Category Archives: Leadership

Leadership

Types of Leadership Styles in Business

Traditionally the following leadership styles have been the most popular:

Dictator Leadership – In this leadership style the leader has absolute power and authority over their subordinates. The subordinates receive orders from the leader and they carry them out as instructed. The leader does not allow subordinates to participate in decision making. This is the leadership style that the leader uses fear and threats in order to get the job done. Similar with the autocratic style of leadership the leader also makes all the decisions.

Autocratic Leadership – It has been shown that this leadership style are likely to become dictators. Also under the autocratic leadership style all decision making powers are centralized to the leader. They do not entertain any thought from subordinates and do not listen to any suggestions or initiatives from them. Autocratic leadership provides strong motivation to the leader and this is shown to be true as it has been successful in the past. It is effective as it permits quick decision-making as only the one person needs to decide for the whole group and this individual keeps decisions to themselves until they feel the rest of the group need to know what they are. Autocratic leaders do not trust anyone.

Democratic Leadership – Participative or democratic leadership style favours group decision making as shown that the leader only gives instruction after consulting the group. The leader can earn the cooperation of the group by doing this and therefore can motivate followers effectively and positively. The decisions arise from consultation and participation within the group members first so the decision making is not unilateral such as the autocratic style. When democratic leaders are present in the workplace the leadership style produces a work environment that employees can feel satisfied with the environment of the workplace. Subordinates feel that their opinion counts because of the shared communication and because of that feeling they can become more committed to achieving the goals and objectives of the organization.

Laissez Faire or Free Rein Leadership – A free rein leader allows maximum freedom to subordinates, by leaving the group entirely to itself and does not lead them every step of the way but rather motivates them by trusting the individuals to do things themselves. Subordinates are given a freehand in deciding their own policies and methods. Free rein leadership is considered better than the authoritarian style but not as effective as the democratic style.

Research on the behavior of individuals with leadership is moving in many new directions and new lines of inquiry are opening up in an attempt to construct the leadership model. The following contemporary perspectives are only a few of the numerous inquiries into the new leadership models.

Transactional leadership is the traditional management function of leading. Transactional leaders in essence do what managers do: they clarify the role of employees, initiate structures and reward or punish individuals for the team’s performance. One individual is given the opportunity to lead the group and that group agrees to follow his lead in order to accomplish a predetermined goal in exchange for something worthwhile. The leader is given the power to evaluate, correct and train the employees when productivity is not at the appropriate level and they are able to reward effectiveness and efficiency when the outcome expected is reached.

Over the recent years a particular interest in transformational and charismatic leadership has been taken by I/O psychologists because in the past individuals have ignored the importance of the leader as a communicator. The following two leadership styles inspire followers through their words, ideas and behaviors.

The expression “transformational” is used because change and adaptation to change are the forerunners of a successful modern organization. The transformational leader is a person whom has a definite vision of the organization in the future and of what they want to achieve and transform followers’ beliefs, values and needs. The transformational leader seeks to accomplish their goals by making workers or followers feelings more aware of the importance of want they are trying to do, convincing them to put the organizations or teams needs ahead of their own self-accomplishments and to appeal to their achievement and mastery needs.

Charismatic leadership has a dependency more on the actual force of the leader’s personality as to the appeal of the leader’s vision. Charismatic leaders have the ability to put all their trust in others, are able to take personal risks and are sensitive to other people’s needs. They also have the ability to make individuals overcome lack of personal belief and do more than what is normally expected of them; they motivate subordinates to transcend their expected performance.

This article about leadership styles [http://www.humanresourcessouthafrica.co.za] was written by Christopher Kimberley. The article is for my human resources South Africa [http://www.humanresourcessouthafrica.co.za] website which specializes in issues relating to human resources in South Africa.

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Leadership

Eagle Eye Leadership: The Principle of Focus and Priority

Activity is not the same as productivity. Motion does not always signify progress. Activity is not necessarily accomplishment. Diligence is not necessarily effectiveness. Faithfulness is never the same as fruitfulness. Not all efforts bring about results. There is a world of difference between getting things done (busy) and getting results (progress). Telling the difference is what this article is all about. Knowing the difference is what really makes some leaders more successful than others. Successful leaders are leaders with an eagle’s eye: they practice and live by the principle of focus and priority. They are not activity driven (busy), they are result driven (progress). They don’t care about knowing or doing everything; they are mostly concerned about knowing and doing the main things.

