The Experience Focussing on the Management Competence - Assignment Example

LEADING AND MANAGING PEOPLE Question What specifically have you observed and learnt from the experience focussing on one management competence? The question what does leadership mean is a question that brings out varying definitions. However, of the many definitions of leadership disclosed by researchers and people in general there are certain features that stick out. The certain features are that leadership is about giving and receiving as well. This means that leadership is all about a leader influencing his people positively and leadership is about leaders enabling people (Murray, 2012). This means that if a leader positively influences his people then they will in turn do what is expected of them. In my group we were doing a video shoot for companies. We were to act like a company and we were looking for investors to help make those download videos for companies. Therefore of this assignment being that we were coming from different cultural backgrounds we needed a strong and effective leader and was Ross was a one such leader. From the socio grams it is obvious that Ross choose the influencing kind of leadership style. In the appendix from week 4, 6, 7 and 8 more and more focus is directed on Ross as the project becomes more and more demanding. Furthermore, in week 6 even relationships between the groups members have began to be strained and there is tension however, by week 7 and 8 the leader Ross had straightened this tension and communication was smooth. The straightening and smoothening of the relationships in the group was not done by chance but by the leadership style that Ross had chosen. This is represented well by the emotiograms in the appendix which depicts the stress level of the members at different weeks. However, Ross is shown to be on top of the tree in each and every week looking down at his group members. As some members are distracted, some are lazing around, some are detached and some are completely falling Ross is strong and very alert and is on top of his game. This depicts Ross’ leadership skills as being assertive and influencing to the group members. By being influencing she is giving positive directives which will bring the members together. Being on top of all of the group members Ross put pressure on us to do what was expected of the group. However much this leadership style was good and productive it made me feel like Ross was the only important and my ideas and contributions were not valuable. In the appendix section sociogram 6 portrays our strained relationship and also emotiogram 7 shows me just hanging by dangerously and about to fall. I believe that Ross’ leadership style is caused by his personality which is inclined to make long term dedication to fulfilling the group’s agenda. However, this strength of theirs has no place for others and their emotions and that as why some members were feeling left out like me. A research by Goleman discusses such leadership styles and their weaknesses (Goleman, 1998). Goleman states that such leaders have three distinct qualities which are being initiative, have emotional control and they have a strong drive for achievement: all qualities displayed by Ross sitting on top of the tree, not losing his cool, his emotions or his focus (Goleman, 1998). However, according to our critiques in the group meetings, Ross had decided to change this leadership method so as to accommodate every member in their group and bring peace and unity. The change in strategy by Ross worked because from the sociograms of the following weeks the group was going on well. The lesson I learnt from this period of strained relationship was that the leader is there to guide the group and that power to make decisions should be left to him. Therefore, as evidenced by the emotiograms the more the group members focused on the leader than on themselves and their opinions, the smoother the group went. In fact I can say that we as group members were the reasons for Ross’ leadership approach because we were not dedicated making Ross think that being on top of us would yield positive results. Therefore, in my opinion, if the group had gone for a more depicted and winning approach attitude Ross would have chosen a better leadership type that is enabling his people rather than influencing them. And as such, the group members are the ones whose attitudes and behaviours should mould and channel their leader in choosing a good and favourable leadership style as the first impression they give the leader is what the leader will use when choosing a leadership approach (Polelle, 2008). This is because a leader chooses a leadership approach that will best work with his group members and yield positive results. Question 2. Evaluate how what you have learnt concerning best practice of the competence should inform and change the practice of the competence for the future. The future is always a time to be thought of in the present and the present mistakes and experience used to make it better and corrects areas of weakness. From the experience I have gained from leadership competency in this group there are certain recommendations that can be used for the future for best practice on the competency of leadership. First, the leader and the group members should have a very good relationship (Northouse, 2013). They should communicate well and have a deep understanding for each other’s needs and feelings. In order to understand a leader’s character trait the use of an MBTI test is recommended. After determining the leader’s traits the group members can better understand him or her and this will lead to smoother relationships and communications within the group. Furthermore, this understanding will lead to productivity and achievement of the group’s goal in the first