Does money matter?

When I got the message from the teacher assistant, there’re only 2 groups completed the assignment. I was wondering, what’s wrong with other groups and our group? Just one assignment, why most of us postponed its assignment till the last minute?

When you’re paid to do something, such as your job, you wanted to be promoted; you wanted to be a leader of the group or a manager of the department. You work hard, put lots of efforts in your work, contribute your thoughts in your presentation or project, just to show your ability or talent to your boss and to gain the trust and respect among your co-workers within the organization. If the task is beyond your current ability, but you know that if you could handle it well, you might be promoted, or at least your superior will see you differently and trust you more. I guess most of us will try to be active on accepting the task and try our best to complete it.

“I have a strong sense of responsibilities” this sentence is common written in the CV, also I’ve heard lots of interviewees said that they are responsible people.

Then what have made you different between the school and the work?

In school, a variety of reasons why many of us would not volunteer or refuse to be a team leader. WHY? I ask myself, because I am afraid to let the team down; because I am afraid I don’t have enough time to contribute to the team; because I am afraid I am unable to gather all people together to make it better……

Actually, If you’re a good leader in the school, you almost receive the same treatment as you are a good manager within a company. The team is moving toward to a positive direction under your lead; your members respect your idea to work together; you gain the trust within the team members; you’re welcomed and favored among the members, etc. Except the promotions and money. So, is the “CONFIDENCE” making the difference? Not really. Because we’d accept a challenge task or project at work. Then what? Money and Promotions!

Most of us agreed that MBA is a good place to build up the relations with different people, a good social network to connect many people together. If so, why many of us are still being reluctant to be a leader for a group of good people?

Another thing I found funny is that once there’s someone who stands out and assigns task to each member, the feedback is easy to collect and quick to get the job done. Are we intent to be a good executive rather than the leader during the MBA process? If so, what do you get by attending the school?

Just the degrees?

Some of us do treat work and study differently and it looks like we are facing the same situation from different groups. Everyone, as a member in the group, should take the initiative when completing the task and it is obvious that getting the team leader assigned is critical.

minibabyfox wrote:When I got the message from the teacher assistant, there’re only 2 groups completed the assignment. I was wondering, what’s wrong with other groups and our group? Just one assignment, why most of us postponed its assignment till the last minute?

When you’re paid to do something, such as your job, you wanted to be promoted; you wanted to be a leader of the group or a manager of the department. You work hard, put lots of efforts in your work, contribute your thoughts in your presentation or project, just to show your ability or talent to your boss and to gain the trust and respect among your co-workers within the organization. If the task is beyond your current ability, but you know that if you could handle it well, you might be promoted, or at least your superior will see you differently and trust you more. I guess most of us will try to be active on accepting the task and try our best to complete it.

“I have a strong sense of responsibilities” this sentence is common written in the CV, also I’ve heard lots of interviewees said that they are responsible people.

Then what have made you different between the school and the work?

In school, a variety of reasons why many of us would not volunteer or refuse to be a team leader. WHY? I ask myself, because I am afraid to let the team down; because I am afraid I don’t have enough time to contribute to the team; because I am afraid I am unable to gather all people together to make it better……

Actually, If you’re a good leader in the school, you almost receive the same treatment as you are a good manager within a company. The team is moving toward to a positive direction under your lead; your members respect your idea to work together; you gain the trust within the team members; you’re welcomed and favored among the members, etc. Except the promotions and money. So, is the “CONFIDENCE” making the difference? Not really. Because we’d accept a challenge task or project at work. Then what? Money and Promotions!

Most of us agreed that MBA is a good place to build up the relations with different people, a good social network to connect many people together. If so, why many of us are still being reluctant to be a leader for a group of good people?

Another thing I found funny is that once there’s someone who stands out and assigns task to each member, the feedback is easy to collect and quick to get the job done. Are we intent to be a good executive rather than the leader during the MBA process? If so, what do you get by attending the school?

Just the degrees?

Dear, I know what you mean and personally agree what you said. In fact, our group assignment was not between the two submitted ones, but in the final consolidation when i received the short message yesterday. hehe...

My opinion is that study, esp. part-time study, and work are after all not the same, inevitably. You may say it's a kind of utilitarianism or money/authority matters, it is the fact. Admittedly speaking, adults are driven by what he or she cares most. They are always dedicated to the matter they regard worthy of endeavors most. People have different values and priorities. And internal drive always keeps longer and larger driving force. This is human nature.

So for me, I choose to respect my peers' option. In our group, actually, the degree of everyone's involvement was not the same as well. But anyway, we all did contribution, large or small, to the group assignment, because it related to everyone's performance. And i fully believed those who engaged less were not just because he or she was not conscientious enough or reluctant to take responsiblity, but because he or she had some other things more important to deal with, at least in his eye.

So just take it easy la~ From my side, I really recognized your active performance in the class. You did set a good example for all of us that deserve me learning.

At least we have all finished our assignment.

Any one of you have started to preview the OB text book? It's another big book.

And the leadership book is a very good book, I strongly suggest you could read this book before the next CBL class.

I will. from your tone, it seems you've read the book. I really appreciate if you could outline the key points here.

Thank you chery, that is really flattering. My point is not about how much contribution each member does for the project, but the important roll, a leader, in a group.

You are acting like a good leader already~~

I haven't finish the book yet, but I'm sure I will finish it by the end of the course.

A real leader need passion and intuition. Leader focus on the future, Manager focus on the present.

