Running head: Competency Post Test 3 1

Competency Post Test 3

Miranda Acevedo

Class

Professor

Date
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Competency Post Test 3

One of the biggest challenges that every leader will face in their journey is finding a

balance in unity within an organization amongst the world of personalities and opinions that exist

in the workplace pertaining to viewpoint on political matters. In current circumstances, the issue

of political stance, presently on the issue of the Black Lives Matter campaign has posed a

tremendous threat to many companies and organizations. This is due to the lack of compassion,

understanding, respect, and principle within the workplace. Much like Plato, it's easy to say that

the type of leader needed to manage and minimize this issue would focus their efforts on

understanding and finding good in the differences of opinion. However, the expressions of Sun

Tzu, a fierce critic to the very teachings of Plato, would not only disagree and critique this

leadership style, but also demonstrate how a “better” leader would contain the situation.  

To better understand why the issue of political opinion over the Black Lives Matter

campaign poses such a great measure of harm to a company or organization, it's vital to know the

facts and interpretations behind the campaign. The Black Lives Matter campaign otherwise

known as BLM, is an international human rights movement that directs its efforts towards the

ongoing battle of violence and systemic racism towards black people at the hands of law

enforcement. Being that it’s likely that not every employee within an organization will share the

same personal beliefs or political viewpoints, tension can arise in this way. For example, one

employee might support the Black Lives Matter movement and feel confident in sharing their

beliefs with those around them in the office. While the act of sharing opinions and beliefs is not

necessarily considered wrong in the workplace, it can potentially offend or dishearten a fellow

employee who does not share the same beliefs. Thus, a disagreement forms and effects the
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functional success of not only the employees involved in said disagreement but the entire

organization as well. 

Resolution of any problem within an organization can often be difficult for a leader, in

that they are responsible for not only demonstrating the correct type of behavior employees

should enforce but also finding a balance in each employee's personal and political opinions. a

good leader will follow the acts and theorized leadership that Plato set out for all leaders. He

focused each of his principles towards a leadership style that revolves around “organizational

ethics, managerial discourses on rhetoric, and management of meaning an charismatic

leadership” (Takala, 1998, p. #2); but more specifically, accurate knowledge and control of that

knowledge. In fact, he went on to explain that a leader must use each decision they make as an

opportunity to portray logical and ethical thinking and avoid making quantitative decisions. That

being said, in the issue of a disagreement arising over personal and political opinions and

viewpoints on the Black Lives Matter campaign, a good leader would inform themselves on the

campaign itself and its overall political mission. This allows the leader to build an accurate

knowledge on the objective issue of the disagreement. Once knowledge is obtained, a leader

would then speak to each of the employees involved in the disagreement, to provide comfort,

understanding and practical advice to resolve the disagreement. After-which , a conversation

between the leader and the employees involved in the disagreement will take place, setting a

principle of understanding in the difference in personal and political opinion and a measure of

respect as well. This allows each employee involved a sense of peace over their personal and

political beliefs but also peace and functional success in helping them remain productive within

the organization.
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While Plato set out his theory on leadership and most leaders within organizations can

agree that the steps taken in difficult situations contribute to making a good leader, SunTzu, a

fierce critic to the very teachings of Plato, would not only disagree and critique this leadership

style, but also demonstrate how a “better” leader would contain the situation, due to the fact that

his work “…can be utilized in many business and political situations” (Dimovski, 2012, p. #6).

Sun Tzu based his idea of a “better”  leader on truly knowing oneself. Sun Tzu spoke broadly

about how important it is for a good leader to really know himself, to be aware of strengths and

weaknesses, to build a team behind them to prove efficient in the areas where they are lacking or

proving inefficient in function. In the course of this type of disagreement and difficulty within an

organization over the personal and political opinions over the Black Lives Matter campaign and

its movement, Sun Tzu’s leadership style would direct the individual that stands as the leader to

incorporate the “science of positioning”, which reduces the need for strategic decisions and

enforces finding relative improvement in the comparison of these personal and political

viewpoints; and how they correlates to resolution. A better leader will learn to develop a strong

position in the face of those underneath their headship, placing themselves in the shoes of the

employees involved in the disagreement, so as to fully comprehend the decision that needs to be

made for the betterment of the employees and the organization as a whole. 

In conclusion, while finding a balance in unity within an organization amongst the world

of personalities and opinions that exist in the workplace pertaining to viewpoints on political

matters can serve as potential harm for the success of the organization; how a leader chooses to

handle such a situation is more than vital. Plato demonstrates the compassion that a good leader

needs to obtain in order to find balance and respect between the difference of opinion and

political viewpoint. However, Sun Tzu speaks of the importance of making such a situation more
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than personal in order to truly understand and support each employee involved in such a

disagreement. While the two leadership styles, that of Plato and Sun Tzu differ from each other,

the method and technique that Sun Tzu speaks of in the making of a better leader teaches me

personally that while I want to be compassionate as a leader, I also want to take a strong position

amongst my employees and set ground principles that not only fit them personally, but contribute

to the success of the organization entirely. 

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References

Dimovski, V., Marič, M., Uhan, M., Đurica, N., & Ferjan, M. (2012). Sun Tzu’s “The Art of

War” and Implications for Leadership: Theoretical Discussion. Organizacija, 45(4), 151–

158. https://doi-org.ezproxy.southtexascollege.edu/10.2478/v10051-012-0017-1

T. Takala. (1998). Plato on Leadership. Journal of Business Ethics, 17(7), 785.