Managers versus Those of Subordinates - Research Paper Example

Leadership Table of Contents Analysing and Descriptions of Different Leaderships Styles 1 How Managers Interpret Leaderships to Their Subordinates 7 Leadership: The Descriptions and Interpretations of Managers versus Those of Subordinates Analysing and Descriptions of Different Leaderships Styles Leadership is said to have possessed by an individual if the person can influence the subordinates and ensure that they carry out the job responsibilities according to the needs of a particular situation. A leader is categorized as good or bad depending on the strategies that the person adopts to get the work done. Generally, a leader is said to be effective if the person is apt in solving problems, taking major decisions, guide the subordinates thereby helping them to solve their work-related problems. This would drive the growth of the organisation transforming a work group to a well-knitted team. Leadership style depends on the strategies adopted by a manager to ensure that organisational objectives are met. Leadership styles vary with every individual according to their personal traits, preferences and their values, attitudes and beliefs. It also depends on the situation a manager is subjected to at a certain point of time. Managerial styles of leadership vary with the work culture of an organisation. A target–driven organisation and an organisation performing routine tasks would not require similar type of leadership skills. Leadership styles depend on an individual’s personal characteristics and his/her perception. It is also largely affected by his/her personal life status. It was argued in the past that leaders were born and could not be made but with changing business scenario and organisational framework, this idea has undergone a sea change. Organisations now believe that leaders can be made. It depends on the situational forces to shape a leader out of an individual. It has not been possible to pin point an exact leadership style that should be followed to maximise outcomes as the most suitable leadership style for a particular organisation depends on the its culture, values, ethics and the nature of work carried out. Some of the most commonly practiced leadership styles can be broadly classified as: Autocratic style Participative style Delegative Style Transformative Transactional Bureaucratic Servant Task-oriented People-Oriented Laissez Faire Autocratic Style: This is one of the classical forms of leadership style. In this type of leadership, subordinates have a narrow option of venting their feelings or suggestions to the leader. This type of leadership style exists in organisations which are very formal and have a strong chain of command. The mode of decision making in these organisations follow a top-down approach and it has a strict chain of hierarchy. This type of leadership style is found in organisations which are pyramidical in structure with absolutely no flexibility provided to the employees with regards to work processes or employee norms. The leaders following an autocratic style do not encourage the employees to play a role in decision making. The chain of command is unilateral. It is always a one–way process directed from the leader to the subordinate. This type of leaders directs their subordinates and ensures that their orders are strictly abided by. These leaders are known to reinforce punitive forms of discipline if their instructions are not carried out properly. But this type of leadership is effective in case of emergency situation or when a certain task has to be accomplished within a certain stipulated time with minimal errors in it. Subordinates always feel stressed working under these leaders. If this style of leadership is persistent in an organisation, it might lead to higher rates of absenteeism and labour turnover. Participative style: Leaders having participative style of management allow the subordinates to play a part in the decision making process. The work cultures of this organisation’s are generally informal and supportive. The employees are allowed to express their views and punitive measures are not adopted. This type of leadership is also known as the supportive or democratic leadership style. The subordinates are kept well informed about the decisions that would affect their work in the future or about any significant changes that would be incorporated within the work culture prior to the actual implementation of such changes. This helps in preserving an open culture where managers can be readily approached by the subordinates in case of any difficulties faced. The subordinates are encouraged to play a vital role in problem solving and target-setting activities. These leaders are prompt in earning the trust and confidence of their subordinates. This also helps in increasing the levels of employee morale and motivation which helps them in meeting targets readily. As a result, the performance levels of the subordinates are found to increase by a considerable extent. This also helps in building team culture and enhances the quality of work delivered by the subordinates. Delegative Style: These leaders allow their subordinates to play a significant role in problem solving. Leaders following this form of leadership always prefer in setting targets in consultation with the subordinates. The subordinates are encouraged to play a vital role in decision making. This type of leadership is preferred in organisations which have an informal organisational culture and