The Phenomenon of Leadership - Essay Example

? Leadership Issues Introduction Leadership is the most important factor for any business. Leadership in business ensures thatthe customer and employee needs are fulfilled. Leadership keeps the business in running in the competitive market. Leaders must have skills which can be learnt such as effective communication, setting aims, giving orders, making decisions and others. A successful business organization always requires good leadership and management. This can be delivered by experienced leaders. Today, the business world has become more competitive because of which basic leadership skills are important (Storey, 2013). A leader links the business stakeholders to one another as they play the major role in communication. This is why ineffective leadership can create many issues and problems for the organization; internally and externally. It is important to understand that leadership and management can be two entirely different concepts. Managers are the ones that authorize tasks to the employees who are in a lower position. Managers are usually at a higher position than leaders. Leaders are people among the employees who are appointed to lead a certain activity or event. In this competitive world, the skill required for a manager has to be inborn, while skills for leadership can be learnt with experience and practice. Leadership comes to play where management is not sufficient enough. Leadership without any issues can build, encourage and promote efficient organizational culture and success. Managers may not be leaders, but leaders are always managers as well (Hackman & Johnson, 2009). At many occasions, leadership can be problematic for the business. Leaders have responsibilities that have to be fulfilled if the business has to grow and prosper. Leadership issues may affect the employees, the stakeholders, the business activities and the customers directly or indirectly. Leadership is given to those people who are experienced and who can carry out the responsibilities efficiently without risking the business name and growth. Leadership issues can be many which will be assessed in this paper but it is important to know why leadership needs to be flawless. Efficient leadership leads to many consequences for the business. Effective leadership builds confident in the employees and subordinates. It is the leader’s job to motivate the employees and encourage them to work in teams and achieve their objectives. When the leaders support the employees, they tend to be more productive and efficient. Leaders contribute in creating willingness among the employees to work hard and be productive. Efficient leaders also provide job satisfaction to the employees and team members. Leaders work in teams and their behavior and style effects the job satisfaction of the workers. A friendly and understanding leader would b able to manage the problems and employees efficiently. Activities can be organized if the leader understands his responsibilities and duties, employee morale will be increased at work, and coordination will bind the employees together towards one objective (Hackman & Johnson, 2009). Communication is seen as the most common problem among leaders and their subordinates in businesses. Efficient leaders ensure that they are carrying out effective communication to avoid issues. Ineffective communication can create many issues for the business internally and externally. Communication allows the employees to know and understand their jobs, the business strategies, goals and policies. Regular communication must take place through various modern methods of communication (Storey, 2013). Some businesses still use the traditional communication methods which can create issues and misunderstandings. Modern communication techniques include meetings, video calls, social networks, pagers, etc. Through communication, leaders can give prompt instructions and feedbacks to the employees. When leaders fail to communicate and respond to employee performances, issues tend to rise. Another issue is when the leaders are unable to take out time for their employees. Leaders are not supposed to be selfish or bossy. They should rather be friendly and interactive with their team members. Leaders should always be available for their people, thus they should schedule time out for meetings and sessions where they can talk with employees and listen to them to know them and their needs clearly. This would solve many problems as employees often undergo personal problems that reflect in their work. Another issue of leadership is the lack of staying in touch with the employees and monitoring them. Although leaders should show trust in their team members, they should not put their hand off completely. This would cause complications and misunderstandings. I observed this in my experience as a worker in the student center. The issue with the leader was that he assigned a task to the team members and then went busy with his own work. Any questions and clarifications were to be done at the time the task was given. However, there was no monitoring done throughout the work. When my colleague completed his project and handed it over, the leader found out that the employee had completely misunderstood the project and the entire assignment went wrong. Thus, leaders need to manage and monitor the activities regularly to avoid any mistakes. However, the leader should not also be very nosey (Hackman & Johnson, 2009). Sometimes an overfriendly attitude of the leader can also create issues as the employees start taking advantage. Even though a friendly approach would avoid many issues, but a balance is necessary for successful results. Another leadership issue is the failure to define the goals and strategies. The leader should be clear and comprehensible in the orders and instructions. If the goals are not well defined, the employees won’t be able to execute them properly or be productive. Some leaders also misunderstand the true motivation of the employees. Motivation does not only come from monetary reward, but also moral and emotional achievements. Employees should be praised, appreciated and honored when their work is good. This is a common leadership issue which many leaders do not understand. Leadership issues are also caused when leaders hurry in recruiting. Hurry in recruiting can cause long term problems for the business as wrong people may be recruited. This may be unproductive, ineffective and unsatisfying for the other employees and managers. Wrong people may also cause the