Best Practices in Leadership Development - Article Example

LEADERSHIP JOURNALS Done by: Mubarak Al-Falahi Batch: October 2008 Entry 1: Leadership Introduction to Leadership Leadership is a process that involves the ability of a person influencing others in order to accomplish a common or collective task. Leadership entails the creation of a way through which the society can be able to make the extraordinary things happen as a result of mobilization. Effective leadership will entail successful utilization and maximization of the available sources whether in the internal or external environment with the aim of attaining the laid down goals of the society or organization. A leader is thus a person who influences individuals or a group of people towards the attainment of a specific goal. Leaders emerge within the organization according to ones effectiveness and quality of work1. There are various styles of leadership which go in line with the behaviors of the leaders. These styles of leadership would include autocratic or authoritarian leadership, participative or democratic, laissez-faire or free rein, toxic leadership and narcissistic leadership. Autocratic or authoritarian style involves the decision making being centralized in the leader. In this style of leadership, the leader does not tolerate or invite any form of suggestions from the subordinates. However, this style provides a basis of making quick decisions by the leader. The second style of leadership is Participative or democratic leadership style. This style will favor decision making by a group of individuals. The leader in this style of leadership will welcome suggestions and can even go on to consult from the subordinates. This style of leadership tends to enhance cooperation as well as motivation. The third style of leadership is Laissez-faire or free rein which involves the leader allowing maximum freedom to the subordinates and he makes them free to make their own decisions as well as policies. The other style of leadership is Toxic leadership style which will involve the leader taking advantage for the position that he or she holds and directing the organization in a retrogressive fashion when compared to the achievements that had already been made earlier on2. My Experience as a Leader Trackcom is an organization that deals with the sale of computers. The organization also offers repair services to all customers regardless of where the machine had been purchased. It has a capacity of twenty five employees with five of them in the managerial level. The organization has achieved success in the past due to her well organized team of leaders and a well informed human resource manager. I have worked for the organization as a leader for two years. In my operations as a leader, I have had challenges leading those working under me. For instance, in January 2011, the workers threatened to go on strike. They were protesting over payments and working conditions. The workers complained that their salaries were low and wanted increment and that the working conditions were harsh for them. They had to report to work early and leave the working place late. As a leader I had to apply my style of leadership to stop any irregularities in the organization. The workers were almost getting violent and so the most possible action to stop this had to be taken to solve the problem. I used participative style of leadership to solve this problem. The first step a head was to listen complains from the workers and what they thought was the best thing to do to solve their problem. The workers suggested that their salaries should be increased by at least 5-10%, their working hours to be reduced and more workers to be employed to reduce their workload. I had to put each of the suggestions into consideration and determined its merits and demerits to the organization. After analyzing each suggestion, I realized that employing more workers would lead to significant decrease in profits in the organization due to increased operation cost. The increment percentage of the salaries was high and so it had to be reduced to favor both the workers and the organization as a whole. After a lengthy discussion with board members and our consultants, we reached a conclusion that the salary could only be increased by 3.5%. I then held several meetings with the workers and their leaders separately to calm the situation. Though the workers were not satisfied at first, I was able to overcome this through holding discussion severally with them. I made sure that I explained the reasons as to why the organization could not meet their demands. They were happy to have their request considered and agreed to accept the amount offered. I assured them that the organization was working towards giving them the best but in the mean-time, their demand were beyond the organization’s capability. Their salary was increased by 3.5% but their working hours were not adjusted. Conclusion In leadership one faces many challenges and an effective style of leadership contributes highly in solving these challenges. The motivation of the workers is highly determined by our characters as leaders. Firstly, I have learnt as a leader that I should be confident and determined in achieving organizational goals. Secondly, my ability to think analytically especially when there is a problem helps solve the problem in time since dealing with organization problems requires the leader to keep the main goal in focus. As a good leader, I must elicit the cooperation of others, consider the needs of others before their needs and listen to others keenly. Leaders make the decision of where the organization is going and influence the workers to that particular direction. Failure to direct how the organization is going to get to their goals may lead to failure of some leaders3. A leader must select styles of leadership that are effective and will help increase the productivity of the organization. The challenges that leaders face are from within and outside the organization and thus one must be ready to encounter them. Setting objectives will help the leader to lead his/her subordinates to the right path. Leadership skills cannot be learnt but can be perfected by practicing and that’s why everyone who wishes to be a leader should be given the opportunity to practice. Entry 2: Authenticity in Leadership Collins (2002) defines