Principles of Management

What is leadership?
Leadership is the ability to guide, influence and motivates his followers to
complete and achieve the common goal. It is having the vision and providing the
information, knowledge and methods that are shared with his followers and
teaching them to create their own. It involves showing how to be a leader, instead
of telling what a leader is. It coordinates and balances the conflicting interests of
all the members. And also in leadership it involves empowering and training his
followers to be equipped to do the task and have the successful results.

Identify the traits and skills of an effective leader.

1. Honesty it is very important to show the truthfulness in your leading. Because
the business and its employees are the reflection of what you have done to your
company. This kind of behavior will not just give a good ethical effect to your
employees that they will follow but also it will influence a friendly and helpful
workspace.
2. Ability to Delegate Proper delegation of task to the appropriate departments
will help your business grows. It will avoid mistakes that could give additional
expenses to your company. It will also produce good quality results. So to have
this key of delegating the task you should know the strengths of each
department and help them to improve it. If you will give a task that they really
enjoy that quality of their productivity will increase which will be a big help to
your company. And to this case you can focus on other task that cant be
delegated to other levels of the company.
3. Communication it is important to know how to communicate well to your
subordinates. This is the skills in which you should know how to explain clearly
your thoughts, so that they can understand your command and perform the
task well. If you cant relate your vision to your team then its a big problem.
You should know gone your communication skills and train your members and
create a productive workplace.
4. Sense of humor it is important in a team that a leader knows how to empower
and influence a positive vibe to its members. You should know how to
encourage your team to laugh and stay positive behind all the mistakes done
instead of crying over the things that has passed. If you know how to put the
humor during the struggling days the environment of the workplace will become
happily productive and healthy.

5. Confidence it is essential that a leader has the confidence to lead the team
behind any circumstances. You should know to maintain out the fire and the
morale of your members so that you will not lose the productivity of the team.
And you as a leader must not be seen to be lose of hope over the
circumstances because this will influence the whole team.
6. Commitment it is good to see that a leader is not just commanding what to do
but also seeing his interest over the things that he commanded. In this
commitment a leader must be the example so that his members could follow
him. There is no greater motivation in a team than to seeing a leader who is
working hard alongside with his subordinates to accomplish the task. By
providing it you will not just gain the respect of your members but also it will
instill the same working energy to them. Therefore the productivity of the team
is at its pick to produce good quality works.
7. Positive Attitude to keep your team motivated in accomplishing the task it is
important to keep the energy levels up. Keeping the friendly atmosphere in the
workplace will give good mood to the members that will influence their
productivity and motivation to do a good job.
8. Creativity in different situations, especially in the critical times, it is important
to maintain your creativity and think wisely. In critical times it is important to
always look for the best options by thinking and weighting the factors that will
affect the results.
9. Intuition this is the skill that a leader must have during the times of
uncertainty and there is no clear map to follow. A leader can rely on his past
experience or have some advice through his past mentors to help him out. But
the final-critical decision is up to you, you must know how to trust your ability
and gut instinct for the answer.
10. Ability to inspire as a leader you should know how to inspire your members
about your vision and making them feel that they are part of it. You can also
give them bonus, salary increase or promotion as a result of a job well done. By
acknowledging their hard work will keep them motivated to continue the good
quality of their productivity.
(Source: Forbes: Top 10 Qualities That Make A Great Leader. I elaborated and
explained each traits and skills. )
How does a leader exercise power?
1. Reward Power - This type of influence is created when the leader is able to offer
a reward to his followers for completing tasks/behaving in a certain manner.
Rewards in the workplace can take a variety of forms from chocolates, gift