need for extra training and waste of time and resources. Leadership issues also exist where the leader himself is not motivated or satisfied with the job. As the leader needs to set an example and inspire the subordinates, he should be a motivated and ideal personality. When the leader will be positive towards the work and the project, only then he will be able to spread positivity and willingness (Storey, 2013). Leaders may sometimes be too efficient to delegate tasks to his subordinates. Taking all workload on him can also be problematic as workers may start feeling distrusted or doubted. Leaders should delegate tasks more often but in a balanced way. The leaders should not be stressed out neither should they stress the workers. The workers should be told that they are a team and they would work together for the fulfillment of aims and objectives. Leaders should remember that they are not only leaders but managers as well and they will be answerable to the higher authority on behalf of all workers (Hackman & Johnson, 2009). Businesses operate in an economy which consists of all types of competitors and customers. The business has to deal with a number of people internally and externally. The business or the specific activity is represented by the leader assigned for that project. Many times when it is about the focus of accomplishments, leaders concentrate on their own individual accomplishments. Business organizations can face these issues with leaders who take all the credit to their selves as this affects the motivation and morale of the other employees too. It is the business responsibility to hire a leader who knows how to handle a team and does not take away all the credit. Leaders may also make assumptions that are wrong and which impact the progress and performance of the employees. At times, leaders make many decisions based on faulty assumptions which prove to be harmful for the business in the long term. Leaders should thus act logically and avoid making assumptions without having reasons to believe a fact. On the other hand, while making decisions, the leaders should make sure that there are no influencing factors, and that humanity and personal aspects are also considered. They should understand that employees and leaders are at different levels of expertise and everyone has a different style of work (Hackman & Johnson, 2009). Business deals with several challenges every day. These challenges are linked to customers, competitors, internal problems and many other issues. The leaders must be strong and vigilant enough to deal with those challenges and make appropriate decisions. Some leaders may be good at taking decisions after thinking and discussing but some emergency decisions may be required. Thus, leaders should be active and ready to respond to challenging situations that the business faces (Storey, 2013). Businesses may also face attitude problems with leaders. Any person who gains a high position in an organization develops some sort of pride or arrogance. This may be very problematic for the workers who are working under that leader. The leader must be down to earth and must not underestimate the other workers under him. The attitude that a leader carries affects the productivity and motivation level of the workers. When I worked in the student center of my university, the leader had some attitude issues which caused problems to many of the workers. Some of my colleagues were not happy with the leader’s attitude and it affected their productivity and satisfaction with their job. It is wrong to consider that there are no external challenges that the leaders have to face. If the leaders are unable to cope up with the external challenges, they are not efficient leaders. Such issues can be lack of funding, opposition from community, social, economic and political burdens and many more. These forces influence the business and the activities, and these should be managed by the leaders. The leaders must ensure that they respond to the problems, solve them and resolve conflicts so that opportunities are not wasted and the external issues go unnoticeable. It is important for the leader to manage these external challenges, because if he doesn’t handle them, the business won’t be able to handle them either (Hackman & Johnson, 2009). If the leader handles these issues efficiently, they will not spread among the workers and there will be no worries. When employees feel that the leader is tensed or worried, they become worried and stressed too. Because of this, the focus moves from the objectives to the worrisome situation. Internal challenges in leadership are what I experienced during my work in the student center. Although the leader was not bossy and did not interfere, he did not inspire or satisfy the workers. My colleagues felt that the leader had attitude and lacked monitoring the work, and then blaming the employees later. This attitude is unacceptable for many workers and they don’t feel comfortable working under such a leader. Because of these issues, the organization suffers as well and productivity is lowered. I was giving advices to students about their future university options, and my work was not monitored. At many occasions, because of lack of experience, I gave the wrong advice and my leader did not even point it out to me. This made me inefficient and the leader irresponsible. Leadership is a position where the individual gets a chance to express their own skills and attributes, but for the organization it is important that the leader is not selfish. If the leader is not thinking for the organization or not responding well to the internal challenges, then he is not doing his job efficiently. Issues in leadership arise when leaders are careless and irresponsible towards the internal challenges, strategies and goals. Leaders with attributes such as fear, insecurity, intolerance, impatience and lack of confidence can never be good leaders and will always face issues uncontrollably. Thus, leaders should have personal traits that set an example for other workers. Leaders with strong personalities are able to handle issues and challenges within the organization and also external forces. A leader must be moderate and must also be emotionally balanced. The real issue for leaders is to accept and understand their role, responsibility and duties and stand up to them accordingly. References Hackman M., Johnson C. (2009). Leadership: A Communication Perspective. NY: Waveland Press, Incorporated Storey J. (2013). Leadership in Organizations. London: Routledge Read More