Being a Leader Issues - Essay Example

Being a Leader Table of Contents Introduction 3 The role of the leader 3 2)Leadership Styles 6 3)Culture and Motivation 9 Conclusion 12 References 13 Introduction A leader can be defined as a person who is responsible for influencing other people or its team in an organisation. Therefore, a person in order to become a leader requires two or more people following the individual, wherein it is considered that a leader must have the capability of leading followers avoiding ethical conflicts in an objective oriented manner. As per the common understanding, in an organisational context, a person becomes a leader if the individual has the capacity of leading a group of people by example (Burton-Jones, n.d.). The discussion henceforth intends to describe the role of a leader in an organisation and the responsibilities involved in its role. Likewise, the paper also highlights various leadership styles, which a leader might require to adapt in its process of leadership. Moreover, it also highlights the cultural and motivational aspects for a leader in an organisation. 1) The role of the leader The role of a leader is to assimilate the skills of the people in an organisation to achieve the desired results and organisational objectives. It is also considered that a leader has the role of providing direction to the employees in an organisation, act as a medium of communication between the low-level management and the top-level management of an organisation. Moreover, a leader also has to play the role of a mentor for a group of employees along with providing knowledge to them. Motivation along with providing encouragement to the group of employees also falls under the role of a leader (Kashfi, 2007). Similarly, the responsibilities associated with leadership include communicating the message from the top-level management to the lower-level management of an organisation and help in the smooth execution of organisational operations. A leader is also responsible for empowering talented employees along with convincing them with a vision of meeting the organisational objectives along with their personal requirements (Burton-Jones, n.d.). Communication skills are perceived as quintessential for a leader, which must be inherent within the people in this position. Moreover, a leader must also have the knowledge of planning regarding the resources in an organisation applying their foresightedness skills. Knowledge of controlling a group and its overall performance is also a vital aspect for leaders to become successful, where the foresightedness characteristics prove to be a virtue for them. A leader also must be able to set the example for its group that would provide them an understanding regarding the skills inherent within the leader. Evaluation of the performance and counselling the employees also constitute the required skills of a leader. A leader also must have the knowledge of mentoring its team or the group of employees that would help in alleviating their performance. Moreover, the skill of representing the entire group of employees is regarded as the function of a successful leader (Learning for Life Corporation, 2013). Correspondingly, there are five levels of authority identifiable in the leadership process, which includes position, permission, production, people development and personhood (Heywood, n.d.). It has been viewed that there is a huge difference between the function of a manager and the function of a leader in an organisation. Likewise, a difference can also be identified with reference to the knowledge and skills of both the leaders and managers in an organisation. To be noted, managers have an impersonal and passive approaches attitude towards the goals in an organisation. On the other hand, leaders have a personal and active approach towards the determined organisational goals. As commonly observed, managers have the perception that risk must be avoided for an organisation while leaders believe that risk must be undertaken that would result in creating opportunities (Zaleznik, 2001). Furthermore, it is often considered that a leader must have the ability of maintaining integrity, as it is the most vital requirement for an individual pursuing leadership in an organisation. Likewise, a leader must be consistent in planning the course of action and making effective decisions regarding the action that has been planned (Northampton College, 2011). Again, as the communication of purpose and organisational direction is vital for any successful leader, it is considered that leaders must be able to develop the actual purpose of the objective that has been planned by the management indicating organisational achievements. Respectively, once the purpose has been developed, leaders must create an approach for communicating the organisational direction to its employees that would provide them an understanding regarding the requirements for a proper direction to achieve the organisational goals (Robinson, 2014). Therefore, it can be asserted that both the process of management and leadership are different in nature wherein management is related to plan and budget in an organisation, while management is related to setting the direction and vision in an organisation. Management is further related to controlling the business process in an organisation and identifying certain problems to resolve them accordingly. On the other hand, leadership can be stated as all about encouraging employees and taking certain risks to solve the problem (Bohoris & Vorria, n.d.). 