Managemant styles
Leadership, Leadership Role Models
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LEADERSHIP, LEADERSHIP ROLE MODELS
Concept questions:
Give examples of born leaders and made leaders.
Born leader are the ones who have inborn qualities of an leader.
Where else in case of made leader it is often an mentor who shapes
a leader. Examples of such leader are given below:
Born leader: Dhirubhai Ambani, JRD Tata, Bal Thackeray
Made leader: K.M.Birla, Anil Ambani, Ratan Tata, I.K.Gujral,
The difference is only of degree and no one can be identified as
being completely born leader or made leader.
Management Styles
A management style is a distinctive way in which Planning,
Organising, Actuating, Controlling and other management functions
are performed. Given the many choices in the performance of each
management function, an almost limitless number of management
styles can be visualized. In reality, however one encounters far
fewer styles. This is because styles tend to be internally
coherent. If a management chooses to coordinate activities
participatively, it is also likely to set goals, develop
strategies, control operations, etc. participatively rather than in
an authoritarian manner. Styles tend to crystallize around major
management convictions and commitments. That is, their cores tend
to be ideological in character, and commitment to a core management
ideology- of risk-taking in business or conservatism,
professionalism in hiring staff or intuitive choices, and so on- is
likely to shape the rest of the style.
These commitments are not randomly generated. Nor are they
exclusively the commitments of the person who happens to be the
CEO, although undoubtedly the CEO usually does play a significant
role in the evolution of a style of management. The style evolved
has to be viable, that is it has to be able to measure up to
real-life situations. A good deal of learning from experience plays
a major part in the styles emergence. Social processes within the
ranks of management, such as information and experience sharing,
advocacy of points of view, political deals and so forth, also play
a part. The purpose for which the organisation is set up and the
social, legal and economic environment, in which it operates, too
contribute to the viability of the style of management.
Good and Bad styles of Management
Human beings are an interesting species; they often talk about
lofty ideals and perfection but practice quite the opposite.
Determined by the super-ego and identity, human behavior may be
repulsive or sublime.
Hence the style of management adopted is an expression of the
thoughts in the mind of the decision makers and leaders.
Depending upon these thoughts the style could be good or bad.
i.e. socially desirable or undesirable. In society, good styles are
referred as professional and participative. If there is variety in
excellence, there is variety in incompetence. The corporate
sickness and dysfunctional forms of bureaucracy and professional
management have uncovered a large number of bad forms of
management.
Describe the role of Karta in a Hindu Undivided Family:
Karta is the head of a Hindu Undivided Family more commonly
known as an HUF. The Karta of an HUF is the supreme authority in
business matters. He is the leader of this organization. The other
members of the family i.e. the co-parceners are not allowed to have
their say in the matters relating to the organization. It is
usually the Head of the family who is named the Karta.
Descriptive Questions
Q 1) Critically analyze the leadership style and its central
characteristic of the Indian leading industrialist: Rahul Bajaj ,
Dhirubhai Ambani, Mr. N.R Narayan Murthy and J.R.D.Tata
Rahul Bajaj
Rahul Bajaj is the man who can be given credit for building
Bajaj auto are the 4th largest two-wheeler manufacturer in the
world. He has achieved an incredible growth rate of 1852% in the
last decade. Following are some of the points that explain the
reason of his success.
Education: Bajaj is a highly educated person. He has done his BA
(Hons) and is a management graduate from Harward.
Concentration of Core Competency: Rahul Bajaj collaborated with
Kawasaki for production of motorcycle but for scooter he did not go
for any collaboration. Manufacturing scooters is his core
competency and he does not want to experiment with that.
Customer is King: Bajaj has often been accused of exploiting the
customers with delivery period of 10 years, black marketing, etc.
but this is not true at the face value. A deeper insight brings to
picture that there were other elements who are responsible for
these accuses. Bajaj, in spite of a heavy demand, did not raise the
price of his scooters and avoided exploitation of customers.
Staunch believer in himself: Bajaj listens to each and everyone,
but takes decision on his own. His organisation is a little
centralized. In spite of strong oppositions, he sticks to his
decisions.
Never give up attitude: Licence Raj was a nightmare for Bajaj.
He does not believe in bringing Government officials and getting
his license cleared. This is a major reason why Bajaj Auto came
under MRTP and was allowed to expand its production capacity. But
he did not give up to the Government conditions and after some
years, done lobbying through business housed and putting tremendous
pressure on Government learn his license.
