Leadership & Human Behavior 4:
Abraham Lincoln used to say that the test of one’s Americanism was not one’s family tree; the test was how much one believed in America.
Patriotism is the only way to show your belief in your country. Let me recommence on Leadership, and I will start with the Blake and Mouton Managerial Grid; most of these leadership points were obtained from my research. If anyone is interested in the sources, I will gladly supply them. Please make use of my feedback contact e-mail addresses. Also, I am available at the Ministry of women’s affairs and social development to serve you.
Managerial Grid:
The Blake and Mouton Managerial Grid, also known as the Leadership Grid (1985), uses two axes:
- “Concern for people” (plotted using the vertical axis)
- “Concern for task or results” (plotted along the horizontal axis).
Most people fall near the middle of the two axes — The middle of the Road. But, by going to the extremes, that is, people who score on the far end of the scale make four types of leaders:
- Authoritarian— strong on tasks, weak on people skills
- Country Club— strong on people skills, weak on tasks
- Impoverished— weak on tasks, weak on people skills
- Team Leader— strong on tasks, strong on people skills
Authoritarian Leader: (high task, low relationship):
People who get this rating are very task-oriented and are hard on their workers (autocratic). There is little or no allowance for cooperation or collaboration. Heavily task-oriented people display these characteristics: they are solid on schedules; they expect people to do what is told without question or debate; when something goes wrong, people tend to focus on who is to blame rather than concentrate on precisely what is wrong and how to prevent it. People are intolerant of what they see as dissent (it may just be someone’s creativity), so it is difficult for their subordinates to contribute or develop.
Country Club Leader: (low task, high relationship):
This person uses predominantly reward power to maintain discipline and to encourage the team to accomplish its goals. Conversely, they are almost incapable of employing the more punitive, coercive, and legitimate powers. This inability results from fear that using such powers could jeopardize relationships with other team members.
Impoverished Leader: (low task, low relationship):
That is a leader who uses a “delegate and disappears” management style. Since they are not committed to either task accomplishment or maintenance, they essentially allow their team to do whatever it wishes and prefer to detach themselves from the team process by allowing the team to suffer from a series of power struggles.
Team Leader: (high task, high relationship):
This type of person leads by positive example and endeavors to foster a team environment in which all team members can reach their highest potential, both as team members and as people. They encourage the team to reach team goals as effectively as possible while working tirelessly to strengthen the bonds among the various members. They usually form and lead some of the most productive teams.
What makes a person want to follow a leader?
People want to be guided by those they respect who have a clear sense of direction. To gain respect, one must be ethical. A sense of direction is achieved by conveying a robust future vision. When a person decides if he respects you as a leader, he does not think about your attributes; instead, he observes what you do to know who you are. He uses this observation to tell if you are an honorable and trusted leader or a self-serving person who misuses authority to look good and get promoted. Self-serving leaders are not as effective because their employees only obey them, not follow them. They succeed in many areas because they present an excellent image to their seniors at the expense of their workers. The basis of good Leadership is honorable character and selfless service to your organization. In your employees’ eyes, your Leadership is everything you do that affects the organization’s objectives and well-being. Respected leaders concentrate on (U.S. Army, 1983):
- what they are [be](such as beliefs and character)
- what they know(such as jobs, tasks, and human nature)
- What they do(such as implementing, motivating, and providing direction). People want to be guided by those they respect who have a clear sense of direction. To gain respect, they must be ethical. A sense of direction is achieved by conveying a robust future vision.
The Two Most Important Keys to Effective Leadership:
According to a study by the Hay Group, a global management consultancy, there are 75 critical components of employee satisfaction (Lamb, McKee, 2004). They found that:
- Trust and confidence in top Leadership was the most reliable predictor of employee satisfaction in an organization.
- Effective communication by Leadership in three critical areas was the key to winning organizational trust and confidence:
- Helping employees understand the company’s overall business strategy.
- Helping employees understand how they contribute to achieving key business objectives.
- Sharing information with employees on how the company is doing and how an employee’s division is doing — relative to strategic business objectives.
So, in a nutshell — you must be trustworthy, and you have to be able to communicate a vision of where the organization needs to go.
The “Principles of Leadership” ties in closely with this crucial concept.
Principles of Leadership:
The eleven principles of Leadership (by U.S. Army, 1983) are:
- Know yourself and seek self-improvement– To know yourself, you must understand who you are – be, know, and do, attributes. Seeking self-improvement means continually strengthening your attributes, which can be accomplished through self-study, formal classes, reflection, and interaction.
- Be technically proficient– As a leader, you must know your job and be familiar with your employees’ tasks.
- Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions– Search for ways to guide your organization to new heights. And when things go wrong, they always do sooner or later — do not blame others. Analyze the situation, take corrective action, and move on to the next challenge.
- Make sound and timely decisions– Use good problem-solving, decision-making, and planning tools.
- Set an example– Be a good employee role model. They must hear what they are expected to do and see, and we must become the change we want to see (Mahatma Gandhi).
- Know your people and look out for their well-being-Know human nature and the importance of sincerely caring for your workers.
- Keep your workers informed– Know how to communicate with not only them but also seniors and other key people.
- Develop a sense of responsibility in your workers– Help to develop good character traits that will help them carry out their professional responsibilities.
- Ensure that tasks are understood, supervised, and accomplished– Communication is the key to this responsibility.
- Train as a team– Although many so-called leaders call their organization, department, section, etc., a team, they are not teams; they are just a group of people doing their jobs.
- Use the full capabilities of your organization– By developing a team spirit, you will be able to employ your organization, department, section, etc., to its full capabilities.
Attributes of Leadership:
If you are a leader who can be trusted, then those around you will grow to respect you. To be such a leader, there is a Leadership Framework to guide you:
- B.E. a professional: Be loyal to the organization, perform selfless service, and take personal responsibility.
- B.E. is a professional with good character traits: Honesty, competence, sincerity, commitment, integrity, courage, straightforwardness, and imagination.
- KNOW the four factors of Leadership — follower, Leader, communication, and situation.
- KNOW yourself: strengths and weakness of your character, knowledge, and skills.
