Leadership Is Action and Not Position (The Enthusiastic Delegator) - Case Study Example

? Leadership Is Action and Not Position (The Enthusiastic Delegator) Overview Leadership can be viewed to be one of the imperative factors affecting the success or failure of an organization. Leadership plays a significant role in influencing and directing each member of the organization towards attaining shared vision and goals. At the present day context, leadership has become a key element in every part of human life. Contextually, it is recognized that certain leaders are born with the pertinent qualities and traits to be regarded as a born leader. However, certain leaders are required to develop the essential leadership qualities such as delegation, problem solving and efficient decision making among others to be regarded as a successful leader of an organization. True leaders can be regarded as those individuals who demonstrate positive attitude and intellectual speaking ability. These are the people who demonstrate their leadership traits through action and not by their position. An individual can possess a unique leadership style, however at times there is a requirement of altering the followed leadership style according to the situation in hand. In such scenarios, a leader needs to make pertinent decisions and properly delegate the required tasks among the subordinates to ensure proper flow of action in the organization. ‘Leadership is Action, Not Position’ is one of the famous quotes of Donald H. McGannon who operates ‘Westinghouse Broadcasting Corporation’ and also plays the role of President of ‘National Urban League (NUL)’. A person in order to become a successful leader needs to earn the respect of his/her followers by appropriate actions and not by the mere position of authority. . As a leader, an individual should realize that every action should reflect its reaction upon his or her attitude, integrity and ability (Bolden, 2004). Summary of the Pertinent Facts of the Case According to the case study, it has been observed that Charles Turner was promoted as a manager in the sales department at Universal Fibre and Textile Company. Moreover, the company had entered into the market two years before through selling a wide range of electrical insulation materials. The company’s entry into the market was quite successful through ‘High-ohm’ products. The company was going to launch its new manufacturing unit where production capacity was double than the previous manufacturing plant. The sales director of this company was still in doubt regarding Charles Turner’s position as a manager within the sales department. Moreover, sales director was also in doubt that how Charles Turner can manage the sales force of the company along with ensuring high ohm products manufacturing within the new plant. Furthermore, the sales director was personally expected to initiate the service of “house accounts” in order to increase the High-ohm products sales by about 25%. In this case study, it has been observed that Jim Ferris was one of the successful sales managers who operated in Northern and Midwest Area’s operations. Jim Ferris was considered as a high reputed, brilliant and successful salesman regarding industrial products. Being a successful sales manager Jim Ferris effectively managed the entire operational activities of the company which can be observed from the increase of sales of High-ohm products by about 44% in Midwest Area. Conversely, being a manager of Electrical Insulation Materials Sales Department, Charles Turner managed only 28% of the sales of High-ohm products in Southeast region. According to case study, the basic fact that has been observed is that being a successful employee Jim Ferris was not promoted as a manager in northwest sales department. By taking into concern the scenario provided in the case study, an interesting fact that has been observed is that Charles Turner was quite suspicious regarding his own capabilities and skills. He was a methodical, painstaking and cautious person, which can be regarded as among the essential qualities for managing a sales operation. His cautious attribute in almost every operation made him slow and uncertain in relation to his job responsibilities which hampered the productivity of the company to a certain extent. Moreover, Charles Turner thought that his behavior and attitude was suitable for the present ongoing operations of the company but he was quite doubtful about his capability as a successful leader. Contextually, it was observed that Frank Spofforth, an efficient manager of the company was urgently promoted from the post where Charles Turner was promoted. Within a short period of his takeover in the new position, Charles Turner took up the sole command of the operations with getting much of an opportunity of getting acclimatized in his position. According to aforementioned circumstances, Charles Turner always felt that leadership was developed by attaining high position and conversely, Frank Spofforth believed in securing his leadership position by implementing the work actions. From this case study, it has been identified that Mr. Spofforth managerial style implies that ‘the success of leadership is not comprehended solely by the position of a leader but it significantly involves taking pertinent actions’. One of the major problems that the company faced was to fill the vacancy regarding the post of southeast manager. Jim Ferris was