Leadership and teamwork skills

Leadership

Meaning Of Leadership:

§  Influencing people by providing purpose, direction and motivation while operating to accomplish the mission and improving the organization.

§  The ability of developing and communicating a vision to people that will make that vision true.

Definition Of Leadership:

George R. Terry,” Leadership is a relationship in which one person influences other to work together willingly to related tasks to attain what the leader’s desires.”

Koontz and O’Donnell, “Leadership is the process of influencing people so that they will strive willingly towards the achievement of group goals.”

QUALITIES OF LEADER:       

A leader has got multidimensional traits in him which makes him appealing and effective in behaviour. The following are the requisites to be present in a good leader:

1. Physical appearance- A leader must have a pleasing appearance. Physique and health are very important for a good leader.

2. Vision and foresight- A leader cannot maintain influence unless he exhibits that he is forward looking. He must visualize situations and thereby has to frame logical programmes.

3. Intelligence- A leader should be intelligent enough to examine problems and difficult situations. He should be analytical who weighs pros and cons and then summarizes the situation. Therefore, a positive bent of mind and mature outlook is very important.

4. Communicative skills- A leader must be able to communicate the policies and procedures clearly, precisely, and effectively. This can be helpful in persuasion and stimulation.

5. Objective- A leader must be having a fair outlook which is free from bias, and which does not reflect his willingness towards a particular individual. He should develop his own opinion and should base his judgement on facts and logic.

6. Knowledge of work- A leader should be very precisely knowing the nature of work of his subordinates because it is then he can win the trust and confidence of his subordinates.

7. Sense of responsibility- Responsibility and accountability towards an individual’s work is very important to bring a sense of influence. A leader must have a sense of responsibility towards organizational goals because only then he can get maximum of capabilities exploited in a real sense. For this, he must motivate himself and arouse and urge to give best of his abilities. Only then he can motivate the subordinates to the best.

8. Self-confidence and will-power- Confidence in himself is important to earn the confidence of the subordinates. He should be trustworthy and should handle the situations with full will power. (You can read more about Self-Confidence at: Self Confidence - Tips to be Confident and Eliminate Your Apprehensions).

9. Humanist-This trait to be present in a leader is essential because he deals with human beings and is in personal contact with them. He must handle the personal problems of his subordinates with great care and attention. Therefore, treating the human beings on humanitarian grounds is essential for building a congenial environment.

10. Empathy- It is an adage “Stepping into the shoes of others”. This is very important because fair judgement and objectivity comes only then. A leader should understand the problems and complaints of employees and should also have a complete view of the needs and aspirations of the employees. This helps in improving human relations and personal contacts with the employees.

Leadership Styles:

All leaders do not possess same attitude or same perspective. As discussed earlier, few leaders adopt the carrot approach, and a few adopt the stick approach. Thus, all the leaders do not get the things done in the same manner. Their style varies. The leadership style varies with the kind of people the leader interacts and deals with. A perfect/standard leadership style is one which assists a leader in getting the best out of the people who follow him.

Some of the important leadership styles are as follows:

         I.            Autocratic leadership style: In this style of leadership, a leader has complete command and hold over their employees/team. The team cannot put forward their views even if they are best for the team’s or organizational interests. They cannot criticize or question the leader’s way of getting things done. The leader himself gets the things done. The advantage of this style is that it leads to speedy decision-making and greater productivity under leader’s supervision. Drawbacks of this leadership style are that it leads to greater employee absenteeism and turnover. This leadership style works only when the leader is the best in performing or when the job is monotonous, unskilled, and routine in nature or where the project is short-term and risky.

       II.            The Laissez Faire Leadership Style: Here, the leader totally trusts their employees/team to perform the job themselves. He just concentrates on the intellectual/rational aspect of his work and does not focus on the management aspect of his work. The team/employees are welcomed to share their views and provide suggestions which are best for organizational interests. This leadership style works only when the employees are skilled, loyal, experienced, and intellectual.

     III.            Democratic/Participative leadership style: The leaders invite and encourage the team members to play an important role in decision-making process, though the ultimate decision-making power rests with the leader. The leader guides the employees on what to perform and how to perform, while the employees communicate to the leader their experience and the suggestions if any. The advantages of this leadership style are that it leads to satisfied, motivated and more skilled employees. It leads to an optimistic work environment and encourages creativity. This leadership style has the only drawback that it is time-consuming.

    IV.            Bureaucratic leadership: Here the leaders strictly adhere to the organizational rules and policies. Also, they make sure that the employees/team also strictly follows the rules and procedures. Promotions take place based on employees’ ability to adhere to organizational rules. This leadership style gradually develops over time. This leadership style is more suitable when safe work conditions and quality are required. But this leadership style discourages creativity and does not make employees self-contented.

Reference Link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cVZaYFVPkIfvrUOIh8AJjGlFiOz8ngMl/view?usp=sharing