Leadership Problems and Models

Introduction

Leadership requires great attention since the success of any company depends on its soundness and style. Therefore, it is important to analyze the various ways in which a leader can improve his or her leadership style. This paper will analyze different leadership problems and recommend alternative courses of action using both the leadership stakeholders network and leadership models. The paper will analyze the two models critically and assess their role in improving leadership. The essay will also determine the correlation between the factors included in both the leadership stakeholders’ network and leadership models and find out whether each of them can work independently of the other.

Leadership problems in the world

Lack of proper communication in organizations is a major problem facing firms in the contemporary world. Most leaders, especially in the public sector, tend to exercise the autocratic style of leadership whereby they can only command without making time to seek input from their subordinates. Employees will then ‘have to do’ rather than ‘want to do.’ This problem can only be solved through the adoption of a leadership style that will accommodate workers’ participation in some of these issues. This paper seeks to address this issue and provide methods to be used to accomplish this goal, which includes setting clear targets in advance, communicating them to all stakeholders, assessing performance, and providing feedback. The other setback is the lack of motivation in the work environment.

This element is a major drawback since the success of any company depends on the employees’ productivity, especially in the modern-day times where intense competition is arising from the global markets as each company seeks to outdo the other. Most leaders tend to overlook this critical aspect, which is important for the success of any business. This tendency has led to poor motivation on the part of employees, which in turn leads to poor performance.

Lessons from the interview

I engaged Mr. Carlos Moreno – a team leader in MC companies, in a conversation in a bid to determine what other values, assumptions, beliefs, and expectations (VABEs) would be relevant to add to my leadership skills. The conversation was conducted through a phone call, which went on for one hour. Carlos Moreno joined the firm in the year 2012 as a member of the recruiting panel of the company. The year 2013 saw him rise to the position of a professional recruiting officer due to his diligence and ethical behaviors, as he asserts. In his definition of a leader, he notes that a leader is an individual with the ability to influence a team into doing the required job and with the ability to create good relations with his or her subordinates. He asserts that a leader is a role model, and thus he or she should act honestly and transparently and influence his or her team members into adopting the same values. From this conversation, I was in a position to learn more VABEs, which are relevant for good leadership.

Effective listening, constant improvement, emotional intelligence, and negotiation skills are the elements that Mr. Carlos Moreno feels that each leader should possess. He claims that in a bid for a leader to win the trust of his subordinates, he or she has to lead by example. If the leader is trustworthy, his or her team will trust him or her and emulate his/her behaviors as well. Despite being a manager in the company, Mr. Carlos Moreno is also a family man. His love for the family is of great importance to him, and its wellbeing is one of his biggest priorities. His advice to the upcoming leaders is simple. He advises them to be ready to learn from other leaders’ experiences. In addition, he insists on searching for good leadership traits from various leadership materials by different authors, which are available in the market. He adds that his success has come out of reading numerous articles on leadership. Finally, he insists that leadership is a continuous process.

Core leadership principles

The commitment

I will act in a friendly manner in my place of work. This aspect, together with my ability to cultivate good relations, will go a long way in motivating workers, thus increasing their morale. I will always encourage my team to look at the positive side of life and focus on improving the company’s performance.

Reliability denotes the dependability of a person both at a personal and corporate level; unfortunately, I lack this core value. It will instill a sense of trust and consistency amongst employees in my leadership.

Honesty

Honesty is the power to accept that a mistake has happened, take responsibility, and work on ways of correcting the mistakes. Unfortunately, a majority of leaders fails in this aspect, which then affects the entire team due to finger-pointing and blame game. This trait is the most important characters that every leader should possess. Admitting your mistakes will increase the employees’ confidence on your leadership.

Competency

In executing my roles as a leader, I will show unprecedented levels of competence. This aspect will boost the employees’ confidence on my leadership skills, which will influence their attitude towards their duties. In demonstrating competency, one has to be careful not to act in a manner that will undermine other people in the organization, as this aspect will lead to poor performance and workplace conflicts.

