Leadership Power and Engagement

Leadership Power and Engagement

Connor Wuori
Robert Miranda
Dr. Olawoyin
6/13/17
 Leadership Power and Engagement

Intro: A successful workplace has many components working together to ensure everything
within the organization operates effectively. The first component for a successful organization is
dedicated and hard-working employees. An organization without passionate employees is like a
boat without water, it is stuck in one place and unable to move. The employees within the
organization deserve to have all their needs met. The organization is obligated to take care of
those that work for them. For starters, the employees need a workplace environment that is safe
and free from danger. The work building should be up to date with the proper safety protocols
implemented into programs that protect employees. Next, employees deserve to have employers
that do not abuse or underpay them. Every workplace that has had success can give credit to their
employees. Employees who are treated well tend to produce a higher profit due to increased job
satisfaction and productivity. Additionally, there is one final component that can make a
company rise above the competition. Suppose employees have all basic needs met, but are
unsure or do not want to work hard for the company. This is where leadership comes in. Leaders
paint a clear vision and have goals for the employees within the company. Leaders are able to
create action though many different styles of leadership. At the core of every successful
organization is a leader who engages with every employee and recognizes strengths while
simultaneously fixing weaknesses. Engaging leadership is crucial for a company to be successful
and requires a multi-pronged approach.

Leadership and Engagement: Leadership is not an easy term to define. This is because of how
many different factors and segments that make up leadership. There are a plethora of leadership
styles that are used for different situations that create different results. There is no one specific
leadership style that works best for one situation. Leadership may be a varied topic, but all
leaders possess similar qualities that make them leaders. Summerfield (2014) explains the
definition of leadership begins with 8 central traits. A leader is confident, intelligent, articulate,
courageous, witty, driven, knowledgeable, and charismatic. All leaders should possess a good
number of these traits in order to create action and inspire followers. From the following traits, it
can be said that leaders strive to create change for the greater good. Summerfield (2014) goes
deeper into the definition and shows that leadership can be broken down into 3 smaller
components. The first portion being the democratic component. This component shows that a
leader has a common goal and works toward it with everyone. The second portion is Collegial
 Leadership Power and Engagement

component. This component shows that leaders are respectful towards followers and try to
influence rather than dictate through fear or corruption. The final portion is the enhancement
component. This means that leaders look at the current situations and strive to improve in the
future. Leaders possesses many qualities and traits that aim to inspire and improve themselves
and their followers.

Tideman et al. (2013) gives several other components that help define leadership. Leadership can
further be broken down into two more components, transformational leadership and sustainable
leadership. The first style exhibits holistic thinking, systems thinking, humanistic thinking, social
optimism, and authentic filtering. All of these traits demonstrate that the leader sees the big
picture, values relationships, and carefully approaches situations. The second component is
sustainable leadership. This style exhibits individualized consideration, intellectual stimulation,
inspirational motivation, and idealised influence. This style shows that leaders value individual's
intelligence, and the ability to lead through inspiration. At the core of all of these styles is a
caring person who is open to change and values individualism.

Arnstein (2007) explains that a leader is someone who gets results through any means. At times
the results are at the expense of those that fall beneath the leader. This type of leader is one who
refers to the followers as subordinates and largely is out for personal gain opposed to the greater
good. Typically ruling by fear or with an iron fist to push people in a certain direction. This style
is not the most conventional, but in certain cases it is the best fit to get results. This style of
leadership is not very popular with workers for a multitude of reasons. The first reason being the
potential for abuse. The workers can be powerless to help themselves against a leader who is
abusive and manipulative. The second reason being low job satisfaction. A leader who uses this
style may harass workers and promote a hostile work environment. In this case workers may
dread coming to work, which in turn will affect productivity and profit. Tyrannical leadership
only has a few benefits, and even then, they wont last for long. This style can create action early
on, but is likely to exhaust workers. In the long run this leadership style will divide the
workplace. The workers will not be loyal to the leader and will not be willing to put forth their
best efforts. Leading through fear can only go so far. This style is loosely defined as leadership,
simply because there is one person making decisions for others. If anything, this style is a series
 Leadership Power and Engagement

of destructive behavior traits. The person that uses this style is more likely to destroy an
organization and make enemies as opposed to someone who treats workers fairly.

Leadership can be difficult to define because of how much goes into it. On one side of the coin,
a leader is someone who creates action through means of being fair and caring. On the other side
is a person who creates action through fear and manipulation. Not one style of leadership is more
perfect over another. Figure 1 (courtesy OLA group, n.d.) shows the APS (Autocratic-
Paternalistic-Servant) model. This model shows three styles of leadership that are the most
common in workplaces. Each one is situational and should be applied when the workplace needs
things to change. Going deeper into each style is the set of traits that workers best respond to.
Figure 2 (courtesy Zenger and Folkman, 2014) illustrates that top leadership traits that are
viewed as most important for those in management positions. The table clearly shows that
certain traits are far more popular than others. While motivating and inspiring others is more
popular than practicing self-development, that does not mean one is necessarily better than the
other. A good leader will display a collection of all the traits presented in figure 2. A great leader
will learn from the workplace surroundings and know when to apply each trait for maximum
efficiency. To sum it all up, a leader is someone who directs people in a certain direction through
actions. The leader can be caring, harsh, fair, or inspiring. There is not one specific trait that can
be used to define leadership. Each leadership style should be applied when necessary, and the
leader should always be learning new ways to properly instruct followers.
 Leadership Power and Engagement

*Figure 1 (courtesy OLA group n.d) shows the APS model for three types of leadership.