the head of the sales department who looked after and managed Northern and Midwest area. After the initiation of new manufacturing plant, there were certain intermittent defects that were observed due to which the rate of production was continuously going down. Contextually, for this issue a number of customers of the company which included certain close associates started protesting against the new plant. Sales director wanted the reports regarding this issue. In this scenario, Charles Turner believed that it would take time to provide an accurate report in front of the director. Charles Turner decided to discuss with Jim Ferris regarding this problem and also to obtain an opportunity to proof that he was suitable for the new assigned post. His conversation regarding the problem with Jim Ferris quite satisfied him and helped him to make out satisfactory proposals for the reports. Moreover, Jim Ferris took the responsibility for scrutinizing the actual problem when Turner realized that it was his duty to analyze the operations of the company. Turner’s reactions through the depiction of his attitude and behavior implied that, he always believed that leadership can be obtained by achieving the higher position within an organization. An Appraisal of the Situation In order to evaluate the facts relating with the notion that “leadership is action not in position certain theoretical understandings need to be considered. Henry Mintzberg’s managerial roles and behavior is concept which has evaluated in relation to the provided case. In this case study, Charles Turner always anticipated that leadership must be achieved by attaining the position but conversely Frank Spofforth believed that leadership can be attained by executing the potential actions within the workplace. Henry Mintzberg affirms that leadership can be determined through analyzing the managerial roles (Burgaz, n.d.). There are ten managerial roles which need to be performed by a successful leader. Figurehead role: As a leader an individual should perform certain duties and responsibilities which should conform to legal as well as social features. In this case study, Charles Turner plays a figurehead role where he wants to take the entire responsibility of the sales operations but after being promoted to the position obtained by Frank Spofforth in the sales department, he did not obtain much of a guidance to learn leadership intricacies. Leader role: As a leader, an individual must take responsibility regarding the subunit function of an organization. Through this role, a manager should provide guidance to its subordinates by motivating them in every phase of operation. This kind of role was quite absent within the leadership attributes depicted by Charles Turner. After getting promoted in the same unit, Frank Spofforth took the entire responsibility of the operational system where he controlled and managed the employees in quite an effective manner. Liaison role: This role is one of the important responsibilities of a manager to run an organization in a successful manner. In this role, managers should maintain effective relationship with important individuals from both outside and inside of the organization who can prove as vital source of information. In this case study, Frank Spofforth plays an effective liaison role at the time of reorganization of the new plant. Monitor role: Charles Turner plays an effective role of a monitor when he was bestowed with the responsibilities to look after “house accounts” services of the company. He carefully monitored the export facility of the company. Apart from this, he also played an important monitoring role through which he solved the problems faced by the new manufacturing plant. Disseminator role: In accordance with the case study, it can be observed that both Charles Turner and Frank Spofforth play the role of effective disseminators by maintaining high level of authority within the entire sales department. Moreover, it has been observed that as a disseminator, Charles Turner always communicated effectively with every employee so that the capacity of production unit is able to fulfill the demands of the suppliers. Spokesperson role: In this role, every manager should prepare suitable reports and participate in meeting regarding the improvement of the operation of an organization. In this case study, it has been observed that when the company’s new plant faced certain problems regarding production, then the sales director wanted a report for this issue. In such an instance, Charles Turner played the role of a spokesperson effectively where he provided accurate report in front of the sales director in order to resolve certain discrepancies in the overall scenario. Resource allocator role: In relation to this case study, it can be observed that Charles Turner was required to play the role of a delegator in his new position. However, he did not demonstrate appropriate skills of resource allocation as he significantly favored to discuss major organizational issues with Jim Ferris only and at times neglected the participation of other members in the organization. Moreover, in order to understand the major roles of a successful leader it is necessary to identify the primary functions of the managers. Contextually, with the assistance of these five functions, it would be quite convenient to determine the true leader within an organization. The basic functions are planning, organizing, staffing