Part III: Final Reflections

How the Program Outcomes have prepared me as a leader-manager

As I reflect on all the things that have either been added to my skills or have improved in my
leadership and management abilities base on the outcomes three items immediately come to mind:
leader or manager, espoused vs in use theories, and questions and statistics does not equal truth.
I never analyzed the terms leader and manager, but if I had to guess, I believe I would have
said the meanings are interchangeable and I would have been wrong. The difference is in the purpose of
each role whereas managers handle the day-to-day activities and needs of a group of people. Managers
usually carry the title of manager and essentially grant or deny employee requests anywhere from
leaving early, vacation week, sick day, reimbursement of mileage or classes, approve funds for office
supplies or outside education, and human resource violation issues (time sheet errors, harassment
reports etc.) you get the idea. A manager is busy reacting to fires accompanied by a healthy salary, as it
is a very necessary role for any business. Leaders, however, may or may not have a title per se but they
have the charisma to motivate others, inspire others to meet or set goals, they lift people to grow, and
they are capable of influencing the atmosphere to shift guiding the majority toward a certain direction.
Unlike managers who see every request as that one person speaking the request, leaders see the ability
of the team as a whole. Think of it as managers being you focused while leaders are we focused. One
of the disappointing things I realized about leaders is that they could be sitting right next to you, totally
unnoticed because they work for Status-quo Inc. and unless they tap your shoulder, expect to stay in your
current position. The status-quo organization continues to operate under the same standards and roles
set when initially established perhaps 50 years ago; which brings me to espouse vs. in use theory.
It is natural for me to ask the tough questions not because I fail to recognize that slight gasp
among others sitting at the table who cannot fathom the questions they held inside has been tossed up
for discussion. I ask the questions out of genuine bewilderment of why a company hides the flaw from
customer, not be honest about missing the due date and therefore delivery is late, or wh y not say you
must break the promise to delivery on time. Previously I saw this behavior as nothing more than lying;
however, now I am aware that many times companies fail to notice that their actions are completely
misaligned to what they told everyone. A company stuck in the rut of we have always done it this way

may not even recognize it and if the environment is full of fear of the consequences of candidly speaking
many other things will go unnoticed as well. As an action researcher the espoused theory vs theory in use
as well as defensive routines are both areas to uncover during the initial data gathering process. To
uncover these and other types of problems, you really need to spend time shaping the questions you will
ask during the research process.
Perhaps one of the most interesting discoveries that enhance my leadership and management
abilities is asking the right questions. I always tell my son how important words are because they can
speak a blessing or a curse and if you can control your mouth you can control your body; it is something I
learned from the Holy Bible. As an instructional designer, I evaluate test questions for validity, embedded
hints, style and standards, unintended confusion, and its alignment to the learning objective. There are
similar parameters for research questions as well. Research questions need a clear and concise topic
that extends beyond a simple yes or no answer, and should refrain from a compound type question where
one question includes others. Survey questions should not steer respondents in any direction, clear and
concise verbiage as post-explanations to one participant may skew the value of the given response.
Questions are either qualitative or quantitative thus requiring special attention to the verbiage chosen in
these questions. Qualitative questions seek the perceptions, feelings, or the opinion of the respondent
while quantitative questions yield data in a statistics format. When reading or preparing a visual to explain
statistically data I now realize that even if you have the right question the display of the data can mislead
others rather intentionally or not. This is something I will keep in mind as I research information to be sure
the graph or chart is accurately depicted.
In conclusion, I am truly in the correct field for my inquisitive mind and interest in improving all
things for the benefit a world of learning for a better tomorrow.

How the Program Outcomes have prepared me as an action-science scholar-practitioner

Capella University defines a scholar-practitioner are those who grow in knowledge and skills both
professionally and academically, sharing through publishing in relevant field journals, professional
organization memberships (2005). The outcomes have equipped me to perform endless action research
studies enhance my knowledge and skills with each one. I am already a member of TD (Talen

Development) formerly the American Society of Training and Development, and will need to research
organizations applicable to action science for membership. Finally, publishing or speaking at a
conference is more than I could imagine right now but perhaps in a few years having experienced further
growth and my knowledge and skills.

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