Essay Example on a Leader's Guide to Understanding People's Behaviors

Introduction

'A Leader's Guide to Why People Behave the Way they Do' is a reading that explains the reasons behind the behaviors of people in society and which most leaders should understand to treat their team members in the most appropriate way. One of the factors that influence people's behavior is one's social setting such as family, friends or neighborhood (Clawson, 2001). A child easily takes up the behavior of the parents or friends which means that how one behaves is highly influenced by how the person's friends or family behaves. Other factors influence people's behaviors include as one organizational culture which influences workers to act in a particular manner at the workplace, nationality culture where people from the same country behave similarly and regional culture where people from one region such as city have the same behavior. An individual's unique features also determine how one behaves hence every person behaves distinctively from other people around him or her.

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Another insight from the reading is that a leader needs to learn an appropriate way to motivate workers. Workers are motivated differently and hence learning the interests of each person can make them feel satisfied with their work. It is wrong for a leader to use the carrot and stick approach as some forms of rewards can be punishments to others (Clawson, 2001). Another lesson from the reading is that people often compare events with their expectations, beliefs, assumptions, as well as values and it, can influence how leaders view others. It can limit one's leadership skills as one's beliefs and expectations may vary with those of team members and in the end, it may make the leader look down upon team members whose actions do not align with what he expects from them. In the end, there may be conflicts of interest and lack of cooperation between the team members and the leader.

In cases where a leader intends to influence others, it is important to ensure that he or she speaks in a way that keeps the people's defenses relaxed rather than activated to improve the chances of the people concentrating on what they are learning. It is evident from the reading that people learn different behaviors from birth and can comprehend how society works by the time they are at the age of ten. The best way leaders can learn about others is observing, listening and testing how people react to their talks or proposals and determining how they can approach each person within their teams based on the different reactions that the people have.

Application of Reading's Points in Professional Life and Personal Life

Professional Life

There are some points from the reading that can be useful in one's professional life. As a leader, I intend to be keen on treating fellow workers and team members as people with unique characters and mindsets hence have different expectations and beliefs. The approach would be important in enabling one to make every employee feel appreciated and satisfied under a leader who treats every worker equally and engages all people in decision-making processes (Men and Jiang, 2016). A leader also influences how people treat each other within a firm hence when applying the approach in my professional career as a leader, I intend to influence other team members to understand how unique each person is and the importance of respecting each person's background. As a result, one builds a cooperative and motivated team that outperforms other teams within the firm.

Personal Life

The points taken from the reading are useful in one's personal life. As a person who intends to have a positive influence on my family, neighbors, and friends, I can use the insights on how regional culture, national culture as well as family can influence people's behaviors to understand the people around me better. I intend to help my children and spouse to relate better with people from other regions who may have different cultures as a way of enabling them to appreciate diversity within society (Horn, 2018). It will also enable me to interact freely and openly with friends or people around me from other countries or regions without having to judge their way of life and the perceptions they have about how the world is. Additionally, it can enable me to help my family appreciate each person's unique personality by ensuring no one makes the other feel as if his or her personality is a weakness. I believe the information will help mold a community around me that is knowledgeable of the behavioral differences among people and one where every person appreciates the other and has can feel at home when he or she meets or visits people with different cultures.

Application of Article's Points in Business

The reading's insights are not only useful in professional and personal life but are also applicable in business. In business, an entrepreneur often encounters clients from different backgrounds and hence interacts with people with varying behaviors. One is likely to come across people who want a particular item while others do not like it as it may be a taboo in their culture. There are also those clients who act normally as the people in the society they live in even if they come from a different ethnic group or nationality. Frequent interactions with the customers can enable one to understand what they need and how to ensure that each of them is satisfied by the services or products offered in the business (Gao, 2017). It would be better if one can seek clients' ideas on what they want and how they want before making any sale to them to ensure that all services are customized to everyone's unique needs and behaviors. The approach can also be efficient in handling employees who may be from different backgrounds hence have varying behaviors.

References

Clawson, J. G. (2001). A Leader's Guide to Why People Behave the Way They Do.

Gao, Y. (2017). Business leaders' personal values, organisational culture and market orientation. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 25(1), 49-64. https://doi.org/10.1080/0965254X.2015.1076879

Horn, M. S. (2018). Tangible interaction and cultural forms: Supporting learning in informal environments. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 27(4), 632-665. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508406.2018.1468259

Men, L. R., & Jiang, H. (2016). Cultivating quality employee-organization relationships: The interplay among organizational leadership, culture, and communication. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 10(5), 462-479. https://doi.org/10.1080/1553118X.2016.1226172