Quality leader

1. Introduction

To some people, quality leaders are born while to others, they are made. However, it is widely accepted that for one to be a good leader, they must have some qualities that sets them apart and such qualities enable them to make effective decisions, communicate the decisions to followers and influence them to accept and follow them. While some people are born leaders, most quality leaders are made through development in a continuous process of training, experience, self-study and accumulating the relevant experience. Various theories have been advanced in an attempt to point out the basic idea of good leadership which holds that leadership is an ability possessed by extraordinary people. The evolution of this leadership idea formed the basis of leadership study traits but was later replaced by transactional leadership, situational leadership and transformational leadership. Quality leadership is not about a position that a person occupies but is about acquisition and honing of specific skills that enables one to lead a team in organization towards an intended direction.  The leaders have some philosophies or beliefs which they have adopted and which enables them to perform their tasks in an organization. Quality leadership needs that balanced attention be provided for both strategy and tactics but such a balance is tactical and is mostly tilted in way that it favors tactical requirements. The purpose of this paper is to provide a discussion on quality leader, the beliefs, theories of leadership and a recommendation on how quality leadership can apply in management.

1. Beliefs of quality leaders

Leaders in an organization need more than a great idea and forming a team to actualize the ideas which are just the initial step in achieving success in an organization. The ability to have a conceived idea executed is what set aside organizational leaders from other individuals such as entrepreneurs. When resources in an organization are scarce and tight and such are needed to run an organization, there are normally high levels of stress. When the set goals and visions are not achieved successfully as per the laid out plan, it becomes easy for emotions to get quite high and take a toll on the team (Dinh et. al 2014). In such situations leadership gurus are able to bring everything under control through due to their deeply held beliefs.

Being positive even in worst situations

Quality leaders understand that they cannot have motivated team if they do not show a positive attitude.  They do this by creating a positive environment when things are not right and through creation of relaxed atmosphere an organization’s workplace. Even when the team is undergoing worse situations like reduced team morale, great leaders maintain positivity while looking for ways to sustain the motivation of the team and solve problems (Hess & Bacigalupo, 2014).

Honesty

Regardless of the position held by a leader in terms of ethics, when one is leading a team it is necessary to maintain the bar high. The leaders understand that the organization and employees reflect them and if their behavior and decisions are ethical and honest the followers will do the same (Dinh et. al 2014).

Delegating

 Quality leaders understand that achieving the set vision requires an efficient team and the leader has to trust their team with this vision, otherwise progressing to the next step may be impossible.  The leader remembers that trusting the team indicates strength but not weakness. In addition, delegation of tasks to the right departmental team is an essential skill that can be developed as the organization is growing. Delegation requires the identification of team strength, capitalizing on these strengths and improving the team while at the same time freeing up some time and focusing on various tasks that cannot be delegated (Dinh et. al 2014).

Embracing failure and managing various set backs

The quality leader knows that failure is inevitable and hence, they have to be prepared to manage them. They maintain calmness while using logic while thinking through such a situation, utilizing the resources and looking for solutions.  The leader believes in providing leadership amidst setbacks. For instance, after encountering a serious setback in the development process for Ford Quadricycle, Henry Ford established the Detroit Automobile Company but after another failure, he persisted until Ford Motor Company achieved its success (Schlichting, 2016). This shows the need for persistence even amidst any failure.

Effective communication

This involves a complex process of listening and giving back which makes it easy for leaders to communicate well and understand their team and different ideas they may have. The leader understands the need for clear communication with other followers; interpret them properly while not taking away their suggestions.  Dalai Lama is good example, whose leadership is anchored on benevolence and understanding which is enabled by effective communication (Lin, Hu,& Fuchs, 2016).

Inspiring other people

A quality leader believes in developing the skills of other individuals around them and more so their skills and abilities. Developing other people will simplify the work being done by a team and as members improve and even grow, their morale will be boosted. Moreover, the leader may develop certain skills which they do not have and which are necessary in an organization.

 

• Leadership theories

There are various theories that have been advanced with an aim of exploring the qualities that sets apart leaders from their followers. From followers’ perspectives, leadership consists of all what is done by the leader, which determines whether their objectives will be achieved and the success of organization and employees.  The earliest theories put their focus on specific qualities which differentiated leaders and their followers, but subsequent theories focused on other variables like level of skills and situational factors.

Great man theories

These theories assume that leadership ability is inherent and that quality leaders are born but not made. The great man theories mostly present quality leaders as mythic m heroic and can rise to leadership whenever it is needed. The use of the term great man implies the primary thinking that leadership is a quality in male more so in relation to military leadership (Martin, Breunig, Wagstaff & Goldenberg, 2017).

Trait theories

The trait theory is based on the assumption that individuals inherit some specific characteristics and qualities which makes them outstanding and hence best suited to lead. Such theories largely highlight some specific behavioral characteristics or personalities which are common in leaders. The problems arise when trying to explain various individuals with such qualities but are not in leadership, if at all certain traits are an indication of leadership qualities (Martin, Breunig, Wagstaff & Goldenberg, 2017).  This represents a problem in trying to use trait theories as a basis of explaining leadership.

Situational leadership

This theory holds that for a leader to be effective, he needs a rational knowledge of the prevailing situation and the right response instead of a charismatic leader having a large group of followers dedicated to him or her. The focus of this theory is that a leader will focus the needed tasks or on how they related with his or her followers and implies a leadership style where it is necessary to relate the syle of leadership and followers maturity. The leaders are task –oriented and hence define roles to be undertaken by followers, provide specific instructions, create patterns to be followed in the organization and even develop communication channels (McCleskey, 2014). On the other hand m leaders who are relation –oriented show concern for other people and try to minimize emotional conflict, ensure equal participation and attempt to create harmonious relations. However, there are various problems that arise from this theory which includes no internal consistency, ambiguities and internal inconsistencies. The other limitation involves research revelation that no specific style of leadership can be considered to universally fit and behavioral theories depended on other types like abstract leadership whose identification is difficult (McCleskey, 2014). 

Transformational leadership

This theory has been widely studied in the leadership field and various research have linked it to management success , effectiveness of middle level manager , military leadership , virtual teams , leadership in cross-cultural groups , emotional intelligence and personality. In transformational leadership theory, charisma is a very important element. A transformational leader is one who increases the consciousness level of followers in relation to the value and need for desired results and the methods used in arriving at these results. The leader is able to convince the followers to go beyond their self –interests for the organizational sake and at the same time elevate follower’s Maslow need level, beginning with the lower security and safety level to the highest needs for self-actualization and even achievement (McCleskey, 2014).In this theory for aspects are very important and include inspirational motivation, idealized consideration, intellectual stimulation and consideration for individuals.  Inspirational motivation and idealized influence are aspects that represent charisma. A transformational leader will demonstrate all the aspects to varying level so as to achieve the desired organizational results through the efforts of the followers. Idealized influence involves followers wishing to emulate some qualities to which they attribute a leader and they are impressed by his or her behavior. Inspirational motivation relates to the ability to offer inspiration and motivation to followers and having a common challenge or meaning with the followers (McCleskey, 2014).

Transactional leadership

This theory focuses on certain exchanges that happen between a follower and a leader, which makes it possible for the leader to achieve performance objectives that they have set. The exchanges also allow the leaders to finish the tasks needed, maintain the present organizational situation and at the same time offer motivation to followers by way of contractual agreement.  The leader is also able to direct the follower’s behavior towards attaining the set goals and at the same time placing emphasis in extrinsic rewards. The leader is able to avert any unnecessary risks and focus on enhancing the efficiency in an organization (McCleskey, 2014).   For transactional leadership, followers are able to accomplish their self-interest, reduce any anxiety at the workplace and focus on comprehensible objectives of an organization like higher quality, lower costs and higher production level. The theory highlights the connection between leaders and their followers as being different gratification exchanges designed to maximize gains for an individual and the general organization.  Transactional leadership can be described as exchanges between a leader and his or her follower and it is aimed at benefiting both.  The leader uses contingent rewards, corrective coaching and even negative feedback to influence the follower (McCleskey, 2014).

