Leadership Journal
Leadership can refer both to the process of leading, and to those entities that do the leading. Leadership has been a central, and sometimes controversial, topic in the study of organizations. In spite of claims to the contrary, there is substantial evidence that leadership is positively related to a variety of individual and organizational outcomes. Leaders, by their very roles, are responsible for making decisions that help their organizations adapt and succeed in competitive environments. Leaders do not merely impose goals on followers, but work with others to create a shared sense of purpose and direction.
Leaders primarily work through and with other people. They also help to establish the conditions that enable others to be effective. Leadership is a function more than a role. Although leadership is often invested in – or expected of – persons in positions of formal authority, leadership encompasses a set of functions that may be performed by any different persons in different roles throughout a community. This paper presents my personal reflections regarding my leadership learning experiences as a manager relating them to the listed leadership topics below.
Leadership and Management
Coordination. As leaders and managers, managing the information that the company uses in its daily operations is crucial in any business organization. Information is the blood stream of every company on which every staff; employee and supervisor work on to be able to meet the demands of the clients and customers of the business. This is the reason why there should be proper management flow within the organization. I believe that a direct link between the supervisors and the subordinate employees should be efficient enough to answer to the daily work loads of the members of the organization. Communication between and among the members of the organization should be prioritized in order to provide a well-functioning business operation within and outside an organization.
Commitment. Since an organization’s culture is about how much members trust each other, about attitudes and emotions and their impact on team performance, organizations are defined best in these terms and in ideas like change, trust, cohesion, conformity and adaptability. As one of the company leaders in a changing business environment, I learned that it is required of me to have the capacity to be adaptable equipped with quick and intelligent responses to the constant changes in our company environment. It is my responsibility to create a culture that integrates my team so that individual actions will strengthen the results of a particular business endeavor. In this regard, commitment of the members with the business organization to ensure loyalty to the company should be inculcated and maintained among its people.
Competency. According to (1995), correctly applied and operational employee participation increases productivity as supported by empirical literature. Similarly, (2001) highlighted the importance of high work life quality through good supervision, working conditions, pay and benefits as well as challenging and rewarding jobs. As such, it is apparent that the employees need to avail of the opportunities of developing their skills further and enriching their knowledge through the training programs and exercises that their company invests on. As the manager, it is one of my tasks to be an effective leader in enhancing the potential of the people under my supervision. In this light, I have proposed training programs and team-building exercises by coordinating with the human resource department which I believe will benefit the company.
Contemporary Leadership Theories
According to (2002), credibility is the foundation of leadership. A leader should be credible for him to lead. In addition to this characteristic, a leader should possess honesty, competence, aspiration, and a forward-looking approach. In the business point of view, good leadership proves to be quite beneficial. Good leadership aids in effectively meeting job-related demands, in creating higher-performing teams, in fostering renewed loyalty and commitment, in increasing motivational level and in reducing absenteeism and turnover of employees. Unfortunately, this so-called effective leadership is not that easy to attain; effective management is not as easy as writing down notes. Good leadership entails a lot of hard work, dedication, and many other factors. However, good leadership should not be a burden to us; we should embrace it as a challenge.
I want to share to you the philosophy that I am now applying. I am inspired with the book by James M. ; they have written the book entitled The Leadership Challenge. I was motivated by this and I also want everybody to be motivated by this. They have formulated 5 leadership practices and embedded in these practices are commitments of leadership. The first leadership practice they are teaching is to model the way. To model the way is for a leader to find one’s voice by expounding his values and setting the benchmark by aligning actions with shared values. Effective leaders are considered people of principles. Subordinates will not believe those leaders who have inconsistent and varying values.
The second practice that was created was to inspire a shared vision—to envision the future by imagining exciting possibilities and to enlist others in a common goal by enticing them to these shared aspirations. However, our company’s dream could not be achieved if the leaders and the managers do not share this dream and their commitment with their subordinates. Leaders must be able to communicate well with their members. Moreover, the indispensable ingredient in a company is not on its facilities but on the social capital and human network. Even if there is the need for a company to have big profit, a great leader should not set it as the top priority; the people in the company should be prioritized.
