Personal Leadership Skills And Developing Of Leadership Philosophy - Case Study Example

Personal Leadership Skills And Developing Of Leadership Philosophy Table of Contents Introduction 2 Leadership Behavior and Traits 3 The Expectancy Theory of Motivation 5 Coaching as Philosophy of Leadership 8 Coaching Characteristics 9 Fallacies 10 Coaching Skills and Techniques 11 Conclusion 15 References 17 Bibliography 19 Introduction The survival in this era of unpredictable change surmounts to enormous pressure on the executives and the employees to rapidly keep up with the pace of change. Different views are held by different organizations with reference to such change, for some it is an opportunity while others may perceive it to be a risk. Whatever may be the views, the sole criteria for the success springs from managing the change and not from restraining it. Managing change is the key to success. Managing the change resides in the domain of the exceptional leadership and not the management. Leadership represents the essential facet of the management. Leaders are the source of inspiration and guiding force in the organization. Visionary and adaptive leadership ensures that the activities align with the goals and objectives of the organization. Leaders must be influential, with excellent problem solving ability and versatile in dealing with the complex situation. Leaders are those who acknowledge the importance of teamwork and as an effective team-leader motivates and empowers others to employ their full potential in the success of the organization. Though the leadership skills are innate, it can be achieved through the continuous learning and development process. Leaders have distinct vision accompanied by undaunted will to the transform the vision into the feasible course of action. Leaders take the responsibility for the risk and failure. According to Kets de Vries (2006), leadership is an assemblage of distributive, collective and complementary characteristics. It would be quite sensible to express that management is incomplete without the leaders (Vries, 2008). The leadership skills of an individual within the organization help to make the roles and responsibilities compatible with the management of the organization. Efficiency and effectiveness can be achieved by administering coaching culture that will be able to suffice the needs of the organization. Induction of such coaching culture is not an easy task as it poses a lot of challenges both on the micro and macro level of the organizational system. Sustainable development of such culture demands a high level of transparency, trust and support on the part of the group members in question (Vries, 2008). Leader as a coach to the group member opens the avenue to act as the tutor and the mentor to each individual within the group. They form pillars of strength by creating enthusiasm among the group members, listening actively and providing the emotional support by constantly encouraging and motivating them. Leaders should emanate positive attitude from each and every team members under guidance. Variety of tools and techniques are employed by the leaders to enhance their coaching skills. The leaders as a coach should emphasize on building the relationship that is open and informal. The two way communication ensures the leaders to strengthen their loop holes and foster growth towards the development of the organization as a whole. The virtues and the commitment of leaders portray the future of the organization. Leadership Behavior and Traits Leadership behavior is characterized by complex behaviors. There are number of traits associated with the leadership such as personal beliefs, principles, achievement, acceptance, powerful influencer, confidence and a great personality. According to trait theory, leaders are born but in accordance to the behavioral theory leaders are made. There are basically four types of leadership. Transformational leadership develops a vision and transforms it into the action by constantly motivating and inspiring the group members. This leadership style focuses on building the strong relationship within the group members as the mentor and coach. Transactional leadership has extrinsic orientation where the reward and punishment are used as the key motivator by the leaders. However, this task versus people approach is mostly accepted but it does not give a comprehensive view of the leadership behavior. Contingency theory provides the explanation as to the failure of the leaders to effectively handle one situation when the same leader was found to be quite efficient in tackling another situation. This led to the development of the situational leadership theory which resembled the task versus people approach but these leaders employs the leadership style in accordance to the situation that is most likely to impact the followers (University of Cincinnati, 2004). Hersey and Blanchard have analyzed that the motivation and skills are the factors that influence the decision making process in the given situation. They have recognized the leadership style to be the combination of directing, delegating, coaching and supporting style. Directing style is associated with the strict supervision and control of the group members. In delegating style, the leaders delegate the responsibilities to the working members. In coaching style, the leaders provide detail evaluation of the task to the group members and offer the suggestions while constantly leading the group members. The supporting style stresses on the team work where leader resorts to the supportive environment rather than control and delegation (Erven, 2001). The successful leaders are those who have the power to motivate and inspire the team members to work towards the achievement of the goals of the organization. The study will critically examine the coaching ability of the leaders in leading the group members. A leader as a coach encompasses integration, interaction and awareness. A leader needs to have good communication skills to ensure effectiveness with excellent listening ability and constructive arguments. They are supposed to hold on to integrity, encourage enthusiasm and sense of belonging among the group members. It is the responsibility of the leaders to engage the members in the activity