Chapter 12 thoughts

Part 1: Yes, I think history has shown us that women have been underrepresented. How long did it take until women could vote? drive? work? Years ago, their primary responsibility was to take care of the house. They did not have a balance between work and life-because they had no work. Now, we see women in college, holding high positions in a professional setting, etc. At times, this can cause stress in finding balance between work and life. I don't think it is out of control by any means thought.

Part 2: I agree with Teresa in the point that men and women can be both. I do, however, agree with Dan in that men typically act in a different way than women. I think men are naturally more aggressive and incorporate that into how they pursue goals in a professional setting. I am not saying women are not aggressive, but they are frowned upon when they act that way. I am going to say generally yes they apply; but there are always exceptions.

Part 3: I touched on this a little bit in part 2. I only talk about personality traits. I think you can use history as something to back up this statement, but I don't think that is fair. Historically, leaders are men. This is a distorted view because women were not allowed the same privileges years ago. Even if women were better leaders-they could not show it. I also do not want to get yelled at again, so I will wrap up this issue.

Part 4: I only think women are viewed negatively in leadership roles when they assume the "bitchy" stereotype. This contradicts the mindset of women being friendly, unselfish, and quiet. I think there are countless examples of stubborn men who have trouble working for a woman. There are plenty of women in the world who hold a position of power and leadership and do it without being looked down upon. I think women are still breaking into leadership roles in society, and it will only get better for females as time goes on.

Chapter 11 response

It is natural for different cultures to have different views on leadership. When you ask a classroom full of kids from St. Norbert who have come from similar backgrounds, you would get a lot of different answers as well. You could conduct the same survey just for a portion of the state of Wisconsin and get completely different answers. And that is just WI! Imagine the entire world.

Different cultures teach, develop, and form different leaders and different types of leaders. Cultures can vary by extremes in places you go. Societal demands change the way you live. We live in America and are lucky to have the freedoms we have.

Each culture has a different lifestyle, demands, expectations, etc. Because of these variables, what they define as leadership will vary as well. Some people in the professional world look at leadership completely different than someone who has to scrounge for food every night to feed their family. Different people/cultures face so many different challenges. Not only leadership, but all aspects of life will be different based on cultural changes.

Chapter 10 response

I think too much failure can be detrimental for a developing leader; especially if a lot of failure comes at an impressionable age. People can only take so much. If an aspiring leader constantly tries and puts in a lot of effort, and fails- it is tough. I think motivation is crucial for a good leader. How can someone motivate themselves to keep trying if all they do is fail? I know this is an extreme case, but people build up situations in their minds. People distort reality all the time. Too much failure can make some people think that all they will do is fail. No effective leader can go into any situation with that mindset.

To go along with this, I think a weak support system is a negative for an aspiring leader. If you surround yourself with people who only bring you down, how can you surpass your own expectations and succeed? Constantly being around trouble makers and people with weak morals only create more obstacles. Hanging with those who want to reach their full potential and strive to get ahead in life will help you do the same. Listening to your parents, and choosing your friends wisely eliminate so many complications in life. We here at St. Norbert are fortunate enough to be around other students who come from good backgrounds and have a strong moral fibers for the most part. There are very few kids here that pull others down with them.

Response to Ch 13

Ethics is a very tricky component when dealing with leadership. Relating some of this back to the cultural component of leadership, i think that the US being so individualized and so profit focus, sometimes the ethical aspect gets shoved aside. Decisions are made not based on what is morally ethical, but on what will provide the most profit or recognition for me. I think humans act deliberately and each action is done with the intent for some reason x. Ethics get clouded when the choice should be making, does not coincide with the one we are making. I think leaders that lead with intent to change or the intent to motivate need to base actions on ethics. Ghandhi, or Martin Luther King Jr, acted from an ethical concept of non-violence and changed the lives of millions of people. When used the right way, effective leaders can act through an ethical standpoint and still be change driven!

Response to Ch. 12

I think there are several differences between men and women in our leadership roles of society. This dates all the way back to the foundation of our society under patriarchical domination. My issue with the gender gap in society is how women use that as an excuse. There are so many other principles in our society that stem from ancient values also. The thing that heals those gaps is education and time. Women are becoming more main stream in the workplace. Women are earning higher degress than they have and they are taking on harder positions comprable to men.

The first argument that men have a more vested capital interest than women do i would say histrocially has been true. Now that women are more on the job scene and more focused on career, the family aspect of that capital investment argument is going by the wayside. Families are not as big as they have been and with more women working and focusing on that component, the family size will remain small and women will stay in the workplace as long as men.

The second argument comparing transformational leadership styles to they typical transactional style of men should not be an issue for argument. No matter what the style, the effectivness is how you use it. Men can be transformational and be effective leaders.

I agree with Erica for the third argument, men need to get off their high horse before i will talk about this issue :)

I think for the fourth argument, women do get a stigma if they are hard-headed, strong and agressive leaders. If a man does those same things, he is assertive and a woman is acting like a bitch. I think the stereotype of women as soft, nuturing, quiet observers needs to stop. I do not think that one needs to be mean and boistrous to be seen as a leader, i think there needs to be a balance, for men also.

Ethics Response

I think ethics and morals should be the basis for how we make decisions as leaders. Also they can be a soundboard for our previous choices because we usually learn from our past decisions if they are good ones or bad ones. The Christian ethics class we take for this minor teaches us about the different way people think about different ideals, such as the death penalty, abortion and other controversial topics in our society. People who are the leader need to know what the situation is that they are involved with and need to determine a way if it is ethical or not. The understanding of virtues and other concepts related to ethics helps people determine if the decision they are making is allowable. People need to think with their hearts when trying to make a decision, which is what morality is. If there was a business ethics course it would be more helpful because it would be more focused on the business part of leadership, like working in an organization.