The third practice that I am inspired with is to challenge the process. A great leader looks for opportunities by means of searching for inventive ways to revolutionize, develop, improve, experiment, and take risk by generating small wins and learning from errors. Great leadership mans being able to change.
Self-Awareness
But all these leadership realizations would not have been revealed if I was not able to take deeper understanding of my self and the lifestyle I am living. It has become apparent to me to assess myself as an influential individual in the company I am working. Before being able to construct and conceptualize the leadership strategies I am applying to my team, it occurred to me the need to examine and evaluate the values, attitudes, cognitive styles, interpersonal styles and the strengths and weakness of my personality as a manager and leader at the same time.
Values. The Golden Rule applies to my character in general. I have become an effective manager by leading my people under the principle of treating others the way I want to be treated. In this way, I could be characterized as a leader following the principle of parallelism when it comes to dealing with my colleagues. Despite the authority I hold in our department, being compassionate and considerate of the situations and conditions that my people are in made more effective in making them respond to my requests particularly during stressful times in the office. I believe that the most effective way to gain the support, trust and respect of the people I am working with is to empathize to their concerns. I learned to be quick in according encouragement and praises to the people under my supervision. I try my best to lessen my tendencies to criticize my subordinates by rephrasing my comments as suggestions and recommendations to improve their work practices.
Attitude towards change. It has been also necessary for me to learn new things in every chance and way I can mange. This greatly contributed to my enhanced discerning function in considering and overcoming new tasks and challenges that confront the department I manage and lead. But broadening my outlook in dealing with my tasks and duties entails not just decisiveness but also taking into account the importance of objectivity. With my openness to change I always make it appoint to base my decisions on valid and reliable facts and information thereby ensuring my credibility and the success of the decisions I make along with the intention to improve and contribute to the wellness of the people in the company and the business at large.
Cognitive style. As a manager, I tried my best to be very objective in dealing with the issues and responsibilities of our department. I believe that successful business organizations maintain their competitive edge in the market by being calculative and logical in every company decision. But when it comes to attending to the concerns of my people who are the primary and most important element in my successful function as a leader-manager, my role and duties are best met by looking at each department case subjectively and ethically. I believe that combining these two aspects is the most calculating challenge in my profession which entails my capability to correctly weigh arguments, advantages as well as drawbacks.
Interpersonal style. I believe that communicating with my colleagues is most effective when I practice good listening behavior. I make it a point to hear them out and follow their line of thought, see myself in their situation, and analyze where they are coming from. In this light, I am able to comprehend and better their stand and the approach they are utilizing in dealing with the conflicts and challenges that beset our team. This most often than not produce well-rounded output in which all sides of the issues were dealt with thereby fostering productive and dynamic interpersonal communication within the members of the department.
Strengths and weaknesses of the type. But the leadership styles I came to understand through self-awareness likewise presented shortcomings. These instances occur mostly when I am confronted with ethical dilemmas that beset my function as a manager and with my considerations to practice good leadership styles. Sometimes, my beliefs as a person go against the things that are required of me to perform. But fortunately, I was able to make both ends meet whenever I face these types of challenges by explaining my self to the people who are concerned.
Leadership characteristics
Leaders manage and managers lead, but the two activities are not synonymous. Management functions can potentially provide leadership; leadership activities can contribute to managing. Reflecting based on the above statements made me realize that effective managers do not only administer the people under him/her but should also be a prime initiator of innovation in which tasks and goals of the department and the organization as a whole. As such, managers should be creative as well as discerning when it comes to analyzing and assessing the resources of the company. Developing and evaluating the efficiency of a particular operation strategy will be helpful in maintaining the overall competitiveness of the business organization. In effect, being able to contemplate the factors that will greatly influence the success of the business should be highly considered through objective investigation of the current conditions of the business environment particularly the industry to which the company belongs.
I used to focus on the structural as well as the functional perspective of the firm I belong to. This outlook became reflective in the approaches that guide me in administering my subordinates which resulted to employee grievances that I was not then conscious. That experience taught me to take into account the people who I am working with by considering their stakes as well as their potential to contribute t the business as strong resource element. I admit that I had some difficulty transforming my attitude towards my subordinate colleagues but the realities of life confirmed the need for me to inspire them and made them trust me as oppose to controlling and directing them to function as mere paid individuals. In this light, I was able to come up with department objectives that will provide long-range benefits for the company. I became more inquisitive and sensitive to the details of my orders as well as the feedback of my colleagues which resulted to well-rounded and more effective task operationalizations and accomplishments.
