Appropriate Leadership Style for Every Need - Essay Example

Introduction Through time, leadership styles and strategies have changed. At some point in the past, leadership is considered as the ability of an individual to exercise his power over a group of people. Leaders played a greater part in the decision-making in the ancient times. However, individuals that make up the group went through changes thus, the society has changed as well. Leaders remain as leaders but his decisions will not be the sole basis of the group as the role of each member of the group is also recognized and considered vital in the decision-making process. Believing that each member of the group is imperative in attaining the goals set by the group, leadership becomes more of an association within the group rather than a solitary role. The community and even the country, as a whole, are as well exercising different leadership styles. Each department has an assigned leader who looks forward to the attainment of goals established. Considering these situations in the community and/or the government, each member’s involvement in decision-making improves the understanding of the issues involved by those who must carry out the decisions. However, this involvement may be demonstrated in different manners. People are more committed to actions where they have involved in the relevant decision-making. Genuine and honest participation in every planned action towards the accomplishment of objectives are generated from each member involved. People are less competitive and more collaborative when they are working on joint goals. When people make decisions together, the social commitment to one another is greater and thus increases their commitment to the decision. Several people deciding together make better decisions than one person alone (Mills, 2005) Leadership: Its definition and significance The success of a company or of a business depends highly on the leaders and managers who run it – strong leadership, that is. Model leaders are oftentimes provide a huge impact on lives and future of everyone. Leadership is defined as a process where an individual influences a certain number of people to reach the top level of success, and to reach the common goal. (Bolden 2004). In another definition, leadership is a process rather than an event. Change of situations can affect the roles and behaviours of leaders and the followers around them. Leaders are often regarded as respectable, influencing and responsible model to each and every follower. While problems may be posed on the definition of leadership, there are still qualities that make them an effective one. Williams (2005) identified seven qualities of effective leaders. These are thoroughly discussed below: Vision Each and every individual, old or young, has his own vision no matter what or how the society may dictate it. A vision is dream of what an individual wants to be, may it be success in a certain degree of his life. This vision can only be achieved if everyone in the team will struggle and compete for it. The leader and the aspiring leaders should learn how to encourage each and every one to have a vision and hold it for the rest of their lives until this will be fulfilled (Williams, 2005). Communication The vision which was formed should be clearly communicated to the team. This should be done in a persuasive and effective manner to get the expected outcome in every activity. Communication is one important factor in achieving vision and goals. Early building of effective communication can build people’s confidence and communication skills (Williams, 2005). People skills A good and effective communication skill is only one factor but what makes it more special is the relationship with the people around. It is when an adult is faced with challenges in life he become responsible in building bridges. Motivating, resolving conflicts, listening, affirming, praising and building community are just few of the people skills that each and every individual needs in dealing the day-to-day encounters with people—these people who may in another way an inspiration to build dreams and achieve goals in the future (Williams, 2005). Character Character at its best always counts. People tend to follow and respect a leader who has a character that is true not only to him but also to the constituents. As John Maxwell observed, "People buy into the leader before they buy into the leader's vision." This only means that people are more attracted with how the leader is able to portray himself in front of the people rather than how he presents his vision, mission and goals. So the leaders should keep in mind that good character traits such as strong work ethic, humility, honesty, integrity, personal responsibility, social responsibility, self-discipline, courage, kindness, fairness, tolerance, and respect for others can build relationships and earn respect (Williams, 2005). Competence Along with character, competence of a leader should come hand in hand. From the root word compete; a leader with this quality will surely win since he has always a positive outlook with life. In a group or a team with such kind of leader, it is not a question then whenever this team wins. On the other hand, competence comes from having experience (a proven track record), learning how to delegate, and approaching every task with a commitment to excellence (Williams, 2005). Boldness Boldness is being daring. It is like the courage of taking risk in every circumstance that might not lead to a good result but still would want to pursue it. If a leader is bold, he is willing to take chances in any way he can just to ensure that his goals and vision are met. This is sometimes a difficult quality to learn but when it is already learned, it is worth it. Leaders must learn to be courageous, risk-taker, adventurous and overcome shyness, timidity, and a tendency to play it safe (Williams, 2005). Servant hood A good leader is also a good follower. True leadership is not about being "the boss" but about being a servant. Everybody should be taught how to be humble in any way they can and not be boastful of what they