Management Theories And Mentorship Programs

Reflecting back over the years since receiving my initial National Board Certification, I clearly see that the mentoring roles I have been a part of have been the most rewarding. Mentoring has enabled me to collaborate with others new to the profession as well as with veteran teachers in the classroom. Through this collaboration in a variety of settings, I have been able to improve the effectiveness of my teaching practices which in turn has had a positive impact on my students. A study from Teacher Collaboration in Instructional Teams and Student Achievement by the American Educational Research Journal (2015) states that the quality of teacher collaboration positively influences teacher performance

To be an effective leader you need to give subordinates what is missing in their environment by helping them balance for their lack of abilities in certain areas (Northouse, 2013). The concept behind leaders and followers is a continuation of the situational approach, (Northouse, 2013) “which suggests that a leader must adapt to the development level of subordinates”. This led to a more developed theory where leaders focus on motivating employee in other to enhance their performance and satisfaction thus path-goal theory was born, the link between the style a leaders uses and different kinds of subordinate in a work setting (Northouse, 2013). Although subordinates know that they will be successful if they believe that the payoff for their work is worthwhile, a theory was put into place to help guide the leaders in the right direction when it comes to subordinates characteristics and task characteristic.

“Motivating Employees” is a book about how employee motivation is driven by companies that invest and grow their employees. One of the most important traits of highly effective and successful companies is that employees are happy and have fun at work. Leadership is not assaulting your employees, but to lead your employees you need to motivate by using caring,

Management has changed significantly over the past 50 years. The role of leaders in an organization is an ever changing thing. At one point, a manager was also the owner of the company, and thus used a carrot and a stick to get his employees to work, just like a parent personally invested in the raising of their child. Not anymore. Nowadays, leaders are there to “serve” their employees. The focus is on motivating the individual, achieving organizational goals by integrating each and every individual into the system. We no longer rely on a one size fits all approach, and management theory is no longer focused on having a winning philosophy, or motivating large groups.

When looking back in one’s career, each manager in the organization leads and develops employees differently. A person can apprehend that each leader has their own leadership style with

“Managers should manage in a way that brings good people into the organization and makes good people want to stay. Managers, especially immediate supervisors, largely determine whether employees stay with or leave a company” (Crews).

My organization focuses heavily on mentoring relationships. Anytime a new individual is hired, we try to ensure that they will receive the training necessary to take their bosses job. We focus heavily on them knowing their job and the job two levels beyond their current position. This has proven effective in getting individuals to understand the "Why" behind some of the mundane things they do.

Mentorship is an asset for anyone attempting to learn something new. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary a mentor is a trusted counselor or guide. To me this implies someone that you up to and have access to via direct communication and not an idol, such as a celebrity, who you do not have any contact. Everyone has some form of mentorship in their life. In athletics, there are always teammates or coaches that train and challenge a person. In education, there are teachers and upperclassmen. In the workplace, senior coworkers and supervisors fulfill the role. No matter where a person is in life, there is always an individual who can assist them through guidance and encouragement.

A manager is a person who supervises the work of others so that the assigned goals and targets are achieved in the most effective, efficient, and well-organized fashion (Daft 2011). A manager makes decisions for his organization, organizes, motivates, and leads its human resource, and controls its business affairs so as to achieve efficiency and superior operational performance. All the functions and responsibilities of a manager overlap each other at all the managerial levels within an organization (Basefsky, Maxwell, Post, & Turner 2004). Leadership is one of the core functions of a manager. This leadership function essentially requires the leader to be specialized in all other management functions in order to lead his followers effectively and efficiently (Leatherman 2008). Therefore, it is strongly believed that a person must have to be a good manager in order to become an effective leader. This paper critically examines this statement in the light of relevant literature; including books, research papers, and journal articles.

Over the years in my career I have come to learn the different between an effective manager and a non effective manager. With all that I have learned is it possible to live up to whom I want to be. In the following essay I explore the skills and techniques used by managers that have lead to a successful career. I will also demonstrate how I plan to integrate these skills and techniques into my future as a leader.

When I got hired I was not mentored by anyone and it took me little longer to understand my job as compare to if I was mentored. I can also see the rationale some manager might use to have intention non-mentoring plan as they probably do not want departing employee to bad mouth about the department, other employees and the organization. I can see that happening especially if person is resigning due to some bitterness or when the person is asked to leave. In your case when you were promoted in the same organization your manager should have valued you more and let you mentor the new hire, but human nature is complex and sometimes, people behave irrational. Eventually, you end up mentoring via cheat sheets anyways.

Granted, I made the most of my adversities but, there were defining moments where I was encompassed, with self-doubt, depression and dubiety. The three being the: diagnosis of my disabilities; end of my athlete's life and the greatest and transition to college. I had no control over these events but my attitude has been preparing me to resilient, successful and to aid others, especially my mentee's.

Today’s managers have a lot of tasks on their plate, even more so than managers of the past due to stricter rules and regulations imposed by the Federal Government, as well as the arduous amount of paperwork involved with documenting employees work habits and interactions be they good or bad. Ad on top of all this the need for annual or quarterly performance appraisals and daily supervision, it can make a manager feel overwhelmed, especially if they have employees who don’t seem to be overly motivated to do their jobs, or do them adequately. With this in mind, it is important to understand the motivational theories that make employees want to excel, management theories that we can use to better guide our employees, and their effect on leadership styles today. It is also important as well to understand how they relate to our personal lives, career enhancement opportunities, and ultimately and most importantly, our relationship with God.

Mentoring is defined as an informal transference of knowledge between an expert and a neophyte. The mentor is said to have greater knowledge either in a particular field or of general, human qualities that he or she wants to transfer to the mentee. (PowerPoint 1: Slide 3). The purposes of mentoring include supporting professional development within an organization; identifying and nurturing an employee's emerging talents, and teaching employees professional standards. Mentoring can be used to 'stretch' the talents of the mentee and even help to develop the talents of the mentor him or herself. Both parties can learn from the exchange (PowerPoint 1: Slide 11).

Organisations are increasingly evolving quicker due to globalisation and advances in industries and technology. These events have made market environments progressively more competitive and have changed the economic climate in which organisations operate. Unfortunately some organisations have had to implement restructures and reductions in workforce to ensure survival. Foundation Design are one of these organisations whose company size has gone from 1,513 employees to 780 employees. During the restructure of the organisation the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) identified that changes were required to its leadership profile and coaching and mentoring programmes. These changes