vouchers and holidays to promotions, commission and pay rises. This type of
power needs to be used carefully to prevent followers becoming accustomed to
rewards and refusing to complete routine tasks without a reward. Generally
rewards should not be offered, to follower employees to complete duties which
are a normal part of their role. This is because as an employee they are under a
contractual obligation to complete these tasks and they are already rewarded
for this through their salary.
2. Coercive Power - This is the opposite of reward power because this power is
based on the leader having control over what happens if followers do not act as
required. If followers do not undertake the action required, the leader will
impose a penalty. Penalties take a variety of forms including withdrawal of
privileges, job losses, verbal abuse, and delayed or loss of promotion. In all
cases the leader will need to choose the penalty carefully to prevent breaking
the law or being the subject of an employment tribunal. Coercive power requires
followers to believe that the leader has the ability to impose the stated penalty.
Also the penalty has to be something that the followers do not want to have
imposed on them. For example a penalty results in coffee being banned is
unlikely to influence a tea drinker.
3. Legitimate Power This is the power that a leader has when the followers
believe that the leader has a right to instruct them and that they have an
obligation to follow instructions. Sometimes legitimacy power is created by the
leaders job title (such as captain, doctor, or area manager), combined with the
followers belief that the job title gives the leader the right to give them orders.
4. Referent Power This is created when the followers believe that the leader
possess qualities that they admire and would like to possess. The followers
identify with their leader and attempt to copy their leader. As referent power is
dependent on how the follower views the personality of their leader, a leader
will not have referent power over every follower they lead. Some leaders will
have referent power over just a few, whilst others such as Gandhi have lead
millions through their personality and charisma.
5. Expert Power As the title suggests a leader has expert power when the
followers believe that the leader has expert knowledge or skills that are
relevant to the job or tasks they have to complete. Often an experienced
member of the team or staff in an organization, can have expert power even
though they are not a supervisor or manager.
(Source: http://www.learnmanagement2.com/leadership%20power.htm)
Theories of Leadership Behavior
There are two important Behavioral Studies:
1. Ohio State University (1940s)
One of the primary purposes of the study was to identify common leadership
behaviors. After compiling and analyzing the results, the study led to the
conclusion that there were two groups of behaviors that were strongly correlated.

These were defined as Consideration (People Oriented behavioral Leaders) and

Initiating Structure (Task Oriented Leaders).

a. Task Oriented Leaders

The task concerned leaders are focusing their behaviors on the organizational
structure, the operating procedures (S.O.P.) and they like to keep control. Taskoriented leaders are still concern with their staff motivation; however it's not their
main concern. They will favor behaviors that are in line with:

Initiating

Organizing

Clarifying

Information Gathering

a People oriented leaders

The people oriented leaders are focusing their behaviors on ensuring that the inner
needs of the people are satisfied. Thus they will seek to motivate their staff through
emphasizing the human relation. People oriented leaders still focus on the task and the
results; they just achieve them through different means. Leaders with a people focus will
have behaviors that are in line with:

Encouraging

Observing

Listening

Coaching and Mentoring

1 University of Michigan (1950s)

Lead by the famous organizational psychologist, Dr. Rensis Likert, the leadership
studies at the University of Michigan identified three characteristics of effective
leadership; two of which were previously observed in studies that had been
conducted at Ohio State University. The study showed that task and
relationship-oriented behaviors weren't of major significance within the world of
organizational psychology
(Source: http://www.leadership-central.com/behavioraltheories.html#axzz3SrdrBbJ5)
How to improve your leadership skills
Taking Initiative

Most bosses will assign their employees tasks that the employees have proven to
be adept at. Therefore, don't wait to take on more responsibilities. Go above and
beyond at your current position. A good way to develop your skills is to take on
extra projects outside of your job description. Remember, the more work you do,
the more you are learning. Learning more and taking on more responsibility can
help move you into a leadership role in your workplace.

Critical Thinking
To be hired for a high-profile job, you will need to be a critical thinker. Good leaders
are able to foresee potential problems before they happen. They can then develop
ways to prevent the problems from happening. Good leaders are also aware of
potential opportunities and take advantage of them to benefit the company and
employees.

Listening Effectively
One of the most important skills for a leader is listening. Without listening skills,
you are not able to get feedback from others and get a sense of what team
members like about the projects they work on. Feedback is key. To listen
effectively, you need to maintain eye contact, avoid distractions and respond
appropriately. Keep in mind, communication is not only about verbal
communication. Be aware of body language and gestures to determine what
people are really saying.

Motivate Others
"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become
more, you are a leader," said John Quincy Adams. A true leader should positively
influence people. When employees or coworkers lose their ambitions and passions,
a true leader can energize and motivate them. How do leaders motivate people?
First, they know what people need and want. For example, if an employee loses
motivation because he or she thinks his or her hard work is not being recognized, a
good leader will talk to that person and offer the recognition that is deserved.
Sometimes, people lose their motivation because they are facing difficulties, tired
of doing the same repetitive tasks or disappointed they are not being asked to get
involved. As a leader, you should talk to him or her, ask him or her what's going
on, and share your personal stories with him or her to encourage him or her to get
involved.

