Leadership is a process by which individuals are influenced so that they will be prepared to participate in the achievement of organisational or group goals. It's the role of leader to acquire the loyalty of individuals so as to achieve certain set goals.
From organisational point of view under certain circumstances managers are presumed to be leaders - either by design or default. Management certainly includes leadership. Thus, good management is probably impossible without appropriate leadership skills.
Leadership is a concept applied to the arrangement of a group so as to elaborate the situation when some personalities are so placed in the group that their will, feeling, and insight are perceived to direct and control others towards the common ends. It's about how one person can influence others to do what is required for the achievement of goals - a narrower quality concerned with the hearts and minds of people in the group.
Usually there are two kinds of leadership pattern followed - Formal and informal. Formal leadership usually occurs in organisation with formal structure where individuals are appointed to handle particular positions within a hierarchy within the organisational setting. On other hand informal leadership is the one which not necessarily in a position with any formal authority, and thus unable to issue formal instructions and directives to individual or a group. The best suitable example is of political leaders.
A good leader is always looking for ways to improve production and standards. The following management skills you can develop as a leader in working to create a quality effective team:
1. Observation
This is an important aspect that often gets neglected due the demands on a leader's time and schedule. Observation and regular visits to the work environment are a priority and should be scheduled into the calendar. Observing employees at work, the procedures, interaction and work flow is foundational to implementing adjustments to improve results. To have credibility, a leader needs to be seen and be known to be up to date with what is happening in the work place.
2. Monitor Employee Performance
Employee performance needs to be monitored in mutually accepted ways. Policies and procedures need to be clear. Conferencing should be on a regular basis and not just when there is a problem. Assessments and evaluations should not be merely all formality or viewed a necessary paperwork to be done and filed away. Individual and group conferencing should be undertaken not only to monitor performance, but with the expectation of on going professional development and support. There should be frequent encouragement and clear criteria for on going goals both for the group and individual.
3. Implementation of Professional Development Programs
A good leader evaluates weaknesses and provides training and development strategies to strengthen the weaker skills in the team.
4. Demonstrates Working Knowledge and Expertise
Good leadership comes from a place of strong knowledge and experience of the production and process leading to results. If a leader does not possess all the expertise and knowledge personally, then regular consultations with experts involved in the departments should be held. This is important in order to maintain an accurate and informed overall picture.
5. Good Decision Making
Good leadership is characterized by the ability to make good decisions. A leader considers all the different factors before making a decision. Clear firm decisions, combined with the willingness and flexibility to adapt and adjust decisions when necessary, create confidence in the leadership.
6. Ability to Conduct and Evaluate Research
On going review and research is vital in order to keep on the cutting edge in business. While managing the present to ensure on going excellence in product and performance, a good leader is also able to look towards the future. Conducting and evaluating research is an important way of planning and being prepared for the future.
What characteristics do you think contributes to good leadership?
The important roles or functions of leadership will vary according to the situation and over time but their certain common characteristics that contributes to good leadership role could be as follows:
An executive role that a leader should be strong co-coordinator of group activities and developer of certain norms and policies;
A planner who could decide the resources by which goals could be achieved under certain circumstances.
A person at this position should be an expert who is the source of key information and specialised skills.
A figurehead personality representing a team or group and communicating links effectively.
An exemplar personality setting standards and expectations and providing a unified front;
An authoritative personality who could resolve conflicts and keeping the grievances at the lowest level among the followers.
A father figure personality who could be focused in understanding group feelings and should be able to understand the situation and circumstances.
An ideologist personality who could set standards of behaviour in among his followers.
In my opinion a good leader should certainly possess these certain above stated characteristics that helps them to contribute to a strong leadership personality and could gave them a certain standards for being a good leader.
Name two people who consider to be good business leaders, and why?
One of the best examples is from Marks & Spencer is one of the leading British retailer's operating with in UK and worldwide, group was losing it dignity with the growth of other retail stores and there was certain need to attain their position so that they can earn back their customers and profits as well.
Sir Stuart Alan Ransom Rose who born 17 March 1949 in British, who was the executive chairman of the British retailer Marks & Spencer. For this role he was paid an annual salary of £1,130,000.Following the appointment of Marc Bolland in May 2010, Rose first joined Marks & Spencer in 1972, as a management trainee. Rose remained with Marks & Spencer until 1989.