have. Instead inculcate in their minds that being a leader is not an opportunity to be arrogant but always be challenged to serve and inspire every individual (Williams, 2005). On the other hand, management is a managerial process of forming a strategic vision, setting objectives, crafting a strategy and then implementing and executing the strategy. It focuses both from short term to long term perspective. Reh (2006) defined management as the art and science; art because they make people effective even without the supervisors and it is the science because it oversees how it is being implemented. There are four basic pillars (Reh 2006) that contribute to the management guides: plan, organize, direct, and monitor. Planning is very important since this will be the start off of a certain project. Without planning, the project may cause delays and eventually will reach the goal which is envisioned by the company. Having an activity or an event, planning is always needed. This plan will be the record of the goals and objectives the company wanted to achieve. In this way there will be a check and balance if the projects were pursued or were it done (Worral and Cooper, 2001). It is a process. Planning comes with organizing, directing people, who will be involved heavily in projects and ensure that there are changes, impacts happened through the course of implementation through monitoring (Wallis, 1998). According to Reh (2006), managing people has never been easy especially when there are big numbers of the staff involved. But once the plan is done properly, in sync with organizing, directing and monitoring, then this will not be a heavy load after all. Later, it will be realized that the challenging project is rewarding once it came out successfully. In brief, Mills (2005) stated that “leadership is about a vision of the future and the ability to boost others to pursue it while management is about getting results and if it done effectively and efficiently a it will be a success”. A good leader should have qualities that can meet the standards of the people as well as the company. Some of these are passion with the work. Enjoying what he is doing and do not care with the compensation. A good leader should also be decisive. In handling matters inside the company, the people seek this kind of leader. Other qualities are conviction, integrity, adaptability, emotional toughness, emotional resonance, self-knowledge, and humility. In leading a team or an individual, there number of styles used. This is based on the norms and cultures, values, beliefs, and preferences of the people. Leadership styles (Leadership Styles 2006) are more varied in America today than in Asia. There are seven styles are currently used: Charismatic Leadership, Participative Leadership, Situational Leadership, Transactional Leadership, Transformational Leadership, The Quiet Leader and the Servant Leadership. Charm and grace is the weapon of the Charismatic leaders to direct people. These are the characteristics possessed by the charismatic leaders. They are concerned with the people around them. They approach the individual, and talk to them on a one-on-one basis. Through this, the leader will be connected with the employee and making the employee important because their leader talked to them. Charismatic leadership is great with scrutinizing environments. Especially with the changing moods in the environment and let the people’s actions and expressions suit the situation. They tend to use metaphors and symbolism in telling stories in order to reconnect with the audience. One of the efficient styles is their body language as well as verbal language. Some examples of the charismatic leaders are the politicians and religious leaders. They know how to direct people through their charms and their actions. They let the people know that they know everyone and they know their problems and their hopes and everything within them (Leadership styles 2006). In leading the team, charismatic leader focuses on making the team stand out and distinct among other teams. There will be image-building in order for the group to be recognized and being superior to others. It is emphasized here that joining their group is like being with the leader or be like the leader but oftentimes the leader believes in themselves rather than the others. Transformational leader is somewhat similar to the charismatic leader but is more on putting passion and energy to everything. It is also people centred where it is structured to create a vision for the people and will develop to make potential leaders. They are always visible and fight for whatever rights and let everyone know that they have something to say. Transformational leaders motivate their employees through day-to-day monitoring and ensuring them that whatever problems they have they will be assured that their leader is there for them (Pason, 2003). They will make effort to do their projects successfully and will not be discouraged with difficulties along the way as it will lead to a goal. It is observed that that transformational leaders are people-oriented and believes that commitment is one key to be successful. Transformational leaders often brought about by their enthusiasm and energetic characteristic. This may lead the people to give up since they are exhausted (Pason, 2003). They tend also to see the big picture rather than the detailed ones which might lead to failure to some. On the other hand, a participative Leader involves people in the process. They do not own the decision-making. Instead they call upon their subordinates and peers to discuss matters which will involve decision makings but then depending on how important the decision making will be. Participative leadership is also known as consultation, empowerment, joint decision-making, democratic leadership, Management By Objective (MBO) and power-sharing (Bolden 2004) Servant leadership is focused on serving others other than others serving the leader. They tend to help others to achieve and improve. It is connected with religious morals and adapted widely by the Christian organizations. Servant leaders serve the individuals to help them