Forward – looking

The forward-looking trait underscores the ability to come up with vision on one’s intentions and communicating it to the involved stakeholders in a bid to achieve the set goals. It boosts employees’ morale as they work towards achieving certain goals.

Leadership stakeholder network

Interpretation

This model represents the connection between the four aspects that are believed to lead to success or failure of a leadership process. In particular, the diagram illustrates four aspects that are significant in a successful style of leadership. In the diagram, the leader is the person accorded the role of leading a team into achieving a specific purpose. He or she is mandated to formulate plans and strategies necessary to accomplish a given task. He or she is expected to have the ability to cause some influence on his/her subordinates who, in the above diagram, are shown as followers. The followers are the recipients of orders originating from the leader. In some cases, followers are given the opportunity to contribute to the company’s decision-making and policy formulation processes depending on the type of leadership adopted by the management.

On the other hand, the context is the situation in which the job is performed. The situation is determined by the duration and urgency of the work at hand; for example, the job may be performed regularly or an emergency project. The outcomes as represented in the diagram denote the results, which come out of the combination of the other factors (leadership, followers, and context). In other words, the diagram illustrates ways in which the four aspects interact to bring out the desired results. In addition, it illustrates how feedback and outcomes influence the leader and followers. The model also serves the role of showing how each factor correlates with each other to bring out the desired results. Most significantly, the model emphasizes that leadership is an active and continuous process. As a result, it is imperative to be adaptive to changes that occur on the process. The model is important to leaders, as it will help them in determining the effect of their actions on their subordinates. Positive feedback will indicate improved performance of the firm in the future, while negative feedback will imply negative results in the future.

Application of the model

In order for this model to be effective, a number of points have to be taken into account. Such factors like regular feedbacks are essential for its assessment. Listed below are some of the factors that ought to be considered.

Regular feedback

This element is probably the most important aspect that ought to be considered. Positive feedback will indicate improved performance in the future, while negative feedback will imply negative results in the future. If good feedback is given in time and on a regular basis, it will give room for growth and development. It will influence the context and the followers at large, thus improving the ultimate results. Workers will feel motivated to achieve their goals. It will also provide the leader with an avenue through which he/she can issue new directions in case there appears to be a deviation from the intended purposes.

On the other hand, employees will have an opportunity to make their contributions and air their grievances, thus increasing the relationship between the leadership and the team members. Since the feedback can be either positive or negative, the leader is in a position to make informed decisions on matters relating to proper running of the business. Through the feedback, the leader will assess the employees’ reaction to his/her leadership and relax or even change the style of leadership.

Be aware of actions and reactions

A leader is expected to be the role model of the team that s/he supervises. Bearing in mind that the four factors illustrated in the diagram are directly correlated, the actions and reactions to issues by the leader will have a direct impact on all the other factors. The model is designed to illustrate the interrelations amongst these factors clearly, and thus it will guide the leader in his/her actions especially those related to employees as they may lead to either improved or diminished performance. Therefore, leaders have to be careful in the manner in which they handle their subordinates to avoid actions that may lead to diminished morale and increased staff turnover. Leaders should especially be keen on how they handle their emotions and most importantly act in a manner that wins their workers’ trust.

Lead honestly and ethically

This aspect comes in due to the direct connection between leaders and their followers. If the leaders act honestly and ethically, they will influence their followers to adopt the same virtues. Workers’ relationship with other employees should be built on the framework of trust and respect to each other. When such a relationship is established, then the context and results will improve both in the short run and in the long term. However, if the relationship is built on dishonesty and animosity, the opposite will happen and the outcome of this trend will be diminished results in the long term. Leaders depend on their subordinates more than the subordinates depend on the leaders. Therefore, it is important for a leader to cultivate a good relationship with employees for the benefit of the company. Such relations will work well if established on the framework of trust and transparency.

