Learning Outcome

My experience in the program has been nothing less than amazing. I learned so much within these past two years. From the theories of communication to organizational communication to strategic communication. I was unaware of all the ways communication could so many different connections. Each course served a different purpose to help bring understanding to communications. Below are the topics that stuck out the most to me and made an impact for me in this program.

COM 601- This course has really opened my eyes to how we communicate but more importantly how the message is received from others. I found it very interesting how someone can say one thing but we all understand it differently.

COM 610- In this course, I learned the real true importance of leadership and the role communication plays.

COM 613- Applying Theory to Practice/ Habermas Theory of Communicative Action

COM 616- This course brought awareness to interpersonal communication ethics and the affect it has on the different types of relationships.

COM 624- I learned the growth and importance of social media communication.

COM 629- This course was more personal as it made me self reflect on my personal leadership skills.

COM 638- I learned how to create a strategic communication plan and how to connect with a global audience.

COM 655- I learned about online communication and how new media has an affect on relationships.

COM 658- I learned a lot about my creative process by engaging in the activities and reflections related to the personal creativity logs.

COM 664- I learned how the organizational identity and brand strategy and practices and how different brands are using new media to their advantages.

Overall, this program has taught me how to better my time management skills, improved both my writing and communication skills and most importantly, my critical thinking skills. I feel I am well prepared to land a dream career within the communication and or human resources field. I am forever thankful for the skill set and guidance that was provided for me from my professors to help me successfully graduate.

Organizational Identity and Brand- Spring 2019

Brand You Reflection

Organizational identity is how an organization define who they are, including the employer and employee perception and even the customer perception as well. The organization identity can also be determined by the organization brands itself as well. A brand “is a bundle of values and attributes that define the value you deliver to people through the entire customer experience, and the unique way of doing business that forms the basis of your company’s relationship with all of its stakeholders” (Yohn, 2014). The values and attributes of an organization is very important and depending on those values is how many will look at the organization as a whole and can even determine their success.

The revelations that I have experienced from this course is that in order to be happy with the organization or company you work for, the values of that organization must match your own values. As an employee or employer, you will represent the organization inside and outside of the office and it only make sense that those values match. I know my identity is influenced by my organization identities and brand by their core values. Their core values are integrity, respect, teamwork, innovation and courage and those are some ways I identify myself. “The activity around shared experiences influences others” (Solis, 2013 p. 40). I feel as if I have a healthy level of organizational identification as I am aware of how I identify and how I am identified within my organization. I personally do not feel as though my organization encroaches on my personal identity as I am a believer of having a separate personal identity and professional identity to a certain extent.

I feel that a personal identity and professional identity is important because this is what makes everyone different and unique. This is what make some organizations stick out and be different. If we all only had a professional identity, the organization would not have any culture or diversity, and everyone would be the same. This is why I believe that having a personal identity assorted in with a professional identity is vital the success of any organization. Also, this is how one may be able to construct and maintain a coherent, marketable personal identity, by being themselves and knowing there is a time and place for everything. Having and maintaining a personal identity can be difficult, and like Weller mentioned, “Today’s workers face new, unexplored challenges while attempting to transform and maintain positive, coherent personal identities” (Weller, 2001) but it can be done.

I feel that the new social contract is the more dominant organization in my life. With the old social contract, there was not any room for growth for employees and the employer/ employee’s relationship was almost nonexistence. To where with the new social contract, between the employers and employees, overall the relationship is very existence and much better. For the employers, they can be more at ease that the employees will start with their company and work harder for growth within. The employees will receive better pay for the work they contribution, better benefits and even the opportunity to learn more to advance within the company. Both the employer and employee vision has changed to where their main goal is to “focus on customer needs and desires” (Singh, 2009) and to gain personal and professional development. If the employee and employer have no relationship, how can they work together as a team. I believe that teamwork is how most organization become successful and why the new social contact is more dominant over the old social contract.

In my opinion, the notion of career has changed within the last ten years by careers being taken more seriously. Ten years ago, I would compare a career to a job—just something to get by and to pay the bills. A job to where one would make a switch very often, maybe year after year or even month to month. Also, a job being very easy to find and even easier to find a replacement job. A career today is taken very seriously. A career is not as easily found like jobs and a career is something that will provide longevity. With a career today, this is where you will spend lots of time and have a plan to hopefully grow within that same organization for years.

Some of the biggest identity challenges as a worker today is fitting in. Especially when someone is the new person in the office and now quite sure how to fit in with the crowd. For me, my nerves at times get the best of me and I am very shy. I normal would not say much and just sit back and simply observe. I feel that by sitting back and observing, I get to see the flow and how the office operates. After observing for a few days, I then start to warm and get a little comfortable within the organization. I then start to find my place and see how I want to fit in. Once I feel as if I am a part of the team, I then will start to show who I am and my personal identity. “People are going to talk, so give them something to talk about” (Solis, 2013) and I mean that in the most positive way.