* Figure 2 (courtesy Zenger and Folkman, (2014) illustrates the best leadership traits for
manager positions.
 Leadership Power and Engagement

Engagement is the act of being invested and attentive to a cause or activity. Engagement simply
means completely buying into a system and giving full attention and enthusiasm. A good leader
should be completely engaged in the organization they work at and should strive to improve and
inspire the workforce. Being engaged in the workplace usually takes the form of being a good
leader for those that also work at the organization. Milton et al. (2017) states that the servant
style of leadership is the best way to demonstrate engagement in the the workplace. This is
apparent by the definition of servant leadership. The servant style of leadership is someone who
puts the needs ahead of others. The servant leadership style is a mixture of humble behavior and
service action directed at others. This leader actively listens to followers who voice concerns or
potential fixes and does their very best to implement them. Leaders who are engaged with their
followers will in turn have their followers be engaged to them. Followers who are cared for
display engagement in three categories. Schaufeli et al. (2006) found follower engagement can
be broken down into vigor, dedication, and absorption. Vigor is the worker's ability to be
resilient and energetic towards the demands brought on by work. Dedication in workers is
brought on by the sense of pride and inspiration the leader can provide through engagement.
Workers who are engaged with a leader will be loyal and trustworthy. The final component is
absorption. This is the worker's ability to get sucked into their work, at times losing track of time
because of how invested they can get. This is the pinnacle of worker engagement directed toward
a leader.

It seems simple enough to get both parties to be engaged in each other to promote work and
change. However, there are some problems that are preventing this system from taking off in
workplaces everywhere. Manning (2014) shows a poll that observed 100 million full-time
working Americans that produced some shocking results. The poll results concluded that only a
mere 30% of workers are completely engaged in their work. The remaining workers were either
at 50% or 20%. The 50% represented workers who were passive or not engaged in their work.
The 20% represented workers who were actively disengaged from their work. These 70% of
workers from the poll are harmful to their organization and fellow workers. A workplace
composed of workers that are not engaged guarantees the organization will become stagnant and
unable to grow. Unengaged workers can harm the company through low customer satisfaction
that is brought on by rudeness or improper service. Disengaged workers can harm a company
 Leadership Power and Engagement

internally by not listening to instructions or cooperating with other workers. Disengaged workers
are a major threat to corporations, but not all hope is lost. Workers within an organization that
are causing problems should not automatically be viewed as dead weight. Every employee has
the potential to be a hard-working and dedicated employee. The organization may need to take a
few steps in order to motivate and inspire employees. This is where quality leadership can step in
and save the day for an organization.

Creating Leadership and Engagement Leaders and the organization itself need to do some
work in order to get employees to buy into the system. For starters, Taranowski (2011) states
employees respond better when in a better working environment. The leaders in charge of the
corporation should promote a work culture full of support and receptiveness. Leaders within the
organization should be actively involved with the employees well-being. The best way for
employers to show the employees they care is through one-on-one sessions. Personal meetings
with employees can reveal the strengths and weaknesses. The best thing for a leader to do is
focus on the strengths of the employee, while fixing the weaknesses simultaneously. This is the
first step to promote employee job engagement. Wagner and Harter (2006) found that companies
with high levels of employee engagement outperformed companies that do not have engaged
employees. Companies with employee engagement have increased customer satisfaction,
reduced employee turnover, high productivity, and enhanced profits for the company.
Employees are clearly important for the success and growth of a company. A company needs
employees to carry out the vision of the organization one step at a time through service and
maintenance. Employees do not know what the company vision is when they walk through the
door. Employees need the leaders of the company to paint the vision for them.

Successful leaders are engaged with their work, their followers, and see the bigger picture. Inside
an organization there are several methods a leader can use to ensure engagement stays on track.
Leaders should use available resources to find new methods and ways to fix existing issues
within the organization. A large concern that is within every organization is the necessity of
keeping employees safe. Corporations spend huge sums of money to protect employees with
safety protocols and programs. The only problem is, it is very difficult to predict when an
accident is going to happen. The rise of the technical age has brought many useful tools that can
 Leadership Power and Engagement

be used to help in the preparation and protection of employees. Technical analytics is an example
of one of these tools. Almosallam and Ouertani (2013) define analytics as the collection,
development, and evaluation of data. Data that is collected can used for many different
objectives within the workforce. Data can be used for education purposes, decision making, and
safety procedures. A leader that is engaged with their followers will do anything within their
power to keep them safe. Utilizing analytics is a great way to protect employees. Employees will
have the benefit of having safety protocols in place for their security. The employees in turn, will
become engaged with their organization and leaders.

