Leadership and Conflict Management - Coursework Example

Leadership and Change Name: Course: Date of Submission: Introduction Organizations require leaders who are effective so as to enhance success. As leader, I have been involved in situations where I have failed being effective and this has affected the organization. Leadership is a position that requires enlisting the help from other members in the organization so as to accomplish a task successfully (Beerel, 2009). I will give a personal experience in which I was ineffective as a leader in managing others. Personal Experience I was involved as a team leader in the organization which was working with. This position included making sure that all the team members were cooperating with each other. The main objective was to encourage team work through participation and communication. The team consisted of office workers and the support staff. Being the leader, I was supposed to make sure that there was total cooperation in the accomplishment of the tasks at hand. When I was starting the job, I was sure that I would make the best team ever through team mobilization. The team started well and I was enthusiastic that I would manage the team well throughout the task. As time progressed, I became aware that the team was not meeting the set deadlines. There was internal conflict among the team members. I was faced with a problem of making sure that the team members were motivated and working together as expected. The team was lagging behind in achieving the set target. The main cause of the team failure was poor conflict management and problem solving. The mode of sharing information that I utilized in the team was also not proper. The conflict in the team members was caused by the fact that I could not solve the misunderstanding among the team members at the right time. This conflict led to a situation where the team members were not working together leads to lack of internal team dynamics. Conflict is an element that is inevitable in team management, which requires the team manager to eliminate it. I also failed to note the tensions that were among different team members due to disparities. Conflict occurred from both real and perceived disparities among the members which led to a group disorder (Beerel, 2009). In problem solving, I failed as I could not solve the team problems adequately. I found that most of the team members were not happy with the solutions that I was forwarding. This led to tension between the team members and leadership. A communication process that the team utilized led to lack of the proper flow of communication. Most of the instructions that were given to the team were distorted and hence could not be implemented well (Wolfensberger, 2003). After two weeks of the team work, there were no results and most of the tasks were behind the schedule. The workers’ morale was low and there was a clear lack of motivation among the team members. I had failed in delivering the expected results within the set framework of three weeks. The members were asking for a time extension and it was clear that management was not pleased with my performance. At the end of the time allocated for the task, I realized that I had failed to deliver the set goals through ineffective team leadership. Part 2 A The reasons that I failed in the team management was poor conflict management, problem solving and communication. Conflict management is vital in team management as it helps the members to cooperate and accomplishes the task together. As a leader there is need to realize that conflict is inevitable. When a team is accomplishing a task as a team, chances of conflict occurring are high. The members of a team are diverse and come from different backgrounds with different skills. This makes it difficult for the group to make decisions and meet the deadlines without having a disagreement. As a team manager, I was supposed to identify and look at the types of conflicts that were there. This would have been a chance to look at both the positive and negative outcomes of the conflict. One of the main determinants of conflict outcomes is how it is resolved. The attitudes and style of management that is employed during its solution determines the way outcomes are. In some instances, if conflict is handled in the right manner, it may act to improve performance. The manager has the responsibility to make sure that conflict is managed in the right manner rather than suppressing it. In most cases, the way I handled conflict was not effective. I was mostly focused in suppressing and eliminating conflict rather than managing it (Beerel, 2009). Conflict in most cases is caused by communication failure. The members may lack respect for each other if the listening skills that are used are not effective. Small communication problems in most cases results in major communication failure in the group. Where there is a communication breakdown in a team, the instructions cannot be followed in the right manner. As a leader, I had failed to install the right communication channels in the team. Most of the members were not able to commit themselves to the project goals due to lack of communication. As a leader, there is a need to use open communication to enable the team members gain commitment. In some instances, conflict helps in creating innovation and team creativity among the members. This is the reason why I was supposed to have utilized the misunderstanding to help the group positively through their self evaluation. The team leader has the responsibility to make sure that the team members resolve their differences in a way that does not affect the team operations. There is also need for the team members to know that they are in an interdependence relationship. A leader needs to manage the group in a way that there is total communication and participation among the members (Robert McKee, 2003). This experience taught me a lot as a team leader. If I had a chance to manage a team again, I would make sure that I manage them effectively. The team consists of diverse people and skills and managing them effectively leads to positive outcomes. The team members require strong relationship so that they are able to address conflict. Every member should be able to contribute to the team in a balanced manner. Equal member contribution leads to a situation where the members respect each other. In a team, I would make sure that the team members are able to claim their own ideas. This leads to a situation where the team members are able to defend their own views using the right channels and logically. Through this I will be able make sure that there is no conflict in the team. To further manage conflict, I need to show the members the need to relinquish their ideas if they are against the direction taken by the team. This leads to a situation where team members have low chances of disagreeing. It’s also important that I make sure that the team members are in a healthy environment where each member has a role to play. This is an environment that would make it possible to have a healthy team environment (Beerel, 2009). Another area that I would need to do differently is communication method. The team requires a channel of communication that is open and easy to use. I would make sure that the team members communicate with each other and make sure that there is listening of each other. Communication skills are vital in team development and I would make sure that the team members have all the required skills. I would make sure that the communication barriers that may exist within the team are addressed in time. As a leader, I would make sure that I hold meetings where I would make sure that all team members are cooperating with each other. The hierarchical differences that bring about distortion in communication should be avoided in a team. As a leader, I will make sure that team development stages are all successful through understanding the stages and communicating to the team members (Wolfensberger, 2003). One area of team communication