The strategies that I used to maintain a self-satisfying, coherent identity as a worker in today’s economy is to always be myself. Being myself at work is very satisfying as I do not have to pretend to be anyone else. Being yourself allows you to be able to be identity like no one else in the office. Another strategy I use to maintain a self-satisfying, coherent identity as a worker in today’s economy is to have a good balance between my personal and work life. Being able to balance a personal life and work life and do them both well can be challenging but will lead to a satisfying coherent identity. The main key to maintain a self-satisfying, coherent identity in my opinion is to understand the importance of the work- life balance.

 

Professional Identity Plan

Interests & Passions

A personal interest and passion of mine is helping other, especially the youth. I enjoy mentoring younger girls who may not have anyone else to look up to or needs someone they can feel comfortable talking with. I fulfill this passion by volunteering my times with different youth clubs and I even coach a cheerleading team. My professional interest and passion are assisting other with work knowledge they may not know or understand. Also making sure the professional work experiences is fun while keep with morale up. My personal and professional interest and passion intersect by me ultimately wanting to help others. To lead and guide them all in the right direction. My overall ideal professional identity is to be someone others can depend and rely on for guidance, ideas, leadership and knowledge. I want to be an example of showing my beliefs and values of integrity, teamwork and courage as a HR leader.

Strengths & Valuable Resources

My strengths and valuable resources are the qualities I possess. I am very organized, I have great communication skills, I am dedicated to my organization, and I am a growing and evolving leader. I know I consider these to be my strengths, but I know there will always be room for personal growth. I can leverage these skills to stay marketable in this economy and craft and communicate a coherent professional identity by remaining open minded and by remembering there is always room to grow and to learn from others. I believe no one is perfect and I am always open to new ideas, new processes and change. A great leader is said to be honest, a good communicator, and to be committed to their organization.

Skills & Experiences Needed

The skill I need to construct my ideal professional identity is become better with innovations. I want to be identified as someone that can come up with new ways to correct certain methods that are broken and be quick on my feet with it. I am not a believer of the saying “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it”. I am a believer that there are always new ways to make an organization better and more efficient. My plan for obtaining this skill is to always think outside of the box, as innovators think differently. I also plan on attending seminars and even networking events to become better at this skill.

Professional Identity Communication Plan

I will craft a strong, coherent, public identity or brand by always remaining true to myself and my passion. No matter my circumstances, I plan to always remain humble as well. By staying humble and true to myself, I know for sure my professional identity will be exactly what I want it to be in a few years. The mediums and platforms I plan to use to help develop my identity and brand is to become more active on my LinkedIn account, go to more networking events and by even creating a professional twitter and Instagram accounts. One message that I want to be a part of my public identity or brand is “Teamwork makes the dream work”.

 

References

Singh, A. K.  (2009).  Changing social contract between employer and employee.

Solis, B. (2013). What’s the future of business: Changing the way businesses create experiences. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Weller, K. (2001). Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff: Employee Identity in the New Economy.

Yohn, D. L. (2014). What great brands do: The seven brand-building principles that separate the best from the rest. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Creativity and Networks- Fall 2018

Creativity Reflection Paper

The Creativity and Network course was far from what I expected and turned out to be a great and useful class. To be honest, I was a little nervous about the word ‘creativity’ being that I automictically associated the word with arts and crafts. I personally feel as if I learned a lot about my creative process by engaging in the activities and reflections related to the personal creativity logs. I have learned that I am very creative when it comes to thinking of new creative ways but when it comes to the delivery, this is where I struggle. It seems much better in my head and I have a little trouble bringing my creativity to life. I also learned that when it comes to being creative, being original and different in your own way is just fine.

My most favorite creative log would have to be week three where we had to visualize then capture our personal passion with seven photographs. This was fun because it reminded me what I was most passionate about. When life gets busy, you sometimes forget about the things that matter most, but this log reminded me. It allowed me to relax and refocus on what’s most important to me. The creative log that was challenging to me was week four. We had to collect five seemingly unrelated items throughout the day that have been discarded as waste. Then, mash them together to create something new. When I found my five pieces of “waste”, in my head, it turned out so nice and very creative. When it was time for me to actually design the new idea and put it together what I had it my head, it did not come out as I pictured it. It wasn’t as neat or as perfect as I wanted it to be. I’ve never been too crafty with my hands and this creative log reminded me of that as well.

However, I do believe I am a creative person, but only in some ways. I can create new idea pertaining to things I am passionate about like cheerleading or even at work when it comes to finding new efficient methods. On the other hand, when I actually have the design or put together a piece of art, this is where I fail at being creative. One thing about being creative that was brought to light for me was that creativity does not only relate to arts and craft. One thing I will remember is that when it comes to being creative and building, maintaining, and showcasing my creative competence is to always be yourself. Being creative is all about having original ideas and simply being yourself. “An artist is someone who uses bravery, insight, creativity” (Godin, 2012 p. 9).

The challenges I foresee for innovating in the future marketplace is of course relating to technology. In the future, I can only picture the competition on who and what is the fastest and most sufficient. Everyone always wants to be the best or have the best. As we continue to grow as a society, I expect nothing but great things as we learn, grow and come up with new ideas daily. This course has taught me how to meet these challenges by always stay true and believe in myself. Also, that stealing ideas is actually okay. If you want to be the best, you have to learn or even steal from those who are better and make it even better. I feel that this piece of information will stick with me for a lifetime.

