Qualifications of a Good Leadership - Essay Example

Qualifications of a Good Leadership Table of Contents I. Introduction ………………………………………………………………. 3 II. Statement of the Problem ………………………………………………. 4 III. Purpose of the Research Study ………………………………………… 4 IV. Literature Review ………………………………………………………… 4 a. Qualities of Good Leader as a Manager ……………………. 4 V. Research Survey Methodology ………………………………………… 8 a. Proposed Research Design ………………………………….. 9 b. Interview Research Questions ……………………………….. 10 c. Research Sample / Population ………………………………. 11 d. Importance of Confidentiality and Informed Consent ……… 11 e. Data Analysis ………………………………………………….. 12 VI. Proposed Leadership Model …………………………………………… 13 VII. Conclusion and Recommendations …………………………………… 16 Appendix A – Interview Questions ……………………………………………… 17 Appendix B – Informed Consent Form ………………………………………… 18 Appendix C – Interview Results ………………………………………………… 19 Bibliography ………………………………………………………………………22 - 24 Introduction Good leadership skill is an essential characteristic of a manager. Not only does it makes the operation flow of a business organization work efficiently, it also enables a business organization reduce the unnecessary internal conflicts among the stakeholders. Since the savings that comes from establishing good leadership skills among the managers could result to increasing the company’s expected annual revenue, it becomes a challenge for each manager to become familiar with the common qualities that makes a leader a competitive one. There are no fixed rules behind choosing the best leadership style. To become an effective leader, it is crucial on the part of the manager to be able to find the type of leadership approach that works best for them. Often times, choosing the best leadership style depends on the manager’s personality, characteristic, working environment and the team members. The focus of this study is to gather primary and secondary research as a way of determining the qualifications of a good leader. The first part of the paper will address the problem statement by conducting a literature review with regards to the qualifications of effective leaders. The second part of the paper will gather primary research data by conducting an actual research survey. In the process of presenting the primary data, the research survey methodology which consists of five relevant questions will be tackled in details. Based on the gathered primary and secondary research information, a proposed leadership model will be constructed prior to the conclusion and recommendations. Statement of the Problem Leadership is about the ability of a person to make his/her subordinate follow and adapt with useful changes within or outside the work place. Since it takes a special interpersonal influence and motivational skills to enable a manager to effectively mould and convert a group of employee into becoming a responsible and efficient subordinate, it remains a challenge on the part of each manager to be able to identify the qualities of a good leader. Purpose of the Research Study A leader can easily become an effective manager. However, not all managers are capable of becoming good leaders. For this reason, the main purpose of the research study is to increase the knowledge of the managers with regards to the essential qualities that makes up a good leader. Literature Review Qualities of Good Leader as a Manager A good leader needs to have a combination of wisdom, integrity, sensitivity, and tenacity (WITS). (van Maurik, 1994) The author mentioned that a good leader must have these traits to be able to have a clear vision of the business trends. Leadership is a special skill that each manager must possess in order to become a competitive leader. It is unacceptable for a leader to make a quick judgment towards people and situation without something to back him up in the end. Therefore, a manager must always base decisions on concrete facts. In some cases, it is a good intuition that enables a manager to come up with good business decisions. A good leader needs to update his skills and knowledge regularly. Manager as a leader should be a good example, teach and train his people whenever possible. By sharing his wisdom, the manager is empowering employees to be a self-efficient. It is unavoidable for employees to experience work difficulties and emotional stress within the working environment. For this reason, a leader should always be a source of motivation and inspiration to his subordinates. In general, a competent leader should be capable of inspiring employees. Aside from having sufficient knowledge in doing business, managers as leaders should have the following traits: (1) the drive to achieve their goals; (2) desire to lead; (3) self-confidence; (4) cognitive ability; (5) honesty; and (6) integrity” (Dessler, 2001, pp. 296 – 297). Charismatic leaders are mostly self-confident, strongly motivated in attaining and asserting influence, and have strong conviction over their beliefs. (House, 1997, p. 416) Similar to the traits of charismatic leaders, transformational leaders also have the following traits: (1) charisma or idealized influence, (2) inspirational motivation, (3) intellectual stimulation, and (4) individual consideration (Bass, 1998; Bass & Avolio, 1993). In general, personal charisma –a form of a referent power, is an important characteristic of a good leader since it could attract his/her subordinates to cooperate well with the leader (Posakoff & Schriesheim, 1985). As explained by Palmer et al. (2001), charisma is highly correlated to a person’s ability to monitor their own emotions around other people – a character that is included in the classification of emotional