and leading. Planning: Without making appropriate planning, it is quite difficult for an organization to operate in a successful way. In this case study, Universal Fiber and Textile Company does not make accurate planning prior to the implementation of necessary strategies. At the time of initiation and during the first two years of operations, the company was able to successfully market its products, but after opening the new plant the hierarchies of the company were not able to determine an appropriate plan which was suitable to increase the production of the company. Organizing: It is the duty of successful leader to allocate and to distribute the responsibilities among every employee. As a leader, it is recognized that Charles Turner, in his new position as a manager tended to favor only a certain section of employees with whom he communicated and organized the job responsibilities. These employees primarily included Jim Ferris. Staffing: After the initiation of new plant, several representatives have been recruited for different areas. The company maintains effective staffing procedure in order to increase the production capacity of the new plant. Leading: According to case study, it has been observed that Charles Turner does not demonstrate effective leadership skills because it is recognized that most of the times he depends on Jim Ferris’ advice regarding the decision of the organization. Moreover, Blackham and other area sales managers had doubted regarding the position of Charles Turner in terms of appropriately delegating work among the entire workforce. After the initiation of the new plant, Jim Ferris took the entire responsibility of the sales department and led the company in an effective manner. Moreover, in order to analyze the situation of the case, it is necessary to evaluate the functional model of leadership. Dr. John Adair was a prominent researcher in the field of leadership where he developed this model on the basis of three aspects. This model is also known as functional leadership model. These three aspects are task needs, individual needs and team maintenance needs. Figure: John Adair Leadership Functional Model Source: (Adair, 2007) In an organization, task refers to those activities which need to be fulfilled within a specific time period. With reference to the case study, it is observed that ‘Universal Fiber and Textile Company’ was not appropriately distributing the task among the staff members. Contextually, it has been observed that Charles Turner did not appropriately identify his own job tasks and always doubted regarding his position. Moreover, in the case study, it has been also observed that Frank Spofforth proved his leadership qualities by implementing his plans or strategies in a practical way. Moreover, Jim Ferris can also be considered as a successful leader as he significantly demonstrated that he comprehended the needs of each and every employee. Furthermore, it has been observed that after initiation of new plant Jim Ferris conducted area sales manager meeting in every month though it was the responsibility of Charles Turner. In this meeting, Jim Ferris played an effective role of delegator where he distributed job tasks among every area sales manager. Team maintenance needs is one of the difficult tasks for the managers where it is necessary to uphold the requirements of every team members towards the attainment of the organizational objectives. In this case study due to the problem of leadership position, top level managements did not appropriately identify the needs of every team member. Due to this issue, Charles Turner was not able to properly recognize his task through which he can increase the sales of ’High-ohm’ products within the new plant. It has been also observed that Jim Ferris did not lose his spirit of leadership where he took effective decisions regarding the operational activities of company. Moreover, in these circumstances, Jim Ferris also delivered positive support to every team member. Individual needs can refer to those needs through which an employee can obtain effective work support from his or her subordinates. Support can be referred as a motivating factor through which managers should influence their employees to derive effective performance within the workplace. In this case study, it has been observed that being a manager of sales department, Charles Turner did not obtain adequate work support from his director. Contextually, he doubted his own ability to lead the team effectively and largely depended upon Jim Ferris’ advice. In terms of individual needs, Charles Turner obtained effective job support from Jim Ferris in every level of decision making procedures. Plausible Alternative Strategies and Likely Consequences In modern business world, employees’ operational activities are controlled by the hierarchies or supervisors. Through effective demonstration of leadership style, management hierarchies can manage and control their employees which can create a positive impact upon the productivity of the organization. In order to deliver positive responses to the employees, managers should obtain certain leadership strategies which can be helpful for fulfilling the objectives of the organizations. In this case study, it has been observed that there are several issues regarding leadership position which was faced by Charles Turner. Transformational leadership strategy, autocratic leadership strategy and transactional