If you want to see my portfolio and enjoy my leadership stories then follow me on my new website. I want to share my HTM journey and opportunities I’ve encountered through my 3 years at SDSU with you. Thanks for reading!
http://karissaduda.weebly.com/ <<<<<<<<You know you want to!
What’s going to happen next?
My original idea was to tell about my journey before and after the finish line of my college journey. I am really in to watching the sport of racing so I thought it would be a fun way to incorporate my philosophy on leadership and blog about my findings through the semester. I have learned that going on an adventure does not have to stop. Usually a formal process has an ending, but to really learn about others and yourself, the process keeps going. I learned about being a transformational leader who listens to those around you and does not just do what is told, but goes over and beyond and is creative. There is always a good ending that both the leader and follower receive. It is a mutual benefit. I feel as if the process of making me write and also listen to others and their writing and creative skills has pushed me to want to submerse myself in to the technological culture we are in. The wordpress site has kept me engaged to the topics we have learned in class. The site has been my leader along with the other students in HTM 491. I have a new found interest in social interaction with online blogging. I have been able to lead a team for my internship in a more positive light because of this class. I realize that like Jim Collins Level 5 Leadership, it is important to engage with the right people and to get the right people on the bus. I realize that sometimes I am an impatient person, so learning to relax and let ideas flow and just let things happen the best they can will keep me sane. Needless to say, my journey after the finish line of this semester or even graduation is NOT the finish line, but a beginning to my professional career where I can really embark on my leadership journey.
I have grasped what my overall leadership strategy is through the different topic of this class as well as learning about the leadership theories. I feel like I need to have an optimistic attitude and a smile on my face. I want to have an open door policy, but also deal with a bad situation in the most professional and helpful way possible. I want to be able to not just manage and lead but to also have that “wow” factor and engage my employees with their everyday work duties. Work CAN be fun. I hope to hire respectful, capable, and honest employees someday. I think that adjusting to a group of people using LMX Theory is very tactical. There is a period of being a stranger, but figuring out how to move your team through the process on the other hand of being a partner is going to be the rewarding part. I have worked in so many group projects and find it amazing to work with a team and to bounce ideas off eachother. I think I have always found great people to work with and that makes my life so much more enjoyable and having the “right people on the bus” works to the teams advantage. I want to align my values with the values of the organization I am working for. It is not about the race, but about the entire process of working for a goal and enjoying the view while doing it. I may come across some obstacles, but I know that I will overcome them. I cannot wait to see where my journey takes me after SDSU.
I took a visit to Champions Salon in Orange County so that I could get a more inside look at how the salon is ran.There are four owners who all worked together at a different salon, so they decided to open up their own place about 23 years ago. They were platform artists and worked for Joico. Every week, the owners give classes to keep up on fashion and hair trends. The owners know first hand that trends change fast and that to stay on top of the changing fashion industry they need to do their research and see what hair styles and cuts and products are new and improved. My hair dresser Jazy told me that she was hired out of hair school as an assistant and has learned specialized skills through the classes provided by the owners. She told me her specialty is color. She gets excited to implement her eye for color on her clients. I asked her today to create something new and fun on me that would compliment my personality and skin. This is what she came up with! I love it!
Jazy told me that the owners allow them to express their own style and provide them with inspiration to do what they want with it. She says, “my favorite part of working with the Champions family is that I get to do what I love with the people I love!” She also explained that it is great to work with employees who love each other outside of work. They attend events together as well as family-like things like a baby shower. Jazy let me steal a couple pictures from her that show all the employees doing stuff together.
The salon is inspired by runway and fashion along with current trends as I explained before. The owners use to compete in hair shows as well as did runway styles through Joico. The classes that the employees get to go to are provided free of cost to the employee. The owners pay for the stylists to attend the classes. All they need to do is sign up! There are also different product representatives that show case their product for the stylists to try out and view. The salon chooses particular brands to use at the salon, but each stylist has an opinion and can use what they want on their clients hair. This is again another form of freedom and expression that they get from working at Champion Salon.
It was approved by the salon to work with Peanuts Bar next door to provide alcohol for the clients. If you wish to have an alcoholic beverage while getting your hair done you can buy one from next door and bring it in. They give each other clients which is cool!