Great leaders are not a repository of everything or anything; they are repositories of only what matters. They don’t see everything, they only see what matters. They don’t go after everything; they only pursue the main things. They see, not as we see; they see through the eyes of the eagle; they see based on priority and they focus only on their vision. They practice a different kind of leadership; not one based on execution (activity), but one based on contribution (productivity). This is a leadership built on focus and priority; a leadership driven by vision and purpose. This kind of leadership is what I call ‘eagle eye leadership’.

What is eagle eye leadership?

Eagle eye leadership is a kind of leadership practiced mostly by successful leaders in any work of life. It is a kind of leadership based on focus and priority. In other words, eagle eye leadership is a kind of leadership based on focus and priority and is mostly practiced by successful leaders in all works of life. Eagle eye leadership refers to a leadership hinged upon vision and purpose. It is leadership focused on vision and following a purpose. It’s a leadership pursuing a vision and obeying a purpose. It’s not a survival driven kind of leadership, but a significance driven kind of leadership. It’s not a kind of leadership built on diligence alone (hard work) but also essence (designed work). This kind of leadership doesn’t just ask “what is to be done?”, but also asks, “Why must it be done?” This kind of leadership doesn’t just work hard (diligence) but only works based on the vision it’s pursuing and a purpose it’s obeying (essence).

Eagle eye leadership is not a reactive kind of leadership that is based on just doing (movement or motion), but a proactive leadership based on improving (progress or contribution). Eagle eye leadership weighs every decision, situation and action against its original vision, destination and intention. It asks “how does this decision, situation or action play out and affect my initial vision, destination or intention?” it asks, “what is the place or role of this decision, situation or action in my overall intention, destination or vision?” it doesn’t just do, but does only when it finds a purpose, a place or reason for what needs to be done in the overall scheme of things. Every move, decision and action is tied to a predetermined end, purpose or vision. It is interested in doing only what matters; such things that would significantly affect the bottom-line. That is; the original vision, purpose and objective initially agreed upon. It weighs every action, decision or situation against the ultimate goal, vision or purpose in mind.

Eagle eye leadership is all about focus; a concentrated effort or attention on a particular thing (in this case, a vision) and priority; following or doing only the things with the greatest returns and of the greatest importance (in this case, purpose). Therefore, eagle eye leadership is all about focusing on the vision only and making the fulfillment of the purpose your priority. In other words, you focus the vision and prioritize the purpose. That is to say, you make the vision your main emphasis and then you put the purpose above in front of all you do. This is what I mean; your task as the leader is to make the vision of the business your destination (focus) and make the purpose why you are in business your number one goal or objective (priority).

Focus the vision

The vision is the mental picture of the business in the mind of the leader, it could be an image or concept conceived through imagination. The vision often refers to where or what the leader perceives and sees the business to be in the nearest future. The vision is a mental projection of the business, a mental destination for the business. It is usually future-bound. What tomorrow will look like, where we want to be in some year’s time, how big we hope to be.

The vision is the mental picture of a better or preferable future for the business. This is what the leader must emphasize on. A business without a vision is a business without direction. There’s only one place such a business will end up; nowhere!

Prioritize the Purpose

The purpose is the original reason why the business was created. It is the initial intent of the founder of the business. The purpose is why the business exists; why they open up for business everyday, and why they ever considered starting up such a business in the first place. The purpose usually is determined in the past long before the business came into existence. It is the foundation on which the business was built; this is why it’s seldom changed. The purpose dwells on the outcome of the business, it doesn’t focus on outputs. Outputs are the exact goods or services offered by the business to the market, while outcomes are those needs being met by the goods and services produced. While the vision of a business can always be changed since it’s something you project, the purpose most times remains unchanging unless it’s no longer of relevance to the market. The purpose is not something the leader sees and decides to obey or follow. The purpose of a business is often the need the business was created to meet or fulfill.

Tito Philips, Jnr. is a young Nigerian who is MAD-Making A Difference. He’s a People, Business and Life developer who is passionate about helping you become SIGNIFICANT -different (being Unique) and Making a difference (being useful). You can read more about his thoughts on Business here; http://www.naijapreneur.com, and his thoughts on People and Life here; http://www.MADphilips.com

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Leadership

Seven Basketball Leadership Essentials

Seven Leadership Essentials

After researching the topic of leadership, developing and recognizing leadership over the years, I believe in applying these seven leadership essentials to coaching. The Center for Creative Leadership is a very good resource for leadership practices, strategies and articles to help you formulate your leadership values and develop your abilities. Everyone wishes we had the essentials of great leadership early on in our lives, careers. Some may have, some did not.

