A Canceled VacationWhat is the name of the informal leader used as an example in the writing?Define the leading concept according to what is presented in the paper.What is the importance of consensus and how does the leader participate in it? Hi, Marie.Hi, Jim.Bye, Marie. I'm late as usual.Hey, lucky guy.Eat your heart out.Jennifer, when you get back from your meeting, I will be out of here. I'm signing off on the sales report from last quarter.Everything looks great, which means I am out of here to a total ski weekend. As you know, this is a trip I've been planning all year.So please, do not phone, do not fax, do not FedEx. I am taking zero work, just my tired, over-worked, in need of a vacation brain.I'm checking my voice mail and I am gone.This is David Dunning's secretary, with a message for Jim McNamara. Mr. Dunning is arriving at your office from New York for a conference with you at 4 PM local time. I hope you get this message.There's a message from David Dunning on my voice mail.David Dunning, from corporate?He's coming here, to see me.The CEO is coming here? This is it. We're going to be downsized.No way. Sales are up. Everything is great.Where's McNamara's office?To the left.Hello, Mr. Dunning.Good aftemoon.Jim? I'm David Dunning.Mr. Dunning. It's a pleasure. We weren't expecting you.Well, I never let the regional branches know when I'm coming. Keeps everybody on their toes. You have a minute?Well, of course. All the time in the world.I want to talk a little bit about your memo.Memo?Creating customer support teams in the field. It's an excellent idea, McNamara.My memo, from last year. Well, I think it could be a good program, sir.But how do we get these teams of yours to work together? I mean, who's going to make that all happen?As I see it, sir, it would require training. Each group would have a team leader.That's it. That's the key point, isn't it? You hit it right on the head. Leadership. We need somebody who can take charge of these problems in the field, create service teams, keep the customers happy. Make thatour number one priority.Right.You know, managers today have it a lot tougher than when I was starting out. They need more skills. They need more training.Everything happens so damn fast. Information super highway. Do you understand that thing?Not exactly, sir.I don't, either. Listen, Jim, would you be willing to look into this leadership situation, put together a report. How do we really get our people involved?Absolutely, sir.Good. You'd be reporting directly to me on this one.I can start immediately.Great. I'll expect something Monday morning. Hope you didn't have any plans for the weekend.Nothing that can't wait, sir.Excellent. Well, I'm off to the airport. Taking a bunch of bankers to Vail for the weekend in the corporate jet. You like to ski?Actually, I do, sir.I never got it myself. Hauling down a mountain with a couple of sticks tied to your feet. What kind of fun is that?You must get into it, I guess.Well, these guys will love it. First thing Monday moming, right?Right.All right. I'm in the building now. Call me back. Hope I didn't wake you.No. I'm just working on a report.They're going to be working on the ventilating system on this floor. I'll try and have the workmen stay out of your way. So, what's it about?About? Oh, my report? To tell you the truth, I don't have a clue. I'm trying to develop a leadership program. I don't even know what it is. Where do you start?Most of us are constantly switching between being leaders and followers.1 don't know anything about leadership. This could be the end of a very promising career.For instance, when the contractor gets here this morning, I'm going to be a leader, setting our goals for the job. But later, when the architect comes by, I'm a member of the design team.You need to know when to wear each hat.And how to act in each instance. Even the President's a follower, when he goes to church or when he plays a team sport.Yeah, but if you try to act like a leader when you're the supporting member of a group, there's going to be tension.On the other hand, you have to take the opportunities you have. It took me a long time to learn how to assert myself in a leadership position. You know, just having a title doesn't really put you in charge.What do you mean, a title?Let me give you an example. When I first started with this company, I was Vice President in charge of construction, and I had to deal with all the workmen on a regular basis. There was this one guy namedSergio, who never really said much. When we'd meet, I'd ask for comments. He wouldn't say a thing. I noticed though, outside of the meetings, everybody wanted to know what Sergio thought, about theschedule, quality control, paperwork, everything. I was the chosen leader of the group, I had a title, but Sergio was the real leader. He was leading by forming opinions, gaining consensus on issues, which wassomething I wasn't doing. I might assign a job, but somehow the guys wouldn't get around to it if Sergio didn't think it was important. If he thought that paperwork should be filed on Friday, I could argue forMonday until I lost my breath. Everybody had already agreed that Friday was the best day.Finally, I had to sit down with Sergio, one-on-one. I was the chosen leader, and he was the leader by opinion. I had to get him on my side. And after I did, things started to go a lot more smoothly. I found outthere are all kinds of leadership roles in any group.People need to know when and how to take charge.For instance, one day at the shop, one of the guys had a heart attack. The real leader in that situation turned out to be one of the carpenters. He had been a medic in the army and he took control. He startedCPR and got an ambulance on the way. He saved a man's life, because he knew when to be a leader.He assumed his leadership role when he thought there was a need,People are different kinds of leaders at different times. They can be chosen by the team or by management, or they can lead by forming opinions. Or sometimes, they can assume leadership, like in a crisis. Ifyou want to create leaders in your company, people need to learn to identify when and where they can be one of these kinds of leaders.Angela Joyce. I'll meet you at the elevator.This is great. Thanks a lot.One more thing. You might want to start off with a good, solid definition of the leadership.Good idea.Good luck. Looks like you're gonna need it.Leader. A person who influences the behavior and thoughts of others in order to meet a goal. Start with a definition. Good idea.Hey, how you doing? Did you order the supreme with extra cheese?Yeah, How much is it?