make servants too in the future. Servant leaders are often those who work in the public sector. They focus on the less privileged society and try to be part of the society. Mills (2005) says that true leadership "emerges from those whose primary motivation is a deep desire to help others." The transactional leader works through creating clear structures whereby it is clear what is required of their subordinates, and the rewards that they get for following orders. Punishments are not always mentioned, but they are also well-understood and formal systems of discipline are usually in place. Transactional leadership on the other hand is based on contingency. The output of the employee will be based on reward and punishment. Transactional leaders oftentimes allocate work to the subordinates and believe that they will carry it and have an output without thinking of the employees’ capabilities and skills. And when there are mistakes with their work, they will be at fault not the leader. The leaders usually direct people to do the job without knowing that this is not part of the contract or not in line with the employees’ skills (Leadership Styles 2006). In situational leadership, decisions are based on a particular situation. The leader does not follow the simple methods such as focusing on one method only but tend to get the help of other methods. The leader usually gets ideas from the external sources not relying on the team. A team or an individual will be working closely with the management and the leaders. Hiring a staff or a team working on a specific project has also their needs in pursuing these tasks and reaching the goal. Development needs of each will contribute highly to the company they are working with. Learning and relearning is one important need of the staff. This will be fulfilled through trainings and seminars related to the work given to them. This activity will develop the individual’s skills, knowledge and attitude on how they handle their assigned task. Capability building is also one development need of the staff. They will learn how to handle pressures in their workplace and how to deliver output properly. Comprehensive evaluation will involve the one-on one evaluation of the peers’ performance in the last quarter maybe and a validation of the results will be included after performing this. Team work building will create ownership and responsibility of the employee in their respective assignment of work. This they will learn that working for passion is one important character to pursue their task from day to day. Needs on how to improve more their goal settings, planning, for a more accomplished work should also be done in one of the company’s activity. In this way, they get to learn how to make their own objective and goal setting so that in the end they will have the basis how far did their work has gone and what are their backlogs and how are they going to make it available on time. Organisational development (is one of the most important needs of the team or of a staff. The structure of the company should be reviewed and take a look on the possible areas need not to be put some emphasis and where should the management focus the bulk of the development and restructuring. This way, the staff will be presented with the organisation’s or company’s framework and objectives. A frequent coaching should also be included in the company’s development needs of the staff. This will create a harmonious relationship between the leader and the staff in order to deliver the output in the most convenient time of the staff or the team without sacrificing other tasks which might lead to pressures and disputes inside the workplace. The conduct of the development needs will be a tool which can be used in making strategies on how to make the workplace conducive for each and everyone. Either way, strategies will be used in creating an environment that will cater the leaders and the staff of the company. Managing and at the same time leading people is not an easy task at all. This involves a lot of hard work, perseverance and persistence. Each and every individual has its own belief, cultures and norms. The diversification of the workforce in one environment is a challenge to every managers and leaders. Creating a team who will work for a company dedicatedly and committed is hard to find. But this will not be a problem if the management will ensure that the staff working for that company will be guided accordingly, providing those resources, good compensation and benefits, and providing them with comprehensive trainings relevant to their task. One important reward for a team or an individual is giving the due praise and compliment. Conclusion Presented with these styles and needs, there is no appropriate leadership style for every need. It should always be a combination of every style in order not to focus only on one method. In directing the staff to have their outputs done, in getting their decisions and making them part in thinking of the whole organization structure and framework, the company should be at hand in providing the people with appropriate skills. Since the environment is diversified, one method would not be enough in addressing problems. Each method is interconnected with the other method. Leading people is a hard task to do but if this will be done successfully, this will be a great fulfilment for each and everyone in the company. Management and leadership should always come together. A good skill in these fields will not be worked out overnight but this will be improved more through study and practice. Reference List Bolden, R 2004. What is leadership? Leadership SouthWest Research Report 1, University of Exter Center for Leadership Studies, viewed Francis, M., P. Lindsey, and J.S. Rice eds. (1994) “The Healing Dimensions of People-Plant Relations”. Davis, CA: University of California, Center for Design Research. Leadership Styles. 2006. viewed Leakey, R. and R. Lewin (1995) “The Sixth Great Extinction: Patterns of Life and the Future of Mankind”. New York: Doubleday. Managing Image in a Dynamic Corporate Environment. 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