Law and Management - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... Leaders aspiring to be visionary should be able to mentor their successors at all levels and look beyond the horizon. To maintain the quality of leadership and lead people effectively, one needs to maintain the time and adopt the change required by the market. To be ahead in the competition, he should be the market leader in product development and technology. The leader should be a continuous learner, who always observes the global economic trends very closely, improves his listening skills and maintains a good relationship with his employees, while showing the empathy that will lead to better organizational culture. This will help to attract, nurture and retain the best talent in the organization.
An effective leader should ask himself some retrospective questions like whether he is inspiring his own employees in the right direction or not Whether he is able to communicate effectively his vision, mission and strategic goals of the business, across the organization or not How courageous he is to implement his strategies, even during difficult times How frequently he takes the feedback whether he is in the wrong direction or right How best is he able to take timely decisions And, at the same time, whether he directs his employees towards right path or not An effective leader should maintain the simplicity and should be careful enough in matters of costs for the company and if the company is global he should not think in terms of dollars but should see each pie in terms of that country's currency. This will help him become aware of the local problems and culture that, in turn, will be helpful in solving such issues by adopting a suitable strategy related to that unit. An effective leader lays emphasis on leadership principles, especially on the awesome responsibility of taking care of a good number of people's life and livelihood. According to James C Hunter, the author of "The Servant Leadership", the true foundation of leadership is not power, but authority, which is built upon relationships, love, service and sacrifice.
Traditional Leadership Styles
Comprehending the types of leadership styles is an essential first step in leadership development, which will help one to decide the leadership style that would work best for oneself and the organization Basically there are three classic leadership styles Laissez Faire, Autocratic, and Participative.
1. The Laissez-faire Style
This style works well if one has highly skilled and highly motivated people and where direct reporting is done. The laissez-faire style employs low control; it depends more upon the leader's perception of how much freedom one should give to the people.
2. The Autocratic Style
An autocratic leader is one who demands instant conformity to his words. These are the characteristics of autocratic leadership: Directs others what to do; restricts ideas or novel ways of doing things; generates fear of power, nepotism and humiliation; the team does not experience the teamwork sensation; shows immediate discontent at the petite blunder in accomplishing the business goals. This style is the least effective, because of hierarchical decision-making. It slaughters the creativity of employees. The autocratic style is found to be very effective when time is scarce, team members are unknown, persons/team lack expertise and know-how, and also in turning around a company, or in a formidable hostile takeover.
3. The Participative Style
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