The Characteristics of a Healthy Organizational Leader - Essay Example

Leadership and Organizational Behavior

Thesis Statement

Leadership as part of organizational behavior is usually the fundamental issue in any organization. Through proper leadership, an organization is able to achieve its goals. This paper aims to analyze and culminate my understanding of leadership in the field of the organizational behavior. The study will also get to analyze the characteristics of a healthy organizational leader, styles of leadership and the leadership theories in order to fully explore and apply the topics covered in this particular course.

Introduction

Leadership in an organization can be defined as a process of getting to influence one or many individuals in order to assist in the achievement of a particular goal. Organizational behavior has been known to comprise of various aspects such as change, human behavior, team, leadership among others. It examines effects of the groups of individuals including the structure of behaviors within a particular organization with the main aim of implementing such knowledge in the improvement of the organizational efficiency. The behaviors of a group of people in a particular organization have been known to have effects on the process of achieving goals; this makes proper leadership quite an essential part in any organization (Daft, & Lane, 2008). Organizational leaders usually have the ability of getting to effectively integrate and also increase the company’s resources within the external and also the internal environments of a particular organization.

Leadership involves use of the individual inborn skills and traits and is usually distinct among different people. A great instance of an experience I had at a previous job that I held. The departments of the organization used to have different teams that were managed by supervisors. However, our team comprised of one particular individual who used to determine the success of the team without the input of the group’s supervisor. The entire group used to respect his decisions and directions more than they did to those of the manager. According to Bertocci (2009), a leader should be able to direct and lead individuals to a common goal. In any effective leadership, a leader should be able to provide some guidance and directions to the rest of the team members without necessarily having to take directions from any other individual. There are two main aspects of leadership, that comprise of formal and the informal leadership. The formal leadership is the most popular type of leadership in most organizations and businesses while informal type of leadership is usually popular among friends (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011).

Characteristics of an Effective Leader

A successful leadership is usually based on the character of leaders including their capabilities, their influence among others. As mentioned above, some leaders are usually born with their competencies and also their capabilities but most of the competencies required of the leader can also be acquired and even be tailored to produce an effective leader (Daft, & Lane, 2008). Nevertheless, the success of a particular organization does not really depend on whether the leadership traits of a particular leader are innate or not. All that matters is how a particular leader is able to influence his team members into achieving a common aim.

A strong leadership skill is usually very essential for the leader to be effective. When a particular leader does not have a strong leadership character, they usually go down the leadership ladder after a period of time. Effective leaders usually need to maintain their leadership practices in order to increase their effectiveness (Yammarino & Dansereau, 2009). The position of leadership usually requires the creation and also achievement of some particular targets. When a leader is not able to create or even to achieve any particular target, then he might not be able to influence other individuals into achieving some certain common goals. A strong leadership character is usually very essential in getting to sustain the effectiveness of a particular organization in the performance of its role towards success (Bertocci, 2009). 

Another essential ability of an effective leader is his ability to communicate. Communications skills are the most essential qualities that any general leader should possess in getting to carry out the leadership role, since implications of the leadership largely depends on the leaders’ communication skills. An effective leader should be able to communicate his thought, his plans and even his goals to the rest of the team members for the plans to be made effective. Employing listening skills as part of the communication skills is usually essential for any effective leader. A leader should be able to listen to his followers and even take into consideration their opinions. When leaders listens and even considers opinions of the team members, it allows the said members to feel that they are important part of the team which usually facilitates hard work and motivation of the team members. Nevertheless, listening does not imply that the leader should be influenced into making some decisions that are fully influenced by the opinions of team members. The said leader should be able to analyze the opinions and apply the essential ones to the teamwork in order to achieve a goal (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011).

An effective leader also needs to be optimist. This means that the leader should be able to have a self-driven possession of positivity, positivity is usually very essential to provide some motivational talks to the team members. The positivity of a leader has also been known to provide possibilities of accomplishing some difficult and challenging tasks. A positive leader usually gets to influence his followers into looking at the brighter side of any task (Yammarino & Dansereau, 2009). 

An effective leader should also have passion and visions needed to achieve a set of objectives. Importance of having a vision and passion to a particular leader is much more than an individual who is not a leader because a leader’s vision and passion usually influences the visions and passions of the team members in achieving a particular target (Daft, & Lane, 2008). Perception of the results of a particular activity usually allows a leader the authority to improve the communications between himself and the participants. Passion is usually the desire to achieve and excel, which can be termed as the stepping stone to success. Effective leaders have passion of getting to excel in their leadership practices through achievement of goals (Phillips & Gully, 2013).

Leadership Theories

There are various leadership theories that have been put forward to help in understanding leadership in an organization. Leadership theories comprise of the behavioral theory, the contingency theory, and trait theory including power and influence theories. Leaders usually adopt or even combine the above mentioned leadership theories in order to ensure success in leadership practices.

Behavioral theories are usually based on behaviors of the leaders with regard to the decision-making communications. According to the behavioral theory, leaders are classifiable into three main categories that comprise of democratic, autocratic leaders and also the laissez faire leaders.

Autocratic leaders do not carry out any consultations from any of the team members. These kinds of leaders are usually very effective when it comes to dealing with quick decision making especially in situations where team members do no need to affirm. On the other hand democratic type of leaders exercise their leadership by allowing and putting into consideration participation of the team members in making of decisions (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011). Democratic leaders carry out several consultations before initiating any particular action. The main limitation regarding democratic leadership theory is that it usually leads to difficult team management due to the opinion differences. Laissez faire leaders usually get to permit the team members in making of various decisions.

The contingency theory of leadership has been known to focus on ways in which the efficient leadership gets affected by various situations. The presence of various leadership theories that tend to offer various and efficient forms of leaderships have led to the reliance of leaders on almost every circumstance (Bertocci, 2009). According to the contingency theory, the most effective leadership practice is usually subject to some particular situations.

