Free essay on leading and working with people

Introduction

Leadership attributes refer to innate qualities of a leader that he brings into an organization as a leader. Leadership skills, on the other hand, are the competencies that are required in order to achieve quality performance. Attributes include social responsibility, perseverance, judgment, sensitivity, stress tolerance, self-motivation, ability to motivate others, integrity, self-confidence, maturity, and decisive.

Social responsibility is one of the attributes whereby the leader appreciates his role with respect. Perseverance is the ability to stick to responsibility despites its difficulties, without giving up. Judgment is where a leader makes decisions, based on available information. In this case, he is in a position to evaluate something critically. Sensitivity, as an attribute, involves understanding other people’s problems. A leader should also be able to perform activities even under opposition or pressure. He should also have self-motivation, whereby he progresses his career, as well as meeting the organizational needs. He should also motivate others and should be entrusted with authority. He should make decisions quickly, have self-confidence, and, finally, he should establish good relationships with other people (Ramlall, 2004). The required skills include problem analysis, problem prevention, self-organization, ability to organize others, communication skills, management skills, and a range of interests. Problem analysis involves the ability to obtain data, search information, and analyze the information with a reason.

Problem prevention is where a leader identifies a potential problem and acts before it becomes a problem. A good leader should be able to organize him/herself, as well as others using the available resources. He should also possess good communication skills including oral and written communication as this makes a good impression, and the same time he can express himself to others. Management skills are yet another requirement, and finally, a leader should have understanding of various subjects such as politics, economics, and current affairs (Sheaffer, Bogler, & Sarfaty, 2011).

Leadership and management

Leadership involves setting direction for a group of people for them to follow. This means that the leader spearheads the new direction. Management, on the other hand, involves controlling or direction resources, which could include people, in accordance to values that are already in place. The difference between the two disciplines can be illustrated as follows: leadership without management, management without leadership, and leadership combined with management. Under leadership, a leader sets the new direction to be followed by others without putting into consideration how the new direction will be achieved. Some other people will therefore have the responsibility to ensure that the direction is achieved.

An example of management without leadership is where a referee manages a game, but does not offer any leadership since there is no new direction to be followed. His job is to ensure that the rules of the game are being followed, while maintaining status quo. In some other instances, leadership can be combined with management. For example, a newly elected president sets the direction and is the same person to manage resources, so as to achieve his goals. People should not confuse leadership absence with “ no action leadership’. A leader can also participate in management. This is usually a very effective way of leadership. This is where the new direction comes from the group, and not from the leader. However, the direction comes from the leader who acts as one of the group members. This is advanced form of leadership (Kamery, 2004).

Dictatorial style

A leader who uses dictatorial style of leadership acts like a dictator. He is the sole decision maker who decides when, who, what, and why something should be done. Employees who do not comply with the given orders gets disciplined severe, and could be forced to retire as a disciplinary measure. Characteristics of a dictator include possessing all powers to make decisions, making unrealistic demands. Excessive disciplinary measures, and does not allow questioning of his decision/ authority. A passive style of dictator style of leadership is where the leader makes all the decisions, makes demands that are clouded in humour, subtle disciplining allows questioning but does not answer them. Finally, he befriends the employees when he wants something done their way (Hansen, Smith, & Hansen, 2002).

Leissez-fair

This can be the best type of leadership if applied properly. However, this style can also be the worst leadership style. Under this leadership, government interference is not experienced. The leadership extends to the community, which involves an interactive process. The involved elements include the leader, follower, as well as the situation. The leader provides direction to the followers and he gives them the necessary support so that the organization can succeed. Mahatma Gandhi is one leader who used Leissez-fare leadership style and succeeded (Braynion, 2004).

Autocratic leadership

Autocratic leadership is highly structured with a chain of command, which is hierarchical. Such a leader has absolute power and must command conformity, as well as strict compliance. He has a disciplinary process that is well defined. He determines policies, rules, and goals. His decisions are final and in such an environment, little communication comes from the associates. Autocratic leaders show rigidness in the way they think, or perceive issues. They believe in close supervision of employees as they believe the employees are less capable. It is the most common style of leadership in today’s organizations especially where dangerous situations are involved (deVries, Bakker-pieper, & Oostenveld, 2010).

Ways to motivate staff

Staff can be motivated by encouraging comments from the employees and reminding them how their work is necessary in the company’s performance. Employees should also be thanked for work well done. Recognition should also be shared through sharing updates. Motivation can also come when an employee is allowed to share his birthday, and other important events. Employees can also be motivated by helping him accomplish a certain task. They should also be rewarded when they perform well, or when they bring in new ideas to the business. Another way to motivate employees is involving them in decision making. Employees who possess unique skills should be asked to train others. Finally, seminars should be organized where employees attend to listen to important presentations (Ramlall, 2004).

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Maslow asserts that a hierarchy of needs exists and the most important needs are the basic needs, followed by safety needs, then social needs, esteem needs, and finally, self-actualization. According to Maslow, each level of needs should be met before meeting the other level. This way, a person will get motivated. Leaders ought to understand that Maslow wants them to create opportunities for the employees to develop their talents (Ramlall, 2004).

