EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP AND LEADERSHIP STYLES
What is Leadership
Leadership is a process by which an executive can direct, guide and influence the behavior and work of others towards accomplishment of specific goals in a given situation. Leadership is the ability of a manager to induce the subordinates to work with confidence and zeal. Leadership is the potential to influence behaviour of others. It is also defined as the capacity to influence a group towards the realization of a goal. Leaders are required to develop future visions, and to motivate the organizational members to want to achieve the visions. According to Keith Davis, ?Leadership is the ability to persuade others to seek defined objectives enthusiastically. It is the human factor which binds a group together and motivates it towards goals.?
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Characteristics of Leadership
1. It is a inter-personal process in which a manager is into influencing and guiding workers towards attainment of goals. 2. It denotes a few qualities to be present in a person which includes intelligence, maturity and personality. 3. It is a group process. It involves two or more people interacting with each other. 4. A leader is involved in shaping and moulding the behaviour of the group towards accomplishment of organizational goals. 5. Leadership is situation bound. There is no best style of leadership. It all depends upon tackling with the situations.
Importance of Leadership
Leadership is an important function of management which helps to maximize efficiency and to achieve organizational goals. The following points justify the importance of leadership in a concern. 1. Initiates action- Leader is a person who starts the work by communicating the policies and plans to the subordinates from where the work actually starts. 2. Motivation- A leader proves to be playing an incentive role in the concern‘s working. He motivates the employees with economic and non-economic rewards and thereby gets the work from the subordinates. 3. Providing guidance- A leader has to not only supervise but also play a guiding role for the subordinates. Guidance here means instructing the subordinates the way they have to perform their work effectively and efficiently. 4. Creating confidence- Confidence is an important factor which can be achieved through expressing the work efforts to the subordinates, explaining them clearly their role and giving them guidelines to achieve the goals effectively. It is also important to hear the employees with regards to their complaints and problems. 5. Building morale- Morale denotes willing co-operation of the employees towards their work and getting them into confidence and winning their trust. A leader can be a morale booster by achieving full co-operation so that they perform with best of their abilities as they work to achieve goals.
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6. Builds work environment- Management is getting things done from people. An efficient work environment helps in sound and stable growth. Therefore, human relations should be kept into mind by a leader. He should have personal contacts with employees and should listen to their problems and solve them. He should treat employees on humanitarian terms. 7. Co-ordination- Co-ordination can be achieved through reconciling personal interests with organizational goals. This synchronization can be achieved through proper and effective co-ordination which should be primary motive of a leader.
Role of a Leader
Following are the main roles of a leader in an organization : 1. Required at all levels- Leadership is a function which is important at alllevels of management. In the top level, it is important for getting co-operation in formulation of plans and policies. In the middle and lower level, it is required for interpretation and execution of plans and programmes framed by the top management. Leadership can be exercised through guidance and counselling of the subordinates at the time of execution of plans. 2. Representative of the organization- A leader, i.e., a manager is said to be the representative of the enterprise. He has to represent the concern at seminars, conferences, general meetings, etc. His role is to communicate the rationale of the enterprise to outside public. He is also representative of the own department which he leads. 3. Integrates and reconciles the personal goals with organizational goals- A leader through leadership traits helps in reconciling/ integrating the personal goals of the employees with the organizational goals. He is trying to co-ordinate the efforts of people towards a common purpose and thereby achieves objectives. This can be done only if he can influence and get willing co-operation and urge to accomplish the objectives. 4. He solicits support- A leader is a manager and besides that he is a person who entertains and invites support and co- operation of subordinates. This he can do by his personality, intelligence, maturity and experience which can provide him positive result. In this regard, a leader has to invite suggestions and if possible implement them into plans and programmes of enterprise. This way, he can solicit
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full support of employees which results in willingness to work and thereby effectiveness in running of a concern. 5. As a friend, philosopher and guide- A leader must possess the three dimensional traits in him. He can be a friend by sharing the feelings, opinions and desires with the employees. He can be a philosopher by utilizing his intelligence and experience and thereby guiding the employees as and when time requires. He can be a guide by supervising and communicating the employees the plans and policies of top management and secure their co-operation to achieve the goals of a concern. At times he can also play the role of a counsellor by counselling and a problemsolving approach. He can listen to the problems of the employees and try to solve them.
Qualities of a Leader
A leader has got multidimensional traits in him which makes him appealing and effective in behaviour. The following are the requisites to be present in a good leader: 1. Physical appearance- A leader must have a pleasing appearance. Physique and health are very important for a good leader. 2. Vision and foresight- A leader cannot maintain influence unless he exhibits that he is forward looking. He has to visualize situations and thereby has to frame logical programmes. 3. Intelligence- A leader should be intelligent enough to examine problems and difficult situations. He should be analytical who weighs pros and cons and then summarizes the situation. Therefore, a positive bent of mind and mature outlook is very important. 4. Communicative skills- A leader must be able to communicate the policies and procedures clearly, precisely and effectively. This can be helpful in persuasion and stimulation. 5. Objective- A leader has to be having a fair outlook which is free from bias and which does not reflects his willingness towards a particular individual. He should develop his own opinion and should base his judgement on facts and logic. 6. Knowledge of work- A leader should be very precisely knowing the nature of work of his subordinates because it is then he can win the trust and confidence of his subordinates.
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7. Sense of responsibility- Responsibility and accountability towards an individual‘s work is very important to bring a sense of influence. A leader must have a sense of responsibility towards organizational goals because only then he can get maximum of capabilities exploited in a real sense. For this, he has to motivate himself and arouse and urge to give best of his abilities. Only then he can motivate the subordinates to the best. 8. Self-confidence and will-power- Confidence in himself is important to earn the confidence of the subordinates. He should be trustworthy and should handle the situations with full will power. (You can read more about Self-Confidence at : Self Confidence - Tips to be Confident and Eliminate Your Apprehensions). 9. Humanist-This trait to be present in a leader is essential because he deals with human beings and is in personal contact with them. He has to handle the personal problems of his subordinates with great care and attention. Therefore, treating the human beings on humanitarian grounds is essential for building a congenial environment. 10. Empathy- It is an old adage ?Stepping into the shoes of others?. This is very important because fair judgement and objectivity comes only then. A leader should understand the problems and complaints of employees and should also have a complete view of the needs and aspirations of the employees. This helps in improving human relations and personal contacts with the employees. From the above qualities present in a leader, one can understand the scope of leadership and it‘s importance for scope of business. A leader cannot have all traits at one time. But a few of them helps in achieving effective results.
Leadership and Management - Relationship & Differences
Leadership and management are the terms that are often considered synonymous. It is essential to understand that leadership is an essential part of effective management. As a crucial component of management, remarkable leadership behaviour stresses upon building an environment in which each and every employee develops and excels. Leadership is defined as the potential to influence and drive the group efforts towards the accomplishment of goals. This influence may originate from formal sources, such as that provided by acquisition of managerial position in an organization.
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A manager must have traits of a leader, i.e., he must possess leadership qualities. Leaders develop and begin strategies that build and sustain competitive advantage. Organizations require robust leadership and robust management for optimal organizational efficiency. Differences between Leadership and Management Leadership differs from management in a sense that: 1. While managers lay down the structure and delegates authority and responsibility, leaders provides direction by developing the organizational vision and communicating it to the employees and inspiring them to achieve it. 2. While management includes focus on planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling; leadership is mainly a part of directing function of management. Leaders focus on listening, building relationships, teamwork, inspiring, motivating and persuading the followers. 3. While a leader gets his authority from his followers, a manager gets his authority by virtue of his position in the organization. 4. While managers follow the organization‘s policies and procedure, the leaders follow their own instinct. 5. Management is more of science as the managers are exact, planned, standard, logical and more of mind. Leadership, on the other hand, is an art. In an organization, if the managers are required, then leaders are a must/essential. 6. While management deals with the technical dimension in an organization or the job content; leadership deals with the people aspect in an organization. 7. While management measures/evaluates people by their name, past records, present performance; leadership sees and evaluates individuals as having potential for things that can‘t be measured, i.e., it deals with future and the performance of people if their potential is fully extracted. 8. If management is reactive, leadership is proactive. 9. Management is based more on written communication, while leadership is based more on verbal communication. The organizations which are over managed and under-led do not perform upto the benchmark. Leadership accompanied by management sets a new direction and makes efficient use of resources to achieve it. Both leadership and management are essential for individual as well as organizational success.
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Leader versus Manager
Leadership and manager ship are two synonymous terms? is an incorrect statement. Leadership doesn‘t require any managerial position to act as a leader. On the other hand, a manager can be a true manager only if he has got the traits of leader in him. By virtue of his position, manager has to provide leadership to his group. A manager has to perform all five functions to achieve goals, i.e., Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, and Controlling. Leadership is a part of these functions. Leadership as a general term is not related to manager ship. A person can be a leader by virtue of qualities in him. For example: leader of a club, class, welfare association, social organization, etc. Therefore, it is true to say that, ?All managers are leaders, but all leaders are not managers.? A leader is one who influences the behaviour and work of others in group efforts towards achievement of specified goals in a given situation. On the other hand, manager can be a true manager only if he has got traits of leader in him. Manager at all levels are expected to be the leaders of work groups so that subordinates willingly carry instructions and accept their guidance. A person can be a leader by virtue of all qualities in him.
Authority versus Leadership
The authority exercised is a kind of legitimate power and people follow figures exercising it, because their positions demand so irrespective of the person holding the position. Leaders in organizations and elsewhere may have formal authorities but they mostly rely on the informal authority that they exercise on people to influence them. Leaders are trusted for their judgment and respected for their expertise, integrity etc and hence followed and not because they hold a certain position. For e.g. M.K. Gandhi for most part did not hold any official position to lead the Indian freedom struggle. It is also important to understand that a formal authority and power emerging from it, might not always be able to influence people in the desired manner as; in times of crisis and difficulties people view it as coercion. On the other hand leadership tends to create followers out of free will and choice without forcing them to accept anything thrown their way. Authority rarely provides a scope for feedback, constructive criticism or opinions of the people on whom it is exercised however leaders provide ample platform to their followers to voice their thoughts and feedback.
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When dealing with adults, the sole use of authority to direct and discipline them hardly works, leadership provides a better approach of sharing and involving thus building rapports with followers and creating long term relationships. Authority can hardly make people change their attitudes and behaviours with lasting effects and results however a leader inspires followers through self modelled ways and hence leadership displays greater effectiveness in addressing attitudes and behaviours of people. Exercising authority sometimes limits the approaches to arrive at solutions for issues and problems while leadership encourages people to look beyond the obvious and think innovatively and sometimes emerge with radical solutions. Apart from it, the biggest difference between the two as cited by Stephen R Covey is the moral authority held by leaders over the followers which is absent in the case of power from authority. Within the organizational setup when leaders also have moral authority on their subordinates by establishing a synchrony in their words and actions; the rest of the structure and processes of the organization also get aligned to it, thus creating a robust and transparent culture. Authoritative way of working also encourages individuals to work in silos while in the organizations of today; the leaders need to have a complete picture and coordinate with other functions and departments as and when required. It is indeed difficult for mangers and leaders to move out of their circle of authority and coordinate and interact with external people. However the need of the hour and the more effective approach to leadership and management is when leaders come out of their comfort zone and move from exercising authority on a small group to leading the entire organization. Individuals, who do not rely on authority but lead people, are the ones who enjoy the privilege of their ideologies and thoughts practiced by later generations long after they are gone. Even with individuals who held positions of responsibilities, the ones who actually led their people are the ones remembered and followed.
Leadership and Motivation
Motivation is a goal-oriented characteristic that helps a person achieve his objectives. It pushes an individual to work hard at achieving his or her goals. An executive must have the right leadership traits to influence motivation. However, there is no specific blueprint
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for motivation. As a leader, one should keep an open perspective on human nature. Knowing different needs of subordinates will certainly make the decision-making process easier. Both an employee as well as manager must possess leadership and motivational traits. An effective leader must have a thorough knowledge of motivational factors for others. He must understand the basic needs of employees, peers and his superiors. Leadership is used as a means of motivating others. Given below are important guidelines that outline the basic view of motivation:
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Harmonize and match the subordinate needs with the organizational needs. As a leader, the executive must ensure that the business has the same morals and ethics that he seeks in his employees. He should make sure that his subordinates are encouraged and trained in a manner that meets the needs of the business.
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Appreciation and rewards are key motivators that influence a person to achieve a desired goal. Rewarding good/ exceptional behaviour with a small token of appreciation, certificate or letter can be a great motivator. If a certificate is awarded to a person, it should mention the particular act or the quality for which the individual is being rewarded.