intelligence. Having five distinct characteristics known as purpose, values, heart, relationships, and self-discipline (Shirley, 2006); the qualities of authentic leaders which includes: (1) confidence; (2) hope; (3) optimism; and (4) resiliency which are essential qualities in developing a much greater self-awareness and self-regulated positive behavior among the leaders and group of employees (Luthans & Avolio, 2003, pp. 241 – 258). Not only does authentic leaders are able to recognize and value the personality, purpose, and potential of each individual, this group of leaders are also able to communicate their recognition in such a way that his/her subordinates would feel valued as a unique and special part of the group. For this reason, the leader could naturally inspire, motivate, value, and allowing his/her subordinates to grow intellectually by maintaining a regular communication with employees. According to Bill George (2004), leaders that practices authentic leadership must be able to understand one’s purpose, practice solid values, able to lead with heart, establish connected relationship with other people, and able to demonstrate self-discipline. It is the close personal relationship between the leaders and employees that improve the outcome of their collective performance since a close relationship between the two groups could lessen chronic stress and burnout in the workplace. (Maslach, Schaufeli, & Leiter, 2001) On top of these personality traits, a leader should always be influential among his/her followers without having the need to use coercion. Instead using forceful act, a good leader uses his personal power through good communication skills such as the ability to write and speak effectively in public; aside from his/her ability to know the specific needs and wants of his/her subordinates (Dessler, 2001, p. 291; Huth, 2001). Since communication is always a two-way thing, it is expected that a competent leader is a good listener. Being informed about a negative organizational situation is enough for the leader to develop strategic solution to a given problem. Competent leader should be able to influence and persuade employees to look on the brighter side of things. In order to do that, it is important for the manager to be able to gain the respect of his people. In line with this matter, having a strong integrity is essential for the leader to be respected by anyone. Likewise, the leaders’ values should always be consistently positive all the time. Aside from having the ability to influence, supervise, and lead employees who belong to the different levels of the organizational structure, leaders as managers are required to have analytical minds needed in solving management problems aside from having the ability to create vision for future development and insinuate intellectual stimulation.1 It is also equally important for them to have emotional competence in order to surpass any emotional and interpersonal crisis within the business organization. (Dessler, 2001, p. 11 & 291) The major role of a manager is to plan, organize, control and lead his subordinates within the business group. Since managers are given the authority to get the organizational task done together with the help of his/her staff members, managers who lack good leadership traits often become impersonal rather than emotional when it comes to attaining the company goals. Research Survey Methodology The main objective of the qualitative phenomenological research is to gather important information which describes the leaders’ past and current experiences regarding the best leadership qualities that could enhance the ability of the managers not only in leading a group of employees but also in terms of effectively managing employees in times when organizational crisis arises. In general, the use of qualitative research includes an array of research techniques that share some non-quantitative methods. The study data analysis will apply the steps in Creswell’s (2005) generic data analysis through data interpretation and deduction. Qualitative data collection and analysis will make use of inductive approach which can be done by generalizing the information gathered from the one-on-one interview with selected organizational leaders. As the researcher aims to successfully address the problem statement, employing an appropriate research methodology is key element in meeting the research objectives. To ensure that the researcher will gather relevant information concerning the research topic, the qualitative phenomenological research study will use interview technique as a way to obtain data directly from the randomly selected organizational leaders. Among the qualified interviewees include the CEOs, production managers, team leaders, sales managers, finance managers, and supervisors who are handling a group of employees. Proposed Research Design This research study is designed to explore the perception of organizational leaders regarding the best five qualities that makes up a competitive leader. As part of addressing the problem statement, the proposed research method will make use of standardized open-ended interview questionnaires as a technique for qualitative inquiry. The structured interview questionnaire was developed as a guide in collecting qualitative data. This method will enable the researcher to obtain a greater understanding about the organizational leaders personal opinion concerning the best qualities of a good leader. Grounded theory is a qualitative style methodology wherein the general themes can be developed out of using a systematic way of gathering and analyzing collected data. (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) When