towards the agreed objectives through harmonious involvement. The coaching leaders facilitate interaction among the group members. The control of the entire unit and decision rests in the hand of the coach (SOAR, n. d). The Expectancy Theory of Motivation Motivating the workers is one of the most important skills of the management. Motivating also forms an integral part of coaching. Expectancy theory provides a detailed explanation since it incorporates other motivational theories such as goal theory and behavior modification theory. It also guides the leader to develop the constructive effort among the group members. Vroom’s expectancy theory emphasizes on the need as opposed to the outcome. It relates with the cognitive behavior such as the thoughts and desires of the motivated person. The effort put by the person is directly proportional to the expected reward. The expectancy theory comprises of three basic components of motivation namely valence, instrumentality and expectancy. In other words, it is also known as VIE theory. Valence is the importance perceived by an individual with respect to the particular outcome. For example, a worker may be motivated by money or promotion. Instrumentality is the individual’s assessment that the performance will yield desired outcome. Expectancy theory is the assessment of an individual that by resorting to increased effort, better performance can be expected. Expectancy theory is based on the perception of the individual towards the effort and outcome. The goal theory, behavior modification and recognition are the most important aspects of the motivation approach. The goal setting process enunciates that the behavior of an individual is guided by the goals. Leader should be clear with what he or she wants before motivating the people through the goals (Arrod, 2006). The behavior modification (OB) theory is also referred as reinforcement theory which states that the behavior and consequences are interdependent and if the consequences are manipulated it is also possible to reinforce the change in the behavior. It can be positive reinforcement which encourages repetition; negative reinforcement is the removal of undesirable behavior, punishment to discourage the particular behavior and extinction is accompanied by the total elimination of the resentful behavior. The leaders motivating the followers through behavior modification should make it clear that they will deserve what they reinforce. The leaders emphasize upon the OB mode in their management process. The leader coaching the group member places importance upon the positive reinforcement. Some rules can involve targeting the desired behavior, appropriate reward and punishment selection, ample of feedback, different rewards for different level of achievements, constructive behavior, intermittent rewards, change in reward, punishments and reward visibility (Locke, 2010). Recognition plays a very important role in motivating the employee. Recognition conforms to the intrinsic motivating factor which has much higher impact upon the employees compared to the extrinsic benefit such as a person may perceive the recognition to be much more important than the monetary gift. Hence the leaders as a coach should try to identify that particular behavior and accordingly bestow reward. Coaching as Philosophy of Leadership Leadership philosophy is essential for the leaders as it helps to predict the behavior of how the individual reacts to the other people and particular situation. This determines effectiveness of the leadership behavior. It represents a set of belief and values that the person holds of high integrity. Effective leaders make very good coaches. Coaching is quite different perspective from leading which concentrates on the quality of the relationship between the coach and the follower that is hardly realized in the leader and follower interaction. The group members who are coached have immense trust upon the judgment of the leaders. They do not show any hesitation in understanding and accepting the views and suggestions of their leader. On the other hand, coach is aware of the every little detail and strongly believes in himself and his members to successfully accomplish the task. It involves the creation of the strong bonding between the leaders and the followers. The philosophy of the leader as a coach is mainly dependant upon the quality of the relationship that exists between the coaching individual and the individual, being coached. Coaching enables others to develop strength and capacity. Coaching is all about investing time in developing the personal bond with all the members of the group. The ethics and principles held by the leader have influence upon the group members. It defines the character of the leader. Coach communicates the goals of the organization with the intention to deliver the learning and creative environment. Coaching ambience requires trust and cooperation of all the participants. Knowing oneself and knowing others help to enforce commitment and support of the members (Dubrin, 2008, p. 306). Coaching Characteristics Coaching unravels the action that ensures full commitment and contribution of the people towards the productivity of the organization. The controls do not find any place in the process of coaching. It is regarded as the partnership approach towards the achievement of the goals. It represents a collaborative effort in discovering new arenas and platform to success. The employment of coaching in the organization depicts the art of management. Since personal relationship forms the essence of the coaching, the members are much better motivated towards the achievement of goals. Coaching involves the successful interaction between the different personalities. The relationship between the coach and the person being coached portrays high interpersonal risks and trusts. For instance, the leader might coach the member to follow unethical practice. On the other hand, follower might dismiss the coach’s advice as unimportant. If the leaders do not provide appropriate coaching then it is the failure of both. For example, the coach might motivate the sales trainee but what if it does not produce the desired result and on the contrary results in the downfall of the sale. Coaching has substantial