Jach Welchs theory: Rahul Bajaj holds same views of Mr. Jack
Welch, the former CEO of GE. He believes that if one is no No 1 or
No 2, he should get out from that business. This principle kept him
away from the four-wheeler market.
Attitude towards workers: Bajaj has less kind of words for
workers. Still, there has been only one strike in the history of 35
years of the company. He takes care of the needs of the workers and
at the same time, he views workers as a tool for production. In his
word Why do they strike and lose wages? They should work more, earn
more
BBC: Rahul Bajaj is well known for his unflinching frankness and
varied opinion on every topic under the sun. His office is
therefore popularly known as BBC (Bajaj Broadcasting
Corporation)
Straightforwardness: His quotes about the Governnment have found
place in the headlines of many leading newspapers and magazines in
India and have also raised controversies. But this does not stop
him from doing what he considers correct.
All the above features are the hallmark of Bajaj. They has
earned him a rare reputation as one of Indias most successful
industrialists.
Squeaky clean, he has never been involved in shady takeovers. He
does not engage in street fights, nor has he ever hijacked someone
elses project. He hasnt burnt tyres during hard drive for meteoric
growth. On the contrary, he is something of a plodder, routinely
burning the midnight oil, and devoted to the virtues of hard work.
Hes Indias most admired industrialist along with Dhirubhai Ambani
and the late Adity Birla.
Dhirubhai Ambani
When we talk about Indian leaders one name, which we cannot miss
out, is Dhirubhai Ambani. He has voyaged through a journey of rags
to riches. He was born on 28th December 1932 to a local
schoolteacher in a village called Chorwad, in Junagadh district,
Gujarat.
Dhirubhai has been an opportunist right from his childhood. All
he needed was the whiff of a business opportunity and he was off to
tap it. During the Mahashivratri fair, he would sell ganthia a
gujaratri savoury to earn money. Due to shortage of money, he left
education after matriculation and went to Aden to earn money. He
worked for almost eight years in a petrol station where he learned
about oil business until a day came when he was bitten by the
entrepreneurial bug. He came back to Bombay to start his own
business. He took a loan with which he started Reliance Commercial
Corporation, which has been a stepping-stone to one of Indias
largest Corporation. They were involved in general
merchandising.
Dhirubhai has always shown all the critical leadership
qualities. He would always grab an opportunity and strike on it. He
then started his yarn business in the 60s and then he build his own
spinning mill in 1966 known as Reliance Textile industries.
He believed that if a person wants to succeed in something then
he should have complete access to information on that topic.
Whenever he wanted to approach the government to get licenses,
information about the competitors, market size etc. he would
collect all these information, no matter at what cost it came. He
also believes in destiny and gives all the credit to his luck. This
shows how down to earth he is. Even today he has a simple ritual of
Puja when a new machine is installed. He isnt proud of what he is
and he still believes in Simple thinking, Modern thinking.
He always followed the rule to be the pioneer/first to do
anything. He would just grab an opportunity that would come up
because of some government policy changes and would implement it
successfully. He believed not in meeting demand but in creating
demand. He always produced in large quantities. He was of the
opinion that customer should be provided with best quality goods at
the lowest price. Moreover Dhirubhai as opposed to most other
leaders wasnt expert in only one field. He was a manufacturing as
well a marketing whiz. He knew how to offer the right product mix,
identify markets and establish viable distribution structure, which
holds true for one of his famous brand Vimal. He is also referred
to as Manchester of India.
He didnt mind copying someone elses idea, which he could
implement better than his competitors. As in the case of copying
the concept of selling through showrooms for his brand Vimal to
counter the resistance from the traditional markets which he copied
from Bombay Dyeing. He always had the dynamism and confidence in
future and was always ready to go against all odds. He always
believed in himself.
He has always believed that his first responsibility is towards
his companys shareholders and he was also concerned in protecting
their interests. He also known as the stock market messiah. This is
because when some Marwari clan were trying to bring down the price
of his shares by short selling, he counter attacked them and in
turn earned a hefty sum from them. He has always had a wide
investor base and most of his subscriptions were over subscribed.
He has always been an innovator in the financial market. He
innovated and reintroduced successfully concepts like partial
convertible bonds, fully convertible bonds etc.
He has been successful in manufacturing world-class products. He
always believed in Think big, think fast and think ahead. He has
never had an ego problem and he knew how to get his work done from
people. He was never ashamed to salaam anyone.
