Assertiveness as an Important Skill in Leadership and Management of People - Essay Example

Assertiveness: Decision Making Name Institution Course Date Executive Summary Assertiveness is an important is required of good leadership as it is a skill that helps one in managing not just personal one-self but also managing relationship with others. To be assertive implies communicating one’s thoughts and opinions while still respecting others. This report has demonstrated how referee Andre Marriner and his assistant Scott Ledger demonstrated assertiveness in a football match between Liverpool and Crystal Palace. Through assertiveness and effective communication, they were able to rightly award a penalty and stood their ground despite the controversy witnessed. The application of interpersonal communication good practices, including attentive listening, management of emotions, timely delivery of information and good use of nonverbal communication played a critical role in arriving at the good decision. Considering the lessons learned from the report with regards to how the referees addressed the controversy, it is important for organizations to endeavour to develop assertive skills and to promote good practices in interpersonal communication to help facilitate good decision making. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 Finding: Description of the Situation Witnessed 4 Discussion 5 Conclusion 8 Recommendations 9 References 10 Poll, G 2016, Christian Benteke's winning penalty was rightly awarded... and referee Andre Marriner has his assistant to thank, viewed 7 January 2017 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3479239/Christian-Benteke-s-winning-penalty-rightly-awarded-referee-Andre-Marriner-assistant-thank.html 10 Introduction Assertiveness is an important is required of good leadership as it is a skill that helps one in managing not just one-self but also managing relationship with others. According to Schwartz (2001, p. 17), it requires a lot of effort for a person to become assertive as it does not just happen overnight. To be assertive implies communicating one’s thoughts and opinions while still respecting others (Ekmekci 2016, p. 120). Assertiveness is also described as a quality of being able to defend oneself and other people’s rights in a positive and calm manner without necessarily becoming aggressive or accepting a wrong passively (Gillen 1998, p. 2). In this respect, an assertive person is that individual who is able to communicate his/her opinions without apology while still giving others a chance to have their say (Potts & Potts 2013, p. 42). Such people are not pushovers as they know the limit to which they can bend. Additionally, assertive people, unlike aggressive people are able to pass their point across without necessarily upsetting others. Assertiveness is a quality that is particularly required of referees to have because it ensures good decision making in the pitch as was demonstrated by referee Andre Marriner and his assistant Scott Ledger in a football match between Liverpool and Crystal Palace, where a good decision was made because of the assertiveness of the referees (Walsh 2016). This report begins by describing how a referee made a good decision in a football match between Liverpool and Crystal Palace at the final minutes of the match despite protest from others. The report proceed to describe the key issues in this football match and why this was representative of good practice in interpersonal communication. The report will conclude with a brief summary of the findings and present key learning from the report. Finally, the report will provide suggestions as to how organizations can build in good practice. Finding: Description of the Situation Witnessed Football matches are usually highly emotive and charged. This is particularly so of the Barclays Premier League, which is one of the largest and most competitive leagues in the world. At the centre stage is usually the referee who manages the match. Considering that the matches are watched far and wide throughout the continent, any decision that a referee makes in a football match is up for scrutiny not just within the pitch, but also outside the pitch. Therefore, a football match referee must ensure that good decisions are made throughout the match by demonstrating fairness and abiding by rule of the game (Ekmekci 2016, p. 120). However, this requires assertiveness as a skill to ensure good decision. In Mach 2016, I witnessed a good decision being made by a referee in a football match between Liverpool and Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. The good decision was that referee Andre Marriner with the help of his assistant referee Scott Ledger rightly awarded Liverpool a spot-kick at the dying seconds of the match after Crystal Palace defender Damien Delane tripped Liverpool forward Christian Benteke (Walsh 2016). The penalty generated controversy after the defender denied having touched Benteke. Although referee Andre Marriner did not have a good view of the foul, his assistant Scott Ledger saw the incident well and directed that a penalty be awarded (Poll G 2016). In fact, commentators such as Thiery Henry argued that the referee was not supposed to award a spot-kick for the challenge. Nevertheless, video replays vindicated the referee showing how defender Delaney failed to control his motion and in the process had his knee clip Benteke, thus resulting in a foul (Marshall 2016). Accordingly, the penalty was awarded fairly and justly by the referee. In the event that the referee failed to award the penalty, Liverpool could have been denied two vital points unfairly. It is recognized that the good decision was made by the referees officiating the match because of their assertiveness by standing up for the rights of Liverpool in a calm positive manner (Poll G 2016). After watching the video replays for the foul, even Pundit Thiery Henry agreed that the penalty was rightfully awarded thanks to the assistant referee who spotted the incident. Discussion Communication is cited as being one of the critical components of decision making. In order to make good decisions, effective communication is a necessity. Interpersonal communication involves exchange of information between two or more individuals. In interpersonal