Discussion 1: Course Reflection Leaders and managers must possess a wide range of skills, and strong, sophisticated communication is one of the most essential for professional and organizational success

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Discussion 1: Course Reflection

Leaders and managers must possess a wide range of skills, and strong, sophisticated communication is one of the most essential for professional and organizational success. Review the broad range of topics presented throughout the course related to becoming an effective business communicator. For this final discussion, revisit the Class Café introduction in which you identified some specific learning outcomes you wanted to get from the course. Reflect on whether and to what extent you achieved those learning outcomes. Select concepts or topics that resonated with you during this course and commit to learning more about them. To bring this commitment to life, identify concrete action items that will support your goal to deepen your personal learning experience in the coming year. Then, consider the following:

 

· What can you do now to integrate the experiences and insights you had in this course with your personal and professional development goals?

· What are the most important things you are taking from this course that will shape your future and enable you to leverage communication to make a positive difference?

 

Additional Leaning Resources:

· Fernsler, T. (2017, Jul). The key to leadership: Practice, practice, practice. Nonprofit World, 35, 32.

· Froschheiser, L. (2008). Communication, communication, communication the most important key to success in business leadership. SuperVision, 69(10), 9-11.

· Hedman, E., & Valo, M. (2015). Communication challenges facing management teams. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 36(8), 1012-1024.

· Petty, A. (2015). Learning from your communication mistakes. Government Executive, 1.   

 

 

Assignment:

 

Cohesive Respond to at least two of your peers' postings in one or more of the following ways:

· Provide each with a constructive evaluation of the reflection, suggesting how each may learn more, apply, and/or develop the concepts, theories, and strategies identified.

· Share how something your peer discussed changed the way you view this course.

· No plagiarism

· APA citing

· 3-4 paragraphs per Colleague

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1st Colleague - Natasha

Natasha Mills 

Course Reflection

 

Top of Form

This course has been instrumental in addressing one of the most critical facets of effective leadership, communication. The course concepts that we have covered thus far have adequately equipped me for my role as a leader. The weekly learnings ranged from self-concept through the Johari Window, mindfulness during interactions, presentational excellence, addressing the communication needs of different stakeholders using various types of appeals, creating a professional profile, and working with virtual teams, among other concepts. The primary objective of all these concepts was to help me achieve professional excellence (Quintanilla & Wahl, 2020).

Of all the contents mentioned above, the self-concept tenet improved my understanding of managing people and fostering collaboration within an organization. Effective leadership practice involves understanding oneself first and sustaining that understanding (Fernsler, 2017). This understanding helps leaders uphold their core principles instead of focusing on collecting followers and misunderstanding what he/she wants others to do (Fernsler, 2017). Another aspect that I found resourceful was mindfulness and perception checking, which will help me manage people and foster collaboration through the reservation of judgment during interactions. Other concepts such as working with virtual teams and satisfying the communication needs of different stakeholders have also improved my understanding of managing people significantly, particularly in the contemporary business environment.

 

I anticipate the impact of my improved understanding of managing people and fostering collaboration to be of high value within an organization. All the course concepts have worked together in improving my communication abilities within the realms of leadership. As an excellent communicator, therefore, I anticipate achieving the goal of becoming a great leader because effective communication is associated with outstanding leadership (Froschheiser, 2008). Most, if not all, valuable or successful organizations are the result of exceptional leadership. Hence, my becoming a great leader through an improved understanding of the communication concepts will have a tremendous impact on my role within an organization, and thereby the value of the entire organization.

 

Before the beginning of the course, I considered effective communication as one of the many traits of great leaders. However, the course contents and assignments have led me to the conclusion that communication tops the list when ranking effective leadership traits. This is because communication drives all the other elements of leadership and organizational operations. Therefore, since I aspire to be an exceptional business leader, I must master the art of clear communication and become a first-rate communicator (Froschheiser, 2008). Since the course concepts have equipped me with the necessary tools to attain this aspect, I can state that they have changed how I think of my role within an organization.

The course content and assignment have shaped my current goal from focusing on choosing, evaluating, and implementing a leadership approach that I consider effective to fostering effective communication. Whereas the leadership style adopted is also critical to outstanding leadership, a leader’s communication style tops everything else. As a result, I have shifted my leadership goals to focus on clear communication that fosters trust and collaboration within an organization instead of paying much attention to my leadership style. This, in turn, shapes my future goal of becoming a great leader by first becoming a good communicator (Froschheiser, 2008).

Regarding the appreciation of the role of communication in facilitating positive social change within an organization, the content of this course has enlightened me on how an individual and, by extension a leader, can harness clear communication and use it to attain organizational effectiveness. One of the roles of communication in promoting positive social change is that it switches the attention from individuals to people (Hedman & Valo, 2015). Simply, communication is in the foreground when it comes to creating positive social change, making me appreciate the course content because it has enlightened me on what entails clear communication.

The most efficient way to hone one’s leadership excellence is through practice (Fernsler, 2017). Through training, I will be able to identify and stick to my core values and principles that will help me address ethically challenging or morally ambiguous situations. Another strategy that I will use to maintain my personal integrity will be to learn from my communication mistakes (Petty, 2015). From the errors, I also intend to derive my core values and principles that I will stand by despite the nature of the situation.

Fernsler, T. (2017, Jul). The key to leadership: Practice, practice, practice. Nonprofit World, 35, 32.

Froschheiser, L. (2008). Communication, communication, communication the most important key to success in business leadership. SuperVision, 69(10), 9-11.

Hedman, E., & Valo, M. (2015). Communication challenges facing management teams. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 36(8), 1012-1024.

Petty, A. (2015). Learning from your communication mistakes. Government Executive, 1.  https://www.govexec.com/management/2015/09/learning-your-communication-mistakes/120719/

Quintanilla, K. M., & Wahl, S. T. (2020). Business and professional communication: KEYS for workplace excellence (4th ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

Bottom of Form

2nd Colleague - Douglas

 

Top of Form

There are lots of aspects to having clear communication in and outside of an organization. Most are relatively straight-forward. Prepare carefully, deliver the action to be taken, and receive with an open mind, examine how that communication was received, and if needed, take action to improve. (Froschheiser, 2008) The communication within an organization's good or bad news should be given promptly and direct in the written message.

 

 I have always struggled with my communication because I try and be too fast to get my message across. I can now say that I will be taking more time to develop my message and how it is perceived because it takes more time to clarify what you have said. The way I talk to my staff in the future and how I break the ice is also a critical step that I need to do. These will improve my communication with my staff and my community partners in the future. 

 

Some of the were I would do that is by not "Trying too hard to sound in charge and Unleashing a torrent of ideas." (Petty, 2015) Being a first-time manager, I always wanted to feel in charge, and I would feel like I had to act the part by solving all problems. I have learned through this class and my personal experience that I do not have to do that. Solving problems is the act of communicating ideas and working together to find a common goal. 

 

This class has changed my perception of how important communication is to an organization. I already knew that communication was necessary, and the lack of communication was a sign that the company was in trouble. However, my understanding of all the aspects of a sound communication system I fell opened my eyes. The time it takes for people, companies, and teams should take on their communication is essential. Teams are essential in any organization, but those who can communicate can get more things done in less time. As Lee Froschheiser says, "how do the best leaders motivate and inspire their people? Through clear communication. How do the best organizations promote discipline, accountability and strategic alignment? With clear communication. And how do market leaders sell their products and services? With compelling ads and marketing campaigns — in sum, by clear communication." (Froschheiser, 2008)