Why should anyone be lead by you

My vision of leadership

Leadership can be seen as “a relation where one influences the actions and behaviours of others” (Mullins 2001). Some scholars posit that effective leadership in business helps in improvising the performance of the team or the organisational behaviours. Leadership is something more than just a sort of ability, it is much similar to interrelated communication process in an industry (Schyns et al. 2011). An effectual leadership would be advantageous to the organisation and also positively influence the development of an individual.

The primordial requisite for an able leadership is the vision and perception of an individual that takes him ahead on the path of becoming a leader. Keeping an eye on the happenings of the world and keeping abreast with the knowledge of the field is important. Whilst doing this, a true leader has a good perception about the big picture that prevails. He tries and links up the current happenings to his organization in a way that will benefit the organization and more important is to get the team of people you are leading to believe in you and your vision. The trustworthiness that is required for a smooth functioning of the organisation becomes the main chemical in the chemistry of a leader with his team.

A leader should ably incite his or her people to get on their feet, pull up their socks and put into effective action what has been conceived and conceptualized. He or she should motivate the team to make the necessary adjustments and make the work culture at the organisation conducive for the cohesive functioning of the entire organisation as one single, intricately inter-woven unit.

The leader must be able to keep his team charged and motivated even in times when the organization has to face critical times in its journey. The leader must be able to listen to his team and understand what they have to say. He or she should be able to direct with accord, carry his team along in decision making and ensuring that take ownership of whatever decision reached. A leader is required to perform and ensure a harmonious conduct of the organisation as a whole.

MY INSPIRATION

In my growing years, my country Nigeria was in a very tumultuous phase of her existence. The leadership style of the leader at the time, General Sani Abacha, was abhorable to say the least. Trade union strikes, University students and lecturers were going on strike actions at will. People were arrested and locked up extra judicially, the country’s treasury was being looted without fear and the citizenry had lost all confidence in the leadership of the country. In fact the continued existence of Nigeria as a nation was threatened. All these continued until an erstwhile General in the Nigerian Army, General Olusegun Obasanjo, took over the leadership of the country. Obasanjo in his wisdom was able to reverse the country’s downward spiralling economy, boost foreign investors confidence and unite the country. In fact one writer described his leadership style while commenting on his 44^th anniversary speech to the nation thus; “Unlike what had been obtaining in previous years, reading this year’s independence anniversary address from President Olusegun Obasanjo was like a pleasurable sail across a serenaded sea. Its communicability in the sense of its persuasiveness was effective and excellent. Moreover its humble and servant-like approach was quite refreshing. I do not know any Nigerian who would not be sold instantly by the president’s declaration that “the fundamental focus of the administration” should be “on the consolidation of our democratic enterprise,” which, according to him involved a package of some reform (David A.I., Nigeriaworld, Oct 4, 2004). The achievements of his leadership style really inspired me.

FEEDBACK FROM COLLEAGUES

The team presentations preparations has given my colleagues opportunity to critic my leadership skills. They believe my oratory, listening and team player skills could be improved upon.

LEADERSHIP SKILLS TO DEVELOP

In the course of securing an MBA title, my sincere attempts would be directed in development of certain skills that are a requisite towards becoming a leader par excellence. Some of these traits include, working on the gaps identified by my peers, becoming a better listener, develop my speech writing and develop the ability of being skilfully able to delegate the tasks to my team. I wish to polish my vision to make it more susceptible towards accepting the toughest of challenges with an open heart and mind. I wish to be more courageous to transform every threat into an opportunity and transform my weaknesses into my strengths.

 

Reference

Mullins, L.J. (2001) Hospitality Management and Organisational Behaviour. Longman.

Schyns, P.G., Thut, G. and Gross, J. (2011) Cracking the code of oscillatory activity. PLos Biology, 9 (5).

Blake, R.; Mouton, J. (1964). The Managerial Grid: The Key to Leadership Excellence. Houston: Gulf Publishing Co.

Fielder, F.E. (1967) A theory of leadership effectiveness. McGraw-Hill: Harper and Row Publishers Inc.