benefit since it explores the dynamic aspect and unconventional techniques such as improved participation of the members in framing the goals and policies which gives them the sense of belonging and responsibility. In context of coaching as the philosophy of the leadership it is important to list the contribution of the coaching in the field of management. First of all, it is worth mentioning that coaching provides higher motivation. A good coach enlivens the spirit of the individual and frequently endorses praise and recognition. Coach helps to improve the performance of the group by ensuring transparency and cooperation among the members present in the group. The coach is competent to identify the skills of the members and; communicates the development and application of these skills in attainment of the objectives (Dubrin, 2008, p. 306). Fallacies Some of the misperceptions about the coaching help to create a better understanding of the coaching aspect of leadership. The implication of coaching of one person to one work is a negative interpretation since it attempts to cover the wider aspect of team or group. Coaching is not only about imparting new knowledge and skill. This is because of the fact that the people need to be governed on their underlying behavior rather than skills. Next important issue is that coach tends to exceed their instruction with respect to knowledge and skill. Coaching is not only about being a teacher; also it is about being a mentor who involves listening and understanding others’ point of view. It facilitates constantly encouraging and supporting the team member’s to cope up with the extreme of the situation. Another false belief is in relation to the expertise of the coach. It is not important for the coach to be expert for instance all the football players do not necessarily have the capability to be a coach. Same is the case with the management; experts do not always have the ability to take on as the coach. Questioning and listening can be a great learning experience. Coaching is the face to face interaction but can also take place through telephone and email. Though the face to face interaction facilitates the process but in case of time and distance barriers, the coaching can be effected also through electronic mechanism (Dubrin, 2008, p. 308). Coaching Skills and Techniques Leaders have different aptitude for coaching. Coaching skills can be acquired through the studying and practicing. There are various training programs and role playing that ensures development of coaching skills. The few coaching techniques and skills are mentioned below: Clear Communication to the Group Members about the Expectations For the group members to excel in their performance, it is important for them to know the expectation of their leaders from them. The expectations serve as the performance standard for the group members on the basis of which their performance will be judged ((Dubrin, 2008, p. 308). Building the Relationship The coaches should focus on building strong relationship with the team members. This involves the improvement of the interpersonal skills within the organization. The relationship should be that of trust and support to ensure the transparency in the relationship. The establishment of rapport enables the development of the two way communication and understanding. Active listening and emotional support form an essential ingredient of the relationship building. Feedback on the Area that Require Substantial Improvement To upgrade the performance level of the group members, a substantial improvement in the behavior, attitude and skills of an individual is required. The feedback by the coach to the contributions of the group members should be simple, specific and to the point, the usage of any kind of extreme remarks such as exaggerations are to be avoided. The good feedback encompasses the direct observation of the behavior of the workers by the leader or the coach. This should be done frequently to critically evaluate the performance of the group members so that the accurate judgments and feedback can be given. Before the initiation of the feedback process, it is important to make the person in concern aware by formally taking the permission which should include the purpose and the intention to be conveyed. For instance the coach can start by asking the player if he would like to take his few minutes to talk about the project presented by him and share some thoughts which will enable him to develop it in a much better way. For the feedback process to be less intimidating it is necessary for the coach to make the group members understand about the behaviors that should increase and the behavior that should decrease. The approach towards such motive on the part of coach should combine the praise and criticism. The constructive criticism is being adopted to avoid any kind of insult to the person being coached. It should encourage the person to proceed with the focus on the strengths with the minimum errors or mistakes. Example, a coach can instruct the follower to stress upon the presentation details and not on the volume. Active Listener A coach should be an active listener apart from being a powerful speaker. It is beneficial in improving the coaching session. This will actually enable the coach to assimilate the views and the feelings of each and every individual present in the group. The non verbal communication amongst the employees is to be closely observed by the leader. It can demonstrate a certain behavioral pattern of the group members. The coach can begin the session by throwing questions to comprehend the opinion of the members. This will help to create the base for the discussion which in turn may advance a numerous recommendation band unique solutions to the problem at hand. This is also one way of enhancing the creativity of the group members. Listening activity will promote the two way communication where the group members will get an opportunity to voice their opinion regarding their performance and task. The questions proposed to the group members can be open-ended or close ended. Removal of Obstacles There are various obstacles that hamper the members from reaching to the peak capacity. Rules, regulations and budget are the most highly rated barriers in the