drive, adaptability, creativity, and courage; especially in a time where diversity, inclusion, and globalization are the main topics of interest. Drive and adaptability are very important, especially when having to hobble around drawbacks such as covid. Creativity is crucial, especially when trying to find solutions to issues. Courage also plays a huge role in becoming a great leader due to the confidence it exudes to inferiors.
Chapters 3 & 4 of Good to Great discusses the importance of what hiring the “right people” can do for a company’s success. I currently work at Nautilus Tavern as a server, where most of our staff consists of college students. Recently, my manager has been hiring anyone to be a server, regardless of their past employment history or having zero experience serving. This leads to people like me to do the work of a host, busser, and food runner on top of serving due to their inability to take initiative to help. If I had coworkers who did their work diligently, I would not have to leave work with my mind and body in physical pain from having to be in a hundred places at once. If my manager hired people with a strong work ethic who are truly passionate about work as opposed to college kids looking to have an easy weekend job, Nautilus would have the potential to skyrocket their sales and customer satisfaction.
Blog #4
Behavior-Based
There are many different leadership styles seen in this world whether it be in a workplace, group project, or sports team, and understanding them is the first step in becoming a successful leader yourself. Douglas McGregor’s Theory XY explains two different approaches a boss can take. Theory X assumes the employees dislike work and must be directed; while Theory Y assumes that employees want to work and are capable of making decisions and taking action. Both of these theories have behaviors that are closely related to one another in which these different types of bosses exude, which can be seen in either people or task-oriented behaviors. Theory X more easily connects with task-based, while theory Y relates more to people-based behaviors. Task-based behaviors are geared towards work facilitation and focus on structure. On the other hand, people-based behaviors emphasize interaction facilitation and focus on creating a positive work environment. These behaviors are not exactly innate, so in my opinion, this proves that really anyone can be a leader as long as they focus on acting out these leadership behaviors in their everyday life. Some of these leadership behaviors include: empowering, supporting, monitoring operations, and developing.
I chose to write about the T.V. show Ted Lasso, which has many characters that exude excellent leadership in their behaviors.
-Ted Lasso:
Ted Lasso is the newly appointed head coach of a U.K. soccer team. Ted is constantly empowering the teammates and his colleagues to be the best version of themselves. He constantly provides opportunities in order to do so, such as appointing Nathan (who was only a kit man) to assistant coach. Ted effortlessly encourages innovative thinking by constantly inspiring his players through the very insightful way he thinks himself. For example, he challenges the team to “think like a goldfish”, which basically teaches the team to no longer dwell on their past failures, which in turn creates more success in the future.
-Coach Beard:
Coach Beard is Ted Lasso’s right-hand man in which he does an amazing job supporting him through all of it. Whenever Ted is in doubt or second-guessing himself, Beard is always there to reassure him and provide encouragement.
-Nathan:
Nathan is an assistant coach and he has a real knack for recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of every player. He constantly shares these opinions with the other coaches, where his influence heavily affects who earns a starting position. Nathan is also very considerate of his superiors and is always consulting with his colleagues before making any rash decisions.
-Sharron:
Sharron is a sports psychologist and works at the stadium as support for all of the players and coaches. Through her therapy sessions, she is really amazing at trying to help her patients develop themselves by helping them through their struggles.
-Rebecca:
Rebecca is the owner of the Futbol club and is in charge of the entire operation. In her position, Rebecca is really good at monitoring operations. She constantly is checking ticket sales and evaluating the performance of the coaches and players. Rebecca is also great in acting as a supporter to Ted as their friendship grows, such as when she invited Ted to her Christmas day plans knowing it would be the first year celebrating after his divorce.
Blog #5
Contingency Theory
Looking back at my time working as a server at Nautilus Tavern, the Hersey and Blanchard model is not followed heavily by my management. I had never served a day in my life, so I was coming into this job with a D1 skillset. The only time I “trained” was in my first shift, which only consisted of me observing a more experienced server and looking over the menu and our computer system. On my second day, I was thrown right into the mix and my first table was a party of 12. The toughest part was not knowing the entire menu, especially when being asked about our beer, wine, and liquors. My managers were leading me in S4 while my skill set was still at D1.
Eventually, through learning hands-on, I was able to develop my skills to D4, confidently being able to say I am one of the best servers now and I’ve made a ton of connections with my coworkers and guests as the months have passed. To get to this point was not easy, learning as you go can be quite frustrating, and included me having to ask a ton of questions to management because I simply did not know anything yet. Not being able to be fully independent at work made me feel like I was a burden at first, but if management had followed the Blanchard contingency theory, this burdened feeling could have been avoided. My managers need to realize how following this model would highly benefit the company if implemented in the future. If my training was longer and more in depth I could have gotten to the D4 level much quicker, instead of the two months it took me to finally feel confident and independent in my work.
