Introduction
The key to successful management comprises of motivation and good leadership as well as team building skills. All organizational outcomes including finance flow from these components of successful management. For this goal to be achieved leadership and management skills have to be properly combined and the managers have to be good managers as well as good leaders. A public manager therefore needs to use an approach to leadership that does not just involve commanding the issues in his/her department such as finance but should also have the capacity to assist the organization achieve its objectives and goals. Today, the acceptable leadership in most organizations is based on how participatory the environment is both for employees and the managers but not on how the leaders are autocratic. This style of leadership has been made possible through increased education on the workforce on the importance of participatory model of leadership. However, the right definition of a good leadership style largely depends on situation at hand and therefore managers should provide a regular assessment of the work environment so that they can quickly adapt to the right style accordingly. Good leadership skills refer to successful leadership but not headship that involves a person being appointed to head a work unit. Leadership is accorded by the group being headed rather than being imposed from outside forces (Knudsen, 2006).
Blending leadership and management skills
Good leadership skills are characterized by the leader expending a lot of his/her effort as well as energy beyond just the relationship of power while at the same time being a potential holder of power. A manager who is a power holder does not necessarily portray skills of a good leader but a good leader always hold a power. Therefore, leadership skills help the manager avoid forceful acts to induce the group accomplish a course of duty without showing real commitment in the particular direction. Failure of a leader to buy-in towards the direction increases the likelihood of failure to succeed in the set organizational goals. Therefore, while good leadership skills mobilize the team to work harmoniously, naked power just coerces the group. Good leadership skills are characterized by envisioning of goals, manager having affirmative values and ability to motivate people, ability to deal with polarization with a good explanation as well as teaching of concepts. The skills make the leaders appear as a symbol that can represent the led group in the external world as well as reach out for new initiatives (Sullivan, 2000).
(Garfield, 2001) argued that, when a manger has the right skills, he/she is able to interact and maintain effective network that allows for contact with peers or equals. Interaction between the subordinates and the manger improves and it becomes easy to deal with complications. The skills help to resolve conflict easily because the manager is able to harness individual differences for the good of the organization. Leadership skills also help in quick processing of information because the manger provides a good network and is able to disseminate information. The manager makes use of unstructured decision making and he/she is able to handle ambiguity that may arise. Good leadership skills also enable the manager to allocate resources equitably and this helps the organization to achieve the desired end results. A leader with entrepreneurial skills exhibits willingness to look for alternative ways to address issues. Such a manager also has skills of introspection and can therefore understand his/her position as well as the impact it has on the organization.
Team building skills
The aspect of team building is very crucial for a successful management as it helps to improve the relationship between individuals in a given organization. Skills in team building ensure that, there is healthy interaction between the manger and the subordinates as well as among the workers. Team building involves use of a behavioral style and a review of how to deal with conflicts in addressing their solutions. Team building respects the importance of recognizing maximization of every individual in the organization. It is inherent for conflicts to arise in any organization but good team work skills help to involve group participants and use the conflicts constructively to find solution thus avoiding confrontation. Team building skills respect that every individual has unique potential that he/she can use to make a positive contribution to the organization he/she is working with. Even when a certain weakness has been observed in an employee, this does not necessarily qualify the person to be unbeneficial to the team. It should be the responsibility of the other team members to take the opportunity and correct the mistake (Jackson, 2004).