Another incident that shows his vision as a leader is that when
Reliances Patalganga Complex was damaged due to floods. Technical
experts from Du Pont estimated hundred days to make the complex
operational but Reliance had the complete complex operational in
twenty-one days. This was possible because of Dhirubhais vision,
his confidence, his dedication proper logistical planning and
making available all resources.
Dhirubhai has always believed in picking up the best talent.
They have a motivated workforce. He only believes in providing
leadership, vision and strategy. He thinks that he doesnt run his
business but his business leaders do it.
Dhirubhai is criticized for manipulating the government for his
benefits. Apart from that he has paid zero tax on corporate
earnings for several years due to the loopholes in the system. He
was also involved in manipulating the L&T board to gain
control. Apart from that he was heavily criticized along with
Pranab Mukherjee for buying shares under dummy companies which
never existed.
But be it whatever Dhirubhai is one of the greatest leaders of
India who has the zeal to achieve something big rather than just
earning money and the obsession to build. He wants to work till his
death.
As a true leader Dhirubhai had once said that, People think I
have finally arrived but I think I have just begun. Mr. N.R Narayan
Murthy
Mr. Narayan Murthy was born in a middle class family in
Siddalghat in Karnataka, His father inculcated importance of
determination, discipline and good values. Since childhood he had a
very good academic record.
At present he is the Chairman of Infosys. Present market
capitalization of Rs. 60,000 crores Infosys started with Rs.10,
000.Mr. Narayan Murthy is influenced by Mahatma Gandhi who walked
his talk and demonstrated by, Example He says he wants to be a doer
and respects people who do things, rather than just talk.
Some of the traits that differentiates him from others are:
His Underlying principle:
Is that, you undertake to do something you are confident of and
have the capability to do it. This helps to lay the foundation to
build a healthy relationship. He also believes that it is better to
have a small part of a large, growing pie; than a large part of
small shrinking one.
Simple living-high thinking:
A man who believes in Simple living high thinking. Even though
he has a personal wealth of Rs. 2,500 crores, his lifestyle remains
modest. He lives in a simple 2-bed room flat in
Santacruz-Mumbai.
Under-promising & Over-delivering:
He has tremendous respect for people and sound philosophy of
under-promising & over delivering. This helps him build a
healthy long-term relationship with his colleagues, employees,
family, friends, business associates and network of
shareholders.
Pioneer in HRM:
Mr. Murthy says that his is an HR-based industry. Software is a
knowledge business hence the focus is shifted to Brainware. It was
he who started ESOPs that is real distribution of wealth. Now it is
very common in the industry to have ESOPs but it has done wonders
in Infosys. Thus Narayan Murthy is honestly awe-inspiring role
model for professionals.
Performance Oriented:
He is a man who always measures performance against value.
According to Murthy peoples performance in the knowledge industry
is as valuable as gold. Thus by introducing ESOPs he motivated his
employees to work smart and hard.
Strategy: ( Customer is the King):
Even though there is a lot of competition in the market he
believes in one thing that is, being unique in the market place and
making sure that you are the 1st mover.
Tap the need of the customer and give them more than they
expect. Believes in giving value to the customer, being fair to
people and transparency in working.
Mr. Murthy says that Growth comes from repeat business, repeat
business comes from relationships, and relationships with customers
are built on trust and trust is built by delivering quality
products.
Social being:
He believes in putting the public good ahead of private good in
every decision he makes. This differentiates the developed world
from the developing world. Infosys practices its Social
responsibility very well. Rehabilitation drive, literacy programme,
donations etc are few ways in which he works for the society.
Visionary:
Though Infosys had so many professionals it did not venture into
dotcom because of the vision of Mr. Narayan Murthy. This saved them
from going down. The downfall of dotcoms has not affected his
business much. Before starting Infosys this visionary got together
with 6 professionals and wanted to start have Indias first software
company of the professionals, for the professionals, by the
professionals, and because of his farsightedness Infosys has come
this far and proved to be a winner.
Thus Narayan Murthy is honestly awe-inspiring role model for the
professionals.
JRD TATA
When talking about Indias greatest leaders, one name just cannot
be skippedJ.R.D. TATA. For decades the sole Indian businessman,
global leaders had ever heard of, was Tata. Its different todaythe
Sunday Times, Forbes and even the hallowed Harvard Business Review
now carries articles written by Indian mgt. gurus on Indian case
studies. But for years the world passed India by. Only J.R.D. Tata
made an impact.