place. In addition to this, group members should also learn to communicate with each other instead of feeling isolated and neglected. For example, in the group at one point I felt neglected Ross. Instead of feeling this way i should have talked to Ross and shared my feelings instead of isolating myself. Some embers like matt and wabi did not get along and according to sociogram 4 wabi is hanging while matt has completely lost his grip and is falling. Instead of sheltering these feelings, matt and wabi should have shared their feelings with one another and resolved their differences to enable the group go forward and make work easy for the leader. The second recommendation is that leaders should have the ability to be flexible. Flexibility is a characteristic that will enable groups to be able to change what is wrong and develop new strategies to achieve their groups aim (Komives & Wagner, 2012). Since the leader is the one in charge of directing the group he or she must be able to display flexibility in strategies and leadership approach and eliminate any kind of rigidness for the betterment of the group. For example in my groups case Ross had a certain leadership approach that he thought was best for his group. However, he realized that his leadership approach was tearing apart the group and he had to change it and re-strategize and it worked well for the group. Therefore, this is the kind of flexibility that every leader needs to display and posses in order for their leadership effectiveness to be beneficial for the group (Polelle, 2008). The third and last recommendation for future leadership competency is that leaders should choose leadership approaches that match their intelligence levels (Kouzes & Posner, 2010). Intelligence and certain leadership approaches if combined will bring out the effectiveness of the leader. Otherwise, a leadership approach with a contradicting intelligence level will lead to communication breakdowns in the group, severed relationships between members and failure of achieving the group’s purpose and objective. However, this does not mean that the leader cannot try different leadership approaches because some will turn to be failures. Interchanging of leadership approaches is important in that a leader will know exactly what works for him or her and the group just like our leader Ross found out in our group. Question 3. Identify and explain whether the best practice of the competence discussed in question 2 could be transferred into an employment situation when operating in a work organisation in your own national culture. If you are a UK based student, consider the transfer of the competence into a work organisation with which you are familiar. The best leadership practice discussed in question two can be applicable in when working for Tesco PLC. Leaders selected for different leadership positions are expected to be liked by the different employees assigned under them. A good example is that a supervisor under a Tesco grocery store will achieve a lot when he is liked by employees as this will give him or her an easy process of delegating responsibilities and ensuring that they are accomplished as the employees will ensure that they do not disappoint the supervisor as they have positive attitude towards him. Secondly, Tesco PLC being a large organization, different leaders cannot always be correct in each they decisions they take. Therefore involving employees in different decisions will improve the effectiveness of the different projects they plan to undertake. A good example is that when it comes to marketing, an employee may propose a good strategy to go about this because of his interactions with the customer (Ireland, Hoskisson & Hitt, 2012). Hence he knows the taste and preferences of different customers. Thirdly, Tesco PLC relies on the different strategies they use to succeed in different markets. Therefore, it is extremely important for the management of the company to be clear on their rules and expectations. When expectations are made clear for employees they know what is required from their part to achieve the expected expectations or rules. A good example is that the company had set rules which displays the different behaviours expected from employees and they abide by this to give the company the success it enjoys today. Likewise, when the management is clear on the level of quality they want for the products being offered at the market, the production department knows their expectations therefore taking various strategies and techniques to deliver products which are of high quality or characteristics (Channer, 2000). References Channer, P. (2000). Emotional Impact Passionate Leaders and Corporate Transformation. Basingstoke,PalgraveMacmillan. http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=258253. Goleman, D. (1998). Working With Emotional Intelligence. New York: Bantam Books Ireland, R. D., Hoskisson, R. E., & Hitt, M. A. (2012). Understanding business strategy: concepts plus. Mason, OH., South-Western Cengage Learning. Komives, S. R., & Wagner, W. (2012). Leadership for a Better World Understanding the Social Change Model of Leadership Development. Hoboken, John Wiley & Sons. http://www.123library.org/book_details/?id=53439. Kouzes, J.M., & Posner, B. (2010). The Leadership Challenge. New York, Wiley. http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=589017. Murray, K. (2012). The language of leaders how top CEOs communicate to inspire, influence andachieveresults.London,KoganPage. http://www.books24x7.com/marc.asp?bookid=44240. Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership: theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, SAGE. Polelle, M. (2008). Leadership: fifty great leaders and the worlds they made. Westport, Conn, Greenwood Press. Appendix References Read More