Such feelings are very common among coaches and teams. Many of us would be surprised to know that the student-athletes we coach believe that lessons in leadership would have been helpful to them as far back as junior high school.

Becoming a leader does not happen over night, it is acquired over years of life’s lessons.

Seven Leadership Essentials:

Who am I?

As a coach, student-athlete or parent, understanding who we are, how we think and knowing our areas of strength and weakness are vital to developing leadership qualities. As a coach understanding these traits will help us look at the ways in which our players respond to us, the effect we have on our players and how to establish a connection with them.

What is authentic leadership?

There are different meanings for authentic leadership. As coaches authentic leadership is an authenticity and refers to being open, honest and real. Look at the leaders around us. What traits do they have? What actions do have we observe that we respect? Find those traits and actions and use them to develop our authentic leadership skills.

How does leadership exist in teams?

Student-athletes learn leadership through participating on teams. That is no secret. For years businesses have looked for college graduates that have also participated on teams for their leadership abilities. Have you looked at how you are imparting your leadership knowledge on your student-athletes? Leadership is about working well with others in everything we do. The lessons in leadership learned on teams are applied to life as well.

How do I communicate?

How we use words, both written and verbal, is very important. The written and verbal world is powerful. Teach your student-athletes that communication is a two-way process. The most vital part of communicating is listening. Listen first, speak second. How we listen is as important as listening itself. Listening intently: making eye contact with who is speaking to us and using the “3-Seconds in the lane” rule before speaking (pausing 3 seconds before responding) will let people know what they are saying is important to us and we are engaged in the conversation.

What do I do with conflict?

Responding to conflict effectively and appropriately is essential. Be able to understand and teach that conflict is not “bad”, but important to improving leadership. First, identify for yourself what conflict is and know how you handle it. Evaluate each situation after it occurs. Understand how the situation went and if the resolution was beneficial.

How do my values affect my actions?

Our values help determine our actions. Make understanding your own values a priority. Determine if your value structure mimics your actions. We must try to align ourselves with people of similar values. Those around us (assistants, student-athletes, administrators) will help spread our values. Determine an action plan for sharing your values with your student-athletes. Attempt to govern your program in agreement with your values.

What’s my vision?

Can you clearly define your vision? The mission statement of your program? Ask ourselves: What are we trying to do for these student-athletes? How will we provide a vehicle for them to get there? Break this vision down into manageable time blocks: 1-month, 1st semester, first year, entire collegiate career and life after college. This helps us solidify the foundation of our leadership values and empowers our student-athletes to begin to establish their own leadership foundation. Empowering student-athletes to begin a life of leadership is very rewarding and powerful.

Jeff House: Jeff is a 25-year veteran basketball coach, analyst, instructor, speaker, and author, who’s most recent book, Mental Toughness Training for Basketball, was released in July 2010. Jeff has coached and won championships at all levels from high school to the professional ranks. During his time coaching at the collegiate level, his recruiting classes consistently ranked in the Top 10 nationally. With extensive coaching contacts throughout the nation – particularly in the southeast and Midwest – he’ll provide weekly insight and commentary on the Big Ten Conference for College Chalktalk. Visit him at All Basketball Review and on Twitter @BBbyJeffHouse.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Jeff_JH._House/838259

 

Leadership

I Am Looking for Leadership

Hello my friends, Do you know what leadership look like? In many companies and organizations throughout the world, leadership is looking more and more like a joke. You have to search through an organization for days at a time or wait for a catastrophic event to take place to find your real leaders. About a week ago in a discussion with a few colleagues over lunch, the topic centered on leadership and when will real leaders be allowed to lead. You may know of a few people in leadership positions that for some reason or another, have lost touch in developing and leading their teams the right way. We are not simply talking about leading a team or department to a very high number for goals but simply just having the attributes that builds trust in those team members that they are responsible for leading.

We have heard and known for some time now all of the buzz words for leadership; having vision, integrity, trust, character, firm, etc… and these attributes are paramount in true leadership. I recall a particular coach would say to his teams before the game, “To go out and play the game the right way.” The players or workers in turn would say the coach; “To lead us in the right way.” People are smarter and more in tuned with what’s going on around them than they get credit for. This statement, “Please don’t piss on my head and tell me that it’s raining” is becoming the buzz word from team members describing the communication style and strategies used by their managers when it comes to delivering information. People are starting to recognize the difference and leaders need to keep this in mind when it comes to communicating and leading others.

