Leadership is the process in which an individual takes responsibility for influencing other people to optimize their efforts and skills to ensure that they reach their targeted goals within an organization. An excellent goal of leadership entails helping individuals who are performing poorly to improve and encouraging the ones who are already performing well to optimize their skills to do better. Organizations are simply trying to survive and be the best in their competitive environments, particularly in a period of uncertainty as well as fast change in the market (Almuawi & Hendricks, 2021). As a result, companies require effective leaders that will help them remain competitive in their markets.
Effective leaders make use of their social and leadership skills to ensure that their employees are constantly motivated to carry out their given organizational roles. Additionally, effective leaders make choices with a clear mind, considering what is most significant by organizing and accomplishing their priorities (Spohn, 2018). This is because they are motivated by purpose instead of forces or agendas around them. Moreover, these leaders make decisions that result in mutual benefit. They encourage mutual respect and support among employees and invite views from different employees when tackling a project to foster arguments and relationships of mutual interest. Furthermore, effective leaders make sure to take into account the feelings and ideas of other individuals and find efficient ways to display their feelings and perceptions (Almuawi & Hendricks, 2021). This helps foster trusting relationships within the work environment that will help improve work efficiency and performance. These leaders concentrate on their strengths while appreciating and succeeding in those of others, which promotes their effectiveness in company roles. These leaders help develop effective strategies, inspire, and motivate to steer the company into success.
Leaders can take advantage of the 7 habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey to improve their performance in successfully leading the company. As proposed by Covey, these habits include being proactive, beginning with the end in mind, putting first things first, thinking win-win, seeking to understand before seeking to be understood, synergy, and sharpening the saw (Covey, 2017). The seven habits of effective leadership are significant, especially when organizational leaders want to improve their performance and help organizations out of challenging problems within their markets (Spohn, 2018). Covey’s habits are important in various ways, one of which is to help individuals take accountability for their actions and choices rather than placing blame on others. These habits enable leaders to organize their future by developing visions and purposes for their roles and lives. Additionally, these habits help improve communication skills and promote team participation and cooperation (Covey, 2017). The paper focuses on three habits of effective leaders proposed by Covey, including being proactive, thinking win-win, and synergy.
In conclusion, the paper has discussed the first (being proactive), fourth (think win-win), and sixth (synergy) habits of effective leadership. Proactive leadership is based on individuals accepting responsibility for the choices and decisions they undertake. This type of leadership promotes creativity which is very significant in making decisions that determine the future of a company (Spohn, 2018). Proactive leaders take responsibility for ensuring that they are able to efficiently solve particular problems. Additionally, proactive leaders are always self-driven in making efficient choices that steer an organization to success (Covey, 2017). These leaders help motivate and encourage employees to ensure that they deliver maximum output. This type of leadership has proven its significance as leaders are able to avoid problems in the future by their ability to anticipate or foresee them, which helps save time and resources. Furthermore, proactive leadership helps foster excellent working relationships, thereby promoting employee satisfaction. Proactive leaders portray characteristics of confidence, visionary thinking, efficient communication skills, empathy, admitting their committed mistakes, and readiness to learn from their mistakes.
The win-win habit of leadership works on the grounds of mutually benefiting both parties that are involved and focusing on collaboration and interaction. This habit has proven to be very important in creating healthy organizational relationships that allow the satisfaction of mutual interests. This habit of leadership works under six paradigms, which are win/lose, lose/ win, win/win, lose/lose, win, and win-win or no deal paradigms that help foster win-win situations in companies. Moreover, the win-win habit of effective leadership has three elements that guide an effective leader in developing organizational relationships that result in mutual benefit, including character, agreements, and relationships (Spohn, 2018). Therefore, this habit enables the creation of healthy relationships in a work setting that help enhance employee performance, thereby improving company performance.
The synergy habit of leadership enables collaboration, respect, and trust in employees and leaders to carry out their assigned tasks. It displays how leaders and employees can collaborate to increase work efficiency, promoting company performance (Covey, 2017). This habit of leadership allows leaders to appreciate and respect diversity, which will help enhance strengths within the team. Effective leaders can attain the synergy habit of leadership by making sure to invite views from other individuals, enhancing cooperation, developing change, searching for challenging people and being precise or clear (Spohn, 2018). Synergy allows leaders to build with employees, which results in promoting organizational performance. Additionally, synergy helps leaders create efficient solutions since it invites diversity and creativity. Therefore, all three habits are essential in making a leader effective, which will help improve company performance.
References
Almuawi, M., & Hendricks, D. (2021). Fundamentals of effective leadership. American Journal of Higher Education, 9(1), 11-22. Web.
Covey, S. (2017). The 7 habits of highly effective people. Infographics.
Spohn, D. (2018). An operational definition of effective leadership: Was Covey right? Review of Public Administration and Management, 6(1), 2-6. Web.