Operations Management Leadership Paper

Unit 2 Assignment

Mark Blank

Dr. Pierce

MT435 – Operations Management

June 22, 2011

Learning the skills to become a successful operations manager doesn’t happen overnight, and there are many important aspects that an operations manager must be aware of. One of these aspects, which I believe to be one of the most important, is leadership. All great leaders are known for their strategies, visions, ideas, and their emotions (Goleman, Leadership). Not only will I discuss why becoming an effective leader is very important, but I will also talk about the leadership attributes that an operations manager must be aware of to be successful.

An operations manager must be able to lead the people that work for them, but the way they lead them is going to determine how much success they have (Russell, 2011). One thing an operations manager must be able to control is their emotions because they play a huge part in leadership. A leader is always observed by others and their mood will reflect and impact the mood of others working with him/her. Controlling their own emotions and being positive is very important, but a good leader must also be able to effectively understand how to handle other people’s emotions (Goleman, Leadership).

Emotions are probably the most important quality to becoming an effective leader, but there are also other attributes like personality, vision, and good listening skills. When thinking about our great leaders from the past and present, one thing they all have in common is that they all have great personalities. By having a good personality and charisma an effective leader is able to connect with people on an emotional basis, which makes it much easier (Wyganowska, 2008). This is one reason why leadership is so important to for an operations manager to be successful.

Vision is another skill and it is vital because an effective leader must be able to see where they are going and where they want to be in the future. A good leader...