Overall, this was a great course and I really enjoyed it. Not knowing what to expect turning into one of my favorite courses so for in this program. I feel as if the creative logs really allowed me to grow in a way no other class or course would do. Thank you!

 

References

Godin, S. (2012). The Icarus deception. New York: Penguin Group.

Mediated Self/Changing Relationship- Summer 2019

Online communication

Part I

One specific social support dimensions of an online chat room that may make it a more advantageous support context than face-to-face social support interactions is the anonymity of the chat rooms. “The anonymity that characterizes chat rooms allows people to feel comfortable disclosing stressful thoughts and feelings” (Wright & Webb, 127) that they may be experience and has no one else to share these thoughts and feelings with. Of if one cannot express these feelings and thoughts face to face. Another specific social support dimensions of an online chat room that may make it a more advantageous support context than face-to-face social support interactions is processual interactivity. This type of “communication allows involving conversational forms of support, such as cognitive reappraisal or personal-centered messages” (Wright & Webb, 128). Processual interactivity has a way of bringing those in the chatrooms together for mediated conversation to feel as supported as possible.

Part II

One specific advantage of receiving computer mediated social support from “weak ties” during a stressful situation is being able to cope with other who are experiences the same type situation. For an example, I have a friend who recently had a weight loss surgery. When she uploads pictures on her social media accounts of her weight loss journey, she uses hashtags that would get her views from the same weight loss community. They often leave comments and chat about the whole experience and even provide tips as well. “Computer-mediated support groups whose members may also have the disease or health condition, will often offer perspectives from others who are more likely to share similar feelings about their condition” (Wright & Webb, 146). Weak ties allow others within the same community to come together as one during a stressful time as family or friend may not be able to relate or understand a certain situation.

 

Another example of receiving computer mediated social support from “weak ties” during a stressful situation would be finding a community with something in common. Like the natural hair communities on social media. They often upload videos of styles or product reviews, pictures and daily advice on how to keep natural hair healthy. As transiting to natural hair can be very stressful, from being accepted to learning how to care for your specific type of hair, this community seeks out to help all new and old natural girls. The advantages include coming together when in need of advice and “further helping to reduce uncertainty and anxiety” (Wright & Webb, 146).

 

References

Wright, K.B., & Webb, L.M. (Eds.). (2010). Computer-mediated communication in personal relationships. New York, NY: Peter Lang.

Strategic Comm for Global Audience- Spring 2019

Connectivity Project: Social injustice movement

1. Introduction/ Purpose

The purpose of this plan is to bring more awareness to Colin Kaepernick and his stance on racial injustice. I plan to really make sense of why athletes today still feel the need to kneel during the national anthem at sporting events and games. I will primarily use Twitter to provide examples of why Colin Kaepernick feels the need to kneel. Colin Kaepernick Twitter name is @Kaepernick7, has a total of 2.08M followers and 11.4k tweets. I plan to follow his page and pay close attention to his tweets and retweets about social injustice and his job concerning the NFL. I will retweet the relevant tweet with hopes of getting more attention to this subject of social injustice. Also, to bring the two communities of Black Lives Matter and Kaepernick kneeling campaign together as they both have the same goal, equal human rights.

1. Project Description & Goals
2. Project Description:My topic is about the unfair justice system and how black do lives matter. The color of skin should not matter or increase/decrease discipline or consequences. I chose this topic because I stand with Colin Kaepernick and what he believes in. “Colin Kaepernick has willingly immersed himself into controversy by refusing to stand for the playing of the national anthem in protest of what he deems are wrongdoings against African Americans and minorities in the United States” (Wyche, 2016).Kaepernick started kneeling because he noticed how black men, some innocent, some not were being shot and killed by police officers while unarmed. Meaning other measure could have been taken other than shooting and killing.  I believe that all athletes everywhere should kneel until all humans are equal. I love the fact that Colin Kaepernick is using his platform risking his career for human rights. He told the NFL media “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.” (Wyche, 2016). Equality would be no matter your race, age or size, all will be treated equally by the law enforcement and consequence would be the same as well.
3. Intended Audience: My intended audience will be the individuals who disagree with Colin Kaepernick and his stance, those who believe black lives does not matter and those who think that Colin Kaepernick was disrespecting the United States flag. I am seeking to build connectivity with all Colin Kaepernick supporters as well.
4. Rationale:I want to build connectivity with the audience/ community to really shed light on the real reason why Colin Kaepernick decided to take a knee. Some just look at Colin Kaepernick and say he’s a black ignorant disrespectful person for taking a knee during the nation anthem but have no clue why. For an example, Donald Trump believes all NFL owners should respond to all players who takes a knee by saying “Get that son of a bitch off the field right now, he’s fired. He’s fired” (Vera, 2018). Donald Trump also took his opinion to twitter by tweeting “Be happy, be cool! A football game, that fans are paying soooo much money to watch and enjoy, is no place to protest. Most of that money goes to the players anyway. Find another way to protest. Stand proudly for your National Anthem or be Suspended Without Pay” (Vera, 2018). I also want to connect to let the targeted audience know that black lives do matter and we need to bring about change and to also change the stereotypes of Black people. This is important to be because I am African American and hate how some families have to stuffer the loss of love ones just because of their skin complexion. Also, because I admire Colin Kaepernick and his courage to use his platform to bring awareness that’s now being noticed worldwide.
5. Goals:My goals related to building connectivity with this audience is to primarily bring light to the entire social injustice situation. The real cause of Colin Kaepernick purpose and his passion for kneeling examples being Philando Castile, Alton Sterling, Tamir Rice, Michael Brown Jr., Eric Garner and Trayvon Martin to just name a few. All these black men were shot and killed over a misunderstanding and police officers who shot to kill having no consequence. I will be providing some insight will hopefully helping Colin Kaepernick with being sign back to an NFL team and for more people to take a stance with him.

