Free Custom «Issues to consider in having a leader» Essay Paper

When having a leader it is important to focus on how sharing leadership affects the experiences and the effectiveness of a group project (Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff, 2000). Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff (2000) indicated that “it is important that a group understands how leadership relates to ones credibility and also understand the qualities that contribute to effective leadership within an organization” (p. 28). According to Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff (2000) when having a leader the group should focus on how having a leader helps the team or the organization wit transactional and task processes. They continue to indicate that the leader should be able to adapt and identify roles which contribute to better leadership within the organization (Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff, 2000).

Another important aspect that should be considered when having leadership is the individual’s communication to team members. Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff (2000) says that this is because communication is how leadership is exercised. Hesselbein, Goldsmith, &. Beckhard (1996) indicated that leaders must have visions of what is happening and what should happen and they must have the communication skills to get their insights across to the other organization team members. Hesselbein, Goldsmith, &. Beckhard (1996) continue to say that the leader must be able to see more deeply and grasp intuitively what may not be obvious or provable.

 

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In addition Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff (2000) indicated that trustworthiness is an important factor which should be considered when having a leader. They continue to say that trust is essential to relationship in general and to leadership in particular and it can be measured in some ways. The leader should be able to prepare for meetings and at the same time e involved in both task and transactional processes (Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff, 2000)

Leadership styles

According to Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff (2000) there are three classic leadership styles. These include laissez-faire, authoritarian or autocratic and democratic leadership styles. Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff (2000) indicated that “laissez-faire leadership refers to a neutral, kick-back and let the folks do whatever they choose style” (p. 259). They continue to say that one must already be designated as the leader to be laissez-faire. This is because in their own opinion Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff (2000) this is because being lays back rarely gets you the position. In their further studies they indicated that this style works well for a tam of real experts who want to share leadership and charge ahead (Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff, 2000). They however said that for other team’s productivity, quality, involvement and satisfaction are adversely affected and suffer. 

The other type of leadership according to Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff (2000) is authoritarian or autocratic leadership. In this type of leadership Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff (2000) established that “the leader keeps tight control of the team runs meetings by the book, sets schedules and may at the same time use coercive or reward power”(p. 260). They also indicated that authoritarian leadership in most cases increases productivity in the shot term but it also increases aggression and turnover rates among members (Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff, 2000). As a result the majority of the people equate authoritarianism with leadership however and their expectations can only be met by an authoritarian leader.

The third type f leadership as indicated by Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff (2000) is democratic leadership. Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff (2000) established that “the democratic leader ensures that everyone is heard, guides and facilitates discussion and decision making and shares power” (p. 260). In their further studies they established that democratic leaders do three important things which include; making sure that everyone in the group feels responsible for outcomes. Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff (2000) said that t democratic leaders ensure that they enhance the group’s feelings of empowerment and finally they create process through which the team ca makes effective decisions (p. 260). In democratic leadership each team member in the organization or the team develops the expertise and the desire to perform these roles as well and ultimately everyone can take turns serving as leaders and followers or workers (Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff, 2000).

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In the recent, besides these types of leadership theories of leadership have emerged. According to Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff (2000) these include transactional and transformational leadership. Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff (2000) mentioned that “transactional leadership exchanges rewards for performance and the leaders set goals, clarify desired outcomes, provide feedback and give subordinates rewards for good work” (p. 281). Transformational leadership on the other hand elevates, motivates, inspires and develops the team (Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff, 2000). In their research Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff (2000) indicated that “transformational leaders motivate their followers through more subtle but very effective means and these strategies tend to result in high worker satisfaction” (p. 260)

Leadership qualities

The qualities of leadership do not always reside in the person designated as leader and therefore this makes it that much more significant for team members to posses and exercise those qualities (Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff, 2000). Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff (2000) in contrast indicated that “people with hesitant qualifications may be designated as leaders and sometimes situational influences within an organizational culture determine the choice” (p. 30). In organizations people may choose a leader based on the fact that he or she has political leverage or they may choose another to reward him for previous favors to someone in power (Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff, 2000).

A good leader should be self monitoring. Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff (2000) say that this is the aspect of watching other team responses as well as his or her own behavior and at the same time have the capability to identify and act upon environmental cues. Leaders should be able to act in an appropriate and socially adept way regardless of the situation (Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff, 2000). In this context leaders should be concerned about the appropriateness of their social behavior and be relatively adept at acting. Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff (2000) indicated that “leaders should be able and willing to control behavior and to optimize self-presentations even if this means portraying themselves differently across various contexts” (p. 35).  

Moreover, Hesselbein, Goldsmith, &. Beckhard (1996) indicated that leaders should be able to rebuild trust and confidence in the organization. They should therefore adopt and drive a servant leadership as a solution to the whole organization. Hesselbein, Goldsmith, &. Beckhard (1996) also said that leaders should create and change cultures in organizations to portray sense f effectiveness. Another good quality of a good leader is that he or she must be culturally self conscious and be aware of the cultural layers in their own personalities (Covey, 1996). This quality is important is ensuring that the leader is ready to change with the changing needs of the global needs of the business world.