Tittemore, J.A. (2003). Leadership at all Levels. Canada: Boskwa Publishing. ISBN 0-9732914-0-0.

Montana, P.J, Bruce H. (2008). Management. Hauppauge, New York: Barron’s Educational Series, Inc. ISBN 

 

 

Ethical Leadership

Ethical leadership

The discussion of ethics in corporations and institution is an interesting one, and raises important questions. Is the purpose of a corporation meant to serve its shareholders or are they meant to take into account the wider stakeholders affected by their business decisions, Johnson et al (2008).

As the world continues to be rocked by scandals and corruption among high level management in global corporations, Oates & Dalmau (2013). Organisations need strong leaders who are prepared to make ethical business decisions and solutions to the challenges and complexities of the global economy.

Furthermore we as society need to decide the type of leaders we want to lead and manage our businesses and institutions. In today’s world the scope of leaders and the impact of their decisions can span across generations Oates & Dalmau (2013). With the world getting increasingly connected a poor and unethical decision can have serious consequences on the lives of people in different parts of the world, Oates & Dalmau (2013). Global communication systems and real time data now gives consumers access to real-time information about corporations operations and activities no matter how unflattering it is. According to Mullins (2013) consumers now expect corporations to go beyond their traditional responsibility of paying taxes and obeying the law, they expect them to make meaningful and life changing contributions to society.

 

Shareholder View

An essential principle of ethical leadership is about making strategic decisions for the long term benefits of stakeholders and balancing the aspirations and goals of the organisation in a manner that achieves positive result for all those affected, Oates & Dalmau (2013).

Economic Value – Mitchell (2001) found a positive association between ethical leaders and financial performance, with ethical companies outperforming other companies who did not adopt ethical leadership. Mitchell (2001) further asserts corporations with strong ethical leaders had increased revenue, stock price and employment than other corporations.

With ethical consumerism growing at a fast pace, consumers now expect and demand corporations to act ethically, Mullins (2013). Corporation are expected to go beyond the traditional call of duty and demonstrate due care and concern for their stakeholders, Mullins (2013). Ethical leaders who adopt ethical and stakeholder approach to their business decisions and operations are likely to have a competitive edge over their rivals. This can be used as a competitive advantage and differentiator especially during economic downturns as savvy consumers are more likely to buy goods & services from ethical corporations.

Increased performance – According to Bello (2012) ethical leadership has a positive correlation with increased job satisfaction and employee performance. Leaders with strong ethical commitment motivate followers to put in extra effort in completing tasks. More employee autonomy is also usually prevalent in ethical leadership approach, which usually breeds confidence and innovation as employees are able to provide outside the box solutions to problems, Bello (2012). Ethical leaders who treat their followers with respect and value may create a feeling of self-worth, confidence and reverence in the workplace.

These factors could potentially increase performance levels and motivate employees to pull together to achieve the goals and objectives of the organisation. Increased performance levels and motivation will give ethical leaders a competitive edge in the global marketplace.

Attract best talent – Strong ethical leaders with a high trust culture can help retain and attract the best talent in the market. People identity with ethical companies and the leadership style of organisations, talented employees may be willing to work in an organisation with a visionary leader who adopts an ethical approach to management. An inspired, motivated and talent group of employees who buy into the vision and core values of the organisation will provide a competitive edge to the organisation, Bello (2012).

Stakeholder View

Ethical issues can pose difficult questions for leaders as they try to balance the demand of shareholders vs stakeholders. It can argued that the primary responsibility of an organisation is not to indulge in social interventions but to maximise shareholder return and make as much money for their shareholders, Mullins (2013).

Economic implication – Constant social initiates and philanthropy may be argued as poor utilisation of the organisations allocative efficiency. Corporations are responsible for maximising shareholder wealth in profitable ways and spending time worrying about which cause or charity to support may take management’s eye of the ball of increasing profit, Catulli (2006). Supporting charities financially with shareholder fund could result in lower dividends for shareholders, higher prices or lower wages for employees, Catulli (2006).