applying the grounded theory; constant comparative analysis of the individual or group interviews, observations, document analysis, and/or videotapes are utilized to increase the accuracy of the research findings (Creswell, 2007). Basically, the grounded theory directs the researcher to “uncover relationships among each category... by answering the questions of who, when, why, how, and with what consequences... to relate structure with process” (Strauss & Corbin, 1998, p. 127). The qualitative phenomenological design for this study was selected as a helpful tool in serving the purpose of the study. Qualitative research is “a mode of systemic inquiry concerned with understanding human beings and the nature of their transactions with themselves and their surroundings” (Polit & Hungler, 1993, p. 325) whereas several characteristics associated with the qualitative research includes: (a) the application of various interactive and humanistic methods to obtain the data; (b) the study takes place in a natural environment; and (c) multifaceted reasoning results are sprouting rather than anticipated (Creswell, 2007). Therefore, the proposed qualitative phenomenological research study will give the researcher a list of useful insights with regards to the research topic. Landman (2006) emphasized the fact that the use of qualitative phenomenological research will reveal the selected interviewees’ personal experiences regarding the best qualities that good leaders should possess. The use of this type of research method will provide the researcher with a clear picture on how managers can effectively become competitive leaders. Likewise, it will enable the researcher to learn more about the leadership qualities which could enable the managers cope with essential organizational problems such as resistance-to-change. Interview Research Questions The qualitative research questionnaire aims to investigate and reveal the actual experiences of the organizational leaders rather than looking for or forecasting informal relationships among the study group. (Landman, 2006) The researcher is obliged to ensure that the interview questions used in the study are aligned with the research study objectives. As listed in Appendix A, a structured interview questions will be used in acquiring raw information for coding and analysis. (See Appendix A: Interview Questions on page 17) The use of structured interview questions is an appropriate research method for the study’s sample population. (Reynolds, Simintiras, & Diamantopoulos, 2003) Aside from determining the qualities of a good leader, the interview questions will also be used in providing the researcher an idea regarding the interviewees’ job description, the number of employees each interviewee is managing, and their individual strategy when managing their subordinates in case an organizational conflict arises. The research questions will also seek to determine whether or not the selected interviewee is aware that there is a significant difference between a leader and a manager. Research Sample / Population The sample of phenomenological study should range between 5 to 25 research participants. (Leedy & Ormrod, 2005) Therefore, the population of this study will be limited to a total of 5 senior executives and middle management leaders. The population of this study will be selected based on their significant leadership role within the organizational structure, strategic planning, and strategic decision-making. Based on the answers provided by each of the target interviewee and the gathered secondary research data, a proposed leadership model and recommendations will be provided to increase the awareness of the managers on how they can enhance their personality based on the qualities of a good leader. Likewise, the randomly selected group of interviewees will also provide the researcher with a transcendental phenomenological reduction approach to the research problem. Importance of Confidentiality and Informed Consent Protecting the research participants’ confidentiality will motivate them to be honest about their personal thoughts and experiences. As part of the research study, informed consent will be used to protect the participant’s identity. Any material with the participants’ names will be omitted from or masked in the transcript. Before conducting the one-on-one interview with the target respondents, informed consent form which is presented in Appendix B on page 18 will be handed to each interview participant. A verbal explanation regarding the goals of the study will be given to each of the research participant. Likewise, the researcher will ensure that all questions asked by the research participant will be answered prior to the interview process. After providing clarification and obtaining the signed consent for the interview, the one-on-one interview with qualified individuals will begin. Data Analysis Applying the grounded theory tactic will enable the researcher develop some logical assumptions out of the collected data. The qualitative data analysis will begin with the identification of key themes and patterns via the data coding process. Creswell (2007) asserted that the data coding process is a crucial aspect in the qualitative research data gathering and scrutiny which facilitates organization, management, and repossession of the data. Based on the concept of the research study, the typical approach of going about this is by assigning tags or labels to the data (Creswell). Researcher will formulate a new theory based on the data obtained from the research participants. (Kelle, 2006) The personal experiences of each participant will be used in outlining the researcher’s approach on data gathering and