Human Behaviour and Leader Performance - Essay Example

Leadership: A Study in Personality, Human Behaviour and Performance By Devangini Mahapatra Chauhan Our changing times have been symbolic of the leadership traits and trends that dominate the choices we make and the changes we follow. The people who are able to not only possess the requisite traits, but also demonstrate these in trying times more than any other are true leaders. (www.wikipedia.com) Leadership traits can be categorised to function on three basic levels that dictate the integrity and effectiveness of a leader in context of enhanced results. These are as follows: Personality Human Behaviour Performance If we were to look around ourselves, there are millions of examples that make an attempt at essaying the characteristics that make an ordinary person a leader - a hero for a lifetime. Whether it is in our movies, art or literature - there have been constant portrayals of leaders and their qualities. Such qualities are singled out as the most effective when it comes to possessing a commanding personality, understanding and harnessing the dynamics of human behaviour and finally, as well as performing under high pressure and trying situations. The extent of demonstration of such traits influences effectiveness and performance of the followers. Therefore, it is imperative for leaders to be dynamic and have a commanding personality. It is also, equally important for such people to naturally understand human behaviour. In order to attain exponential growth in terms of effectiveness, a leader must, first and foremost delegate authority. This has a two fold logic to it. First, it helps the leader tackle his work in a more organised manner, without compromising on the quality he churns out - when a leader has too much on his head, there are more chances that he will stumble. The other side to this is that when a leader manages to delegate authority which leads to the desired output, it shows that he has a commanding disposition and is fit to be a leader. Further, a leader must give orders in a tone that has underscores of compassion for fellow human beings and will power, in equal measures. This will not only help him gain respect, but also put him in a position where no one will ever be able to refuse him. It is a leader's duty to understand that different people need to be handled and led differently - while some might have a will of their own, there might be others who need constant spoon feeding. Each individual must be paid attention to in the course of giving out orders. (Mill, J S, 1859) As a teacher and developer of people, a leader's basic role is that of a negotiator and guiding hand, rolled into one. No teacher has been unsuccessful in teaching something new every single day, when he uses compassion and appeals to the senses and conscience of his pupil. This is essentially true of a leader - who is first and foremost a teacher. In this sense, a leader helps people through change. He carries out this task by making sure that every detail is taken care of while he brings people face to face with the dynamic nature of reality and the environment they thrive in. A leader weaves people through change - helping them understand, cope and finally embrace change. (None, et al. 2004) In context of understanding human behaviour, leadership has embraced this aspect as the very basis of its body of knowledge. Therefore, we will make use of the ideologies portrayed in works of art, movies and literature as we endeavour to study the dynamics of leadership. To start with, if we are look at our movies, we will find leadership qualities well demonstrated in classics like Daughters of the Dust and Saving Private Ryan. While Daughters of the Dust brought out the personal turmoil of a woman in power - where the level of sacrifice is said to be greater; Saving Private Ryan was more of a personal journey upon which an ordinary school teacher embarked to develop and realise his special abilities during the World War II. Daughters of the Dust is a multi dimensional film which chronicles the life of one of the most powerful women in history - where as a young girl she is suddenly granted unusual powers. The movie continues over a vast canvas of colours, moods and personal dialogue, where the girl, albeit a little softly in the beginning, treads through a morass of Michiavellian characters. This journey brings her face to face with a discovery of personal strength and abilities wherein she must make sacrifices where time and relationships are concerned. High level leaders, back stabbing subordinates and drama galore - the searing performance by Cate Blanchett is one that does justice to every nuance of this film. Without being to obviously lofty, this film confronts the issues and challenges of leadership at a very basic level, with a strong element of reality thrown in. Meanwhile, Saving Private Ryan is the kind of film that brings leadership and the inspiration to exercise the requisite qualities, to the masses. Empowering in its characterisations and realistic in its treatment of the subject, this film explores all those qualities that take an ordinary man to such heights of self discovery where he cannot help but take on the mantle of a leader who cares, shares and commands - all at the same time. It demonstrates the ways and means in which a leader can keep his followers and men grounded and focussed, especially in times of high pressure and the temptation to succumb to countless problems and major adversity. The role of a leader is amplified in times of conflict and war with a greater demand on performance and output. Therefore, this movie is perfect in its thematic implications for the confrontation of leadership issues. Performance management is essential for it is at the heart of success and essence of leadership. The process of performance planning is one that establishes direction and clarity of assignment before it seeks to conduct performance coaching. This fulfils the goal of development and encouragement of subordinates apart from correcting poor performance or deviation from the set path. (Dahle, C, 2000) In terms of art, Mount Rushmore is a living, breathing tribute to the qualities of people who have shaped our world and generations of change by more or less following the above mentioned process. I say breathing because, without them, our world would be a different place - we owe our realities mainly to their efforts and the faith they placed in the future generations which would be affected by these efforts. In order to embark on the process of performance planning, leaders like George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and many others, have made use of qualities like knowledge coupled with a burning desire to learn something new everyday, cheerfulness and helpfulness where spreading their infectious compassion is concerned. Apart from this, having enough of respect to deem it important to involve subordinates completely through effective communication helps build the required momentum on which leaders can operate more smoothly. (Burnier, D, 1995) Further, to imbibe enthusiasm and a sense of duty, self control and self confidence are imperative. This also serves the purpose of showing through example. Also, tolerance where various kinds of people are concerned and complete transparency and honesty in actions and decisions regarding them is what makes a leader respected and revered. It takes very little to practise these things on a day to day basis, but they can go a long way in securing a good future for leaders and their people alike. Moving on, there is always an issue of leadership turned foul. If we are to closely examine cases like those of Rasputin, David Koresh, Jim Jones and even Hitler, we will find manipulative minds that did entire nations a world of wrong only to end in complete loss. In the cases of the above mentioned leaders, the one common factor that can be taken as a base to study their behaviour is the misuse of charisma. For these people to start out, it would have been imperative to make use of charm to force their way into higher quarters where they could be in a commanding position. Charisma is a very delicate trait in a leader. It borders on the traits possessed by ethically challenged narcissists who can think of nothing but themselves in a seat of power. (Huckman, et al, 2003) Are all leaders power hungry then This is not entirely true for a leader whose very core understands that without the good of his people, he will be nowhere. A sensible leader makes the required efforts to keep charisma separated from the actual duties that come with being a leader, whether it is in his decision making, actions or the way he deals with people. A genuine leader recognises that he is a healer, a preacher, a teacher, a guide and simply a medium through which he can bring about change for the good, and affect such actions that will lead people to the fruits of the same. Finally, to tie up all the facts, we can safely summarise my saying that in our literature, art and cinema, we will find examples of leadership qualities and the inspiration that has prompted history to allow itself to be moulded by such people. Without these qualities and a basic compassion for humanity as a whole, we will not be able to produce good leaders, nor will be able to recognise and follow them. References Cited: 1. Google Inc. URL: www.google.com (Accessed on: 19th October, 2006) 2. Cheryl Dahle. "Natural Leader" Fast Company, December 2000, Issue 41, 268.URL: http://www.fastcompany.com/online/41/sharpnack.html 3. Huckman, Robert S., and Gary Pisano. "The Effect of Organizational Context on Individual Performance" National Bureau of Economic Research. October 2003. 4. DeLysa Burnier. "Reinventing Government from a Feminist Perspective" The Forum Magazine. Fall, 1995 5. Stuart, J M. On Liberty. Penguin Books, London. 1859. 6. None, George B. New Frontiers of Leadership. Information Age Publishing Inc, USA. 2004 Read More