authenticity as the act of factualness, trustworthiness, dependability, truthfulness, faithfulness, actuality, verity, legitimacy ,reliabity, validity, certainty, truth and accuracy4. Authenticity has several meaning depending on context of application. Green L. 1994 gives its meaning as being autonomous5. I do belief in the psychologist explanation on authenticity as living oneself but not conformed to a particular environment. Being truthful, examining one inner self as Socrates the philosopher says in his philosophy “unexamined life is not worth living”. To achieve excellent in authenticity evaluation has to be really truthful and be ready to defend his grounds no matter the consequences. One has to employ the virtue of truth and honest. In many occasions as a team leader, I have been authentic like when am hurt, when am happy, when have succeeded in my exams, when am displaying my leadership skills and when exploring my professional skills6. Culture, social, religion and legal factors are some of the things that do mould us to be who we are today. It makes us to be aggressive as from childhood or builds our leadership skills. Our social surrounding and religion builds our characters of being confined devoted or outspoken. According to Stegmaeir et al, it is in these varied situations that we find ourselves building characters, attributes and beliefs from. In some situations, I have freely interacted with my peers during talks, games and discussion. However, I have sometimes been forced to camouflage so as to suit in the group. Other situations such as when with my seniors, teachers, tutors, parents, relatives or during some occasions, I have been forced to be a different persona. Such occasions include when in church. Church or religion calls for some attributes displayed and others withdrawn or kept low. One’s displayed characteristic may change depending on the occasions. Where else social events call for freelance lifestyle, official activities call for seriousness. It is in this regard that I am in a position to display or disclose my authentic nature in some occasions and not in others. However, I do avoid quasi authentic which means living a life of pretense. Certain circumstances force me to be authentic. Such situations include when I need to be felt and when I want things done exemplarily correct. Being authentic in any occasion has build my confidence through virtues of honest. In some decision making have felt that am ready to die for my choice. On contrary the spirit of betrayance has always haunted me when am unauthentic and left a feeling of fear and lack of confidence resulting to justification of different issues in order to please my soul. As a professional and a leader, I am obligated to exercise my uniqueness that will give me a competitive edge in the market or while in search for jobs. It is for this reason that I should never be easily swayed away or influenced. This way, I can exercise my duties and responsibility accordingly. Critical thinking as a vital attribute of any leader demands that I select what to take or copy from other and what not to. So far, this has won me a few chances of future exploration for my career and hopefully an employment stands at my door upon graduation7. Displaying my skills and talents as a leader in the field of leadership has not ranked behind following my extreme authenticity and my motto “Be Yourself”. I have severally been promoted from one level of leadership to another. As a leader I have a commanding and authoritative characteristic. Though I uphold democracy, majority are not always right. In other situations when I want my team members to take my words seriously and act upon them in time, I have to authentically be myself. In such situations, I am able to manage my work easily and save on time. In situations of exploring my future life with my current partner, I have displayed my authentic extraordinarily because I do not want future misconception about who I am. I would like live the future with someone who can bear with my weaknesses and my strengths. With current pitfalls of life of marriage, I do believe being real is more than a gallon of gold because any future blame or failure starts from the person I display today to my intimate friend. Sometimes it is not easy to overcome the external influences like I may study hard yet not because I want to really pass my exams but because someone behind my back wants me to succeed. In other occasions I may display my leadership skills to show that I am able but in real sense I am not. Authenticity to some extent tries to bring someone out of the world or the external environment like I may be afraid to dance in front of other people yet the whole team is doing it and because I would like to display myself too, I may join the team of dancers yet I feel I am betraying some of my attributes. Someone may be afraid to talk or give a speech in a big group while on the other hand all other leaders have done it perfectly and have been applauded by the audience. The need for good reputation has sometimes made me do the same. It comes a time when one is not able to display her/his authenticity. In my situation, I have severally had to put a facemask so as to please my supervisors during my attachments or close friends. Such situations had challenges than I ever had before and to certain extent, I have been forced to close my accounts of feelings and behaviors so as to please my ex- partner in relationship. Such situations make me feel that I have betrayed my authentic for failure to exercise it. There are other times when I have been forced by circumstances to act otherwise in order to protect myself. For instance, at one time all workers went on strike protesting against the low pay. In my evaluating, the demands were not rational because they were beyond what the organization could offer. However, speaking out to a furious mob may have resulted to an insult and thus I opted to be quiet. As much as there is need to uphold integrity, one must also be analytical and careful in making decision. However, I would later meet with some of my fellow workers and discuss about the rationality of their decisions. According to Yang et al, decisions must be made in an analytical and critical manner. In some situations, building blocks of a person may be contrary of what is known as a personal