With the support of all the employees in my department, we were able to overcome the daily duties and responsibilities with less stress and more serious challenges that could have threatened the efficiency of our team. We were able to propose alternative business strategies which contributed to the whole company in maintaining its market competitiveness.
Leading Effective Teams
As managers, I believe that to be an effective leader is to enable others to act. This practice could be implemented in nurturing collaboration by promoting co-operative goals and building trust, and strengthening others by sharing power and discretion. As the famous saying goes, “No man is an island”.
It is impossible for a leader to get extraordinary achievement alone. Moreover, teamwork is needed in an unstable market and most especially in the business we are in. If you can’t depend on others, you will never become a leader because the better we are able to innovate if we feel we are more trusted. If a leader trusts his staff, his staff will trust him back. As a leader, I believe that trust is needed and that a team should be bonded with the capacity to trust each other.
The last practice that I want to highlight is to encourage the heart, to identify contributions by appreciating and commending individual excellence and celebrating the values and victories by creating a spirit of community. To say thank you and to praise a person does not cost anything but it is very priceless. I believe that a great leader should recognize each staff’s contribution—they are the reason of why you company has been able to endeavor all the stress and the challenges.
Conflict Resolution
To keep going despite set backs, is the hallmark of all successful leaders. A good leader must have a positive attitude, should be optimistic, has ideas, always sees a way out and will not give up easily. They take every mistake as a learning experience
Strength of character and will are the moral qualities of a leader, the principles that motivate and control his functions to make the right choices. On the other hand, humility is necessary to define a leader’s ability and limitations especially and most importantly the correct measuring of other people’s worth and value. I highly consider these traits when confronted with conflicts so as to effectively resolve issues within my responsibility.
During times of conflict, I make it a pint to collaborate with the concerned individuals thereby taking the responsibility of hearing all sides of the issue at hand. At the end of each conflict, I try my best to make the parties settle into a compromise in which their sensitivity towards the considerations of the opposing side is enhanced to build respect and unity within the department. Most of the time, open communication and truthful intentions pave the way towards workable office environment among the members of my team. As mush as I can, I sublimely make them realize to follow my lead and example.
Organizational power, influence and politics
Leadership comprises the aptitude and ability to inspire and influence the thinking, attitudes, and behavior of other people (1991;985;1989; 1985; 1988). Leadership is a process of social influence in which one person is able to enlist the aid and support of other individuals in the achievement of a common task (1997). Although this specification seems relatively simple, the reality of leadership is very complex. Intrapersonal factors such as ideas and emotions, interact with interpersonal processes (i.e., attraction, communication, influence) to have effects on a dynamic external environment. Each of these aspects brings complexity to the leadership process.
I believe that the concept of leadership can not be separated from the issues of organizational power, influence and politics. These constructs most of the time bring forth conflicts within the business organization especially when an influential corporate entity puts first personal interest beyond that of the wellness of the company and the people working in it. Large organizations are empowered with political influence particularly when their reach and economic decisions presents dramatic change not just in their internal environment but also to the industry they belong to. The mismanagement of corporate power and influence usually result to scandals that end a giant organization. As such, it is highly important to always have a heart in the overall direction of the firm.
I believe that as part of influential and powerful business organizations, leaders with political motivations and self-centered interests and intentions should exercise their power based on moral standards in order to protect the welfare of the company and the society as a whole. The empowerment brought about by the economic success of the organization should not be the root of its downfall. True test of leadership can be best tried when confronted with big responsibilities and societal issues. Good leaders should be discerning and disciplined in whatever takes they embrace most especially when such decisions are detrimental to the good of the people.
Strategic Leadership
In an organization it is important that the leader or the management must know what style of leadership to be used in order to make the flow of the organization towards the goal or the objective set by the organization. In the company that I am in, I utilize the authoritative style of leadership in which I allow the employees and staff of my team to participate and be included in the decision making process. I know that the employees have ideas and opinion that would be helpful for the organization as a whole. However, after balancing all the ideas and views of the employees and staff, I see to it that the final say or the final decision to which I am accountable and responsible comes from me, all this with the contributions of my staff. With this type of leadership, my employees and staff tend to respect me as their leader.