 

Enron

The Enron scandal, revealed in October 2001, eventually led to the bankruptcy of the Enron Corporation, and the dissolution of Arthur Andersen, which was one of the five largest audit and accountancy partnerships in the world, Healy & Palepu (2003). In addition to being the largest bankruptcy reorganization in American history at that time, Enron was attributed as the biggest audit failure. With many executives sent to prison for their part in one of the biggest auditing scandals of modern times. This clearly demonstrates the impact poor and unethical business decisions can have on stakeholders and society in general.

 

Conclusion

An organisation goes beyond generating wealth for shareholders but is an integral part of a broad social fabric with the responsibility of making positive and sustainable contribution to society. Ethical leaders have a role to play in order to realise this factor as change starts at the top and can inspire stakeholders to pull together to achieve core values and set positive examples for others to follow.

 

 

 

 

Reference

Bello, S. (2012) Impact of Ethical Leadership on Employee Job Performance, International Journal of Business and Social Science Vol. 3 No. 11; June 2012

Mitchell, J (2001) The ethical advantage – Why ethical leadership is good business [online] http://www.cebcglobal.org/uploaded_files/The_Ethical_Advantage.pdf

Oates, V. & Dalmau, T (2013) Ethical Leadership: a legacy for a stronger future, performance Volume 5, Issue 2, May 2013

Catulli, M. (2009) CSR and Sustainable Marketing, Pearson Limited, Second Edition

Johnson, G., Scholes, K. & Whittington (2008) Exploring Corporate Strategy Text & Cases Prentice Hall Seventh Edition

 Healy, P. & Palepu, K. (2003). “The Fall of Enron” Journal of Economic Perspectives Volume 17, Number 2—Spring 2003—Pages 3–26

 

 

 

 

 

Managing change

Change is good – You go first

Change is a constant feature in social & organisational life structure and is an inescapable part of modern day life, Mullins (2013). Organisations work and interact in an external environment and are subject to continual change through market forces and constantly make strategic decisions of how to respond to change.
In today’s fast-paced and modern world, organisations face continuous pressure to change and adapt in order to meet their business objectives and sustain competitive advantage, HSE, (2014). According to Mullins (2013) change can be a driving force of success and increased performance when managed effectively. For organisations who manage the change process effectively, change is welcomed and used positively to increase efficiency & profitability of the organisation.

(Figure 1: Lewin’s simple three-step change model, adapted from Mullins (2010))

Collectivism
Change need not be perceived as threating as it has obvious benefits to the employees and organisation as a whole. Management has the power to influence attitudes and perception of their employee in order to encourage and induce them to accept change.
Set vision and communicate clearly – Management can change and influence attitudes and perceptions of employees by creating clear and uplifting business goals & strategies that employees buy into. According to Kotter (1996) about 75 percent of the workforce need to be aligned with change in order for it to be successful. Kotter (1996) stressed that attitudes and perception can be influenced if clear goals are set and communicated in an engaging way to the stakeholders involved.
Empower action and produce short-term wins – It is important to ensure all barriers to change are removed and all the necessary tools required to facilitate change are available to the stakeholders involved, Mullins (2013). This is critical in the change process in order for the individuals involved to achieve change and vision of the organisation. The provision of short-term wins helps provide credibility to the cause and boosts motivation of the stakeholders involved in the change process.
Rewards – Providing short term reward can help incentivise and motivate stakeholders to buy into the cause and vision of the company.

