How a Person Can Be Developed to Be a Leader - Essay Example

?Leadership Essay Even before I enrolled in business school and read about the likes to Jack Welch and Steve Jobs, I wondered how a person can be developed to be a leader. People generally display leadership potential but that potential needs to be nurtured and bred to reap benefits. The answers to my concerns came in the form of the leadership course in business school. The course altered the way I think about leadership and my drive to become one was strengthened like never before. The single and perhaps the only most important addition to a failing company, to put it back on its feet and sustain it, is the recruitment of effective leadership. An effective leader knows what needs to be done to bring life back to the company, to deal with the company’s debt and financial burdens, to manage burgeoning and diverse groups of employees or to introduce more consumer-relevant products. The leader is the person who knows how to bring results. This is the reason that company leadership is the first variable that is changed when it hits rough patches. Conversely, the asset that is most appreciated and valued when the company is gaining speed. I understand that an innate set of leadership characteristics is essential in a person to be a good leader, combined with relevant education and training. I attained that education in business school right at the onset of my career and it has proved instrumental in my career progression and leadership capabilities. I have surmised that leadership is very contextual in nature and exists in many forms and manifestations. There are no didactic rules surrounding leadership; leadership is successful when it is addressing change and bringing results. What is Leadership? While there are countless definitions of leadership in textbooks, the one I found most relevant was presented by Kotter, saying that leadership addresses change in organizations and prepares it for the ensuing struggle (2001). The world is in a state of constant change and dynamism, affected by a multitude of factors including newer technologies, economic shifts, globalization, social responsibility, the internet and scarce resources. As a result, today’s companies need people at the helm who are capable of dealing with change and deciding strategies that bring about change. The legendary Steve Jobs is commended as being one of the best leaders of our times because he steered Apple single-handedly not only towards profit, but made the company the most innovative company in the world which affected billions all over the globe. The idea crafted by Jobs, in retrospect, seems so simple: to enable the everyday consumer to have simple yet artful gadgets for everyday entertainment. It was that vision of change, combined with Jobs’ management of Apple’s resources to steer it towards achievement of that vision that has allowed Apple to become what it is today. Thereupon, I take leadership as the force that not merely creates a vision for betterment, but also communicates it to all stakeholders, making it possible for that vision to be realized. The Leadership Role With the understanding that leadership exists to address change, I attempted to understand the exact role leadership plays in this process. Leadership is about refusing to limit one’s mind to ‘either this or that’ scenarios, says Martin (2007); the author explains that leaders do not simply consider two three options and select among them, but rather they create new, unheard-of solutions. Effective leaders are not afraid of complicated problems and nor do they develop strategies that fit some pre-conceived mould. Instead, leaders strive to find a special solution that meets the unique business need. The innovativeness in leaders’ thinking is represented by creative solutions to problems that are a result of multidirectional factors and often opposing options (Martin). McShane and VonGlinow (2009) state that leaders use all the persuasion tactics at their disposal to motivate people to understand and implement their creative solutions. I learnt that a leader plays his role traditionally by using a particular style. Goleman identifies six styles of leadership (2000), which are found in many human behavior textbooks. In the course, I learnt that a leadership style is correct and constructive at a particular time, under particular circumstances. Depending on the conditions of these, the leadership style of a single person can change from situation to situation. For example, the affiliative style of leadership is most effective in group situations where interpersonal communication is extremely important as work is highly interdependent and input is needed from each team member. They need to be put at ease so that they open up and are more willing to share their thoughts. This is true in brainstorming or training sessions. Conversely, the authoritative style is necessary in activities that require strict follow up such as deadlines for clients in an advertising company. An affliliative style here would be unable to show results as everyone would be more focused on relationship building, rather than their own specific activities. A single manager can find himself in any of these situations and will only be successful if he can show multiple styles of leadership successfully. The key here is to practice these styles often so that they become second nature to people like you and me. Another very relevant task of leaders, identified by Kotter, is to identify and nurture future leaders (2001) by providing them enriching job rotations that allow them to fully experiment with their leadership skills and become confident in the practice of the leadership styles. It is obviously easier said than done as leaders cannot be spotted among the crowd and need to be tested first to display the leadership potential. I am partial to the following leadership competencies noted by McShane & VonGlinow: emotional