resembles a more or less flat organisation. The decision making is a two–way process with managers and subordinates making joint decisions. These leaders allow the subordinates to choose specific tasks from a wide range of available tasks according to their level of individual preferences and knowledge compatibility. Work is not forced on the subordinates but interest is shown by the leader to solve any work-related problem faced by the subordinates. These leaders monitor the performance levels of the subordinates and gives suitable suggestions to improve the same. The subordinates are allowed to evaluate the standards of their performance and take corrective measures to improve the same. Transformative Leaders: As the name suggests, these leaders aim at bringing ‘change’ within their subordinates in relation to their organisational beliefs, attitudes and values. These leaders can be considered to be ideal leaders who motivates and inspires the subordinates to achieve specific objectives. These leaders help the subordinates to prioritise the organisational goals instead of their personal objectives. They believe in participation and democratic style of management where decision making is considered as a two way process. They stress on the fact that employee participation in problem solving and decision making should be encouraged. Transformative leaders are found to adopt strategies which lead to the empowerment of their subordinates. They condemn the fact of being authoritative and maintaining strict chain of hierarchy. They believe in the values of equality and fair justice. Punitive measures are not adopted by them to make the subordinates aware of their authority. They don’t believe in controlling their subordinates but building strong ties with them to achieve greater objectives. These leaders follow the ‘selling style’ as identified by the Hersey-Blanchard’s situational leadership theory. Transactional Style: Transactional leaders believe in the fact that subordinates get motivated when they come to know about the rewards or the penalties/punishments which are associated with the fulfillment or non-fulfillment of specific job duties. They stress on the role played by the reward system in increasing the performance levels of the subordinates. Transactional leadership generally has a profound effect in organisations which have a formal structure and have a strict disciplined environment. This form of leadership reinforces punitive measures that would be adopted in case of failure to complete scheduled task on time. Bureaucratic Style: This leadership style is mainly found in organisations which have a formal structure and follow a strict chain of command. Organisations which are pyramidical in structure encourage this form of leadership style. These leaders believe in following every norm outlined by the organisation and strictly adhering to the decisions made by the management. This style of leadership is preferred in organisations where employees perform routine jobs with no change in their daily operations. This type of leadership lowers the morale of the workers and leads to de-motivation. The subordinates do not feel the urge to outperform themselves. Servant style: This type of leadership depends on the situation. Leaders falling into this category emerge when they are made to work in a team and are directed to carry out specific tasks. These leaders are generally very supportive and helpful in nature and it is this trait that helps them to emerge as a leader. These leaders emerge during a particular situation. Task-oriented style: These leaders believe in achieving the end result. They are basically performance oriented and adopt measures to ensure that their subordinates are able to achieve the organisational objectives. They adopt strategies to ensure that the subordinates are able to meet the deadlines. These leaders are ‘production–oriented’ as pointed out by Michigan studies. These leaders are only worried about the deadlines and would make it a point to ensure that their subordinates are able to accomplish the tasks allocated to them. These types of leaders are not generally preferred by the subordinates as they do not believe in socially interacting with them. So, this leads to increased rates of absenteeism and huge levels of labour turnover. These leaders underestimate the role of employee engagement within the organisation. People-Oriented leaders: These leaders are generally popular amongst the subordinates. They believe in relationship building and thus are able to gain the trust and confidence of the subordinates within a shorter span of time. As a result the subordinates have an increased level of motivation which enhances their morale and helps them to perform better. This also lowers the rates of absenteeism and labour turnovers within an organisation. Laissez Faire style: This type of leadership can be suitably explained as the ‘hands-off’ style of managing the subordinates. These types of leaders believe in giving total freedom to the workers with respect to the work or duties that need to be performed by them in order to meet organisational objectives. This type of leadership can only be found in a flat organisation where there is no chain of hierarchy. Leaders are said to follow this style when they allow the subordinates to make decisions and are adopt measures accordingly to resolve any work related problem. Though this type of leadership helps the subordinates to feel at ease without being pressurised but it does not help them in