Discipline
Discipline is required in order to execute the goal. Even if you have a vision or a
good idea, it's useless without discipline. If you want to execute effectively, you
need discipline. For example, you and your team wanted to create a business plan
to attract investors. You had lots of ideas for the business plan, but there was no
discipline in place to ensure the presentation was rehearsed. When it came time to
present the proposal, you were not able to properly communicate your objective to
the investors. This resulted in the investors declining your proposal. To be a good
leader, you need to be self-disciplined and make sure others on your team are
disciplined.

Constant Learning
"Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other," said John F. Kennedy.
When things are changing rapidly, it is important to constantly learn and challenge
yourself.

Know How to Delegate

"The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what
he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do
it," said Theodore Roosevelt. A successful leader won't micro-manage. Delegate
work to your employees and let them feel empowered. If you do this, they will feel
more involved and have more opportunity to develop new skills. Delegating will
allow you to better concentrate on the goals you need to achieve yourself. If you
are a project leader, you are still responsible for the work in the end. This is why it
is important to oversee the project when delegating.

Handling Conflicts
Leaders have to know how to handle difficult people and resolve conflicts. If an
employee doesn't work to the best of his or her ability and brings a negative
attitude to work, leaders have to step up and talk to that person in private. Leaders
have to be honest and straight to the point. This requires a lot of courage. It is not
easy to point out a problem or fire someone. Always listen to the employee's side
of the story before you reach a conclusion.

Be a Follower
Leaders should learn to recognize the value of team members, learn from them
and encourage other team members to learn from them. Learn things that you
didn't know from a person who specializes in that area.

The Bottom Line

Good leadership skills are essential to career development. "The key to successful
leadership today is influence, not authority," said Ken Blanchard. If you want to
improve your leadership skills, think about what actions you can take to be more
influential. If you are already a leader, think about how you can influence others.

Individual determinants of behavior

People
The first primary behavioral determinant in organizations is people. Small company
employees are inherently different. Their ages and genders vary. They also come
from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Moreover, people bring different skill sets to their
companies. Employees are also different with respect to their goals and ambitions.
Some strive to get promoted more quickly. Others enjoy more tactical functions
and are satisfied becoming more efficient at their present jobs. Managers must
understand what motivates employees so they can adopt the right management
styles with them. For example, some workers prefer closer supervision, while
others are more self-directed and thrive on independence. Employees also exhibit
different behaviors in group settings. Some individuals are more reserved, and
group settings almost hamper their capabilities. Others are naturally leaders and
tend to take over group tasks and projects. Managers who correctly identify which
employees work best on their own or in groups stand to gain the most productivity
from them.

Technology
Technology also greatly influences working relationships between employees.
Companies that have more updated equipment or computer software usually can
expect greater production from workers. There also tends to be more cohesiveness
among employees. Managers spend less time harping over details when they know
employees have the proper tools. For example, a marketing manager may assign
an analyst the task of creating a 10-page presentation for the department meeting.

The manager knows the presentation software provides tutorials and spends less
time explaining how to set up the presentation. Contrarily, employees who do not
have the proper technology and equipment may become agitated. They may start
viewing their job as drudgery and start taking their frustrations out on other
workers.

Organizational Structure
Small companies also must ensure they have the proper organizational structure
for employees to work effectively. A tall, bureaucratic structure, for example, would
not work efficiently for a small company with 50 employees. There would be too
many management levels. Workers would spend more time waiting for approval on
projects or budgets, as more managers would be involved in the decision-making
process. Creativity and communication also may be hampered in a taller
organizational structure. This may lower the morale of employees who are creative
and have high ambitions. Small companies servicing diverse customer groups may
be better off using a customer-based structure, according to
ReferenceforBusiness.com. Workers become more specialized by customer, which
may increase both customer and employee satisfaction. Confusion and frustration
may be averted because employees don't have to know the different procedures
for serving all customers.

(Source: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/three-primary-determinants-behaviororganizational-behavior-focuses-37569.html)