Final Exam 1

Kenyon Stanley Dr. White COMM 604 23 April 2011 Final Exam

In Adam Bryants interview with Drew Gilpin Faust, Faust reveals her preferred leadership style through a qualitative question and answer session conducted by Bryant. Faust (the current President of Harvard University), describes her early experience in leading and managing others at University of Pennsylvania and her recent tenure at Harvard. After carefully studying the Faust interview and interfacing the content with course material, it is clear that Faust subscribe to a Transformational Leadership method. Faust is an effective leader who values empowering, supporting and motivating others to reach a strategically implemented goal. According to Eisenberg, E.M, Goodall, H.L. & Trethewey, A. (2010), transformational leadership foregrounds organizational change and transformation as the essential task of effective leaders (P.255). During the Faust interview, Faust describes her experience in spearheading organizational shift at The University of Pennsylvania. Faust admits that she was leading a change in an organization that had both shaped her and which had a following of extremely loyal colleagues. Faust realized that in order to be an effective change agent, she would need to strategically communicate her vision to her subordinates in order to obtain a genuine buy in. According to Eisenberg et al. (2010), transformational leaders encourage leaders to think of themselves as stewards and workers to see themselves as stakeholders (p. 256). Additionally Eisenberg et al. (2010) went on to say that leaders should put less of an emphasis on hierarchy and more of a strategic use of leading relationally. Thus leaders will have a full understanding about the realities that employees are constantly creating, recreating and reifying in the workplace. By understanding these realities, leaders, through empowerment and connecting relationally with the workers, leaders can shape these realities towards a purposed goal and foster effective change and buy in to a leaders vision. Faust addresses the concept of social reality in the workplace by recalling an

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experience wherein members in her department had created their own reality about how Faust had already determined to hire certain people when in fact, Faust had no notion to hire those people. Faust mentioned that she was forced to introspectively analyze herself and determine what messages she had sent that would have contributed to the distorted reality her members had created. Its clear that Faust definitely understands the need for a leader to not only understand implicit and explicit organizational realities, but Faust also grasps the importance of strategically guiding the construction, reconstruction and reification of socially constructed realities within the workplace. Fausts method for controlling (or guiding) organizational reality can be identified by examining her answer to Bryants inquiry regarding what Faust believed to be the most important leadership lessons she has learned. Faust believes that understanding the special circumstances that may exist in the workplace is the first step in achieving an effective leadership approach. Faust went on to describe the unique organizational environment in a University by describing the vast amount of distributed authority among different interdependent and independent departments. Furthermore, Faust noted that all of the people under her have a stake in the institution. By recognizing that each organizational member is vested in the organization, Faust is practicing the transformational leadership quality of recognizing that workers see themselves as stakeholders, as stated in Eisenberg et al. (2010). Faust continued to explain how she would recognize and implement an effective organizational approach. By dedicating an enormous amount of time reaching out to people literally and digitally, Faust would be able to listen to the employees needs and understanding where they are coming from. Once Faust felt that she has listened to the employees she would direct their understandings of themselves into the goals of the institution. Faust emphasized the importance of being creative during this approach through describing the many venues (email, virtual meetings, face-to-face, Q & A sessions etc.). By effectively reaching a vested global audience, Faust would be better able to strategically guide everyone towards a common goal. Although Faust realizes that one cant please everyone, she believes that if everyone feels like they are listened to, then there is greater likelihood that they will go along with a decisionin Fausts case, organizational

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change. Furthermore, Faust admitted to being a proponent of reaching out to other leaders on the campus and soliciting ideas. In fact, she cited two instances wherein Faust went to an alum and the dean of business school to truly listen to their ideas about effectively implementing organizational change. There suggestions of investing in the people and constantly communicate were right in line with the traits described in Transformational Leadership. According to Eisenberg et al. (2010), effective leaders are supportive, motivating and empowering. It is very clear that Faust is supportive by her continued efforts to reach out and actively listen to her people. Eisenberg et al. (2010) continue to say that, supportive communicationemphasizes active listening and taking a real interest in employees (p. 264). Faust believes that by being supportive employees feel as though their voice has been heard and are easier to motivate. Additionally, the incredible amount of time Faust dedicates to understand her employees is recognized and the exchange of information between Faust and her employees creates an empowering environment that allows Fausts Transformational Leadership style to succeed. In conclusion, an argument can be made about Faust subscribing to a discursive leadership style. After all, Fausts emphasis on leaders continually communicating with her subordinates is evident throughout the interview. For example, Fausts recommendation to fellow leaders is to remain flexible to the environment and always listen and convey to your audience that you have heard him/her or them. However, due to Bryants interview focus regarding organizational change, its reasonable to assume that Faust excels in effectively incorporating micro and macro change in some of the most prestigious learning institutions in the world.