examination. Therefore, it is important that the interview results will be condensed and transformed into scrutinized components or categories to make the analysis of the data easier. This procedure is generally known as the mechanical process or coding. Using coding strategy as a tool, the purpose of categorizing the data is to enable the researcher to generate new concept from the collected data (Creswell, 2007). The qualitative data analysis will involve an inductive approach wherein the researcher will develop generalizations from specific observations. The research study will build a grounded theory of leadership’s role in the decision making process. Therefore, data analysis will be conducted through data interpretation, thematic analysis and deduction methods (Polit & Hungler, 1993). Proposed Leadership Model A good leader is more than being able to handle, persuade, and/or motivate a group of people. There are a lot of other qualities such as having a gift of wisdom, sense of purpose, strong conviction over one’s belief, self-empowerment, desire to lead, honesty, and charisma among others which can make a leader an effective leader. In the absence of a good communication skill, it is unlikely for a leader to be able to communicate his thoughts and ideas to other people. Likewise, it would be impossible for a leader to influence, motivate, or persuade a group of people to support the leader’s implemented goals. Even though other qualities of a leader are equally important in making a manager an effective leader, it is definite that having an effective communication skill is the most important qualities of a good leader. Upon analyzing the gathered secondary information and the interview results, the proposed leadership model is presented on page 14. Basically, having an effective communication skill enables a manager as a leader to develop organizational vision that is based on the business trend including other new business objectives. Likewise, this particular quality enables the manager to easily increase the organizational production rate and employees’ cognitive ability which are necessary in terms of preventing unnecessary production errors due to lack of communication among the employees and the production manager and between the employees. By strengthening the communication between the leaders and the manager, the chances wherein the manager will get respect from employees is possible. Aside from developing positive self-regulated behavior among the employees, establishing a strong communication line within the business organization will promote cooperation between the manager and rest of the employees and increase self-awareness among the employees and the manager. With gift of wisdom combined with sensitivity, tenacity, sense of purpose, and strong conviction over their personal beliefs, a manager can develop a clear organizational vision and new business objectives. In order to increase productivity rate and employees’ cognitive ability, the manager needs to have the ability to motivate, inspire, influence, and desire to lead. Acknowledging the importance of self empowerment and inflicting mental stimulation to each of the employee will also enable the manager to maximize the use of the human resources. It is also a challenged on the part of the managers as a leader to be able to win the respect of other employees. Aside from having a competitive communication skill, a good leader should be honest, has ethically accepted values, heart, and the practice self-discipline. Being a good example to his/her subordinate will enable him/her to win the respect of his/her team members. Charisma, confidence, and giving importance to the abilities and values of each employee could also increase the cooperation between the manager and the employees. To increase employees’ self-awareness and develop a positive self-regulated behavior, the manager should be optimistic and resilient when managing the employees. Conclusion and Recommendations Establishing a two-way communication line between the manager and employees is one of the most important qualities of a good leader. Aside from being an effective communicator and listener, other qualities like ability to motivate, inspire, influence, desire to lead, sensitivity, gift of wisdom, tenacity, sense of purpose, strong conviction over their belief, self-empowerment, intellectual stimulation, honesty, integrity, charisma, values, heart, self-discipline, confidence, hope, optimism, and resilience are equally important in terms of increasing the business organization’s productivity level, employees’ cognitive ability, gaining respect from employees, increasing self-awareness, developing positive self-regulated behavior, and promoting cooperation between the manager and employees. To encourage managers to become effective leader, managers should become familiar with the personal qualities of a good leader. One way to enable the managers to increase their knowledge on this matter is by allowing them to undergo special leadership training. Basically, it is by knowing these qualities that could enable the managers to develop or convert their own weaknesses into strengths. Appendix A – Interview Questions 1. What department are you handling / job description? 2. How many employees are you managing? 3. Could you please differentiate a competitive leader from a manager? 4. What do you think are the qualities of a good leader? 