Characterization of Paul's Leadership - Assignment Example

Topic: Leadership Student’s name Course name Lecturer’s name 1st September 2011 Question one Every team or group leader must possess key skills necessary to lead his/her group forward. However lack of adequate leadership skills may hinder the progress of the team and this may result into a rebellious attitude among the team members. Leaders must at all times maintain the vigour to forge forward (Zaccaro, 2007). One of the ways through which a team leader may perfect his performance in his team or group is by creating and communicating a clear vision to the members of his group about the direction of the team. This includes setting clear and achievable goals and stipulating the time limits within which the goals and the team objectives should be achieved. The team leader must bear in mind the “big picture” or the overall goals of the organization when creating and designing the goals of the team. This enables the leader to have a wide perspective of the specific requirements from every group member. After creating the goals, the team leader must also create and design a blueprint which stipulates the actions that should be undertaken towards achieving the organizational goals. According to Sykes (2011) the leader must communicate the clear vision in a simple language in order to enhance the understanding of the people he leads concerning the direction they have to take to achieve the objectives of the organization. The team leader must calculate the up-front investment and then design the process that can make his team to maximize the returns on this investment. All these efforts must be related towards the objectives of the organization. One of the things that Paul failed to do when he was first promoted to a position that required leadership and which gave him problems making changes and maintaining discipline was that he failed to create clear goals which every team member would follow in order to reach the organizational objectives. Even though Paul was highly instrumental and hardworking in the organization which gave him a good reputation that earned him a promotion in the organization, he experienced problems by failing to create achievable and clear goals which would lead the entire team to the desired direction. Setting clear and achievable gaols in the organization serves as the authority the leader requires in leading his team because the performance of every team member is weighed and gauged against the goals set by the leader. In this perspective, once he was promoted from to the leadership position Paul would have come up with blueprints on how different goals would be achieved (Mumford et al., 2000). Some blueprints would require his subordinates to work overtime. This means that Paul needed not communicate to his subordinated about the need to work overtime but the clear blueprints would necessarily push the subordinates to work overtime in order to achieve the goals set up by their leader Paul. Towards this end, it is clear that Paul’s failure to set clear and achievable goals once he was first promoted to the leadership position was the cause of his failure as the leader because lack of clear goals leaves the subordinates in confusion and a rebellious attitude ensues among the subordinates. Question two According to Maxwell & Dornan (2003) the essence of leadership is to exert influence over other people or the followers (Maxwell & Dornan, p. 23). In this regard, power is the driving force that causes the leader to influence others. It gives the leader the ability and the capability to influence other people. Hence, the effectiveness of a leader in any given organization can be understood through the analysis of influence process and the intricate power relationships web (McGovern et al, 2008). McGovern et al. (p.4) defined power as the ability of a person to influence the attitudes or behaviours of other people. In this regard, power is not exclusive to managers or leaders alone but to every person who have the ability to influence others. Since, leadership is perceived as a personal ability to influence his followers a leader or a manager must be able to enlist support and aid from his subordinates in the organization. In order to do this, the manager or a team leader must have different sources of power at his disposal in order to exert the required influence over others. The various sources of power include legitimate, reward, expert, coercive and referent sources of power (McGovern et al, 2008). Legitimate source of power come a result of the formal position a person holds. When the legitimacy of the position is accepted by the followers the followers comply easily with their leader. Reward power arises because the leader has control over different rewards and thus the followers comply with the leader in order to obtain such rewards (Maxwell & Dornan, 2003). This includes performing their duties as expected and meeting the laid down objectives within the stipulated time. Coercive power arises because the leader has the ability to punish his followers when they fail to execute their duties as expected. Expert power arises as a result of personal competency, expertise as well as the information possessed by a person in a particular field. It is imperative to note that some sources of power may be used in certain situations while other sources of power may not be practical in particular situations (Maxwell & Dornan, 2003). Hence, the choice of the source of power should be dictated by the environment or situation in the workplace. From the case study, Paul should not use the coercive source of power because he does not have the ability or the power to punish his team members. As a matter of fact, Paul does not have the authority to “sanction any of his subordinates. He cannot dock their pay or make them work overtime or cut back on their hours. He cannot also shorten their lunch breaks or eliminate their coffee breaks since the authority to sanction the subordinates is bestowed to the overall company manager”. Paul should draw on three distinct sources of power in order to be effective as a leader in his department. The three sources of power include reward, expert and legitimate power sources. Paul could use the reward source of power by denying the rebellious subordinates an opportunity to get a reward for their efforts in the organization. By rewarding those who comply with his directions Paul would change the attitudes of his subordinates (McGovern et al., 2008). Paul would also use the expert source of power by letting his subordinates understand that he holds expert skills and knowledge as a long serving and highly experienced technician