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Being a role model is also a key motivator that influences people in reaching their goals. A leader should set a good example to ensure his people to grow and achieve their goals effectively.
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Encouraging individuals to get involved in planning and important issues resolution procedure not only motivates them, but also teaches the intricacies of these key decision-making factors. Moreover, it will help everyone to get better understanding of their role in the organization. The communication will be unambiguous and will certainly attract acknowledgement and appreciation from the leader.
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Developing moral and team spirit certainly has a key impact on the well-being of an organization. The metal or emotional state of a person constitutes his or her moral fabric. A leader‘s actions and decisions affect the morale of his subordinates. Hence, he should always be aware of his decisions and activities. Team spirit is the soul of the organization. The leader should always make sure
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his subordinates enjoy performing their duties as a team and make themselves a part of the organization‘s plans.
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A leader should step into the shoes of the subordinates and view things from subordinate‘s angle. He should empathize with them during difficult times. Empathizing with their personal problems makes them stronger-mentally and emotionally.
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A meaningful and challenging job accomplished inculcates a sense of achievement among employees. The executive must make their employees feel they are performing an important work that is necessary for the organization‘s well-being and success. This motivational aspect drives them to fulfil goals.
Remember, ?To become an efficient leader, you must be self-motivated?. You must know your identity, your needs and you must have a strong urge to do anything to achieve your goals. Once you are self-motivated, only then you can motivate others to achieve their goals and to harmonize their personal goals with the common goals of the organization.
Emotional Intelligence for Leaders
An organization is made up of people and when people are involved, emotions automatically come into play, and a workplace is no different. It would be unwise to assume that a workplace is all objective, no-emotion only performance kind of a packed room where hormones have no scope to creep in however the fact is that emotions alone are the biggest motivator or de-motivator of an employee. The emotions alone, govern the performance and efficiency of a worker and had it not been the case, we would have never talked about the importance of work-life balance and for the present context, the need of emotionally intelligent leaders. The current times are very dynamic not just economically but also socially where the social fabric is rapidly evolving due to globalization and other influences. The average age of the workforce is reducing and the leaders now look forward to managing people belonging to different cultures and backgrounds. In such a situation, it is important for a leader to be highly sensitized to the emotional aspects of his/her transactions with people. Emotional Intelligence is basically the ability to recognize and understand one‘s own feelings and emotions as well as those of others and use that information to manage emotions and relationships. The 4 important aspects of EI as proposed by Daniel Goleman are:
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Self Awareness Self Management Social Awareness Relationship Management or Social Skills
A leader tends to have a huge influence on the thoughts and motivation of people. He/she has the capacity to enthuse optimism and confidence in the followers and lead them to constructive endeavours which is called resonance and on the other hand they can negatively influence them to destruct, e.g of such leaders being Hitler and d Osama Bin Laden which is opposite to resonance called dissonance. Leaders are closely observed in terms of their body language, facial expressions etc. So, it is important for a leader to consider the non-verbal form of expressions as well, which may positively or negatively influence followers. Therefore, if a leader is talking about ethics in business with a slightly unconvinced and bemused look on his face, the followers make a note of it and the message is not received by them. A leader has to act as a role model too, supporting his statements, ideologies and values with appropriate actions. As a leader one also has to be aware of one‘s own capabilities and weaknesses, it is difficult to accept guidance from a leader who is not self aware. As managers, leaders have to empathize as well with the situations, emotions, aspirations and motivations of the subordinates. A decreasing performance of a team member might be because of a number of reasons, a disruptive worker might be facing motivation issues and a subordinate who uses abusive language with others might be lacking confidence in his own abilities. A leader needs to discern facts and try and reach to deeper levels and understand things beyond obvious. Apart from the above reasons, Emotional Intelligence is also important because the followers or subordinate expect it from their leaders. A subordinate working closely with the manager would expect the manager to understand his situation and priorities. And not surprisingly, whether manger does so or not, affects his level of commitment and performance at work. A leader has to suitably know and understand when he/she needs to be directive and when he needs to delegate. He/she needs to be aware, when the team members are acting as one unit and when there are differences.
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It is sometimes awkward to address emotional aspects of transactions between people but leaders need to understand the importance and relevance of it as it has a huge impact on the performance outcomes. While conducting reviews and development dialogues, the feedback has to be delivered in a manner which is acceptable. The leader needs to be sensitive to the insecurities and apprehensions of the subordinates which sometimes might be expressed and sometimes kept undisclosed. At the senior level it is all the more important as the senior executives find it hard to clearly outline their anxieties and differences and the leader has to anticipate some of them. So, to be able to attract and retain talented subordinates and keep them motivated, a leader needs to brush up on his people skills and emotional intelligence, as all of them are not born with the charisma to hold people. Fortunately, emotional intelligence with practice and carefully directed efforts can be increased.
Organizational Leadership
Organizations need strong leadership for optimum effectiveness. Leadership, as we know, is a trait which is both inbuilt and can be acquired also. Organizational leadership deals with both human psychology as well as expert tactics. Organizational leadership emphasizes on developing leadership skills and abilities that are relevant across the
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organizations. It means the potential of the individuals to face the hard times in the industry and still grow during those times. It clearly identifies and distinguishes the leaders from the managers. The leader should have potential to control the group of individuals. An ideal organizational leader should not dominate over others. He should guide the individuals under him, give them a sense of direction to achieve organizational goals successfully and should act responsibly. He should be optimistic for sure. He should be empathetic and should understand the need of the group members. An organizational leader should not only lead others individually but also manage the actions of the group. Individuals who are highly ambitious, have high energy level, an urge to lead, selfconfidence, intelligence, have thorough knowledge of job, are honest and flexible are more likely to succeed as organizational leaders. Individuals who learn the organizational leadership develop abilities and skills of teamwork, effective communication, conflict resolution, and group problem solving techniques. Organizational leaders clearly communicate organizational mission, vision and policies; build employees morale, ensure efficient business operations; help employees grow professionally and contribute positively towards organizations mission.
Tips for Effective Organizational Leadership
1. A leader must lead himself, only then he can lead others. He must be committed on personal and professional front, and must be responsible. He must be a role model for others and set an example for them. 2. A leader must boost up the morale of the employees. He should motivate them well so that they are committed to the organization. He should be well acquainted with them, have concern for them and encourage them to take initiatives. This will result in more efficient and effective employees and ensure organizational success. 3. A leader must work as a team. He should always support his team and respect them. He should not hurt any employee. A true leader should not be too bossy and should not consider him as the supreme authority. He should realize that he is part of the organization as a whole. Organizational leadership involves all the processes and possible results that lead to development and achievement of organizational goals. It includes employees‘ involvement, genuineness, effective listening and strategic communication.
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Leadership Ethics - Traits of an Ethical Leader
Ethics refer to the desirable and appropriate values and morals according to an individual or the society at large. Ethics deal with the purity of individuals and their intentions. Ethics serve as guidelines for analyzing ?what is good or bad? in a specific scenario. Correlating ethics with leadership, we find that ethics is all about the leader‘s identity and the leader‘s role. Ethical theories on leadership talk about two main things: (a) The actions and behaviour of leaders; and (b) the personality and character of leaders. It is essential to note that ?Ethics are an essential to leadership?. A leader drives and influences the subordinates / followers to achieve a common goal, be it in case of team work, organizational quest, or any project. It is an ethical job of the leader to treat his subordinates with respect as each of them has unique personality. The ethical environment in an organization is built and developed by a leader as they have an influential role in the organization and due to the fact that leaders have an influence in developing the organizational values. An effective and ethical leader has the following traits / characteristics: Dignity and respectfulness: He respects others. An ethical leader should not use his followers as a medium to achieve his personal goals. He should respect their feelings, decision and values. Respecting the followers implies listening effectively to them, being compassionate to them, as well as being liberal in hearing opposing viewpoints. In short, it implies treating the followers in a manner that authenticate their values and beliefs. Serving others: He serves others. An ethical leader should place his follower‘s interests ahead of his interests. He should be humane. He must act in a manner that is always fruitful for his followers. Justice: He is fair and just. An ethical leader must treat all his followers equally. There should be no personal bias. Wherever some followers are treated differently, the ground for differential treatment should be fair, clear, and built on morality. Community building: He develops community. An ethical leader considers his own purpose as well as his followers‘ purpose, while making efforts to achieve the goals suitable to both of them. He is considerate to the community interests. He does not overlook the followers‘ intentions. He works harder for the community goals.
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Honesty: He is loyal and honest. Honesty is essential to be an ethical and effective leader. Honest leaders can be always relied upon and depended upon. They always earn respect of their followers. An honest leader presents the fact and circumstances truly and completely, no matter how critical and harmful the fact may be. He does not misrepresent any fact.
Leadership Styles - Important Leadership Styles
All leaders do not possess same attitude or same perspective. As discussed earlier, few leaders adopt the carrot approach and a few adopt the stick approach. Thus, all of the leaders do not get the things done in the same manner. Their style varies. The leadership style varies with the kind of people the leader interacts and deals with. A perfect/standard leadership style is one which assists a leader in getting the best out of the people who follow him. Some of the important leadership styles are as follows:
Autocratic leadership style: In this style of leadership, a leader has complete
command and hold over their employees/team. The team cannot put forward their views even if they are best for the team‘s or organizational interests. They cannot criticize or question the leader‘s way of getting things done. The leader himself gets the things done.
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The advantage of this style is that it leads to speedy decision-making and greater productivity under leader‘s supervision. Drawbacks of this leadership style are that it leads to greater employee absenteeism and turnover. This leadership style works only when the leader is the best in performing or when the job is monotonous, unskilled and routine in nature or where the project is short-term and risky.
The Laissez Faire Leadership Style: Here, the leader totally trusts their
employees/team to perform the job themselves. He just concentrates on the intellectual/rational aspect of his work and does not focus on the management aspect of his work. The team/employees are welcomed to share their views and provide suggestions which are best for organizational interests. This leadership style works only when the employees are skilled, loyal, experienced and intellectual.
Democratise/Participative leadership style: The leaders invite and encourage the
team members to play an important role in decision-making process, though the ultimate decision-making power rests with the leader. The leader guides the employees on what to perform and how to perform, while the employees communicate to the leader their experience and the suggestions if any. The advantages of this leadership style are that it leads to satisfied, motivated and more skilled employees. It leads to an optimistic work environment and also encourages creativity. This leadership style has the only drawback that it is time-consuming.
Bureaucratic leadership: Here the leaders strictly adhere to the organizational rules
and policies. Also, they make sure that the employees/team also strictly follows the rules and procedures. Promotions take place on the basis of employees‘ ability to adhere to organizational rules. This leadership style gradually develops over time. This leadership style is more suitable when safe work conditions and quality are required. But this leadership style discourages creativity and does not make employees self-contented.
Situational Leadership - Meaning and Concept
Leaders are essentially people who know their goals and have the power to influence the thoughts and actions of others to garner their support and cooperation to achieve these goals. In-case of leaders these goals are rarely personal and generally to serve the larger good. Ever since man was a hunter gatherer and lived in closely knit groups, they had
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leaders who led the hunting expeditions and took greater risk than the rest of the group members. In turn they were bestowed with larger share of hunting, respect and a higher position in the group. With changing times, how leadership is perceived has also changed, but, it remains an important aspect of social fabric nevertheless. The initial theories proposed that leaders are born and cannot be created, there are certain distinct characteristics possessed by few men which make them leaders. [Read Great Man Theory and the Trait Theory]. However, for the current discussion we would try and take a closer look at another interesting theory which was proposed called Situational Leadership Theory. This theory says that the same leadership style cannot be practiced in all situations, depending upon the circumstance and environmental context the leadership style also changes. The pioneers of this theory were Kenneth Blanchard and Paul Hersey. The model encourages the leaders to analyze a particular situation in depth and then lead in the most appropriate manner, suitable for that situation . The three aspects that need could be considered in a situation are:
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Employees‘ competences Maturity of the employees Complexity of the task Leadership style
In the Situational Leadership model, the leadership style has been divided into 4 types:
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S1: Telling - Telling style is associated with leaders who minutely supervise their followers, constantly instructing them about why, how and when of the tasks that need to be performed.
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S2: Selling - Selling style is when a leader provide controlled direction and is a little more open and allows two way communication between him/herself and the followers thus ensuring that the followers buy in the process and work towards the desired goals.
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S3: Participating - This style is characterized when the leaders seeks opinion and participation of the followers to establish how a task should be performed. The leader in this case tries creating relationship with the followers
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S4: Delegating - In this case, the leader plays a role in decisions that are taken but passes on or delegates the responsibilities of carrying out tasks to his followers. The leader however monitors and reviews the process.