Individualism
Economic implication – Changes that may affect or hamper rewards, pay or working conditions of employees in the workplace is likely to be resisted, even though these changes maybe for the good of the organisation. For example having to move office to a new location, working longer hours or reduction in bonus is likely to be resisted. People tend to have a set pattern or method of working and any proposed change to these factors is likely to be met with resistance.
Fear – Fear of the unknown could potentially cause fear and anxiety among employees thereby causing them to resist change brought on by management. Change introduced in the workplace could bring about a high degree of uncertainty and fear thereby resulting in employees resisting changes in the workplace. For example introduction of a new IT software may cause fear and anxiety as people may prefer the familiar method of working.
Habit – Man is a creature of habit and intrinsically individualistic, it is in our very nature to resist change, Brodeur (2000). People find comfort in familiar patterns and methods of working as it helps as a guide in making decisions, Mullins (2013). Proposed changes to old habit and well established way of working may be resisted by employees if perceived to hamper their methods of working.
Role of Managers in Change Process
The successful management and implementation of change should be a top-down approach with managers taking the lead on creating and sustaining a healthy climate for the change process to occur, Mullins, (2013). Successful implementation of change requires a transformational leadership approach in order to gain commitment to change from employees.
Transformational leadership is based on clarification of goals and objectives of the organisation and appeals to the self-interest of the employees, Mullins (2013). It is built on mutual dependence and recognises rewarding employees for achievement of goals and objectives, Mullins (2013). This style of leadership is important when implementing change in an organisation as it helps encourage a high level of motivation and appeals to the core ideals of employees. This creates a feeling of loyalty and justice which employees buy into thereby reducing resistance to change.
Resistance to change is not without its benefits as consultation and engagement process with employees can foster renewed trust and loyalty. Cost saving could also result from resistance to change as employees might come up with alternative business decisions that may not require change thereby saving cost.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcz1aZ60k7w
Change in ASDA
An example of leadership playing a major role in change is the leadership of Norman Archie; he was recruited to Asda in 1991. Norman Archie was successful in bringing down the GMB union membership to 13% from a high of 82% in a span of 8 years. He brought new energy within the workforce as the market share rose considerably after his appointment. His strategy was transparency; he set things right beginning with the middle level management. The fear of job uncertainty was removed and he encouraged the other employees to take part in the decision making giving them more confidence and security.
In conclusion I believe organisations need to change and adapt to changing market forces in order to survive and can sufficiently influence stakeholders to buy into the vision of the company if communicated effectively.

Reference
Brodeur, C. (2000) Learning to Be Human [ONLINE] http://members.tripod.com/zenol/humanism.html
HSE.gov.uk (2014) Human Factors: Organisational Change [online] http://www.hse.gov.uk/humanfactors/topics/orgchange.htm
Jenkins, L. (2009).Change Management: Organizational Change Causes Uncertainty.[on-line]
http://businessmanagement.suite101.com/article.cfm/change_management Accessed 18 October 2009
Mullins, L. J. (2010) Management and organisational behaviour. London: Prentice Hall
Kotter, J. (1996) Leading Change, Harvard Business School Press

LEADERSHIP STYLES

                     

                                              Organisational Structure – Autocracy or Democracy? 

 

                                      

This blog aims to resolve the debate as to whether an autocratic structure is more favourable than a democratic structure in an organisation.

 

In an organization motivation is a key aspect, employees need to be continuously motivated, since we live in a world that is changing and since we deal with humans that have feelings these changes can have and does have an impact on the emotions and performance level of the employees. Hence motivation is key in every organization and the role of motivation belongs to the leader assigned in a firm. Bass (1994) suggests that a leader is a person that can influence a person’s emotion and motivate him or her in acting in a certain way. There is a very strong link between a leader and motivation. There are numerous leadership styles, the autocratic leadership, charismatic leadership, transformation leadership and so on; each of these leadership styles has its own merits and demerits. Transformational and cultural techniques of leadership have been gaining much more significance due to the market situations; however every style of leaders is of significance that would be able to motivate the employees differently. Rewarding employees is extremely motivating as well however not all are only motivated by rewards, because individuals possess other emotions as well. Certain employees are de-motivated if there is lack of creativity and innovations. They prefer to be given a part in the firms activities, some employees like to be given respect, appreciation and treated as a part of the firm. Hence the best leadership style for a firm to thrive in today’s competitive market would be participative and ethical leadership as these are the leadership styles that bring out the best in ones subordinates. Now that the role of leadership is signified, let us have a look at different types of management structures as well as the leadership styles through examples of firms.