Conflict solution model
A conflict model instrument by Thomas enables successful measurement of the right style for different individuals. The instrument is a two dimensional model for conflict resolution. First, it measures the extent of self interests when an individual is satisfying his/her own concerns and secondly the interest of the other party where the other party attempts to help other people achieve their goals. This model promotes team building because the members develop a team perspective on how to address conflicts and thus avoid depersonalization. When the workers are aware about the existence of one of their own who is competitive, a spirit of team work helps them to listen to him/her without disregarding his/her opinions. The significance of team work skills is to enhance collaboration as well as compromising styles that are more facilitative as opposed to a working environment where the workers adopt a competing style that is power oriented. However, high degree of cooperation in teamwork environment does not mean lack of assertiveness as the two are not equivalent. This means that, a leader can use the accommodating style if the issue at hand is less important or if he/she finds it necessary to establish a trade off for the future. Avoiding style on the other hand reflect lack of dimension and poor communication to the leaders on the issues the organization is facing. A team that is not fully developed and operate on the avoidance style could also represent intentional avoidance of the issues being faced by the organization (Baldwin, 2000).
According to (Knudsen, 2006), a leader who is able to assess his/her style of conflict resolution as well as those of others reduces the potentials of conflicts arising and arrives at a solution earlier. Skills of conflict management enable the leader to intervene within the shortest time possible whenever there is a conflict among the members of the team. He/she does not wait for the situation to worsen and blow out of proportion when his/her intervention may not offer much help in finding the solution. A leader with such skills knows when to adapt to various styles depending on the situation. However, the leader must put limits on the levels of involvement his/her participants need to have depending on the situation. Regarding teamwork for example, if the perception of the leader is that, his/her decisions are already made when he/she sells them while the organization perceives the process of collaborative decision making is being used, it becomes very hard to execute such decisions. Team building skills therefore requires the leader to balance the force from within him/her and that from the subordinate as well as that from the situation at hand.
Motivational skills
Successful management requires the leader to have excellent motivation skills and this doe not depend on where the manger is working. Motivational skills should be applied cross the board in all organizations regardless of the status of the members being motivated. It can be a hospital, a government facility, university or in a private practice. However, the kind of motivation extended to an individual should depend on the situation so that it can meet its objective in enhancing his/her performance. This means what motivate a particular employee in a certain department may not necessarily motivate another employee in a different department even if both are in the same organization. However, the impact of different motivations by a leader to different members is the same as it enables the entire organization meet its common goals. It is the behavior of the manager that impacts directly on the staff performance and consequently their productivity. The ability of the manager to motivate his/her followers also determines how satisfied the workers are and so their turnover. Motivational skills help the mangers to use techniques that inspire his/her subordinates. The most important technique in applying motivation skills is for the leader to treat his/her followers in the same way him/her, would prefer to be treated. This is achieved through balancing of respect and dignity with fairness, incentives as well as guidance. This balance brings a secure work environment of motivated and productive as well as satisfied workers. The workers also become confident with their leaders and are willing to give initiatives directed towards the general progress of the organization. These results into less difficulty and stress for the leader in the management because he/she can delegate some of the responsibilities and still achieve the desired results. (Sullivan, 2000)
Conclusion
Theories of leadership are all linked with a common element of interrelationship of the workers and their leaders. Those interrelationships have been found to change with the environment and they are the one that determine the performance of any given organization on daily basis. An effective manager is therefore the one who recognizes his/her roles in leading as well as managing and practices these skills for the interest of the organization. The manager also knows how to balance all the forces within the correct limits to avoid loosing the element of assertiveness for the good of the organization. Successful management therefore requires development of skills of interaction, peer skills, ability to resolve conflicts, effective processing of information, resource allocation and entrepreneurial outreach. An effective manager also has introspection skills inherent with him/her. Therefore, motivation, leadership and team building skills are the keys to successful management and all organizational outcomes including finance flow from this.
References
- Knudsen C. (2006): Theories of the firm, strategic management, and leadership: Saunders pp. 43-52
- Sullivan E. (2000): Effective Management in Nursing: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company pp. 23-34
- Garfield C. (2001): Peak Performers: The New Heroes of American Business: William Morrow & Company pp. 12-17
- Jackson V. (2004): Human Resource Management: Concepts and Perspectives: Ohio University Press pp. 29-34
- Baldwin M. (2000): Team Building Practices for Professionals: Springer pp. 43-48