Reference no: EM132330345

Discussion 1- Luke

Effective Leadership Practices and Skills to Achieve Project Goals

When conducting business as Christians, we must ensure that we are integrating our faith into our daily lives and our daily work. As Christians, we are fortunate to be able to follow the example of a selfless, servant leader in Jesus. Jesus was a servant leader throughout His ministry and eventually made the ultimate sacrifice for all of mankind, through His crucifixion. Another example of his servant leadership was when he washed the disciples' feet. After He had washed their feet He told his disciples, "If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to was one another's feet (John 13:14, ESV)." This example shows that even though Jesus was God in human form he came to show His love to others and to serve all. As leaders and project manager we must be willing to serve others with humility. Jesus also instructs his followers to be servant leaders when he said "So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen (Matthew 20:16, KJV). This verse explains that those who walk in pride will be humbled, but those who humble themselves before the Lord will be rewarded. If leaders are willing to follow Jesus's example and put aside pride to be a servant leader, their teams will achieve project goals.

In addition to being able to humbly lead your team, successful leaders must also be able to negotiate with all relevant stakeholders, within the team and outside of the team. According to Moran and Youngdahl (2008), skilled negotiators make good judgements, are patient and are able to listen well (p. 140). Leaders should possess these skills if they wish to be a successful negotiator. The Bible has many verses on how to effectively implement negotiation, but one that truly sticks out to me is Proverbs 17:14, which states "Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out" (ESV). When negotiating leaders and project managers should avoid disputes or starting quarrels. Sometimes quarrels are unavoidable, however these types of conflicts damage relationships and can result in negative impacts for all parties involved. In negotiation leaders should also be fair and honest. Matthew 20 states, "When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. (ESV)" In this story the owner of a vineyard negotiates a wage with his workers and then pays them what was agreed. In this example conflict arises when workers hired later in the day are paid the same as workers who worked all day. The vineyard owner calmly negotiates with the workers to resolves the dispute. Leaders should follow this honest and calm approach to negotiation and conflict management. There are many effective leadership practices and useful skills to achieve project goals that I did not cover. However, I believe that servant leadership and successful negotiations are the most important practices and skills for a leader or project manager to possess.

References

Moran, R. T., &Youngdahl, W. E. (2008). Leading global projects. Burlington, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN: 9180750682466.

Discussion 2-Christian

Design effective leadership practices and skills to achieve project goals:

Effective leadership is needed when working in project management. Being a great leader can help the project team complete successful projects. Effective leadership practices and skills are one that should be able to believe that their practices and skills will help deliver a successful project and it should be able to lead others in the right direction. According Moran and Youngdahl (2008), "Skillful project leaders have learned to see the world differently and understand the ways others manage and do business" (p. 9). There are several leadership practices and skills that will achieve the project goal they are: facing challenges, effective communication, and integrity.
Leadership practice is facing challenges. Challenging situations can change the dynamic of the project. There will be some difficulties along the way that could hinder the growth of the project. Leaders should be able to take risk and challenge the process that being created. Leadership should be able to drive the ideas to challenge the opportunities ahead. The Biblical aspect from challenging opportunities could come from the book of Isaiah 41:13 "For I, the Lord you God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, "Fear not, I am the one who helps you"" (English Standard Version). The scripture states that we should not fear because the Lord is there to help us. Knowing that we can face challenges and overcome difficultly is a testimony to how our faith in the Lord can give us strength to overcome challenges and achieve the project goal.

Effective communication is needed to achieve project goal. Effective leaders should have acquired this skillset. Leadership should be able to effectively communicate what they need to be done to complete the project. Effective communication could be negotiating for resources or an extension for a project. Communication is needed to drive the project to be successful. Communication can help resolve team conflict. According to Jain (2017), "In the context of communication courage is about the willingness and the ability to engage across differences. It's about stepping outside of our comfort zone to consider things from another perspective and viewpoint" (p.207). Biblical aspect of effective comes from the book of Colossians 4:6 "Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to you ought to answer each person" (English Standard Version). The scripture states that your speech should always be gracious, seasoned with salt meaning that our conversations should be promoting happiness and removing the bad from people lives. Our words should express gratitude, kindness, and love as the Lord show us through his grace and mercy.

Integrity is an effective leader practice and skill. Integrity is a practice that could achieve the project the success with no corruption. Integrity is a skill that will keep leadership on being truthful about resources. Integrity is needed to guide the decision making of leadership. Ethical practices should be implemented when demonstrating integrity. Integrity display character, honesty, and commitment among the team. According to Starr (2016), "People will inevitably disagree with a leader's decision at some point, but if the decision-making process has integrity, the leader may get the benefit of the doubt that it was necessary" (p. 72). Biblical point of view the book of Ephesians 4:29 "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear" (English Standard Version).

Overall, these practices and skills are useful to achieve project goals. Facing challenges can help the leadership and team come together with ideas to overcome the challenges. Effective communication is needed to help the team members understand their role and how valuable they are to the team. Integrity is needed to keep the leadership and team members committed to do their job with ethical standards. These practices and skills will make a leader effective and achieve project goals.

References

Jain, N. (2018). Inclusive leadership and effective communication: An unbreakable bond. Language in India, 18 (12), 207+. Retrieved fromhttps://link-galegroup-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/apps/doc/A571837561/AONE?u=vic_liberty&sid=AONE&xid=e9536496

Moran, R.T., &Youngdahl, W.E. (2008). Leading Global Projects (1st ed), Burlington, MA, Butterworth-Heinemann Starr, J. P. (2016). Lead with transparency and integrity: Being clear about who makes various decisions and enacting those decisions with integrity is key to effective leadership. Phi Delta Kappan, 98(2), 72. Retrieved from https://link-galegroup-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/apps/doc/A469850740/AONE?u=vic_liberty&sid=AONE&xid=ac7633cb