I have decided that I would really like to have a team of employees that want to hang out outside of work. I want the sense of loving what I do and wanting to go to work. I want to provide a way to succeed for my employees too. I think providing classes on the latest trends, styles, cuts, and how-to examples is an excellent way for a company to stay on top of their game. It is important to keep up with trends and colors and ways of doing stuff in the industry. Also, Champions Salon is a current example on how keeping in contact with people you meet along the way is beneficial to your success. You may just be a co-owner with someone you went to school with! Being passionate, helpful, and providing ways to succeed are definitely leadership characteristics that I would implement into my current and future leadership style.
Champions Salon has many reasons to why I keep going back. I found this salon when I lived in Orange County. I go back all the way to Orange County because Champions Salon has created an experience that I do not want to miss out on. When I walk in to the salon, I am greeted by a friendly staff that has a family-like environment. I am asked if I would like tea, coffee, or water. The salon is made with beautiful architecture and decor. Everything they do is inspired by art, music, fashion, architecture, and literature. Each stylist has been educated from right out of beauty school. I feel like a princess when I go get my hair done. If I chose not to take a free cup of coffee, Jazy will make sure I am offered a glass of wine or a beer. To accompany this stylish salon, there is a bar that permits the guests to buy a drink. I am relaxed and feel like I am on vacation at this point.
If I chose to color my hair, Jazy knows what will look best with my skin tone. She does an amazing job cutting and syling my hair as well. She never lets me leave without feeling like a star. There are so many times that I know she has other guests coming in to get their hair done but she never rushes nor stops a good conversation. I LOVE getting my hair done because it is a break from life. It’s an escape from my every day routine and hectic work life. Jazy always texts me a day after I get my hair done to make sure I like everything about it. If I don’t, she would recolor or cut my hair differently. I have never had to worry about me not liking it though! My haircut is always worth every penny. Below is a picture of me featured on her facebook!
In chapter 5 of Good to Great by Jim Collins, he talks about the Hedgehog Concept. As a starting point, it is taking one simple concept and doing something excellent and imaginative with it. You never want to compulsively leap at opportunities that have no obvious unifying theme. Under the Hedgehog Concept, a company should attain a very simple concept to use as a framework for all decisions. Jim Collins also goes in to detail about three circle within the hedgehog concept. He explains that these three questions ccan lead you in to a better and more great company: what you can be in the best in the world at? What you are deeply passionate about? As well as what drives your economic engine? When you have attained a piece of each circle, you should be somewhere in the middle of all these questions.
When you think about what you can be the best in the world at, you should also think about what you cannot be the best at. You may have competence in something that you are extremely interested in, but you might not be able to attain the most greatness with it. You might come up with something in the future that you are not even currently engaged in. When you think about what your economic engine is, think about something that can sustain and profit for a long period at a time. What you are deeply passionate about translates into Good to Great companies who focus on those activities that ignite their passion. The idea here is not to stimulate passion, but to discover what makes you passionate.
Under each of the circles it is necessary to ask, “Do I have a god-given talent, or was I born to do this?” or also how well are you paid to do this job? Many successful companies have employees that think it is almost too good to be true to be getting paid for what they are passionate about. Lastly, are you someone who looks forward to getting up and throwing yourself in to your daily work? If you can answer all these questions, then you are on your way to being a hedgehog! If you can translate the intersection of the three circles into something that is simple, crystalline, and guided then your life choice will certainly be great. When asking yourself these questions, I think of trait theory of leadership. When you are born to do something and have that self awareness then it is the same as having a god-given talent. If you choose to pursue and be the best at your talent you are engaging in the transformational theory of leadership.
When you are an individual that manages well, and can follow a list of chores to get paid you are a Transactional leadership. Jim Collins says that a hedgehog concept requires severe standards of excellence and understanding truly where your organization has potential. When you as a leader, can get you and your followers to a better and more happy place then you are embarking on a Transformational path. Hedgehog concepts seem to be more Transformational. Having a way to motivate your employees but in a way where it is subtle and they do not think it is just work is part of hedgehog as well. This seems to be closely related to a path/goal theory where you lead your followers by getting everyone to understand the goal first. Good to Great definitely touches on many of the theories we have learned about in class.