• Community Analysis

For my preliminary community analysis, I will conduct research, surveys and observations. I will research the backstory of Colin Kaepernick and see what kick started his whole movement/ protest. I will search and find who are all for and against Colin Kaepernick movement as well. I will also create a survey to get votes from my social media platforms, mainly on Twitter. I will continuously observe the media and the opinions about social injustice as a whole.

1. Values: My community seems to support Colin Kaepernick and his movement and protesting. Many agree that we need change and we need to bring more awareness to innocent black males being shot died.
2. Central Discussion:The community is currently talking about how Nike used Colin Kaepernick in their most recent #JustDoIt advertisement commercial. The community is applauding Nike for this statement. Overall this is a positive message to let the world know to “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything”. That’s exactly what Colin Kaepernick did and why he is seen as a hero to some today. Kaepernick started a campaign called Know Your Rights Camp. Know your rights camp “is a free campaign for youth founded by Colin Kaepernick to raise awareness on higher education, self empowerment, and instruction to properly interact with law enforcement in various scenarios”.

 

The Know your rights camp has a goal “To help build a stronger generation of people that will create the change that is much needed in this world”.

1. Network Map:My community is mainly on twitter and Instagram. Everyone is talking about Colin Kaepernick, even a year after his peaceful protest. The big fuss lately has been the Nike commercial featuring Collin Kaepernick that was recently released.
2. Key Influencers: Of course, Colin Kaepernick most high voice in this community. Most recently Lebron James and Serena Williams shared their thoughts and how they stand with Colin as well. Colin Kaepernick is talking about how important is it that we overcome this social injustice issue. How in 2018 black people should not still be mistreated. He influenced other popular athletes by showing how passionate he is to this very subject, risking it all for his community.
3. Strengths and Challenges

One strength that I have is that I too stand with Colin Kaepernick. I agree with everything he is protesting about and I understand his reasoning. I am also passionate about all humans having equal rights, no matter the skin color. I have not had any challenges reaching the community as everyone loves to voice and show their opinions on Twitter.

 

1. Theoretical Framework

I will be using the key concepts of Erving Goffman’s dramaturgical metaphor as my theoretical framework. The four concepts are impression management, framing, footing and face. “It is predicted that development of these concepts in public relations research will deepen our understanding of communication processes that have important implications for the relationship of publics and public relations” (p. 119). This theoretical framework will inform and give value to explaining exactly where Colin Kaepernick is coming from, providing a deeper understanding. This will help get his true purpose and point of view across instead of the media side that is constantly spreading or sharing their negative rumors and opinions.

1. Content Curation and Key Message Experimentation

I only used Twitter as my communication platform. I had to create an account and start from the beginning. Having to create a new account was not as beneficial because I really did not have many followers. However, this did not stop me from tweeting my thoughts and opinions. Since I did not have a huge follower base, I took advantage of retweeting. Retweeting is very beneficial as you allow others to see tweet you feel are worth sharing. All my retweets had no less than one hundred retweets once I retweeted them. Some retweet even reached up to 10k. My tweet topics were mainly about Colin Kaepernick and his know your rights camp. Showing what Kaepernick stood for and how he had much support from his community. My favorite being the kneeling controversy and a number of celebrities turning down the 2019 Super bowl halftime show because they do not agree with the NFL. “The NFL and CBS really wanted Rihanna to be next year’s performer in Atlanta. They offered it to her, but she said no because of the kneeling controversy. She doesn’t agree with the NFL’s stance” (Dobush, 2018). I learned that with twitter, all it takes is one retweet to spread the message.

