The Effective Leadership as a Process - Essay Example

Leadership Leadership is a diverse and complex field of knowledge. Through research I have realized that leadership is abroad topic that is essential in our day to day lives. It is evident that leadership plays a great role in for a country to develop or for a firm to grow. The different styles of leadership used by the managers and supervisors determine how efficient a firm will be. I have come to realize this after interacting with leaders that have used different styles of leadership. This paper is a leadership personal essay which discusses my past, present and future understanding of leadership concepts and personal experiences in a clear and outright way. My definition of leadership in the past has been the ability to control and supervise individuals to do a certain task. This made me view individuals that were ranked higher than others to control the way forward of the group and situation as leaders. I was keen in the leadership of various presidents as they took control of millions of citizens by guiding them in decision making of policies for the nations. The decisions made by the presidents determined a lot whether the country was prepared for the dynamic future. It is apparent that my view of leadership was on what a person deed. In reference to the dimensional model about the four quadrants, my view of leadership was of the Q-3 quadrant. In the Q-3 quadrant I referred individual as leaders due to their warm and friendly approach. This is by keeping people happy and being smooth over conflict. My earlier ideal leader was a thoughtful person who before making decisions, he or she considered the impact of the decisions to the relevant people. Also, he was the person that others followed in terms of vision and mission of an organization. An ideal leader to me was the one ethical in her dealings, and this made him be a role model to others. It is evident that an ideal leader fought for the rights of his people one that I recall is Nelson Mandela. He stood his ground to fight for equality among the blacks and the whites. He obtained referent power, this is power based on subordinates identification with the leader. Nelson Mandela had influence because of charisma and reputation. The referent power made followers wish to be like him and be associated with him. A few years ago I interacted with a leader who was the CEO of an ICT company in Europe. At the time we met he had been in that position for three years. One thing I realized was that he was a dominator as he used the autocratic style of leadership. He led the Firm through command and control. He told others what to do and expected them to do it. Because of his low empathy scale he did not care of how the subordinates responded. When some members were resistant, he disciplined them, and these could cause some to leave the firm. It is apparent that most of his followers had an inferiority complex that made the firm work inefficiently. As the CEO he obtained legitimate power by having the position in the organization. I also found out that he used coercive power to the subordinates by threatening them that they would lose their jobs if they did not perform as to his expectations. The use of coercive power made the employees to be productive when he was present in the firm. This is because the employees felt not being valued by the management and hence lacked commitment in their given tasks. The communication level of the CEO and the employees was alarming as there was no upward communication which is essential to give feedback because of the autocratic style of leadership. The lack of upward communication led to the CEO to not realize in good time when a problem arose in the Firm. The CEO did not follow the five step format in his meetings. There was no step 4 about motivation. He started by sizing up, it involves forming a judgment about an issue that is of concern to the firm. In the context of an organization the CEO would make the decisions that he viewed would improve the Firms operations. The step two which is organizing, the CEO would plan on how the set policies would be implemented and in which departments. Step three then followed where communication of the set policies would be done to the subordinates’ staff. The last step of adapting would follow and it involved implementation of the set policies by the employees. There are cultural differences that I saw in the ICT firm that contributed to its inefficiency. The CEO was of Q1 of dominator as he was from the Middle East. It is evident that the culture of most of Middle East countries embraces domination type of rule where people lead through command and rule. Most of the workers in the Organization were locals and some were from the neighboring European countries. The people in the European countries fall in the Q4 quadrant of collaborator. The model in the Quadrant encourages responsibility and involves people in decision making. The different cultures in the organization staff and CEO made it difficult to have a collaborative input in the firm in it operations. This is because there was resistance from the staff due to how they were handled by the CEO. In the present, I describe leadership as a process where influence is essential in accomplishing objectives and ensuring an organization is coherent. A position such as a supervisor and manager gives ones the go-ahead to accomplish certain tasks and roles the power in those positions never make someone an effective leader. It is evident that the positions make someone a boss. I have realized that leadership is supposed to make the employees desire to achieve better goals rather than only giving commands to people (Neck, 272). I have come to know that leaders are not born. This is because when you have the ambition you can be a competent leader. Effective leaders develop continually through training, self-study, experience