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Question 3 Daniel Pinks book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us is a prescriptive argument that attempts to persuade organizations to change their methods regarding how to motivate their workforces. Daniel Pink (2011) asserts performance and satisfactionat work, and at homeis the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world (p. 1). On the surface, Pinks theory is transformational and a game change that benefits both employee and employer. After all, organizations would be pleased by the benefits of increased productivity, increased worker satisfaction and significantly reduced turnover rates. Employees would be happy with the notion that their organization is valuing creativity, innovation, employees achieving selfactualization needs and benefitting a global community. Although all of the above-mentioned items are great indicators that identify a forward thinking and responsible organization, left unchecked, organizations are able to acquire the skills highlighted in Pinks book for manipulative purposes which could steal an individuals need to direct, learn and do better and replacing them with corporate needs, directives and goals. I remember when I was interviewing for a management position at the Mens Shelter of Charlotte. The Shelter was eager to hire me and was boasting about their placing a high value on family, individual creativity, flexibility and passion for the homeless cause. This esprit-de-corps ideology was also communicated in internal and external publications, social media outlets and in the news. It didnt take long for me to see that the Shelter didnt value the individual and that the organizational expectation was to put the needs of the agency over our own personal needs. The shelter was guilty of creating a hegemonic ideology that robbed employees of their dedication to their families in order to serve the needs of the shelter and the overall homelessness cause. In other words, what the Shelter said in words and on paper didnt match their actions. Perhaps my previous studies in communication have sharpened my skills to identify a bait and switch quickly and accurately. In any case, The Mens Shelter of Charlotte used elements of Pinks prescriptive ideas to serve their own needs at the expense of the workers.

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According to Morgan, Gary (2006), Organizations perpetuate structures and practices that promote workaholism and associated forms of social and mental illness (p. 298). The saving the world mentality of the shelter is one of Pinks focal points in his argument. Pink suggests that effectively motivating employees occurs when employees feel that they are bettering themselves and the world. The Mens Shelter of Charlotte was a stressful and thankless job. Consistently underfunded and without needed resources to affect permanent change in the lives of vulnerable homeless men, the executives would attempt to increase the morale by holding weekly mandatory meetings wherein new initiatives would be presented and accepted through coercive control techniques. My hours at the shelter were from midnight to 8:30 in the morning and the meetings were at 2:00 p.m.right in the middle of my sleep time. Therefore, these meetings were incredibly inconvenient for me to attend and whenever I would attempt to back out of a meeting due to exhaustion, I was accused of not being truly passionate about the cause of homelessness. Although that was not true in my case, I knew that if I didnt show up, my fellow workers would see me as an outcast and not vested in serving the homeless. So, for some time, I would sacrifice my sleep to attend meetings that were nothing more than fluff. Additionally, once a month, the shelter would hold four hour meetings on Saturday mornings. Management would boast that these Saturday mandatory meetings were designed to stimulate new ideas that would help the agency. However, the groups were always assigned and leaders were appointed with a fixed agenda prepared by the Executive Director. As one of the leaders, it was explained to me that it was my job to obtain buy in from my group, not hear their ideas. In addition to believing that these sessions actually stifled creativity and promoted groupthink, I devote Saturdays solely to my family. Therefore, I saw the Saturday as an invasion into my family life. However, I wouldnt speak out for fear that my work peers would exercise their power through concertive control and label me as a dispassionate worker. According to Deetz, S. (1992), The tendency to move from a family and community centered identity to a corporate one passes with little notice (p. 26). For me, Deetz is 100% correct. It didnt take long for me to adopt the shelters ideology and sacrifice my precious time with my family in order to keep

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my identity with my work peers, subordinates and managers. The shelters intrusion into my home life is one example of how organizations can misuse the steps prescribed by Pink. Additionally, nonprofits are well known for exploiting their employees for whatever cause they serve. Although the purpose that nonprofits serve are usually noble ones, manipulating and controlling employees is a dark side to the nonprofit world that it not well known. These unethical practices lead to employee dissatisfaction, resistance and an overall reduction in productivity. According to Eisenberg et al. (2010), Resistance is distancing and defending themselves from organizational power (p. 160). Before I resigned at the shelter, I was resisting the agency in a variety of ways. For example, on one occasion we were supposed to have a Saturday morning meeting and it happened to fall on my wedding anniversary and we were planning on going out of town for the weekend. Since I was normally off on the weekends, there was no need to put in for a vacation request. Unfortunately, the executive director was rather irate when I told him that I would not be attending. Unlike previous discussions regarding mandatory meetings, this time I held my ground. When he told me that I wasnt dedicated to the cause, I responded by telling him that I am dedicated to the cause but I am married to my wife. After a few moments of awkward silence, he backed down. It was after this encounter with the executive director when I finally realized that the shelter would intrude into my life at any time they think would benefit them. My response time to emails significantly slowed down, I spent more time in the break room, I took longer lunches and I completely stopped volunteering for anything. Furthermore, my actions were noticed by others engaging in resistance and we began socializing during work time and discussing how the shelter isnt the great agency they perpetuate themselves to be both internally and externally. Surprisingly, there were several other management personnel in our cohort of resisting employees and some that were on a higher level than me. The one thing we all had in common was an absolute disgust for the shelters continual manipulation of employees in the name of homelessness. Something that Pink does not address while emphasizing the importance of meeting the employees need to better themselves and the world.