When I joined the HTM program, I did not have a very strong idea of where I wanted to go in the direction of jobs and leadership. When I think back, I thought of leadership as just leading some people and winning. Now, I recognize that leadership is having a vision and following your goals to get somewhere is helpful. It is not always about winning, but recognizing the path you took to get there and what you can do better next time. You want to have the right people with you along the way of your leadership journey. Immersing yourself into different activities and then finding one that is your passion, and that you are best at to get to a great standing within the corporate world is ideal. I do want to go to work everyday and think, “I get paid for this? and I’m excited for this!” That would be the best feeling in the world.
“This is what I believe, and I’m willing to die for it” -Will Smith
Watch the Video!
Check out the slideshow I made on Authentic Leadership. I think it is a great style of leadership, where both the leader and the followers can be invested in each other and the company for the long-run. When I think about my passion for the sport of motocross, I think about how much goes into getting our off road vehicles and motorcycles ready for the desert, and all the planning and time to go just for a weekend, BUT my family invests for the future. A future of doing stuff together, something that we all like. It’s worth it.
Howard Shultz < Click here to see my power point. 🙂
A transactional leader follows a process. They are classical management type people that follow a process and focus on a leader and follower approach. Generally they have a set task and structure. This type of person would micromanage and uses contingent award as a reward for effort that is not individualized. Transactional does not inspire and is based on a machine metaphor. I think of a credit card transaction for a transactional individual.
On the other hand, there are transformational leaders. These type of people are inspiring and motivating. They are all about the people and enhancing relationships within the system. Transformational leaders focus on positive change.
An example of transactional behavior is when I worked my first job ever at Abercrombie. There were a couple managers who would micromanage ad stand over me while I was doing a simple task such as folding clothing. We were held to a cookie cutter standard. We had to say the same tag line to every single person that walked through the door, and we had zones within the store that we were not able to walk away from. Employees had to have no makeup or nail polish. We basically were made-up Abercrombie zombies. Everyone got their work done, and we met every expectation essentially, but there was no room for growth or individualism. To say the least, I didn’t last long there. On the contrary, I worked at another retail store named Arden B where we were able to dress how we wanted, as long as we were presentable and in fashion. We were given a sales goal, but were able to accomplish our sales by whatever means we wanted. For example, I could talk with the customers and make them feel like they were number one priority. I would run back and forth picking out clothing that I thought the individual might want based on her expectation or style preference. It was a more individualized and fun experience. It was a positive atmosphere that was motivating and more of a challenge.
I decided to title this blog by using lyrics from Katy Perry’s song Roar. I went to her concert a couple weeks ago for the second time and I feel like she embodies a leader. She has battled personal issues and has gotten through so many battles yet she is so humble at the same time. She expresses thanks to all her dancers and fans. She loves what she does and dances to the beat of her own drum. I think that she is a rock star on and off stage. In the song I mentioned she also sings the lyrics:
“Now I’m floating like a butterfly
Stinging like a bee I earned my stripes
I went from zero, to my own hero”
Once you find who you are as an individual then it is easier to express your own beliefs and ideas. Like Katy Perry, I think there are some excellent blogs that are worth speaking about. Once blog that expresses leadership and has a fierce but charismatic tone is Megan Henley’s blog. She has used all her blog posts to describe how she has transformed her views through the years. One idea that stuck with me is when she talked about Leadership and Me. She said that once in an interview someone asked if she was more of a leader or a follower and she said leader but shortly she realized that the correct answer was that she is a team player. She has been on a journey that has brought her to a finish line as a positive leader that works with a team well. I love how she uses quotes and uplifting memes throughout her blog as well.
Another classmate that has a strong sense of tone and style is Alexa Provenzano. She writes in a way that I want to listen. I liked her blog post Let’s Take a Look at the Situation. She had a manager that asked “If money wasn’t an issue, what would be your dream car?” The point of the activity was that each person holds a different definition for quality. It goes to show that you can’t expect everyone to want the same qualities. I liked how she noted that there is not a particular cookie cutter type of leader, but that leaders or a compilation of different types of styles. Just as mentioned in Good to Great there is no certain traits that we can deem a “right” leader.
The Journey Before and After the Finish Line 