I would describe my leadership style as democratic because I was able to work well with other members of the management team. A Democratic leadership pays attention to the roles of other people, and their input is highly considered during the process of making decisions (Murray, 2014). In addressing performance related issues, I had to liaise with other departments such as finance and operations before making any decisions. My primary role involved coordinating the team members and ensuring that their tasks were doable.
Personal leadership implies leading myself before taking on the responsibility to lead others (Dalhousie University, 2017). As a personal leadership trait, I was able to set a vision for the company and align the other members to follow. A rudderless leader cannot achieve success since vision is critical in determining the roles of the management team. I was able to create brilliant promotion campaigns to attract more customers to the products and increase shareholder value through increased sales. As a leader, I was acutely aware that I was responsible for all activities of the organisation and hence I was keen to make sure that all my decisions applied to the best of MikesBikes. The attitude rubbed off on my team members, and it was easy to work when every person was held responsible for their actions. As a leader in human resource, I determined that giving extra training new employees would hasten their acclimatisation to company practices (Bass, 2000).
Great leaders keep advancing, and I would like to learn ideas to improve my effectiveness in management (Adair, 2009). One of the ways to do it is by seeking out a great mentor to learn more from them. Mentors can help me to avoid certain pitfalls as a manager and make me a better leader. Another strategy I would use to become an effective leader is by learning from past mistakes I may have made (Eikenberry, 2011). Learning from a mistake means that the chances of repeating it in future will be very small. I would also like to communicate and be more open to the subordinate staff to get their view on things as well as new ideas (Stark, 2014).
Explore how leadership relates to organisational control (10 pt)
BATOOL, B. F. Emotional Intelligence and Effective Leadership
Emotional intelligence is gaining popularity as a way of improving the effectiveness of leaders and as a way to identify good managers (Batool, 2013). This paper gathers empirical evidence to look at the relationship between effective leadership and emotional intelligence and evaluate emotional control within the managerial working class. Transformational and transactional leadership have emerged as some of the popular strategies of good management. Transformational leaders are inspirational without the reward part offered by transactional leaders. The former inspire intellectual stimulation and motivation in the workforce, and these are powerful forces that guide and set the bar for others. Transformational leadership impacts the personal feelings and is a powerful method of administration, but it requires a leader who is held in high regard.
Emotional intelligence is essential for effective management practices because it relates to the feelings of the employees (Crossley, 2015). Addressing the feelings of people makes it easier to bond and identify with them efficiently. Perception and facilitation are the first branches of emotional thinking. Leaders first perceive certain emotions and then use them to determine the way of thinking. The next part involves using the emotions to make decisions that are best for the organisation. Understanding emotions, how they change in different situations, and how they affect people allows us to make the best decisions possible. Leaders must learn how to be consultative yet assertive at the same time and give people freedom responsibly. Interactions like these with the workers will be necessary for leaders who intend to be competitive in the long term.
Leaders who master the nuances of emotional intelligence will often outperform their counterparts who do not. The core components of emotional intelligence include self-regulation, self-awareness, social skills, empathy and motivation. It is easy to see how these elements can bring about effective leadership in an organisation. A leader who is self-aware knows how they feel and how particular actions are going to affect other members of the company. Such a leader understands their strengths and limitations and is humble (Langston.edu, 2017). Such tactics will bring the employees closer to the leaders and create a mutual understanding. Emotional intelligence implies that you don’t do what you would not like done to you in return. Such leaders will have empathy when dealing with the staff, and these feelings will make the workers feel valued and increase their motivation.
According to the data collected in the study, most respondents either agreed 40% or strongly agreed 42% on the importance of responsibility in an efficient leader. In the case of self-control, discipline, stress and performance, a majority of the respondents either agreed or strongly agreed to the importance of these values in a leader. It shows that employees value leaders who display qualities of emotional intelligence and will be motivated to work with such people. Emotional intelligence has a real impact on organisational goals since it could be used to motivate subordinates and create a sense of achievement that results in improved performance.
GILES, S. The Most Important Leadership Competencies, According to Leaders around the World
The question on what makes an effective leader has been asked plenty of times. The research considers 195 leaders who were invited to choose 15 of their preferred leadership competencies from a list containing 74 entries (Giles, 2016).