right8. Strikes in college have led to students’ injuries, termination of education, imprisonment and even to some extent death. It is in such a situation I had to display my authenticity not like a mob but as an individual. According to Wood et al, authenticity is not easy for anyone to exercise but worth though one must be a careful analyst of the surrounding circumstances9. Entry 3: Teamwork A team is a group of people with common interests and who are mutually supportive to each other with the aim of achieving their goals. They are individuals who formulate a common identify and have a common purpose whereby everyone is accountable. According to Stephanie, a team includes individuals who are mutually supportive and accountable and who work in a coordinated manner so as to achieve a common goal10. Teamwork on the other hand is the collaborative effort put forward by a group of individuals to complete a given task whereby the input of each individual accounts for the success achieved. My team at work is a very effective one though there is always room for improvement. I am in a team leader of a group of seven members who are tasked with the role of overseeing provision of excellent customer service. Our role as a group is to listen to the clients and address their complaints accordingly. The group is combined of six customer care representatives and a patron. As a team we are continuously involved in consultations among ourselves whenever we are faced with complex customer complaints. By the end of last year, we were rated the best department as we had managed to address most of our clients’ problems and improved customer satisfaction level by 20%. Our performance as a team has been driven by a clear understanding of the purpose of the team and our roles. After being recruited in the department, we were taken through a series of trainings whereby the expectations of the organizations were clearly stipulated. In addition, we have as a group severally held team building activities as well as discussion forums aimed at collaboratively addressing the problems faced in our working environment. However, we have not yet come to a point of Excellency especially with new problems arising every day. This means that we need to more proactive in developing the team and promoting productivity in the overall organization. Though as customer service personnel we have tried so much to promote teamwork amongst ourselves, we have come to realize that the input of each and every individual in the organization is important if we are to reap the full benefits for our efforts. This calls for better method for teamwork development, motivation and sustenance to be put in place. One area that has failed is maximization of the training held11. According to different members, this has been caused by utilization of lecture method and group discussion only as the learning methods. Some group members have expressed their disappointment and indicated that they would have learnt more if demonstrations and mentoring programs were utilized. Lastly, it has not been easy dealing with stress among the group members especially due to the nature of our work and limited resting time. These problems must be addressed if the team is to develop further. Strategies for improving team performance. One of the things that must be done is provision of organizational support that we require as a team from other employees as well as the management team. To begin with, maximum benefits of the training held should be capitalized on. This will be achieved through improved communication skills and involvement of team members in determining their learning needs12. Additionally, team members must be involved in determining the teaching methods to be applied through the determination of their learning. For instance, learning should be conducted through utilization of combination methods such as group discussion, lectures, demonstration and engagement of staffs in determining the lessons to be learnt. In addition, mentoring programs should be implemented to assist team members maximize on their potentials. Effective time management must also be emphasized in the team. This way, team members are able to reorganize themselves and go back to school for further education. This way, the organization benefits in the overall. In addition, the team must be taught about stress management skills as this lowers productivity due to frustration. Working together in a way that stress is well managed ensures that the team develops in totality. Team development will also be enhanced through rewards for best performance13. This involves rewarding the team through parties and retreats. In addition, a continuous assessment on team performance will assist in identifying team weaknesses and the best ways to address them. This means that a monitoring and evaluation system should be implemented with the aim of determining continuous development. Lastly, a two way communication system must be established to enhance communication between the team members, management team and the clients. Entry 4 Studying Lead Module has improved my leadership skills a great deal. This study has acted as an eye opener to my leadership and team work relationships. Through interaction with the external environment have borrowed other attributes and characters. This attribute acquaintance has run through my lifespan to date. It is during my growth and development that I have built my personal characteristics but to some extent, they have been hard to change14. Leadership is either learned, inborn or acquired through a combination of these two perspective. To excel in leadership career and skills, I have to evaluate myself. During my evaluation I have looked into my potentials, weaknesses, strengths and the threats that I may face. After going through the Lead Modules, I have acquired the skills of self examination15. The philosopher Socrates says” unexamined life is not worth living”. Living in an environment which we interact with different people from different background and with different view of things has made self examination of much importance. In the past, I have been employing poor leadership skills of dictatorship and authoritative in nature. With continuous application of such skill they became part of me and I always thought they are the best. It was easier to command a team and carry out the intended job. However, this sometimes demoralized employees or those who worked under me. Lead has therefore further developed and upgraded my leadership skills. I have found that other team members have a point that if shared can help the team succeed. I have to employ all the forms of leadership and their styles to a certain level in order to succeed. Failure of most institutions and organization is as a result of poor leadership skills and this answers the question as to why, teams break up, and employees resign in different sectors even though they may be well paid.  