It is also represented by a diagram most often which is below:
The developmental level of follower is an important indication for a leader to decide the most appropriate leadership style for them: D4 - High Competence, High Commitment - The followers who are identified in this category are the ones who have high competence and high commitment towards tasks to be performed. It might happen so that they turn out better than their leaders in performing these tasks. (For e.g. cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar playing in the Indian cricket team under the captainship of Mahendra Singh Dhoni) D3 - High Competence, Variable Commitment - This category consists of followers who have the competence to do the job but their commitment level is inconsistent. They also tend to lack the confidence to go out and perform task alone. (E.g. President Barack Obama) D2 - Some Competence, Low Commitment - In this case, the followers have a certain level of competence which might be sufficient to do the job but they are low on commitment towards the tasks. Despite of having relevant skills to perform the task they
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seek external help when faced with new situations. (A team member made the trainer for new joiners) D1 - Low Competence, High Commitment - This category of followers may not have the specific skill required but they display a high level of commitment towards the task they have to perform, with confidence and motivation, they figure out ways to complete the tasks. (E.g. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, a lawyer by profession who spearheaded the Indian Freedom Struggle)
Impact of Situational Leadership on Performance and Motivation
Leaders are role models who influence the culture, values, thoughts and actions of the organization and its people. The leadership style practiced by managers greatly influences the performance and productivity at the work place. The situation leadership model encourages managers to flexibly use their leadership style based on the situation and thus achieve effective results. Both at the middle managerial level where leaders work closely with people and at higher managerial level where leaders are responsible to a number of people, their approach has an impact on the motivational levels of the organization. A leader needs to constantly inform him/herself of the motivational needs of the employees, one of simple factors of success cited in the organizations is a motivated workforce. The 4 leadership style of Telling, Selling, Participating and Delegating proposed in the situational leadership model can be used as per the motivational need of the subordinate. For example, for a senior manager who has been recently recruited and who boasts an illustrious career graph would need more responsibilities and opportunities to prove himself i.e. Delegating to remain motivated. On the other hand a fresher joining the organization may look at more Telling and a little participative approach to keep him/her motivated. A leader has to carefully evaluate and then decide on the right approach for the subordinate. Situational Leadership has all the more relevance when teams work together especially across functions or locations. In these cases the team members might be physically separated from the leaders and the work situations might rapidly change, in such cases, maintaining the involvement and motivation level of team members becomes important. To create a high performance team that works effectively, the style that the leader would have to choose may be unique for each team.
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Apart from this, a leader has to provide a vision to the people; it is the visions which help them direct and redirect their efforts towards it. In the recent times where changes are rapid in the organizations, the leaders have to be fully sensitized to what style would work the best, sometimes they might have to use a combination of styles to address issues effectively. For e.g. for a new change that is being introduced, the initial approach has to be Selling, where people are educated about the change, the next step becomes Telling, where the people have to be instructed as to how the change would be carried out. When the change starts settling in and people adopt it, they style can become Participating, where the people get an opportunity to partner in the change and take it ahead. The last change would then become delegating when the change can now be carried on by the others. The ultimate aim of any leader is to smoothly arrive at a stage where he/she can easily delegate tasks without worrying about its completion or effectiveness. The leadership style also has a bearing when leaders are to act as mentors and coaches for their subordinates. The learning style of the subordinates can be interpreted in the terms of Telling, Selling, Participating and Delegating. Some subordinates learn when they know exactly what is to be done, some learn when they know the importance of the task, some learn when they understand the how of what is to be done, and ultimately some learn when they are actually allowed to perform the task. When a leader acts as a coach he/she has to keep in mind what works best for the coaches and the fact that what works for one might not work for the other.
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Leadership Theories
Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid The treatment of task orientation and people orientation as two independent dimensions was a major step in leadership studies. Many of the leadership studies conducted in the 1950s at the University of Michigan and the Ohio State University focused on these two dimensions. Building on the work of the researchers at these Universities, Robert Blake and Jane Mouton (1960s) proposed a graphic portrayal of leadership styles through a managerial grid (sometimes called leadership grid). The grid depicted two dimensions of leader behavior, concern for people(accommodating people‘s needs and giving them priority) on y-axis andconcern for production (keeping tight schedules) on x-axis, with each dimension ranging from low (1) to high (9), thus creating 81 different positions in which the leader‘s style may fall.
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The five resulting leadership styles are as follows: Impoverished Management (1, 1): Managers with this approach are low on both the dimensions and exercise minimum effort to get the work done from subordinates. The leader has low concern for employee satisfaction and work deadlines and as a result disharmony and disorganization prevail within the organization. The leaders are termed ineffective wherein their action is merely aimed at preserving job and seniority. Task management (9, 1): Also called dictatorial or perish style. Here leaders are more concerned about production and have less concern for people. The style is based on theory X of McGregor. The employees‘ needs are not taken care of and they are simply a means to an end. The leader believes that efficiency can result only through proper organization of work systems and through elimination of people wherever possible. Such a style can definitely increase the output of organization in short run but due to the strict policies and procedures, high labour turnover is inevitable. Middle-of-the-Road (5, 5): This is basically a compromising style wherein the leader tries to maintain a balance between goals of company and the needs of people. The leader does
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not push the boundaries of achievement resulting in average performance for organization. Here neither employee nor production needs are fully met. Country Club (1, 9): This is a collegial style characterized by low task and high people orientation where the leader gives thoughtful attention to the needs of people thus providing them with a friendly and comfortable environment. The leader feels that such a treatment with employees will lead to self-motivation and will find people working hard on their own. However, a low focus on tasks can hamper production and lead to questionable results. Team Management (9, 9): Characterized by high people and task focus, the style is based on the theory Y of McGregor and has been termed as most effective style according to Blake and Mouton. The leader feels that empowerment, commitment, trust, and respect are the key elements in creating a team atmosphere which will automatically result in high employee satisfaction and production. Advantages of Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid The Managerial or Leadership Grid is used to help managers analyze their own leadership styles through a technique known as grid training. This is done by administering a questionnaire that helps managers identify how they stand with respect to their concern for production and people. The training is aimed at basically helping leaders reach to the ideal state of 9, 9. Limitations of Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid The model ignores the importance of internal and external limits, matter and scenario. Also, there are some more aspects of leadership that can be covered but are not.
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Fiedler’s Contingency Model Fred E. Fiedler‘s contingency theory of leadership effectiveness was based on studies of a wide range of group effectiveness, and concentrated on the relationship between leadership and organizational performance. This is one of the earliest situation-contingent leadership theories given by Fiedler. According to him, if an organization attempts to achieve group effectiveness through leadership, then there is a need to assess the leader according to an underlying trait, assess the situation faced by the leader, and construct a proper match between the two. Leader’s trait In order to assess the attitudes of the leader, Fiedler developed the ?least preferred coworker‘ (LPC) scale in which the leaders are asked about the person with whom they least like to work. The scale is a questionnaire consisting of 16 items used to reflect a leader‘s underlying disposition toward others. The items in the LPC scale are pleasant / unpleasant, friendly / unfriendly, rejecting / accepting, unenthusiastic / enthusiastic, tense / relaxed, cold / warm, helpful / frustrating, cooperative / uncooperative, supportive / hostile, quarrelsome / harmonious, efficient / inefficient, gloomy / cheerful, distant / close, boring / interesting, self-assured / hesitant, open / guarded. Each item in the scale is given a single ranking of between one and eight points, with eight points indicating the most favorable rating. Fiedler states that leaders with high LPC scores are relationship-oriented and the ones with low scores are task-oriented. The high LPC score leaders derived most satisfaction from interpersonal relationships and therefore evaluate their least preferred co-workers in fairly favorable terms. These leaders think about the task accomplishment only after the relationship need is well satisfied. On the other hand, the low LPC score leaders derived satisfaction from performance of the task and attainment of objectives and only after tasks have been accomplished, these leaders work on establishing good social and interpersonal relationships. Situational factor According to Fiedler, a leader‘s behavior is dependent upon the favorability of the leadership situation. Three factors work together to determine how favorable a situation is to a leader. These are:
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Leader-member relations - The degree to which the leaders is trusted and liked by the group members, and the willingness of the group members to follow the leader‘s guidance Task structure - The degree to which the group‘s task has been described as structured or unstructured, has been clearly defined and the extent to which it can be carried out by detailed instructions Position power - The power of the leader by virtue of the organizational position and the degree to which the leader can exercise authority on group members in order to comply with and accept his direction and leadership With the help of these three variables, eight combinations of group-task situations were constructed by Fiedler. These combinations were used to identify the style of the leader. House’s Path Goal Theory The theory was developed by Robert House and has its roots in the expectancy theory of motivation. The theory is based on the premise that an employee‘s perception of expectancies between his effort and performance is greatly affected by a leader‘s behavior. The leaders help group members in attaining rewards by clarifying the paths to goals and removing obstacles to performance. They do so by providing the information, support, and other resources which are required by employees to complete the task. House‘s theory advocates servant leadership. As per servant leadership theory, leadership is not viewed as a position of power. Rather, leaders act as coaches and facilitators to their subordinates. According to House‘s path-goal theory, a leader‘s effectiveness depends on several employee and environmental contingent factors and certain leadership styles. All these are explained in the figure 1 below:
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Leadership Styles The four leadership styles are:
?
Directive: Here the leader provides guidelines, lets subordinates know what is
expected of them, sets performance standards for them, and controls behavior when performance standards are not met. He makes judicious use of rewards and disciplinary action. The style is the same as task-oriented one.
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Supportive: The leader is friendly towards subordinates and displays personal
concern for their needs, welfare, and well-being. This style is the same as people-oriented leadership.
?
Participative: The leader believes in group decision-making and shares
information with subordinates. He consults his subordinates on important decisions related to work, task goals, and paths to resolve goals.
?
Achievement-oriented: The leader sets challenging goals and encourages
employees to reach their peak performance. The leader believes that employees are responsible enough to accomplish challenging goals. This is the same as goal-setting theory. According to the theory, these leadership styles are not mutually excusive and leaders are capable of selecting more than one kind of a style suited for a particular situation.
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Contingencies The theory states that each of these styles will be effective in some situations but not in others. It further states that the relationship between a leader‘s style and effectiveness is dependent on the following variables: Employee characteristics: These include factors such as employees‘ needs, locus of control, experience, perceived ability, satisfaction, willingness to leave the organization, and anxiety. For example, if followers are high inability, a directive style of leadership may be unnecessary; instead a supportive approach may be preferable. Characteristics of work environment: These include factors such as task structure and team dynamics that are outside the control of the employee. For example, for employees performing simple and routine tasks, a supportive style is much effective than a directive one. Similarly, the participative style works much better for non-routine tasks than routine ones. When team cohesiveness is low, a supportive leadership style must be used whereas in a situation where performance-oriented team norms exist, a directive style or possibly an achievement-oriented style works better. Leaders should apply directive style to counteract team norms that oppose the team‘s formal objectives.
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Mukesh Ambani – A Leader Who Loves Challenging Situations
Dhirubhai Ambani has not only been a great leader but also an inspirational story for several youngsters hailing from small towns to make it big in their respective fields. Post his demise, the giant Reliance Empire was taken ahead by his two sons, Mukesh & Anil Ambani. Though both are extremely different in their approach, Reliance has spread its wings all over the world because of them.
Mukesh Ambani, now the Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Limited, India‘s largest private sector company, has set an excellent example of being a successful leader & carrying forward the legacy of the Ambani realm. His leadership abilities were recognized by eminent bodies in the industry by felicitations like Economic Times Business Leader 2006 & CNBC-TV18 India Business Leader Awards 2007. The secret to his success was the constant need to challenge existing situations. He created an open environment so that everybody in Reliance was on the same page to come over the feudal style of management & the disruptive style of management. A true leader always believes in investing the company‘s capital on good talent. As a learner, he preached K K Malhotra, who was with them for 15 years, as his guru & had imbibed most of his current leadership abilities & best practices from him.
