Leadership & Excellence PMA 1

Hey everyone, it's been a while since i've posted on here...

anyways, hoping to achieve efficient time management (something i've lacked so far), i'm already on my way to completing my LE PMA! My advice to you guys is to read the FAQs, they really help, and try going through the material on the webpage.

On transformational leadership and empowerment: I've noticed that there is a lot of emphasis in the module notes concerning these types of leadership and although I was a bit skeptical at first, it seems like these forms of leadership are really that effective.

I'm sure a lot of you have heard of the book Rich Dad Poor Dad. In this book, the author suggests that the best type of job to have is one where you don't have to do anything, just let money work for you. This can be accomplished by becoming an investor, or a business owner. In the both cases, what you are doing is providing some form of input into a company (investor = capital, business owner = guidance), then wait for results. But how to create a company where the business owner does not need to come to office everyday? Definitely through transformational leadership...

: 20 Jun 2010 23:18 |  Tags: Excellence Leadership |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Leadership & Excellence Day 9

Last day of the module! Thank you to everyone, and Paul for an excellent and very interesting module.

From this module, I have learnt a great many things about how to become an effective leader, as well as about myself and others. But the most crucial part of this module is definitely to be TRUE TO YOURSELF. In the self-assessment and reflective pieces we have had to write, the only way that we can improve ourselves and , thus, others is too admit that we have a flaw...and then work hard to improve upon it. For myself, I admit that sometimes I can get distracted from the task at hand, and when under pressure can become quite assertive. These are the main points (there are others!) that I would improve upon in the future.

Finally, i would like to wish everyone good luck and success, both at WMG and else where!

: 21 May 2010 18:12 |  Tags: Excellence Leadership |  Comments (3) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Leadership & Excellence Day 8

Thank you to Sid, Roy, and Noah for their excellent participation in the Ship exercise...and all the other teams for their hard work and effort! better luck next time, guys...

The most interesting topic for me today was about companies and CSR. While I have always knew, or at least suspected, that most companies engaged in CSR for the financial benefits, it was interesting to view it from a Leadership & Excellence viewpoint. An effective leader, as we all know, does not have to be an ethical one, but by being ethical and standing by your values....that certainly shows that you can be an effective leader. Then, an organisation can use policy deployment methods like Balanced Scorecard and hoshin kanri to "distill" these qualities down into the company culture and employees, and ensuring that everyone is working towards a mutual goal.

On the other hand, if policy deployment aimed to make employees look only at finance figures and not ethical costs, then the organisation can also become another soul-less, money making machine.

Such is the power of policy deployment.

: 20 May 2010 22:06 |  Tags: Excellence Leadership |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Leadership & Excellence Day 7

A lot of interesting points were raised today in the presentations, as well as during the Coaching game. Great job everyone! Coaching is apparently much harder than it appears to be, and I can defnitely see how the game might help people to develop their coaching skills as long as they are taking it seriously.

Performance Appraisal: In my opinion, companies either get it right, or they don't. As a leader, we need to be sure that the system fits in with the corporate culture and find ways to remove personal opinion and prejudices.

Coaching: A critical part in making an effective leader. One of our definitions of effective leadership is the ability to get our followers to put in effort 'beyond' 100%. Coaching can definitely help that. A good coach can build up trust very quickly, and it is this trust that can help in future situations.

: 20 May 2010 02:48 |  Tags: Excellence Leadership |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Leadership & Excellence Day 6

Today, with the hotel exercise I felt this was the most interesting class exercise we have done so far...it was very interesting to see the different team dynamics taking place. Although my team won, team 3 had an unexpectedly good last quarter, while team 2 delivered consistently solid results and were being brave in taking risky decisions. Well done everyone!

While working as a team, effective leaders need to observe and understand their followers, to look for hidden potential while encouraging creativity. It is possible for shy, less talkative people to become effective leaders? i believe quite so...in Thailand there is a famous politician who is well known for being quiet and mild mannered. However, everytime he spoke, his words carried lots of impact and hidden meaning; and thus he quickly became one of Thailand's most well respected political leaders. Sometimes speaking few, well thought-out words is much more effective than spewing out....well...a load of excrement.

