Influence and Social Networks

Social networks exist no matter where we go and sometimes it is virtually impossible to find an end to the numerous connections between different groups of people meaning that ultimately, characteristics possessed by one group of people may also be possessed by those in a group of people in which they have never met.  This means that we may be having an influence on people's lives everyday who we have never even spoken to.  The people that we are surrounded by have the largest impact on our personalities and habits.  From the time we are born, who we are molded into is influenced by our parents, guardians, family, etc.  As talked about in class, "liking" is one of the main influences that an individual can have on another.  The two main points that stood out to me were physical attractiveness and similarity because I believe they do have a huge impact on our relationships with others.  Whenever someone walks into a room full of people that they have never met before, the two factors that decide who they interact with most are similarity and physical attractiveness.  It is much more comforting for a person to meet people who look/dress as they do therefore we naturally are drawn to those that are similar to us in both looks and personalities.  The same goes for choosing role models.  Most times, people are going to attempt to look up to those whom they can see themselves resembling most.

Gender in the Workforce

Sandberg brings up a vaild point in todays corporate gender inequality. She blames women and their lack of confidence for the discourse in women represented in higher positions of the world. I agree with her to some extent, women are underepresented in the workforce partically due to thier own lack of conifdence. However the gap is so large that this single contributing factor cannot be the only underlying cause of women misrepresented in the workforce. In my opinion there are two additional factors that overwhlemingly contribute to the small amount of women that hold high positions in politics, corporate America, and other prestegious positions.
        The first factor is the interest of women in general. We hear about this in early childhood education, they call it gender rolls. Little girls tend to play with dolls and like coloring books, while little boys like to play sports and fight G.I. Joes (there are exceptions). The same idea can be applied to the straifcation of women in the workforce. If you walked into a college and counted the number of women in business they would often be the minority. Not because they aren't smart enough for a business degree but because busniness simply doesnt interest them. On the other hand if you walked into an early childhood classroom women are the ovewrwhelimg majority because it is a topic that they find interest in and are more comfotable with.
         The second factor  is de facto segeration. In the 1950s women had little to no rights in the workplace; their job was to simply stay at home, cook the meals, and take care of the kids. Things changed as history progressed and now it is considered more acceptable for women to enter the workforce and as a result more women are taking the path as working citizens. Being a woman is conisdered a minority and as a result women are sometimes hired based on the fact that they are women. While sandberg brings up a good point that many women are more qualified for the positions that men are in, she states that they lack the social confidence to recieve the job. If they lack the confidence to recieve the job then they are not as qualified to be in the position they are aplpying for, thus making them a lesser candidate to their male coutnerpart. The women who are in positions of power are there simply because they had both the credentials and confidence to be there. The result of this selection process is a select few women who are very good at their jobs and develop a sense of prestige in the corporate world for their gender and women who are average and dont really impress, but whose presence gives future generations of women more confidence to join the work force. My point is this, yes women in the workforce might not be growing now and Sandberg may be able to cite a few years of sagninent numbers but this is due to the shift in responsibility that still is in the process of taking place. It has only been a few decades since women were seen as complete non factors in important matters and if you give it time and the numbers will continue to grow.
         So what do we do to solve it? Nothing. The reason women are not in the work force is either by their own choosing, the sluggish shift (but it is shifting) in social norms, and the lack of confidence they have for positions (which some of them are still getting over men). If you give it time and let the problem work itself out women will gain confidence and their numbers will increase naturally. Hopefully one day in the future we will get to a point where women and men are represented equally and then are judged equally for their positions.

Leadership and Personality

Often times, personality does have a large effect on leadership because many followers try to connect to leaders in some way or another and if a leader can touch an individual on a personal level, they are more likely to have success.  No matter what the position of the leader, this is almost always the case.  President Obama makes it obvious that his family plays an enormous role in his life and for many family-oriented individuals, this may inspire them to be more like Obama and follow his beliefs.  In the workplace, an employee who feels that they have a lot in common with a boss or can talk to that boss about personal issues will be more likely to be more productive and efficient for that boss.  Specific personality traits do play a role in leadership because one's personality will have a lot to do with how they handle their position.  For example, a person who is shy or laid back may make the work environment more relaxing and easy for everyone to communicate while a leader who is strict and short-tempered might make employees feel more uptight and nervous at work.  A leader's personality traits may have a lot to do with how much an employee/follower enjoys being on the job or even how long they stay in the follower position that they are currently in.

A Leader's Image

Being a leader ultimately means having the ability to motivate and persuade others and the best way to catch people's attention and get them to listen is to provide them with a good image.  A leader's image is most likely going to be the first knowledge that viewers/listeners have about them and from the beginning will be a huge part in helping one determine their opinion of that person.  In the most recent presidential election, for example, Barack Obama made himself very appealing to young people by using his youthfulness and ability to adapt to change in order to gain supporters.  Although he may have had an odd name and irregular background for a presidential candidate, he found a way to turn those into positive aspects of his campaign by showing less fortunate people that success is possible all the way from poverty stricken people to those with disabilities.  A large part of Obama's success throughout his campaign was from making himself appear as a very family orriented man as shown from his response to the question "what is something you never leave home without?"  In conclusion, I believe that one's image is an extremely large factor in being a leader no matter what the position because without the proper image, people may  not take someone as seriously or look into their true ideas or concepts.