that is vital is making sure that all team members are aware of decisions that are being made. This I would do to make sure that all the team members are on board when undertaking the task. Sharing information increases the team knowledge, hence making the team stronger. Having a strong team makes the members have a higher sense of belonging. Communication also helps when it comes to sharing information. Given another chance to lead, I would make sure that I have a specific and accurate mode of communication. This helps in making sure that the information passed is not vague and it’s reliable. Communication involves listening to others and making sure that everyone has his voice heard. When it comes to problem solving, it becomes vital to know the strengths and weakness of others. As a leader, it becomes vital to have an open group discussion to help in solving the problems facing the team members. By making these changes in my leadership style, I will be able to have a strong team which will achieve the target with low chances of failure. I have learned a lot on how to be an effective leader (Sotarauta, Horlings & Liddle, 2012). Part 2 B In order to be able to accomplish the set goals as a leader, leadership development plays an important part. Having a leadership plan helps in making sure that the leader is well equipped to meet any future challenge. As a leader, I have realized my strengths and weakness through self evaluation in leadership situations. I have realized that I am an agreeable person and open to experiences. These are traits that have defined my personality. I have a good personality which can help me a lot in leadership situations. This is due to the fact that I am assertive, energetic and adventurous. This has placed me as a dependable leader in any situation. I am able to mobilize others to work toward the set goal due to my active involvement (Wolfensberger, 2003). My main strength is ability to set goals in a team. Leadership requires someone who can set goals which are achievable within the set time. Goal guides the team and acts to motivate them to put more efforts. My ability to set goals has been boosted through active involvement with other leaders and emulating them. In leadership, forming a strong relationship with other leaders is vital as one is able to learn from them. I have also improved myself through constantly evaluating myself and improving on my weak points. Another area that I am strong at is making meaningful decisions. Decision making is vital in ensuring that the team is on the right path. To be a good decision maker, one needs to cooperate with other leaders and members and exchange ideas. Making decisions involve understanding how emotions and reasoning need to be balanced to have positive decisions. Leaders should be able to arrive at the set goals quickly by making decisions in the right manner. In decision making, my strength has been enhanced by the ability to overcome challenges that hamper the process. These challenges include choosing what to do and what not to do. Having emotional intelligence is another area that I have excelled. This involves being able to understand the emotions of others and managing one's emotions. The indicators that I have been able to succeed are the fact that I have self awareness. Self awareness is the most important building block in enhancing emotional intelligence. A leader is supposed to make a decision and exercise, emotional self control when making the decision (Potts & Potts, 2013). As a leader, my weakness lies on managing conflicts, communication and problem solving. These are very vital areas that I am improving on. I sometimes find it hard to manage the conflicts that arise during implementing change. I need to make sure that I can use the conflicts to positively improve the team performance by resolving them well. The growth objective for improving on managing conflict is to make sure that I am a leader who can be depended on in any conflict situation (Robert McKee, 2003). I have to be involved in activities that will enable me to improve my conflict management capabilities. These involve attending seminars and workshops as well as practicing it in leadership situations. Through close relationships with other leaders, I will be able to improve my skills and hence build my conflict management. The main indicators of success in conflict management are leading members and attaining the set goal. This is an area that I will be able to improve on within a short time (Kotter, 1995). When it comes to communication, I have found that I sometimes fail to give appropriate communication guidelines. This leads to confusion among those am leading. The main objective for improving on this skill is to make sure that there is a low chance of conflict during my management. Good communication is the key to the smooth running of any organization. This is due to the fact that communication helps in building trust and cooperation among team members (John, Marika & Sue, 2012). To improve on this, I will need to be involved in seminars and also practice communicating with others. The people who need to be involved in helping me achieve good communication skills are other leaders as well as seeking help from trainers. Success in communication is indicated by being able to coordinate a team and direct them toward achieving the set goals. This is seen in a situation where the team members are able to reach the target within the set time and maintaining a good relationship through communicating with each other. The task to improve on my communication is ongoing and I expect to perfect it soon (Earl, 2011). In order to effectively develop my leadership effectively, I have to work on the identified weakness and improve on them. This involves talking with other leaders and gaining skills from them. I also need to attend seminars and meetings where I can gain more knowledge on how to improve on leadership and overcome my weakness (Kotter, 1995). Conclusion Leadership requires one to have a personality that can enable achieving high performance. A leader should be able to enhance communication among the team members which helps in mobilizing them to achieve the desired goal. This involves listening to others to know their point of view. Thorough communication leader is able to create trust and commitment to the team. This can also be enhanced through having communication and storytelling sessions. As a leader, I have been involved in situations where I have learned about my weakness and worked to eliminate them. This has served as a great platform where I have discovered that to be an effective leader I had to evaluate myself. I have also learned on how to determine what my boss expects of me and how to achieve it. A leader is expected to lead when it comes to change. This is in line with the fact that the success of an organization depends on the leaders’ ability to lead effectively. Following a leadership development plan is required to enable the leader improve on the skills and manage well in any situation. These are crucial steps that I have undertaken to improve on myself as a leader. References Beerel, A. C. (2009). Leadership and change management. Los Angeles: SAGE.Bottom of Form Earl, S. W. (2011). HBR case study: Challenge the boss or stand down? Harvard Business Review, 89(50), 70-78. John A., Marika, F., & Sue L. (2012). Learning Charisma. Harvard Business Review, 90(6), 127-130. Kotter, J.P. (1995) Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail, Harvard Business Review, 73(2), 59-65. Potts, C., & Potts, S. (2013). Assertiveness: How to be Strong in Every Situation. Oxford: Wiley. Robert McKee (2003). Storytelling that moves people. Harvard Business Review, 81(6), 51-55. Sotarauta, M., Horlings, I., & Liddle, J. (2012). Leadership and change in sustainable regional development. New York: Routledge. Top of Form Wolfensberger, W. (2003). Leadership and change in human services: Selected readings from Wolf Wolfensberger. London: Routledge.   Read More