Effective Leadership Essay

Effective leadership involves the use of various styles, developing a proper culture, and setting the direction for subordinates. This paper will analyze the different approaches to influencing people, ways of creating the culture of trust and support, and the impact of a clear focus on the team’s performance. Besides, it will also evaluate the communication channels for raising awareness of the team about the company’s objectives. Only strong leadership can create a team with high achievements.

Evaluation of Leadership Styles

There are four major behavioral models which are used in leadership. They depend on the situation and management qualities applied. The first model is theory X and Y of McGregor. The model is based on the leader’s evaluation of an employee’s motivation. The followers of the X theory believe that workers are lazy and try  to avoid duties if they can. Therefore, leaders can motivate such employees either by using money or extending other benefits. Those who believe in the Y theory think that their staff members do everything they can and they are self-motivated (Lawter, Kopelman & Prottas, 2015, p.85). The leader only needs to provide opportunities for open communication and participating in the decision-making processes. The second model is situational leadership, which denotes that each situation requires specific guidance skills. The assumption led to the appearance of four more leadership styles, such as directing/telling, coaching/selling, supporting/participating, and inspiration. The third model is emotional intelligence, which is assessed basid on such capabilities such as self-awareness, social skills and awareness, and self-management. This information helped to determine coercive, authoritative, affiliative, democratic, pace, and coaching leadership styles. The fourth model is inspirational leadership, which also has various dimensions. This variety of administration styles demonstrates that the leader has a wide choice of approaches to guiding teams, and that he/she can select any of them depending on the situation.

Adapting Leadership Styles in Various Situations

Leadership styles should be adapted on different situations because a team’s needs may vary. Therefore, managers sometimes need to use the participation leadership style if they feel that there are risks of conflicts or subordinates demonstrate low motivation and slow in decision-making. Besides, participation leadership style is effective for enhancing the job satisfaction of the team members, reducing absenteeism, and empowering the assisting staff. Applying autocratic leadership styles would lead to the deterioration of the situation. In particular, employees would continue to lose their motivation and be ineffective in decision-making. However, some cases do require an autocratic style of leadership. For example, it is reasonable to apply the style in the event of an emergency (Holroyd, 2015, p.10). The participation style may put at risk the safety and security of team members. Similarly, encouraging employees to make major decisions about evacuation during a natural disaster could lead to tragic outcomes. Therefore, autocratic leadership is preferable in situations when quick thinking is required.

Besides, it could be helpful to apply a transformational leadership style when the company is going to implement new approaches. Thus, the person in charge could explain the vision and actions or the new directives to deal with any resistance from the subordinates staff (Holroyd, 2015, p.13). Setting a positive example will allow for the  revamping of the company and improve its revenue (Girma, 2016, p.35). Additionally, the strategy is appropriate when employees demonstrate the lack of creative skills when carrying out their duties.

If the organization has long-term problems with achieving daily objectives, the management should choose transactional leadership style. The model will help to boost the efficiency of the work routine. For example, an administrator always needs to state clearly the directives of the institution to the staff, so that employees can be aware of what they are expected to do. Explaining the objectives means that the manager articulates the goals, sets clear expectations, selects proper employees to work on projects, and carefully distributes resources. If the daily targets can be achieved successfully, then one can now begin using a more democratic style of governance.

Creating a Culture of Trust, Respect, and Support

Employees work more efficiently when there is a culture of professionalism, trust, and support. To create such an understanding, the manager should start demonstrating the values himself (Mishra & Mishra, 2015, p.73). For example, he/she should trust the boss, colleagues, and junior staff members. Besides, one should support others and help them develop professionally. Another step is to define an institution’s values and communicate them to members openly. Additionally, a leader needs to understand that the process of building a culture based on the objectives of an organization is not quick, rather a process that requires time and tireless mentoring. For example, the manager can offer some formal and informal activities, encourage employees to meet after work, and try to know each of them in person. The approach will help to build trust among workers. Finally, the administration can organize job-oriented discussions or ask staff members to complete questionnaires to assess their understanding of the organization’s values.

The Impact of a Leader’s Clear Vision on Achieving the Team’s Objectives

A company director should have a clear focus in leading his team because of the significant impact on realizing an organization’s objectives. In particular, a clearly focused group head makes the team more disciplined and efficient. In such a way, employees attain what leaders expect from them, so that they can plan their duties accordingly. The lack of clear directives might lead to chaos and frustration among team members, which can also lead to poor motivation, job dissatisfaction, missing deadlines, and financial losses for business (Barner & Barner, 2012). Moreover, setting goals and articulating objectives is a key responsibility of the leader because he/she is required to demonstrate the direction which others should follow. Managers without clear goals and directives cannot accomplish goals even if their team members make the best of efforts. Besides, such a leader cannot command respect from his staff.  During work, minor problems can distract the attention of employees. However, a director with a clear focus and understanding of the firm’s goals will help the team return to achieving the set objectives. Employees can also adjust their duties accordingly to meet their aims.

Developing an Understanding of the Organization’s Direction

As discussed above, the leader should have clear knowledge of the team’s direction and goals. However, the two factors are not enough for effective teamwork, which requires relevant communication of the direction and goals or an organization to team members in an efficient way. In particular, one can conduct face-to-face meetings, group meetings, and seminars, as well as send emails and create posters. Each of these methods can help to support and develop an understanding of the direction and objectives differently. For example, one can use team meetings to discuss the progress of projects with workers. During these meetings, employees can exchange their views and support each other (Kauffeld & Lehmann-Willenbrock, 2012, p.130). Face-to-face meetings help to track the progress on individual tasks. Furthermore, the manager can motivate his staff by giving some valuable advice about the organization’s values. Posters help to visualize the information about projects and team objectives, while emails can be used to remind members about the company’s direction in the written form. Therefore, the use of these methods helps to develop understanding of the objectives via various channels.

In conclusion, a manager has a wide choice of leadership styles, which he/she can choose depending on the needs of the team. Although it is easier to rely on a single governing style, it is not recommended. Each situation requires a specific guidance style; particularly one should apply autocratcy in an emergency situation to protect and ensure the safety of his team. Another important aspect of leadership is developing the culture of trust, support, and respect. The most important step in this process is sharing the values of a company and ensuring that members understand and follow on them.