Many times the position title of leadership can actually trump the person’s leading ability when it comes to getting their teams developed to achieve their goals. to reach another level. Have you ever came across a person that was in a managerial role and used their title to trump their subordinates ideas, project accomplishments or even belittle them to their colleagues or superiors. Leadership doesn’t look like this! Again what does Leadership look like? Great positive leadership comes in many different forms and we won’t touch all of them in this post however a few things come to mind when looking at leadership. Leadership have vision to see things in front or at a higher level when others are looking behind, on the sides or not looking at all. Leadership stand tall and make the difficult decision that is right for the situation and organization even if this means standing by themselves. Leadership operates with integrity knowing that everyone may not be treated the same however they do their best to treat their team members right and fair. Leadership seeks input from others understanding that not one person has all of the answers. Leadership understands and accepts that not all ideas or decisions will be a success and they take full responsibility and learn from it. Leadership recognizes those persons skilled in the areas of development and execution of strategy in attaining goals and implementing ideas which can lead to creating value for the organization over time.

I applaud those that have earned the mantle of being promoted to a leadership position at your particular workplace and I know that this duty was not easily earned. When you see real leadership at work on any level, do your best to recognize, acknowledge and grow it, because in the absence of real leadership you jeopardize the core of the organization that will lead to mass exodus of talented people onward in search being led by leaders and/or becoming one themselves.

For every promotion of leadership you attained, make sure to continue to sharpen your leadership skills by reading books, masterminding with other leaders and attending leadership seminars and classes. After all of the reading, talking and learning, most importantly, leadership recognizes opportunity, communicate the opportunity and challenge their group to take it on. Leadership get in the heads and hearts of their team members, the ears of the customers and the eyes of the competitors. Why? In order to understand and be able to stand in front to determine, engage and influence the marketplace to follow the leader. This is what I look for in leadership and strive to be on a daily basis.

Be the Leader you are Looking for!

Patrick Jackson is a Motivational speaker and Internet Marketer who thrives on leading others to success with their business and brand. Get more strategies for your online business at http://www.youractiongameplan.com and continue to Make it HAPPEN!

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Patrick_W_Jackson/806145

 

Leadership

The Purpose of Leadership

The purpose of leadership is to get people to move forward to a place where they would not have gone alone. Leaders define a vision of the future, rally followers to their cause, and inspire them to take action to move in that direction.   The best leaders inspire their followers to join them on their journey using influence rather than coercion.

Perhaps the best way to understand the purpose of leadership is to look at what famous leaders and commentators have said to describe it themselves. They offer insights on the purpose of leadership based on their own deep experience as leaders.  Here is how some famous leaders have sought to capture it in their own words:

 

  • Dwight D. Eisenhower, the famous World War II General and President of the United States, defined leadership in the following way: “Leadership: The art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.”
  • Former First Lady Roselynn Carter described leadership in a similar way:  “A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be.”
  • Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte concisely articulated the purpose of leadership by asserting, “A leader is a dealer in hope.”
  • Reverend Theodore Hesburgh, former president of Notre Dame University said, “The very essence of leadership is that you have to have a vision.”
  • Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said this about the purpose of leadership:  “The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been.”

 

Although each of these leaders has expressed the purpose of leadership in a slightly different way, there is a common theme: leadership is about direction and transferring energy from the leader to their followers to take action.  Now look at what some famous leadership commentators have said about leadership, and how they correctly distinguish leadership from management.  They have dedicated their lives studying leadership and contributed these insights as thought leaders on the subject:

 

  • Peter Drucker, esteemed business consultant and university professor said: “Management is doing things right; Leadership is doing the right things.”
  • Stephen Covey, author of the best selling book, Seven Habits of Highly Effective people had a similar view:  “Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.”
  • Warren Bennis, widely recognized leadership expert and university professor stated: The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why.

 

In the end, leaders are measured by their results.  How they get their results is the purpose of leadership: by defining a vision of the future, by inspiring followers, and by taking action to get where they want to go.  Various leaders will use different styles of leadership and exhibit a variety or personal attributes like courage and integrity.  Every leader is unique.   Nevertheless, if they can bring their followers along with them on their journey to a better place, then they will have succeeded, and when they get there, people will say: “There is a great leader.”

Leonard Kloeber is an author and leadership consultant. He has extensive leadership experience as business executive and as a military officer. He has been a hands-on leader in a variety of organizations large and small. Most recently he was a human resources executive for a Fortune 100 company. His book – Victory Principles, Leadership Lessons from D-Day – illustrates seven bedrock leadership principles that all successful leaders use. Download a free summary of the Victory Principles at: http://www.victoryprinciples.com and find other bonus materials for leaders. Contact him at staffride@gmail.com

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Leonard_Kloeber/332142