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His initiative to build India‘s largest & strongest communication network was known as Reliance Infocomm Limited (now Reliance Communications Limited). His business interests expanded to Petrochemicals, Petroleum Refining and Marketing, Textiles, Retail and SEZs. And his latest venture in the organized retail sector with Reliance Retail by opening hundreds of stores across several states to serve diverse consumer needs and operate under various names such as Reliance Fresh, Reliance Mart and Reliance Digital. Leading the communications aspect at Reliance, he saw immense potential in the convergence of information and communication which is why they named it as Infocomm. He focused extensively on building various competencies in Reliance that would make this organization & its His vision to have a chain of sectors within Reliance has strengthened his position in almost every initiative he has taken. Mukesh is known to be amongst the top ten richest men in India & had surpassed Bill Gates in 2007 to be the World‘s richest man. It was his wish that opportunities in India should not be limited to the few so that every citizen is empowered to access new generation technology & skills. He envisaged a new India on the horizon – new visionary, courageous and convincing models that are needed to progress Indian society. He always challenged the possibility to translate this vision into reality Dhirubhai Ambani has not only been a great leader but also an inspirational story for several youngsters hailing from small towns to make it big in their respective fields. Post his demise, the giant Reliance Empire was taken ahead by his two sons, Mukesh & Anil Ambani. Though both are extremely different in their approach, Reliance has spread its wings all over the world because of them.Mukesh Ambani, now the Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Limited, India‘s largest private sector company, has set an excellent example of being a successful leader & carrying forward the legacy of the Ambani realm. His leadership abilities were recognized by eminent bodies in the industry by felicitations like Economic Times Business Leader 2006 & CNBC-TV18 India Business Leader Awards 2007. The secret to his success was the constant need to challenge existing situations. He created an open environment so that everybody in Reliance was on the same page to come over the feudal style of management & the disruptive style of management. A true leader always believes in investing the company‘s capital on good talent. As a learner, he preached K K Malhotra, who was with them for 15 years, as his guru & had imbibed most of his current leadership abilities & best practices from him. His initiative to build India‘s largest & strongest communication network was
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known as Reliance Infocomm Limited (now Reliance Communications Limited). His business interests expanded to Petrochemicals, Petroleum Refining and Marketing, Textiles, Retail and SEZs. And his latest venture in the organized retail sector with Reliance Retail by opening hundreds of stores across several states to serve diverse consumer needs and operate under various names such as Reliance Fresh, Reliance Mart and Reliance Digital.Leading the communications aspect at Reliance, he saw immense potential in the convergence of information and communication which is why they named it as Infocomm. He focused extensively on building various competencies in Reliance that would make this organization & its His vision to have a chain of sectors within Reliance has strengthened his position in almost every initiative he has taken. Mukesh is known to be amongst the top ten richest men in India & had surpassed Bill Gates in 2007 to be the World‘s richest man.
It was his wish that opportunities in India should not be limited to the few so that every citizen is empowered to access new generation technology & skills. He envisaged a new India on the horizon – new visionary, courageous and convincing models that are needed to progress Indian society. He always challenged the possibility to translate this vision into reality
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The Perfect Example of Leadership – Narayan Murthy
?I am a believer in the adage – performance leads to recognition, recognition leads to respect and respect leads to power.? In my own words, I have explained that performance is the key towards leadership.
Leadership is about raising the aspirations of followers and enthusing people with a desire to reach for the stars. For instance, Mahatma Gandhi created a vision for independence in India and raised the aspirations of our people. Leadership is about making people say, ?I will walk on water for you.‘ It is about creating a worthy dream and helping people achieve it. Robert Kennedy , summed up leadership best when he said, ?Others see things as they are and wonder why; I see them as they are not and say why not?‘ Adversity: A leader has to raise the confidence of followers. He should make them understand that tough times are part of life and that they will come out better at the end of it. He has to sustain their hope, and their energy levels to handle the difficult days. There is no better example of this than Winston Churchill. His courageous leadership as prime minister for Great Britain successfully led the British people from the brink of defeat
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during World War II. He raised his people‘s hopes with the words, ?These are not dark days; these are great days — the greatest days our country has ever lived.‘ Never is strong leadership more needed than in a crisis. In the words of Seneca, the Greek philosopher, ?Fire is the test of gold; adversity, of strong men.‘
Values: The leader has to create hope. He has to create a plausible story about a better future for the organization: everyone should be able to see the rainbow and catch a part of it. This requires creating trust in people. And to create trust, the leader has to subscribe to a value system: a protocol for behavior that enhances the confidence, commitment and enthusiasm of the people.
Compliance to a value system creates the environment for people to have high aspirations, self esteem, belief in fundamental values, confidence in the future and the enthusiasm necessary to take up apparently difficult tasks. Leaders have to walk the talk and demonstrate their commitment to a value system. As Mahatma Gandhi said, ?We must become the change we want to see in the world.‘ Leaders have to prove their belief in sacrifice and hard work. Such behavior will enthuse the employees to make bigger sacrifices. It will help win the team‘s confidence, help leaders become credible, and help create trust in their ideas.
Enhancing
trust:
Trust and confidence can only exist where there is a premium on transparency. The leader has to create an environment where each person feels secure enough to be able to disclose his or her mistakes, and resolves to improve. Investors respect such organizations. Investors understand that the business will have good times and bad times. What they want you to do is to level with them at all times. They want you to disclose bad news on a proactive basis. At Infosys, our philosophy has always been, ?When in doubt, disclose.‘
Governance: Good corporate governance is about maximizing shareholder value on a sustainable basis
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while ensuring fairness to all stakeholders: customers, vendor-partners, investors, employees, government and society. A successful organization tides over many downturns. The best index of success is its longevity. This is predicated on adhering to the finest levels of corporate governance.
At Infosys, we have consistently adopted transparency and disclosure standards even before law mandated it. In 1995, Infosys suffered losses in the secondary market. Under Indian GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles), we were not required to make this information public. Nevertheless, we published this information in our annual report. Fearless environment: Transparency about the organization‘s operations should be accompanied by an open environment inside the organization. You have to create an environment where any employee can disagree with you without fear of reprisal. In such a case, everyone makes suggestions for the common good. In the end everyone will be better off.
On the other hand, at Enron, the CFO was running an empire where people were afraid to speak. In some other cases, the whistle blowers have been harassed and thrown out of the company.
Managerial remuneration: We have gone towards excessive salaries and options for senior management staff. At one company, the CEO‘s employment contract not only set out the model of the Mercedes the company would buy him, but also promised a monthly first-class air ticket for his mother, along with a cash bonus of $10 million and other benefits. Not surprisingly, this company has already filed for bankruptcy.
Managerial remuneration should be based on three principles: *Fairness with respect to the compensation of other employees; * Transparency with respect to shareholders and employees; * Accountability with respect to linking compensation with corporate performance.
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Thus, the compensation should have a fixed component and a variable component. The variable component should be linked to achieving long-term objectives of the firm. Senior management should swim or sink with the fortunes of the company.
Senior management compensation should be reviewed by the compensation committee of the board, which should consist only of independent directors. Further, this should be approved by the shareholders. I‘ve been asked, ?How can I ask for limits on senior management compensation when I have made millions myself?‘ A fair question with a straightforward answer: two systems are at play here. One is that of the promoter, the risk taker and the capital markets; and the other is that of professional management and compensation structures.
One cannot mix these two distinct systems, otherwise entrepreneurship will be stifled, and no new companies will come up, no progress can take place. At the same time, there has to be fairness in compensation: there cannot be huge differences between the top most and the bottom rung of the ladder within an organisation.
PSPD model: A well run organisation embraces and practices a sound Predictability-SustainabilityProfitability-De-risking (we call this the PSPD model at Infosys) model. Indeed, the longterm success of an organisation depends on having a model that scales up profitably. Further, every organisation must have a good derisking approach that recognizes, measures and mitigates risk along every dimension.
Integrity: Strong leadership in adverse times helps win the trust of the stakeholders, making it more likely that they will stand by you in your hour of need. As leaders who dream of growth and progress, integrity is your most wanted attribute. Lead your teams to fight for the truth and never compromise on your values. I am confident that our corporate leaders, through honest and desirable behaviour, will reap long-term benefits for their stakeholders.
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Two motto‘s: In conclusion, keep in mind two Sanskrit sentences: Sathyannasti Paro Dharma (there is no dharma greater than adherence to truth); and Satyameva jayate (truth alone triumphs). Let these be your motto for good corporate leadership.
Ratan Tata: a shining example of business leadership in the third world
People have often asked me to cite business leaders outside of Europe and the US whom I admire. I thought of this question last week when Ratan Tata stepped down as Chairman of the Indian conglomerate Tata Group, a post he had held since 1991. Of course, Mr. Tata is widely respected for achieving outstanding results during his tenure. He took on great challenges, turned Tata Holdings into one of the most successful entities in global business, while himself becoming one of the wealthiest people in the world.
Beyond these results, though, there are perhaps more important reasons to admire the leader and the man. Here are several:
One can truly say that Ratan Tata mastered the business environment both in his homeland and abroad. Thus, he was able to make some intelligent strategic and human decisions. After taking over from his uncle in 1991, he spent more than a decade redefining the
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company, turning a sleepy, entrenched national player into an adventurous global one. He succeeded in transforming a deeply entrenched corporate culture by taking on the cadre of barons who had been running the group‘s larger companies, replacing them with younger and more dynamic leaders. Realizing that future opportunities for growth and learning would come from expanding outside of his home nation, he next set the corporation on an aggressive course of international acquisition. In so doing, Tata distanced itself from the bureaucracy and pervasive corruption of the Indian market while taking advantage of the country‘s new open economic policies. As a company, Tata was among the first in India to acquire substantial European holdings, including UK-based luxury car brand Jaguar Land Rover and the Anglo-Dutch giant steelmaker Corus.
Today, he retains a grand vision of possibility and an ability to put things in a larger context: In 2012, Tata Group became the first Indian company to reach $100bn in revenues, with more than half of it coming from abroad. But Ratan Tata is not smug or satisfied. Expressing his views on future development, Tata claims that the company should plan to grow far more, that they should shoot for annual sales of more than $500bn within the next decade. Such a number is indeed a courageous target. To put it in perspective, if they were to achieve it today, Tata Holdings would be at the pinnacle of world business, with revenue larger than Walmart or ExxonMobil.
He also has a broad and optimistic vision for India. In his words, ?I am proud of my country. But we need to unite to make a unified India, free of communalism and casteism. We need to build India into a land of equal opportunity for all. We can be a truly great nation if we set our sights high and deliver to the people the fruits of continued growth, prosperity and equal opportunity.?
A lifelong learner who cultivated long-term relationships with mentors: One characteristic I particularly admire in individuals is the ability to keep learning throughout a lifetime, and to maintain lasting relationships with people who aid that learning.
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When asked about the people who shaped the way he thinks, Ratan Tata cites JRD Tata, who he worked with in varying degrees of closeness, and John F Kennedy, whom he never met but whose thinking influenced Tata in many ways. His mentors include Professor Amar Bose, whom Tata describes a person with high ideals and a clear value system. Over many years, Bose had a profound impact on Tata‘s approaches to management. Another is Jean Riboud, the former chairman of Schlumberger, a close friend with whom Tata maintained a dialogue about a wide variety of business and human issues.
According to Tata, there‘s a common thread these people share: strong values. They all have integrity of a high order and a very forceful social consciousness in terms of what their corporations do. In addition, they are warm, thoughtful and caring human beings. Clarity about who he is and what he stands for: Tata achieved great professional success without losing sight of his core beliefs, and without compromising his principles. He has always espoused the highest standards of ethics, integrity, social consciousness, and fairness. In India, he is one of the nation‘s most revered individuals, enjoying a rare reputation for combining business acumen with irreproachable ethical conduct, in a nation often plagued by corruption. Humility: Through it all, Ratan Tata has remained a humble man. In interviews, he finds it difficult to talk about himself and his successes in management or life. He describes himself simply as seeking to be fair and just, a manager who tries to be accessible to all the employees. Above all, he says, ?I would like to believe I am operating honestly. That is something I am proud of.?
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Conclusion
Like the ?nature versus nurture debate,? the ?born versus made? leadership debate is based upon a false dichotomy. Just as genes interact with the environment to express unique physical characteristics and capabilities, so too is the quality of leadership an expression of how innate personal characteristics interact with organizational factors. Given this perspective, leadership is not regarded as the random occurrence of great men at moments in history, but rather as a network effect, the interaction of innate traits, themselves long nurtured and refined by evolutionary forces and the organizational context in which these traits are expressed. In other words, great leadership is the combination of individual traits and historical and institutional contexts. This is powerful knowledge if we can learn to identify the types of roles needed to guide a group or an organization in a certain situation, and then find the right person for the job. An important task in the coming years will be the training and testing of future leaders. Until the recent advent of integral leadership, the vast majority of the history of leadership theory including all the major conventional theories of leadership I summarized earlier were not developmentally informed. This means that the research the so called ?expert? conducted in leadership and the practices and ?leadership styles? that they advocated in most cases did not take into consideration the level of psychological development of either the leaders or followers. This is one of the main reasons that, as I said earlier in this manifesto, ?leadership as it is conventionally understood and practices does not work.?
