Discuss about the United Leadership model for Boss Subordinate Relationship.
In the current century, effective management of human resources in any organization is vital to the success of the organization. Undoubtedly, human resources serve as one of the most vital resources that plays an indispensable role in the success of an organization. However, management of human resources has posed a hydra-headed dilemma to the management of most organization because of the complexity of managing people from different cultures, attitude, skills and experience, motivations, goals and objectives, and different levels of education. Although there exist an array of leadership models that serve to provide a guideline for the management of human resources, none of the models is without its drawbacks owing to the areas of departure that exist between different organizations, environment, and the people themselves. It is undeniable that the world has evolved to a new corporate village characterized by globalization and cross-culture working. As such, it has become necessary to revise the traditional leadership models to reflect the current developments in the corporate world. The essay seeks to provide a succinct summary of a personal leadership model and how it would fit in an organizational set-up.
Research have established that the main source of conflict and resistance among employee to change implementation stem from the lack of involvement of employees in decision-making (Yukl, 2012, p. 3). Consequently, the employee feel looked down to and undervalued and may turn hostile against the organization. As a leader, I would involve the employees in the decision-making at different levels to solve this problem. However, it’s undeniable that there exist some decisions which should be privy to the top management and employees should have no access to such information. Therefore, the inescapable conclusion at this point drawn from the psychological nature of employees would be to make such decisions in the absence of the employees; however, this would assure the organization of failure caused by employee resistance (Peng, 2012, p. 6). It is at this critical point that I would adopt the popular leadership model by direct involving the employees in medium level and operational decisions and partial involvement of employees in major and strategic decisions.
As a leader adopting a democratic leadership model, I would prefer working in a manufacturing company in which every employee is allocated a specific duty in a specific department such that he/she is accountable to the departmental head in that department . Further, in this system, one employee or a group of employees should be responsible for a specific level/stage of product processing.
I would leave employees to make certain decisions on matters affecting them. I would delegate authority to make decisions such as when to break for a rest to the employees but not without oversight. After making the decisions, the employees should communicate the decision to me for the final approval. If I fails to agree on the employees’ decision, I would negotiate with the employees and reach a unanimous agreement. According to the human behavioral theory, though the decision I leave in the hands of the employees involve minor issues, the employees would have a feeling of belonging and feel self-actualized (Grint, 2000, p. 12).
The leadership model would further encourage a good interpersonal relationship between the management and the subordinates. The leadership model would serve to eliminate the boss-subordinate relationship and create a “team member” relationship between the senior management and the junior employees.
As Adair (1973, p. 52) argues, to some extent the capacity to effectively lead is innate. However, we cannot overlook the fact that being a more effective leader lies within one’s grasp. Given the difference in culture, age, tastes and preferences, levels of education, and economic background just to mention a few factors, I believe that the most fundamental trait of an effective leader include;
United leadership model primarily seeks to create a sense of belonging to the employees. By leaving some operational decisions in the hands of the employees (but not without oversight). According to behavioral theory, the fact serves to increase job satisfaction and self-actualize the employees. The model further seeks to create teamwork and improve the interpersonal relationship among the employees to boost the organization’s performance. As Blake and Mouton (1964, p.117) argues, such a model would motivate the employees to engage not only their mind but also their heart and soul for the benefit of the organization
As a result of involving the subordinates in the day-to-day management of the organization, the latter would benefit immensely in several ways.
The leadership model would create an adhocracy oriented culture given its core value of innovation and creativity. The adhocracy oriented culture appeals to entrepreneurship and creativity (James and Posner, 1987, p. 31) to solving the problems facing the organization in a manner that assists achieving organizational objectives.
Unlike the old school models that merely involved employees in decision making, united leadership model seeks to assign specific decision-making authority to the employees. However, owing to the limited skills of the employees and lack of proper expertise, the model advocates for oversight of the employees’ decisions. As such, employees would develop decision-making skills and find innovative ways of solving the problems facing the organization. Further, unlike in other leadership models where a boss-subordinate relationship exists, united leadership model advocates for “team players’ leadership where the subordinates feel they play a special role in the management of the firm. They further feel they can negotiate with the management of the issues affecting them.
To implement the leadership model I would create a work environment in which the employees share a meeting of joint decision making with the senior management particularly the departmental heads. I would delegate some of the decision-making authority to my subordinates and leave them to discuss and reach a decision after which the former I would review the decision and either approve it or engage the subordinates in a discussion to adjust the decision to reflect organizational goals. As Rowe (2007, p. 37) notes, such an act would serve to boost the subordinate’s confidence and create an air of trust between the management and the subordinates.
Conclusion
Human resource serves as one of the main determinants of organizational success. As such, they must be handled with due care and alertness owing to their sensitivity. However, managing/leading people is inarguably one of the most complex processes and no qualities, standards, or values of leadership can perfectly reflect the nature of leadership that would make one organization successful and another unsuccessful. Therefore, an effective leader should adapt his managerial and leadership skills to suit both the nature of the organization and the nature of the situation. Leadership primarily seeks to generate goodwill among the employees such that they can willingly work with a lot of commitment with little or no supervision. Such employees are often highly motivated, committed, focused, and have a sense and feeling of belonging. They feel they are working for their greater advantage and not to solely benefit the organization. Given these crucial facts, a leader must exploit all methods that would serve to boost the employee’s morale and self-drive. One of the main methods to do so is by involving them in decision-making process especially on the issues affecting them.
References
Adair, J., 1973. Action-Centered Leadership. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Belbin, R. M., 1993. Team Roles at Work. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Bergmann, H., Hurson, K. and Russ-Eft, D., 1999. Everyone a Leader: A grassroots model for the new workplace. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
Blake, R.R., and Mouton, j. S., 1964. The managerial grid. Houston TX: Gulf.
Burns, J. M., 1978. Leadership. New York: Harper & Row.
Grint, K. C., 2000. Literature Review on Leadership. Cabinet Office: Performance and Innovation Unit.
Gronn, P., 1995. Greatness Re-visited: The current obsession with transformational leadership. Leading and Managing 1(1), 14-27.
James, M.K., and Posner, B.Z., 1987. The Leadership Challenge. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Peng, A.C., 2012. Embedding ethical leadership within and across organization levels. Academy of Management Journal, 55(5), pp.1053-1078.
Rowe, W. G., 2007. Cases in Leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications
Bass, B., 1990. “From transactional to transformational leadership: learning to share the vision.” Organizational Dynamics, 18, (3), winter, 1990, 19-31.
Yukl, G. A, 2012. Effective leadership behavior: What we know and what questions need more attention. The Academy of Management Perspectives, 26(4), pp.66-85.
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