Leaders must also understand the dynamics of anxiety and accept the reality of defensive mechanisms in individuals and the groups they lead (Covey, 1996). Leaders should be competent which according to Covey (1996) is represented in the psychological model of being persuasive, being clear, being a good communicator. This will serve the purpose of portraying and relying instructions to the team members as well as the whole organization. Covey (1996) also said that a good leader should have artistic endeavor which means they should be reflective and pen to learning. This also implies that leaders should be ready to embrace the aspect learning organization while at the same leading by example.

Leaders should have co-orientation accuracy which according to Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff (2000) is the ability for the leaders to measure another person’s position and feelings. This implies that leaders should know and understand how to clearly and accurately assess their teammates. This as indicated by Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff (2000) helps leaders to help some team members within an organization to adapt and co orient them  with their teammates. Leaders as indicated by Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff (2000) should “focus on other person rather than oneself thus showing recognition of the other as a unique person and sensitivity to others unique abilities, qualities, goals, feelings ad concerns” (p. 35). 

In addition Covey (1996) indicated that leaders should be able to learn what previous successful leaders have done ad adopt lessons from these leaders. They continue to say that leaders should be transformational and able to create fundamental change in their organizations and be visionary and articulate a point of view about the future of the organization (Covey, 1996). Covey (1996) also said that “leaders should be primal and release emotional intelligence, be able to build a pipeline for future leaders and at the same time demonstrate good principles through heir behaviors” (p. 142). Besides these qualities leaders should be courageous in making and making decisions as well as lead through science and art and also be resonant and renew themselves knowledge wise and the organization (Covey, 1996).

Good leader has the quality of looking at things from the other member’s points of view and try to understand the other members of the team (Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff, 2000). Another good quality is that leaders should find ways, in which they examine backgrounds, attitudes, values, beliefs and goals to find areas of agreement within the group members. Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff (2000) continue to say that “leaders should be able to find ways in which the express co-orientation and confirm their common goals and common feelings and besides that express their opinions and ideas in ways that connect with those of other team members” (p. 50). They should be able to listen carefully to others and express their support and at the same time show both verbally and nonverbally the kind of openness, friendliness ad supportiveness to their team.

Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff (2000) mentioned that a major quality of a good leader is one who is “open and naturally enthusiastic and be sensitive to others feedback and adjust to it” (p. 51). Also the leader should be able of identifying if or not the group needs energizing then using humor to add a little extra strength (Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff 2000).              

Leadership Roles

Leadership plays an important role in the success of any organization. Covey (1996) indicated that leadership is about going somewhere or leading the organization to achieve its goals and objectives. Leadership is closely associated with the way the organization will work towards its vision and mission. Leadership should be there to ensure that it articulates the customer needs within the organization in ensuring that the customer’s needs are met in a timely manner. Covey (1996) says that “leaders play the role of developing a compelling vision and a clear sense of where the organization is headed to” (p. 156). In this context Covey (1996) said that a compelling vision tells people in the organization its purpose and where the organization is headed. This therefore means that leaders play the role of creating a clear vision and direction and communicating it throughout the organization. The leaders also pay the role of ensuring that there is people involvement in the process of shaping the direction and vision of the organization.

Leaders play the role of implementing the vision, mission, goals and the objectives of the company. Covey (1996) says that “once vision has been set leaders play the role of placing established goals and strategies in order of priority and then they begin ensuring that implementation begins” (p. 157). According to Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff (2000) this is accomplished when the leaders coordinate their teams. Leaders achieve this through developing full communication, mutual understanding, information and cohesiveness by being together.

Leaders play the role of developing plans, timelines, work distribution and assignments (Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff, 2000). This is an integral role of leaders because they determine how duties are executed through coming up with the work plans. They do this by clearly indicating who does what at what time and therefore ensure that the team meets deadlines (Covey, 1996). Through this role leaders enhance the effectiveness of the organization and at the same time build confidence with the customers.

Leaders play the role of team building and creating collaborations with other teams in the organization (Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff, 2000). Leaders accomplish this by ensuring that they set meeting dates and also consult with other team members on the agendas to be discussed for example during those meetings. The leaders ensure that team members are on time to meetings, members do not miss meetings and that meetings work deadlines (Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff, 2000). Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff (2000) argued that leaders also check progress at each stage of the tasks and come up with ways of dealing with exceptions such as by communicating among members and sharing information with other team members.

Leaders should play the role of guiding their organizations to meet the challenges of the changing business world. Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff (2000) continue to say that since the last two decades managers job has changed from managing by control to managing by commitment. Covey (1996) says that this should equally be reflected by organizational leaders and it implies that organizational leaders should focus also on leading by commitment not by control. Leaders should focus on team motivation and output and from the traditional functions of planning, organizing, staffing and evaluation to the functions of coaching and facilitating (Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff, 2000).

In their further Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff (2000) said that leaders should play the role of directing the behavior of group members in pursuit of common goals. Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff (2000) also say that a leader’s most important function should be to empower other members to take on leadership roles. The leader should then develop shared leadership roles. The leader should identify styles and approaches to leading. Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff (2000) also continue to say that a leader should have the ability and willingness to take responsibility of directing their own behavior in a particular area.                     

In conclusion Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff (2000) indicated that “organizations with strong and effective leadership at all levels achieve superior results where else organization with inconsistent leadership achieve inconsistent business results” (p. 141). As a result Lumsden, Donald & Wiethoff said that effective leaders can turn fledging companies into viable competitors to other companies therefore its their role to ensure that they lead their teams to deliver superior results and to work towards achieving team effectiveness (2000).