Ch. 12 Response

This is not a strong reasoning for women being underrepresented because as Erica said more women are going to college and getting a higher education than they were back in the past. It is also unfair that women get 75 cents to every man's dollar. Men also are becoming "stay-at-home dads" and take care of the family when their wives are at work.

The second question I agree with because women get more involved when trying to get things organized with a problem or something they are trying to figure out. Men are just to the point at trying to figure stuff out. They do not lay everything out like women do.

The third statement I disagree with because women have the same advantage as women do at being a leader in any situation. This argument does not even make sense because they have no real data that they express.

Yes, women are negatively stereotyped when they are in a leadership position because some people do not expect them to do a good job. I think this is a bad stereotype because women have just as much opportunity to get a job done as men do. This is just like women in media, where they are the housewives and the men are the ones who go to work, such as "Family Guy" and "The Simpsons." Those are some examples why these stereotypes are not right.

Ch 10 Response

Leadership is a trait in a person that is learned and born. People can take different classes or learn from other people on how they can become better leaders. People also have skills already with them in life that makes them a good leader, where an example is Dr. Martin Luther King.

There are also some barriers that leadership can have to have it be good. Through our fraternity there is always the president who leads the meetings, but he gives everyone in the group the ability to talk and express their ideas on what they think can help the group in any way. He sometimes also has to tell people to be quiet and not talk when other people are talking because that is his job. He is also to run the meeting.

Another barrier is that a person must be able to work together with other people. They must not be the people giving all the instructions because this is not going to be a positive experience for the followers. They must have a say in the ideas. I agree that change is an important part of leadership because people must be able to accept change in any situation. An example of this is having a president who is African American. People who are racist must accept that this is a society where people need to accept each other for who they are. Those are different ways a leader can be positive.

Response to Chapter 13

I think morals and ethics should be used as a basis for how leaders interact with followers and the decision process. Leaders should also use ethics for a soundboard for previous decisions and use for future decision. I agree the some unethical situations are a result of a leader’s incompetencies. A leader should have the knowledge about the situation, the people involves, and if the decision would be morally permissible. The ethics course at St. Norbert College provides various ways to determine what actions are moral permissible or impermissible. These methods can be used to determine whether a leader’s actions are permissible, especially for political or business leaders. The understanding of virtues, actions, motives, and habits allows leaders to understand what is permitted in society and how to judge others as leader’s. Once again, I think Philosophy Ethics can be useful for leadership studies, but a business ethics would be more useful in understanding ethics and leadership.

Chapter 11 response - leadership and culture

Every culture has different views of everything, class, family and religion. We come from a byast side in that leadership is generally earned and we work for what we get and that is how it always is. Theoretically that is true, but family influence and power have a big say in that also. This is seen most easily in presidential families and the political sector. The American dream is a beautiful idea, but is that how it really is?

Many collectivist cultures see leadership as an earned, attained position. Leaders are those who are trustworthy first and foremost. They are the people that are friends with you, fit in with your social circle and have a record of humility. Leaders are sacred positions.

There are also countries that base leadership on family. Kings and Queens. Is that the best method for breeding leaders? What type of people are raised in that environment of priveldge and birthgiven power?

Leadership is different across every country. The way that these power regimes are successful is how they interact with the people and if they hold up to cultural ideals of power.

Response to Chapter 11

I think the four main dimensions of leaderships are very important when interacting with other countries. In the Intercultural Communication Course at St. Norbert College, we spent a great amount of time studying: individualism-collectivism, masculinity-femininity, uncertainty avoidance, and power distance. Based on the different cultures, people will interact and interpret verbal and non-verbal communication and roles of people differently. An individual culture focuses on the individual success of a person to get ahead in society, whereas collectivistic culture focuses on working together within the community for group success. Depending on if a culture is individualistic or collectivistic, will affect the structure of groups and the roles of leaders. Uncertainty avoidance is another key factor for leadership in different cultures. If people do not know about a culture or people within the culture, than they avoid them to reduce uncertainty. A leader needs to feel confident and learn about cultures, so that they can interact within a culture without feeling uncertainty. Power distance is in different cultures indicates how much space should be allotted for the people in power or who with stand leadership roles. This needs to be understood for different cultures to respond to power distance and the acceptance of behaviors based on status.

Cultures have different forms of leadership based on the expected roles for people within the culture and the people in power. The culture dimension discussed need to be examined to determine the bases of the culture and their leadership roles. Assuming these dimensions, may lead to failure for leaders in different cultures. Cultures are not usually adaptable to change because they have been participating and following a system they have always believed in.

Ch 9 Response: Success

I would gauge success on how the results and impacts of the project are portrayed. If the students have learned a lot from what we taught them, then I think it would be a successful project. We have had some problems, but we overcame them and proceeded on what we needed to do. The students said they learned a lot so I would consider this to be a successful project. They learned more about leadership and how they can improve on their strategies.

I would say that this is similar to the education programs put on through different organizations on this campus to get other organizations educated on different issues. They want the audience to learn as much as possible and this would be a successful project if they do. Also for our fraternity when we are trying to work on projects, when we are finished they are usually successful because we get them done right, like our Gold Star application. Everyone worked together to get it done and have it turned in on time.