efficient performance of an individual. Leaders in any organization play a very critical role in the removal of such barriers. It is their duty to manage the source of fund for the group members, obtain the approval of the higher authority and hire the temporary staff to overcome the staff shortage. But the quick actions are to be avoided by the coach acknowledging the fact that it might reduce the self-reliance of the group members (Dubrin, 2008, p. 309). Emotional support The coach provides the emotional support to the members with below the threshold performance. The leaders use positive motivators to help the members construct the positive attitude towards the problem. Empathy is one such way of showing emotional support to the group members. The leaders are supposed to incorporate the challenging words in their statement to encourage the members. Such display of concern will help to establish a reliable relationship that will increase the productivity and efficiency of the group members. Hence, the coach is also termed as the toxic handler. Reflecting the Meaning The leader should also rephrase the problem to gain the confidence of the group members. Suggestions The suppositional statements are more effective than the direct statement which can be defensive in nature. It will nurture high sense of involvement. The word could be emphasized which leaves the decision upon the person to choose or reject. Leaders as a coach advise the behavior of the group members. The coach gathers the feedback from the group members and incorporates them in managerial decision making process. The success of the coach depends upon their degree of involvement with the group members. Coaching is usually accompanied by beneficial behavioral changes among the group members. However, there are certain ethical issues faced in the functioning of the coaching mechanism which includes high rate of dependency upon the coach for coming forth with any kind of important executive decisions ((Dubrin, 2008, p. 310). Conclusion At times, there happens to be considerable confusion in the management regarding the term coaching. The purpose and performance represents the two facets of coaching which sets to increase the behavior among the group members. Most of the effective leaders have very good coaching capability. Coaching attempts to exploit the potential of the group members but it also depends upon the will and the capacity of the members to embrace the change. Unlike the other leadership styles, the coaching style focuses on building the relationship of trust and transparency. The leaders as a coach facilitates the distribution of knowledge, suggestion, empathy and guidance in return of their expectations highlight increased behavior and performance among the group members. The coach should be clear about the motive and express them with firmness and conviction. The expectancy theory of motivation helps in the development of the motivational skills as it provides the comprehensive analysis of motivation. The main aim of the coaching is to develop the performance standard in the team work environment. Coaching encourages the members to show high orientation towards the performance. It is adopted by many leaders of varied organization to ensure the flexibility in the organizational structure for the efficient increase in the performance and behaviors of the employees. It shows a strong resemblance with the leadership quality. Coaching presents the distinct way of getting linked with different group members. The current business scenario emphasizes upon coaching for its varied beneficial endowments upon the organization. For instance it helps in better management of the decision, counseling of the weaknesses, promotion and development of creative solutions, increased productivity and performance. However, it is not completely devoid of drawbacks which include unethical advice, mental health issues and decrease of self reliance among the group members. There are various recommendations for bringing about an immense improvement in coaching. This include the communication of the purpose and expectations, concentrating on personal relation, giving feedback wherever necessary, listening, extending emotional support, rephrasing the content, giving suggestions and guidance, encouraging the desired projection of behavior, group commitment and trust and appreciation for good performance. Leader coaches are perceived to add vale to the organization by inducing unconditional commitment and inspiring many to promote and work for the vision of the organization. There are various factors that impede coaching in the organization. To enumerate the few are negligence of the recognition, cultural barriers, limitations of performance measurement, rules and regulations, fear, incompetence, lack of confidence and various controls. The coaching style reflects huge transformation from the traditional style which characterized the control and compliance factor within the organization. To effectively cope with the changing environment coaching is administered by most of the leaders to ensure better adaptability with great results. This is the demand of the situation. Leaders can prove to be great coach if he is able to translate the vision to the action. So, it can be said without much doubt that the success of the coaching ability of any leader depends upon the achievement of the smooth interaction among the members’ themselves by considerable extent. References Arrod, 2006. Expectancy Theory of Motivation, Home. [Online] Available at: http://www.arrod.co.uk/archive/concept_vroom.php [Accessed September 22, 2010]. Dubrin, A. J., 2008. Leadership Research Findings, Practice And Skills. Dreamtech Press, Pg. 306, 308, 309 & 310. Erven, B., 2001. Becoming an Effective Leader Through Situational Leadership, Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics Ohio State University Extension. [Online] Available at: http://www-agecon.ag.ohio-state.edu/people/erven.1/HRM/Situaltional_Leadership.pdf [Accessed September 22, 2010]. Locke, E., 2010. Goal Setting Theory, Home. [Online] Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/lavenderleo03/goal-setting-theory-presentation [Accessed September 22, 2010]. SOAR, No Date. 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