A500.3.4RB_Exploring the ERAU Hunt Library

             MLSD 500: Leadership Found in Research
         A500.3.4RB – Exploring the ERAU Hunt Library

Submitted to ERAU Worldwide

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of MBAA

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Worldwide

Online Campus

August 24, 2015

         

Understanding Peer-Reviewed / Scholarly Journals and Leadership Concepts

When it comes to scholarly journals, the terms peer-reviewed and refereed are interchangeable. Before publication, peer-reviewed/refereed journals go through a highly critical and rigorous review process by other scholars in the author's field or specialty. This review process ensures that the content being published is first being evaluated by the author's peers and also, reflect a solid scholarship in their fields of study (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, 2015).

Although peer-reviewed journals are always scholarly in nature, scholarly journals are not always peer-reviewed.  Scholarly journals are research focused, reporting results of original research and experimentation. They are heavily cited in the form of either footnotes or bibliographies, and written by, and addressed to, experts in a discipline. However, whereas peer-reviewed journals require a strict "peer-approval" for publishing, a scholarly journal that is not peer-reviewed only requires the approval of an editorial board (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, 2015).

Figure I: Side by Side Comparison

Source: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. (2015). Understanding Journals: Peer-Reviewed, Scholarly, Trade & Popular. Hunt Library. Retrieved from http://guides.erau.edu/c.php?g=153594&p=1009633

A fundamental and powerful concept is one that can be used to explain or think out a huge body of questions, problems, information, and situations. The concept behind leadership has fundamental and powerful, central and useful ideas. If you are able to grasp the leadership concept holistically, it will be easier to use fundamental and powerful concepts in order to think through any new problem or questions that may arise (Nosich, 2012, pg. 101).

A fundamental concept is the foundation of our understanding of that era and a great many forms of life that extend beyond that era. A concept is powerful because it is useful in understanding a wide range of questions and problems, issues and situations. Both of these concepts are important in understanding certain phenomena, as are they in fields that emphasize the doing (Nosich, 2012, pg. 103).

If we were to focus our attention on a concept regarding leadership, we would want to focus on the concept leadership as a whole and not on the individual parts. We would then want to identify three fundamentally and powerful concepts that underlie the whole concept of leadership. In search of three concepts on Google for leadership character traits, leadership skills and talents, and leadership team building, we would find a plethora of information to choose from. This way, we are able to share and discuss the fundamental and powerful concepts with others (Nosich, 2012, pg. 104).

The Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Hunt Library, led me to the Leadership Skills Handbook: 50 essential skills you need to be a leader, by Jo Owen. According to Owen (2010), the handbook reflects the collective knowledge, wisdom and experience of thousands of leaders who had contributed through surveys and interviews. It is based on research that identifies the five different groups of skills that leaders must have – career skills, people skills, moment of truth skills, technical skills and values and behaviors. Topics include how to really take control; how to deal with politics of the organization; how to manage budgets when times are tough; how to achieve what’s necessary with limited time and money and how to deal with stress.

Considering all the fantastic topics the scholarly journal covered, we chose to search a Forbes article on the same topic of Leadership Skills. From this search, we found the Top 10 Qualities That Make a Great Leader, by Tanya Prive in 2012. The contributor covered honesty, ability to delegate, communication, confidence, commitment, positive attitude, creativity, intuition, and the ability to inspire as leadership qualities every good leader should possess and learn to emphasize.

In conclusion, I believe that Forbes Inc. presented a good, brief summary of leadership skill requirements; whereas, the information provided in the scholarly journal reflected intellectual standards, like depth, significance, logic, clarity and accuracy. Standards that a leader could clearly adopt and implement to achieve successful outcomes.

References:

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. (2015). Understanding Journals: Peer-Reviewed, Scholarly, Trade & Popular. Hunt Library. Retrieved from http://guides.erau.edu/journals

Nosich, G. M. (2012). Learning to think things through: Critical thinking across the curriculum. Columbus, OH: Prentice Hall. (ISBN: 9780137085149)

Owen, Jo. (2010). The Leadership Skills Handbook: 50 essential skills you need to be a leader. London: Kogan Page. (ISBN: 0749471573) Retrieved from http://voyager.db.erau.edu:7008/vwebv/holdingsInfo?searchId=1&recCount=50&recPointer=488&bibId=241305

Prive, Tanya. (2012). The Top 10 Qualities That Make a Great Leader. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyaprive/2012/12/19/top-10-qualities-that-make-a-great-leader/

A500.2.3.RB_Standards

             MLSD 500: Leadership Found in Research

     A500.2.3RB – Standards

Submitted to ERAU Worldwide

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of MBAA

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Worldwide

Online Campus

August 18, 2015

           A standard is a level of quality, like a bar that is set. A document that outlines standards provides requirements, specifications, guidelines, or characteristics that can be used consistently to ensure that materials, products, processes and services are fit for their purpose (ISO, 2015).  I actually refer to a standard every day at my job.

           A standard of life is similar to a standard of living, evidenced by a set level of resources that may include such things as wealth and material goods and necessities.