• Communication Strategies

1. Recommendation: I created a twitter account to build connectivity. I followed all the accounts I felt was necessary to help me spread communication within the community about Colin Kaepernick and his movement. I would like to see more connectivity within local communities holding events to spread the word and for more professional athletes to use their platform to spread the word as well.
2. Support for Recommendation: My theoretical framework drove this communication by giving a better understanding on Colin Kaepernick and his entire movement. By retweeting messages, facts or opinions I felt was important and needed to be seen by the community. All my retweets represented impression management, framing, footing and face. “These concepts shed light upon processes of relationships building, identification, and image construction” (Johansson, 2009 p.119).
3. Communication Tactic: I believe that all mainline news channels like CNN or even TMZ could possibly gain access to the twitter conversations. The more retweets, the more likely the tweets are being seen by hundreds and even thousands of people. Trending media travels fast and news reporters could build engagement with the local community. Retweeting actually interviews, and videos can most definitely strengthen the community with these visuals. Also, being sure to retweet this information when your twitter timeline is very active. For me, in the middle of the day, around noon to about three in the afternoon was the most activity within my community. The more views, the more possible news coverage for Colin Kaepernick movement.
4. Timeline for Implementation: I believe that the more celebrities Colin Kaepernick can get behind his movement and support him the better of an outcome he would have. With more celebrities’ support, it will naturally bring the celebrity’s follower base to more than likely join the movement as well. If everyone is retweeting, it will soon be trending on twitter and more than likely, a news source will follow the story. Even if it’s not a mainstream news story. This should be repeated as often as possible. The more attention, the better. The sooner this could get picked up by the news and the better chance of getting more celebrities to protest to help Kaepernick get his job back with the NFL.
5. Required Resources: The resources needed to make this happen is for Colin Kaepernick to get more celebrities supporters. Not to just support him, but to actually use their platform to spread information about his movement. Colin Kaepernick cannot do this alone and needs the support from others, especially athletes.
6. Metrics: I will know that I achieved connectivity when I start to see more and more retweets, especially from celebrities. Seeing any story or information about Colin Kaepernick trending on twitter would be a huge achievement. Seeing more groups being organized to support this movement and growth within the Know your right camp.

• Conclusion

This movement has the potential to bring more awareness or even end to social injustice. Bringing the light to some situations the world may be blinded by. I plan to find a way to get more follower on twitter to do my part and spread more information. Maybe even start an Instagram page and Facebook account just for this movement. Also, planning peaceful protest in local areas to spread more information. Possibly join Colin Kaepernick Know your rights camp and start a camp here in North Carolina. This movement is all about spreading the message and bringing awareness with hopes of working our way to equal rights to all mankind no matter the skin color. Overall providing more awareness is the main goal. Finding other to join the movement and help be a part of this change and standing up for what’s right. It will take more than just Colin Kaepernick taking a stance in what he believes it. He needs the support from his fellow peers and to use their platform as well. If all NFL players agreed to support and back up Kaepernick and take a knee during the national anthem, I can only imagine the statement or impact this will make across America.

 

References

Dobush, G. (2018). The Controversial Reason Rihanna Turned Down the 2019 Super Bowl Halftime Show. Retrieved from: https://www.instyle.com/syndication/rihanna-super-bowl-haltime-show-2019-kaepernick-maroon-5?utm_term=BB92DFC2-D3AB-11E8AAD5AE9D4744363C&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=instyle_instyle&utm_content=link

Hafner, J. (2018). Police killings of black men in the U.S. and what happened to the officers. Retrieved from: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/03/29/police-killings-black-men-us-and-what-happened-officers/469467002/

Ithlen, Ø , van Ruler, B., & Fredriksson, M. (2009). Public relations and social theory. New York: Routledge.

McArthur, J. A. (2014). Planning for strategic communication: A workbook for applying social theory to professional practice. Printed manuscript.

Vera, A. (2018). How National Anthem protests took Colin Kaepernick from star QB to unemployment to a bold Nike ad. Retrieved from: https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/04/us/colin-kaepernick-controversy-q-and-a/index.html

Wyche, S. (2016). Colin Kaepernick explains why he sat during National Anthem. Retrieved from:

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000691077/article/colin-kaepernick-explains-why-he-sat-during-national-anthem

https://kaepernick7.com

https://knowyourrightscamp.com

 

Leadership/Empowerment/Mgt- Summer 2018

Briefly describe the crisis or “trigger event.”

• Barack Obama was the 44^thPresident of the United States. He served two different terms, back to back from 2009 to 2017. President Obama crisis was The Sandy Hook elementary school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut that left over twenty people dead.

Why is this particular leader’s meaning management post-crisis worthy of exploration and analysis?

• The Sandy Hook elementary school shooting was the deadliest mass shooting at either a high school or grade school in the United States history and the fourth-deadliest mass shooting by a single person in the United States history.

According to Hackman & Johnson (2013), what crisis type is the leader responding to?

• President Obama is responding to the crisis type Terrorist attacks, “bombings, hijackings, abductions, and poisonings” (Hackman & Johnson 2013, p. 411)

What texts (e.g., speech(es), tweets, Facebook posts, press conferences) will you primarily use to analyze his/her crisis leadership response(s)? What is your rationale for the analysis of these particular texts during this particular time frame (i.e., naming beginning and ending points of analysis)?

• I will be using news articles, speeches and social media to analyze President Obama leadership responses.

