This topic reminds me a lot about what I learned from my
former organizational behavior classes.
To be honest, I am a more cooperative person rather than an individualist.
I always find myself work well when I was in a team environment. The
communications and discussions between teammates and others will always inspire
me. I remembered many times that I came up with something good in an
interactive environment. I believe that any relationship is built on trust and
communication. To get a job done, the first thing to do is to understand the
job. And the best way to do that is not reading carefully of the instrument,
but to listen to the person who named the task and communicate with him or her
directly. One important component of good communication is good listening
skills. I seldom interrupt people when they are talking. Part of the reason is that
it’s rude to do so in Chinese culture. And the other part of the reason is that
I want to hear the person clearly not only the surface meaning but also the
deeper meaning.
When I was interacting with a teammate or co-workers or just
people I met somewhere, I have a tendency to put my power level one step lower
than the person I was talking to. I was not doing that intentionally. It is
just something I did subconsciously. I noticed my behavior when I was in my OBC
classes and I realized that the behavior helped me a lot on some levels. I
found it will be easier to get what I want if I lower my power level. Being
modest and patience is a good way to learn and a good way to show my sincerity.
And it is easier to build trust on this basis.
Talking about my leadership style, I am still on my way
building it. I pivoted my leadership style all the way long. I used to believe
that talking louder than others it’s a way to show power when I was in elementary
school. I then believed that being friends with every one and being liked by
everyone was a good leader when I was in eighth grade. When I was in
university, I believe that being a leader meant never make mistakes. All of
these past experiences helped form my leadership now. Now I believe that a
leader should be professional in his or her field. The leader should establish
trust among all the team members and a good leader should set certain power
level in the team. My leadership style is kind of like Yanhong Li’s, the
founder of Baidu. As I talked in my innovator presentation, Li believed that a
good leader should listen to the ideas and opinions of his workers but it is
the leader who makes the final decision. I like his saying and for current
phase, I’d like to adopt this leadership style.
