Business organization

Professor of Psychology and Management at the University of Washington, Fred Fiedler, has identified two basic leadership styles:

Task-motivated leaders ‘tell people what to do and how to do it’. Such leader gets their satisfaction from completing the task and knowing they have done it well. They run a ‘tight ship’, give clear orders and expect clear directives from their superiors. This does not mean that they show no concern for other people. But their priority is getting the job done.

Relationship-motivated leaders are more people-oriented. They get their satisfaction from having a good relationship with other employees. They want to be admired and liked by their subordinates. Such leaders will share responsibility with group members by encouraging subordinates to participate in decision and make suggestions.

Fred Fiedler emphasized that both styles of leadership could be effective in appropriate situations. There was no best style for all situations. Effective leadership depended on matching the leader to the task and situation.

There were identified some characteristics of senior executives of some top companies, which made them good leaders. Firstly, the leaders were ’visible’. They did not hide away in some ivory tower at Head Office. Instead they made regular visits to plants and sites, tours round their companies and talked to employees. Leaders made their present felt.

Besides being visible, the leaders of these top companies provided a ‘clear mission’. In other words, they knew where the organization was going and persuaded staff to follow them. Sometimes, they spelled out the mission in written statement which covered the main principles of their organization, the clear definition of their long-term objectives and such matters like employees, clients, creativity, market position and profitability.

Finally, successful organizations have clear values. And it is the job of the leader to show what they are. “You have to keep telling people your values. If you repeat it often enough, it does go down the line. The leader is not only someone who ‘lifts a man’s vision’. He/She must also protect and promote the organization’s values.

Text 2. Leadership styles.

Leadership styles can be classified on the basis of how leaders use their authority. The three basic styles are described as autocratic, democratic and free-rein leader.

The autocratic leader is defined as one who commands and expects compliance, who is dogmatic and positive, and who leads by the ability to withhold or give rewards and punishment.

The democratic, or participative, leader consults with subordinates on proposed actions and decisions and encourages participation from them. This type of leader is seen as ranging from the person who does not take action without subordinates’ concurrence to the one who makes decisions but consults with subordinates before doing so.

The third type of leader uses his or her power very little, if at all, giving subordinates a high degree of independence, or free rein, in their operations. Such leaders depend largely on subordinates to set their own goals and the means of achieving them, and they see their role  as one  of aiding the operations of followers by giving them necessary information and acting as a contact with the group’s external environment.

Text 3. Effective Leadership

“A leader is best when people barely know he exists. When his work is done, they will say: we did it ourselves.”  - Lao Tzu

Leadership Defined

“Leadership is influencing people to get things done to a standard and quality above their norm and doing it willingly.”

As an element in social interaction, leadership is a complex activity involving:

1. a process of influence

2. actors who are both leaders and followers

3. a range of possible outcomes - the achievement of goals, but also the commitment of individuals to such goals, the enhancement of group cohesion and the reinforcement of change of organizational culture.

 

 

• Gives direction, sets an example, and shares risks or hardship on an equal footing
• Wins respect without courting popularity
• Leads by example; practices what he or she preaches
• Listens with understanding; willing to discuss and solve problems; open to ideas; gives time to listen
• Supports and helps; backs you up; is on your side; remembers your problem
• Uses team approach; helps group reach better decisions; facilitates cooperation
• Avoids close supervision; does not overboss; does not dictate or rule by the book
• Delegates authority; trusts group; relies on their judgment; permits group decision; has faith in the creativity of others
• Communicates openly and honestly; tells you what he thinks; you can trust what he says

Brings out best in his men; has common touch with the work

Effective Leadership as a Source of Competitive Business Advantage

Leadership is imperative for molding a group of people into a team, shaping them into a force that serves as a competitive business advantage. Leaders know how to make people function in a collaborative fashion, and how to motivate them to excel their performance. Leaders also know how to balance the individual team member’s quest with the goal of producing synergy - an outcome that exceeds the sum of individual inputs. Leaders require that their team members forego the quest for personal best in concert with the team effort.

 
 

Text 4 Role, Task, Responsibility, and Source of Power of a Leader

• The role of a leader is to create followers.
• The task of a leader is to bring about constructive and necessary change.
• The responsibility of a leader is to bring about the change in a way that is responsive to the true and long-term needs of all stakeholders.
• The greatest source of power available to a leader is the trust that derives from faithfully serving followers.

Learning to Lead

Effective leaders recognize that what they know is very little in comparison to what they still need to learn. To be more proficient in pursuing and achieving objectives, you should be open to new ideas, insights, and revelations that can lead to better ways to accomplishing goals. This continuous learning process can be exercised, in particular, through engaging yourself in a constant dialogue with your peers, advisers, consultants, team members, suppliers, customers, and competitors.

Leading others is not simply a matter of style, or following some how-to guides or recipes. Ineffectiveness of leaders seldom results from a lack of know-how or how-to, nor is it typically due to inadequate managerial skills. Leadership is even not about creating a great vision. It is about creating conditions under which all your followers can perform independently and effectively toward a common objective.

James O’Tool, a noted management theorist proposes a new vision of leadership in the business world - a values-based leadership that is not only fair and just, but also highly effective in today’s complex organizations. It is based on:

• your ideas and values;
• your understanding of the differing and conflicting needs of your followers;
• your ability to energize followers to pursue a better goal that they had thought possible;
• your skills in creating a values-based umbrella large enough to accommodate the various interests of followers, but focused enough to direct all their energies in pursuit of a common good.

