A Competency Based, Critical Review of Leadership and Management in My Work Organisation - Essay Example

? A competency based, critical review of leadership and management in my work Organisation Introduction This report provides an in-depth assessment of two key management competencies – leadership and motivation and its role in contributing to organizational goals and objectives. The report highlights the key learning points in these two management perspectives and evaluates their role and impact on project outcomes. Specify what you have learnt from the experience in your chosen management competences A key aspect driving the success of any enterprise is its leadership capabilities and competencies of the workforce that contribute to the realization of defined goals and objectives (Deresky, 2006). During the course of our leading and management program, I learnt the significance of individual leadership and motivation in accomplishing task goals and objectives. The theoretical aspects of our course familiarized me to the conceptual frameworks and evidences that drive individual performance in teams and factors that contribute to the efficiency of workforce. While this provided a foundation for our learning process, it was the live project work and assignment that helped me realize my individual strengths and shortcomings in my role as team-player. I came up with the idea of launching innovative training videos and online application tools through OIT (Oxford Information Training). The team was responsible for conceptualizing and framing the company’s product design, framing its marketing and financial strategies to give a distinct shape and direction to OIT’s goals and objectives. The team began with allocating roles and responsibilities to achieve this. The whole exercise provided us with new learning experience and it helped us in recognizing our potentials and limitations in our role as team players and leadership capabilities. The project highlighted my abilities in leading and managing my team members through various tasks and responsibilities. The 8 week exercise began with the conceptualization of the project idea and the key aspects that needed to be fulfilled in order to present that idea as viable and feasible to other teams. The idea to promote our company and its services on facebook was mine and the fact that others accepted it and appreciated it was a big source of motivation for me. Theoretical evidences have claimed that a true leader is one who can inspire and motivate others to adopt a single path that leads to goal fulfilment (Maxwell, 2008). I have managed to guide my team members through role allocation and delegation of tasks, besides helping them through task execution and collaborating potential issues that might have ruined the success prospects. Motivation is yet another aspect driving the performance of teams and their willingness to give their best in order to achieve the defined goals and targets (Adair, 2007). Motivation seemed lacking in some cases in our team since few members were unwilling to take certain roles and responsibilities. However, this was easily overcome with more team discussions that helped in motivating the team members to assume their roles and responsibilities. Moreover, motivation in teams, as I strongly experienced during this project contributed to creative ideas and innovative thoughts that can make the difference between success and failure of projects. The product concept involved my idea of producing a video for recruiting staff in organizations. A key aspect to be incorporated in this video was a mock interview (my idea) that will focus on dealing with inter-cultural workforce needs and behavioural forms during interviews. DeCarlo (2010) in his works on leadership and motivation identified four principles using motivation to guide innovative practices at workplace – initiating change, developing people’s desire to make a difference, creating ownership for results, and monitoring results for continued effectiveness. Motivation thus can contribute to combined efficiency at workplace and generate innovative ideas for effective results (Herzog, 2011). While our team displayed leadership capabilities, the key concern was that every individual within the team possessed strong personalities and hence the resistance to oppose each other’s ideas were more. Though in the long run, differences did sort out to provide effective results, the resolution of differences was achieved through communication and collaboration. Team communication forms an essential force driving the success of projects and objectives. Individual expectations and peer opinions contribute to team strengths and their ability to lead organizational goals and targets (Lumsden, Lumsden & Wiethoff, 2010). My expectations from my team members did shape my actions and reactions to events. However, in the long run it was our strong personalities and capabilities that combined to deliver the desired results. Two factors contributed to this achievement and they were leadership and motivation. Comment on how what you have learnt would inform and change the way you or your member of your work organization should express aspects of the selected competences in the future. MIBT test results are effective tools used to identify a leader. My result for this test was ESTJ (Extraverted Thinking with Sensing) that indicates that I can take charge of situations, apply my past experiences to resolve situations, get to the core of the problems, decide and act swiftly in accordance with the situation. An assessment of the situation over the past few weeks reveal that leadership and motivation issues in our team reflected on our work performance initially. The first 2 weeks were challenging since most of the group members demonstrated the desire to take control of project execution. The differences in group were apparent but it did not surface since there was little interaction and hardly any effort was made to collaborate on issues or communicate differences in opinions. The lack of adequate communication and collaboration, as I now realize, were the key challenges presented to leadership and motivation in the team. The social interaction theory reflects the significance of communication among team members in promoting team goals and objectives (Lee-Kelley, Crossman, & Cannings, 2004). These observations have emphasized the role that communication and collaboration can play in achieving effective results. Leadership is a vital force influencing the way team members interact and collaborate with each other in their effort to meet the desired goals