management philosophy megan sadler longwood...

Management Philosophy 1

Management Philosophy

Megan Sadler

Longwood University


Management Philosophy

Beliefs & Values: -‐ Open minded -‐ Consistent

-‐ Avoids Judgment

Theoretical Framework: Behavioral Management

Areas of Strength: -‐ Determination -‐ Works well with

Others -‐ Optimistic

Areas of Improvement: -‐ Spontaneity -‐ ConJidence -‐ Saying "No"

Leadership Style: Delegative

(Laissez-‐Fare)


Theoretical Framework:

The Behavioral Management Theory was brought up in the 1950s and

1960s. The foundation of this theory is the concern for employee satisfaction. It also

focuses on working conditions that can lead to increased productivity (Bailey, 7) (Carter

& O’Marrow, 19-20). This theory is the theoretical framework I feel would fit me best in

the workplace.

The reason I chose this theory was because I truly do believe that the more

satisfied an employee is and the more comfortable he or she is in a working condition, the

more the employee will be able to focus and improve their quality of work. If an

employee does not feel safe in their work environment, their focus will not be on the task

he or she is supposed to be performing. Their emotions would entail nervousness and

anxiousness and cause them to be less productive in their professional abilities.

Based on my experiences, being in a work environment where I feel safe and

secure makes a world of difference in my productivity. When I am comfortable to ask

questions, I ask them right away and am able to improve my working abilities then and

there. Behavioral Management Theory brings the human element to the workplace. In

other words, people should not be mistaken as machines. This theory links human

behavior as well as motivation and recognizes intrinsic motivators. It also involves

employee incentive programs and encourages positive supervisor/employee relations

(Bailey, 9) (Carter & O’Marrow, 19-20).

Leadership style:

The Leadership Style that fits me best is Delegative or Laissez-fare. This is the

style that I would most likely model in the workplace. This leader provides little direction


because staff is considered to be mature and internally motivated. The leader of the

laissez-fare group leaves decisions up to the members of the group, instead of directing

and giving orders. This type of leadership enables creativity among highly motivated

employees and gives them a wide range of freedom. These are the strengths of this type

of leadership. Delegative leadership may sometimes lead to lack of motivation, blaming

others, and poorly defined roles. These leaders enable group members to make their own

decisions. A leader or manager cannot handle all situations in his or her own hands. This

is why it is important to divide up certain tasks and delegate them between the group

members or staff you are serving. It is important to have honest and trustworthy group

members to carry out individual tasks (Cherry, 2015).

Beliefs and values:

1) Be open-minded: I believe it is so important to go into a career or even a new

position in your career with an open mind. I also think it is important to be

completely unbiased when stepping into a new position. Being open minded will

broaden the horizons of the facility and the amazing plans the leader has for the

agency. The staff under the supervisor is able to be creative and unafraid to speak

their minds, give opinions and make suggestions. I would maybe even suggest a

comment box. Employees could anonymously write down ideas, suggestions,

questions, comments or concerns that they have for the supervisor. It would then

be able to be addressed in an effective manner without embarrassing anyone or

putting he or she in the spotlight. I believe feedback from employees can be very

beneficial to an agency because you are receiving information from all

perspectives and satisfying the agency as a whole.


2) Be consistent: When I am working under a person who is more knowledgeable,

more educated and more experienced than myself - I always want them to be

consistent with me. If nothing else, I want them to represent their advice well. I

want them to do exactly as they tell me to do. I like for my superiors to mimic the

epitome of a great role model. I am the type of person to learn through experience

and it is important to see success happen. This is what I would do in order to

ensure my staff that they would be given the same respect. I would do my best to

model what I would want a good employee to bring to the table. I think being

consistent is a good, solid foundation for an agency and also ensures effective

communication.

3) Avoid being judgmental: As a higher authority in an agency, it is easy to

overlook the feelings of others and focus only on business. While I believe it is

important to leave most personal issues at home during your work hours, I am

human and I still believe it is indeed hard to forget things like family issues while

at work. If a hard working employee seems to be under the weather, I would sit

down and talk with them to see if there was anything I could do as their

supervisor to help them. They may even just need someone to talk with and vent

to. I am not saying break the business relationship and make it into a personal

one. However, I think some people need the comfort of knowing someone else

knows how he or she feels. I do not think a supervisor should jump all over their

employee if they seem to be slacking a little, because we never know what goes

on behind closed doors.

Areas of strength:


1) Determination: I feel that my plans for an agency would follow through after

hard work and structured plans because I do have a strong characteristic of

determination. When I set a goal for myself, I strive to complete it and accomplish

it in the most successful way possible.

2) I work well with others. I have never been a difficult person to get a long with.

However, I do know when business needs to be taken care of and I will take the

appropriate action to do so. For the most part, I am an understanding person and I

am very perceptive to the feelings, thoughts and emotions of others. I am a good

listener, which I believe gives me the opportunity to be a good manager or leader.

I listen to what people want or need and try to apply it to the best of my abilities.

3) I am an optimistic person. I strive to look for the bright side in all situations.

One of my favorite sayings is, “You can’t have sunshine without a little rain”. I

am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and I encourage others to

move on from the negativity and search for the sunshine in their lives – whether it

be a personal or business oriented.

Areas of improvement:

1) Spontaneity: An area of improvement that I could use some extra practice in

would be my spontaneity. Before my junior internship, I had very low quality

spontaneity as well flexibility. I became frustrated when things didn’t go quite as

planned. However, when I began my junior internship, this started to change

fairly quickly. Regarding the Therapeutic Recreation field, I learned that being

flexible was one of the most important characteristics I could have to avoid stress

and confrontation. Although I always had backups, there were still times that I


was forced to think on my feet and my whole plan plus my hip pocket went down

the drain. I learned to not let this upset me or stand in my way. I learned to use

resources that were available to me and to “Think Smarter, Not Harder”.

Although I learned a lot during my internship about flexibility and spontaneity, I

still think there is room for improvement in this area. When it comes to skills like

this, I think extensive amounts of practice leads to improvement. As a manager of

an agency, with several employees under my supervision, flexibility is crucial.

This does not mean I would not be a structured and organized manager or that my

rules would be lenient.

2) Lack of Confidence: A second “road block” I think I would encounter as a

manager would be my lack of confidence in myself. I have learned that I am

always second to speak up in a group. However, my ideas always match the

thoughts or ideas of my peers or other group members. Confidence in myself

would lead to more productive programs and creative ideas for an agency.

Sometimes I think my thoughts go to waste because I am not quick to be

proactive about them. For my senior internship, I would like to set a goal for

myself to speak my mind when it comes to suggestions for the quality of life for

clients.

3) Saying “No!”: As a leader or manager, I think it is important to be able to be

stern with your decisions. Personally, a limitation for me, and something that

would affect me as a leader, would be that I have a difficult time saying “no”. As

a manager, I would need to improve on this area. People are amazing and do have

great communication skills as well as skills of enhancing the quality of life for


others. However, we are all still human and should not take on more than we

know we can handle. I think it is more important to take on a few tasks and excel

at them, than try to take on several and have them be only mediocre.


References

Carter, M., & O'Morrow, G. (2006). Conceptual Foundations of Management. In Effective Management in Therapeutic Recreation Service (2nd ed., pp. 15-21). Pennsylvania: Venture Publishing.

Cherry, K. (2015). What's Your Leadership Style? - Quiz. Retrieved September 23, 2015,

from http://psychology.about.com/library/quiz/bl-leadershipquiz.htm Bailey, A. Theories Powerpoint. Behavioral Management Theory. (2015). Pp. 7-9.

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