$12.55, not including gratuity.Thanks, big guy. Whoa, check this out.Yeah, that's where I was supposed to be this weekend. On the slopes, instead of here writing this leadership proposal.Drag. But you know what they say, if you're not the lead dog, the scenery never changes.It's a little more complicated than that.What do you mean?Consider this. Do you know what the difference between education and training is? A lot of times, a leader of a group is called on to do both. But how do you know when each is appropriate?I was a philosophy major in junior college, but beats me.Everybody can tell you what a leader is. We're all familiar with famous leaders in business and history. It seems simple. But how do you learn to be a leader?Totally depends on what style of leadership you're into. What do you mean?Tell you what. While you are chowing down on that excellent pizza, I'll explain it. You see, delivering pizzas is just my day job. What I really do is play in this awesome band, man.There's like three guys in the band, and things were going really cool for us. I would have to say that I'd always been the sort of unofficial leader of the group, and we'd been getting some real good gigs. Thingswere really starting to happen. Then I got this brilliant idea, see. I met this guy named Rudy, who was a manager. He had some hot accent. I introduced him to the guys. At first, they weren't so excited abouthaving a manager, but I convinced them this was really the way to go.So we signed an exclusive management contract with Rudy's company. He was our fearless leader, and we agreed to follow him into a wonderful future. But that was not what happened, at all. At our very nextpractice, Rudy shows up with a complete schedule for the rest of the year. Practice five times a week. If you're not on time, $50 fine. Can you believe that? Then he has a whole long list of band rules andregulations, like no girlfriends at practice, no smoking. Then he tells us we all have to get new outfits. Satin vests. And then we find out he changed the name of the band without even asking us. Now we'resupposed to be something called Euphoria, and we're going to play soft rock, Plus, he books us into a tour of bowling alleys in Texas. Man, that was the last straw.See the problem was, Rudy was trying to run everything from the top down. He made the decisions and then he told us what to do. Nobody in the band had any input at all, and that just didn't work. We wereused to managing ourselves by consensus, you know, group decision making, where everybody can participate. Rudy tried to lead the group by domination. When I had been in charge, my attitude was whatconvinced the guys that something was a good idea. If I was in favor of something, the guys could tell it liked it because I communicated with them about it. And if I had to make a decision, like booking a tour,even though it was my call they would know where I was coming from, because of the process.We fired Rudy, and it was the best thing we ever did. I realized that I really liked being the leader, so I agreed to manage the band for an additional ten percent. And we didn't have to play those bowling alleys,either.So, if I can put into English what you're saying, there are different styles of leadership that may or may not work in different situations.Like the military, that's top down, man, take it or leave it. Or with a group of artists, you have to have consensus on everything you do.In most business situations, there is a strong hierarchy. But leaders need to understand that building consensus can be a powerful tool for reaching goals.Just like in the band, man. I mean, you can tell the guys what to do forever, but that can get pretty pathetic. But if it's something they really want to do, total motivation. Think about it.So the leader's job is to adjust his or her leadership style to the situation.You gonna eat that last piece?No, go ahead.Thanks. I gotta get some pizzas rollin'. Have a nice weekend.You too.It's time for our weekend ski report. Conditions look good all across Colorado, with heavy snow last night adding another foot of powder to an already strong base. All lifts are reported open at Vail and Aspen,and Snowmass is reporting excellent conditions.Hey, is this noise bothering you?Yes.Hey, you're the leadership guy, right? Miss Joyce said not to bother you. I'm Bill Jackson. Hey, you got some nice studs in here.Pardon me?So, how's your report going?It's coming along. Though I must admit that I've had some help from some unexpected sources.Well, you never know when you're going to need leadership skills.What do you mean, leadership skills?People determine the quality of leadership in a group. If you think you can lead, you might be able to. But you're going to have to take a skills inventory, to determine if you can do the job.Somehow, I feel a story coming on.See, management never thinks that the rank and file know anything about leadership. But we're all leaders at different times.I agree. Absolutely. I'm willing to listen to anybody.Let me give you an example. I've been in construction all my life, but this ins't my first love. On weekends, I coach basketball in the park league. Now that's a challenge.I used to be just a player on my high school team, and I watched a lot of guys coach at different times. It was always something that I thought I could do, but I didn't know how to get started. What reallymotivates a group? How do you get a team to pull together? So, I studied up on it, did a