 

 

MY LEADERSHIP

1. These set of exercises taught me that I have great communication skills when it comes to leadership. I care about the relationship between the leader and the followers more so of the interpersonal relationship. I also learned that I am an exemplary follower. An exemplary follower is “rate highly as both critical thinkers and active participants, contributing innovative ideas and going beyond what is required” (Hackman and Johnson 2013 p. 59). I agree that I am an exemplary follower, I love to participate and express my opinions. I am not one who waits or relay on other, I like to speak up myself. I was always told as a child, ‘a close mouth does not get feed’. Being opinionated can have both pros and cons.
2. I believe a strength of mine would be being a conventional leader. A conventional leader is to “have some sensitivity to the idea of framing because they generally follow the rules for communicating with other” (Fairhurst 2011 p. 18). According to Fairhurst “Most leaders are conventional” (Fairhurst 2011 p. 17). A weakness of mine would be considering others thoughts and feelings too much. I am not afraid to call one out, but I don’t like to belittle or make anyone feel bad about themselves. Instead I try and think of ways to say things and the right words to say to someone and show how something was done incorrectly but show them how to do it correctly the next time. I believe there is a way to say speak to others when it is bad news or information while other may not consider their tone on words.
3. I can use these insights to improve my leadership skills by taking the advice that conventional leaders “let situations work for you instead of against you by fixing the element in the context in one particular way” (Fairhurst 2011 p. 19). I agree, at times I can be a fixed person. I can get stuck in my ways and not want to try new and better efficient ways. I can learn to be more open minded and take more suggestion from others. As for becoming a better follower, I can help others become more exemplary. Asking for their opinions and not always being the first to speak up and gives other a chance to speak. I always think I know what’s best for the team, but at the end of the day, I do not know everything.

 

1. According to these exercises, I learned that I prefer to use my power to influence others by using my power at the workplace. I have information power, Referent power, and legitimate power all due to my management position at work. I have information power because I keep up with our leasing numbers and what units we still have available for leasing. Also, if our owners approve any specials, I am the first to know and in charge of getting the word out to my team and the public. I never realized that I had referent power, but I do. I have one employee that asked me to mentor and teach him everything I know to possibly fill my role when I either leave or receive a promotion. I am a role model to him as he looks up to me and eager to learn all I know. Lastly, I have legitimate power. Legitimate power “resides in the position rather than in the person” (Hackman and Johnson 2013 p. 141). I run into this power daily at work when I assign my team a task to complete, they may not like it but have to complete it because I am manager.
2. I believe that me being Moderate in argumentativeness is both a weakness and a strength. “Argumentation is important to leaders at every level” (Hackman and Johnson 2013 p. 176). Being moderate in argumentativeness is a weakness because I have room for growth to become high in argumentativeness. Also, it’s a strength for the same reason because I only scored a few points away from being high in argumentativeness which is very important to leaders. Another weakness could be not being aware of my mental methods and how important that are when it comes to communication. “The simple truth is that most of the time we communicate without much preparation and with little awareness of how we select and arrange our words” (Fairhurst, 2011 p. 63).
3. I can definitely improve my leadership skills by now being aware of the source power I have at the workplace. Being aware of the different types of power I have, I can now use this power wisely and become a better leader. I can improve my communication practices through positive political means. My favorite being “Articulate your purpose and what you want to achieve; keep the focus on the group vision” (Hackman and Johnson 2013 p. 145) especially at my place of work. I have a team of six undergrad students at UNCC and I always assume my team knows our common goal. I now know that I need to articulate the goals more often because they are only part-time employees. Also, I need to consistently remind them that this is a team effort and takes a lot of teamwork. A daily reminder can help keep my team focus so we can achieve our goal. 
4. This exercise taught me that I am a leader who is not scared or nervous to try something new out of the ordinary. I like to try new ideas that no other leasing and manager would try and be the dare devil and come up with ideas that are new and fresh. Ideas that are not used over and over again that are not played out. New ideas to catch the eye and interest of future residents. Taking a risk to try something totally different from the usual. The only way to know if a certain method works is to simply try it out. I not afraid to take risk in order to try out a new marketing style to drive traffic in to sign more leases. This week exercise also confirmed that I am a good leader always remaining fair to my staff and prospect.
5. My greatest weakness would have to be is favoring gains over losses. “A number of studies have gone on to suggest that people tend to be more concerned about losing something than they can are about gaining something” (Fairhurst, 2011 p. 104). When I use gain and loss frames, I like to look at the pros and cons of both the gain and loss. I believe I favor gains over loss simply because a gain in my workplace is always good and helps the prelease percentage. Losses are possible, but we primarily focus on our gains.
6. I can use these exercises to improve my leadership skills by always remembering my main goal at work. My mission and vision of my job is to lease the property up to one hundred percent. By applying pressure especially when we are running a special and using master frames. I need to always remember to communicate to my team that our mission is the sell the property on tour to make the prospect want to sign a lease that same day of the tour.
7. This week exercises taught me that since I am a member of management, my emotions at work are contagious. As the direct supervisor for all the part time staff, I set the tone and bar off each day. If I come into work smiling and cheerful then my staff will automatically be in a good mood and ready to get leases. If I come into to work and I am not my normal cheerful self, my staff can feel it and often avoid asking me questions throughout the entire day. So, I learned to always be mindful about my emotions at the workplace, but emotional contagion is real.
8. My greatest weakness would have to be when one member of my staff makes a mistake, I take it out on the entire team. For example, when I found out one of my employees was cheating the follow up process, because corporate does spot checks, I yelled at my entire team. I assumed if one was not following direct, then someone could possibly be doing the same thing. However, I did learn that Next time around, I think I would meet with the individual by themselves instead of a group environment. That way, my negative emotions will not be so contagious and upset my entire staff. I could speak to the one individual then meet everyone else one on one as well to make sure they are following the right protocol.
9. I could use these exercises as insight to improve my leadership skills by always thinking about the best way to handle different situations. I usually react immediately to certain situations, bad or good. I think if I actually take a few minutes and think about the situation, I would be able to handle it in the best way. I need to remember to think first and react later.
10. This week exercises taught me that as a leader I have to be very careful about what I say, how I say it, and to whom I am speaking with. Whether it’s on the phone, via text (as we text prospects a lot) or even via email. As a leader you have to be picky with your word choice as it can be easy misconstrued. “Ethics is the study of morality or how we might harm or aid another based on what we do and say” (Fairhurst, 2011 p. 155). I’ve learned that text messaging is where my staff really has to think before responded to any and all messages. Responding to a text message with something short, can easily be taken the wrong way and lead to other issues.
11. My greatest weakness is probably when I have to step into a situation that was taken place via text message. If one demands to hold a conversation via text, then I have to do just that and try to explain that I am a member of management. “Moral positioning is simply who or what we claim to be as we try to justify some specific ends or means (Fairhurst, 2011 p. 145). My greatest strength is using ethical codes at my workplace. “Ethical codes do more than embody a set of ideals, values and commitments that help people decide on a course of action” (Fairhurst, 2011 p. 137).
12. The insights I can use to improve myself as a leader is to be more crucible. As a leader, I like to take charge that way I know the work is getting done correctly and in a timely manner. “Crucibles are great teaching moments because leaders can speak about the ethical choices weighed and decide upon so that others may learn” (Fairhurst, 2011 p. 156). I can start to hand out task to my staff so one they can learn, grow and I can see if they can handle bigger task around the office.