communication, there is sending and receiving of information (Ekmekci 2016, p. 120). Good interpersonal communication is important as it not only ensures understanding, but also results in good decision making, which consequently minimizes conflicts or misunderstanding between the parties. Literatures indicate that most bad decisions are made because of lack of communication. Similarly, most conflicts both at personal life and in professional setting are caused by lack of effective communication (Bedell & Lennox 1997, p. 52). Therefore, communication experts promote effective communication as a way of addressing issues and arriving at the right decisions in life. However, there are a number of principles of effective interpersonal communication that needs to be ensured when parties are communicating. The first good practice in interpersonal communication is listening attentively. When communicating with others, it is important for both parties to listen attentively to each other so as to ensure that everyone understands what the other party has to say. Effective listening requires refraining from jumping to conclusions, making unwarranted criticism, or premature judgments (Gillen 1998, p. 13). Effective listening also requires that one seek reasons behind the statements made by the person who they are conversing. Additionally, effective communication requires gathering facts in order to arrive at the right decision or conclusion. Second, interpersonal communication requires that the parties communicating to be able to manage their emotions and stress. In some situations, a party might criticise the other as they communicate. However, good interpersonal communication requires that a person effectively manage stress and emotions since if a person allows emotions to overcome them, this might destroy interpersonal communication, thereby resulting in conflicts or poor decisions (Bedell & Lennox 1997, p. 66). Besides, the people communicating should also be able to recognize the emotions of the people that he/she is communicating with in order for effective communication to happen. Additionally, effective communication requires proper use of nonverbal communication, such as gestures and facial expressions. The emotions of a person can easily be judged by how they use nonverbal means. According to researchers, it is easy to tell if a person is telling lies as such people tend to cast their eyes up and left while those telling the truth normally look up or straight ahead (Gillen 1998, p. 21). However, when a person disagrees with another’s opinion, they would tend to cast their eyes down and to the left. Therefore, nonverbal communication means should be used constructively to ensure effective interpersonal communication, such as nodding the head or facial expression. Lastly, effective communication requires that communicate assertively. Assertive communication involves being able to express negative and positive opinions, ideas and feelings in a straight forward, openly and in an honest manner (Pfeiffer 2010, p. 3). Looking at the incident, the decision to award a spot kick during the football match between Liverpool and Crystal Palace presents a number of issues. The first issue that featured clearly involves whether or not the penalty was rightly awarded to Liverpool (Poll G 2016). A good decision is that decision that is made fairly and justly and a referee is under the obligation to abide by the rules of the game by acting fairly and justly. In fact, the point of contention in this match was that, a section of Crystal Palace officials and fans felt that the referee awarded the spot kick unfairly to Liverpool after the defender denied having had any contact with Christian Benteke (Walsh 2016). Despite denial from the defender and a section of Crystal Palace officials, fans, pundits and the defender, video replays confirmed that the defender clipped Benteke, which resulted in the right penalty being awarded by the referee. Good practice in interpersonal communication was demonstrated in arriving at the right spot kick decision. It is important to reiterate the foul was spotted not by the main referee Andre Marriner but by his assistant Scott Ledger who made the call for the spot kick. Immediately Benteke was brought to the ground by Crystal Palace defender, the assistant referee immediately informed Andre Marriner of the incident that could have gone unnoticed (Marshall 2016). Scott Ledger communicated the incident to the referee Andre Marriner by calling him to the touch line after the main referee failed to see the foul. It was evident from their conversation that Andre Marriner neither listened attentively to what his assistant was trying to tell him as he did not ignore nor interrupted the assistant, and this demonstrated a good practice of interpersonal communication which requires that both parties listen effectively and attentively to each other as noted by Bedell and Lennox (1997, p. 74). Through attentive listening, assistant referee was able to convince Andre Marriner that Benteke indeed had been fouled by Palace defender and this resulted in the award of a penalty (Walsh 2016). In fact, it is believed that if the assistant referee had not made the right call by informing the main referee to award a penalty, Liverpool could have unfairly lost two vital points in the match. As such, effective communication resulted in good decision that helped save not just the reputation of the referees, but also of football sport fraternity as a whole. Another good practice in interpersonal communication demonstrated in this decision was that it was arrived at in a timely manner (Bishop 2013, p. 6). Effective interpersonal communication requires that feedback be given in a timely manner to ensure that the information does not lose its worth or value. Accordingly, in this match, it was apparent that, immediately the assistant referee spotted the foul, he notified referee Andre Marriner who agreed with his opinion and responded immediately by awarding a penalty (Marshall 2016). The referee did not hesitate as this could have created doubts and trust issues. Besides, the referee and the assistant demonstrated good interpersonal communication in the manner in which they used the nonverbal communication. After being called to the touch line for advice