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Bibliography A) BOOKS ? Principles of Management by- Tripathi & Reddy. ? The Practise of Management by- Peter F. Druker
B) WEBSITES ? www.infosys.org ? www.managementstudyguide.com ? www.relianceindustrieslimited.com ? www.tatasteel.org
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doc_497275399.docx
What is Leadership
Leadership is a process by which an executive can direct, guide and influence the behavior and work of others towards accomplishment of specific goals in a given situation. Leadership is the ability of a manager to induce the subordinates to work with confidence and zeal. Leadership is the potential to influence behaviour of others. It is also defined as the capacity to influence a group towards the realization of a goal. Leaders are required to develop future visions, and to motivate the organizational members to want to achieve the visions. According to Keith Davis, ?Leadership is the ability to persuade others to seek defined objectives enthusiastically. It is the human factor which binds a group together and motivates it towards goals.?
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Characteristics of Leadership
1. It is a inter-personal process in which a manager is into influencing and guiding workers towards attainment of goals. 2. It denotes a few qualities to be present in a person which includes intelligence, maturity and personality. 3. It is a group process. It involves two or more people interacting with each other. 4. A leader is involved in shaping and moulding the behaviour of the group towards accomplishment of organizational goals. 5. Leadership is situation bound. There is no best style of leadership. It all depends upon tackling with the situations.
Importance of Leadership
Leadership is an important function of management which helps to maximize efficiency and to achieve organizational goals. The following points justify the importance of leadership in a concern. 1. Initiates action- Leader is a person who starts the work by communicating the policies and plans to the subordinates from where the work actually starts. 2. Motivation- A leader proves to be playing an incentive role in the concern‘s working. He motivates the employees with economic and non-economic rewards and thereby gets the work from the subordinates. 3. Providing guidance- A leader has to not only supervise but also play a guiding role for the subordinates. Guidance here means instructing the subordinates the way they have to perform their work effectively and efficiently. 4. Creating confidence- Confidence is an important factor which can be achieved through expressing the work efforts to the subordinates, explaining them clearly their role and giving them guidelines to achieve the goals effectively. It is also important to hear the employees with regards to their complaints and problems. 5. Building morale- Morale denotes willing co-operation of the employees towards their work and getting them into confidence and winning their trust. A leader can be a morale booster by achieving full co-operation so that they perform with best of their abilities as they work to achieve goals.
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6. Builds work environment- Management is getting things done from people. An efficient work environment helps in sound and stable growth. Therefore, human relations should be kept into mind by a leader. He should have personal contacts with employees and should listen to their problems and solve them. He should treat employees on humanitarian terms. 7. Co-ordination- Co-ordination can be achieved through reconciling personal interests with organizational goals. This synchronization can be achieved through proper and effective co-ordination which should be primary motive of a leader.
Role of a Leader
Following are the main roles of a leader in an organization : 1. Required at all levels- Leadership is a function which is important at alllevels of management. In the top level, it is important for getting co-operation in formulation of plans and policies. In the middle and lower level, it is required for interpretation and execution of plans and programmes framed by the top management. Leadership can be exercised through guidance and counselling of the subordinates at the time of execution of plans. 2. Representative of the organization- A leader, i.e., a manager is said to be the representative of the enterprise. He has to represent the concern at seminars, conferences, general meetings, etc. His role is to communicate the rationale of the enterprise to outside public. He is also representative of the own department which he leads. 3. Integrates and reconciles the personal goals with organizational goals- A leader through leadership traits helps in reconciling/ integrating the personal goals of the employees with the organizational goals. He is trying to co-ordinate the efforts of people towards a common purpose and thereby achieves objectives. This can be done only if he can influence and get willing co-operation and urge to accomplish the objectives. 4. He solicits support- A leader is a manager and besides that he is a person who entertains and invites support and co- operation of subordinates. This he can do by his personality, intelligence, maturity and experience which can provide him positive result. In this regard, a leader has to invite suggestions and if possible implement them into plans and programmes of enterprise. This way, he can solicit
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full support of employees which results in willingness to work and thereby effectiveness in running of a concern. 5. As a friend, philosopher and guide- A leader must possess the three dimensional traits in him. He can be a friend by sharing the feelings, opinions and desires with the employees. He can be a philosopher by utilizing his intelligence and experience and thereby guiding the employees as and when time requires. He can be a guide by supervising and communicating the employees the plans and policies of top management and secure their co-operation to achieve the goals of a concern. At times he can also play the role of a counsellor by counselling and a problemsolving approach. He can listen to the problems of the employees and try to solve them.
Qualities of a Leader
A leader has got multidimensional traits in him which makes him appealing and effective in behaviour. The following are the requisites to be present in a good leader: 1. Physical appearance- A leader must have a pleasing appearance. Physique and health are very important for a good leader. 2. Vision and foresight- A leader cannot maintain influence unless he exhibits that he is forward looking. He has to visualize situations and thereby has to frame logical programmes. 3. Intelligence- A leader should be intelligent enough to examine problems and difficult situations. He should be analytical who weighs pros and cons and then summarizes the situation. Therefore, a positive bent of mind and mature outlook is very important. 4. Communicative skills- A leader must be able to communicate the policies and procedures clearly, precisely and effectively. This can be helpful in persuasion and stimulation. 5. Objective- A leader has to be having a fair outlook which is free from bias and which does not reflects his willingness towards a particular individual. He should develop his own opinion and should base his judgement on facts and logic. 6. Knowledge of work- A leader should be very precisely knowing the nature of work of his subordinates because it is then he can win the trust and confidence of his subordinates.
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7. Sense of responsibility- Responsibility and accountability towards an individual‘s work is very important to bring a sense of influence. A leader must have a sense of responsibility towards organizational goals because only then he can get maximum of capabilities exploited in a real sense. For this, he has to motivate himself and arouse and urge to give best of his abilities. Only then he can motivate the subordinates to the best. 8. Self-confidence and will-power- Confidence in himself is important to earn the confidence of the subordinates. He should be trustworthy and should handle the situations with full will power. (You can read more about Self-Confidence at : Self Confidence - Tips to be Confident and Eliminate Your Apprehensions). 9. Humanist-This trait to be present in a leader is essential because he deals with human beings and is in personal contact with them. He has to handle the personal problems of his subordinates with great care and attention. Therefore, treating the human beings on humanitarian grounds is essential for building a congenial environment. 10. Empathy- It is an old adage ?Stepping into the shoes of others?. This is very important because fair judgement and objectivity comes only then. A leader should understand the problems and complaints of employees and should also have a complete view of the needs and aspirations of the employees. This helps in improving human relations and personal contacts with the employees. From the above qualities present in a leader, one can understand the scope of leadership and it‘s importance for scope of business. A leader cannot have all traits at one time. But a few of them helps in achieving effective results.
Leadership and Management - Relationship & Differences
Leadership and management are the terms that are often considered synonymous. It is essential to understand that leadership is an essential part of effective management. As a crucial component of management, remarkable leadership behaviour stresses upon building an environment in which each and every employee develops and excels. Leadership is defined as the potential to influence and drive the group efforts towards the accomplishment of goals. This influence may originate from formal sources, such as that provided by acquisition of managerial position in an organization.
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A manager must have traits of a leader, i.e., he must possess leadership qualities. Leaders develop and begin strategies that build and sustain competitive advantage. Organizations require robust leadership and robust management for optimal organizational efficiency. Differences between Leadership and Management Leadership differs from management in a sense that: 1. While managers lay down the structure and delegates authority and responsibility, leaders provides direction by developing the organizational vision and communicating it to the employees and inspiring them to achieve it. 2. While management includes focus on planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling; leadership is mainly a part of directing function of management. Leaders focus on listening, building relationships, teamwork, inspiring, motivating and persuading the followers. 3. While a leader gets his authority from his followers, a manager gets his authority by virtue of his position in the organization. 4. While managers follow the organization‘s policies and procedure, the leaders follow their own instinct. 5. Management is more of science as the managers are exact, planned, standard, logical and more of mind. Leadership, on the other hand, is an art. In an organization, if the managers are required, then leaders are a must/essential. 6. While management deals with the technical dimension in an organization or the job content; leadership deals with the people aspect in an organization. 7. While management measures/evaluates people by their name, past records, present performance; leadership sees and evaluates individuals as having potential for things that can‘t be measured, i.e., it deals with future and the performance of people if their potential is fully extracted. 8. If management is reactive, leadership is proactive. 9. Management is based more on written communication, while leadership is based more on verbal communication. The organizations which are over managed and under-led do not perform upto the benchmark. Leadership accompanied by management sets a new direction and makes efficient use of resources to achieve it. Both leadership and management are essential for individual as well as organizational success.
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Leader versus Manager
Leadership and manager ship are two synonymous terms? is an incorrect statement. Leadership doesn‘t require any managerial position to act as a leader. On the other hand, a manager can be a true manager only if he has got the traits of leader in him. By virtue of his position, manager has to provide leadership to his group. A manager has to perform all five functions to achieve goals, i.e., Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, and Controlling. Leadership is a part of these functions. Leadership as a general term is not related to manager ship. A person can be a leader by virtue of qualities in him. For example: leader of a club, class, welfare association, social organization, etc. Therefore, it is true to say that, ?All managers are leaders, but all leaders are not managers.? A leader is one who influences the behaviour and work of others in group efforts towards achievement of specified goals in a given situation. On the other hand, manager can be a true manager only if he has got traits of leader in him. Manager at all levels are expected to be the leaders of work groups so that subordinates willingly carry instructions and accept their guidance. A person can be a leader by virtue of all qualities in him.
Authority versus Leadership
The authority exercised is a kind of legitimate power and people follow figures exercising it, because their positions demand so irrespective of the person holding the position. Leaders in organizations and elsewhere may have formal authorities but they mostly rely on the informal authority that they exercise on people to influence them. Leaders are trusted for their judgment and respected for their expertise, integrity etc and hence followed and not because they hold a certain position. For e.g. M.K. Gandhi for most part did not hold any official position to lead the Indian freedom struggle. It is also important to understand that a formal authority and power emerging from it, might not always be able to influence people in the desired manner as; in times of crisis and difficulties people view it as coercion. On the other hand leadership tends to create followers out of free will and choice without forcing them to accept anything thrown their way. Authority rarely provides a scope for feedback, constructive criticism or opinions of the people on whom it is exercised however leaders provide ample platform to their followers to voice their thoughts and feedback.
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When dealing with adults, the sole use of authority to direct and discipline them hardly works, leadership provides a better approach of sharing and involving thus building rapports with followers and creating long term relationships. Authority can hardly make people change their attitudes and behaviours with lasting effects and results however a leader inspires followers through self modelled ways and hence leadership displays greater effectiveness in addressing attitudes and behaviours of people. Exercising authority sometimes limits the approaches to arrive at solutions for issues and problems while leadership encourages people to look beyond the obvious and think innovatively and sometimes emerge with radical solutions. Apart from it, the biggest difference between the two as cited by Stephen R Covey is the moral authority held by leaders over the followers which is absent in the case of power from authority. Within the organizational setup when leaders also have moral authority on their subordinates by establishing a synchrony in their words and actions; the rest of the structure and processes of the organization also get aligned to it, thus creating a robust and transparent culture. Authoritative way of working also encourages individuals to work in silos while in the organizations of today; the leaders need to have a complete picture and coordinate with other functions and departments as and when required. It is indeed difficult for mangers and leaders to move out of their circle of authority and coordinate and interact with external people. However the need of the hour and the more effective approach to leadership and management is when leaders come out of their comfort zone and move from exercising authority on a small group to leading the entire organization. Individuals, who do not rely on authority but lead people, are the ones who enjoy the privilege of their ideologies and thoughts practiced by later generations long after they are gone. Even with individuals who held positions of responsibilities, the ones who actually led their people are the ones remembered and followed.
Leadership and Motivation
Motivation is a goal-oriented characteristic that helps a person achieve his objectives. It pushes an individual to work hard at achieving his or her goals. An executive must have the right leadership traits to influence motivation. However, there is no specific blueprint
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for motivation. As a leader, one should keep an open perspective on human nature. Knowing different needs of subordinates will certainly make the decision-making process easier. Both an employee as well as manager must possess leadership and motivational traits. An effective leader must have a thorough knowledge of motivational factors for others. He must understand the basic needs of employees, peers and his superiors. Leadership is used as a means of motivating others. Given below are important guidelines that outline the basic view of motivation:
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Harmonize and match the subordinate needs with the organizational needs. As a leader, the executive must ensure that the business has the same morals and ethics that he seeks in his employees. He should make sure that his subordinates are encouraged and trained in a manner that meets the needs of the business.
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Appreciation and rewards are key motivators that influence a person to achieve a desired goal. Rewarding good/ exceptional behaviour with a small token of appreciation, certificate or letter can be a great motivator. If a certificate is awarded to a person, it should mention the particular act or the quality for which the individual is being rewarded.