1. Recommendation to management

While there are many ideas included in many theories of leadership, little consensus exist on what makes up effective leadership. The knowledge on leadership is wide but fragmented with many propositions on the best leadership qualities that constitute an organizational leader. An increase in challenges facing organizations especially businesses requires a leadership quality that will provide solutions as they are needed.  An increase in economic systems organization comes with great risks and competition which means that organization management has to remain on their toes (Vann, Coleman & Simpson, 2014).  Quality leadership is needed at the management level to provide guidance on how to obtain solutions for more productivity and better competitive edge. Leadership as a method is passed on through communication channels, both formal and informal. The appropriate style of leadership will be determined by the situation prevailing in the industry, market, organization and the leader’s personality and ability to influence. In competitive global environment, a hybrid leadership will play a key role in bringing success to a business organization in the global market.  The hybrid leadership is all about renaissance since it is different in many than past styles of leadership. The leader should have qualities that will help an organization to sail safely through many challenges in the current global market (Nazir, Soomro, Ahmad &Waheed, 2014).

The management of an organization should be at the hand of a leader with blended abilities and qualities which will help them to succeed in the present environment.  The environment is bringing about disconnects and sour relationship between a  manager and employees and this acts as a catalyst for organizational leaders to transit from just supervisory roles to mentoring and coaching roles.  This involves building capacity of employees. The environment is also littered with cases of unethical behavior among some organizational leaders and the impacts of these behaviors have been felt by many people and thereby, tainting the perception of the world on leaders.  A leader should be able to build trust among his followers, or employees by reconnecting the relationship between an employer and employee (Nazir et. al 2014).

The aim of hybrid leadership is to enable followers to maintain an optimal performance level.  The leadership should embrace the various positive traits described in the leadership theories and steer the organization towards growth and development. The focus should be on both feminine and masculine traits which a leader can use to come up with aptitude and enhance the performance of an organization. For instance, transformational leadership aims at creation of new opportunities for the organization’s employees and transactional style assist in improving the current structure. Eliminating the various aspects of leadership that counterproductive will enable leaders, followers and organizations to perform at optimum level.

1. Conclusion

While some people are born leaders, leadership qualities can be imparted on a person to develop his leadership skills. Trait leadership theories tend to view leadership qualities as being inherent but other theories describe a leader as being made though experience, training and education. The various leadership styles proposed these theories have limitations, and in the current challenging environment, a hybrid leadership is important since it focuses on combination of positive aspects of these theories.

 

 

References

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 Nazir,B., , Soomro, S., Ahmad, A., Waheed ,A.,(2014). Hybrid leadership and Employees Capacity building. International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 5, Issue 1

 Dinh, J. E., Lord, R. G., Gardner, W. L., Meuser, J. D., Liden, R. C., & Hu, J. (2014). Leadership theory and research in the new millennium: Current theoretical trends and changing perspectives. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(1), 36-62. 

Schlichting, N. M. (2016). Unconventional leadership: What Henry Ford and Detroit taught me about reinvention and diversity. Routledge. 

Hess, J. D., & Bacigalupo, A. C. (2014). Enhancing management problem-solving processes through the application of emotional intelligence skills. Journal of Management Policies and Practices, 2(3), 1-17. 

Lin, F., Hu, C., & Fuchs, A. (2016). How Do Firms Respond to Political Tensions? The Heterogeneity of the Dalai Lama Effect on Trade.

 McCleskey, J. A. (2014). Situational, transformational, and transactional leadership and leadership development. Journal of Business Studies Quarterly, 5(4), 117.

 Martin, B., Breunig, M., Wagstaff, M., & Goldenberg, M. (2017). Outdoor leadership: Theory and practice. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.  87.92