BCOM 3950 Chpt 1

A focus on action and results

A focus on action implies that you seize business opportunities. " The way I usually put it is, the price of an action is far greater than the cost of making a mistake. You do not have to be perfect to be an effective leader, but you cannot be timid (showing a lack of courage or confidence; easily frightened)"

Engagement

A measure of how much employees are connected emotionally to their work, how willing they are to expend extra effort to help their organizations meet their goals, and how much energy they have to reach those goals. A recent study showed that companies with highly engaged employees were nearly 3 times as profitable as companies with low engagement among employees.

Demonstrating accountability in business

A sense of accountability implies an obligation to meet the needs and wants of others. It also involves an enlarged vision of those affected by your business activities. It takes a stakeholder view that includes all groups in society affected by your business.

Effective communicators gain trust by connecting with others—

— that is, seeking to understand others' needs, wants, opinions, feelings, and aspirations. For example say that you are a seller on OfferUp (a selling app for, mainly, aftermarket products), showing that you care about a customer by putting accurate information on a product, good quality photos, responding on time, and even helping the customer after they have bought a product will persuade the customer to trust you as a seller and maybe even buy from you again, and/or give you a good rating that will persuade other potential customers that it is in your best interest to make them a repetitive customer and not rip them off.

Today's effective business leaders have generally gained their positions because—

—Of their sense of community and teamwork. Speaking about "our needs" or "your needs" as opposed to " my needs" engenders (cause or give rise to) trust and helps you come up with solutions that achieve mutual benefit Recent research has shown that most professionals can broadly be characterized as givers and takers. Givers are those professionals who go out of their way to help colleagues, respond to their requests and needs, and generously support others in the workplace. Takers are those professionals who frequently ask for favors from colleagues yet infrequently volunteer to help their peers in return. Dozens of studies in recent years show that organizations with more generous and giving employees perform better in terms of; achieving higher profitability, higher productivity, and higher customer satisfaction. In addition, these companies experience lower employee turnover rates.

The trait that ranked the highest in determining trust among individuals in the workplace was—

—overwhelmingly, character based traits— that is, honesty, ethical behavior, and willingness to exchange information.

When composing important or controversial communications, you should spend time evaluating the best way—

—to be fair. Generally, others' perceptions of your character—your unquestioned adherence to personal and corporate values— are largely determined by your communications. Moreover, your colleagues, clients, and customers will gauge your communications based on a judgment of how fair they are.

Business ethics

Commonly accepted beliefs and principles in the business community for acceptable behavior. At a minimum, business ethics involve adhering to laws; safeguarding confidential or proprietary information; avoiding conflicts of interest and misuse of company assets; and refraining from accepting or providing inappropriate gifts, gratuities (tip) and entertainment.

Corporate values, the backbone of business

Corporate values are the stated and lived values of a company. The Society for human resource management espouses (adopt or support (a cause, belief, or way of life)) corporate values as the essence of business ethics. It defines business ethics as " organizational values, guidelines, and codes," and it emphasizes " behaving within those boundaries when faced with dilemmas in business or professional work." Most organizations have created a written code of conduct or code of ethics. Publicly traded companies are required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to have a code of ethics available to all employees and to ensure that it is enacted. Aligning personal values—those values that individuals prioritize and adhere to— with corporate values is an important element of character. After all, if one is living corporate values that do not match one's personal values, then there is a lack of integrity.

Principal element in allowing you to communicate more easily and more influentially

Credibility

Core principles in business communication

Interpersonal communication emotional intelligence active listening teamwork and intercultural communication

Abuses of honesty

First, by avoiding open and honest communication of business problems, employees effect the business to poor financial performance. Second, dishonesty is among the primary reasons for lower employee morale. Nearly 6 in 10 employees say that they have left an organization because of lack of trust😪— The key reasons being lack of communication and dishonesty. Finally, dishonesty can be a reason for dismissal. In some cases, dishonesty can destroy careers and even result in criminal charges.

In ___ relationships, since individuals willingly and freely give the benefit of the doubt, communication is simpler, Easier, quicker, and more affective.

