Introduction
Modern society as a whole, and its individual institutions, in particular, could not exist without a clear organization. A clear organization, in turn, is in vital need of its key and first link, namely the leader. The leader is not just a person who directly manages resources and personnel but the team’s center that unites people. A leader must have leverage, skills, experience, and, most importantly, special personality traits.
As the collective core under his control, the leader must also have his axis of power, namely its own character. One can argue for a long time whether they are born leaders, but we can say with confidence that if a person is responsible, calm, and knows how to manage resources and the situation, then he is a leader. In this essay, I will take a closer look at both leadership itself and the characteristics of a leader as the foundation of a team.
Situational Approach as a Part of My Leadership Policy
Speaking about which approach to leadership I consider the most effective, it is worth starting with the most interesting, in my opinion, namely the situational approach. This method is based on the fact that a motivated, enthusiastic, and passionate leader should influence the workflow depending on the circumstances (Elaine, 2019). However, this method is based not only on the figure of the leader but also on his ability to analyze the situation. It is important to adapt the management style, as well as divide subordinates into groups based on their ability to perform the assigned task.
With regard to management styles, the situational approach involves four conditional levels, the difference between which is how much autonomy employees receive. For example, the directive style, or leadership by order, is in which the emphasis is on the task itself instead of the people. On the opposite side of this spectrum is leadership through delegation, in which subordinates gain enough autonomy to independently solve the problem when directed by their superiors. It is also customary to divide employees into four conditional points of the spectrum according to the criteria of their motivation and qualifications. I consider this management method to be the most effective for me since I am energetic, enthusiastic, and passionate and always help every member of the group succeed.
Based on the paradigm of the situational approach itself, one can understand that it aims to increase the efficiency of the task through flexible and adaptive management. Yet, personally, I believe that when using this approach, it is necessary not only to use the existing skills of employees but also to develop new ones. Poorly qualified and unmotivated employees should be given the opportunity to develop to improve the state of the team. And it is the leader’s task to provide them with the opportunity and support, motivating and guiding the people under him. I believe that a leader is only as strong as the followers, and it is because of this that I see the development of subordinates in a situational approach.
My Leadership Traits
It is also worth considering factors related to the personal skills of the leader as the basis of the team that he leads. For me, the most important leadership skills are communication, delegation, and accountability, and these are what I focus on in my work. Taken together, they shape the personality of a promising, effective, and adaptive leader, but individually they play an important role, so it is worth taking them apart. Developed communication skills enable a leader to communicate productively with subordinates and other leaders. This affects every workflow aspect, from discussing the work itself to organizing and directly managing followers. Communication also implies the ability to understand the thinking of people in the course of dialogue with them, and this is the best fit for a skillful leader.
I see the skill of delegation as important as well. Many leaders, both today and in the past, have faced the collapse of their projects and teams due to the inability to delegate authority. A leader who knows how to correctly delegate his powers and tasks will always effectively use the people and resources under his control. Most importantly, in my opinion, the skill is accountability. A leader who is capable of not only directing and chastising but also taking responsibility for people and tasks is effective and strong in positions. In addition to the obvious respect and solidarity with the leader who has taken responsibility on the part of employees, this skill also allows a balanced approach to assessing their resources and abilities. Thus, accountability skill is closely related to delegation and communication skills.
One can practice them in many ways, developing other related, albeit less important skills. In my personal communication practice in the workplace, I use hostage negotiator methods, which allows me to view communication as a multifaceted activity useful and necessary in leadership. As a result, I see communication, delegation, and accountability as fundamental skills for a good leader, allowing him to unleash his potential and subordinates.
Leadership Approach from a Follower’s Perspective
It is worth considering leadership from a follower perspective as well, as it gives a broader perspective at the expense of a reverse perspective. As a subordinate, I would expect skills approach from my leader, and there are a number of reasons for this. This approach is based on the idea of ​​meritocracy, namely, that a person’s skills are more important than his personal qualities and characteristics (Zaccaro et al., 2018). Despite the personal characteristics, concentration on skills, the leader, in my opinion, can effectively use the subordinates given to him.