and targets (Baldoni, 2005). The role of leaders defines the way individuals within a team interact and exchange their views on the team issues, task execution and personal conflicts. Individual conflicts are bound to happen in groups but it is the way these conflicts are handled within groups that determine the extent to which individuals understand each others’ view point and explain their perceptions to others in the group. Effective leadership identifies individual differences, opinions and perceptions to find creative solutions to existing problems (Baldoni, 2005). I realize that leading and managing people at workplace not only require an able management but also effective team-work. Team work is a key factor driving the results and outcomes of any process undertaken towards the achievement of defined goals or targets. Individual skills and capabilities are combined effectively through team work to produce the desired results (Zenger, Folkman & Edinger, 2009). However, this is not an easy task since individual differences in views and opinions, attitudes, perception and bias plays an important role in determining the extent of team collaboration and group cohesiveness. Our team comprising of different individuals had its own problems and much of these according to my observations related to communication gaps and team collaboration efforts that created misunderstandings and differences in opinions. The reluctance of the group members to contribute to the presentation work in Week 3 and their reluctance to support me in my role as marketing manager in week 2 were some of the key incidents that displayed the lack of group cohesion and effective team work. I learnt a few basic things through these incidents. First, it is important to identify team potentials and strengths before deciding on their roles and responsibilities. Any disagreement between the team members must be resolved through group interactions and open communication forums that help the team members voice their concerns and opinions (Hamilton, 2011). This kind of practice is effective in motivating the team to perform better and take up their roles with enthusiasm (Harris & Harris, 1996). Identify and explain whether the competences identified could be transferred into employment situation when operating in work in your own national culture. Research studies have revealed that the concept of leadership and motivation differs both in theory and application in different cultures (Morschett, Schramm-Klein, & Zentes, 2010). This is primarily because of the fact that different cultures hold different perceptions and values that motivate the individuals at workplace. The concept of leadership in France revolves around the idea of a glorified figure that commands control and influences people around him to follow his ideas. The conventional management principles that focuses on hierarchical authority and top-down reporting structure assumes significance in French culture. Hence, leadership practices revolve around a more authoritative role that apply rewards and incentives as key motivation factors to drive employee performance (Chhokar, Brodbeck, & House, 2008). The concepts of leadership that I have learnt from this module can be applied effectively in French culture through a more formal team structure that defines distinct roles and responsibilities to each team member. Leaders in France are more intellectually driven than learning from past experience. The challenge of proving themselves right in given situations through the application of their intellectual abilities is deeply ingrained in French leaders. Managers in French organizations have full power to make their own decisions within the scope of their authority and without much focus on workforce opinions (Taleghani, Salmani & Taatian, 2010) . Emotions and instincts play an important role in determining the actions, reactions and attitudes of French leaders. The scope of applying new theories and principles in practice at workplace depends on the managerial instincts and his beliefs that support the organizational goals and strategies. Further, I will develop personal relationships and trust among team members to achieve the desired results. Close relationships and advice from peers play an important role in decision making process and leaders value individual relationships (Taleghani et al., 2010). Conclusion The key learning points from the assignment discussed in the report have contributed to a better understanding of practical problems and challenges faced while working in a group. While management competencies and capabilities differ from one individual to another, the fact remains that effective leadership and motivation among team members can help in determining successful outcomes. References 1. Adair, J. 2007, Leadership and motivation: the fifty fifty rule and the eight key principles of motivating others, Kogan Page. 2. Baldoni, J. 2005, Great motivation secrets of great leaders, McGraw Hill Companies. 3. Chhokar, J.S., Broadbeck, F.C., & House, R.J. 2008, Culture and leadership, across the world: the globe book of in-depth studies of 25 societies, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 4. DeCarlo, D. 2010, Extreme project management: using leadership, principles, and tools to deliver value in the face of volatility, John Wiley Publishers. 5. Deresky, H. 2006, International management: managing across borders and cultures, Pearson Education Inc. 6. Hamilton, C. 2011, Communicating for results, Cengage Learning. 7. Harris, P.R. & Harris, K.G. 1996, Managing effectively through teams, Team Performance Management, Vol 2, No. 3, pp 23-36. 8. Herzog, P. 2011, Open and closed innovation – different culture for different strategies, Gabler Verlag. 9. Lee-Kelley, L., Crossman, A., & Cannings, A. 2004, A social interaction approach to managing the invisibles of virtual teams, Industrial Management and Data Systems, Vol 104, No. 8, pp 650-657. 10. Lumsden, G., Lumsden, D., & Wiethoff, C. 2010, Communicating in groups and teams: sharing leadership, Cengage Learning. 11. Maxwell, J.C. 2008, Go for gold: inspiration to increase your leadership impact, Thomas Nelson Inc. 12. Morschett, D., Schramm-Klein, H., & Zentes, J. 2010, Strategic international management: text and cases, Gabler Verlag. 13. Taleghani, G., Salmani, D. & Taatian, A. 2010, Survey of leadership styles in different cultures, Iranian journal of management studies, vol 3, no.3, pp 91-111. 14. Zenger, J.H., Folkman, J.R. & Edinger, S.K. 2009, The inspiring leader: unlocking the secrets of how extraordinary leaders motivate, McGraw Hills. Read More