Corruption is also a key to poor leadership. Most leaders in some organizations hold those positions not because they qualified for them but because a corrupt deal took place. In such institutions it also becomes hard to excel. The leaders themselves may not know what to employ in towards the organizations success. Their skill of leadership still remains questionable. In case of failure, they always transfer the blame to their employees rather than working on it in order to find the cause. Due to lack of enough experience on the leadership skills and styles, they exercise only one style of leadership such as dictatorial or authoritative. These ‘leaders’ just seat behind evaluating on the returns and raising alarms but may not at any given time consider the employees’, students or citizens opinions about their opinion on the organizational or institutional team failure. While most leaders of this caliber always think they are doing excellent, indeed they are moving towards failure and creating a loophole of mistrust in their teams16. The LEAD MODULES have taught me the means by which I can overcome such challenges. Short courses and refresher courses are of much importance for any leader.  Unformed leader will always wait for opportunities instead. Such opportunities are: like when invited by other organizations and are assured of enumerations, certificate of participation and may be refreshments to mention but a few. Lead Module will fulfill my dream of self employment. I look forward to hold workshops, seminars and other associated meetings to help deliver leaders moreover, I do advocate and recommend the lead module to leaders for better leadership. Lead module has created me new as an individual. Mob psychology has resulted severally to damages and even life loss. Following self examination as a school leader I will use the skills I have gained from the Lead Module to educate my fellow students on the need of living as an individual and questioning where one thinks is not appropriate than acting forcefully to be heard17. I have developed a saying which I have always repeated in my leadership course that: “even the silent have their own way of being heard”, not necessarily breaking hostels or offices wasting ones energy , time, resources from parents and guardians and expressing low level of thinking and at the end paying the damage. I have developed mentally, socially physically and psychologically through different Lead Modules. I have had a chance of reviewing my life as a whole for the better now and in the future. Time management is of crucial importance for any academic success18. With the evaluation and analysis of the Lead Module, I have also realized as a leader how to go about time management and also financial elements which have resulted to majority of leaders wasting time. This happens either when looking for money or squandering the little they have. We are all social beings and cannot do without friends. Having gone through the Lead Module I am now able to create time for my friends but not waste time that should be utilized in my academics just to please them. Physical health is of much importance. It is only when am fit that I can work well as well as my team members. Physical health aids relieve stress and improve work output. It is important therefore to create time in order to do exercise, and sometimes rest. As a team leader, I will include such opportunities in our weekly calendar. This will also improve our team relationship and create freedom of interaction. Motivations of team members also play a role in work performance. Working on how you may motivate your workers rather than employing long working hours is a key to success. When under pressure, some of the members may do a certain job out of fear or because they need to be paid but at long run quit the job. This is a loss to the organization due to the high cost of recruitment and training of employs applied to new staff members. In overall, the lead modules have developed a better leader in me. I am purposed to continually apply the principles learnt in the process. This way, I will be able to overcome any challenges that I may face during my work and when operating in team. I am sure with accurate application of learnt principles; I will become a better leader and mentor others towards the same. Actualize in leadership starts from the low level of evaluating the self and laying strategies on how to achieve such qualities. The organization that I work for will also benefit from increased productivity. References Collins, (2002). 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How social media can make history Mager publishers. Washington DC . Stegmaeir R., Bim, M. and Karlheinz, S. (2009). ‘‘Affective commitment to change and Innovation Implementation Behavior: The Role of Charismatic Leadership and Employees Trust in Top Management’’. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies Stephanie, M. (2003) "Real teams in small Australian firms", Journal of Management Development, Vol. 22 Iss: 9. (learning style). Wart, M. (2009).Dynamics of leadership in Public Service: Theory and Practice. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Wood, A. M., Linley, P. A., Maltby J., et al. 2006. “The authentic personality: A theoretical and empirical conceptualization and the development of authenticity scale”, Journal of counseling psychology, 55,385-399. Yang, S. and Bartram, T. et al. (2006). “Trust and the Relationship between Leadership and Follower Performance: opening the Black Box in China”, Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies. Zammit, K. (2006). Senior management teams: Member roles and team effectiveness within large hospitality organizations. Melbourne: Victoria University (both). . Read More