Thinking (15)

Thinking Question 1 (5):

What are three traits of effective leaders? Which one do you think is most important? Why?

 

The three traits are

1.      Leading by example

2.      Showing genuine care

3.      Teaching followers

 

The most important one is leading by example. A leader’s job is to influence other people to do things. If you do not do the thing yourself, you have no credibility or right to ask other people to do it. For example, if you do not want others to be lazy, then you need to be diligent. Only when other people see you acting on your own advice will they be open to listening to your advice.

 

Showing genuine care only matters after you lead by example. Teaching followers only matters after the previous two are done.

 

Thinking Question 2 (5):

Out of the 5 factors for team success, which two or three do you think are the most common reasons many teams fail to work well together? Explain.

 

The biggest factor is probably assigning tasks based on strengths. Most people are not even clear on their own strengths and weaknesses, so they don’t communicate it with their team. As a result, they just pick tasks randomly, which might result in people getting assigned to do tasks that match their weakness.

 

Another big factor is rules of engagement. A lot of people just assume everybody will respond to each other and update each other regularly, but that doesn’t happen because people have other priorities in their life. By clearly agreeing on the rules of engagement, it helps everybody get along.

 

The last factor is shared goals. A lot of people just assume others have the same goal as them. In reality, some people are less committed, and people find out too late when the project is almost over. If they communicate what goal each person wants at the beginning, they can find out each person’s level of commitment.

 

Thinking Question 3 (5):

Which virtue is the most important? Why?

Filial piety is the most important virtue because if a person cannot be respectful and caring towards their parents, whom they owe the biggest debt of gratitude to, then there’s no way then can have true respect or care for anyone else. Filial piety is also the first virtue from which other virtues are built upon. For example, loving-kindness is when we expand the respect and care for our parents out towards all other people. Another example, humility is when we listen to others’ criticisms with the same respect as if our parents are scolding us.

C&A (30)

C&A Question 1 (10):

What is the Four Tendencies personality test? Explain how to work well with each Tendency.

 

The Four Tendencies explains how people respond to inner and outer expectations.

 

To work well with Upholders, it’s important to give them enough notice. If you ask them to do something with too short notice, they are likely to reject you and think it’s not their fault that you couldn’t plan your time better.

 

To work well with Obligers, it’s important to not take advantage of them. If you keep piling work on Obligers without giving them appreciation or a break, they will eventually explode on you and go into Obliger-Rebellion. If that happens, they can do dramatic things like quit a job or end a marriage.

 

To work well with Questioners, it’s important to answer the “Why” questions, like why this task, why now, why this way, etc. Just be patient. If you don’t have the patience to answer all their questions, you can give them the freedom to do research to find the answers or point them towards another expert they can ask.

 

To work well with Rebels, it’s important to give them freedom and autonomy. If you need to ask them to do something, use Information-Consequence-Choice. For example, don’t say

“Please finish this report by Friday.”

Instead say,

“We need to send this report to the client on Monday, so I would really appreciate it if you can send me your part by Friday or even earlier if you think you can do it earlier. If we don’t finish the report on time for the client, that would really hurt the team and company. I leave it up to you when you want to submit your part.”

 

 

C&A Question 2 (10):

Your friend is a lazy student who likes to stay up all night playing video games and eating potato chips. You know he is a smart and capable person because when he puts effort into something, he does it well. Give him some advice about how to increase his motivation for school.

 

Motivation = Purpose x Energy x Small Simple Steps

 

First, I would help him get clear on his purpose. So I would ask him, “Why do you NEED to do well in school? If he can’t give a strong reason, then I would give suggestions like repaying gratitude to his family or challenging himself to improve his ability or seeking a better life or giving back to society.

 

Next, I would advise him to live a healthier lifestyle. That means to eat less junk food and eat more healthy foods. Also, he should sleep earlier and not play video games at night. Getting bad sleep will drain his energy the next day, which will lower his motivation.

 

Lastly, I would tell him to identify the smallest step he can do towards his daily homework. If he ever feels like there’s too much to do, just do the smallest step like opening the textbook or writing one sentence. After you get started, the rest becomes easier.

 

C&A Question 3 (10):

Explain the four corporate social responsibilities. What order should companies do them, and which one has the most power? Explain.

The four CSR responsibilities are

1.      Economic

2.      Legal

3.      Ethical

4.      Philanthropic

 

Companies should do them in that order. Economic comes first because without this one, companies can’t exist. Legal comes next because if they don’t meet the law, the government will fine them or shut them down. Ethical comes next because ethical standards are even higher than legal ones. Philanthropic comes last because it’s about giving to charity, and you should only do that if you met your ethical responsibilities. Doing philanthropy while still having ethical problems in the company is fake CSR, and unfortunately, many companies do that to improve their marketing image.

 

Out of the 4 responsibilities, ethical is strongest. It can override economic. For example, a company is not allowed to hurt customers in order to make more money. When customers and the government find out, they will retaliate and not buy from that company anymore, or even shut that company down.

Ethical responsibilities can also override legal, because the law doesn’t cover everything, whereas ethics does. For example, even if the law doesn’t prohibit a business from using a harmful ingredient in its product, the ethics tells you to not do it.