 

Week 8

1. This week exercises taught me that I am a continuous learner. I often compare myself to my leaders and always think about how they would handle a certain situation. I often reflect on the outcome of my leadership skills and think if I am doing a job. Being a manager, you want to be the best and do your best to meet your goals and always lead by example. I also like to remind myself that I am growing and learning daily as a leader. “Leadership can be learned. Individuals can expand their leadership capacities at any age” (Hackman & Johnson 2013 p. 374).
2. My greatest weakness is interviewing. As crazy as that sounds, it’s true. I always get nervous and no matter how much I prepare my thoughts and words, I say something completely different in the interview. I learned that writing down my thoughts could be more helpful and beneficial. My greatest strength is speaking up about how I feel at the workplace. Since I speak so much time there, I like to be comfortable and not walk on egg shells. Being honest is also a strength for me as well because in return I expect the same.
3. I can really use this insight to improve myself as a leader during interviews. Writing down my thought and what I can potentially say in an interview may work. Of course, interviewing for higher positions within a company they will expect much more being that I am already a manager/ leader. I know for sure this will help me in the future as I start to interview for my future career.

Reference:

Hackman, M. Z., and Johnson C. E. (2013). Leadership: A communication perspective (6th ed.) Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press.

Fairhurst, G. (2011). The power of framing: Creating the language of leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Comm & Culture in a Network Society- Summer 2019

Social Media Communication 

**I learned the important of social media in this course. How social media has grown and how much our society depends on it today. Being social media friendly, I could not help but to love this course and learned more than I ever thought I would about it. For examples, how social is not only used for entertainment purposes.

Communication has always been the key to all types of relationships. Whether it’s a best friend relationship, business relationship or an intimate relationship, they all need communication to grow and be successful. Over the years, the ways of communication have changed in a few different ways. In the 1800s, the ways of communication were transmitted by ships and by the late 1800s, the first newspaper was published (Holtzapple, 2015).  Then in the 1900s, came the telephone and the television set. Later on, in the 1900s, came the first cellphone. Overtime, as technology developed more and more, so did the ways of communication. Society today is always looking for the most efficient ways of life and in the case, the best ways of communication with technological advancements which is social media communication.

Most recently, the leading communication tool has been social media. Social media communication continues to grow and progress each and every day as more and more people are using it for many different reasons. Carom and Light discuss how social media has both its advantaged and disadvantages in numerous ways. They explore and get further deep into details on how social media can be affective. “The ways individuals are communicating, talking, and thinking about communication is changing as a result of social media– Yet advancements in technology have opened new communication environments and modalities”. Overall, they believe that social media communication is very beneficial to all groups and or relationships.