High-trust

confidentiality

However, you will also find yourself in many situations where confidentiality is mandated. Companies often direct employees to maintain confidentiality about information that can harm profitability, productivity, and employees within the Organization if it is disclosed. In some cases, confidentiality is required by legal considerations, such as laws regarding medical records, disclosure of insider information, or copyrights. In other cases, you may need to protect intellectual property.

Transparency

Involves sharing all relevant information with stakeholders. Transparency is a principle that allows those affected by administrative decisions, business transactions or charitable work to know not only the basic facts and figures but also the mechanisms and processes. It is the duty of civil servants, managers and trustees to act visibly, predictably and understandably.

Cheating Culture

Many students believe internet plagiarism is not a serious offense

Speaking up about ethics

Often, employees fail to speak up when they observe potentially unethical behavior. Business professionals remain silent for 4 basic reasons: (1) they assume it's standard practice, (2) they rationalize that it's not a big deal, (3) they say to themselves it's not their responsibility, or (4) they want to be loyal. Examples of responding to unethical behavior: If this is standard, why is there a policy against it? If it is expected, are we comfortable being public about it? I may be new here, so I might not understand our policy clearly. But, shouldn't we...?

FAIR test

One way to evaluate your communication is to use the FAIR test. The FAIR test helps you examine how well you have provided the facts; how will you have granted access to your motives, reasoning, and information; how well you have examined impacts on stakeholders; and how well you have shown respect. Facts (how factual is your communication?) • have you presented the facts correctly? • have you presented all the relevant facts? • have you presented any information that would be considered misleading? • have you used the facts in a reasonable manner to arrive at your conclusions and recommendations? Would your audience agree with your reasoning? Access (how accessible or transparent are you were motives, reasoning, and information?) • are your motives clear, or will others perceive that you have a hidden agenda? • have you fully disclosed how you obtained the information and used it to make your case? • are you hiding any of the information or real reasons for making certain claims or recommendations? • have you given stakeholders the opportunity to provide input in the decision making process? Impacts (how does your communication impact stakeholders?) • have you considered how your communication impacts all stakeholders? • have you thought about how your communication will help or even hurt others? • how could you learn more about these impacts? Respect (how respectful is your communication?) • have you prepared your communication to recognize the inherent dignity and self-worth of others? • would those with whom you are communicating consider your communication respectful? • would a neutral observer consider your communication respectful?

Developing Competence

People develop competence in many ways: through study, observation, and, most important, Practice and real-world business experiences. Most people will judge your competence based on your track record of success and achievement.

Ethical behavior in recent years

Perhaps due to earlier large public scandals, employees now observe higher ethical behavior within their companies and generally view their upper managers as ethical. A majority of employees say that management would keep its promises and commitments, encouraged employees to do the right thing, and believed that top managers would be punished and held accountable if they were caught violating the organization's ethical standards.

According to David Pottruck, which of the following developments are transforming 21st century leadership?

The 21st-century leader is surely different from the leaders of the last two decades. The Internet has placed real power in the hands of people around the world. It has increased the possibilities for millions to do the work that enlivens them. There will be little loyalty to people or to organizations that are not worthy. No longer do pension plans and benefits create chains that hold people in one spot. To create loyalty in such an environment, the new leader will understand how to create a compelling culture, one that will allow people to contribute their best. He or she will then communicate meaning and trustworthiness in every word and action. Culture, character, and communication are the cornerstones of today's new leadership.

mistrust

There was a time, many years ago, when we too assumed that what broke the delicate fiber of trust and relationships were large acts that had significant impact. However, our research and work over the last 15 years have taught us differently. What gradually erodes trust and creates a climate of betrayal in our workplaces today are small, subtle acts that accumulate over time. When we don't do what we say we will do, when we gossip about others behind their backs, when we renege (go back on a promise, undertaking, or contract) on decisions we agreed to, when we hide our agenda and work it behind the scenes, and when we spin the truth rather than tell it, we break trust and damage relationships.

Trust

Trust is a pragmatic, tangible, actionable asset that you can create— much faster than you probably think possible Trust usually begins at a deficit

Credibility

Trustworthy to perform your work with excellence To care about those you work with and for To live by high ethical corporate and personal values; and to deliver on your promises