Critical-thinking standards in a particular discipline are: reason, logic, rational, consistent, falsifiable, testable, well-organized, reliable, and being effective (Nosich, 2012). 

The non-critical-thinking standards tend to focus more on emotional feelings and attributes like: fun, exciting, feels good, attention-getting, popular, chic, spontaneous, advantageous, and beneficial to me, in fashion (Nosich, 2012).

My personal standards focus on safety and comfort, standards that are crucial to me for a sound foundation. The style and model of my car, for instance, represent the importance of reliable transportation, which I believe is a necessity. It also addresses my standards for comfort efficiency, so the car has a fast engine, calibrated for speed, yet it is designed well enough to mitigate risky malfunction. My job is just like my engine: fast-paced, in sync, challenging, yet conservative.

          My personal standards are identical to my professional standards. I have always been in search of a fast-paced, challenging - both intellectually and physically - standard of excellence. I have always found value in efficiencies; I organized myself so that I could be as productive and efficient as possible, as it was easier for me to accomplish my goals. When I decided to explore efficiences in business, particularly manufacturing, I found that the Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification confirmed and formalized my natural inclinations. 

References:

ISO - International Organization for Standardization. (2015). What is a standard? Retrieved from http://www.iso.org/iso/home/standards.htm

Nosich, G. M. (2012). Learning to think things through: Critical thinking across the curriculum. Columbus, OH: Prentice Hall. (ISBN: 9780137085149)

A500.1.5.RB_IntellectualPerseverance

  MLSD 500: Leadership Found in Research

       
A500.1.5RB - Intellectual Perseverance

Submitted to ERAU Worldwide

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of MBAA

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Worldwide

Online Campus

August 11, 2015

State it:

The topic for discussion today is intellectual perseverance. According to the Foundation of Critical Thinking, one can achieve an elevated state of intellect when one becomes conscious of the need and significance to overcome difficulties, obstacles and frustrations by using intellectual insights and truths to reach rational principles.  Intellectual perseverance is further described as a sense of need to struggle with confusion and unsettled questions over an extended period of time to achieve deeper understanding or insight (The Critical Thinking Community, 2014).

Explanation:

To understand the view others hold, one must invest in and implement rigorous intellectual processes to overcome personal biases that might impede understanding. Views that tend to be vast or complex in nature require dedicated intellectual perseverance in order to comprehend the micro and macro elements. This has proven to be essential in all areas of higher-level thinking. Working through complex questions on the job and in relationships necessitates patience in order to process and solve everyday frustrations (West Side Toast Masters, 2015).

Example:

Critical thinking opens up other viable courses of action that may provide more successful outcomes and possibly leave stakeholders far more fulfilled, directions that otherwise might have never been considered. Because we think conceptually, we like or dislike, based on the influence of the very concepts that we are familiar with (Nosich, 2012). Concepts bring us joy, pleasure, pain and expectations. Instincts and intuition are learned behaviors that also shape decision-making. 

It is imperative that a good leader, one who practices the art of intellectual perseverance, remain grounded and levelheaded while analyzing both quantitative and qualitative inputs and outputs. It is also important to note that, in hindsight, a good leader may not always make the best decision in a particular situation, but given the variables at the time, the decision may have been based on projections for a different and better outcome.

  

Illustration:

America was in a state of flux when all the rules by which the traditional economy functioned were broken and reconstructed. It was the decade of 1860; more than a dozen men had led their businesses to incredible heights in uncharted territories. Not only did these cutting-edge leaders have the foresight, opportunity, and talent, they had intellectual perseverance. Leaders like John Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan, and Henry Rogers demonstrated that it would take minimally 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to become world-class in any field (Gladwell, 2015).

Conclusion:

I now understand that the goal in intellectual perseverance is to adhere to rational principles, absent preconceived beliefs that may be founded on emotional or manipulated information, beliefs that can lead to fallacious reasoning.  I now understand the benefit of investing in the challenge to free myself of existing assumptions and external influences by opening myself to all intellectual insights and discoveries in order to determine a rational outcome.

I will remind myself that it takes intellectual perseverance to last 10,000 hours in order to hopefully realize one’s goals. My goal is to become a student of life, investing my resources to absorb, discern, and to make thoughtful, rational, and strategic decisions based on logical and factual data.

As a leader, I realize the importance of instituting a culture of intellectual perseverance to make strategically thoughtful decisions that will hopefully lead to success.  

References: 

Gladwell, Malcolm. (2015). The 10,000 Hour Rule. Gladwell.com. Retrieved from http://gladwell.com/outliers/the-10000-hour-rule/

Nosich, G. M. (2012). Learning to think things through: Critical thinking across the curriculum. Columbus, OH: Prentice Hall. (ISBN: 9780137085149)

The Critical Thinking Community. (2014). Foundation For Critical Thinking

Valuable Intellectual Traits: Intellectual Perseverance. Retrieved from http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/valuable-intellectual-traits/528

West Side Toast Masters. (2015). Intellectual Perseverance: Working Through Complexity and Frustration. Retrieved from http://westsidetoastmasters.com/resources/thinking_tools/ch03lev1sec7.html