HumanResource Discussion
Question1
Theprimary message of the author is to identify and put down what thebest bosses have done and what individuals, who want to be the bestmanagers in any company, should do. He recognizes that people do notwant to be just bosses but the best bosses. Having done research ondifferent companies by interviewing bosses and making observations,the author differentiates the actions of good bosses from those ofbad bosses. There are specific points where one can look at anddecide whether a boss is good or bad. The areas include how thedecisions are made, how quickly the talks are turned into actions,and how to lead the people in an organization among other activities.The author has done his best to compare the two sides based on thedecisions of the bosses so that he can bring out the differencebetween the good and the bad. Treating the people you lead in thebest way possible will be a determinant factor of the best bosses. Onthe other side, bad bosses humiliate the people they lead and treatin a negative manner. The ideas in this book, therefore, will behelpful to those who want to become good bosses as well as to the badbosses who want to change.
Question2
Themost interesting thing after going through the book is the idea offorgiving and remembering in the workplace. Some CEOs work in uniqueways that most people do not expect or anticipate. There aresituations where I would expect that a failed leader be fired andreplaced immediately. In the scenario, the CEO’s behavior wasdifferent from what most people expected. One executive failed inlaunching the magazine after a whole year of preparations, the CEOdid not fire her but stood in one of the gatherings of the executivesand congratulated her for the failure (Sutton, 2012 p. 55). I findthis interesting because the CEO recognized that the failure occurredsince the lady did the wrong thing in the right way. Considering thefact that the other executives supported her, I also cannot find thereason for the woman to be fired. In any case, the failure is a clearindication that the whole top management body was wrong in one way oranother. Following the scenario, other members will get the spirit totry and carry out some of the challenging tasks that they do not knowthe immediate outcome. The good leaders should, therefore, find areason to forgive rather than acting immediately in a negative way.
Question3
Theauthor talks on the rule of divide and conquer in workplaces (Sutton,2012 P. 82). Even though there are some situations that this rule maywork better, I don’t think this is the best thing for theorganization that has a growth strategy in mind. Leaders in allcompanies should ensure that they try to coordinate the activities ofthe workers so that they will have the team building spirit that willhelp attain the company’s objectives. Divide and conquer rule willnot unearth the problems that the organization is facing. Instead, itwill lead to unnecessary politics in the workplace that may result infailure of the company. Good leaders should try to find out thecauses of the division in the workplace and do their best to solveit. I, therefore, do not agree with the author on the idea of divideand conquer at all cost.
Question4
Iwill employ the use of the social system approach, in the mediaorganization I would like to work for. This method will be the bestbecause I will be handling different groups of people with diversebackgrounds. Following the various groups of individuals that I willbe dealing with in the media company, each will have desires that canbe similar or different from one another. Incorporating the desiresof every social group in the enterprise can be challenging but as agood leader, I will make sure that I integrate the interests of everygroup. I am sure that I will have to incorporate several otherprinciples and techniques that are paramount in management, but it isnecessary I attend the needs of every group. The nature in, which Iwill fulfill the desires of every group, will incorporate theinterests of all parties that are in the organization. This willensure that there is no biasness in attending to the needs of everysocial group in the firm.
Question5
Inthe case where my subordinate is not performing as expected, as amanager I will start tackling the issue by assessing how the workerhas been performing over time in the company. I will call him/her ona one on one meeting and try to listen to his side of the story as towhy the outcomes are not appealing as it is expected. I will not talkanything at this point. I will look at my social system approach thatI have employed in the company to ensure that the group that thesubordinate belong to is well presented, just like the other groupsthat exist in the organization. Then I will share with thesubordinate the specific styles in which I would like to him/herchange to perform to expectation. I will then keep track andencourage him as he continues to work. I will now deal with theconcerns of this employee but looking at the broader spectrum of hisgroup but not as an individual. This is because the managementapproach encourages addressing the concerns of the group as a whole.If one subordinate fails the media group may seem to haveinefficiency somewhere, so I will consider following the subordinateregularly monitoring any areas of weaknesses and encouraging himfurther. I will find out what kind of motivation the employee wouldlike before I decide on bringing in any additional training resourcesfor the media company. The resources will boost the other employeeswho are in the same social group together with the subordinate. Up tothis point, I think I would have done enough to help the subordinateimprove in performance in the media organization. If there is apositive change, we are well to progress. But if there are no signsof improving, I will have to let him go and as a good leader I willlet the other subordinates know the reasons for my final decision andwhat I had done before to help the employee without success.
Question6
Apoint to my classmates is that after going through the book the ‘GoodBoss, Bad Boss’, I have realized that being a good boss is achallenge that everyone in this class will struggle to handle in thefuture, in the various workplaces.. The book is rich in contents thatwill enable us become good bosses as well as avoid the unethicalbehaviors identified among the bad bosses.
Reference
Sutton,R.I. (2012). GoodBoss, Bad Boss:Howto Be the Best… and Learn from the Worst.New York: Business Plus.