understanding whether the methods followed by them in carrying out a job is appropriate or need modifications. Leadership styles vary with organisations and there are many new styles like the creative leadership style, the corrective leadership style, change leadership style, the intelligence leadership style, the multicultural leadership style and the pedagogical leadership style which have been developed by combining the features of the above mentioned leadership styles. How Managers Interpret Leaderships to Their Subordinates Depending on the style of leadership followed by a manager, the interpretation made by the subordinates differs accordingly. The effect that managerial leadership styles have on the subordinates depends on the organisational structure, the work culture of the organisation and the nature of work carried out in the organisation. Various behavioural and contingency leadership theories help to understand the role played by managers in motivating the subordinates and increasing their level of performance. Ohio and Michigan studies have pointed out that leaders generally display two types of behaviours–one is task orientation and another relationship orientation. The organisations which are target oriented needs managers who would be task oriented. This type of leadership would help the subordinates to meet their deadlines on a timely basis. In these organisations, managers have to identify the methods by which their subordinates are able to increase their performance levels so that the organisation is able to render greater customer satisfaction. But though this leadership helps in conforming to the deadlines, subordinates feel stressed and sometimes demoralised working under such leaders. This also lowers the motivation levels and may lead to higher attrition levels. Subordinates do not prefer working under such leaders as they do not emphasize on relationship building but are always concerned about work targets. This pressurizes the subordinates and even in extreme situations may lead to building of grievances. On the other hand, managers who stress on relationship building are liked by their subordinates. This increases their motivation to perform better. The managers are able to easily earn the trust and confidence of the subordinates. This lowers rate of absenteeism and subordinates become willing to carry out the orders of their managers. The managers who practice relationship building are very supportive and friendly in nature. They believe that stress and punitive measures may increase the performance levels of the employees for a short span but would not lead to the fulfillment of the long term objectives of the company. To maintain a stable talented workforce, it’s necessary to have a balanced role without underestimating the objectives of the organisation or the individual needs of the subordinates. Fiedler Model of leadership proposed that leadership styles differ with individuals’. It is not possible for an individual to mold his leadership style according to the requirements of a situation. It totally depends on the situation that which manager would be able to meet the present requirements of the job. Managers should be chosen according to the demands of the organisation. A mismatch between situational needs and the type of leader chosen can jeopardize the whole thing and create big hurdles in the smooth operation of an organisation Managers have to attain certain goals set by the management. Keeping that in mind, they try to guide and direct the subordinates in attaining the end result. Subordinates would always prefer managers who follow a participative style or a delegative style of leadership and they would not like managers who crave for power and follow an autocratic style of leadership. Managers who prioritise the importance of strengthening relationship with their subordinates are able to motivate the employees. This helps in raising their performance standards. Subordinates like to work under these leaders as they feel that these managers do not view them as mere productive units but as human resources who have a need for social interaction and realize the fact that they play a vital role in the overall success of the organisation. With the changing business scenario and with the growing urge of the organisations to carve out a niche in the industry, it is of utmost importance that managers become effective leaders who would enable the organisation’s to achieve long term objectives. It has become the sole responsibility of managers to retain their workforce which can only be done by being effective leaders. The subordinates must not feel left out or dissatisfied with the work culture. Managers must be able to anticipate the needs of the subordinates and the work related problems and must be able to adopt suitable measures to motivate the employees accordingly. This would not only increase the possibilities of employees staying longer in an organisation but would also ensure that the employees feel committed to the organisational values. A good leader would always help in developing an efficient work force which will be eager to perform at higher standards and thus enable an organisation to meet its underlined long-term objectives. Bibliography Bryman A., 1986. Leadership and Organisations. Routledge Leadership, 1994. Churchill Murray Publications George W. W. ,et.al.,2007.True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership, John Wiley and Sons Koestenbaum P., 2002. 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