2) Leadership Styles In the present day context, there are different types of leadership styles being followed by organisations, the majors being the situational and transformational leadership styles. Situational leaders believe that there is no single approach to effective leadership, as it should be based upon the prevailing situation to gain the desired level of adequacy. Situational leadership function are categorised into four types, which include providing direction, coaching, supporting and authority delegation (College of Charleston, n.d.). Situational leadership style characteristics can be directly linked with democratic, autocratic and Laissez Faire theories of leadership. For instance, in a small organisation, wherein there is less number of employees working, it is considered that a leader might follow the notion of autocratic theory. This is principally because, autocratic leadership centralises the entire power of control, which is most suitable in small organisations, being effective to manage a small number of employees. Similarly, situational leaders might follow a democratic theory of leadership when the same organisation grows in its operations with a greater number of employees to be controlled. In this case, democratic theory would prove effective in compliance with the notions of situational leadership, as greater number of employees can be managed wherein the power of control would be decentralised. Likewise, situational leaders might follow Laissez-faire theory if in case the organisation grows rapidly that increases the requirement of grouping employees in an organisation to form a team for effective change implementation. In this case, a Laissez-faire leadership style would assist the management to take control as well as empower the team to delegate responsibilities of continuous growth and development (Mississippi College, n.d.). Transformational leadership is a type of leadership style that is considered quite effective in bringing change within the workforce and the social system of an organisation correspondingly. Transformational leadership, in general, results in a positive change within the employees of an organisation with the need of converting them into future leaders. There is a range of mechanisms used by a leader following transformational leadership style wherein the leader has the ability of connecting the ideas of the subordinates or employees to obtain something productive for the organisation and therefore, facilitate it towards growth. Following a transformational type of leadership, a leader is able to lead by example to inspire its team members or employees identifying their strengths and weakness (Langston University, n.d.). Transformational leaders might follow democratic, autocratic and Laissez Faire theories of leadership as required according to the prevailing circumstances in the organisation, especially during change management, when delegating power to the employees become much crucial. For instance, organisations would be subjected to various changes in its business functioning due to which, an organisation might follow the process of change implementation. This leadership style may be suitable in different situations. For example, in the initial phase of change implementation, a transformational leader might follow the autocratic theory to implement the change being desired by the top-level management and deal with the resistance of employees towards change. As change often increases risks of interpersonal conflict within the workforce, it is essential that the organisation follow one particular source of information or communication to channelize the organisational vision and motive behind the change. Likewise, once the desired change is implemented, the transformational leader might follow democratic theory, which will result in decentralising the responsibility to the employees, facilitating them to adapt the change being implemented. Simultaneously, after the change has been implemented through democratic theory, a transformational leader might opt for Laissez-faire theory that would make the employees follow the change without any resistance and hence, making the entire change implementation process a success (Langston University, n.d.). Comprehending the leadership characteristics of a situational and a transformational leader in relation to Lewin’s original leadership theories, the action centred leadership introduced by John Adair can be linked with minimum effort. John Adair’s action centred leadership is a multi-dimensional approach that requires balancing the leaders within an organisation. There are three core areas in this model, which include task, team and individual, playing an unignorable role in any kind of leadership process. Contextually, if these areas were balanced, the overall quality of the employees would be improved, resulting in increased morale among the employees and building an effective teamwork to attain organisational goals as desired. In relation to this theory, the responsibility of a leader concerning the achievement of the tasks constitutes identifying the aims and resources followed by the phase of constructing a plan to achieve the tasks assigned. On the other hand, the responsibility of a leader in the area of team implies that various standards and communication within the team of employees must be established, cooperation within employees must be developed and encouragement must be provided to the team to achieve the desired objectives and goals. Likewise, in relation to the responsibility of a leader within the area of individual signify that a leader must understand its employees individually, provide them with adequate support, value team performance, identifying the strengths and weakness of the members in the team and accordingly developing them to provide them with the freedom to take individual decisions (Stellar Leadership, n.d.). 3) Culture and Motivation In the contemporary world scenario, apart from the above stated aspects, “span of control”; is also asserted to be highly significant to ensure leadership success. “Span of control” is in general, referred as the control framework practiced within an organisation in which, a subordinate directly has to report to its supervisor. Span of control is a vital aspect that helps in measuring the efficiency regarding the management and performance of an organisation. On the other hand, organisational structure provides an idea regarding how the task is allocated within the employees and how they coordinate with each other, to achieve the organisational goals. It is likewise considered that organisational structure can directly affect the communication process within an organisation along with the span of control being followed by an organisation (Office of the City Auditor Portland, Oregon, 2011). Accordingly, it has been viewed that the communication channel created by the organisational structure determines upward, downward and lateral flow of communication, which again indicates the practiced span of control within the organisation (Devi, 2013). Accordingly, it can be stated that if an organisational structure is rigid, there is a possibility that the