Day 5

16th March 2010 (Tuesday)
Today’s lecture was about Organizational Leadership. We had to break according to our different groups and we had to define the different characteristics of a leader, what is leadership in the library environment, the roles of a leader and the qualities of a leader. This situation gave everybody a change to raise all the problems they experience when it comes to leadership in their organizations.

What have I learned for the day

During this session, I have learned the important role leadership plays in the organization. As a leader, according to Manfred Kets De Vries, as a leader you need to pay attention to the internal and social dynamics, to the complex playing fields between leaders and followers, and to unconscious and invisible psychodynamics processes and structures that influence the behaviour of individuals and groups in organization. As a leader, you don’t need to surround yourself with followers around you, but you need to develop peoplde around you so that you can build leaders and this bring great value to their organizations so they lighten the leadership burden and enlarge the vision and goals. I have also learned about the good qualities of the leaders and they are:->
· The ability to create a vision and excite people to achieve impossible
· Great leaders have external energy and inner strength that see them through difficult situation
· Leaders have a mental agility that enables them to make effective tough decisions
· They allow their team members to grow and carry out work without interruption
· They trust and have confidence in the ability of the team members to execute objectives successful
· Leaders have the ability to tap into people’s soles by connecting deeply with people and understanding their needs and passion to succeed
I have learned about the roles a successful leader engages in, and they are:->
· Craft and articulate a vision
· Lead by principle rather that policy
· Coach team members effectively
· Communicate business information successfully
· Eliminate barriers to the team’s effective execution
· Actively facilitate and develop team members
· Focus on the clients
In terms of behavioural aspects of a leader, I have learned about the seven habits of effective peoples:->
· Habit 1 - Be proactive (principle of personal choice)
· Habit 2 – Begin with the End in mind (principle of personal vision)
· Habit 3 – Put first thing first (principle of integrity & execution)
· Habit 4 – Think win / win (principle of mutual benefit)
· Habit 5 – Seek first to understand, then to understood (principle of mutual understanding)
· Habit 6 – Synergize (principle of creative cooperation)
· Habit 7 – Sharpen the saw (principle of balanced self renewal)



What have I intend changing at my workplace

With the knowledge I have learned for the day, I have done an introspection of how I am performing as leader and I have identified that I need to improve many things in my personal and professional setting. Firstly, I need to improve on my communication skills, mainly the listening part and not talk a lot, be proactive in everything I do, be organized and do first things first.