"What leadership and/or communication skills do you look forward to learning in this class - or at the GSB in general - and why?"
I love finding examples of leaders who lead with humility and transparency: I think Brian Chesky (Airbnb) and Sal Khan (Khan Academy) are great examples of this. Core to being a transparent leader is being able to communicate your ideas in a clear, articulate way, and during my time at the GSB, I hope to improve my communication skills so I can achieve my goals of being a transparent leader who people can trust. I have worked in organizations where the company culture has soured because the leaders do not share the reasoning behind decisions, and the employees become wary and distrustful. These environments have always led to high turnover, lower productivity, and less engagement. I aspire to build companies that feel like a family: even as it scales. And as anyone in a family (or relationship!) knows, communication is key to the strength of that bond.
This strong focus on building a trusting company culture relates to my thoughts on the final discussion for the Lazier case about Paula and Diane. After reading about Diane's concerns about Paula's condescending attitude towards her and the team after her promotion, I was all-in for ensuring that Paula did not exhibit that behavior again and having her speak to HR and potentially get coaching. I was surprised to hear others advocating and defending Paula's behavior. Obviously these cases are built to have multiple approaches, but during the time of reading, I hadn't even considered that Paula wasn't the one in the wrong. Perhaps this is my bias in what I prioritize as a leader (building a community of respect and harmony). I'm glad this class is expanding my view on different approaches to problems as I consider what sort of actions are most resonant for me as a leader.
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