JingKaiXu wrote:I haven't finish the book yet, but I'm sure I will finish it by the end of the course.

I'm not sure now..... so much need to read in OB ......

Thank Gigi Meinv you did disclose the name of minibabyfox haha. nvm. the course is already completed.

"A real leader need passion and intuition. Leader focus on the future, Manager focus on the present. " HUH? is this the other way around in reality? At least, this is not what i knew from the "Leadership" book, nor from the working experience.

from the book (Page 61)--it's said managers and leaders are 2 very different types of ppl. managers' goals arise out of necessities rather than desires; they excel at diffusing conflicts between individuals or departments, placating all side while ensuring that an organization's day to day business gets done. However, leaders adopt personal, active attitudes towards goals. they look for the potential opportunities and rewards that lie around the corner, inspiring subordinates and firing up the creative process with their own energy.

from my experience, in Call center industry, leader of a team for one project, he/she is more intense or close to employees or subordinates, the working environment is often, consequently chaotic as the book said so. leaders need to organize morning meeting to announce sth new or inspire the team spirit, and at the end of day, gather all members together to summarize the day of works. they need to be active among the group memebers, report to the manager if any daily routine goes wrong, leader is a very tiring roll, check the attendance, pay attention to the attitudes of each memeber at work, caculate the incentive at the end of month for the team members, etc.

however, regarding the role of a manager or a supervisor, they need to forecast the business trend, build up a good relationship with the client, send monthly report and get the feedback from the client in order to make an agreed plan for the team to perform better, in addition, the manager or a supervisor must understand the client's needs, so the team can stay focused and on track by assigning the right tasks to the leader.

In short, leader leads the team by following manager's visions or plans.

Cheers. we all got lots of material to read.

minibabyfox wrote:Thank Gigi Meinv you did disclose the name of minibabyfox haha. nvm. the course is already completed.

"A real leader need passion and intuition. Leader focus on the future, Manager focus on the present. " HUH? is this the other way around in reality? At least, this is not what i knew from the "Leadership" book, nor from the working experience.

from the book (Page 61)--it's said managers and leaders are 2 very different types of ppl. managers' goals arise out of necessities rather than desires; they excel at diffusing conflicts between individuals or departments, placating all side while ensuring that an organization's day to day business gets done. However, leaders adopt personal, active attitudes towards goals. they look for the potential opportunities and rewards that lie around the corner, inspiring subordinates and firing up the creative process with their own energy.

from my experience, in Call center industry, leader of a team for one project, he/she is more intense or close to employees or subordinates, the working environment is often, consequently chaotic as the book said so. leaders need to organize morning meeting to announce sth new or inspire the team spirit, and at the end of day, gather all members together to summarize the day of works. they need to be active among the group memebers, report to the manager if any daily routine goes wrong, leader is a very tiring roll, check the attendance, pay attention to the attitudes of each memeber at work, caculate the incentive at the end of month for the team members, etc.

however, regarding the role of a manager or a supervisor, they need to forecast the business trend, build up a good relationship with the client, send monthly report and get the feedback from the client in order to make an agreed plan for the team to perform better, in addition, the manager or a supervisor must understand the client's needs, so the team can stay focused and on track by assigning the right tasks to the leader.

In short, leader leads the team by following manager's visions or plans.

Cheers. we all got lots of material to read.

I understand your question and your experience. The point here is : Is the leader you called them leader a really Leader?
These people you call them leader, but are they actually working as a leader role?

As stated in the book, Leader cares about the goals, where the group is going to move, what problems there will be in the future. this is the future. People like Jobs from apple, he is the real leader.
Managers solve problems, they do things which based on necessities. These problems are current problems.

You may be called leader, but are you really a leader?
You may be called manager, but do you do leader's job?

managers and leader are 2 different type of personality, but many times they are inseparable, you may be a manager and a leader at the same time.

It is not about titles.

If you have a vision, then you have the potential to be a leader.

minibabyfox wrote:
however, regarding the role of a manager or a supervisor, they need to forecast the business trend, build up a good relationship with the client, send monthly report and get the feedback from the client in order to make an agreed plan for the team to perform better, in addition, the manager or a supervisor must understand the client's needs, so the team can stay focused and on track by assigning the right tasks to the leader.

In short, leader leads the team by following manager's visions or plans.

Cheers. we all got lots of material to read.

Your manager try to maintain good relationship, and understand customer needs. This is the manager part.
A leader will create customer need, and not just forecast the existing business, but also change the direction of the organization.

All right, we're arguing about the responsibilities in terms of leader and manager. there's no right or wrong answer, but the perspective in different fields matters. U were talking about a leader of an organization, but i was talking about a leader of a team or a project.

In short, different field requires different job scope.

Shall we move onto another subjects? we've got loads of homework to do, especially in the reading and understanding part.

Cheers.

Yes, Actually, all these course are related, creativity , leadership, organization behavior. They have connections.

In the Clindenin case, Do you think he is a good leader? Why?

As stated in the book, there are many types of leader. What kind of leader is your boss? Do you think he is doing the right thing? Is there problem in your company / team ?


After I learned all these courses, I can't stop thinking these questions. what kind of organization am I in? what is the relationships between me and my colleagues ? what kind of persons are my colleagues? What is my boss's personality, is there something wrong in my company?

What am I going to do? What will I do if I were the boss?

with all these questions, I think I can understand the content in the book better.

So not just read, but also think.