Sir Stuart Rose was the person who was the real business leader for them, who was well aware of the loopholes in the system of the company from the very initial stage of he knew the key issues that were needed to be focused. He was the one who played the most remarkable role to bring back the organisation into the race of retail industry in United Kingdom. It was all because of his strategic planning and the way he implemented those plans. He lead the whole team towards the success, he re-implemented some of the key techniques together with some new regulations ad tried to keep most of the things from strategic level the operational level under control. And all this gave the company a complete new life.
He introduces several trusted replacements from his past experiences; that helped the group in bringing down their head office costs, improves the management information system, opened buying offices in low-cost countries and reconfigured the stores.
His efforts and capabilities are clearly visible with the present image of the company, he exploited the better opportunities which results into a dramatically change in the image and the position of the Marks & Spencer that helped in increasing their productivity in all emerging sections.
He was the one who identified the key issues that needed to be addressed on their priority bases, utilising his experience and knowledge about this competitive business. Implementing Stuart's positive planning the group started growing productively and started getting back into the competitive market. Stuart's contribution played a vital role in the improving lost dignity of the Marks & Spencer.
He presented himself to be the good planner with an optimistic approach and with a calibre to control and command the things they he wanted and these some key leadership qualities, which make him, stand different among others. He took all relevant initiatives that a leader should take and possess the quality of a good business leader.
The second person is CHIEF EXECUTIVE of AIR NEW ZEALAND
MR.ROB FYFE who born on 6 may 1961 and now currently Chief Executive Officer of New Zealand national airline AIR NEW ZEALAND. He born in New Zealand and graduated with Bachelor of Engineering(Mechanical) from the University of Canterbury in 1982.He was previously General Manger of Bank of New Zealand, Chief Operating Officer of ITV Digital.
He join Air NewZealand at the start of 2003 as Cheif Information Officer and led the Business Transformation team then he held general manger from oct 2003 .
Rob Fyfe has many qualities which make him different from other business leaders .this year he did wht his predecessors had failed to do.He did the decent thing and apologised for the airline,s behaviour following the Erebus tragedy. that got the most headlines,but relatively quietly this year the airlinehas survived the most severe aviation slump in history in profit and in good shape for 2010,with new planes on order and a makeover coming. Rob Fyfe said be bold in your marketing by planning the first matchmaking flight in the world from Auckland to Los Angeles.then He always say be different to be better and by launched SKY COUCH he proved that .Sky Couch is up there with EK's A380 showers and SIA,s double beds.the he always belive in people make the difference and he plan an interesting programme called TEST FLIGHT where employees pitch ideas to the exective team.if the idea is chosen,the person suggesting the idiea can get to work on the project itself and get a share of the profit also which innovate employees. But the best quality which i find in Rob Fyfe for chose him for that assignment is his way to aware people and help the surrounding in his own style once he wear pink colored clothes item for full weak to support New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation(NZBCF)issued a challenge to Air New Zealand
To think pink for breast cancer support programmes and research.Thats make a leader to an ICON in youth.
PART-B
POOR COMMUNICATION BY SENIOR MANAGEMENT: I observed that in an organization where 1200 worker working at one place so they are people from different backgrounds and may be due to cultural differences as lots of people from different countries and regions with different languages were working this may effected the communication and always a problem between management and workers and also due to levels of management in an organization that the C.E.O cant communicate directly to worker so the communication comes from different level of people so its always effect the communication.
OFFICE POLITICS : if we take our countries or work place every where politics rules and without that no body reached on upper level jobs. Its the fact of 21 century.sowhere 1200 worker woking together of out that 16% should be less number in office polotics. The leader in the office is responsible for all this politics. There is a lack of care by the leader which is a lack of leadership quality.
LACK OF TEAM WORK : Its always depend on what type of people are working on that organization like in that organization where poor communication and office politics going .so how they can't work in team and only a good leader can make a good team.
THE USE OF POLITICALLY CORRECT LANGUAGE: its again depend on what type of people working that organization and the company where 1200 worker are working .they should use politically correct language to disturb or may b as a joke to other co-workers.the words like black sheep which means outcast .these type of words are used in all big organization and in my opinion it can't b stop due to nature of different people.
NOSY CO- WORKERS: As i say in above also where 1200 workers working together due to different type of people ,we always find nosy co-workers. this is also because of there is lack of cooperation between workers so it is obvious that a company.
In the nutshell,After considering all these factors ,we can see that CULTUR affects the management style from top to bottom therefore its very natural to have an Impact on leadership as well and in my opinion it's a duty of a good leader he should always everyone with one eyes.