When J.R.D. became chairman of Tatas in 1938, British firms
dominated the environment, but the House of Tata towered above all
others. It had 14 companies with sales of Rs. 280 crores. The year
he died, 1993, it was still Indias biggest business house. Sales
had mushroomed to Rs. 15000 crores and there were over 50 large
manufacturing companies besides innumerable holdings and concerns.
He was a distinguished and respected industrialist who was also
awarded the BHARAT RATNA, remarkable achievement.
What sort of value system made the great man achieve his
greatness?
Following is an analysis of some of the virtues & vices,
which J. R. D. displayed through the course of his eventful
life:
Virtues:
J.R.D. was
Approachable: - J.R.D. had no problems making friends easily. He
had one of the most comfortable personalities that was probably his
benchmark of becoming a successful individual.
Diplomatic: - One of the most difficult talents is to say no in
a nice manner. But Diplomacy was never a problem for J.R.D. Even
when he was angry at Nehru for going against industrialists, he was
never rude but made his point diplomatically and walked away
friends.
Realistic: - J.R.D. never plunged into unviable projects,
howsoever exciting they might be. He briefly flirted with the idea
of making bombers with Tata Aircraftbut despite his love for
flying, he shot down the project himself when it became clear that
there was no money to be made.
Charismatic: - When J.R.D. was elected chairman of the group,
there was no question about the selection. There was no one else
who could have been chosen by the board. J.R.D. by then was a hero.
The daring pilot, the shrewd businessman. He was already
outstanding.
Courageous: - J.R.D. had always supported Nehrus views on
socialism. Something that the board of Tata sons did not agree
with. But J.R.D. refused to sign the manifesto against socialism.
It must have required considerable courage for a 30- something to
stand up for views, which differed so widely from those of the old
guard.
Compassionate: - People talk of Russi Mody but he manipulated
people. J.R.D. genuinely felt for workers. His approach to labor
was that of Fabian socialism. After J.R.D.s entry, the management
of Tisco changed its policy of confrontation. The trade union
became not only acceptable but also an association which was vital
to the interests of the workers.
Supportive towards innovation: - Apart from his supportive
attitude towards Tiscos lab technicians, perhaps Tata chemicals
provides the best demonstration of J.R.D.s willingness to support
innovation in his business and among his managers.
Aware of a sense of responsibility: - There were opportunities
for J.R.D. where he was tempted to joined politics. But he
rationalized to himself by concluding that he could do more for the
country in business and industry than in politics. He says, I had
no doubt that freedom was on its way. But who knows, I might one
day have an opportunity to serve in more useful ways than by going
to jail today!
Committed to values: - J.R.D. never believed in paying under the
table for getting a license approved. He never believed in
exploiting the workers, society and earning more profits. It was
believed that wealth and respect are disjoint. J.R.D. was
considered to be an exception to this rule.
A visionary: - J.R.D. was the only director on the board of the
Tata group who supported Ratan Tatas plan to enter high investment
high risk industries like oil manufacturing & computers. He
believed, that being that stalwart business house of India, such
investments were a responsibility.
Vices:
J.R.D. was..
Conservative: - J.R.D. always preferred the more conservative
approach. His conservativeness left Tisco unprepared for the
outbreak of the second world war and the license-permit raj of free
India.
Aloof: - Unlike G.D. Birla, J.R.D. had kept aloof from the
congress leadership. For a group that depends as much as the Tatas
did on government patronage, this was a major lacuna.
Bad tempered: - Instead of trying to patch up the differences,
J.R.D. withdrew into himself. He rejected Nehrus invitations to the
UN session in Paris, and the invitation to lead Indian Rare Earths,
one of the first PSUs. J.R.D. forgot the Public Relations
implications of these prestigious invitations and the signals his
refusal emitted.
After going through the above virtues and vices of Indias
greatest industrialist, we learn a lot about what it takes to be
successful in business, career, and in ..life.
Q 2) Critically analyze the differences in the leadership styles
of a family managed Indian business organizations and MNCs in
India?