Hertzberg’s hygiene factors

Hertzberg two things should be considered in order to understand motivation. According to him, there are motivator factors and de-motivator factors. The demotivating factors are referred to as hygiene factors and include working environment, policies of the company, and salaries. He asserts that these things should be satisfied for an employee to feel satisfies. Motivators, on the other hand, include career advancement, work, achievement, responsibility, and finally recognition (Denning, 2001).

McGregor’s X and Y theory

This theory is quite different from Maslow and Herzberg theories. He believes that there are two types of people who include X and Y. X group of people is lazy and authority must be used to ensure that work is done. In the second group, these are self-motivated people and are managed best through involvement, as well as participation.

No theory is right or wrong. For example, democratic leadership would be most applicable to the senior management because this time minds personal growth, recognition, and the team have higher order of needs. On the other hand, every day administrators mind their social aspects. They should, therefore be managed in a way they are being consulted. Democratic style is more motivating because people enjoy responsibility. However, those people who work in emergency fields such as hospitals need the authoritative type of approach due to lack of consultation time especially in times of emergency. Different styles work best in different situations, and when applied to different people. The leader must be wise to choose the best leadership style (Vroom, 2003).

Delegating

Delegating involves working closely with employees to meet established goals, by granting authority to an employee, as well as giving him responsibilities. The leader gives an employee freedom to decide the way forward, the necessary resources, assessment of their quality, and addressing issues to do with performance (Marshall, 2011).

Emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence has seven elements. These include self-awareness, emotional resilience, interpersonal sensitivity, motivation, influence, intuitiveness, and conscientiousness (McLean, 2005).
Leadership power
It is essential for a leader to influence the group he leads so that activities get done the way he wants. A leader’s influence depends on employees’ personality and the personality of those around them. French and Raven asserts that there are five forms of power.

Reward power

This influence comes when a leader can reward his team members for good performance. The reward will, however, be effective if it appeals to them. For example, offering chocolate as a reward to someone who hates chocolate does not serve the purpose of rewarding. The follows should also be made to believe that the reward will be offered as promised. The reward should also be proportional to the accomplished task. Rewarding should be done carefully so that employees do not get accustomed to the type of reward being offered.

Coercive power

Under this power, the leader controls the effects of employees failing to act as per the requirements. It involves imposing penalties such as loss of promotion, failing to give privileges, losing a job or giving warning letters. A penalty should be chosen wisely to avoid breaking employment laws. Also the followers should believe that the leader can give the stated penalty. Finally, the penalty should be proportional to the mistake done by the employee. Overuse of coercive power can make employees rebel against the authority. Legitimate power
This involves the power possessed by a leader when his team believes that he has the right to guide them, and that it is their obligation to adhere to the instructions given. In some instances, legitimate power comes through the job title of the leader. For example, the title doctor, professor, regional manager, among others. Such titles and the belief that the person has the authority to give orders, gives the leader legitimate power.

Referent power

This power comes when team members believe that a certain leader has admirable qualities. The follows, in such a case, will want to identify with the leader and will attempt to imitate the leader. Referent power, therefore, depends on how follows perceive the leader’s personality. As a result, the leader will not have referent power over all the employees.

Expert power

A leader is said to have expert power when his follows believe that he has the necessary knowledge and skills, require for completion of a certain task. Usually, an experienced team member in an organization will be believed to have expert power. This will be regardless of whether these people are leaders in the organization (Vroom, 2003).

Conclusion

Leadership attributes include social responsibility, perseverance, judgment, sensitivity, stress tolerance, self-motivation, ability to motivate others, integrity, self-confidence, maturity, and decisive. Leadership skills, on the other hand include problem analysis, problem prevention, self-organization, ability to organize others, communication skills, management skills, and a range of interests. Leadership involves setting direction for a group of people for them to follow while management involves controlling or directing resources, which could include people, in accordance to values that are already in place. There are several leadership styles among them authoritative, autocratic, leissez-fare, and democratic. Motivation can come in different forms, and people get motivated by different things. Several theories have been put across to explain motivation. Leadership power includes expert power, legitimate power, referent power, coercive power, and reward power. A leader can delegate responsibility to an employee. In this case, the leader gives an employee freedom to decide the way forward, the necessary resources, assessment of their quality, and addressing issues to do with performance.

References

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Hansen, F., Smith, M., & Hansen, R. B. (2002). Rewards and recognition in employee motivation. Compensation and Benefits Review, 34(5), 64-72.

Kamery, R. H. (2004). Employee motivation as it relates to effectiveness, efficiency, productivity, and performance. Allied Academies International Conference. Academy of Legal, Ethical and Regulatory Issues. Proceedings, 8(2), 139-144.

Marshall, J. (2011). The elements of power: Lessons on leadership and influence. Financial Executive, 27(6), 13-13.

McLean, J. (2005). Management and leadership dispelling the myths. The British Journal of Administrative Management, 7 (13), 6-16.
Ramlall, S. (2004). A review of employee motivation theories and their implications for employee retention within organizations. Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge, 5(1), 52-63.
Sheaffer, Z., Bogler, R., & Sarfaty, S. (2011). Leadership attributes, masculinity and risk taking as predictors of crisis proneness. Gender in Management, 26(2), 163-187.

Vroom, V. H. (2003). Educating managers for decision making and leadership. Management Decision, 41(10), 968-978.