Leadership Competencies - Essay Example

?Leadership competencies The modern leaders have to adapt themselves to the fast paced world and hence they need to be extremely competent in reacting to market changes, globalization, technological upgrades, dealing with the work force and a host of other challenges which they may face. Hence, there is an increasing need to develop new leadership competencies and also modify previous competencies of leadership in order to become a successful and efficient leader. David McClelland is regarded as the founder of the leadership competency movement. He maintains that it is more important for a leader to be competent than intelligent. Due to the popularity of his competency movement, multinational companies started formulating complex competency models which laid down the framework regarding desirable behaviour and skills in the organization. People who adhered to these competency models would be rewarded and vice – versa. However, this model left very little room for the development of the leader. A leader was unable to show his motivational skills, leadership styles and even prove his point of view. Traditional competency models focussed on developing individual behaviour and skills and in overcoming individual weaknesses. They believed that this will lead to overall team development. However, they failed to understand that in a team environment individuals benefit from each other’s strengths and it is very important for overall team development and not to focus on individual development. The third and final assumption of competency model is that jobs are static and individuals benefit by following a set of competency rules laid down by the organization. This thought in itself is flawed. People are hungry for recognition and they are happy to display their skills and qualities. In the modern world, leaders must have the below mentioned competency skills in order to be efficient and successful. 1. Visionary and strategic thinking – Leaders must be able to set long term goals and act as a guide and mentor to the followers by leading and directing them to achieve these goals. he must be able to understand the environmental changes both nationally and globally and guide his followers accordingly. 2. Adaptability and change movement – Leaders must be able to adapt to changes in the organization. An effective leader easily adapts to changes required to attain the goal.He also must be able to blend different leadership styles depending on the situation in order to guide his followers through the change process. 3. Drive for results – Leaders must take the ownership and be personally responsible for success and failures. He must be passionate to achieve goals and must encourage his followers to do the same. 4. Team leadership competency – An efficient leader should act as a guide and mentor and direct the team in order to attain desired objectives. He should be keen to take responsibilities to meet targets and also take active part in the organization’s success. 5. People development – Efficient leaders must promote follower’s growth and provide a platform for them to succeed. This will help to develop future leaders and will eventually lead to the success of the organization as a whole. 6. Risk management – Competent leaders must be innovative and be prepared to take risks and experiment with new methods in order to foster development. They must use new and innovative techniques to solve problems and also adapt to changes. 7. Values and ethics – Good leaders must follow social norms and ethics and set examples for the followers. They must not resort to dishonest means or engage themselves in illegal or unlawful activities. Nowadays, most organizations are giving a lot of importance to ethical behaviours of leaders as recently there has an increase in scams and scandals which translates to the fact that there has been a lot of ethically failed leaders. 8. Service orientation – An effective and competent leader understand the needs of his clients and tries to meet client expectations. He keeps himself up to date with the market changes and fluctuations and modifies products and services to suit the market changes. 9. Relationship management and collaboration – An effective leader has a lot of contacts both related to his work place and outside. The leader tries to successfully build relationships in order to benefit from them. He tries to successfully resolve conflict and shows and encourages mutual respect. 10. Planning and organizing – This is one of the traditional leadership competency aspects. An efficient and competent leader must be able to plan effectively and organize the work force in order to attain desired objectives. It is very important that paths to reach certain missions are identified, plans are developed, time frames are set and progress is constantly monitored. 11. Quality orientation – An effective leader focuses a lot on good quality of word and service and sets examples for his followers to provide the best quality to the customers. The leader is always eager to develop and better the quality of the product or service offered to customers. 12. Analysis and problem solving – A competent leader must analyse and delve into the problem in order to find a suitable solution. The leader also evaluates the products and conducts a SWOT analysis in order to reach a final decision as to which is the best suited course of action to be taken to get the best results. (Drypen, (2011)). 13. Entrepreneurial orientation – A competent leader must be a visionary. He must think like an entrepreneur and be ready to successfully steer the organization to attain desired goals. He must be ready to take risks and bear responsibility for the success and failures of the organization. Other than the above mentioned qualities, a competent leader must be able to mix the various leadership styles in order to resolve problems and conflicts and to facilitate the decision making process. A competent leader is one who diplomatically uses his position power in order to meet desired goals. The leader must set examples for his followers to work hard in order to attain the mission. He must be open to criticism and improve from them. He must allow the team to participate in the decision making process thereby being open to feedback and team opinions. ((Denver Business Journal (2005)). A competent leader must have command over his followers. This mainly comes from position power. However, charismatic leaders can also motivate followers to follow certain set goals and helps to adapt to the changing environment. To conclude, a competent and effective leader must foster a cordial working atmosphere wherein each individual is motivated to attain the desired objectives thereby driving the organization towards success. References: Denver Business Journal, 2005, August 25. “These 10 core competencies comprise good leadership”. Retrieved on 13 April, 2011 from http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2005/08/29/smallb3.html Drypen, 2011. “13 Leadership Competency Model Competencies”. Retrieved on 13 April, 2011 from http://drypen.in/featured-articles/13-leadership-competency-model-competencies.html Read More