Choice of leadership

Transformational leadership is recommended in most businesses. Transformational leaders are believed to have dignity and they set targets and communicate them to the stakeholders, create good relations with the team members, and motivate employees with a collective dream for the future. Nevertheless, in the above model, leaders will be required to change their styles of leadership occasionally in order to enhance compatibility with the followers or outcomes. Leaders thus ought to be conversant with the different leadership styles. This aspect will give them dynamism, which plays a great role in suiting various needs when they arise. In addition, under this model, it is advisable to assign jobs according to the skills and experience of the individual employee.

Personal charter and dreams

In the coming future, I would like to make the best leader that the public sector has ever had in its history. It is clear that most leaders in the public sector have been criticized for failure to offer the required standards of leadership, but in my case, I believe I will make a leader who will be admired by many. The knowledge and skills that I have acquired so far will be of great help in the role of management. For a person to be accorded the responsibility of managing a large firm especially in the public sector, s/he must possess the relevant leadership skills necessary for the proper management of the organization.

As to my personal characters, I am humble and honest, and such traits are very essential for successful leaders. As it stands now, I am good in creating relations with my peers and I intend to use such strengths to establish excellent relationships with my team when the time comes. My desire is to attain the best standards in the organization that I will be heading, while at the same time maintaining the required standards of social responsibilities. As a leader in the public sector, I will embrace social responsibilities; for example, joining the fight against pollution and supporting the ongoing fight against HIV/AIDS.

My Leadership model

My Leadership model.

Interpretation

This leadership model is an illustration meant to differentiate the four inter-related important aspects of leadership. These aspects include ethics, vision, courage, and reality. They are considered as the most essential qualities in a good leader. They are the key determinants of leadership capacity of a person. In other words, they are inner values in a person that determine his or her ability to offer good leadership to a team.

Ethics can be described as the level of integrity in a leader. In essence, it implies the importance of people, and in this case, the value of team members. On the other hand, vision refers to the plans and targets that a leader intends to achieve. In a broader sense, it is taken to include the ability of applying analytical skills to develop a plan and the subsequent strategies necessary to achieve the set goals and execute the plan.

Courage refers to the ability of a leader to use the power and authority bestowed upon him or her wisely towards achievement of the company’s objectives. It includes the ability to advocate and to stand firmly with his/her actions and taking responsibilities of one’s actions. The last aspect is reality, which refers to the ability of a leader to face life without taking chances. Leaders who like facing the reality of life use factual data. In addition, they are tough in their decisions, task oriented, and result oriented. They seek shared reality and they will do anything to survive in any environment. The Four aspects are non-separable since each depends on the other for its successful implementation.

Personal definition of Leadership

Leadership in this context can thus be defined as a process by which a person, herein referred to as a leader, makes use of his or her skills to cause social influence, and thus accomplish a specified goal. A leader is expected to guide and offer guidance to his or her team. He/she is expected to be a role model to his or her subordinates and must thus possess the relevant leadership skills in a bid to achieve this objective. Being a leader calls for self-dedication. Leaders are expected to conduct their functions in competence in the quest to win the confidence of their subordinates. They should be inspiring and forward-looking for the continued success of the company they are heading.

Self-assessment

Considering the importance of the aforementioned leadership traits, I will work on the first two aspects. As a person in charge in of a business, I will be expected to act on the visions and missions of the company that I will be running or supervising. Adequate skills and knowledge in the field of leadership will be of great importance in accomplishing these tasks. Through identifying and developing my ability to identify opportunities and planning in time, I will be in a position to achieve the desired objectives. I will thus direct my efforts to improving my ability to prepare plans and adopt the necessary strategies to achieve them. The second quality that I will invest my time in is reality. I will seek knowledge on the use of factual data from successful leaders. Through them, I will be in a position to learn how to interpret date and determine useful and non-useful information.

Conclusion

In the light to the analysis carried out in this paper, it is evident that leadership is a continuous process and every leader must seek to improve his/her leadership skills. It is also evident that honesty is an essential trait that every leader should embrace in performing his/her duties. Both the leadership stakeholders’ network and leadership models agree on the importance of teamwork and developing good relations between leaders and their subordinates. In addition, the two models agree on the importance of continuous assessments and communication of the results to the interested parties.