Northern Virginia Community College W4 Leaders as Followers Discussion

As a contracting officer, you will be called upon to be a leader and a follower. Can you be a good leader without being a good follower? Identify a leader that most admired and respected and discuss the attributes (eleven principles of leadership) that they demonstrated that made you want to follow them. Also, discuss the need for leading change. Was the leader that you chose effective in leading change. 

Reply 1

In my opinion, a few traits of a good leader is an individual that can effectively communicate, is skilled in multiple areas, has the ability to teach and direct others, and works well on a team. Based on this lesson, a good leader can be self aware, meaning they know their strengths and weaknesses, are empathetic, and motivational. I believe that everyone needs guidance and there is always opportunity for improvement; therefore an individual cannot be a good leader without being a good follower. A good leader is open to constructive feedback and changing processes that better suit the organization. In this case the leader takes on the role of follower and allows themselves to be managed. A leader that I respected and wanted to follow was my current boss. To start, she is the lead for finance, procurement, vendor management, and Microsoft licensing. This emphasizes her proficiency in multiple areas. She is able to help everyone on our diverse team with challenges, even if she is not directly involved with the project. She is also involved in the company by keeping up to date with organizational news such as leadership changes, new projects, and activities associated with employee resource groups. Her activeness in the company sets a good example for my team and specifically encourages me to dedicate time to learning more about the company. In addition, not only do we have weekly team stand-up meetings, each team member also has an individual weekly touchpoint with her. This ensures she is constantly communicating amongst our group and confirming everyone’s needs are met and no one is lacking support. Lastly, when we have demanding and time sensitive projects, such as annual planning, she organizes daily meetings via Microsoft Teams and utilizes Microsoft Project to track our tasks and progress. This is also an opportunity for us to discuss any processes we’d like to improve or remove in the future. Overall, she exemplifies the eleven principles of leadership. The previous finance lead was terminated due to inability to meet expectations from leadership. Reports were not provided on time and there were numerous occasions when he accused lower-level employees for not communicating requests and deadlines with him. Email communications proved these accusations to be false and exposed his character. His behavior created a need for leading change and my current boss was the individual who took on his position. Her strong leadership traits as well as two promotions prove that she has been effective in leading change.

Reply 2:

Hi. Can you give me a comment of this also. Thank you

Leadership is the art of motivating a group of people to act toward achieving a common goal. In a business setting, this can mean directing workers and colleagues with a strategy to meet the company’s needs. Leaders cannot focus on tasks and strategies alone; they must also pay attention to relationships and morale. One of the best ways to do that is to foster a culture of gratitude, praising and thanking colleagues for the work they do and the ideas they contribute. Research finds that employees in such environments are more productive and treat customers more courteously. Effective leaders also can communicate well, motivate their team, handle, and delegate responsibilities, listen to feedback, and have the flexibility to solve problems in an ever-changing workplace. While I was in the military, I had the pleasure of being under many different types of leaders. Civilians, high ranking officers, high ranking sergeants in all different branches. One officer that I truly admired was a full bird colonel in the Air Force. While he was very high ranking and oversaw over thousands of individuals, he took time out to get to know everyone on a semi personal level. I don’t know how but he knew everyone’s names and took time to get to know your job and concerns.In my mind he encompassed all the 11 principles.

1. Knowing yourself and seeking self-improvement.
2. Be technically proficient:
3. Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions:
4. Make sound and timely decisions.
5. Set the example.
6. Know your people and look out for their well-being.
7. Keep your people informed.
8. Develop a sense of responsibility in your people.
9. Ensure that tasks are understood, supervised and accomplished.
10. Train your people as a team.
11. Use the full capabilities of your organization.

During his time a new command was moving from their previous location to our base. This means thousands of people will be relocating to your location. This takes logistical know how, operational know how and requires tons of strategic planning. I worked communications during that time, so I was on the front lines, seeing, working, and planning the move from a communication standpoint. The move went smoothly, and they were all setup, fully functional and in their offices on the allotted timeframe. I know communications offices had to turn into a 24 hr. a day/ 5 days a week shop to keep up with our regular workload and to prepare for the move.It would take an effective leader in order to motivate not just one, but all the different groups to work as a team in order to effectively and efficiently move an entire air force group to a new location, which can have hundreds to thousands of people.