Blog Winner
Nominations
Ailish Hutchings
~Creative & Trendy~
Love all of the graphics and edits on her page! Made it super fun to look through her website!
Mackenzie Ramos
~Inspiring & Aesthetically Pleasing~
Loved what Mackenzie had to say in all of her blog posts!
Ali Exum
~Inspiring & Knowledgable~
Throughout Ali's website, you can tell how much dedication she has to HTM, and all of her posts were very informational!
Blog #6:
Transformational Leaders
A technology adaptation taking place in the HTM industry is the implementation of mobile ordering applications for food services in sports stadiums. These apps have created ease for these stadium’s consumers through easy access of menus through QR codes, messages that alert guests their food is ready for pickup or delivery to their seat, and helps eliminate physical contact. QR code menus have proved to save money and time by allowing the ability to update digital menus with just a few clicks, rather than having to throw away old menus and reprint new ones. Even the implementation of self-ordering kiosks has helped to prevent long lines, reduce labor costs and human-led errors. Stadiums have seen a 40-50% increase in average ticket/receipt sizes since this system has been applied.
I believe this is transforming the way stadiums will be run forever. Especially since the pandemic, businesses and consumers want to be provided with the safest environment possible for themselves and their loved ones, and this system provides exactly that. The first stadium to implement this was able to see an opportunity and capitalize upon it in order to turn more economic profit for themselves while providing better safety for their attendees. Even in my own experience of attending baseball games at Angels Stadium and Petco Park, the worst part of the game was having to leave your seat for 30+ minutes in order to get just a simple treat. Now, we get to enjoy the entire game without worrying about missing a huge part of the game!
Blog #7:
Contemporary Leadership
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Servant Leadership Theory
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Servant leadership was not developed by one singular person, but the ideology has been thoroughly studied and respected by many philosophers and authors today. This theory serves the purpose that “Servant Leadership is a philosophy and set of practices that enriches the lives of individuals, building organizations and ultimately creates a more just and caring world”. This theory revolves around the idea that a certain person possesses the natural desire and consistently makes the conscious choice to serve others in hopes to make the world, organization, or peers better. The term “Servant Leadership” is meant to be oxymoronic, as it pushes others to see leadership as serving others priorities before oneself. The theory focuses on a leader’s inner values over external techniques, thus these leaders possess many functional attributes such as: vision, honesty, integrity, trust, service, modeling, pioneering, appreciation, and empowerment. All of these characteristics of servant leaders prove themselves as transformational leaders within organizations. In my time in ASB in highschool, our teacher always referred to us as servant leaders, and that is where I learned the true meaning of putting the interests of others first. We always were making conscious efforts that would result in a happier student body and create a more unified school community as a whole. Through devoting our time to the planning of school dances, rallies, (and in my time as Senior V.P.) planning the Senior events; I was constantly devoting my life to better those around me.
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Martin Luther King Jr. is an excellent example of a servant leader. As one of the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, he chose to speak for millions of Americans in hopes to create a more inclusive, equal, and accepting world for all to live in. MLK successfully communicated an inclusive vision through his empowering speeches and movements, worked to persuade others through logical reason, and healed harsh racial division while working to build up the community. MLK essentially devoted himself and his life’s work to radically transform a nation, which at the time was extremely divided. In one of his speeches MLK Jr. said, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?”. MLK proved this ideology in all he did, up until the day he was assassinated for these valiant efforts 11 years after his emergence in society began.
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?”
-MLK Jr.
Blog #8:
The Final Blog
This class was a great tool to guide my own thoughts and actions about what leadership means to me. Being able to take a step back and recognize how I like to be led/how I like to lead others has given me clarity in the midst of a time where I am experiencing exactly that. One of the most helpful tools to guide me on my journey into successful leadership has been taking the time to recognize other leaders in the world/media whom I would like to mirror in leadership style. Almost every day I think about how Ted Lasso or Olivia Amato would react in a situation before reacting myself, and a lot has changed in my work performance since I had made that change. Leading through the use of a positive attitude, just as my role models do, has drastically improved my ability to work with others and complete tasks successfully together. At my job as a server at Nautilus Tavern, I have been able to use this newfound knowledge of the multitude of leadership styles covered throughout the semester to better recognize where I can improve in my own leadership amongst the team, but also recognize the positive, or disappointedly, negative leadership styles presented by my superiors. Sometimes the only thing you can do is recognize what your superiors are doing wrong, but this ability to recognize their faults has granted me the ability to no longer place blame on myself for the way others choose to act/respond. I now have higher and stronger confidence in myself which will lead me to more success as I enter the events industry.
I now ask you to visit my Professional E-Portfolio, where you can read all about my journey through HTM and see a bit more in-depth as to why I love the career path I have chosen.