intelligence, integrity, drive, leadership motivation, self confidence, intelligence and knowledge. Management in the company should incorporate these into the performance metrics and appraisal systems, says Beer (1997) so that at the end of the year they are able to identify among all employees the few who will be able to take on leadership roles in the company in the future. Those displaying these traits in abundance should be put on fast track programs and projects that will nurture their leadership potential. The Social Leader A very important aspect of leadership is that it is relationship-based and does not exist independently. To be a leader, one needs to have followers. Leadership entails interacting with people and influencing them in order to compel, motivate and persuade them to achieve specific goals (McShane & VonGlinow). Communication and relationship building play a very important role in this. Ironic as it may seem, the quality of leadership is visible through the quality of the followers. Building on the idea that leadership is relational, effective leaders have to strive to create a healthy work environment for their followers, in a way, to pave the way for them to achieve the specified goal. This means that obvious as well as obscure factors that affect the environment need to be addressed, fixed or aggrandized as is necessary. For example, in a technology company such as Google, it is imperative that staff is constantly trained and kept at pace with the latest developments in the field. Innovation is key. Leadership is not displayed through appointed titles within the organization but is manifested through behavior patterns. Leaders are called leaders through their behaviors rather than through official titles bestowed to them by their organization. Furthermore, these behaviors are highly dependent on situations and differ from one to another. For example, Jack Welch adopted opposing stances and decisions in different businesses of GE during his stints and each proved to be successful given the context (Martin, 2007). Leadership Resources During class, I noted an important difference between a manager and a leader: the latter should not require monetary backing and other material resources to get the job done. He has a different group of resources at his disposal: The number one resource for a leader will be his followers. One CEO of Procter and Gamble once said that if all the assets of the company were taken away but his employees, within a decade he would be able to create the same company with the people. Therefore, the true leader is able to get results from his employees. Employee engagement is crucial to be able to appropriately attract, motivate and retain top talent for the company (McShane & VonGlinow). The leader needs to provide a direction to employees to focus their efforts and work so as to achieve an identifiable goal. The leader is responsible for pointing the people in the direction and ensuring that they stick to the path. McShane and VonGlinow point out that these engaged employees are willing to do more for the company through Organizational Citizenship, which includes activities above and beyond their job description. These people are so motivated and willing to work for the company under their leadership that they place the interests of the company foremost. A very important determinant of employee engagement is the incentive system in place, says Hall (2006). The ideal incentive system should include a balance of monetary and non-monetary rewards for the employees. I learnt that effective leaders know the pros and cons of attrition. While retention is very important of key talent, a healthy attrition rate allows fresh ideas to travel into the company through the recruitment of people with different backgrounds. Taking the example of P&G again, it is noted that despite the company being notoriously popular for promoting from within and ignoring lateral hiring, the current company CEO attended a ball of ex-employees to understand their points of view. Furthermore, he liberalized the hiring policy and attached many industry experts with existing P&G staff. The result was the healthy growth of the company and higher stock value. Before Lafley, no CEO was brave enough to take these decisions. The true potential of leadership is realized when tough and different decisions are taken and the entire company is steered towards that decision. Another very important resource for leaders is information. True leaders are not afraid of sharing information and adopting an open-door policy. This allows trust to foster and the easier communication of the vision. Leaders invest in knowledge management systems so as to freely allow access to important company information. Conclusion These are some of the most relevant things I learnt about leadership in business school which have helped shape the way I deal with my work challenges and opportunities. As a result, I have people who trust in me and look up to me; they believe in my vision and are brave enough to carry it forward. People with the true potential to be leaders must make every effort to teach themselves about this phenomenon. Leadership is an interesting combination of inborn and learned behaviors. To be successful in the workplace, it is essential to learn about leadership and read about other successful leaders so as to gain from their experiences and mistakes. References Beer, Michael (1997). Conducting a Performance Appraisal Interview. Harvard Business School. Kotter, John (2001). “What Leaders Really Do”. Best of Harvard Business Review. 85-96 Martin, Roger (2007). “How Successful Leaders Think”. Harvard Business Review. 60-67. McShane, S. L. & VonGlinow, M., (2005). Organizational Behavior 5th Ed. NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Hall, Bryan (2006). “Incentives within Organizations”. Harvard Business School. Goleman, Daniel (2000). “Leadership That Gets Results”. Harvard Business Review. 78-90. Read More