The trait theory of leadership has been known to concentrate on personality of good leaders. The traits theory usually advocates that leaders usually have some common traits and characteristics that usually result to them being leaders. Traits that have been supported by this particular theory comprise of assertiveness, geniality among others (Daft, & Lane, 2008).

The power and influence theory usually gets to describe the basis of the powers of the leaders in an organization. This theory is founded in ways leaders acquire and also make use of their powers including the leadership models they use in order to achieve some collective goals (Phillips & Gully, 2013).

The main function of leadership in an organization is to achieve a collective goal. Leaders usually use various forms of leadership in order to ensure that the tasks put forward get accomplished. Different styles of leadership comprise of the autocratic style, bureaucratic style, charismatic style, laissez faire style, servant leadership style and the transformational leadership style (Phillips & Gully, 2013).

With leadership knowledge gained from the course. I am able to interact better with the team members in an organization. As a leader I would also be able to know how to handle different situations. For instance, when there is a need to make some quick decision for the team, I would be able to analyze the situation from different theories learnt in the course in order to make the right decision. The course would also enable me to handle conflicts that may arise within a team especially when it comes to the matter of opinion differences. As a leader I would be able to reconcile the team members to work together and also reconcile their differences by having some necessary communication skills that are achieved from the organizational behavior course.

Managing a High-Performance Team

Team managers play a very important role in managing human resource choosing the right individuals and deciding who performs a certain task in a group. For a team to succeed, team members should be directed, motivated and encouraged to work towards the general vision of an organization. Below provides insightful tips in which managers can head a high performance team. Motivation is a very essential approach on managing a team effectively. Team members should remain motivated as they perform their team roles. Understanding what motivates team members can assist team leaders to identify individuals who are highly self-motivated and those that are more likely to underperform without managerial input (Hanlan, 2004).Moreover, as a manager, it is important to create an effective working environment that takes into consideration the needs and interests of team members to promote external motivation. Creating a high performance team requires managers to set a clear and challenging direction by developing effective communication skills. Communication skills are necessary for success in every role as goals can expectations are kept clear. As a manager, one needs to develop different communication skills and expectations compared to those used by workers(Schermerhorn, Osborn, Uhl-Bien, & Hunt, 2012, p.170). For instance, it as a manager one is more likely to chair meetings and regular session, therefore to be successful manager one needs to rum effective meetings. Managing discipline effectively can promote the creation of a highly performance team. As a manager, one needs to develop an efficient approach in handling problems with time keeping and grooming (Hanlan, 2004). Additionally, when faced with potential discipline issues that affect quality and undermines team interests, a team manager should gather enough information and make a decision on how to act. In sum, managing a team needs effective skills that can promote participation and cooperation between team members. Team managers should avoid using their authority inappropriately and failing to consult regularly from the division managers. To come up with a highly performing team, team managers should adopt effective skills to help them organize, motivate and communicate efficiently with their team.

Strategy and Influence

All managers have a duty to exercise influence over their peers, subordinates and even their boss to succeed I achieving personal and organizational goals. It is important that managers develop efficient methods of influence to thrive and succeed in their managerial activities. There are a wide variety of techniques and strategies of managerial influence. Rational persuasion is an influencing strategy, which involves the use of factual information and rational arguments to convince a target that the request of the agent is feasible and consistent with shared aims (Schermerhorn, Osborn, Uhl-Bien, & Hunt, 2012, p.271. This strategy involves explaining reasons for a request, making detailed plans and issuing of facts and data. This strategy works especially if one needs to influence upward (Hampson & Walker, 2008). Most bosses are more likely to comply with one’s request especially when given sufficient rational information. For instance, as a cashier at The Home Depot, one should make detailed plans and issue relevant data in relation to cash transactions. Assertiveness is strategy of managerial influence that involves demanding, telling a person to comply, pointing out rules and expressing anger verbally (Schermerhorn, et. al., 2012, p.272). This strategy may fail to work in promoting both downward and upward influence since it is not advisable for one to command neither his boss nor the juniors. As a cashier, one can be commanded to give out cash and perform other duties, an issue that leads to demotivation and lowers the ability to perform. Additionally, personalized relationships, or coalition can be used as a strategy and it involves care and support towards subordinates (p.272). Moreover, managers can even extend superior help beyond the working place to the personal matters (Hampson & Walker, 2008). In return, the managers expect the subordinate to comply. This strategy works in promoting downward influence as subordinate members can communicate their views and interests freely without fear due to the existence of a personal relationship with their seniors. For instance, a cashier is more likely to enjoy an environment where his/her superiors a less commanding and tend to promote care and support. Lastly, with sanctions, managers are more likely to influence their juniors (downward influence) (p.272). This strategy draws upon punishments and organizational rewards. Sometimes it involves negative sanctions such as preventing employee’s salary increase and threatening their job security as asserted by Hampson & Walker (2008). However, this strategy is more likely to fail in influencing downwards since it instills fear and creates a demotivating environment To conclude, as managers apply strategies such as assertiveness, sanctions and persuasion to influence either downward or upward. Each strategy of managerial influence can impact negatively or positively in an organization leading to its failure or success.

Conclusion

This study has focused on leadership as part of the organization behavior course. Leadership is quite an essential part of any organization as it determines success of the organization through the success of different team projects. The study has also covered the characteristics of an effective leader. This enabled the leaders to know how they should act in different situations and also the characters they should possess in the workplace. The study has also focused on the leadership theories, and how I plan to utilize the knowledge gained from the leadership course. I believe that the leadership course will enable me and the other students to become better leaders and be able to make the right decisions for the company.