As a prospective follower, this approach allows me to unleash precisely my professional potential when working and interacting with management. Moreover, the skills approach allows the leader to coordinate and delegate the actions of subordinates, taking into account the development of their skills in the future. As a follower, for me, this style of action will mean both effective execution of duties and the development of skills and coordination with the team. Thus, looking at leadership from the position of a subordinate, I would definitely prefer the skills approach from the side of management.
My Model of Influencing the Followers
The model of situational approach most accurately describes my method of influencing followers. I see this model and approach as the most important element of my day-to-day workflow because, as stated earlier, it has many benefits. Furthermore, speaking about my personal practice of this approach, I can say that it was very effective. By allowing me to rationally allocate my capabilities and skills and to take into account the motivation and skills of my subordinates, the situational approach helps me to influence the situation for the benefit of others.
My Leadership Goals
As a rule, poorly developed and well-established communication is a frequent problem of working activity within the team. At first glance, everything is quite simple because employees often put personal interests above professional ones, conflict with each other, and ignore the dialogue. At first, it seems that the employees themselves are to blame for poor communication, but upon closer examination, it becomes clear that the root of the problem lies elsewhere. The discussion of leadership is valuable because correct and productive communication between subordinates lies entirely on the leader’s shoulders, and the problems with this, as well as their solution, are under his responsibility. Based on this, the leader must coordinate the activities of people subordinate to him to improve the communication aspect, and I would solve this issue as follows.
First, one should analyze the personal characteristics of the key employees involved in the problem. Those people who create problems in the team’s communication have their reasons, and by analyzing them, you can understand the root cause of the occurrence and come to a solution or a compromise with them. Next, the leader should improve the means of communication, equip the premises and organize the space for dialogue, creating the most comfortable and accessible conditions for the further development of communication.
One should also apply both personal qualities and leadership skills to unite the team in solving common problems. For example, it should be explained what benefits and achievements await employees in case of quality work performed. One should also distribute tasks between employees, competently delegating their powers, but, most importantly, centralize the work process between different groups and people. Thus, the team can work in a specialized way on their part, constantly discussing and coordinating the process with other teams. All this together will not only solve such a frequent problem of poor communication in the team but also improve its performance in the future, preventing further problems in the long term.
My Leadership Plan
To achieve these goals, as a leader, I must complete a series of tasks and steps towards self-improvement. For example, for communicating with people, improving the skill of psychological personality analysis will help me, as well as conflict analysis, to understand the root cause of the personal dissatisfaction of subordinates. For the next step, I would improve my understanding of properly organizing the workspace and communication links. A correct room, from a psychological and professional point of view is the result of a qualified distribution of space and its filling, which is also an important skill.
In the end, personal communication skills will find their application in simple communication with subordinates, in conveying and visualizing the purpose of the work and the importance of dialogue. Delegation skills that I mentioned above will be extremely important when distributing tasks and responsibilities between subordinates and creating a centralized system for work, for which accountability is also important. All this adds up to a whole set of skills, the development and practice of which will allow me, as a leader, to solve the problem of communication and improve the work process in the future.
Conclusion
Summarizing all that has been said here, it should be said that the described theory and experience are fundamental both for leadership in general, as a phenomenon, and for an individual leader in particular. I find the methods that I have chosen worthy and effective, such as the situational approach, in which a motivated, enthusiastic, and passionate leader flexibly influences the entire process. Certain skills that I consider extremely important for any leader, namely communication, delegation, and accountability, only complement the situational approach and improve the leader as a person. As I said above, all this allows one to work effectively and solve problems, with the prospects for further development and improvement of both subordinates and the leader himself.
References
Elaine, W. (2019). The value of situational leadership. Community Practitioner, 92(2), 31–33. Web.
Johansson, C., & Bäck, E. (2017). Strategic leadership communication for crisis network Coordination. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 11(4), 324–343. Web.
Zaccaro, S. J., Green, J. P., Dubrow, S., & Kolze, M. (2018). Leader individual differences, situational parameters, and leadership outcomes: A comprehensive review and integration. ScienceDirect. Web.