Ans. Family business is same like any other organization because
essentially it is a venture for profit like any other MNCs. But the
difference stems up because of the fact that family business is a
fusion of business system and the family system this fusion is
absent in other forms of organizations. This difference manifests
itself in the style of leadership of an organization, which is
given in detail below:
Variables under considerationFamily managed Indian business
organizationMulti national corporations in India
Born vs made leaderMore often then not, made leaderMore of born
leader
Role of a leaderMany a times deviates from policy formation,
planning etc. and role is reduced to conflict manager engaged in
solving clashes and reduces the role of leader to merely a mediator
Involved more in business issues and concentrates in formulating
long term business plans. Keeps away from day to day
operations.
Funding strategyConservative equity funding. Does not believe in
participative funding. Domestic, local currency funds are preferred
financers (mostly family friends or relatives)Capital has no colour
or quality. It has only cost & applicability. Hence, live and
let live policy with global capital is welcome, with hedging
arrangements.
Partnerships & strategic alliances Family-relationships were
more important than high value high return partnerships with
outsiders.Do not bother for close linkages. Growth is welcome, from
whatever sources available
Recruitment & remuneration policyLow wages, high job
security to the employees. Trusted persons are generally preferred
to others who may be better qualified.Higher wages with
profit-sharing but without job security. Recruitment is based on
pure merits.
Profitability & empowermentAs empowerment was limited,
employees were (at the most) responsible for volumes & costs.
Sharing of business results was missing.Extreme of empowerment is
possible i.e. an employee may be treated as a profit centre.
Responsibility Accounting is predominantly used.
Strategic financial planningInward-looking, conservative
financial strategies are used for business growth.
Long term strategic plans are well-designed with greater
clarity.
Decision making processControl is tight and is achieved by
posting relatives of owners or members of their community in
decision-making processDecentralized decision making. There is more
delegation of authority
Leader member relationshipMore of emotions based. Leader holds
sympathy for others because they are his own family members.
Relationship is very professional and has empathy towards
other.
No one style can be said to be the best. Each style has its own
advantages and disadvantages. One cannot deny that, we need phase
of multinational leadership style and grace of Indian family
business style.
Q 3) Depending upon the structure of task-high or low - analyse
what impact will it have on leadership
Ans: Task structure refers to the degree to which the task is
clearly defined. A bank tellers job has relatively high task
structure; the branch managers job has less. The nature of the
situation, specifically the characteristic of the task affects the
impact of the leaders behaviour on follower satisfaction and
effort.
Basically, the leader chooses among four styles:
1. Directive. The leader tells employees what he expects of
them, gives them guidance about what they should do, and shows them
how to do it.
2. Supportive. The leader shows concern for the well-being and
needs of her employees by being friendly and approachable.
3. Participative. The leader involves employees in decision
making, consults with them about their views of the situation, asks
for their suggestions, considers those suggestions in making a
decision, and sometimes lets the employees make the decisions.
4. Achievement oriented. The leader helps employees set goals,
rewards the accomplishment of these goals, and encourages employees
to assume responsibility for achieving the goals.
Situational characteristicsLeadership styles
Task Directive SupportiveAchievement oriented Participative
Structured NoYesYesYes
UnstructuredYesNoYesNo
Clear goalsNo YesNoYes
Ambiguous goalsYesNoYesNo
When the task is structured; the supportive, achievement
oriented and participative leadership styles are preferred. But the
directive style of leadership is not preferable when the task is
structured. This is because when the employees are aware of what
the task they are supposed to finish there is no need for the
employer to direct them.
When the task is unstructured, the directive and achievement
oriented styles are preferred rather than the supportive and
participative style. This is because the employees are not fully
aware of the task to be performed and therefore a leader who tells
or helps employees to set goals would be more effective rather than
a leader shows concern or involves employees. Consider the
president of a new start-up company in which the ten employees are
hand picked, the tasks are highly ambiguous, but the presidents
authority is clear. A directive or achievement oriented style would
work well.
When the goals set are clear the leadership style that is
preferred is supportive and participation. The only difference
between a structured task and clear goals is that an achievement
oriented leadership style is not preferred. This is because when
the goals are already set, you dont require a leader who sets them
and rewards them.
The last case where the task has ambiguous goals, the leadership
style to be adopted is similar to that of the unstructured task.
This is because one would require a directive and achievement
oriented leader to set goals, instruct the employees, guide them,
reward them when the goals are ambiguous.
Conclusion: there is no golden rule as to which leadership style
to be adopted depending upon the task structure but the analysis
given above would have a higher probability of success ratio so as
to effectively lead.
