Supervision and Communication of Leadership Skills - Essay Example

There are different leadership styles which when carefully blended with these skills can ensure a very conducive work climate where people are self-motivated. A supervisor can employ the use of coercive, authoritative, affiliative, democratic, pacesetting and coaching. Leaders need all these styles in order to ensure a constant favorable climate at work. Studies indicate that when leaders master four or more of these styles especially coaching, authoritative, affiliative and democratic, they have the best climate and subsequently improved performance. The flexibility of a leader and their ability to carefully switch between these styles is known to propel the business to higher levels.

Supervision requires the active communication of leadership skills that results in a climate where self-motivation takes place. It is rather important to encourage self-motivation in a workplace since this is the surest way of ensuring that employees perform their tasks as recommended. Different persons are motivated by different factors and as such achieving self-motivation towards work in a given work environment is in most cases not easy. For instance, a larger proportion of workers in various workplaces are usually motivated by money. Such people will, therefore, in most cases are likely to perform tasks so long as they are assured of payment.

Another category of people may be motivated by money but do not like doing work. They will, therefore, try to avoid work by all means. Strict supervision is, therefore, necessary in order for this group to perform tasks properly. The last category involves people who have a passion for work and would thus not only be motivated by money, but rather through doing what they enjoy. Minimum or even no supervision at all is all it takes for work to be done efficiently by this category (Cassidy & Kreitner, 2010).

A supervisor, therefore, needs a set of leadership skills in order to understand the behaviors of different groups of people communicate well with them (Cassidy & Kreitner, 2010). Understanding behavior requires emotional intelligence that entails social skills, self-management, self-awareness, as well as social awareness. It beats logic that one can only understand other people when they first understand themselves. Supervisors should thus be able to understand their emotions and know how this affects their performance at work. Self-assessment and self-confidence are additional components of self-awareness that supervisors should exercise.

Self-management is also an important skill for supervisors. Impulses and emotions can sometimes affect how a supervisor manages people. Similarly, a supervisor should display consistent honesty and integrity, be responsible and flexible so that they can win the confidence and trust those working under them and enhance proper coordination. A supervisor’s social skills should not only help them understand their subordinates’ perspectives but also pull them to develop an interest in their plights. Through this, unnecessary politics and conflicts in the organization can be easily avoided.

Social skills can be termed as the basic recipe for effective coordination in an organization that not only dictates the nature of relationships developed in an organization but also determines how efficiently the goals can be achieved. Through this set of skills, a supervisor can inspire through a compelling vision and persuasive tactics. Strong social skills also help a supervisor develop others, strengthen bonds between individuals and groups .strengthened bonds would translate into minimal conflicts as it encourages teamwork and collaboration which then increase productivity. Through proper social skills, change can easily be introduced and adopted in an organization – a factor that fosters growth and innovation.

There are different leadership styles which when carefully combined with these skills can ensure a very conducive work climate where people are self-motivated. A supervisor can employ the use of coercive, authoritative, affiliative, democratic, pacesetting and coaching. Coercion involves using force to facilitate performance. Sometimes the coercion may involve bullying people around and sounding tough and decisive on what decision the supervisor makes. The style should only be used cautiously and under a few circumstances especially in turnarounds or where there is a likelihood of a takeover. This style does not create a magnificent climate as it interferes with the morale of workers hence they lose the sense of self-motivation.

A supervisor may also need to use an authoritative style. In an authoritative style, the supervisor directs people towards a specific vision. It takes empathy, self-confidence, and the will to catalyze change. Authoritative leadership works well where a clear direction is requisite and where a new vision is required due to changes. This method has a very strong impact on the work climate. It maximizes adherence to the strategy and goals of the organization. Supervisors may also need to use an affiliative style that focuses on harmony creation and emotional bonds construction.

The leaders thus need to be good communicators, empathetic and possess relationships building tactics. Supervisors should be concerned with the healing of existing and emerging rifts within a team but also not forget to motivate people in stressful circumstances. Supervisors may also apply the democratic style of leadership. Here the supervisor should be keen to seek consensus via participation. They should encourage collaboration, effective communication as well as team leadership. This would in turn help the supervisors to obtain inputs from employees deemed valuable and build consensus. Seeking a worker's ideas and inputs helps a supervisor to build trust, commitment, and respect.

Leaders need many styles in order to ensure a constant favorable climate at work. Studies indicate that when leaders master four or more of these styles especially coaching, authoritative, affiliative and democratic, they have the best climate.