Leadership Strategies Of Changing World For Efficient Works Management

Introduction to the Importance of Leadership

Discuss about the Leadership Strategies of Changing World for Efficient Works Management.

Leadership has been referred to as one of the functions of management which helps to increase the efficiency in the workplace in the most effective & efficient manner. Leadership is referred to as the way to influence someone’s behavior leaders are required to develop vision & mission which would help the organization to attain their long term goal i.e. to earn more and more profits. According to Keith Davis, leadership is the ability to persuade one’s thinking process and define the objectives in an enthusiastic manner. Leadership is also referred to as a human factor which binds together the group to work towards the achievement of the organizational goal (Harris, 2000).

In the modern workplace, it is an important need to motivate, inspire & encourage the members to accomplish the expected mission and make out the various ways to navigate in the modern business world. There are various challenges in the workplace which signifies that leadership is an important issue which plays a vital in the smooth functioning of the same. The importance of leadership can be seen in the workplace on the following basis. Firstly, leadership helps to initiate action i.e. leader is the one who starts with the communication process in the organization and take things forward (Tracy, 2014).  Leaders are referred to as the personnel who bind the sub-ordinates together to work as a team and maximize the profits of the organization in the long run. Secondly, a successful leader plays an active role in the smooth functioning of the organization. He motivates the employees on monetary & non-monetary basis and hence gets the work done from its subordinates in the best possible manner. A leader not only plays a role of supervisor but also plays a guiding role to his subordinates. Guidance within the organization means to instruct the employees as to how to handle a particular task & how to complete it in the most effective and efficient manner. Another aspect which displays the importance of leadership in the workplace is building confidence (Tracy, 2014). Confidence has been referred to as an important factor which shall be achieved by explaining the role & achieves the goals in an effective manner. Leadership helps the employees working in the organization to be well co-ordinated. This means that, co-ordination can be achieved by reconciling the personal interests with the goal of the organization. Synchronization amongst the employees will help the organization to achieve proper & effective results. Building a cordial environment helps the organization to have a sound & stable growth. A successful leader provides the same by maintaining good human relations with the employees. The leader shall have personal contacts with the employees and he/ she shall listen to their problems and come to a solution as well. The leader shall be required to treat the employees in the bets of the manner. Boosting morale of the employees working in the organization has been referred to as an essential aspect of leadership. A leader has been referred to as a morale booster by achieving co-operation so that they perform in the best of their abilities. The last aspect which denotes that, leadership is an important issue is by creating confidence amongst the workers. Confidence has been referred to as one of vital aspects which can be achieved by expressing work efforts to its subordinates.

Challenges Faced by Leaders

It shall be seen that, being a leader is a challenge in itself. The challenges faced by any leader in the organization can be categorized under three heads i.e. internal challenges, external challenges & according to nature of leadership role. There are mainly six challenges which are faced by the leaders in any organization. They have been discussed in this section of the essay. The first challenge of leadership is development of managerial effectiveness. This is in regards to the development of the various relevant skills such as decision making process, strategic thinking & time management to speed up the job and act more efficient. The second challenge of leadership is to inspire others. The challenge is to motivate others and complete the task in the smartest way possible (Tracy, 2014). For example, a challenged faced by the Singaporean manager i.e. to motivate a group of 10 odd people who have been working the organization for more than 12 years. Some of the employees have been on the same position without any promotion for more than 8 years now. Third challenge faced is to develop employees. This includes mentoring & coaching of the employees to perform their best at the workplace. Leading a team has been referred to as one other challenge in team building, team management & team development. Some specific challenge is to how to lead a big team and what to do when managing a big team. Guiding change has been referred to as the next challenge of leadership i.e. to manage, mobilize & lead the change in the best possible manner. Guiding change refers to mitigate the consequences & overcome resistance to change & deal with employee’s reaction to the same. Managing internal stakeholders & politics refers to a major challenge for a leader to perform in an apt manner. This refers to the ability to convince & influence the stakeholders to follow regional and directions globally. The above mentioned challenges are the most common experiences which are being faced by senior & middle managers globally. Some of the ways in which the leaders would be able to cope with the challenges mentioned above have been discussed as under. A successful leader to cope with the challenge shall have a proactive & creative approach. This means that, leaders shall come up with the right type of strategy and exercise the control of the same. A leader shall have an “out of the box thinking” which would help them to have an edge over the challenges. The leaders shall be able to face the conflicts squarely i.e. they shall be able to identify the loopholes & acknowledge the conflict in the best possible manner. The leader shall be able to look for opportunities in order to collaborate. It has been seen that, in any organization a group of people are made responsible for the decision making process (Himmerich, 2007).

Strategies for Coping with Leadership Challenges

For any leader to perform in the best possible manner is required to use certain theories/ model to inform their leadership in the modern organization. The leadership function of management is bound with various models & theories. There are some important leadership theories & models which are in place and implemented by the same to overcome the various challenges. The first leadership model or theory used is Blake & Mouton’s managerial grid also known as the leadership grid. The grid takes into consideration the two dimensions i.e. concern for people & concern for production. Based upon the leadership grid the following five leadership styles come into place i.e. task management (this type of leadership style refers to the dictator style. In this the leaders are more concerned about production & are less concerned about the people), country club (this type of leadership style, is low on task and high on people’s orientation), middle of the road (in this leadership style a balance is maintained between the goals of the company & needs of the people), impoverished management (leaders with this leadership style are low on both the dimensions. This means that, they are unable to get the work done from their subordinates) & team management (this leadership style is based on theory Y of McGregor’s theory and referred to as the most effective style according to Blake & Mouton theory). The second type of leadership theory/ model which is used by the leaders is the transformational leadership theory. This type of leadership style is found at all levels of the organization i.e. various teams, departments as well as divisions in the organization. It has been seen that, the transformational leaders have a charismatic appeal. Such type of leaders is visionary, daring, inspiring & risk takers. The transformational leaders are required to possess the following four factors i.e. intellectual inspiration, idealized influence, inspiration motivation & individualized consideration. An example of transformational leader is Barack Obama.