leadership strategy are three major leadership strategies though which it quite helpful to identify the scenarios prevailing in the case. Transformational leadership can be implemented by the managers when an organization is in transitional phase. Contextually, if an organization is restructuring, expanding internationally or initiating a new plant then transformational leadership strategy is quite essential in order to ensure effective and successful operation. It is a kind of strategy through which a leader can influence his/her followers or employees to adopt changes or transitions smoothly and remain committed towards the organization objectives (Sheahan, 2013). Autocratic leadership strategy can be considered as authoritative approach. This kind of leader is task-driven and always plays a positive role for providing direction to the employees. Autocratic leaders believe in spending less time for recognizing their employees or subordinates’ needs and provide more time in delivering accurate resources and tools to enhance the productivity of the organization (Sheahan, 2013). Transactional leadership can be considered as a strategy which can be established on the basis of the idea that employees who can perform effectively can get rewarded in order to encourage their future performance (Sheahan, 2013). Choice of Action and Strategy with Justification According to case study, it has been observed that Charles Turner had been promoted in the same position as was acquired by Frank Spofforth. After a few days of promotion, Charles Turner was required to take the entire responsibilities and to obtain the sole command within the overall sales department. However, due to this circumstance, Charles Turner was quite disappointed and thought that transition period was too short. Moreover, he also felt that he needed time to work with Frank Spofforth in order to understand the full responsibilities of the job related task. By taking into consideration regarding these aforementioned circumstances, it is quite essential for Charles Turner to follow and to implement transformational leadership strategy. Through this strategy, he can understand the effect of transition and can also comprehend the job responsibilities in an effective manner. Moreover, with the help of this strategy, he can appropriately comprehend regarding the restructuring of new plant. Contextually, with the help of this strategy, Charles Turner can evaluate his employees’ needs and values as well as act accordingly through which he can prove himself to be a successful leader. Furthermore, by implementing this strategy, he can effectively adopt the changes with regard to new plant through which he can operate in an effective manner. Transactional leadership can also prove as a useful strategy through which Charles Turner can motivate his employees and enhance the production of ‘High-ohm’ products within the new plant. Through this strategy, he can identify the performances of employees who were recently recruited for new manufacturing plant. Moreover, with the assistance of this strategy, Charles Turner can encourage his workers in order to increase the sales of electrical insulation as well as ’High-ohm’ products. An Analysis of Generalizations From the overall observation of the case study, it can be learned that leadership can be demonstrated by incorporating positive activities within the organization. In order to obtain the position of a successful leader, an individual should develop unique ideas and implement accurate strategies which must be followed by the every member of the organization in a positive manner. Successful leaders should always attempt to generate positive ideas and focus on task oriented activities along with influencing employees to follow them. Through this case study, it has been viewed that after obtaining the position of a manager, Charles Turner was in doubt regarding his promotion and lacked self-belief. It can be stated that self-belief is a key attribute of a leader which facilitates the person to take accurate decisions in the right time. Moreover, in relation to the case, it can be stated that it was the responsibility of Charles Turner to think about the operational activities rather than his position related complexities. Conversely, Frank Spofforth can be regarded as a successful leader because he always believed that leadership position can be achieved by implementing positive actions within the workplace. Furthermore, from this case study, it has been learned that for being a successful leader managers should understand and resolve the problems which can arise in relation to the employees in the workplace. Therefore, it can be said that true leaders always motivate their followers to embrace and deal with every complex situation in a positive manner. References Adair, J. (2007). Develop your leadership skills. Retrieved from http://lib.nu.edu.sa/uploads/m1/22.pdf Burgaz, B. (n.d.). Managerial roles approach and the prominent study of Henry Mintzberg and some empirical studies upon the principals work. Retrieved from http://www.efdergi.hacettepe.edu.tr/199713BERR%C4%B0N%20BURGAZ.pdf Bolden, R. (2004). What is leadership?. Retrieved from https://eric.exeter.ac.uk/repository/bitstream/handle/10036/17493/what_is_leadership.pdf?sequence=1 Sheahan, K. (2013). Business leadership strategies. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/business-leadership-strategies-2630.html Read More