communication process might not be effective, as the communication flow within an organisation cannot be subjected to frequent changes. Likewise, if an organisational structure is flexible, the flow of communication within an organisation is quite likely to turn out to be effective, as it can be subjected to frequent changes, based upon the requirements. Correspondingly, organisational structure can also affect the span of control within an organisation, as it determines the level of hierarchy, wherein an employee has to report the immediate superior or the manager. In an organisational structure, span of control can be either narrow or wide. A narrow span of control ensures that the management process is executed with lesser difficulties and in a time-efficient as well as resourceful manner. Under narrow span of control, feedback and flow of ideas from the workers to its supervisors is asserted as quite effective, promoting leadership at different levels of the organisational structure. In contrast, under wide span of control, the layers of management in an organisational structure may seem to be quite lesser, due to which goals and objectives are easily transferred from the top-level management to the middle level management. Correspondingly, it is considered that organisational culture is quite essential for improving the employee’s performance consistently and achieving the desired results. Therefore, a sound organisational culture may be regarded as an important requirement that has to be met with respect to the cultural values and ethical principles followed by the employees (Butts, n.d.). The responsibilities of a leader binds him/her to create the culture of trust and responsibility within an organisation and its team members, due consideration must be provided towards ensuring utmost level of honesty to establish integrity of his/her leadership that might create a culture of trust and respect within an organisation. Similarly, a leader must be concerned about the team members’ wellbeing that would make them understand how much the leader cares for them and develop a degree of moral within the workforce (Covey, 2008). It is also considered to create transparency regarding disclosure of information within an organisation that would further facilitate a culture of mutual trust among the employees and its leaders. Likewise, showing loyalty towards the employees is also an important aspect that would create a culture of respect within the employees or team members. Overall, it can be asserted that if these techniques are followed by the leader to encourage and motivate the team members, there is a huge possibility of development for the team members in a group (Covey, 2008). Accordingly, team diversity has gained major emphasis in the prevailing organisational scenario, with the growth awareness regarding the benefits of diverse workforce. These benefits principally concentrate on team diversity to assure increased productivity and revenue turnover within an organisation, which not only benefits organisational growth but also manifests individual growth of the team members. Moreover, innovation and creativeness would be encouraged among the team members. Team diversity would also result in increased coordination and commitment among the team members. In addition, the work assigned to a diverse team would ensure that the task is executed effectively enough (Petrov, 2006). According to the motivational theories propagated by Locke and Latham, it is believed that employees, who have difficult but achievable goals, have the possibility of performing better than those employees who are assigned with simpler or easily attainable tasks. It is based on the assumption that goals can directly motivate the employees towards achieving it based upon the principles of clarity, complexity and the challenge faced in the gradual process of task completion (Locke, 1996). In contrast, motivational theory propounded by Mahen Tampoe has been based on the assumption that employees provide more consideration to perform tasks, which are challenging and would provide them with motivation on improving their knowledge, in addition to the satisfaction of goal achievement. According to Mahen Tampoe, motivational aspects are distinctive for knowledge employees at different phases of development (Xiuli & et. al., n.d.). Conclusion Leader and leadership skills have been emphasised in the present organisational scenario, as it provides direction to the employees or a group of team to achieve a common objective to meeting the organisational goals. There are various roles and responsibilities associated with leadership, whereby these aspects provide major contribution in both the organisational contexts and the individual contexts. In the prevalent business environment, it has been viewed that situational and transformational leadership styles have gained increased popularity, as it is considered the most effective style. In relation to the action centred leadership theory, it has been observed that there are three main areas that a leader must be responsible for, which principally include task, team and individual. The span of control along with communication process for a leader have also been identified as highly affected by the organisational structure being followed, due to which a flexible organisational structure is often considered as better for this purpose. As apparent, the concept of leadership is indeed widespread, involving various notions and theories that fur help in developing leadership styles for the benefit of the organisation by assuring their goal accomplishments. References Bohoris, G. A. & Vorria, E. P., No Date. Leadership vs Management: A Business Excellence / Performance Management View. Lund University, pp. 1-8. Burton-Jones, A., No Date. Responsible Leadership. Griffith Business School, pp. 1-6. Butts, J. B., No Date. Ethics in Organisations and Leadership. Jones and Bartlett Publishers, pp. 119-151. Devi, V., 2013. Impact of Organizational Structure on Effective Communication Flow: The Case of Sharp-Roxy Corporation. University Utara Malaysia. [Online] Available at: http://etd.uum.edu.my/646/ [Accessed April 8, 2014]. Heywood, S., No date. Authority and Power. Articles, pp. 1-5. College of Charleston, No date. The Situational Leadership Model. Documents. 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