Technological advancements online have changed the way people communicate by communication being more strategic. In my opinion, social media communication should not be something used without any type of a thought process. When it comes down to businesses and organizations using social media communication, there is a need for a plan. Social media communication calls for strategies to be thought out. Since social media communication is a huge deal today, businesses and organizations must have a plan in place in order of it to be successful. The social media reputation of these businesses and organization can either hurt them of help them. “Multiple reputations of companies can best be enhanced and aligned by communicating consistent messages about the leadership and success of companies and the companies’ position toward consumer fairness in advertisements, press releases, websites and other forms of communication” (p.492). Social media communication is here to help the businesses and organizations that utilize them. However, social media communication can be tricky if used incorrectly or without any strategies.

As social media grows and changes the world communication today, we have to be sure we are using it to the best of our advantage. We need to use social media communication to work smarter and not harder. Meredith explores how social media can be used to communication strategically. He highlights how social media seems to be increasing and how some businesses are not too sure how to make it fit within their company organization. He evens explains how these businesses can get social media communication to be a part of their organization and as a result, its changing the way people communicate.

The concept of social media communication by Meredith is making it aware that social media communication can fit into any and all companies. Even if one is not quite sure how, he can ensure one exactly how. “The rapid success of social media has left corporations “in the dust” as they seek to promote their products on these platforms, develop strategies and policies, and fill newly created social media-related positions with qualified individuals” (p. 90). He also makes appoint that companies need to get with the new wave of social media communication as this is the way people now communicate.

Social media communication can have an effect on some social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook. Poell talks about how different social groups can communication, network and come together as one. Poell also mentions how social media is used for reporting information and expressing opinions verse how many assume it just for entertainment purposes. Overall, social media can be use and is used today to promote and get information out about local and even global events.

Both some benefits and drawbacks of social media communication can be explained by how information on social media can sometimes be shaped or molded. “This article explores how social media shape activist communication, and how these media are, in turn, shaped by intersecting techno-cultural and political economic relations” (p.717). At times, social media communication can easily be taken out of context or be misunderstood “in which social media communication is entangled” (p. 719). Ultimately, social media communication has both its pros and cons.

When reading text by online communication, we all can read it and interpret it differently. Or even a simple grammar error with social media communication can cause such a great amount of confusion.  However, with social media communication being so fast, effective and efficient many people all across the world can benefit from it. Overall, with the technological advancements of social media, communication has indeed changed but in a good way.

References

Carom, J. & Light, J. (2016). Social media has opened a world of ‘open communication:’” Experiences of adults with cerebral palsy who use augmentative and alternative communication and social media. Augmentative and Alternative Communication. 32, 25-40.

https://ezproxy.queens.edu:3945/docview/1777153448/E78211542F694571PQ/4?accountid=38688

Communication In The 1900s. Retrieved from: https://developmentofcommunication.weebly.com/communication-in-the-1900s.html

Floreddu, P. & Cabiddu, F. (2016). Social media communication strategies. The Journal of Services Marketing. 30, 490-503.

https://ezproxy.queens.edu:3945/docview/1826809250/E78211542F694571PQ/14?accountid=38688

Holtzapple, A. (2015). Evolution Of Communication: 1800s And 1900s. Retrieved from: https://www.onecallnow.com/blog/02/evolution-of-communication-1800s-and-1900s/

Meredith, M. (2012). Strategic Communication and Social Media: An MBA Course From a Business Communication Perspective. Business Communication Quarterly. 75, 89.

https://ezproxy.queens.edu:3945/docview/928030790/E78211542F694571PQ/13?accountid=38688

Poell, T. (2014). Social media and the transformation of activist communication: exploring the social media ecology of the 2010 Toronto G20 protests. Information, Communication & Society. 17, 716.

https://ezproxy.queens.edu:3945/docview/1519617914/E78211542F694571PQ/9?accountid=38688

Communicating Mindfully- Spring 2018

What is Distance?

For my Individual Vlog  presentation, I chose the topic Distance discussed in Chapter 7 of the Communications Ethics Literacy: Dialogue and Difference textbook.

In this Vlog, it is my hope you learn about Distance and how it can be helpful according to our textbook. I also provided a clip from the film Finding Nemo to help demonstrate distance as well.

Please click on the link below to view my Vlog presentation.

http://prezi.com/mkrpuaola1j6/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Constructing Messages and Audiences- Fall 2018

Applying Theory to Practice

Habermas Theory of Communicative Action

-Intelligibility: Both sender and receiver can physically understand and mutually agree upon the meaning of the message

-Truth: Both sender and receiver agree that possible truth exists in the message

-Truthfulness: Both sender and receiver demonstrate trust toward one another

Legitimacy: Both sender and receiver accept the message as valid.

 

Please see presentation link below, enjoy!

http://prezi.com/sghg7crx2tlb/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

The Social Creation of Organizing- Summer 2018

Leadership!

My Textual Analysis project presentation topic is about Leadership. Leadership is discussed in Chapter 9 of the Organizational Communication: Balancing Creativity and Constraint textbook.

In this presentation, it is my hope you learn about the importance of Leadership and how big of an impact it can have on an organization.

Please click on the link below to view my project presentation.

http://prezi.com/yp1_9uc5pxjw/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy