Why Should Anyone be Lead by You?

According to me leadership can be best described with the help of the following quote

“Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it” ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower

 My vision of leadership is that a leader should inspire and initiate his team to achieve a communal task.  The leader should be optimistic and encourage people to perform well. He should communicate his views and ideas well and also keep himself aware of the capabilities of the people he is leading. The leader should be candid, fair and honest and treat everyone with respect. The leader should take everyone’s views into consideration, but should at the same time have the will power to do what is right. He should be able to guide and support his followers to facilitate the process of achieving organisational goals. He should most importantly be adaptable and be able to modify his leadership style as per situation.

Successful leaders inspire and motivate an individual to follow their paths and achieve great success.

One such leader I admire is Tim Cook as the qualities he possessed were unique as compared to other leaders. Tim earned an M.B.A. from Duke University, where he was a Fuqua Scholar, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from Auburn University. He believed in modifying his leadership according to the situation and to communicate well with employees and customers by maintaining transparency. This built a trust and the employees had complete faith in the decisions he took.  He believes in keeping the employees and investors happy with stock-buyback and charitable-giving programs. He has the guts to admit his wrong and apologise for the same.

Tim Cook had the patience to apologise to the customers as the maps app fell short of Apple’s commitment to deliver the best customer service. Tim Cook believes that the customer is one of the most important aspects in the success of an organisation. He is seen to encourage his employees to give good customer service and to look after all the problems that a customer faces. Cook is obsessed with perfection and wants everything that he does to be perfect. He has a very calm personality which helps the staff to work efficiently.

I admire Tim Cook’s style of leadership as it has helped me in developing my team working skills. I have learned to project my views only when required and consider others views when performing a given task. I have also come to acceptance that peer feedback helps in improving and getting the best out of you. I am said by my colleagues to have good listening skills which I think will help me in becoming a better leader. I am told by my colleagues and tutors that I have good presentation skills and confidence to put my point forward. I am sometimes told by colleagues that I need to be more patient with people and convey my ideas in a way that they understand.

I believe my MBA course has helped me extensively in developing my leadership skills. The course has made me realise the various aspects that are related to leading people. The group activities and presentations has helped me in building my team working abilities and my presentation skills. It has helped to keep my focus on the goal and not get affected by the pressure while working. I am still in the process of learning about leaders and leadership styles. Due to the group activities carried out in class I have become more open and involved in discussions. The research I have carried out in order to write this blog has given me a better insight on the various elements of leadership and how to be an effective leader. As I progress in this MBA, I want to improve myself to the best of my abilities so as to lead my team to achieve great success. I believe that accepting feedback from peers and taking necessary steps to better yourself will help me in being a better leader and to perform to the best of my abilities.

References:

Apple.com. 2014. Apple – Apple Press Info – Apple Leadership – Tim Cook. [online] Available at: http://www.apple.com/uk/pr/bios/tim-cook.html [Accessed: 28 Mar 2014].

Guglielmo, C. 2012. Apple CEO Tim Cook Shakes Up Management Team, iOS Chief Forstall, Retail Leader To Depart. [online] Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/connieguglielmo/2012/10/29/apple-says-ios-chief-forstall-retail-chief-browett-to-depart-among-management-shakeup/ [Accessed: 28 Mar 2014].

Washington Post. 2014. Tim Cook’s humble leadership at Apple. [online] Available at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/on-leadership/tim-cooks-humble-leadership-at-apple/2012/10/31/4ba5df4e-2370-11e2-8448-81b1ce7d6978_story.html [Accessed: 28 Mar 2014].

 

Ethical Leadership

Ethical leadership is knowing your core values and having the courage to live them in all parts of your life in service of the common good (Ethicalleadership.org, 2014).

Ethical leadership mainly has two basic elements. Firstly, when leading a team to achieve organisational goals the leader should take all the decisions ethically and secondly he should lead his subordinates in an ethical manner in order to direct the organisation towards success (Ctb.ku.edu, 2014).

Ethical leadership is both visible and invisible. The visible part is the ones that you can see, like the way in which he will treat his subordinates, his behaviour in public and the statements and actions that he makes. The invisible part is mainly the character of the leader. The way in which he takes decisions, his mindset, the values and principles that he has and the way in which he portrays himself in tough situations in order to make ethical decisions (Ctb.ku.edu, 2014).

Ethical leadership can be better described with the help of the 4-V Model of Ethical Leadership (Ethicalleadership.org, 2014).

The 4-V Model of Ethical Leadership is a framework that aligns the internal (beliefs and values) with the external (Behaviours and actions) for the purpose of advancing the common good (Ethicalleadership.org, 2014). The model was created by Dr.Bill Grace based on his research on leadership and his personal passion around faith and ethics.

• Values: This is the key aspect for ethical leadership. One should understand his values and commit themselves to it. This will help the individual in taking decisions as per his beliefs.
• Vision: Vision is the ability to frame ones actions, in order to be of service to others.
• Voice: Voicing ones views and opinions in an authentic and persuasive manner in a way that it motivates them to take action.
• Virtue: Understanding that we become what we practice and the fact that the best way to do so is by practicing virtuous behaviour by striving to do the right and good. By doing so, we might develop a character of virtue. In particular, virtue stands for the common good.

Ethical leaders are ethical at all times and not just when someone’s looking. They are ethical at any point of time proving that ethics are an integral part of the intellectual and philosophical framework used to understand and relate to the world (Ctb.ku.edu, 2014).

Some important qualities possessed by an ethical leader are:

• Ethical leaders give utmost importance to the wants of their people and organisation by putting aside their ego and personal interest.
• Encourage and challenge feedback and opinions that are different from their own and thereby encouraging leadership in others.
• Encourage discussion of ethics and ethical questions as a part of the organisational culture which motivates colleagues to work ethically.
• Accept responsibility and being accountable for the organisation.
• Building and maintaining trust to lead the organisation in the right path.
• Though last, but perhaps the most important quality is the ability to understand the power of leadership and using it to the betterment of the organisation and the society as a whole.

It can be said that ethical leadership goes hand in hand with employee performance. It motivates employees to report problems.

Tata Steel is regarded as one of the most ethical companies in the world according to Ethisphere Institute which is a leading international organisation (India, 2014).  It was awarded on the basis of various parameters such as the company’s reputation, innovation, leadership, their ethics programme, training and communication and their corporate governance, sustainability and responsibility.

Tata companies follow a Tata code of conduct which is a set of rules so as to function the company ethically.

Another example of a company known for its ethical practises is Google, Inc which follows the motto, “Don’t be evil” (Policies, 2013). The company has donated $1 billion to renewable energy projects with the help of their Google Green Programme and has decreased its footprint by using energy efficient buildings and public transportation.

Google also provides its employees with various benefits like access to free health care, treatment from on-site doctors, free legal advice and discounted legal services along with a free on-site nursery and cafeteria. Google is one the best examples of ethics in the corporate world today with such stellar record of social awareness and employee relations.

In conclusion, it can be said that even though it gets a little difficult for leaders to maintain their ethical standards at all times in the fast paced and competitive world the leader should practise ethical behaviour at all times. Ethical practises by the leader will motivate employees to perform ethically and will hence help the company in progressing to the peak.

References:

 Adams, S. 2014. The World’s Most Ethical Companies 2014. [online] Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2014/03/20/the-worlds-most-ethical-companies/ [Accessed: 21 March 2014].

Ctb.ku.edu. 2014. Main Section | Community Tool Box. [online] Available at: http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/leadership/leadership-ideas/ethical-leadership/main [Accessed: 22 March 2014].

Ethicalleadership.org. 2014. Ethical Leadership — Center for Ethical Leadership. [online] Available at: http://ethicalleadership.org/about-us/philosophies-definitions/ethical-leadership [Accessed: 20 March 2014].

Ethisphere.com. 2014. World’s Most Ethical Companies – Honorees | Ethisphere® Institute. [online] Available at: http://ethisphere.com/worlds-most-ethical/wme-honorees/ [Accessed: 20 March 2014].

India, P. 2014. Tata Steel recognised as one of world’s most ethical companies. [online] Available at: http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/tata-steel-recognised-as-one-of-world-s-most-ethical-companies-113030700535_1.html [Accessed: 23 Feb 2014].

 Policies, G. 2013. Good Business: 10 Companies With Ethical Corporate Policies. [online] Available at: http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/consumer/articles/Good-Business253A-Corporations-with-Great-Ethical/2/16/2013/id/48045 [Accessed: 23 Feb 2014].

 

Managing Change

To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often. – Winston Churchill

Change is a constant and inevitable process. Change plays a significant role in helping an organisation attain its goals. There are three dimensions to organisational change:

• Outcomes
• Interest
• Emotions

The leader or manager plays a very important role in all of the dimensions by shaping, directing and juggling them according to the requirement (Green, 2009). Each of these dimensions may seem important at different points of time and the manager should make sure that all the three dimensions are considered when undergoing change.

When undergoing change, a standout amongst the most confounding and unmanageable of the issues which business executives face is the employee’s resistance to change. Yet changes continuously occur in the industry. The change might be small one like changes in the work methods, the routine office procedures, in the location of a machine or a desk or the job titles with constantly takes place in an organisation (Harvard Business Review, 2014).

As quoted by Mullins, a person’s resistance or acceptance to change depends largely on the personality of the individual (Mullins 2010: 753). There might be one individual who thrives for changes in his day to day activities while another individual might be comfortable in doing what he does best. Change is something that some individual take with open arms whereas some completely resist. While a person may or may not embrace change, an organisation can also play an important role in helping an individual embrace change. When undergoing changes the management should encourage clear communication between employees and senior staff.  In an organisation that has a culture of trust; transparent communication; integrated, passionate workers; and constructive interpersonal connections, resistance to change is not difficult to see and moreover noticeably less inclined to happen. Representatives don’t hesitate to tell their supervisor what they think and to have open exchange of thoughts and views with directors.

For effective change management, the managers of the organisation need to understand and adapt the models and frameworks used for change management. One such model developed by Kurt Lewin in the 1950’s. The model is a simple and easy to understand framework known as Unfreeze – Change – Refreeze(Understanding the Three Stages of Change, 2014).

• Unfreeze: The first step of the model is to create a motivation to change (unfreeze) in order to change the employees existing attitudes towards the change in working practices and to get them ready to face the change. A vital element at this stage is to have good commutation with the staff regarding the proposed change.
• Change: Effective communication should be promoted when undergoing the change process. The staff should be empowered to embrace the new ways of working by learning new values attitudes and behaviors. Action plans should be developed by identifying the problem and maximum flexibility should be given in planning and implementing the change.
• Refreeze: The last stage of the process is refreeze, wherein the organisation returns to a sense of stability, to realise the benefits of change. This is necessary for creating the confidence to embrace the next inevitable change. Praise, rewards by managers play an important role to get the best out the employees. Once the change is incorporated in the work culture, it can be said to be in a frozen state.

One of the most recent examples of organisations undergoing a change in their leadership is Microsoft(Anwer, 2014). The CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella sent a mail addressed to all the employees regarding the changes in the leadership of the organisation in order to get the company to a point at which it will have the maximum focus and impact. The Xbox region or department will also have a change in the leadership. The leadership of the company was changed to get the company more closer to the vision that the CEO has and to retain Microsoft’s position at the top.

Change in any given industry should be well understood and be looked upon with caution. The resistance to such a change is a result of an individual’s fear and his uncertainty to the situation. The change needs to be looked upon by the employee’s point of view and their views and suggestions should be valued. Better communication and employee engagement will play a positive impact on the change and help in getting the best out of their employees.

References:

Anwer, J. 2014. Nadella ‘tunes’ Microsoft, announces 3 leadership changes – The Times of India. [online] Available at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/Nadella-tunes-Microsoft-announces-3-leadership-changes/articleshow/33031604.cms [Accessed: 31 Mar 2014].

Cameron, Esther; Green, Mike. 2009., Making Sense of Change Management: A Complete Guide To the Models, Tools and Techniques of Organizational Change. [online]. Kogan Page. Available from:<http://www.myilibrary.com?ID=210115> 18 March 2014

Houston Chronicle. 2014. (BW) JCPenney Launches New Brand Positioning – ”Every Day Matters”. [online] Available at: http://www.chron.com/news/article/BW-JCPenney-Launches-New-Brand-Positioning-1796662.php&gt [Accessed: 18 Mar 2014].

Lawrence, P. (2014). How to Deal With Resistance to Change. Available: http://hbr.org/1969/01/how-to-deal-with-resistance-to-change/ar/1. Last accessed 18th March 2014.

Retailwire.com. 2014. RetailWire Discussion: Culture Change Part of Penney’s Plan to Succeed. [online] Available at: http://www.retailwire.com/discussion/11310/culture-change-part-of-penneys-plan-to-succeed&gt [Accessed: 18 Mar 2014].

Understanding the Three Stages of Change. 2014. [e-book] Manchester: North West Leadership Academy. http://www.nwacademy.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/86_1722011_lewin_s_change_management_model.pdf [Accessed: 18 Mar 2014].

 

 

Most Effective Leadership Style

“By leadership, I mean influencing others’ actions in achieving desirable ends. Leaders are people who shape the goals, motivations and actions of others. Frequently they initiate change to reach existing and new goals. … While managing well often exhibits leadership skills, the overall function is toward maintenance rather than change” (Cuban, 1988).

The main between leadership and management is that the prior is more about leading people in the right direction and the latter is more about managing things. Even though leadership and management are not the same things, they must go hand in hand in order to attain organisational success (Kotter, 2013). If the two are not looked upon together it might create more problems than the ones it will solve. As quoted by Tom Peters “Management is about arranging and telling. Leadership is about nurturing and enhancing.”

(Google image,2014)

Management is a set of processes that include planning, budgeting, structural jobs, staffing jobs, etc. whereas leadership is more about taking an organisation into the future, by finding and exploiting new opportunities (Guides.wsj.com, 2014). Management helps in producing the promised products and services while leadership is mostly about empowering someone in order to get a useful change. Leadership is about the vision whereas management is related to the day to day activities of the organisation. Management though is a very crucial task, it is very different from leadership and the need for leaders is increasing in the fast paced world no matter where they are in the hierarchy.

A manager is an administrator, while the leader is an innovator. A manager will make sure that he performs the activity or task undertaken by his team is done according to requirement whereas a leader will think of innovative ideas to do his best. A leader is someone who develops something that is new and necessary while a manager is someone who will maintain something that is already there(Kotter, 2013).

A leader is someone who will form someone who will have all the ideas whereas a manager just imitates what is already done. A leader will challenge a task that is provided to him if he does not believe in it. The manager on the other hand accepts it. In a sentence the difference between a leader and a manager can be described as, a manager is someone who does things right whereas the leader is someone who does the right thing(Kotter, 2013).
There are various leadership styles by which people are lead in the organisational world today in order to acquire successful results.

What are the qualities that a great leader should posses?

What is the best leadership style?

These are perhaps the most common questions that comes in an individual’s mind when talking about leaders and the various leadership styles and the in which people like to lead by.

A great and successful leader is the one that possesses qualities to change the way h leads according to the situation. A leader should be able to get control of the situation when needed and at the same time be supportive to his followers according to the situation. He should also be able to provide encouragement to his followers when required. (Glanz, 2002, pp. 19-77)

There are mainly six leadership styles that are widely practiced in organisations nowadays.(Benincasa, 2012) (Trubyachievements.com, 2014)(Murray, 2014)

• Commanding
• Pacesetting
• Visionary
• Affiliative
• Democratic
• Coaching

According to me there is nothing as the most effective style of leadership. The leader should be able to change the way he leads according to the situation better known as Situational leadership.(Self Awareness, 2013)

(Self Awareness, 2013)

 

The situational leadership model was created by Kenneth Blanchard and Paul Hershey which helps in the manager to analyse the situation that he is in and apply the leadership style that is most applicable in the situation. The style is likely to change contingent upon the abilities and responsibility levels of ones staff along these lines from individual to individual. One may lead the same individual in restricted in one circumstance and an alternate path in an alternate circumstance.

Effective leaders are flexible – they have the ability to move around the matrix as per the circumstances. No leadership style is correct constantly. Notwithstanding, leaders have a tendency to have a favoured style and in applying situational initiative it is significant to know which one is the best himself.

References:

1)      Alan Murray. (2010). Which of These Six Leadership Styles Works Best?. Available: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704041504575045163417674970. Last accessed 16th March 2014.

2)      Benincasa, R. (2012). 6 LEADERSHIP STYLES, AND WHEN YOU SHOULD USE THEM. Available: http://www.fastcompany.com/1838481/6-leadership-styles-and-when-you-should-use-them. Last accessed 17th March 2014.

3)      Glanz, J (2002). Finding Your Leadership Style : A Guide for Educators. Alexandria, VA, USA: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development (ASCD) . 19-77.

4) Guides.wsj.com. 2014. What is the Difference Between Management and Leadership? – Management – WSJ.com. [online] Available at: http://guides.wsj.com/management/developing-a-leadership-style/what-is-the-difference-between-management-and-leadership/ [Accessed: 17 Mar 2014].

5) Kotter, J. 2013. Management Is (Still) Not Leadership. [online] Available at: http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/01/management-is-still-not-leadership/ [Accessed: 17 Mar 2014].

6)      Self Awareness. (2013). Situational Leadership and Developing Great Teams. Available: http://www.selfawareness.org.uk/news/situational-leadership-and-developing-great-teams. Last accessed 17th March 2014.

7)      Truby Achievements. (2014). Leadership Style. Available: http://www.trubyachievements.com/Business/Leadership/Leadership_Style.html. Last accessed 17th March 2014.

Diversity: the art of thinking independently together

“Research has consistently shown that diverse teams produce better results, provided they are well led. The ability to bring together people from different backgrounds, disciplines, cultures, and generations and leverage all they have to offer, therefore, is a must-have for leaders” (Ibarra and Hansen 2011: 71).

The increasing globalisation in the world today has lead to a greater diversity in the workforce. The need to apply an extensive variety of skills to intricate jobs has resulted in smoother structures in organisations and an increase in the number of teams and work groups that are demographically and functionally diverse.

Diverse teams are known to be more creative in performing as compared to homogeneous teams as they can explore a variety of ideas and skills when put together. (Kravitz, 2014) There also is a great competitive advantage to an organisation having a diverse workforce as when an organisation has a well placed diverse workforce it helps them in understanding a wide range of customers which can lead to a better interaction with a bigger consumer base. Moreover, it will also help in recruiting and retaining a diverse staff in the aggressive labour market. (Acas.org.uk, 2014)

A company that embraces workplace diversity attracts more candidates for its job vacancies. Candidates who are highly educated and have experienced diversity during their time at University may feel that a company with a diverse workforce is more progressive and will therefore want to work in a company with a workforce from all walks of life and diverse backgrounds. The company will also gain more knowledge from the experiences of their employees and can use the knowledge acquired to help in increasing their productivity. Employees from different cultures and backgrounds tend to have a different perspective in looking at problems and practices which will help in getting diverse ideas and views to the table. There is also a high morale with organisations having a diverse workforce. (Adecco.co.uk, 2014)

There are also various challenges involved in managing a diverse work population. Diversity management is much more than simply acknowledging the differences in people.  It highly involves recognising the value o difference, fighting discrimination and promoting the idea of working as one in a team. Negative attitudes and behaviors can also act as barriers in organisational diversity as it can harm relationships and dent the morale and the productivity of the organisation. Negative attitudes and behaviors include prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination, which should never be used by management when hiring, retention and termination practices.

Countries worldwide are much more diverse then they were a decade ago, and much less diverse than they will be a decade later. Hence, it is important for retailers and consumer goods companies to embrace diversity as a market force, which means that they have to diversify their workforce.  Having a diverse workforce will also improve their understanding and affinity to the customer base. (Deloitte.com, 2014)

So, what are the benefits of having a diverse workforce in the retail industry?

According to a report that was created in 2011 by the Network of Executive Women, it was seen that customers feel most comfortable when doing business with companies having a diverse workforce. Additionally a recent report also shows that having a diverse workforce leads to innovative solutions for capturing a retaining the diversity in the retail industry. (Farfan, 2012)

In other words, it can be said that diversity is the same as what diversity does. In these tough economic times with cutthroat competition between the companies, it would be advised to do all they can to create a comfort to as many demographic and psycho graphic segments of the working and consuming population.

Managing a diverse workforce can be challenging sometimes if the leader is not aware of the various cultures and habits of his team.

To address diversity issues, a Manager should consider the following questions: what policies, practices and ways of thinking within the organisational cultures have what kind of impact on different groups? They should also consider on what changes can be made in the organisation to meet the needs of the diverse workforce as well as maximize the employee’s potential. (Ucsfhr.ucsf.edu, 2014)

If the manager is aware of his workforce it can lead in smooth functioning of the organisation along with the employees working to their full capabilities.

Hence we can see that while having a diverse workforce has many positive aspects, managing one can be a tricky task. If the person leading a diverse workforce is not efficient enough all the pros of having a diverse workforce may be converted to cons.

References:

Acas.org.uk. 2014. Acas – The benefits of having a diverse workforce. [online] Available at: http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3725 [Accessed: 25 Feb 2014].

Adecco.co.uk. 2014. Diversity In The Workplace Benefits Employers | Adecco UK. [online] Available at: http://www.adecco.co.uk/news/diversity-in-the-work-place.aspx [Accessed: 25 Feb 2014].

Comstock, B. 2012. Want a Team to be Creative? Make it Diverse. [online] Available at: http://blogs.hbr.org/2012/05/want-a-team-to-be-creative-mak/ [Accessed: 23 Feb 2014].

Deloitte.com. 2014. Deloitte Review | Diversity as an Engine of Innovation – Retail and consumer goods companies find competitive advantage in diver. [online] Available at: http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_US/us/Insights/Browse-by-Content-Type/deloitte-review/fda8881dc918d210VgnVCM2000001b56f00aRCRD.htm [Accessed: 25 Feb 2014].

Farfan, B. 2012. Retail Industry Workplace Diversity Not Recognized – Target and jcpenney Have More and Better Diversity than Wal-Mart and McDonald’s? (TGT, JCP, WMT, MCD, DRI). [online] Available at: http://retailindustry.about.com/b/2012/04/29/retail-industry-workplace-diversity-not-recognized-target-and-jcpenney-have-more-diversity-than-wal-mart-and-mcdonalds-tgt-jcp-wmt-mcd-dri.htm [Accessed: 25 Feb 2014].

Green, K. A. and Kepner, K. 2014. HR022/HR022: Diversity in the Workplace: Benefits, Challenges, and the Required Managerial Tools. [online] Available at: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hr022 [Accessed: 25 Feb 2014].

Insidebusiness360.com. 2014. Challenges of Diversity in the Workplace by Leigh Goessl | Inside Business 360. [online] Available at: http://www.insidebusiness360.com/index.php/challenges-of-diversity-in-the-workplace-23210/ [Accessed: 25 Feb 2014].

Kravitz, D. 2014. Diversity in Teams: A Two-Edged Sword Requires Careful Handling – Association for Psychological Science. [online] Available at: http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/publications/observer/2006/january-06/diversity-in-teams-a-two-edged-sword-requires-careful-handling.html [Accessed: 23 Feb 2014].

Ucsfhr.ucsf.edu. 2014. Chapter 12: Managing Diversity in the Workplace. [online] Available at: http://ucsfhr.ucsf.edu/index.php/pubs/hrguidearticle/chapter-12-managing-diversity-in-the-workplace/ [Accessed: 25 Feb 2014].