and that his promotion came as a result of his expertise in the field. To do this, Paul should impart new technical skills and knowledge to his subordinates through seminars and workshops which would make them belief in him and his capabilities. Paul would also use legitimate source of power to influence his followers. To do this, Paul would need to exert his position and let his subordinates understand that he is their leader not through favour from the company’s manager but through hard work which earned him a promotion. Hence, anybody desiring to be promoted in the future must also work hard through compliance. It is evident that Paul failed to realize his potential sources of power which made his fail in his leadership effectiveness. From the case study, coercive source of power would not be effective because Paul lacks the authority to punish his subordinates. However, Paul can make use of the legitimate, expert and reward sources of power to make his leadership effective in his department. Question three Leadership is characterised by different traits, skills and behaviours. Some of the leadership traits include honesty which refers to the ability of the leader to display integrity, sincerity and inspire trust through behaviour (Ridley, 2003). The other leadership trait is competency which refers to the ability of the leader to base actions on moral principles and reason. Competency helps the leader to avoid making decisions based on feelings and emotions. Additionally, the other trait a leader must possess is the ability to look forward at all times. A forward looking leader has the ability to see the future and set goals which can enable him/her to overcome future challenges. The basic values that guide the operations of the organizations must be used to prioritize future goals. According to Ridley (2003) intelligence is the most admirable leadership trait that makes many people effective leaders. Ridley noted that intelligence helps the leader to see beyond other people and design mechanisms for overcoming obstacles in achieving the desired objectives. The author observed that an intelligent leader emerges as the most desirable expert in his line of profession which gives him the power to make decisions that yield to better results. Another leadership trait is fair-mindedness which refers to the ability to treat all people fairly without discriminating against abilities, sex or any other form of discrimination. A fair-minded leader realizes that all his subordinates’ posses’ unique skills which make them instrumental in the department. A fair-minded leader is also sensitive to the interests, values, feelings and the well-being of his people (Ridley, 2003). From the case study it is evident that Paul posses a number of traits as a leader despite his failure to effectively exert his leadership influence on his subordinates. One of the traits possessed by Paul is honesty. Paul’s honesty in his duties are evident by the fact that during his first year of working in the company he was named the technician of the month on more than one occasion. This was fuelled and necessitated by his remarkable performance and hard work that enabled him to perform beyond the other technicians in the company. His honest earned him a good reputation in the eyes of the fellow technicians and the management of the company paving way for his promotion. The other trait possessed by Paul is intelligence. The reward Paul received on several occasions as the technician of the month demonstrates his intelligence capabilities in executing his duties in the organization (Zaccaro, 2007). Paul is also competent and this is evident in the technical skills he possesses regarding his ability to handle more routine jobs and solving complex and demanding technical problems raised by the customers. His friendship behaviour with the rest of the technicians which creates a friendly and a home-like environment in the workplace is a strength that Paul possesses which inspires the rest of the people to continue working in a rather demanding and stressing environment. From the case study and the discussion alongside, it is clear that in spite of his failure to effectively exert his leadership upon his subordinates, Paul has numerous leadership traits which make him better suited to lead his subordinates. Paul needs to bring out and exercise these traits strongly in order to influence his subordinates and enable them to comply with his directions. Question four The effectiveness of a leader depends upon the leadership style executed in different situations (Ridley, 2003). For instance, the democratic or participative leadership style can be used widely in less urgent situations or duties because the leader has enough time to consult with his subordinates. However, in urgent and more demanding environment the authoritative and autocratic leadership approach should be used in order to achieve the desired goals within a limited time. An autocratic leader gives directions and commands his subordinates to perform the duties as specified. In order to improve his effectiveness as a leader in his new position, Paul must establish the kind of environment that surrounds him. It is clear from the case study that there is no cohesion among the subordinates which makes it difficult for Paul to exert his influence as the leader. According to Mumford, M. et al (2000) the functional theory of leadership better explains what Paul must do in order to be effective as a leader. The theory holds that a leader must be able to being about group cohesion by taking care of the needs of the group. Among the responsibilities of the leader as stipulated in the functional theory include motivating the subordinates, organizing the activities to be undertaken by the subordinates, coaching and teaching the subordinates and making continuous interventions in the work performed by the subordinates. Hence, Paul should improve his leadership effectiveness by taking care o the needs of his team of subordinates and motivating his subordinates to perform their duties. References Maxwell, J. & Dornan, J. Becoming a Person of Influence. New York: Sage Publishers, 2003. McGovern, S., Donald, C., and Daniel, G. Leadership and Service: An Introduction, Kendall/Hunt Publishing, 2008. Mumford, M. et al. Leadership skills for a changing world solving complex social problems. The Leadership Quarterly, 2000, 11, 11-35. Ridley, M. (2003). Nature via Nurture, New York: Harper Collins. U.S. Army Handbook. Military Leadership. Sykes, J. Effective leadership Campaigns. Journal of leadership studies, Vol 4, No. 16, 2011 Zaccaro, S. Trait-based perspectives of leadership. American Psychologist, 2007 62, 6-16. Read More