702-Special-Topic-Assignment-1-Paper_100315

Running head: WHAT IS MY PRIMARY FRAME? Special Topic Assignment #1 Robert M Clarkson Virginia Commonwealth University EDLP 702 Understanding Self as Leader WHAT IS MY PRIMARY FRAME? What is My Primary Frame? Bolman and Deal (2008) define a frame as “a mental model – a set of ideas and assumptions – that you carry in your head to help you understand and negotiate a particular territory” (pg 11) Of the structural, human resources, political and symbolic frames, I believe that the structural frame is my primary frame; the one I feel most comfortable using My preference for the structural frame is because I like to understand how an organization is designed, what are everyone’s roles and responsibilities and the goals and policies that guide that organization (Bolman & Deal, 2008) The frame of human resources is a close second in terms of my preference The people, or human resources in an organization, make an organization work as they provide the skills and meet the needs in their place of work (Bolman & Deal, 2008) My third preference is the symbolic frame It is important to understand what the organization stands for and the culture within that inspires employees (Bolman & Deal, 2008) My last preference is the political frame I not like operating in a jungle because dealing with conflict and power are not my strengths (Bolman & Deal, 2008) I will provide three examples of why the structural frame is my preference in terms of determining what type of organization to work for, the structure I prefer in a role and how I apply that structural mindset to my role When I consider working for an organization, I first look at the structural design How does an organization allocate work and how does it coordinate work across areas? Where I fit in the organization? What are my roles and responsibilities compared to other people? What does the organization want to achieve and what are the policies in place to assist people in doing their jobs? When I was considering my current role as MBA Program Manager, I needed to know how the department operated and fit in with the management structure I found out that another WHAT IS MY PRIMARY FRAME? peer of mine managed the other graduate programs and that we both reported to a Senior Director who, in turn, reported to an Associate Dean, which was a relatively flat structure with close access to senior level administrators, an important factor for me Only secondarily I like to look through the human resources frame to understand the types of individuals who work at an organization and whether their needs align with the organization (Bolman & Deal, 2008) However, my first concern is understanding the structure of the organization and how it works The politics of an organization are a little harder to decipher from the outside However, if I was deciding whether to work for an organization or not, I would try to talk to people who worked there to figure out if there was internal conflict Dealing with conflict is not my strong suit so I would want to make sure that the politics are manageable within an organization Finally, and what I consider to be a competitive differentiator among organizations, are the inspirational stories which an organization generates as it relates to the symbolic frame (Bolman & Deal, 2008) If an organization is doing most things right, it should not be hard to find these stories However, these frames are a distant third and fourth from the structural frame for me Regarding identifying a job that is a good fit for me, it needs to have clearly defined goals and objectives (Bolman & Deal, 2008) I want there to be the right rules and policies in place to guide me and limit interpretation of what needs to be done if a situation arises (Bolman & Deal, 2008) Understanding this framework, I know that the rules and policies cannot be so tight as to limit creativity My preference is to work in as specialized a role as possible which has a clear function within a unit or department When I was recruited to Richmond to work for what was at the time, World Access, a small 200- person travel insurance company, I was attracted by the job description of the role I would fill I had just completed my MBA in Electronic Commerce and I wanted a job as an Electronic Commerce Manager This role had all the responsibilities I had WHAT IS MY PRIMARY FRAME? trained for in my MBA It mattered only secondarily who were the people I would work for or the culture I would have to adopt At the time, there were not a lot of similar roles so I was not as concerned about or spent much time researching the politics of the company With regard to applying my structural mindset to a role, I focus on performing the clearly defined duties of that job An example of this is when I worked as a Program Director at James River Association One of my primary responsibilities was to develop and implement a tracking report for all of the metrics This entailed gathering information from the program managers who worked for me and with regard to specific policies and procedures I developed I completed this assignment; however, it was not without its hiccups I could have taken more into consideration the human resources frame in terms of what the program manager level of skills were in providing the information I found that some program managers were better than others at excel so I had to identify those needs and empower them to improve If I was a leader with personal dominance, I would set direction for an organization as it relates to how the structure should change, what the new roles and responsibilities should be and the policies that will guide employees Because my structural frame is preferred, I would rely on that lens to set direction which Drath (2001) says equates to “knowing what makes sense to the community, what the needs and desires of the community are, what will work in the context of the community” (p 39) In summary, the structural frame is definitely my primary frame I want to know the design of an organization and how it allocates work It is very important for me to know, with clarity, what my roles and responsibilities are and how they fit in with other roles In addition, I want there to be policies in place that guide me and my fellow workers so I know where the boundaries are when I am working on tasks WHAT IS MY PRIMARY FRAME? References Bolman, L., & Deal, T (2008) Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership San Francisco, Ca; Jossey-Bass Drath, Wilfred (2001) The deep blue sea: Rethinking the source of leadership San Francisco, Ca; Jossey-Bass