: 18 May 2010 23:19 |  Tags: Excellence Leadership |  Comments (2) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Leadership & Excellence Day 5

Kicking off the second week with quite group intensive exercises. Personally, I am excited about getting to work with other members of the class and observing their working styles. Also feel like getting to know my team mates better, and productivity improving ( or not? team 4 members please verify this point!) when compared to last week.

In the seminar today, I had the understanding that being a follower can help someone to become an effective leader, although this is not necessarily the case. However, since at times we (as people living together in a society) have to take turns playing the leader/follower, there is no certain yes/no answer to the seminar question.

I feel that this is true for most questions concerning leadership. There is no mathematics to it, and there are so many factors that are variable but, yet, they all contribute to effective leadership. If your followers are challenging you, then a leader has to know when to be assertive and forceful. On the other hand, if your followers are following efficiently, then a leader has to know how to encourage them. It is this balance of being soft/hard that makes leadership an art. A soft, well-spoken leader does not translate to an ineffective leader, as long as that leader knows how to handle his followers with the correct actions.

: 18 May 2010 00:25 |  Tags: Excellence Leadership |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Leadership & Excellence Day 4

Really looking forward to the seminar...lots of interesting topics were suggested and although the ones i wanted were not selected, i am still interested to see what comes up in the discussions.

As for today, there was a very interesting discussion about effective and ineffective leaders, and Steve Jobs came up. Apparently, Steve Jobs gets emotional and likes to take it out on his employees, but despite this, his organisation still turns out profits and cites him as a good leader. Does this mean that Jobs leads primarily through fear? Or is it due to his highly innovative ideas and passion for technology? Or is he an indirect leader like Einstein?

What about Margaret Thatcher? I'm not familiar with British history but seems like she's not well liked  in general? Would like to know more about her....

: 07 May 2010 20:16 |  Tags: Excellence Leadership |  Comments (2) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Leadership & Excellence Day 3

Lots of interesting ideas thrown around today...the concept of variance, timekeeping, leadership...congratulations on all the teams for coming up with interesting definitions for leadership.

Interesting point for me is that not all great leaders have to have "good" moral values. Hitler, Stalin, etc etc. They all fit the definitions of an effective leader but their actions are hardly ethical. Given the situations they were in, why did they choose to use their leadership skills in that way? And were they that effective in leading that their followers were also swayed in their sense of right and wrong?

: 06 May 2010 14:02 |  Tags: Excellence Leadership |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Leadership & Excellence Day 2

Is there one truly correct definition of leadership? From the list that we have been given, some academics view leadership as an art, some as a management process, others as some behavioural quality that arises in a situation. While I agree with all of them, none of them seems to completely get it right.

Interested to see what the other teams have come up with for their definitions.

: 05 May 2010 19:18 |  Tags: Excellence Leadership |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Leadership & Excellence Day 1

So, I've just finished my first day of the Leadership & Excellence module....

Definitely an interesting approach towards module structures. Through the team exercises, a "situation" is created, with "group members" who all have different "characteristics". All the valuables in the leadership function. For those who reflect upon their actions in these exercises, they can glimpse upon their preferred roles in a team...whether they are a follower or a leader.

A certain trait that seems common amongst all good leaders is confidence and good body language. While this can definitely be taught and practiced, for me it seems like some people are more natural at this than others. Which brings to mind a classic question: are great leaders born (nature), or nurtured? Or is the answer both? Great leaders always seem to have a certain kind of instinct which allows them to make decisions in dire situations, and take risks that others fear to take, yet emerge successful at the end. Can this instinct be taught to someone? Or grown through experience? Or are you just born with it?

Congrats to all the teams for their excellent work today, although I'd have to say team 4 was the best haha

Signing off,
Chonlapat (Nick)

: 04 May 2010 17:54 |  Tags: Excellence Leadership |  Comments (3) |  Close comments |  Report a problem