 

ASDA

ASDA the giant store in the UK with several branches all around the world, the employees at ASDA were not well pleased with the management style according to them leadership was highly. The nature of authoritarian is unkind and they do not involve themselves with their subordinates excluding a few selected ones, authoritarian leaders seldom appreciate their subordinates, but criticize more (McKee & Boyatzis, 2002). Participative, leadership was very low among the managers and the subordinates; in the process communication was effected. The employees operating the authoritarian leadership began to feel unsatisfied, though various other aspect prevailed in making them to continue work like the pay scale, rewards, future plans and so on, but nevertheless their satisfaction level was ill effected and they worked in an environment that was not satisfactory, which influenced their performance. There were very few innovation coming from the employees, this proved that the creativity in the human resource department was suppressed.

   

McDonalds

McDonalds recruits its leaders and Managers that display powerful leadership qualities and who possess high amount of experience in the field of managing and leading so that they can take up the challenges and share the responsibility with ease and confidence. The top management in McDonalds displays charismatic leadership, his speech and style of doing things is highly influential (McDonalds, n.d.). The leadership at McDonalds is a top to down flow and the subordinates look to their leader as heroes and they try their level best to imitate him. However, some leaders lose track of the situation and many leaders are found to be rude to the employees for mistakes generally meant to be overlooked, the job gets done despite the rude behavior of the leaders due to numerous factors, since working in a huge firm the mind of the employees are far more mature and the focus is on a bright future, bur nevertheless this attitude makes an employee unhappy and an unhappy employee always underperforms. In short the leaders lack ethics, hence ethical leadership in such a situation would be best to motivate and encourage the employees of McDonalds once again.

 

Unethical leaders tend to hurt the emotions of the subordinates. An ethical leader puts his subordinates feelings, emotions above all an ethical leader cares for his subordinates this instills trust among his subordinates and they choose to listen and follow an ethical leader (Trevino et al., 2000). An ethical leader tackles unethical issues with a firm hand among his subordinates, since ethical leaders focus on the conduct of its subordinates (Brown, Trevino, & Harrison, 2005). If such rude behavior is seen by an ethical leader it would have been dealt with a firm and immediately and this would increase the level of employee satisfaction, which influences their performance level as well.

 

 

Conclusion

Hence the best leadership style for a successful firm or team would be participative and ethical leadership where the employees or team members are given space to feel free and to be their real selves, while the leader continuous to be the head of the team (Bass, 1994). Autocracy seems to be more disadvantageous due to the lack of involvement of employees and hence due to the lost interest. Participative management hence is what is required.

                     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

1. Brown, M. E., Trevino, L. K., & Harrison, D. A. (2005). Ethical leadership: A social learning perspective for construct development and testing. Organizational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes, 97, 117–134
2. Trevino, L. K., Brown, M. E., & Hartman, L. P. (2000). Moral person and moral manager: How executives develop a reputation for ethical leadership. California Management Review, 42(4), 128-142
3. Bass, Bernard M. (1994) Bass & Stogdill’s Handbook of Leadership. The free press
4. McDonalds (n.d.) McDonalds.com

                                             

DIVERSE TEAM PRODUCE BETTER RESULTS

Theme 1 Research has consistently shown that diverse teams produce better results, provided they are well led. The ability to bring together people from different backgrounds, disciplines, cultures, and generations and leverage all they have to offer, therefore, is a must-have for leaders (Ibarra and Hansen 2011: 71).

