Solving Problems/Improving Leadership

Throughout my time at SagePoint Financial, I noticed a few operational issues that seemed to hinder success in the office. One issue was the organization of the office and its functions. At one point in the summer, there was a change in secretaries, which seemed to throw everything off for the employees. This made me realize that the leaders rely on other people for their organization, perhaps because they are so focused on cultivating meaningful relationships with clients and with each other that they worry less about the actual planning of their business. Rather, they tend to have more “go getter” personalities. The followers actually seemed to be more organized than the leaders which I found very interesting. To combat this issue, I would suggest that they find more of a balance between having a plan and acting on the plan, as well as relying less on other people to keep them organized. Sometimes the leaders seemed to act with no plan, instead acting impulsively and acting off of the passion they have for the work they are doing. For example, it is easy to get used to acting with no plan when they are part of a business where a client can call at any point and need something, forcing them to drop what they are doing to help them. However, it seems that at points the leaders struggle with being both adaptable and efficient at the same time. While being a “go getter” is a good thing in the business, a balance between this and staying organized seems like it would be the most helpful for their success.

I also noticed some issues with the times and levels at which strong leadership, or a lack thereof, was used. At some points in the summer, there was an under-use of leadership by those in formal leadership positions. Once again, I think those with leadership positions tend to get so focused on creating a casual, comfortable relationship with their followers that at points they were a bit too casual or a bit too understanding in situations where a little more structure and seriousness was needed to keep the followers on track to achieving success. To improve in this area, I would recommend that the leaders perhaps take a step back from their friendly relationships and put the tasks at hand slightly above employee relationships in terms of importance. In other words, I think more task-focused leadership would be helpful in getting those in formal positions to act more like leaders when needed.