Q 4) Explain the conservative, entrepreneurial, professional,
bureaucratic and organic styles of management.
Along with the ten pure styles of management, a defective
version of each pure style was also developed. The pure styles were
developed on the basis of research done on management styles both
in India and abroad, as well as extensive management consultancy
and training experience. Similarly, the defective forms were
conceptualized on the basis of research and consultancy and
training experience.
The ten pure management styles are the conservative style and
the sharply contrasting entrepreneurial style, the professional
style and contrary to it the intuitive style, the participative and
the opposing authoritarian style, the organic or free form and the
opposing bureaucratic style, the familial style or paternalistic
style, and the altruistic style.
Some of the important ones are enumerated below:
a) The conservative style:
The essence of conservatism is conservation of what has worked
in the past and has demonstrated survival value. The principle of
survival is at the core of the conservative style of management.
Conservatism does not necessarily mean refusal to change. It means
instead, caution in changing.
The pure conservative style was defined as follows:
A cautious one-step-at-a-time approach to problems. Decisions
are generally compromises between the conflicting demands of board,
unions, government managers, customers, etc. Precedents and
traditions are given importance. The primary concern is with
stability and steady growth.
b) The entrepreneurial style:
While conservatism facilitates survival, enterprise facilitates
conquest and the unfolding of opportunities for growth. The
entrepreneurial style has emerged from this spirit of adventure,
probing and innovation. Entrepreneurship not only creates new
industries, opens up new markets and transforms old or mature
industries, it also builds civilizations.
The pure entrepreneurial style was defined as follows: active
search for big new opportunities; large, bold decisions despite the
uncertainty of their outcome; a forceful leader at the top wielding
great power; and rapid growth as the major organization goal.
c) The Professional style:
A scientific approach, high level of formal expertise,
reasonable consensus about dos and donts and formal training are
traits of a professional approach to management.
One focus of this movement was the manual work performed in the
organization. The other focus was managerial work performed in the
organization.
The pure professional style was defined as follows: systematic
search for growth opportunities and systematic anticipation of
problems through formal forecasts; a systematic consideration of
costs and benefits of alternatives and a carefully coordinated
formalized top management strategy. The emphasis is on long-term
planning, professional management, a sophisticated control and
information system and the extensive use of expertise and
all-pervasive research before making decisions.
d) The Bureaucratic Style:
The core of bureaucratic style is quite primeval: management by
programming the behavior of the members of collectivity. According
to Max Weber, the bureaucratic mode of management was more
efficient as well as more fair. It was more efficient because by
programming everyones behavior rationally the organization could
operate like a well-oiled machine. And it was fair because everyone
knew what he or she was to be evaluated on.
The pure bureaucratic style was defined as follows: a strong
emphasis on smooth functioning by prescribing in writing
objectives, procedures, rules, and the powers, duties and
responsibilities of managers and other staff. The emphasis is on
clear reporting relationships, precise job descriptions, formal
communications, strict control and above all, correctness of
procedures and accountability.
e) The Organic Style:
Following are some of the characteristics of organic
management:-
Tasks are seen in their total contexts
Continuous redefining of individual tasks through interaction
with others, as during product design
Commitment to getting a job done overrides definitions of
responsibilities, rights , obligations or methods to be used
The pure organic style was defined as follows: A strong emphasis
on the free flow of information and communication within the
organization. Widespread awareness of the organizations goals,
problems and business plan of actions among managers at all levels.
Dislike for paperwork and formalized procedures and job
descriptions. The emphasis is on administrative flexibility,
openness, innovation, the importance of the effective problem
solver, and above all on resourcefulness and getting things
done.
Q 5 Explain the importance of values in leadership? How
leader/managers should respond to human values?
Ans:Leadership is an indescribable ability based on concrete
principles and a tool that anyone can learn that helps one guides
an organization or group of people in a beneficial direction or to
a valuable destination.
A value is something considered worthy in and of itself by a
person or a group. It can be a one-word standard of conduct or a
policy everyone in a company adheres to and believes in. it helps
people to understand what is desirable behavior and what isnt. They
are more powerful than rules.
Values play a very important role in everyones life and also in
leadership. A leader is someone who has followers. Thus he has to
follow a pattern of ethics and values. Our nation needs ethical and
imaginative leaders at every level. The future of the society
depends on leaders who are capable of providing strong leadership,
who understand that leadership means service, and who believe that
their very citizenship carries the obligation to lead when
circumstances require. The study of ethical leadership is a
critical component of any leader, and he must incorporate it along
with the traditional emphasis on policy analysis and
formulation.