and education. As for a leader to inspire others to a higher level of teamwork, one must have certain skills and knowledge. There are several ways that shows how individuals become leaders. One is through leadership development. It is evident that personality traits of some individuals have led them into leadership. The other way is that people can learn to be leaders. This is by learning leadership skills that are referred to as transformational leadership theory. I think if people were to describe my current leadership style it would be democratic leadership. This makes me to be in the quadrant 4 of a collaborator. This is because I give a chance to others in contributing to the decisions that are to be made. This makes people be motivated by working with me as they feel they are of value to the group. I also create a friendly environment as no one is restricted to talk to me if there are issues of concern that rises in the group. It is through this vertical communications that problems are solved as soon as they arose making the group perform well and be efficient. I use referent power here as people tend to trust and respect me. I have also created a platform where we recognize any member of the group that does an exemplary work. It is evident through this I use reward power. This motivated the members to give their best and be innovative. Currently I have come to understand the power of using the five step process in leadership. First by sizing up am able to form a judgment of what needs to be improved in the group for it to perform better. The second step of organizing helps in planning on how a certain problem will be solved and be implemented. Organizing is an essential step where brainstorming helps in coming up with the best solutions. The third step of communication helps in creating awareness to the subordinates and members of a certain group of the decision that have been made. The fourth step of motivation helps the members of one’s group to be committed to embracing the set procedures. The last step which is adapting process involves the act of implementing on the new ideas. This step is essential as the leadership has been dynamic throughout the years. I have come to understand that the basis of a good leadership is selfless service to his organization and an honorable character. In your subordinates’ eyes, your leadership is everything you do that affects the organization’s objectives and their well-being. Statistics has shown that respected leaders concentrate on what they are in terms of character and beliefs. The leaders also concentrate on what they know such as tasks and human nature. I have come to realize that when someone is deciding to respect you as his leader, he does not look at your attributes. He is observant of your actions so that she can find out who you are. He can tell if you are a respectable and competent leader or a selfish individual (Neck, 278). In the future as organizations transition from a more traditional hierarchal structure to a more team based structure, the role and function of leadership is going to change. This has led to my change in definition of an effective leader as an individual who is involved with balancing varying interests among employees, managers, and other stakeholders. His impact in an organization is evident in how he relates and motivates others in achieving the set goals. It is apparent that an effective leader is innovative as he has many sources of getting new ideas such as from his interaction with employees and continuous education. As for me to become like my ideal type of leader I have to do several things. One is that I have to train continually on leadership. This is through attending workshops, seminars and taking courses that will impact on me being an effective leader. I also have to improve my communication skills. This will help me in my interaction with others in an organization and the act of handling crisis between the employees. According to the dimensional model I have to continue being in the fourth quadrant of a collaborator. It will help in having a good relationship with my juniors of which is essential for any organization. I also have to learn to be selfless so as to prioritize on the organization well-being and competitiveness. It is essential that I am ethical in my actions and dealing as the employees will be keen in what I do. It is evident that actions will speak louder than words of the quality of a leader I will be to the subordinates. There are personal barriers that I must overcome in making the changes I desire to be an ideal leader. One is of inferiority complex, by overcoming it I will have the confidence to talk to different individuals and take bold actions when necessary. Another personal barrier is of culture. I have to be aware of the various cultures so as to know how to deal with different people without interfering with their cultural practices and beliefs. The other personal barrier I have to overcome is my fluency in communication. This will make it easy for people to understand what I am saying when communicating. In conclusion, it is evident that effective leadership is essential in our day and age. The dimensional model provides us with four quadrants that refer to different kinds of leadership. The first quadrant a leader tends to use the coercive power and legitimate power. Quadrant two of the avoider the leader uses legitimate power. As for the third quadrant of collaborative the leaders uses the referent, legitimate and reward power. The five step process is essential as it creates a platform of understanding in an organization and effective implementation of new ideas. Currently, I tend to describe leadership as a process where influence is essential in accomplishing objectives and ensuring an organization is coherent. Work Cited Neck, P.C. Self-leadership. USA: Emarald Group Publishing. 2006. Print. Read More