Under Armour
I was a leader when my team has been asked to do a presentation in a marketing class when we are junior students. Initially, my team wanted to investigate China’s Ping An Insurance Company whose insurance service was incomplete and needed much improvement, meaning that a case study would be hard to complete. I suggested we look at one of Shanghai’s most successful hotels, the Portman Ritz-Carlton. Ritz-Carlton has successful marketing, and a great attitude towards its employees. My team started to collect data. I led several members to do an interview with the Ritz-Carlton’s marketing manager, from which we gained insight into why the hotel has won the Best Asian Employer award. We found that the most important standard was efficient communication, and the hotel would spend five hours on employee training every week, an approach unmatched by other hotels.
I collated data and made a PPT to give a presentation that moved from basic theory to concrete examples. I analyzed the reasons for the success of the Ritz-Carlton’s marketing. This presentation was highly scored by the tutor.
I think this experience fits into the Situational Leadership Model well because I relied more on relationship-related leadership behaviors as the readiness of group members increases. I provided specific instructions and closely supervise performance. I also turned over responsibilities into decisions and implementation. My team member always share ideas and facilitate decision making. Although very little can be accomplished without well-balanced, multidisciplined teams, molding different viewpoints into a single vision is a task that can trip up all but the most successful leaders. I’ve learned to request input from each team member, not because it is important to make them feel valuable, but because open discussion is the best way to generate successful ideas.
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