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Question 2 Peter Claytons podcast interview with McDonalds Recruitment Manager Marcia Wolfe reveals some interesting insight into how McDonalds shapes their employees identity into their successful yet strict organizational boundaries which encompasses McDonalds organizational identity. While listening to the podcast for the first time, I noticed that the target employee Wolfe was attempting to reach and potentially recruit was unit level employees. Typically, unit level fast food employees are teenagers or young adults, usually with a limited amount of education. However, in recent years, there has been an increased amount of older and retired people entering the fast food industry. Wolfe effectively pitched McDonalds to both cohorts by highlighting the benefits of McDonalds. First, Wolfe describes McDonalds Ronald McDonald House program and boasts about how the program benefits communities worldwide. Next, Wolfe goes over the access to health, dental and vision benefits that every crew member is eligible to obtain. Although, in my mind, I was wondering what the cost of their health plan is and how affordable would that plan be to a minimum wage worker. Although the dedication to the Ronald McDonald House and health care are attractive to a job seeker, Wolfes emphasis on McDonalds advancement opportunities is the main hook which would have a potential job seeker drinking the McDonalds Kool Aid. Referring back to our class discussion on identity, I was struck by how Wolfe successfully used the we as a currency in her pitch. Furthermore, Wolfe strategically used the identity by association to reach McDonalds audience. After all, a high school graduate or a retired man or woman are both struggling to find a new identity. Last year, my father had a stroke and was unable to continue his practice as a therapist. This was and continues to be devastating for him. Although my fathers finances are okay, creating a new identity continues to be a challenge for him. According to Eisenberg et al. (2010), organizations regulate and control their members identities. One way organizations do this is by explicating morals and values. When asked what kind of person is McDonalds looking to hire, Wolfe emphasizes McDonalds employees rigid boundaries regarding values, innovation, customer service and efficiency. Although Wolfe clearly lays out the expectations of how

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McDonalds employees are expected to conform to McDonalds and federal standards, a potential employee would be ready to conform simply by the previous explanation of the attractive benefits and opportunity for advancement that McDonalds have to offer. After all, I personally have adopted several organizational identities in my lifetime. Another component of the interview is how Wolfe targeted women in her target audience. First of all, Wolfe herself is a successful woman working and thriving in the McDonalds organization. Furthermore, the success story Wolfe cited was of a vice president who worked herself up through the ranks and even had to take several busses in order to get to work. Wolfe basically argued that if an ambitious student, single mother, or any young ambitious woman wanted to achieve success then McDonalds would give her an opportunity. For a single mother, an organizations dedication to honoring a sustainable work life balance would be critical in deciding whether or not a mother would seek employment at McDonalds. After all, the parental identity is a boundary that has to be breached if McDonalds wants to reach this audience. According to Eisenberg et al. (2010), women have struggled to gain the ability to successfully negotiate work-life balance and to craft successful identities (p. 177). Eisenberg (2010) continues to assert that the reason why women have struggled to obtain successful dual identities is that women are hampered by social constructions of gender that encourage women to take on significant duties in the private sphere, such as child care and domestic labor, once they get home from work (p. 177). Wolfe successfully reaches the female audience by emphasizing McDonalds flex time and flexible scheduling philosophy that would be extremely attractive to a female job seeker hoping to find identity both inside and outside of her home. In conclusion, I believe that Wolfe successfully reached her target audience and probably noticed a spike in applicants following the podcast. However, although this assignment doesnt focus on critical theory, the critical theorist inside of me cant help but come away from analyzing the presentation without some questions. First, if McDonalds is hiring 50,000 people per day, I would like to know how many are they firing, and why? Second, Wolfe boasts about McDonalds involvement in philanthropy through the

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Ronald McDonald house. How much involvement and access to the Ronald McDonald Program does a unit level employee receive to the program? Does McDonalds require their employees to volunteer at local facilities? Also, regarding the health care plan, how affordable is the plan and are they really good benefits? Wolfe mentioned that employees have access to an on call nurse. What about urgent care? I digress. Forgive me Dr. White. Although I came away from listening to this podcast 12 times with more questions than answers, the target audience of McDonalds and Wolfe were successfully reached and influenced. After all, in this economic climate there are more job seekers than job providers. I would be interested to see how McDonalds strategically recruits employees after the economy recovers and some of their unit level personnel realize that their qualifications are valued elsewhere.

THANKS FOR ANOTHER AWESOME CLASS

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References

Bryant, A. (2009) The New York Times. Leadership without a secret code. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/business/01corner.html Deetz, S. (1992). Democracy in an age of corporate colonization: Developments in the communication and the politics of everyday life. NJ: SUNY Press. Eisenberg, E.M., Goodall, H.L., Jr., & Trethewey, A. (2010). Organizational communication: Balancing creativity and constraint (6th Edition). Boston: Bedford/St. Martins. Morgan, G. (2006). Images of organization. Thousand Oaks: CA. Sage Publications, Inc.
Pink, Daniel (2011). A summary of the book The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. Retrieved from http://www.danpink.com/drive. (couldnt find the exact way to cite this source)

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/business/01corner.html