Intergrating technology and le

The face of business has changed. Technology has taken over or enhanced traditional ways of communication such as face-to-face interaction and mail. It isn't necessary to wait 7 business days to hear a reply from a customer anymore. In fact, it could take less than 7 minutes through the use of a phone, email, or fax. The Board of Trustees can have a video conference when they are 6,000 miles apart from each other. However, with the benefits of technology, has fundamentals such as leadership been overlooked? Leadership used to focus around personal interaction when meetings would be held in a conference room and tasks would be accomplished by people standing side by side to each other.

Leadership is a necessary component to the success of any business or organization. Leadership says, ?I care about you? to the customer. Used correctly, technology can enhance the practice of leadership in today's businesses and organizations. It is necessary, though, that some personal interaction remain to show people that the business is still customer oriented.

Leadership can be divided into three categories: mentoring, risk-taking, and facilitating. Although there are many attributes and characteristics of a leader, these three are the most important in today's business and organizations. Most other skills of a leader would fall under these three categories. For example, being trustworthy and loyal would fit under the mentoring aspect. Risk-taking would include courage. Being team-motivated and having the ability to make decisions would fall under facilitating. Technology can be applied to each of these categories to enhance the business or organization's success. No business is complete without leadership and today, leadership is not complete without technology.

Mentoring

What is a mentor? In Homer's Odyssey, Mentor was the teacher of Telemachus, the son of Odyssius. But Mentor was more than a teacher. He was half-god and half-man; half-male and half-female; believable and yet unreachable. Mentor was the union of both goal and path, wisdom personified. In today's society, the same principles apply. Mentors teach and guide others. They inspire and convey a sense of vision to the people around them. Proverbs 29:18 reads that where there is no vision, the people perish. Effective leaders do not allow this to happen. They keep the team energized until the vision is no longer a dream, but a reality. Leaders walk the talk; and this creates the trust and respect necessary to achieve the team's purpose. Leaders are mentors.

Those who oppose the connection between technology and leadership would argue that this is where it is most difficult to integrate. In order to lead, a person must lead by example. How can someone teach others proper etiquette, effective verbal communication, and inspire their team players if they can't physically show the team players the necessary means to do so? It is impossible to integrate technology and the mentoring aspect of leadership so that they work together towards the goal of the company or organization.

Those people bring up a good point. However, if you can't use technology and the mentoring aspect of leadership directly, then use technology indirectly to influence leadership. For example, the President of a large environmental organization finds that some of her team players do not effectively communicate with people outside the organization. She has had many complaints from outside the organization that many of her volunteers are pushy, rude, and indignant. So, she sends an email to the operations managers at all the locations across the U.S. explaining the current situation. In the email, she politely addresses the situation and offers a solution to the problem:

Operations Managers:

It has come to my attention that many of our volunteers are lacking the necessary means of communication to effectively recruit new members to our organization and persuade businesses to become environmentally friendly. Due to the nature of our business, it is extremely important and valuable to the success or our organizationthat we communicate to potential volunteers and environmentally-conscious businesses with respect. I have had several complaints regarding the etiquette of some of our volunteers and have come to the conclusionthat immediate action is implemented to prevent future mishaps. I am electronically transferring $1500 to each of your bank accounts. With these funds, please schedule a proper etiquette seminar for your employees. The seminar should include proper communication techniques and phone etiquette on the agenda. You may use the Internet to find seminars or people who conduct these types of seminars nearyour location. Thank you for your time and continued work throughout the year. Please find an attachment to this email. It is an evaluation sheet. In one month, please have these sheets emailed or faxed back to me concerning the results of our present efforts to clear this matter.

Sincerely,

Pamela Sheen

Then, she electronically transfers funds from the company's main Internet banking account into each of the locations? accounts. With that, the President resolved the problem and now their organization is growing faster than ever! Technology wasn't used directly, but indirectly in that it was used to solve the problem.

That doesn't mean however, that technology can't be used directly with the mentoring aspect of leadership. In the example above, notice that the President was polite with the managers in her email. She didn't 'scream? in the email, or use vulgar language, nor did she attempt to place blame and offend the managers. Instead, her goal was to simply resolve the problem. While there was no face-to-face interaction with the office managers or volunteers, her polite manner was ?leading by example?. Clifford Mynatt, psychologist and author of the book, ?Undersanding Human Behavior,? comments that leading by example is important. For instance, a mother continually tells her son to say ?please? and 'thank you? when someone does something nice for him. However, the mother never says ?please? and 'thank you? in front of the child. Therefore, the child will never learn the proper manners that his mother wanted to instill in him. Pamela lead by example which will go a long way and eventually, will have a positive effect on the company's image to outsiders of the organization. The success of a business or organization is dependant on leadership, and in this example, technology was integrated to ensure effective leadership.

Also in the example, notice the format of the grammar. When dealing with email, there is a proper way to communicate. Using all capital letters, for example, would imply anger or rage (Web Server). Pamela's letter was in traditional business letter format. Using profanity or insulting others is also discouraged (Web Server). Even though using profanity or insulting others is unacceptable in face-to-face interaction with business associates, many people see it as no problem whatsoever. In surveying college students, 94% say that they have used profanity or have insulted someone through email. Many of the reasons corresponding to their actions were that it was much easier to insult someone online than when that same person is standing in front of them. Clearly, mentors do not hold this same principle and orderly conduct on the Internet is just as necessary as it is for personal interaction. Following the above-named guidelines when writing email or using other forms of grammar-based technology will aid in the mentoring aspect of leadership.

Risk-taking

Risk-taking is the second category for leadership. The risk-taking aspect is probably most important when dealing with businesses or organizations because taking risks at some point or another is necessary to the company's success.

Risk-takers challenge the process, always seeking new ways to cultivate and develop new ideas. Debra Sarget, a homemaker, comments, ?if you continue to do what you?ve always done, then you'll coninue to get what you?ve always got.? In other words, what you think about, you bring about. Therefore, leaders do not dwell on their faults. Instead, they find ways to correct their mistakes, taking the team to a new level of achievement. From the words of just an ordinary person, Jack Mullins, ?Some of us are more comfortable with old problems than with new solutions.? Therefore, leaders understand that risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. They realize that if they cling to the familiar and safe, the certanties in life, they become a prisoner relinquishing freedom. According to author, Roger Van Oech, ?Most of us need to strengthen our risk muscle and find out just how good we can be.? Leaders are risk-takers.

Indeed, maybe the most important aspect in life is to risk! But how does the notion of risk-taking and the use of technology have to do with each other in businesses and organizations? As with mentoring, if it can't be done directly, then indirectly combine the two.

At first, it may seem that there is no connection between risk-taking and the use of technology. However, technology can be used as a means to take the risk. For example, a wholesale distributing company finds that they are losing profit money due to the increase of prices by the manufacturers in whom they purchase products. They use email to inform their employees of the current situation. They also ask the employees for their input concerning possible solutions of the problem. Many of the employees fear that their job might be terminated due to down-sizing, but nevertheless, agree to help. Based on the employee input, the company decides to do three things. The first is to raise the prices on products that cost more for their company. Second, they decide to purchase products from competitors that cost less. Third, rather than hire new employees to recruit these new clients, they select 15 loyal and hard-working employees and train them for the new jobs and hire. To train ...

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