Chapters Summary 17-20 :from The Art of Leadership, 4th edition by Manning and Curtis - Essay Example

Chapters 17-21 in the book focus on understanding the human beings and using this understanding to delegate them in order to achieve goals. There aremany topics that are discussed in the chapters. Chapter 17 investigates into what makes people tick at the workplace and in their personal lives. Abraham Maslow’s concept of self-actualization is described and so is the concept of human motivation. There are various things that motivate a person and they may vary from one different individual to another.

After a person’s basic needs are satisfied, this chapter goes into describing the characteristics of a self-actualized person. The purpose of this chapter is to understand human motivation.After understanding the human psychology next chapter focused on developing effective communication and strong persuasive skills. In this chapter the authors highlight the importance of Emotional Intelligence, a subject much discussed by Daniel Goleman in his epic book ‘The Emotional Intelligence’. The insinuation of the concept of Emotional Intelligence is that it is a quality which makes a leader respond to the situation in a very humane manner.

The communication that is a result of understanding and empathy has a long lasting effect than a formal way of communication. The next chapter deals with the topic of diversity, It explores the diversity that is encountered at workplace and how much it is beneficial for an organization to promote diversity in the workplace. There should be tolerance of not only diverse religions and races but also diverse outlook and ideas. The issue of women in leadership position is also considered. For a long time glass ceiling for women leaders is accepted as a fact but the chapter argues that a change in this situation will be beneficial for organizations all around the world.

The fourth and last chapter deals with effective delegation. There seems to be a flow between the chapters as understanding human motivation, emotions and diversity is a prerequisite of effective delegation. The chapter then ends with prescribing rules of effective delegation. After reading the entire four chapters, tackling the challenge of diversity is a personal goal I would chose to work upon. There is diversity all around in shape of people and cultures and also the way people think. It will be my goal for this week to absorb the diversity around me, appreciate its manifestation and try to incorporate the best things in my character.

Appreciation of other people’s ideas is something which can make a leader who is able to delegate by making a way out of conflicts through appreciation of diversity. Apart from the above mentioned goal I will also explore the idea of developing a best way of delegation out of all the models proposed in the last chapter. Situations always change and there may not be a one simple perfect model of delegation, but by experimenting with the idea I may come up with the perfect combination of delegation techniques resembling the concepts of situational leadership.

Reference List – Manning, G., & Curtis, K. (2002) The Art of Leadership. New York: McGraw-Hill International