Transactional leadership theory refers to a theory mainly for managers; this type of leadership theory is based upon a simple management concept i.e. planning, controlling, organizing & short term planning (Himmerich, 2007). The famous example for the same is de Gaulle & McCarthy. This type of leader mainly works upon rewards, recognition & punishment. The main trait of this type of a leader is to obey the instructions of the leader. This type of leadership style can also be referred to as “telling style”. The transactional leaders tend to be quite effective & guide the efficiency decisions which are aimed at reducing the costs & increasing the profitability. Fiedler’s contingency model has been referred to as the theory based upon effectiveness & maintains relationship between leadership & organizational performance. In order to assess the attitudes of the leader, a least preferred co-workers (LPC) scale has been made. This takes into consideration various 16 items used to reflect the position of the leader (Rausch, Halfhill, Sherman & Washbush, 2001). The items listed in the scale are friendly/ un-friendly/ pleasant/ un-pleasant/ accepting/ rejecting, open/ guarded, distant/ close, boring/ interesting, cooperative/ non-cooperative, supportive/ hostile, harmonious/ quarrelsome, efficient/ inefficient/ cheerful/ gloomy, open/ guarded, cold/ warm, helpful/ frustrating, etc. It has been seen that leaders who score high on the LPC scale are relationship orientated and the ones with low scores are task orientated. The likert management system refers to the next leadership theory which his followed by many leaders all over globe. There are basically four leadership styles or traits mentioned by Likert. They are participative (this has been referred to as one of the best ways to achieve organizational goals. Such type of leadership style provides high levels of communication, teamwork & participation), exploitative authoritative (in this type of leadership style, there is very less communication and motivation amongst the subordinates. The responsibility is possessed by the top officials), benevolent authoritative (this type of leadership style is mainly possessed at the managerial levels) & consultative (in this type of leadership, motivation is based upon rewards & involvement of the job). The nature of the above mentioned four management theory is based upon organizational characteristics (Osborne, 2008).

Theories and Models Used by Leaders

Leadership becomes a challenging job if the leaders are unable to understand the thinking process of the employees. It is a fact that, you cannot make an employee work either by punishing him/her or by scolding him it is the inner will of any individual which would help them to grow in the long run. In the modern workplace, it is an important need to motivate, inspire & encourage the members to accomplish the expected mission and make out the various ways to navigate in the modern business world. There are various challenges in the workplace which signifies that leadership is an important issue which plays a vital in the smooth functioning of the same (Jepson, 2009).  Some of the ways to overcome the challenges faced by the leaders have been mentioned in this section of the essay. A leader shall be able to inspire its subordinates. The best way to overcome the challenge is to understand the psychology of the employees. It is an essential to read the psychology of the same as they are the one’s upon which the success of the organization is dependent. Open communication shall be held within the team members. This means that, the leader shall be well acquainted with what his team members is up to but this does not mean that one shall interfere in the decision making process. The best way to win the trust of people is to sit and talk face to face rather than taking behind the back. The leader shall be able to extract the best out of its team members (Goldsmith, Baldoni & McArthur, 2010). The leader shall set example in front of its subordinates. The leader shall assure the employees that, he is available & is with them at the need of time. Certain ice breaking activities such as going out for lunch, team outings, team building exercises shall be performed to strengthen the bond between employees & superiors. Top performers of the organization shall be appreciated time to time & the low performers shall be dealt with extreme patience. The leaders shall sit with them and talk about their problematic areas. This will help them to perform better & come out as a winner (Tips to Overcome Challenges in Leadership, 2016). Some of the ways in which the leaders would be able to cope with the challenges mentioned above have been discussed as under. A successful leader to cope with the challenge shall have a proactive & creative approach. This means that, leaders shall come up with the right type of strategy and exercise the control of the same. A leader shall have an “out of the box thinking” which would help them to have an edge over the challenges. The leaders shall be able to face the conflicts squarely i.e. they shall be able to identify the loopholes & acknowledge the conflict in the best possible manner. The leader shall be able to look for opportunities in order to collaborate. It has been seen that, in any organization a group of people are made responsible for the decision making process (Himmerich, 2007).

In today’s modern workplace, the leaders shall be advised to follow a simple rule i.e. the organization is as strongest as the weakest link. Therefore, the elements of the supply chain shall be made equally strong. It shall be taken into consideration that, leaders shall not only focus on certain divisions or areas but take due notice of the organization as a whole (Eckert, Swastiki, & Zhao, 2016). It has been seen that, unnecessary pressure of the market forces makes the organization to break from that point where the organization is the weakest. It shall be taken into consideration that, leadership is vital elements which make the organization either a success or a failure. In order to be a successful leader, the various effective leadership skills shall be focused upon. The first aspect to be a successful leader is to ask questions from the employees to know how they feel & contribute towards the betterment of the organization. Effective leaders shall be able to manage their time very well (Bridle, 2006). They shall be able to priorities their activities or list of work to be accomplished. A work life balance shall be maintained i.e. the effective leaders are able to make a link between their personal & professional front. Generation of ideas and various brainstorming sessions shall be practiced within the workplace. Healthy discussions shall be held between the leader and subordinate, as it will help them to come out with various creative solutions for the challenges faced within the workplace.  

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