Building Better Leaders through Attributes

Leadership attributes are the inner or personal qualities that constitute effective leadership. These attributes include a large array of characteristics such as values, character, motives, habits, traits, motives, style, behaviors, and skills.

Results-based Leadership

What is missing in most leadership-related writings and teachings is the lack of attention to results. Most of them focus on organizational capabilities - such as adaptability, agility, mission-directed, or values-based - or on leadership competencies - such as vision, character, trust, and other exemplary attributes, competencies and capabilities. All well and good, but what is seriously missing is the connection between these critical capabilities and results¹. And this is what results-based leadership is all about: how organizational capabilities and leadership competencies lead to and are connected to desired results.

Coaching - a Vital Skill for Leaders

The new breed of leaders recognizes that autocracy no longer works, yet that employee empowerment alone is not enough. The skills of coaching have lately been rediscovered by more effective organizations and teams. You cannot be a leader without followers, and you have to delegate appropriately. The leader is best placed to enhance the performance and learning abilities, on the job, of colleagues. Coaching aims to enhance these abilities. “It involves providing feedback, but it also uses other techniques such as motivation, effective questioning and consciously matching your management style to the coachee’s readiness to undertake a particular task”^.

 

Text 5 .Super-Leadership - Leading Others to Lead Themselves

Super-leaders help each of their followers to develop into an effective self-leader by providing them with the behavioral and cognitive skills necessary to exercise self-leadership. “Super-leaders establish values, model, encourage, reward, and in many other ways foster self-leadership in individuals, teams, and wider organizational cultures”.⁵

An important measure of a leader’s own success is the success of his or her followers. The strength of a leader is measured by the ability to facilitate the self-leadership of others. The first critical step towards this goal is to master self leadership. If leaders want to lead somebody, they must first lead themselves.

 
  

 

 
 

    Text 6. The Difference between Managing and Leading

 

“Understanding people will help you make the shift from managing to leading a business.”

Leaders are the heart of business. The essence of leadership means inspiring a group to come together to common goal. Leaders motivate, console and work with people to keep them bonded and eager to move forward. That means setting a direction, communicating it to everyone who will listen (and probably many who won’t) and keeping people inspired when times get tough.

Managers are the brains of the business. They establish systems, create rules and operating procedures, and put in incentive programs and the like. Management, however, is about the business, not the people; the people are important as a way of getting the job done.

Most business executives and owners have a mix of management and leadership skills. Both skill sets are necessary to run a successful business. Leadership skills provide the direction, while management skills provide the systems that let a company grow with success.

Unless you have the luxury of hiring managers and concentrating solely on leadership, you‘ll still be managing. But now, you must also lead. And, in many ways, your leading – which produces no tangible results – is more important than your managing.

Only the top executives can set direction in a company. Setting direction is different from setting goals. A goal is concentrate and measurable. “We must sell 10 widgets by next Tuesday” Direction is broader. Leaders set direction with a vision, a mission and operating principles that embody the company’s direction and values.

For instance, a mission statement for the imaginary “Personal Assistant Inc.” company might sound like this: “We free people from life’s drudgery, freeing them to live a life of doing only things they do best”. This mission doesn’t give measurable goals, but rather points to an overall direction – it gets people exited and moving in one direction. A Personal Assistants employee wouldn’t suddenly decide to diversify into heavy farm machinery; it doesn’t fit the mission. Yet the mission is broad enough that the company can create a rich set of offerings over many decades.

Specific projects and products may come and go, but the mission gives the company an enduring direction.

As a business owner, you need to know your business direction. It might be broad, sweeping and world-shattering. Or it might be smaller and local. But your job is to set the direction for everyone around you and communicate it well.

People sometimes forget a company direction in the heat of excitement over a new ideas or market development that happens once or twice, it’s not a problem. But too many diversions can cause a company to lose focus and end up serving many different customers, none of them well.

Your job is to bring people back to the company direction gently and consistently and always challenge them to evaluate ideas and decisions with respect to the decision. If Personal Assistant proposes asking clients to give 24-hour notice when they have a project, the leader simply asks: “Does this help us free clients from drudgery or make more for them?” The team can then decide (or even ask customers) whether the suggestion aligns with the mission.

Keep in mind that people easily lose sight of the big picture when they get caught up in life’s daily details. As leader, you must know how to bring them back and make sure they know the way.

There’s much more to a business leader’s job, but you’ll start off on the right foot by developing a direction, aligning your organization behind the common goal and bringing them back when they stray.

Setting direction sounds easy, but it requires vigilance and work. And you’re the only one who can do it. Pointing the way and rallying the troops forward are two primary responsibilities of a successful leader.

     

 

Text 7. How to be a Successful Leader.

All good leaders have this in common, positive self-esteem. It is vital to your success as a business person and a human being. You must feel about yourself to accomplish great things and have control over your life.

1. Goals are the means to use to-reach your dreams. Do not make your goals unrealistic.

2. Use small successes to generate lager ones.

3. Keep pushing yourself to allow you to reach your full potential. There is a price to pay to be successful, and that price is hard work. Do not be afraid of it.

4. Being positive is an attitude that can be controlled by you.

5. Surround yourself with positive people and block out all negative ones you come in contact with.