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Being a role model is also a key motivator that influences people in reaching their goals. A leader should set a good example to ensure his people to grow and achieve their goals effectively.
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Encouraging individuals to get involved in planning and important issues resolution procedure not only motivates them, but also teaches the intricacies of these key decision-making factors. Moreover, it will help everyone to get better understanding of their role in the organization. The communication will be unambiguous and will certainly attract acknowledgement and appreciation from the leader.
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Developing moral and team spirit certainly has a key impact on the well-being of an organization. The metal or emotional state of a person constitutes his or her moral fabric. A leader‘s actions and decisions affect the morale of his subordinates. Hence, he should always be aware of his decisions and activities. Team spirit is the soul of the organization. The leader should always make sure
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his subordinates enjoy performing their duties as a team and make themselves a part of the organization‘s plans.
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A leader should step into the shoes of the subordinates and view things from subordinate‘s angle. He should empathize with them during difficult times. Empathizing with their personal problems makes them stronger-mentally and emotionally.
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A meaningful and challenging job accomplished inculcates a sense of achievement among employees. The executive must make their employees feel they are performing an important work that is necessary for the organization‘s well-being and success. This motivational aspect drives them to fulfil goals.
Remember, ?To become an efficient leader, you must be self-motivated?. You must know your identity, your needs and you must have a strong urge to do anything to achieve your goals. Once you are self-motivated, only then you can motivate others to achieve their goals and to harmonize their personal goals with the common goals of the organization.
Emotional Intelligence for Leaders
An organization is made up of people and when people are involved, emotions automatically come into play, and a workplace is no different. It would be unwise to assume that a workplace is all objective, no-emotion only performance kind of a packed room where hormones have no scope to creep in however the fact is that emotions alone are the biggest motivator or de-motivator of an employee. The emotions alone, govern the performance and efficiency of a worker and had it not been the case, we would have never talked about the importance of work-life balance and for the present context, the need of emotionally intelligent leaders. The current times are very dynamic not just economically but also socially where the social fabric is rapidly evolving due to globalization and other influences. The average age of the workforce is reducing and the leaders now look forward to managing people belonging to different cultures and backgrounds. In such a situation, it is important for a leader to be highly sensitized to the emotional aspects of his/her transactions with people. Emotional Intelligence is basically the ability to recognize and understand one‘s own feelings and emotions as well as those of others and use that information to manage emotions and relationships. The 4 important aspects of EI as proposed by Daniel Goleman are:
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? ? ? ?
Self Awareness Self Management Social Awareness Relationship Management or Social Skills
A leader tends to have a huge influence on the thoughts and motivation of people. He/she has the capacity to enthuse optimism and confidence in the followers and lead them to constructive endeavours which is called resonance and on the other hand they can negatively influence them to destruct, e.g of such leaders being Hitler and d Osama Bin Laden which is opposite to resonance called dissonance. Leaders are closely observed in terms of their body language, facial expressions etc. So, it is important for a leader to consider the non-verbal form of expressions as well, which may positively or negatively influence followers. Therefore, if a leader is talking about ethics in business with a slightly unconvinced and bemused look on his face, the followers make a note of it and the message is not received by them. A leader has to act as a role model too, supporting his statements, ideologies and values with appropriate actions. As a leader one also has to be aware of one‘s own capabilities and weaknesses, it is difficult to accept guidance from a leader who is not self aware. As managers, leaders have to empathize as well with the situations, emotions, aspirations and motivations of the subordinates. A decreasing performance of a team member might be because of a number of reasons, a disruptive worker might be facing motivation issues and a subordinate who uses abusive language with others might be lacking confidence in his own abilities. A leader needs to discern facts and try and reach to deeper levels and understand things beyond obvious. Apart from the above reasons, Emotional Intelligence is also important because the followers or subordinate expect it from their leaders. A subordinate working closely with the manager would expect the manager to understand his situation and priorities. And not surprisingly, whether manger does so or not, affects his level of commitment and performance at work. A leader has to suitably know and understand when he/she needs to be directive and when he needs to delegate. He/she needs to be aware, when the team members are acting as one unit and when there are differences.
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It is sometimes awkward to address emotional aspects of transactions between people but leaders need to understand the importance and relevance of it as it has a huge impact on the performance outcomes. While conducting reviews and development dialogues, the feedback has to be delivered in a manner which is acceptable. The leader needs to be sensitive to the insecurities and apprehensions of the subordinates which sometimes might be expressed and sometimes kept undisclosed. At the senior level it is all the more important as the senior executives find it hard to clearly outline their anxieties and differences and the leader has to anticipate some of them. So, to be able to attract and retain talented subordinates and keep them motivated, a leader needs to brush up on his people skills and emotional intelligence, as all of them are not born with the charisma to hold people. Fortunately, emotional intelligence with practice and carefully directed efforts can be increased.
Organizational Leadership
Organizations need strong leadership for optimum effectiveness. Leadership, as we know, is a trait which is both inbuilt and can be acquired also. Organizational leadership deals with both human psychology as well as expert tactics. Organizational leadership emphasizes on developing leadership skills and abilities that are relevant across the
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organizations. It means the potential of the individuals to face the hard times in the industry and still grow during those times. It clearly identifies and distinguishes the leaders from the managers. The leader should have potential to control the group of individuals. An ideal organizational leader should not dominate over others. He should guide the individuals under him, give them a sense of direction to achieve organizational goals successfully and should act responsibly. He should be optimistic for sure. He should be empathetic and should understand the need of the group members. An organizational leader should not only lead others individually but also manage the actions of the group. Individuals who are highly ambitious, have high energy level, an urge to lead, selfconfidence, intelligence, have thorough knowledge of job, are honest and flexible are more likely to succeed as organizational leaders. Individuals who learn the organizational leadership develop abilities and skills of teamwork, effective communication, conflict resolution, and group problem solving techniques. Organizational leaders clearly communicate organizational mission, vision and policies; build employees morale, ensure efficient business operations; help employees grow professionally and contribute positively towards organizations mission.
Tips for Effective Organizational Leadership
1. A leader must lead himself, only then he can lead others. He must be committed on personal and professional front, and must be responsible. He must be a role model for others and set an example for them. 2. A leader must boost up the morale of the employees. He should motivate them well so that they are committed to the organization. He should be well acquainted with them, have concern for them and encourage them to take initiatives. This will result in more efficient and effective employees and ensure organizational success. 3. A leader must work as a team. He should always support his team and respect them. He should not hurt any employee. A true leader should not be too bossy and should not consider him as the supreme authority. He should realize that he is part of the organization as a whole. Organizational leadership involves all the processes and possible results that lead to development and achievement of organizational goals. It includes employees‘ involvement, genuineness, effective listening and strategic communication.
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Leadership Ethics - Traits of an Ethical Leader
Ethics refer to the desirable and appropriate values and morals according to an individual or the society at large. Ethics deal with the purity of individuals and their intentions. Ethics serve as guidelines for analyzing ?what is good or bad? in a specific scenario. Correlating ethics with leadership, we find that ethics is all about the leader‘s identity and the leader‘s role. Ethical theories on leadership talk about two main things: (a) The actions and behaviour of leaders; and (b) the personality and character of leaders. It is essential to note that ?Ethics are an essential to leadership?. A leader drives and influences the subordinates / followers to achieve a common goal, be it in case of team work, organizational quest, or any project. It is an ethical job of the leader to treat his subordinates with respect as each of them has unique personality. The ethical environment in an organization is built and developed by a leader as they have an influential role in the organization and due to the fact that leaders have an influence in developing the organizational values. An effective and ethical leader has the following traits / characteristics: Dignity and respectfulness: He respects others. An ethical leader should not use his followers as a medium to achieve his personal goals. He should respect their feelings, decision and values. Respecting the followers implies listening effectively to them, being compassionate to them, as well as being liberal in hearing opposing viewpoints. In short, it implies treating the followers in a manner that authenticate their values and beliefs. Serving others: He serves others. An ethical leader should place his follower‘s interests ahead of his interests. He should be humane. He must act in a manner that is always fruitful for his followers. Justice: He is fair and just. An ethical leader must treat all his followers equally. There should be no personal bias. Wherever some followers are treated differently, the ground for differential treatment should be fair, clear, and built on morality. Community building: He develops community. An ethical leader considers his own purpose as well as his followers‘ purpose, while making efforts to achieve the goals suitable to both of them. He is considerate to the community interests. He does not overlook the followers‘ intentions. He works harder for the community goals.
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Honesty: He is loyal and honest. Honesty is essential to be an ethical and effective leader. Honest leaders can be always relied upon and depended upon. They always earn respect of their followers. An honest leader presents the fact and circumstances truly and completely, no matter how critical and harmful the fact may be. He does not misrepresent any fact.
Leadership Styles - Important Leadership Styles
All leaders do not possess same attitude or same perspective. As discussed earlier, few leaders adopt the carrot approach and a few adopt the stick approach. Thus, all of the leaders do not get the things done in the same manner. Their style varies. The leadership style varies with the kind of people the leader interacts and deals with. A perfect/standard leadership style is one which assists a leader in getting the best out of the people who follow him. Some of the important leadership styles are as follows:
Autocratic leadership style: In this style of leadership, a leader has complete
command and hold over their employees/team. The team cannot put forward their views even if they are best for the team‘s or organizational interests. They cannot criticize or question the leader‘s way of getting things done. The leader himself gets the things done.
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The advantage of this style is that it leads to speedy decision-making and greater productivity under leader‘s supervision. Drawbacks of this leadership style are that it leads to greater employee absenteeism and turnover. This leadership style works only when the leader is the best in performing or when the job is monotonous, unskilled and routine in nature or where the project is short-term and risky.
The Laissez Faire Leadership Style: Here, the leader totally trusts their
employees/team to perform the job themselves. He just concentrates on the intellectual/rational aspect of his work and does not focus on the management aspect of his work. The team/employees are welcomed to share their views and provide suggestions which are best for organizational interests. This leadership style works only when the employees are skilled, loyal, experienced and intellectual.
Democratise/Participative leadership style: The leaders invite and encourage the
team members to play an important role in decision-making process, though the ultimate decision-making power rests with the leader. The leader guides the employees on what to perform and how to perform, while the employees communicate to the leader their experience and the suggestions if any. The advantages of this leadership style are that it leads to satisfied, motivated and more skilled employees. It leads to an optimistic work environment and also encourages creativity. This leadership style has the only drawback that it is time-consuming.
Bureaucratic leadership: Here the leaders strictly adhere to the organizational rules
and policies. Also, they make sure that the employees/team also strictly follows the rules and procedures. Promotions take place on the basis of employees‘ ability to adhere to organizational rules. This leadership style gradually develops over time. This leadership style is more suitable when safe work conditions and quality are required. But this leadership style discourages creativity and does not make employees self-contented.
Situational Leadership - Meaning and Concept
Leaders are essentially people who know their goals and have the power to influence the thoughts and actions of others to garner their support and cooperation to achieve these goals. In-case of leaders these goals are rarely personal and generally to serve the larger good. Ever since man was a hunter gatherer and lived in closely knit groups, they had
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leaders who led the hunting expeditions and took greater risk than the rest of the group members. In turn they were bestowed with larger share of hunting, respect and a higher position in the group. With changing times, how leadership is perceived has also changed, but, it remains an important aspect of social fabric nevertheless. The initial theories proposed that leaders are born and cannot be created, there are certain distinct characteristics possessed by few men which make them leaders. [Read Great Man Theory and the Trait Theory]. However, for the current discussion we would try and take a closer look at another interesting theory which was proposed called Situational Leadership Theory. This theory says that the same leadership style cannot be practiced in all situations, depending upon the circumstance and environmental context the leadership style also changes. The pioneers of this theory were Kenneth Blanchard and Paul Hersey. The model encourages the leaders to analyze a particular situation in depth and then lead in the most appropriate manner, suitable for that situation . The three aspects that need could be considered in a situation are:
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Employees‘ competences Maturity of the employees Complexity of the task Leadership style
In the Situational Leadership model, the leadership style has been divided into 4 types:
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S1: Telling - Telling style is associated with leaders who minutely supervise their followers, constantly instructing them about why, how and when of the tasks that need to be performed.
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S2: Selling - Selling style is when a leader provide controlled direction and is a little more open and allows two way communication between him/herself and the followers thus ensuring that the followers buy in the process and work towards the desired goals.
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S3: Participating - This style is characterized when the leaders seeks opinion and participation of the followers to establish how a task should be performed. The leader in this case tries creating relationship with the followers
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S4: Delegating - In this case, the leader plays a role in decisions that are taken but passes on or delegates the responsibilities of carrying out tasks to his followers. The leader however monitors and reviews the process.
