ON LEADERSHIP - WHAT KIND ARE YOU?

What is Leadership?

Leadership is about encouraging others to maximize their efforts in order to achieve the goals.

Being a Leader and Being a Manager – What is the Difference?

A Manager is not always a leader yet a Leader has the potential to become a good Manager. Being a Leader and Being a Manager is a totally different thing. What makes the difference is the way they execute things. A manager just plans and organize while a leader has that innate ability to motivate and inspire people to work together at their best in order to arrive at a common goal.  

A manager becomes more effective when he is a good leader. Or is it more correct to say that a leader should also possess a managerial qualities in order to become a good one that executes, inspires and motivates.

Indeed, in a professional setting , a successful manager should have both a combination of the qualities of a manager and a leader. Both of them works with people. The only difference is that a manager sees people as the means to achieve something while a leader sees people as the reason or the cause from which a vision is carried on.

According to my research there are 6 leadership and management styles, but there is a need to bear in mind that these styles should be adapted depending on the demands of the situation, the requirements of the people involved and the challenges facing the organization.

1. The DIRECTIVE (Coercive ) style fosters immediate compliance from the employees:

·         It closely controls employees.

·         “Do it the way I tell you”

·         Motivates by threat and discipline

·         This one becomes effective when there is a crisis and when deviations are risky.

·         It is not effective when employees are not that knowledgeable or underdeveloped. There is no much learnings from this style.

·         Also not effective when employees are highly skilled. They would end up frustrated and not agreeable with micromanaging.

(From Wikipedia: In business management, micromanagement is a management style whereby a manager closely observes or controls the work of subordinates or employees.)

2. AUTHORITATIVE – provides long – term direction and vision for employees.

·         Firm but fair manager

·         Gives employees clear direction

·         Provides persuasion and feedback to motivate

·         It is effective to use when there are clear directions and standards needed and of course, when the leader is credible.

·         When employees need thorough guidance on what to do, then this approach is not effective.

·         It is not effective too, when the leader is not credible.

3. AFFILIATIVE – loves to create harmony among employees and between manager and employees.

·         People first, Task second

·         Emphasizes good personal relationships among employees and always try to avoid conflicts.

·         Keeps people happy to motivate

·         Becomes effective when used in combination with other styles but if performance is not satisfactory, it is not effective.

4. PARTICIPATIVE – builds commitment and consensus among employees.

·         Gets inputs from everyone and motivates by rewarding a team effort.

·         It is effective when all works as a team and there is a good working environment.

·         It is not effective when there is a lack in competency among team members.

5. PACESETTING – gets the task done to a high standard of excellence.

·         A do it myself as in performs task personally and expects others to follow

·         Setting high standards and expectation of self-direction is the way of motivation.

·         It is only effective when one is managing a group of experts and when there is little guidance required.

6. COACHING – long term professional development of employees is the primary objective.

·         It helps and encourages employees to develop their strengths and improve their performance.

·         It concentrates on developing the employees’ abilities and strengths.