Which people do you know who work in old bureaucratic way? Which people seem to be moving ahead with fresh thinking? In what ways do you see yourself as a possible leader in your work life? How do you relate to change? Are you threatened by it or does it

Leadership is a way of thinking and living. Leaders are people who motivate others to accomplish goals defined by them and they enable others to make their own decision. A part of a leader is in each of us but the ability to become one depends on how we develop our skill.

These days it can be often seen that there are still people who work in old bureaucratic way what in my opinion means that they are leaders from the past. Bureaucrats do not move ahead with fresh thinking and do not invent anything new in their job. Before they make a decision and change something they have to ask for permission.
From my experience that I had in the university I have learned that working with bureaucrats is very difficult because those people seem to be stuck in a one place and be very stubborn in their job. F&B manager in school restaurant is an excellent example of that personality and behaviour. He started to work in the industry in the late 70’s when Poland was a communistic country and we did not have good quality hotels, just major “Orbis” brand. Later in his career he moved to Hotel Management and Catering Industry Academy where he implied the same strategy that he was thought in his first employment. Nothing could be done in the restaurant without our vice chancellor permission. He also did not believe in changes even in the decoration of the restaurant and in pact it was not merchandised enough. Because of the way he thought the restaurant faced problems with clients as well as the students which had practical training. There was also a lack of communication between kitchen and restaurant department.
I believe that fresh thinking is something that all of us should implement in the business. In my opinion my father’s way of thinking is a lot different than his generation. He is innovative and in his opinion changes are challenging and giving him possibility to invent something completely new. That is why he invests abroad, expand his business and take advantage of doing that. He always has passion and vision of the final result. Even if his idea will not work out, in his opinion he ever experiences the failure, because he learned something from that. I admire my father because his perspectives are broadened by others, he becomes an example for people and gives advice to them.

The second area to question is closely related to the first one. I can visualize myself as a leader in the hotel industry. My goal and dream is to have a small hotel and in the mean time work in my parents company, to achieve that I have to focus on my strategic plans and be flexible. The world is changing all the time and flexibility gives us possibility to adjust easier to changes, but also learning form the past experience has always significant meaning for me.
We live in a very competitive world where leaders have to be resilient and have passion as well as vision of their future. As a future leader I have to be open-minded and have ability to develop human resources. I would like to lead people in the way which will allow them to fulfill their potential, initiate changes and enhance performance.

Even that progress is happening all the time we have to accept it and try to relate to it. Changes are unavoidable and we have difficulty in facing them, but to be competitive on the market we should develop our own strategy which will lead us to the goal without fear of failure. Changes that happened in my life always inspired me and I love to be challenged. By doing that I develop different site of me, this might inspire me to make progress in my life. Sometimes it is difficult to adjust to changes, and things that are happening in our life might not only hurt our feelings but also cause depression but as some anonym said “Per aspera ad astra” (Through rough ways to the stars) we should never give up. ”Stars” might be very close and it is worthy to try to reach to them. (source: Latin and Greek phrases)

To conclude, I have to say that to become a leader is a long process which involves a lot of patience and psychological work on us. A leader has to have a personal attributes necessary to earn and achieve credibility.

References

Sashkin, M. & Sashkin, G., 2003, Leadership that matters, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, San Francisco.

Morrison, M., January 2007, ‘The very model of a modern senior manager’, Harvard Business Review, pp. 27 – 39.

Hill, A., January 2007, ‘Becoming the boss’, Harvard Business Review, pp. 49 – 55.

Latin and Greek phrases, Retrieved: January 27, 2007, from http://www.sacklunch.net/Latin/P/perasperaadastra.html.