you must also post substantive responses to at least two of your classmates’ or instructor’s posts in this thread. Your response should include elements such as follow-up questions, further exploration of topics from the initial post, or requests for further clarification or explanation on some points made by your classmates.

Peer# 1

Authentic Leadership

Based on the reading, the authentic leadership approach is very broad and relatively new (Northouse, 2018). This leaves me with utilizing the approach through my interpretation. Of the many benefits of this open-ended idea, I think one of the grounding ideas is the “explicit moral dimension” stated in the text (Northouse, 2018). In my practice as a leader, I want to lead by example, with the followers’ best interests in mind as much as I possibly can. At the same time, I believe I am still in a place where I need to grow as a leader. Simply naming that “I am still growing” or “I want to become an authentic leader” is part of this approach and will lead to a leader with integrity.

On the opposite side of the spectrum are the risks of applying this approach in practice…and they seem to be very impactful as well. Because of this being such a new approach (leaving room for interpretation), “authentic leaders judge what is moral based on personal experience and not societal norms” (Northouse, 2018, pg. 234). With this in mind, self-awareness is essential to developing one’s true potential. In a way, doing the “right” thing is beneficial for this approach, but doing the “right” thing is also a risk. For example, let’s say a hospital is downsizing and needs to let go of some employees. As a leader having some power, I am committed to keeping my team entirely because I value everyone there and they deserve to keep working. In doing so, I might just end up losing my job, as it could be easier for the hospital to let go of the resistance. But in my eyes, I did the “right” thing in trying to negotiate to keep everyone. I stayed authentic by taking the risk and lost my job because of it.

Servant Leadership

Though similar to my interpretation of the authentic leadership approach, the servant approach is guided by altruism (Northouse, 2018). Altruism is the idea of focusing on the well-being of others, even if it’s at your own dispense. As a leader, considering the well-being of my followers can lead to loyalty and empower them to become leaders themselves. Even the text states “that organizations that want to build a culture of servant leadership should be careful to select people who are interested in and capable of building long-term relationships with followers” (Northouse, 2018, pg. 270). I would say that is a benefit when incorporating this approach.

On the other hand, the textbook also shares that this may not be an ideal approach for lower-level management tiers (Northouse, 2018). At the lower levels, leaders should give more direction, as the entry-level and associate tiers don’t have to interpret what their responsibilities are—they are routine tasks. Thus, giving the employees too much freedom or comfortability may risk productivity outcomes.  

Peer# 2

Hello all.

To operationalize means to turn abstract concepts into measurable observations (Bhandari, 2021). As I was reading about both the authentic and servant approaches to leadership, I was thinking that they are both very abstract and difficult to operationalize.

The benefits of operationalizing these leadership approaches would be the ability to define and put the abstract concepts into models and frameworks that can be measured, defined and easily replicated. That way it is easier to communicate the concepts and measure them using research methods.

Weakness of operationalizing is that it takes away from the “feeling” of these styles of interacting with people. They are both focused on feeling, self-evaluation and perspective. Those are very personal and individual concepts that mean different things to different people. Measuring things like listening, empathy, commitment, self-regulation and ethics are very subjective and difficult to quantify. When you begin, you immediately start to alienate people.

Authentic leadership stems from the need for honest and trustworthy leaders. But, even those qualities (honest, good, trustworthy) are very subjective and challenged these days. Servant leadership takes transformational leadership to a different level. Its core is based on the idea that leaders want to serve first, then lead. Placing the well-being of followers over the self-interest of the leader (Northouse, 2021). Both of these leadership styles (authentic and servant) are very valuable. They promote important qualities that all human beings should possess. They seem more like a spiritual path than a leadership approach, and there is something about that that I can appreciate. They take the focus off of the leader as the individual and place it on leading for the greater good. They both came about through a need for societal and self-reflection. This is very useful if we focus our societal and self-reflection on the good of our neighbors, communities and everyone we share this world with.

Thanks. Annie

Peer# 3

Hi everyone!

           The need for reducing the project duration occurs for many reasons such as imposed deadlines, time-to-market considerations, incentive contracts, key resource needs, high overhead costs, or simply unforeseen delays (Larson and Gray, 2014). A common method for shortening project time is to hire subcontractors for specific activities. The subcontractor may have access to superior technology or expertise that will accelerate the completion of the activity (Larson and Gray, 2014). For example, hiring a subcontractor with a backhoe means the activity can be accomplished in a few hours instead of a few days. Another technique to reducing project duration is fast-tracking. This means that the logic of the project network is rearranged so that critical activities are done in parallel instead of sequential logic (Larson and Gray, 2014).

           In project management, it is crucial to have a solid understanding of more than one technique. Not only can project durations have to be reduced for a variety of reasons, but resources can also affect how the duration is reduced. Depending on if the project resources are constrained or not, a project manager has different options. When additional project resources are limited or not available, or when the project budget is tightly constrained, the project manager has limited options. Take the example of hiring subcontractors. If the project budget is not constrained, hiring a subcontractor with a backhoe will accelerate the project. But if the project is on a tight budget, there would not be enough money to hire a subcontractor. In this case, the project manager would need to utilize another technique to reduce the duration, perhaps fast-tracking certain activities. Understanding multiple techniques is crucial because all projects will be different and there is no one right answer to reducing duration.

Peer# 4

Reducing project cost is important for a number of reasons. One reason is that technology is always changing, so if it takes too long to get to market the product may be irrelevant before it gets to market. Another reason to reduce project time is delays. If projects get delayed it is important to reduce time to get back on schedule. Another reason to reduce cost is to cut back on overhead expenses (Larson & Gray, 2014).

Projects can be reduced due to restrained resources or other reasons besides restrained resources. An easy way to reduce project duration when resources are not constrained is to schedule overtime. Scheduling overtime allows the project manager to avoid the additional costs associated with new hires. Also if the current employees are working on salary, then the overtime work would not result in increasing payout at all (Larson & Gray, 2014). The disadvantages to overtime is that hourly workers will make more money and salary workers may be unhappy about the increased work without increased pay. If this technique is used it is important to ensure the employees are comfortable working overtime. A way to reduce project duration when resources are constrained is to reduce the project scope. Scaling back the scope of a project can lead to a reduction in time and money spent on a project, but it does result in a potential loss of value in the project as well (Larson & Gray, 2014). If this technique is utilized it is important to ensure the value of the project stays intact. 

It is important to have a solid understanding of more than one technique in project management because different  projects may have different concerns that need to be addressed differently. The issues may or may not be rooted in a loss of resources. If the project has a loss of resources the reduction technique will be different than the one used for a project that does not have a loss of resources. For example, if there is a loss of resources a project manager could reduce duration time by improving the team’s efficiency to pick up the slack from the lost resources. A solution that would not be as effective is to establish a project team. A project team is used when resources are not limited.