The Impact of Leadership Styles on Organizational Effectiveness - Essay Example

Leadership During my placement, I was given a task of leading a group who came to learn about the operations of the business. Having some extra skills, I was chosen based on merits as the head of the group. The group constituted of students emanating from different institutions located in different parts of the world. Therefore, the group members had diverse cultures, religions, races, and even social status. From the first day, the group could not coordinate their activities. There were conflicts and each member wanted to work independently. However, my role was to ensure that I unite them in order for them to work as a single team. I was assigned an office and informed that some of them were later to be absorbed in the organization. Therefore, I had to lecture them and erase any negative perception towards teamwork. The first strategy that I used was to create a communication link between them. I made it mandatory for all members to communicate with each other daily. Secondly, I implemented an open office policy whereby each group member would feel free to air any grievances without the use of intermediaries (Kano 87). I also shared my contacts in order for the members to reach me any time they feel like. Through these interventions, the group started working as a unit within the timeframe of two weeks. Through this experience, I felt like as a complete leader. I believe that being accessible to all members of the team was one aspect that enabled me to do well. This is because in many cases team fall out because of poor conflict solving mechanisms. Therefore, implementing an open office policy gave me an opportunity to arrest the situation before it get out of hand. In addition, the team members felt united because their grievances were being addressed effectively. Therefore, even after completing my task, they remained united and majority of them ended up being part-time subordinates of the organization. However, besides being close to the team members, I could have trained them of on the importance of diversity. This is through informing them that diversity in the team is significant in enabling them to tackle various challenges that keep on emerging in the modern market. I could have trained them that with the increasing levels of globalization resulting from liberalization of markets, efficient flow of information, and integration of economies, the level of competition in the market has increased tremendously (Iqbal 77). Therefore, they can use their diverse skills, experiences, and different ways of completing the tasks to spearhead growth and development in the organization. Through such training, they could have appreciated each other’s culture, religion, race, or social background. This could have made the whole team to be even more united towards a common objective. My worst moment as a leader came when I was in high school. My group members always relied on me for ideas and providing them with direction. I was always offering them with advice and guidance on how to achieve the set objectives as a team rather than individuals. The rest of the groups tried to emulate us. This is because we were punctual, focused, and we always observed the set guidelines. However, the last assignment which was carrying the highest marks was to be presented to the panel which composed of our teachers. However, this was kept as a secret until the last day. As a leader, I always delegated authority and activities to the rest of the team members. However, the group depended on me and they had a lot of trust on my abilities. Therefore, when we were informed that the assignment was to be presented, they selected me to present the assignment. During the presentation, I panicked. I could not be heard and my overall communication skills were very poor. I could not remember some of the important points because I was not involved in drafting the last copy. Therefore, I ended up failing the whole group. As a result, we were forced to repeat the whole unit. At that time, I felt discouraged to even consider myself as a leader. Nevertheless, later I came to realize that the event was an opportunity for me to realize my leadership strengths and weaknesses. In this situation, I wish I could have humbled myself and request the members who had been involved in drafting the final copy to represent the group. This could have saved the group from repeating the course. In addition, if I was to repeat the activity, I could not only have delegated the activities to the group members but, also ensured that I am conversant with what the group was doing. Therefore, I could have been aware of the information in the final draft. This could have given me the confidence to present assignment effectively. This is because successful leaders not only give direction but also participate in the activity itself. I am participative leader. I give other people an opportunity to air their grievances without suppressing them. In addition, I value the input of every member of the team. However, I always ensure that the responsibility of making the final decision rest on me. I always ensure that I boost the morale of the rest of the team members through giving them an opportunity to contribute in decision-making process. As a result, they feel that their opinion matters (Glanz 56). When changes are required I ensure that I help the members to accept changes. This is through taking them through the change process rather than imposing changes on them. Besides being democratic, I would like to be a transformational leader. The current world has become dynamic. Therefore, I would like to be a person who initiates new ideas in order to make things better. In addition, I would like to be a leader who encourages innovation among the team members. This leadership trait would allow me to focus more on the major tasks and delegate smaller tasks to the rest of the team members. This would give an opportunity to be an example to others. Works Cited Glanz, Jeffrey. Finding Your Leadership Style: A Guide for Educators. Alexandria: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2002. Print. Iqbal, Talha. The Impact of Leadership Styles on Organizational Effectiveness: Analytical Study of Selected Organizations in It Sector in Karachi. Munich: Grin Verlag, 2011. Print. Kano, Erasto. Leadership Styles and School Performance. S.l.: Grin Verlag, 2013. Print. Read More