Essay 5
A . How do you define leadership and teamwork? (250 words)
The leadership is the competence of a manager or executive in leading a team to achieve a specific business goal. In my view, leader ship is the most important capability to be a successful business leader. The leadership can be brought up through painstaking practice and systematic education. Leadership would be evaluated in followed aspects:
1. Professional Experience and knowledge in particular flied;
2. People management skill;
3. Being focus and strategic;
4. Being principled, also flexible in handling details;
5. Be willing to take risk;
6. Be open-minded to accept any challenge and any new business environment.
All these factors take effect together in forge the characters of a mature manager. A business leader must balance the personal development of all these elements both in personality and career.
Teamwork refers to the close cooperation within a group or task force in pursuing the common goal. Teamwork can be applied to many group activities in the society, such as family life, military action, commerce and so forth. In a broad understanding, teamwork applies most social activities and functions. Each person the society can not make living and work without teamwork because individual can not produce all material and spiritual necessities for himself or herself. People must rely on the contribution of others in the society. Along with the globalization in both economy and civilization, the tendency in occupation classification become specific and narrow more and more. Consequently, the teamwork—Cooperation in the commercial activities is becoming more crucial and important.
As to respective business unit or department in a company, the teamwork means that the manager must clearly define the respective role of the team member and make sure the members be accountable each other with close cooperation. As to the whole company, the teamwork means that manager must clearly understand the function of his/her business group within the whole entity. The manger must have a big vision on the overall mission of the company and respective division or department must act as organic part serving the whole organization.
B. Describe a significant leadership experience, decision-making challenge, or accomplishment (what motivated you? What challenged you?). and comment on their effectiveness. (500 words)
In early 1996, I was promoted to the sales supervisor of data storage in the southwest territory in 3M Cheng Du branch office. Several months later, the division of 3M data storage and imagine product split out from 3M and formed a independent enterprise—IMATION. I was appointed as the chief representative of Cheng Du branch office of IMATION China Ltd. and responsible for overall business development for southwest China. However, the southwest territory is underdeveloped area in China. It includes Sichuan, GuiZhou,Yunan and Tibet 4 provinces. In 3M, southwest area contribute only 7% revenue to all country. I realize that location and surrounding must make great impact my long-term career development for sure. Your weight in whole company must be limited and the possibility for me to pursue higher position in a wider business vision will be very little. Furthermore, the chance for me to hunt new job in foreign company in Sichuan province is much rare since there is very few branch office and no headquarter of foreign company at all.
Frankly, My career development at that time was pretty successful and promising. I was the youngest chief representative among all branch head of IMATION in China. In 1997, I am only 27 and there is hardly manager younger as me assuming the chief representative in a multi-national company in Sichuan province at that time. However, I must make a big decision for my fate: Whether I should stay in Cheng Du to continue work in IMATION or move to a new place with more opportunities to pave a new way for myself . I must leave many things behind if I take this fetal step in my life. I must quit current job, move to a new city, and join another company as a ground level sales in a new organization; I will leave my parents and friends, leave my familiar environment. This is not a easy decision to me as there are many uncertainties on the road. Nevertheless I do not want to depress my inner motivation and leave any pity for myself when I become to 40s or 50s.
In earlier 1997,I quit job in IMATION and came to Beijing. the capital of China. Most dominant domestic enterprises and foreign company set up their headquarter there and Beijing has huge influence on the economy development of China, furthermore, Beijing is the technical business center for IT/high-tech industry. At that time. Beijing is a pretty unfamiliar to me. Even though I had visited this capital city for several times with business purpose, as a new resident, this choice really a big challenge to me in the beginning. I have no friend there. Every thing was reset for me. I found my first job in Xerox as sales specialist and join HP 6 months later.
This decision-making changed my life and career path significantly. Today, four years later from my relocation, I realize that meaning and value the decision brought to me is really unmeasurable when I look back my career in Beijing. This decision-making more enhance my belief that we should be brave to face uncertainty or risk in life as people, especially for a person who is motivated to be a successful business leader. Don’t ruin own motivation and be honest to personal goal and make progress to it everyday. New business environment and assignment with new scope make me more professional and mature both in living and working. I manage a business with huge magnitude which can not even be imagined in my former position. And I get big vision and more in-depth understanding to the IT industry. Working with all those intelligent peers and elite of business partner, I learn fast and get mature more quickly than before. It is strong catalyst for the career progress obviously.
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