5. As a ____ manager, how do you effectively manage your subordinates in case an organizational conflict arises? Appendix B – Informed Consent Form By signing this form, I acknowledge that I___________________________ fully understand the nature of the phenomenological study of the: Qualities of a Good Leadership as a dissertation study. As part of the research study, each respondent is clear that his/her identity will be kept confidential. Aside from voluntarily participating in the research study, the signature appeared on this form indicates the respondent is 18 years old and above. Since the results of the research data may be used for presentations and publications, each respondent were made clear that his/her decision to withdraw from the study will be acknowledged without any question asked. Before signing the informed consent form, I personally declare that I have no further questions that need to be addressed. ______________________________________ ____________________ Signature of Participant Date _______________________________ ________________ Signature of Interviewer Date Appendix C – Interview Results What department are you handling / job description? HR Department. HR manager. Sales Department. Sales Manager. Production Department. Production Head Supervisor. Sales Department. Sales Supervisor. Sales Department. Sales Manager. How many employees are you managing? As a production supervisor, I am responsible in leading a group of 10 employees. I handle between 8 to 12 sales executives. My sales team is composed of 15 sales personnel plus freelance sales agents. Officially, I handle 4 HR personnel aside from dealing with more than a hundred employees employed with the company. I manage 15 people in the sales team. Could you please differentiate a competitive leader from a manager? A leader is basically someone who is capable of leading the entire group of people whereas a manager manages the business activities. For me, leader is an individual who has the power to encourage, discipline, and motivate the people around him. Basically, leadership is about effectively handling and influencing people around him. On the other hand, a manager is someone who ensures that the work within an organization is properly done. A manager is knowledgeable of the business tools aside from managing employees. A leader is someone who does not necessary know the use of the business tool but can effectively convince or persuade people to support a project. A leader is not necessarily a boss but has the power to influence people using his charm. A manager is a boss. Therefore, must search for new strategies on how he/she can effectively manage a group of employees. Unlike some of the managers I know, a leader never use authoritative force to influence people in getting things done. What do you think are the qualities of a good leader? I believe that a good leader should have the charisma to lead or persuade someone. To do so, leaders are normally good conversationalist and a listener at the same time. A good leader has to be someone who is capable of influencing and motivating other people towards achieving a specific goal. Therefore, qualities should include being self-aware of the values, passion, skills, including his own strength and weaknesses and of others, continuous learner, knows how to differentiate what is right from wrong, is confident, and has the courage to influence other people to follow his own values and personal beliefs. A good leader should be enthusiastic and has interest on other people including other issues and events that goes on around him, has the capabilities of innovating new thoughts and ideas which is necessary in problem solving, must have the gift of wisdom in terms of dealing with other people, and should be capable of adapting to new environment or situation which could arise anytime. To be an effective leader, one must have a very strong-interpersonal skill which will enable the leader to effectively interact and communicate with other people. Basically, effective communication includes the ability of a leader to willingly listen and understand the concerns of other people. A good leader is someone who is highly respected by other people. It means that this person strongly believe in the importance of other people other than himself. Since a leader manages a group of people, it is expected that a leader should have a good insight of what may happen within a big picture. Only then can a leader be effective in solving problems. As a ____ manager, how do you effectively manage your subordinates in case an organizational conflict arises? In case organizational conflict arises, I see to it that I do not misjudge any of my employees by listening to the personal concerns of each of the team members. By knowing what goes on in their mind, it is easier on my part as a manager to solve organizational conflicts. I make sure that I get my message across to each member. I would normally spend a one-on-one meeting with my team members to avoid the situation wherein one of my employees would feel awkward to talk about what he makes him unhappy with the way the team is being managed. As a manager, I do not use authoritative power to control my people. Instead, I encourage my subordinates to work as a team by making each one of them feel important. I listen to their personal ideas and concerns aside from allowing them to share their personal opinions and recommendations in solving problems. Given that organizational conflict is present, I would spend time gathering the reasons behind the conflict. I would first call onto the person involved followed by talking with other people who are not directly involved in the situation. Listening to other people will minimize the risk that I would make a bias judgment. Organizational conflicts can be easily solved when there is a two-way communication between the manager and the rest of the employees. 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