It is also represented by a diagram most often which is below:
The developmental level of follower is an important indication for a leader to decide the most appropriate leadership style for them: D4 - High Competence, High Commitment - The followers who are identified in this category are the ones who have high competence and high commitment towards tasks to be performed. It might happen so that they turn out better than their leaders in performing these tasks. (For e.g. cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar playing in the Indian cricket team under the captainship of Mahendra Singh Dhoni) D3 - High Competence, Variable Commitment - This category consists of followers who have the competence to do the job but their commitment level is inconsistent. They also tend to lack the confidence to go out and perform task alone. (E.g. President Barack Obama) D2 - Some Competence, Low Commitment - In this case, the followers have a certain level of competence which might be sufficient to do the job but they are low on commitment towards the tasks. Despite of having relevant skills to perform the task they
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seek external help when faced with new situations. (A team member made the trainer for new joiners) D1 - Low Competence, High Commitment - This category of followers may not have the specific skill required but they display a high level of commitment towards the task they have to perform, with confidence and motivation, they figure out ways to complete the tasks. (E.g. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, a lawyer by profession who spearheaded the Indian Freedom Struggle)
Impact of Situational Leadership on Performance and Motivation
Leaders are role models who influence the culture, values, thoughts and actions of the organization and its people. The leadership style practiced by managers greatly influences the performance and productivity at the work place. The situation leadership model encourages managers to flexibly use their leadership style based on the situation and thus achieve effective results. Both at the middle managerial level where leaders work closely with people and at higher managerial level where leaders are responsible to a number of people, their approach has an impact on the motivational levels of the organization. A leader needs to constantly inform him/herself of the motivational needs of the employees, one of simple factors of success cited in the organizations is a motivated workforce. The 4 leadership style of Telling, Selling, Participating and Delegating proposed in the situational leadership model can be used as per the motivational need of the subordinate. For example, for a senior manager who has been recently recruited and who boasts an illustrious career graph would need more responsibilities and opportunities to prove himself i.e. Delegating to remain motivated. On the other hand a fresher joining the organization may look at more Telling and a little participative approach to keep him/her motivated. A leader has to carefully evaluate and then decide on the right approach for the subordinate. Situational Leadership has all the more relevance when teams work together especially across functions or locations. In these cases the team members might be physically separated from the leaders and the work situations might rapidly change, in such cases, maintaining the involvement and motivation level of team members becomes important. To create a high performance team that works effectively, the style that the leader would have to choose may be unique for each team.
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Apart from this, a leader has to provide a vision to the people; it is the visions which help them direct and redirect their efforts towards it. In the recent times where changes are rapid in the organizations, the leaders have to be fully sensitized to what style would work the best, sometimes they might have to use a combination of styles to address issues effectively. For e.g. for a new change that is being introduced, the initial approach has to be Selling, where people are educated about the change, the next step becomes Telling, where the people have to be instructed as to how the change would be carried out. When the change starts settling in and people adopt it, they style can become Participating, where the people get an opportunity to partner in the change and take it ahead. The last change would then become delegating when the change can now be carried on by the others. The ultimate aim of any leader is to smoothly arrive at a stage where he/she can easily delegate tasks without worrying about its completion or effectiveness. The leadership style also has a bearing when leaders are to act as mentors and coaches for their subordinates. The learning style of the subordinates can be interpreted in the terms of Telling, Selling, Participating and Delegating. Some subordinates learn when they know exactly what is to be done, some learn when they know the importance of the task, some learn when they understand the how of what is to be done, and ultimately some learn when they are actually allowed to perform the task. When a leader acts as a coach he/she has to keep in mind what works best for the coaches and the fact that what works for one might not work for the other.
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Leadership Theories
Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid The treatment of task orientation and people orientation as two independent dimensions was a major step in leadership studies. Many of the leadership studies conducted in the 1950s at the University of Michigan and the Ohio State University focused on these two dimensions. Building on the work of the researchers at these Universities, Robert Blake and Jane Mouton (1960s) proposed a graphic portrayal of leadership styles through a managerial grid (sometimes called leadership grid). The grid depicted two dimensions of leader behavior, concern for people(accommodating people‘s needs and giving them priority) on y-axis andconcern for production (keeping tight schedules) on x-axis, with each dimension ranging from low (1) to high (9), thus creating 81 different positions in which the leader‘s style may fall.
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The five resulting leadership styles are as follows: Impoverished Management (1, 1): Managers with this approach are low on both the dimensions and exercise minimum effort to get the work done from subordinates. The leader has low concern for employee satisfaction and work deadlines and as a result disharmony and disorganization prevail within the organization. The leaders are termed ineffective wherein their action is merely aimed at preserving job and seniority. Task management (9, 1): Also called dictatorial or perish style. Here leaders are more concerned about production and have less concern for people. The style is based on theory X of McGregor. The employees‘ needs are not taken care of and they are simply a means to an end. The leader believes that efficiency can result only through proper organization of work systems and through elimination of people wherever possible. Such a style can definitely increase the output of organization in short run but due to the strict policies and procedures, high labour turnover is inevitable. Middle-of-the-Road (5, 5): This is basically a compromising style wherein the leader tries to maintain a balance between goals of company and the needs of people. The leader does
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not push the boundaries of achievement resulting in average performance for organization. Here neither employee nor production needs are fully met. Country Club (1, 9): This is a collegial style characterized by low task and high people orientation where the leader gives thoughtful attention to the needs of people thus providing them with a friendly and comfortable environment. The leader feels that such a treatment with employees will lead to self-motivation and will find people working hard on their own. However, a low focus on tasks can hamper production and lead to questionable results. Team Management (9, 9): Characterized by high people and task focus, the style is based on the theory Y of McGregor and has been termed as most effective style according to Blake and Mouton. The leader feels that empowerment, commitment, trust, and respect are the key elements in creating a team atmosphere which will automatically result in high employee satisfaction and production. Advantages of Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid The Managerial or Leadership Grid is used to help managers analyze their own leadership styles through a technique known as grid training. This is done by administering a questionnaire that helps managers identify how they stand with respect to their concern for production and people. The training is aimed at basically helping leaders reach to the ideal state of 9, 9. Limitations of Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid The model ignores the importance of internal and external limits, matter and scenario. Also, there are some more aspects of leadership that can be covered but are not.
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Fiedler’s Contingency Model Fred E. Fiedler‘s contingency theory of leadership effectiveness was based on studies of a wide range of group effectiveness, and concentrated on the relationship between leadership and organizational performance. This is one of the earliest situation-contingent leadership theories given by Fiedler. According to him, if an organization attempts to achieve group effectiveness through leadership, then there is a need to assess the leader according to an underlying trait, assess the situation faced by the leader, and construct a proper match between the two. Leader’s trait In order to assess the attitudes of the leader, Fiedler developed the ?least preferred coworker‘ (LPC) scale in which the leaders are asked about the person with whom they least like to work. The scale is a questionnaire consisting of 16 items used to reflect a leader‘s underlying disposition toward others. The items in the LPC scale are pleasant / unpleasant, friendly / unfriendly, rejecting / accepting, unenthusiastic / enthusiastic, tense / relaxed, cold / warm, helpful / frustrating, cooperative / uncooperative, supportive / hostile, quarrelsome / harmonious, efficient / inefficient, gloomy / cheerful, distant / close, boring / interesting, self-assured / hesitant, open / guarded. Each item in the scale is given a single ranking of between one and eight points, with eight points indicating the most favorable rating. Fiedler states that leaders with high LPC scores are relationship-oriented and the ones with low scores are task-oriented. The high LPC score leaders derived most satisfaction from interpersonal relationships and therefore evaluate their least preferred co-workers in fairly favorable terms. These leaders think about the task accomplishment only after the relationship need is well satisfied. On the other hand, the low LPC score leaders derived satisfaction from performance of the task and attainment of objectives and only after tasks have been accomplished, these leaders work on establishing good social and interpersonal relationships. Situational factor According to Fiedler, a leader‘s behavior is dependent upon the favorability of the leadership situation. Three factors work together to determine how favorable a situation is to a leader. These are:
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Leader-member relations - The degree to which the leaders is trusted and liked by the group members, and the willingness of the group members to follow the leader‘s guidance Task structure - The degree to which the group‘s task has been described as structured or unstructured, has been clearly defined and the extent to which it can be carried out by detailed instructions Position power - The power of the leader by virtue of the organizational position and the degree to which the leader can exercise authority on group members in order to comply with and accept his direction and leadership With the help of these three variables, eight combinations of group-task situations were constructed by Fiedler. These combinations were used to identify the style of the leader. House’s Path Goal Theory The theory was developed by Robert House and has its roots in the expectancy theory of motivation. The theory is based on the premise that an employee‘s perception of expectancies between his effort and performance is greatly affected by a leader‘s behavior. The leaders help group members in attaining rewards by clarifying the paths to goals and removing obstacles to performance. They do so by providing the information, support, and other resources which are required by employees to complete the task. House‘s theory advocates servant leadership. As per servant leadership theory, leadership is not viewed as a position of power. Rather, leaders act as coaches and facilitators to their subordinates. According to House‘s path-goal theory, a leader‘s effectiveness depends on several employee and environmental contingent factors and certain leadership styles. All these are explained in the figure 1 below:
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Leadership Styles The four leadership styles are:
?
Directive: Here the leader provides guidelines, lets subordinates know what is
expected of them, sets performance standards for them, and controls behavior when performance standards are not met. He makes judicious use of rewards and disciplinary action. The style is the same as task-oriented one.
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Supportive: The leader is friendly towards subordinates and displays personal
concern for their needs, welfare, and well-being. This style is the same as people-oriented leadership.
?
Participative: The leader believes in group decision-making and shares
information with subordinates. He consults his subordinates on important decisions related to work, task goals, and paths to resolve goals.
?
Achievement-oriented: The leader sets challenging goals and encourages
employees to reach their peak performance. The leader believes that employees are responsible enough to accomplish challenging goals. This is the same as goal-setting theory. According to the theory, these leadership styles are not mutually excusive and leaders are capable of selecting more than one kind of a style suited for a particular situation.
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Contingencies The theory states that each of these styles will be effective in some situations but not in others. It further states that the relationship between a leader‘s style and effectiveness is dependent on the following variables: Employee characteristics: These include factors such as employees‘ needs, locus of control, experience, perceived ability, satisfaction, willingness to leave the organization, and anxiety. For example, if followers are high inability, a directive style of leadership may be unnecessary; instead a supportive approach may be preferable. Characteristics of work environment: These include factors such as task structure and team dynamics that are outside the control of the employee. For example, for employees performing simple and routine tasks, a supportive style is much effective than a directive one. Similarly, the participative style works much better for non-routine tasks than routine ones. When team cohesiveness is low, a supportive leadership style must be used whereas in a situation where performance-oriented team norms exist, a directive style or possibly an achievement-oriented style works better. Leaders should apply directive style to counteract team norms that oppose the team‘s formal objectives.
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Mukesh Ambani – A Leader Who Loves Challenging Situations
Dhirubhai Ambani has not only been a great leader but also an inspirational story for several youngsters hailing from small towns to make it big in their respective fields. Post his demise, the giant Reliance Empire was taken ahead by his two sons, Mukesh & Anil Ambani. Though both are extremely different in their approach, Reliance has spread its wings all over the world because of them.
Mukesh Ambani, now the Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Limited, India‘s largest private sector company, has set an excellent example of being a successful leader & carrying forward the legacy of the Ambani realm. His leadership abilities were recognized by eminent bodies in the industry by felicitations like Economic Times Business Leader 2006 & CNBC-TV18 India Business Leader Awards 2007. The secret to his success was the constant need to challenge existing situations. He created an open environment so that everybody in Reliance was on the same page to come over the feudal style of management & the disruptive style of management. A true leader always believes in investing the company‘s capital on good talent. As a learner, he preached K K Malhotra, who was with them for 15 years, as his guru & had imbibed most of his current leadership abilities & best practices from him.