The purpose of this blog is to help understand whether diverse teams can help building an organisation better. Some theories are put forth followed by examples of a few organisations. The learnings from which would help solve the debate better.
Agcos and Burr (1996) point out that a culturally diverse workforce is a response to global changes around the world with people immigrating to different places and countries. They conclude that this phenomenon has got companies around to world to discuss about diverse workforce. Salmon & Schork (2003) further infers that organizations are seeking to make use of the potentiality available within a diverse workforce in order to succeed in a diverse world. Lles (1995) points out that a diverse workforce may help in understanding the diversity in customer’s preferences, with different employees coming from different backgrounds can appeal to the customers coming from their similar backgrounds leading to a better customer relationship because of the different tune in varying customer base (Marvin and Girling, 2000). The following organisations can be seen to see how diverse teams might be advantageous or disadvantageous to an organisation.
Hospital
A hospital is an organization that is very critical to the society that we live in and is a place where people from all walks of life come for treatment, irrelevant of who is managing the clinic. Diversity in a hospital can be crucial. Patients coming from different backgrounds seek a practitioner from their own community as this makes it easy to communicate. A few important factors which need to be taken care of to avoid conflicts due to diversity are listed below.
Belief
Practitioners from the west look at every problem as a medical issue, but certain people from the ethnic groups count each and every problem as God’s punishment or the influence of some spirit. Lles (1995) points out that the non-western groups are usually not very acceptable to the western way of thinking and hence a practitioner from the same community would be best to understand and act in accordance to their beliefs. This would make working more easy and efficient, especially in a world where meeting somebody from another culture is not uncommon.

Social Care

A nurse that tends to patients that are suffering from severe strokes and seek aid at home causes numerous cultural issues. An Indian patient in the USA was seeking aid and the nurse that was sent to attend to the patient was unaware of the culture of Indians. Indians generally choose to remove their footwear when they enter a person home. The American was unaware of this and it caused much indifference between the nurse and the family. In this situation an Indian nurse would be well aware of the situation and would understand the lifestyle of the patient family better and communicating would be much easier.
Stockholm Public Dental Service
Stockholm Public Dental Service (SPDS) is one of the biggest dental clinic operating in Europe located in Sweden with around 400 000 employees. This giant dental clinic was of late suffering high amounts of loss bearing to the challenge from local dental doctors. The then MD Angeles Bermudez was seeking to do something different in order keep the firm running, she chose to recruit people from different backgrounds, somebody who had something different than the regular people. This resulted in a high turnaround to the firm.
Innovative Ideas: Angeles Bermudez points out that the amount of new ideas, suggestions and innovations have increased drastically. There are so many ideas around the clinic that solving problems becomes all the easier.
Festival: Sweden is a country where the majority of people are Christians and hence Christmas is a national holiday and every employee has an off on this auspicious day. With a diverse workforce, there are many employees working at SPDS that are coming from non-Christian backgrounds and hence this allows the firm to operate even on Christmas.
Starbucks Coffee Shop
Starbucks one of the biggest coffee shop in UK operating in numerous parts of the world. Makes use of much diversity in its workforce in order to grab the market share from all dimensions, Starbucks is constantly seeking to grow and keep changing according to the changing times, it seeks to innovate continuously according to the market situation. Starbucks operates in all four corners of the world and they come together in order to discuss the change in the market and the means that the company needs to adapt (Marvin and Girling, 2000). The regional manager that generally is from the particular region is given a go ahead in his decisions and then share his results of the decision, allowing a two way communication to flow between the employees, customers and the management. This diversity of management according to the culture tends to understand the people of the same culture better; it helps communication between the employees and customers as well, leading to smooth operations in different cultural settings.

Conclusion
Diversity does lead to bringing in more perspectives and ideas into solving various problems. If managed well and if personal differences can be kept aside, diverse teams can produce exceptional results and help organisations go from strength to strength.

References
1. Agcos, C. & Burr, C. (1996) Employment Equity, Affirmative Action and Managing Diversity, Assessing the
Difference. International Journal of Manpower. 17(4/5) p. 30-45
2. Salmon, M.F., Schork, J.M. (2003) Turn diversity to your advantage Research Technology Management, 46(4) p.
47
3. SPDS (2003) – Stockholm Public Dental Service. Available Online: http://www.ftv.sll.se (2003-12-15)
4. Marvin, S. & Girling, G. (2000) what is Managing Diversity and why does it Matter? Human Resource
Development International, 3(4) p. 419-433
5. IIes, P. (1995) Learning to work with difference. Personal Review. 24(6) p. 44-60