The long-term success of an organization, community or society
depends on good leadership, not just on technical proficiency and
skillful management. Good leadership must be grounded in ethical
values. There are tensions between personal values and goals, on
the one hand, and organizational, community, or societal values and
goals on the other. Ethical leadership involves recognizing and
reconciling those tensions.
A leader should be able to identify human values and act on
them. Human values include gratitude, loyalty, humility, patience,
gentleness, dignity, honesty, etc. and a good leader has to
consider all these characteristics. It must be understood that
archetypal human being in a sustainable, living earth system has to
be nearer the ascetic rather than in acquisitive type, even if the
former re-emerges conspicuously only a hundred years or more.
Therefore to be a leader Reflection is essential i.e. he should
respond to a particular situation as it generates the inner
toughness needed to be an effective person of action. Leadership is
the sum of two vectors: competence (your specialty, your skills,
your know-how) and authenticity (your identity, your character,
your attitude). For e.g. When leaders get stuck, they tend to apply
more steam, more competence, to what got them into trouble in the
first place: "If I try harder, I'll be successful," or "If we exert
more control, we'll get the results we need.
The problem is, when you're stuck, one not likely to make
progress by using competence as his tool. Firstly, the leaders need
to dedicate to understanding himself better, in the philosophical
sense of understanding what it means to exist as a human being in
the world. Second, need to change his habits of thought, for e.g.
how you think, what you value, how you work, how you connect with
people, how you learn, what you expect from life, and how you
manage frustration. Changing those habits means changing ones way
of being intelligent. It means moving from a nonleadership mind to
a leadership mind.
Values are extremely powerful and they guide the leaders to
identify what human behavior is acceptable and what behavior is not
while practicing leadership. Leadership and learning are important
individual values and form a symbiotic relationship for a
leader.
Q 6)Does leadership style change according to situation?
Any style of leadership cannot be successful under any
situations. Although a leader tends to have one dominant style, but
he needs to make alterations depending upon the situation. By
taking example of work in an organisation, different styles of
leadership and different situations can be explained as
follows:
Different leadership styles are:
1. Autocratic: leaders with this style centralise the power and
decision making in themselves. The employees are expected to do
what they are told. Autocratic styles mostly is negative, that is,
it is based on threats and punishments, but sometimes it is
positive as it also gives rewards to employees.
2. Consultative: a leader adopting this style makes decisions
after consulting groups. He is supportive and accessible. However
he retains the responsibility with himself.
3. Democratic: A leader making most use of this style shows that
he has greater confidence in his employees. The decision-making is
placed in the hands of the whole group. All members participate
actively and the leader only supports.
The situation in the work environment can change based on the
following parameters:
1. Employees task: it may be structured or unstructured, routine
or new and challenging. Structured task requires less backing from
a leader, but when task is highly unstructured, the employee will
not be motivated to work if his leader does not guide him.
2. Leader-member relation: this shows how is how is the leaders
acceptance in the group and what is the attitude of the employees,
i.e. whether they like to work independently or want more
support.
The main aim behind finding all this is to evaluate whether the
situation is favorable or unfavorable and accordingly he has to
adjust his style to get the desired output. This is because, the
situation (the external environment) cannot be changed, but the
leadership style can be changed as per the demand of the
situation.
For example, when an emergency order has to be completed, the
decision cannot be left on the employees of how they will execute
the order. The leader has to be quick, take decision on his own and
has to have the capability that everyone follows his isstructions.
Although, under normal circumstances he may be allowing group
participation, but in that course of time he should develop such
credibility that his authority is not challenged and accepted
without resistance during emergency.
Similarly, if the situation demands creative thinking, he can
get the best out of his employees if he allows group participation.
To stimulate creative thinking, he has to give them more liberty
even though otherwise he has always centralized the decision-making
process.
The leader sets an example for his followers and his success
depends on his ability to handle different situations. It can be
noted that any leader has one style permanent that makes him a
leader, that differentiates him from the others and that has made
him the leader. But that cannot be so rigid that it becomes a
hurdle in managing situations.
In the dynamic environment, where things change rapidly, one
style of working cannot be an answer to all situations. However,
one ting has to be permanent, the determinacy to get the work done
from employees under all situations and to keep that unchanged, the
styles need to be changed.