lot of reading, and started to try and practice some of these theories.What I found out is that each person has to find out what works for himself. In fact, not everybody is going to be a leader. Some folks are just plain better off as part of a team. Other people, like me, really wantto be leaders. Everybody has to develop their own style, but there are some characteristics all leaders share.For instance, you have to have a vision of where the group is going, like a game plan. Not everybody can do that. On the other hand, the best plan doesn't mean anything unless you can express it clearly. Eventhe greatest idea has to be communicated to others. Then the hard part, having the ability to listen and understand. Leadership is not just a one-way street. In every instance, you're going to be getting feedbackfrom members of your team. That's when you have to be ready to accept change. If the play isn't working, make a decision.And couple that with your ability to motivate and persuade others. That's a key. You can do it by example, or with verbal skills, or through the power of your knowledge of the situation. But if you can't persuadeothers, you'll never be an effective leader.Once you have the group moving toward a common goal, then you have to stay focused. Nothing ever works out on the court as it does in theory. People can get distracted or start going off in differentdirections. A leader has to maintain the goals and vision for the group. It's his or her job to keep everything on track, even though the game plan is being acted on and modified constantly.In my case, I had to really work on my communication skills. I didn't know how to listen. And m when I did, I'd listen too much and lose control of the group. I had to learn how to accept input, but also knowwhen to end discussion and take action. After I learned how to communicate, the team really accepted me as their leader.So even though you had a lot of skills as a player, you had to develop a new set of skills in order to become a leader.Well, I had to take a personal inventory. I really wanted to do it but knowing a lot about the subject isn't enough. You have to be aware of others and of yourself, formulate a vision of the future, express that asa set of goals, use or develop your people skills, especially so you can accept feedback. Then, stay focused.This is great. People skills. Formulate a vision, accept feedback, stay focused.You know, all I ever wanted to be was a coach. Now I'm up for promotion to supervisor. If I get it, I'll have to cut back on basketball.Funny, isn't it?So to recap, leadership expertise is a key for any successful company. People who are going to work effectively need to learn that there are different kinds of leaders. You could be a chosen or assigned leader,but people also lead by opinion. Sometimes, individuals assume leadership roles due to a crisis, or to solve a particular problem. There's many different styles of leadership as there are different kinds of people.It's more of an art than a science.You can lead by domination, from the top down, or by attitude. The important thing is to use the right style at the right time.For instance, in an emergency like an accident, there's no time for consensus building. Leader needs to think and command in order to save lives or avert a major business disaster. But if you're building a salesforce or changing policy, you'll want to involve the members of the group in the process. That way, they'll be self motivated.in addition, when you're faced with taking a leadership role, you need to take an inventory of your skills. Can you formulate a vision for the group? If you can, can you express it clearly? Are you able to listen toothers, persuade and motivate them?Finally, do you have the character that being a good leader requires? Probably the biggest quality for a leader is integrity. A leader has to have good understanding of his or her own character. The leaders I metrecently all had certain characteristics in common. They told the truth and were accountable to their groups. They wanted to be leaders and worked hard at it. And they were willing to learn from their mistakesand move forward. They had the integrity to overcome circumstances until they met their own goals, as well as those of the group.So not everybody will be able to be a leader, but by learning these skills and knowing how the process works, well then those that want to be will be able to go about it more effectively.There's certainly a number of factors that affect the success or failure of a leader. Attitudes in the workplace, cultural factors, even the use of technology. But I believe there are certain qualities that all leaderspossess. If we can teach our people how leaders accomplish goals, we should be able to create good leaders in the field who can identify and solve problems, day in and day out.It's a good job, McNamara. I want to build a program around this leadership concept, a whole new division. Tie it in with quality control, and product support worldwide. And I think you're the man to head upleadership training for the corporation, McNamara.I don't know. I can't do that.Well, it means a new title and a substantial raise, Jim,I'm not capable of running a division, sir,Do I have to lead here by domination, Jim, or can we come to some sort of a little consensus on this one?1I gladly accept, sir,Excellent decision, Congratulations. One more thing. In your new position, you're going to have to relocate.I can't do that, sir,I'm thinking of putting the division in the Denver office.Denver?Nice town, It's near all the ski resorts, I understand you do like to skl.Oh, man! I mean, Mr. Dunning.Call me David.Yes, sir,

Question

Accepted Answer

Meaning of informal leader:-
An informal leader is a person who influence or control over a group,…

A Canceled Vacation What is the name of the informal leader used as an example in the writing? Define the leading concept according to what is presented in the paper. What is the importance of consensus and how does the leader participate in it?