Leadership and Organizational Behavior - Essay Example

Leadership is an important topic in the corporate world. Companies require that its employees particularly its managers have good leadership skills. The use of leadership is not limited to the managerial staff it can manifest itself within any of the workers of the organization. Leadership can be defined as a special case of interpersonal influence that gets an individual or group to do what the leaders wants done (Schermerhorn & Hunt & Osborn). The success of a business depends on the ability of its managers to demonstrate leadership in all its business activities. An important skill that leaders must possess is communication skills. A good leader must have superb verbal and written communication skills. Verbal communication skills are required to inspire others to achieve a higher level of performance. Managers are responsible over the performance of the company and its entire staff. Excellent communication skills are needed by managers because they are require to submit different reports to a variety of stakeholder groups which include lenders, employees, suppliers, government, board of directors, and investors. Active listening skills are important for leaders to possess. The use of active listening implies fully concentrating on what is being said rather than just passively ‘hearing’ the message of the speaker (Skillsyouneed). A leader must have excellent analytical abilities due to the fact that leaders are exposed to vast amounts of information. He must be able to dissect information in order to make good operating decisions. Since leaders have to interact with lots of persons the leader must have good people and interpersonal skills. “Interpersonal skills are measures of how adept you are at interacting with others” (Ncsu). Leaders are assertive and have confidence in themselves. Two important abilities that leaders have are collaboration and teamwork. Teamwork has become a critical success factor in the 21st century. Leadership skills can be enhanced through the use of teamwork. Negotiation skills are also a part of the skill set of a leader. An important role that a leader must perform is to motivate others. A technique that leaders such as managers can use to motivate others is intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. An example of an extrinsic reward is offering financial incentives such as bonuses, while an intrinsic reward could be giving an employee a pad in the back for a job well done. To understand the application of leadership in the workplace a few examples are going to be given. Four examples of leadership are: A manager organizing a rally to give an inspiration speech to the employees. A team leader getting feedback from the other team members. A basketball coach giving instructions on final play to win the game. A college professor guiding the education of his students. Using teamwork can help develop the leadership, communication, and problem solving skills of the staff. A leader realizes that human capital is the most valuable asset of an organization. Leaders foster work environments in which all employees are equal. Empowering the employees is another way to develop leadership in the workplace. When employees are given more responsibility they feel more important. Delegation is an effective strategy to foster leadership in the workplace. Great leaders are able to handle conflict. Conflict in the workplace is an undesirable outcome that hurts the productivity of the employees. Five conflict resolution techniques that leaders can use to deal with conflict are accommodation, collaboration, compromise, avoidance, and authoritative command. There are different leadership styles that can be used by a leader. Three leadership styles are charismatic, transactional, and transformational leadership. Charismatic leadership refers to leaders that by force of their personal abilities are able to influence others. Charismatic leaders gain power by virtue of their personality. Transactional leadership involves leader follower exchanges necessary to achieve routine performance. The four dimensions of transactional leadership are contingent rewards, active management by exception, passive management by exception, and laissez-faire (Schermernhorn, et al.).Transformational leadership is leaders that inspire others to look beyond their own interests. Two examples of transformational leaders are Steve Jobs and current U.S. president Barack Obama. Three important leadership theories are: Fielder’s contingency theory of leadership considers situational control which is the extent to which a leader can determine what the group is going to do. House path goal theory assumes that a leader’s key function is to adjust his or her behavior to compliment situational contingencies. Hersey and Blanchard situational leadership model argues that situational leadership requires adjusting the leader’s emphasis on task behaviors (Schermernhorn, et al.). Leadership is very important within a team. For a team to properly function a team leader has to be selected to guide the efforts of the group. This team leader can be assigned by the manager of the workers or it can be selected by the team members themselves. The leader is responsible for coordinating the efforts of the members of the team. He should also serve the role of liaison between the group and the managerial staff. He has to ensure that all the team members understand the tasks assigned to them. It is important for the team leader to monitor the work of the members that to keep the group motivated. Whenever complex tasks are given coordination and communication becomes more important. Functional leadership can also occur within a team. Functional leadership is the use of practical informal leadership. When a small team is arranged all team members should exert a certain level of leadership since all members are responsible for the delivery of the final product on time and in compliance with all the requirements of the project. The practice of leadership has become extremely important in the competitive work environment of today. The managerial staff of a company must have superb leadership skills since they are responsible for its performance. Some important skills that leaders must possess are communication, interpersonal, people, active listening, and analytical skills. Three leadership styles that leaders can apply are charismatic, transactional, and transformational leadership. Good leaders work well with others and they inspire and motivate their peers. Works Cited Ncsu.edu. “Interpersonal Skills.” 24 April 2014. Schermerhorn, John, James Hunt, and Richard Osborn. Organizational Behavior (8th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. 2003. Print. Skillsyouneed.com. 2014. “Active Listening Skills.” 24 April 2014. Read More