by his assistant, referee Andre Marriner moved quickly and could be seen nodding his head in approval of his assistant’s advice. His agreement with assistant could also be seen through facial expression as he did not hesitate to award the penalty by pointing right to the spot kick (Walsh 2016). The referees’ good use of nonverbal communication help make the officials and the fans watching the match to have faith in the decision they made, which was an aspect of effective interpersonal communication. The other issue that emerged during the game had to do with emotions that ran high from the Crystal Palace bench following the awarding of the penalty. The Crystal Palace manager and the fans contested the decision claiming that the defender had no contact with the Liverpool forward (Marshall 2016). Accordingly, this resulted in negative criticism being directed at the referee and his assistant demanding that they change their decision by not awarding a spot kick. However, the referee and assistant stood their ground by being assertive in their approach to the issue, which demonstrated a good practice of effective communication. After noting that the emotions of Palace camp was high, the referee and assistant controlled their emissions by sticking to the right decision that they had made and did not allow themselves to be swaying to passively make a wrong decision by not awarding a spot kick (Poll G 2016). The referee and the assistant remained calm and positive despite the criticism, which came even from those who had not had a proper view of what actually transpired. In fact, at some point, the defender and a number of Crystal Palace players approached the referee angrily but Andre Marriner maintained his cool (Walsh 2016). Instead of punishing the players further by branding a yellow card, the referee took few seconds to explain to the emotion-driven and hostile players who the foul occurred and this helped calm everything down in the pitch. It is notable that the ability of the referee to control his emotions in such a charged football match was an aspect of good interpersonal communication. Conclusion The discussion has shown that assertiveness is an important skill in leadership and management of people. Assertiveness skills are important as it ensures the management of oneself and relationship with other people. From this report, the assertiveness demonstrated by referees Andre Marriner and his assistant Scott Ledger resulted in the right and good decision being made during a match between Liverpool and Crystal Palace early in the year 2016 in which the assistance referee assertively helped Andre Marriner made a good decision of awarding Liverpool a penalty kick after Palace defender had fouled the Liverpool forward in the box. It is clear that Liverpool were it not for assertiveness of the referee, Liverpool could have lost two vital points. Additionally, this report indicates how the referees applied good practice in interpersonal communication in addressing the contentious issues that emerged after the award of the penalty and includes active listening, management of emotions, timely communication and good use of nonverbal communication. Recommendations Based on the case analysis, the following suggestions are proposed for organizations, socially in the sporting industry on how to ensure good practice. First, it is important for organizations to promote assertiveness as this skill helps in tem building, decision making and problem solving. Assertiveness ensures that that the rights of others are taken into consideration when making decisions, which is critical in an organization. As indicated in the report, a good decision was made to award a penalty despite the controversy that surrounded the penalty because the referees were assertive. Assertiveness also ensures that leader’s act fairly when dealing with others and this promotes trust and good relationship, which is important for organizational success. Additionally, it is recommended that organizations promote effective communication is important as it ensures understanding between parties. In the absence of effective communication, this creates room for misunderstanding and antagonism that can easily be avoided through effective interpersonal communication. In the case of Liverpool vs. Crystal Palace, the controversy over the penalty was addressed through effective communication between the referee and his assistant. Because of this, organizations should endeavour to teach their employees good interpersonal communication skills to enable them be able to make good decisions and resolve problems even under difficult situations. References Bedell, J. R., & Lennox, S. S 1997, Handbook for communication and problem-solving skills training: A cognitive-behavioral approach. John Wiley & Sons, Upper Saddle River. Bishop, S 2013, Develop your assertiveness. Kogan Page Publishers, Cambridge, MA. Ekmekci, R 2016, “determination of the assertiveness and problem solving skills of basketball and volleyball referees,” Pamukkale Journal of Sport Sciences, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 120. Gillen, T 1998, Assertiveness. CIPD Publishing, London. Marshall, T 2016, Do these pictures prove it WAS a penalty for Liverpool's Christian Benteke at Crystal Palace? Mirror 6 March, viewed 7 January 2017 http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/pictures-prove-penalty-liverpools-christian-7506836 Pfeiffer, R. H 2010, Relationships: Assertiveness skills. Growth Central LLC, Sidney. Poll, G 2016, Christian Benteke's winning penalty was rightly awarded... and referee Andre Marriner has his assistant to thank, viewed 7 January 2017 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3479239/Christian-Benteke-s-winning-penalty-rightly-awarded-referee-Andre-Marriner-assistant-thank.html Potts, C., & Potts, S 2013, Assertiveness: How to be strong in every situation. John Wiley & Sons, Upper Saddle River. Schwartz, A. E 2001, Assertiveness: Responsible communication. Andrew E Schwartz, New York. Walsh, K 2016, Christian Benteke penalty - Damien Delaney denies he touched Liverpool FC striker for award of vital spot kick. Echo 7 March, viewed 7 January 2017 http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/christian-benteke-penalty-damien-delaney-11000020 Read More