Authoritarian style (2003) of leadership states that the leader has the authority over his subordinates. In this manner the authority have the right to do the decision making without asking the opinion of the followers. The leader is this type of leadership tends to tell the followers what must be done in order to achieve the goals or objectives of the organization. On the other hand, the permissive (delegative) or the so-called laissez-faire style refers to the kind of leadership wherein the followers are permitted to be involved in the decision making process. The leader implements minimal control or manipulation on their followers. However, the leader is still accountable for the final decision to be made. Herein, the opinion and ideas of the followers are being valued by the leader and each follower encompasses different tasks set by the leader.
Ethical Leadership
Whether a crisis is instantaneous and unanticipated, or gradual and long-term, effective leadership is what sets one organization apart from its competitors and often even determines it fate. According to (2000), during the challenging times, individuals engage in mutual communication processes that avoid the structure to achieve the performance levels. The difficulty is that most of the people are dealing with the very same fears, anxieties, and uncertainties.
Although no one that I am aware of would argue seriously against the notion of ethics in our private lives, many would have it that ethics and business don’t or can’t mix. That is, many people believe that “business is business” and that the stakes and standards involved in business are simply different from, more important than, and perhaps even antithetical to the principles and practices of ethics. But I believe that ethics is something we preach and practice at home in our private lives, which should also be apparent at work. After all, it could cost us prestige, position, profits, and success.
Global leadership
Transformational leadership was first introduced by (1978) and later developed by (1985). Basically, transformational leaders are leaders that create positive relations with subordinates or team members in order to strengthen employee and organizational performance. Within an organization, managers who apply transformational leadership motivate employees to look beyond their own needs and concentrate on the general interest of the group. This type of leadership involves charisma, individualized consideration, inspirational motivation and intellectual stimulation (1985).
The connection shared by the members of the organization, through their collective goals and objectives, makes them recognize their role not only within the organization but also to their people they have to serve. The application of organizational culture makes them understand the needs of these people. They understand both near-term and long-term needs and expectations and apply various systematic processes for efficient service and exemplary performance. The united insights of all employees at all levels of the organization enable them to welcome new ideas. They become extremely active in generating new approaches and new ways of processing things. The team members are open to take on challenges and are keen to break new ground. Under organizational culture, both the leader and the followers are extremely involved in a constant joint effort to enhance the quality of both performance and service the organization provide.
In this aspect, the leadership strategies, styles and model that we successful apply in our respective organizations are replicated and applied by other firms. In effect, the influence of the leader in global leadership transformation is included in the extensive responsibility they share to the international business setting. As leaders and managers, we are the makers of international changes to which broad and multi-cultural entities respond to.
Conclusion
Through these assignment exercises I was able to learn about myself not just as a manager and a leader but also as a person. I have learned that I am capable of being compassionate when I least expect it and that there are a lot of opportunities for me in my profession. My responsibilities are great due to my influence and my ability to change other people’s lives and I am grateful that with such realization I am still able to place myself in the shoes of the individuals I work with and empathize with their concerns.
I have discussed these discussions with one of my friends. I have learned a lot from her which I am excited to apply in my work setting expecting good results. Some of our ideas are opposing but through our extensive conversation and mutual respect to each other’s opinion, we were able to meet on the same ground highlighting my important stakes and her intelligent reflections. She was likewise thankful since she learned a lot from my assignment.
The leadership experience I have gone through at work richly contributed to the development of my personality mainly because my work is one of the major aspects of my life. The things I have learned about myself and from the people around me were not only applicable and limited to my career life but alt also to the other aspects of my existence as a person. For that I am highly thankful.
Let me end this by saying, what is the use of creating these philosophies if they are not taken to action? They would look like mere words, mere sentences that gives idea. If these are not taken into action, nothing will take effect. No results will be achieved.
Let leadership be a challenge for us: a challenge not just for sake of the success of any company but for each of our own sake. People in the top position are not the only people who need to acquire the traits of being a great leader. I am encouraging ourselves to become effective leaders and let the transformation be done s soon as possible.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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