Using analytics in the workplace is a very important practice. Giacoma and Breman (2016) state
analytics is useful for making meaning out of large collections of raw data. Data can be collected
through many different methods. These methods can include, surveys, interviews, documents,
and observations. Once data has been collected, it can be used for learning or management
purposes within the organization. For example, Chibafa (2014) cited that many humanitarian
organizations use technology and data to help manage supplies. People that are affected by
disasters are registered into the organization's system. The data collected can be how affected
individuals were from the disaster, severity of injuries, or how many people were affected by the
disaster. The organization uses the gathered data to efficiently manage supplies fairly and
efficiently to people who are in need of them. Safety is an important part of any organization.
Having safe workers is beneficial to a company because of high morale and lowered medical
expenses. In order to keep employees safe, corporations have started to implement predictive
analytics to prepare for safety hazards. Corporations are beginning to see the advantages of using
data as a predictor. Leonard and Nelson (2016) state that corporations that use data for decision
making are 5% more productive and 6% more profitable compared to corporations that do not
use data. This is because the corporations that use predictive data analytics are aware of changes
within the global workforce, such as consumer demands or economic changes. Data can be
utilized for an economic advantage within an organization. Data should also be utilized to
increase safety at a workplace.

Schultz (2012) states that data can be used as a predictor for future accidents in an effort to
prepare for them. The first piece of data that can be used to increase safety is through a reactive
 Leadership Power and Engagement

accident analysis. This method gathers data after an accident and makes an effort to discover the
root cause. This method is beneficial because it can show weaknesses in a safety system so it can
be fixed in the future. The reactive incident analysis can be effective for learning root causes of
accidents, but it has some problems. The first being the expenses. It costs quite a bit of money to
get the necessary equipment and teams in order for this method to be effective. The second
problem is the message it sends to employees. Employees will be scared because it seems the
company will only make corrections when something bad happens. The third problem is that the
method relies on lagging indicators. Manuel (2009) defines lagging indicators as a measure that
changes after the economy changes. This is problematic because it does not look to the future for
solutions, it is only effective as discovering trends. The best type of method that uses data for the
future is leading indicators. Manuel (2009) defines leading indicators are defined as a measure
that changes before the economy changes. This method is useful in predicting changes and
patterns. Organizations can gather data through safety inspections throughout the workplace.
Results have shown that companies using leading indicators are able to predict accidents with an
accuracy ranging from 80%-97%. Organizations are able to use this information to direct limited
supplies to areas that have the highest potential for safety risks. Results have shown as the use of
leading indicators go up, accident rates go down. This is illustrated by figure 3. (courtesy
Schultz, 2012)

*Figure 3 illustrates as the use of leading indicators increase accident rates decrease.

Leading and lagging indicators use data that is collected from the work environment to predict
accidents to keep workers safe. Faulty building structure, old equipment, and substance spills are
 Leadership Power and Engagement

just a few environmental hazards. Leading and lagging indicators are unable to predict errors that
are brought on by human beings. There is another safety analytics system that is used to predict
accidents and takes consideration in peoples behavior. The method is known as the Risk
Severity Index (RSI). Hohn (2010) explains that the RSI is a formula that uses weighted
variables to predict safety risks associated with people. Once the data is produced corporations
will use protective measures on areas that have the highest risk. The formula is paired to an
individual workplace and uses variables like frequency of risky behavior, degree of injury,
number of affected individuals, and potential loss. Resources and time are important to a
corporation, and this formula will make sure they go to areas that need them the most. Ashish
(2017) states that predictive maintenance and techniques are beneficial to organizations and
employees. The predictive methods and data analytics save time and money along with keeping
employees safe. There are many methods available to keep employees safe, but few offer the
benefits that predictive analytics do.

Conclusion: The first step to create employee engagement is a lively and respectful workplace.
Employees will flourish in a healthy workplace. Everyone deserves a work environment where
their work is appreciated and they are able to grow to accomplish goals. Moving forward to
create complete engagement falls on the responsibility of leaders in the workplace. Employees
respond well when leaders show interest and care for them. Zhang et al. (2014) found that
employee engagement is increased through positive actions of leaders. To increase employee
engagement, leaders should focus on three main emotional needs of employees. The needs are
the need for achievement, equity sensitivity, and the need for clarity. Small Business Trends
(2014) emphasizes the role of positive reinforcement and adjustment for employees. Each
employee is different, and should be treated accordingly. Individual relationships should bring
individual praises and strategies. To put it simply, work for your employees and they will work
for you. The final component for leaders to creating engagement is to implement safety methods
into the workplace. Employees will be engaged in their work if they know their leaders are
looking out for their wellbeing. The best method to create a safe work environment are data
analytics. Data analytics can be used to predict accident trends and prevent them before they
happen. Predictive analytics can be used for equipment failures, employee behaviors, and
structure maintenance. This method saves money and time because it is less expensive to prepare
 Leadership Power and Engagement

for an incident than repair after one. Leadership creates engagement through positive actions.
Showing engagement to employees will in turn create engagement to the leaders. Leaders should
always be learning new methods of communication and safety to increase employee engagement.
When employee engagement is up, productivity and profit will go up as well.

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