The highest percentage went to leaders who demonstrate a strong ethical background while offering a sense of safety. A safe environment is one that is trusting, and employees are made to understand that the management is ready to honour all stipulated rules. Clear communication implies that employees and management know their roles and have the freedom to express themselves. When the safety of employees is enforced and protected, they lose all their inhibitions and focus on the job at hand to achieve the objectives of the organisation (Giles, 2016). According to neuroscientists, when people feel a threat to their safety, the fight or flight is the response is triggered limiting the social and innovative parts of the brain. Leaders ought to ensure that people feel a sense of security to increase the levels of innovation and determination.
Empowering other employees to self-organize, appeared as an important aspect of effective leadership. Leaders have to delegate duties and rely on those people who are close to certain activities to be part of the decision-making process. Teams that are empowered high display levels of job satisfaction and are more productive compared to teams that are not. Whenever people feel like their input is valued, they are motivated to do better and provide information that is well researched (Sethibe, & Steyn, 2017). Therefore, employees will become dedicated when leaders allow them to oversee various aspects of the job.
Connecting with the employees is a critical element of effective leaders. Communicating openly and creating the feeling of a team that wins and fails together is vital for building a strong working relationship (Sohen, 2013). When people operate as a team, they inspire each other to do better and are affected by the activities of each other. When the relationship between management and employees is not strained, productivity and innovation are high. Connecting could involve things like insisting people to call me on my first name and remembering the birthdays and family members of close employees. Such subtle behaviour impacts the psyche of the employee making them feel like part of the company. It is evident from these study that making employees feel relaxed is a crucial part of leadership in today’s organisations (Sethibe, & Steyn, 2017). People who work out of their volition and will end up performing highly and hence the organisation stands to benefit in the long term.
The next category involves showing openness and flexibility to new ideas since they help to encourage learning within the organisation (Goleman, 2013). Managers must learn to entertain all ideas before settling for a decision. Leaders must also learn to nurture others to grow. When leaders take it upon themselves to nurture future managers, they are repaid with a gift of gratitude that results in a positive attitude at work. All these points in the study show the importance of focusing on the employees and how they feel to improve performance and achieve the set objectives.
Apply your insights and understanding of leadership
I could stand to gain a lot from Yuing Foong as a manager. He emphasized on the importance of creating an engaging attitude in the workplace. To keep people engaged, they have to feel like they are playing a significant part towards the success of the company. Having a part to play creates a sense of pride as well as responsibility. Individuals will be determined to put more effort into their activities since they are critical to the success of the organization.
I learned the importance of creating a central vision and personalizing it to include all members of the organisation. Managers are tasked with creating a vision for other members of an organization to follow. A team could be working efficiently and doing their best but if all these activities are not directed toward the vision of the organization, they become less effective (Adair, 2009). One way personalizing the vision for all members is to involve them in the process of setting goals. Leaders must make sure that the goals and activities given to the staff are aligned.
He reiterated the importance of self-awareness as a manager. This point reinforced the fact that emotional intelligence is a huge requirement for managers who aim to remain competitive. Self-awareness implies that managers are in touch with their feelings and those of others in equal measure. One activity by a leader has a ripple effect on the entire organisation and this knowledge allows leaders to be more careful and considerate when making decisions (Sohen, 2013).
Managers should not limit themselves to one leadership style but rather they should be flexible. Transactional and transformational leadership are commonly use in most companies (Bass, 2000). It is the duty of leaders to use their knowledge and expertise to determine when to switch from one to the other. Both of these approaches have benefits for the company and if they are used interchangeably at the right time, the company will benefit in the end.
WORKS CITED
Adair, J. (2009). Effective leadership (1st ed.). London: Pan Books.
Bass, B. (2000). The Future of Leadership in Learning Organizations. Journal Of Leadership &Amp; Organizational Studies, 7(3), 18-40. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/107179190000700302
Batool, B. (2013). Emotional Intelligence and Effective Leadership. Journal Of Business Studies Quarterly, 4(3). Retrieved from http://jbsq.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/March_2013_8.pdf
Crossley, T. (2015). 10 Reasons Why Emotional Intelligence Is Critical for Leaders. The Huffington Post. Retrieved 18 May 2017, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tracy-crossley/10-reasons-why-emotional-_b_6770864.html
Dalhousie University. (2017). Personal Leadership: Leading the Self Before Leading Others. Dalhousie University. Retrieved 18 May 2017, from https://www.dal.ca/faculty/cce/programs/leadership/courses/personal-leadership-leading-the-self-before-leading-others.html