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His initiative to build India‘s largest & strongest communication network was known as Reliance Infocomm Limited (now Reliance Communications Limited). His business interests expanded to Petrochemicals, Petroleum Refining and Marketing, Textiles, Retail and SEZs. And his latest venture in the organized retail sector with Reliance Retail by opening hundreds of stores across several states to serve diverse consumer needs and operate under various names such as Reliance Fresh, Reliance Mart and Reliance Digital. Leading the communications aspect at Reliance, he saw immense potential in the convergence of information and communication which is why they named it as Infocomm. He focused extensively on building various competencies in Reliance that would make this organization & its His vision to have a chain of sectors within Reliance has strengthened his position in almost every initiative he has taken. Mukesh is known to be amongst the top ten richest men in India & had surpassed Bill Gates in 2007 to be the World‘s richest man. It was his wish that opportunities in India should not be limited to the few so that every citizen is empowered to access new generation technology & skills. He envisaged a new India on the horizon – new visionary, courageous and convincing models that are needed to progress Indian society. He always challenged the possibility to translate this vision into reality Dhirubhai Ambani has not only been a great leader but also an inspirational story for several youngsters hailing from small towns to make it big in their respective fields. Post his demise, the giant Reliance Empire was taken ahead by his two sons, Mukesh & Anil Ambani. Though both are extremely different in their approach, Reliance has spread its wings all over the world because of them.Mukesh Ambani, now the Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Limited, India‘s largest private sector company, has set an excellent example of being a successful leader & carrying forward the legacy of the Ambani realm. His leadership abilities were recognized by eminent bodies in the industry by felicitations like Economic Times Business Leader 2006 & CNBC-TV18 India Business Leader Awards 2007. The secret to his success was the constant need to challenge existing situations. He created an open environment so that everybody in Reliance was on the same page to come over the feudal style of management & the disruptive style of management. A true leader always believes in investing the company‘s capital on good talent. As a learner, he preached K K Malhotra, who was with them for 15 years, as his guru & had imbibed most of his current leadership abilities & best practices from him. His initiative to build India‘s largest & strongest communication network was
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known as Reliance Infocomm Limited (now Reliance Communications Limited). His business interests expanded to Petrochemicals, Petroleum Refining and Marketing, Textiles, Retail and SEZs. And his latest venture in the organized retail sector with Reliance Retail by opening hundreds of stores across several states to serve diverse consumer needs and operate under various names such as Reliance Fresh, Reliance Mart and Reliance Digital.Leading the communications aspect at Reliance, he saw immense potential in the convergence of information and communication which is why they named it as Infocomm. He focused extensively on building various competencies in Reliance that would make this organization & its His vision to have a chain of sectors within Reliance has strengthened his position in almost every initiative he has taken. Mukesh is known to be amongst the top ten richest men in India & had surpassed Bill Gates in 2007 to be the World‘s richest man.
It was his wish that opportunities in India should not be limited to the few so that every citizen is empowered to access new generation technology & skills. He envisaged a new India on the horizon – new visionary, courageous and convincing models that are needed to progress Indian society. He always challenged the possibility to translate this vision into reality
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The Perfect Example of Leadership – Narayan Murthy
?I am a believer in the adage – performance leads to recognition, recognition leads to respect and respect leads to power.? In my own words, I have explained that performance is the key towards leadership.
Leadership is about raising the aspirations of followers and enthusing people with a desire to reach for the stars. For instance, Mahatma Gandhi created a vision for independence in India and raised the aspirations of our people. Leadership is about making people say, ?I will walk on water for you.‘ It is about creating a worthy dream and helping people achieve it. Robert Kennedy , summed up leadership best when he said, ?Others see things as they are and wonder why; I see them as they are not and say why not?‘ Adversity: A leader has to raise the confidence of followers. He should make them understand that tough times are part of life and that they will come out better at the end of it. He has to sustain their hope, and their energy levels to handle the difficult days. There is no better example of this than Winston Churchill. His courageous leadership as prime minister for Great Britain successfully led the British people from the brink of defeat
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during World War II. He raised his people‘s hopes with the words, ?These are not dark days; these are great days — the greatest days our country has ever lived.‘ Never is strong leadership more needed than in a crisis. In the words of Seneca, the Greek philosopher, ?Fire is the test of gold; adversity, of strong men.‘
Values: The leader has to create hope. He has to create a plausible story about a better future for the organization: everyone should be able to see the rainbow and catch a part of it. This requires creating trust in people. And to create trust, the leader has to subscribe to a value system: a protocol for behavior that enhances the confidence, commitment and enthusiasm of the people.
Compliance to a value system creates the environment for people to have high aspirations, self esteem, belief in fundamental values, confidence in the future and the enthusiasm necessary to take up apparently difficult tasks. Leaders have to walk the talk and demonstrate their commitment to a value system. As Mahatma Gandhi said, ?We must become the change we want to see in the world.‘ Leaders have to prove their belief in sacrifice and hard work. Such behavior will enthuse the employees to make bigger sacrifices. It will help win the team‘s confidence, help leaders become credible, and help create trust in their ideas.
Enhancing
trust:
Trust and confidence can only exist where there is a premium on transparency. The leader has to create an environment where each person feels secure enough to be able to disclose his or her mistakes, and resolves to improve. Investors respect such organizations. Investors understand that the business will have good times and bad times. What they want you to do is to level with them at all times. They want you to disclose bad news on a proactive basis. At Infosys, our philosophy has always been, ?When in doubt, disclose.‘
Governance: Good corporate governance is about maximizing shareholder value on a sustainable basis
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while ensuring fairness to all stakeholders: customers, vendor-partners, investors, employees, government and society. A successful organization tides over many downturns. The best index of success is its longevity. This is predicated on adhering to the finest levels of corporate governance.
At Infosys, we have consistently adopted transparency and disclosure standards even before law mandated it. In 1995, Infosys suffered losses in the secondary market. Under Indian GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles), we were not required to make this information public. Nevertheless, we published this information in our annual report. Fearless environment: Transparency about the organization‘s operations should be accompanied by an open environment inside the organization. You have to create an environment where any employee can disagree with you without fear of reprisal. In such a case, everyone makes suggestions for the common good. In the end everyone will be better off.
On the other hand, at Enron, the CFO was running an empire where people were afraid to speak. In some other cases, the whistle blowers have been harassed and thrown out of the company.
Managerial remuneration: We have gone towards excessive salaries and options for senior management staff. At one company, the CEO‘s employment contract not only set out the model of the Mercedes the company would buy him, but also promised a monthly first-class air ticket for his mother, along with a cash bonus of $10 million and other benefits. Not surprisingly, this company has already filed for bankruptcy.
Managerial remuneration should be based on three principles: *Fairness with respect to the compensation of other employees; * Transparency with respect to shareholders and employees; * Accountability with respect to linking compensation with corporate performance.
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Thus, the compensation should have a fixed component and a variable component. The variable component should be linked to achieving long-term objectives of the firm. Senior management should swim or sink with the fortunes of the company.
Senior management compensation should be reviewed by the compensation committee of the board, which should consist only of independent directors. Further, this should be approved by the shareholders. I‘ve been asked, ?How can I ask for limits on senior management compensation when I have made millions myself?‘ A fair question with a straightforward answer: two systems are at play here. One is that of the promoter, the risk taker and the capital markets; and the other is that of professional management and compensation structures.
One cannot mix these two distinct systems, otherwise entrepreneurship will be stifled, and no new companies will come up, no progress can take place. At the same time, there has to be fairness in compensation: there cannot be huge differences between the top most and the bottom rung of the ladder within an organisation.
PSPD model: A well run organisation embraces and practices a sound Predictability-SustainabilityProfitability-De-risking (we call this the PSPD model at Infosys) model. Indeed, the longterm success of an organisation depends on having a model that scales up profitably. Further, every organisation must have a good derisking approach that recognizes, measures and mitigates risk along every dimension.
Integrity: Strong leadership in adverse times helps win the trust of the stakeholders, making it more likely that they will stand by you in your hour of need. As leaders who dream of growth and progress, integrity is your most wanted attribute. Lead your teams to fight for the truth and never compromise on your values. I am confident that our corporate leaders, through honest and desirable behaviour, will reap long-term benefits for their stakeholders.
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Two motto‘s: In conclusion, keep in mind two Sanskrit sentences: Sathyannasti Paro Dharma (there is no dharma greater than adherence to truth); and Satyameva jayate (truth alone triumphs). Let these be your motto for good corporate leadership.
Ratan Tata: a shining example of business leadership in the third world
People have often asked me to cite business leaders outside of Europe and the US whom I admire. I thought of this question last week when Ratan Tata stepped down as Chairman of the Indian conglomerate Tata Group, a post he had held since 1991. Of course, Mr. Tata is widely respected for achieving outstanding results during his tenure. He took on great challenges, turned Tata Holdings into one of the most successful entities in global business, while himself becoming one of the wealthiest people in the world.
Beyond these results, though, there are perhaps more important reasons to admire the leader and the man. Here are several:
One can truly say that Ratan Tata mastered the business environment both in his homeland and abroad. Thus, he was able to make some intelligent strategic and human decisions. After taking over from his uncle in 1991, he spent more than a decade redefining the
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company, turning a sleepy, entrenched national player into an adventurous global one. He succeeded in transforming a deeply entrenched corporate culture by taking on the cadre of barons who had been running the group‘s larger companies, replacing them with younger and more dynamic leaders. Realizing that future opportunities for growth and learning would come from expanding outside of his home nation, he next set the corporation on an aggressive course of international acquisition. In so doing, Tata distanced itself from the bureaucracy and pervasive corruption of the Indian market while taking advantage of the country‘s new open economic policies. As a company, Tata was among the first in India to acquire substantial European holdings, including UK-based luxury car brand Jaguar Land Rover and the Anglo-Dutch giant steelmaker Corus.
Today, he retains a grand vision of possibility and an ability to put things in a larger context: In 2012, Tata Group became the first Indian company to reach $100bn in revenues, with more than half of it coming from abroad. But Ratan Tata is not smug or satisfied. Expressing his views on future development, Tata claims that the company should plan to grow far more, that they should shoot for annual sales of more than $500bn within the next decade. Such a number is indeed a courageous target. To put it in perspective, if they were to achieve it today, Tata Holdings would be at the pinnacle of world business, with revenue larger than Walmart or ExxonMobil.
He also has a broad and optimistic vision for India. In his words, ?I am proud of my country. But we need to unite to make a unified India, free of communalism and casteism. We need to build India into a land of equal opportunity for all. We can be a truly great nation if we set our sights high and deliver to the people the fruits of continued growth, prosperity and equal opportunity.?
A lifelong learner who cultivated long-term relationships with mentors: One characteristic I particularly admire in individuals is the ability to keep learning throughout a lifetime, and to maintain lasting relationships with people who aid that learning.
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When asked about the people who shaped the way he thinks, Ratan Tata cites JRD Tata, who he worked with in varying degrees of closeness, and John F Kennedy, whom he never met but whose thinking influenced Tata in many ways. His mentors include Professor Amar Bose, whom Tata describes a person with high ideals and a clear value system. Over many years, Bose had a profound impact on Tata‘s approaches to management. Another is Jean Riboud, the former chairman of Schlumberger, a close friend with whom Tata maintained a dialogue about a wide variety of business and human issues.
According to Tata, there‘s a common thread these people share: strong values. They all have integrity of a high order and a very forceful social consciousness in terms of what their corporations do. In addition, they are warm, thoughtful and caring human beings. Clarity about who he is and what he stands for: Tata achieved great professional success without losing sight of his core beliefs, and without compromising his principles. He has always espoused the highest standards of ethics, integrity, social consciousness, and fairness. In India, he is one of the nation‘s most revered individuals, enjoying a rare reputation for combining business acumen with irreproachable ethical conduct, in a nation often plagued by corruption. Humility: Through it all, Ratan Tata has remained a humble man. In interviews, he finds it difficult to talk about himself and his successes in management or life. He describes himself simply as seeking to be fair and just, a manager who tries to be accessible to all the employees. Above all, he says, ?I would like to believe I am operating honestly. That is something I am proud of.?
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Conclusion
Like the ?nature versus nurture debate,? the ?born versus made? leadership debate is based upon a false dichotomy. Just as genes interact with the environment to express unique physical characteristics and capabilities, so too is the quality of leadership an expression of how innate personal characteristics interact with organizational factors. Given this perspective, leadership is not regarded as the random occurrence of great men at moments in history, but rather as a network effect, the interaction of innate traits, themselves long nurtured and refined by evolutionary forces and the organizational context in which these traits are expressed. In other words, great leadership is the combination of individual traits and historical and institutional contexts. This is powerful knowledge if we can learn to identify the types of roles needed to guide a group or an organization in a certain situation, and then find the right person for the job. An important task in the coming years will be the training and testing of future leaders. Until the recent advent of integral leadership, the vast majority of the history of leadership theory including all the major conventional theories of leadership I summarized earlier were not developmentally informed. This means that the research the so called ?expert? conducted in leadership and the practices and ?leadership styles? that they advocated in most cases did not take into consideration the level of psychological development of either the leaders or followers. This is one of the main reasons that, as I said earlier in this manifesto, ?leadership as it is conventionally understood and practices does not work.?
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Bibliography A) BOOKS ? Principles of Management by- Tripathi & Reddy. ? The Practise of Management by- Peter F. Druker
B) WEBSITES ? www.infosys.org ? www.managementstudyguide.com ? www.relianceindustrieslimited.com ? www.tatasteel.org
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