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MODULE -3

Leader as an individual

Values and ethics

A good leader possesses the right values and ethics to be effective at people management. The
best leaders are also able to recognize the necessity for ethical behavior in their colleagues and
employees. Great leaders demonstrate the values and ethics they expect their employees to
possess, and don’t believe in a “do what I say, not what I do” mentality. Effective leaders make
their ethics and values clear to all who follow them by living them each day.

One of the major problems in many workplaces is a lack of trust. It’s difficult to trust managers
and employers who don’t demonstrate good values and ethics in their workplace behavior. Any
leader who lets himself or herself be seen to engage in untrustworthy behavior is one who will
ultimately find their leadership undermined and will have to work hard to regain confidence.

Leaders who continually flout their own rules and demonstrate poor values and ethics will find it
extremely difficult to gain and maintain employee and colleague loyalty. People don’t know
what to expect from leaders who aren’t consistent, and aren’t sure of the values and ethics they
should be working by. It is only through clear and visible demonstration of values and ethics that
effective work situations can truly occur.

It is a great idea for all workplaces to form a code of conduct that clearly explains the values of
the company and the ethics the company works by. Leaders need to internalize these values and
ethics and live by them and in doing so, inspire other employees to live and work by the same
values.

When leaders fail to live up to their organization’s code of ethics and values, they become
nothing more than words on paper, respected neither by the employees or their managers. It is
sometimes surprising the effect a bad leader can have on company and employee morale. Great
leadership inspires people who will follow and emulate those they respect.
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When a company has problems with management and employees, there may be conflicts
between the managers and the values and ethics they demonstrate to other employees. It’s
necessary that all managers and leaders in an organization can work within the guidelines of the
company’s stated values and ethics. If this has been done poorly in the past, it may be necessary
to organize official meetings with all leaders to reinforce company values and to make it clear
that, it is now necessary for all company leaders to demonstrate these values to other members of
the organization.

Those who are less experienced with leadership may tackle their jobs and those working
beneath them in the wrong way, and may not immediately see the benefit of demonstrating good
values and ethics. This often occurs because new managers haven’t had good managers or
mentors themselves, and have learned an ineffective and erroneous method of managing others.
However, with the right training and a good demonstration of the benefits of value based and
ethical work practices, they can develop the skills necessary to be great leaders who inspire those
they work with.

Leadership Ethics - Traits of an Ethical Leader

Ethical theories on leadership talk about two main things : (a) The actions
and behavior of leaders; and (b) the
personality and character of leaders. It is
essential to note that “Ethics are essential
to leadership”. A leader drives and influences the subordinates / followers to
achieve a common goal, be it in case of team work, organizational quest, or any project. It is an
ethical job of the leader to treat his subordinates with respect as each of them has unique
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personality. The ethical environment in an organization is built and developed by a leader as they
have an influential role in the organization and since leaders have an influence in developing the
organizational values.
An effective and ethical leader has the following traits / characteristics:

Dignity and respectfulness: He respects others. An ethical leader should not use his
followers as a medium to achieve his personal goals. He should respect their feelings,
decision and values. Respecting the followers implies listening effectively to them, being
compassionate to them, as well as being liberal in hearing opposing viewpoints. In short, it
implies treating the followers in a manner that authenticate their values and beliefs.

Serving others: He serves others. An ethical leader should place his follower’s interests
ahead of his interests. He should be humane. He must act in a manner that is always fruitful
for his followers.

Justice: He is fair and just. An ethical leader must treat all his followers equally. There
should be no personal bias. Wherever some followers are treated differently, the ground for
differential treatment should be fair, clear, and built on morality.

Community building: He develops

community. An ethical leader considers his
own purpose as well as his followers’ purpose,
while making efforts to achieve the goals
suitable to both of them. He is considerate to
the community interests. He does not overlook
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the followers’ intentions. He works harder for

the community goals.

Honesty: He is loyal and honest. Honesty is

essential to be an ethical and effective leader.
Honest leaders can be always relied upon and
depended upon. They always earn respect of their
followers. An honest leader presents the fact and
circumstances truly and completely, no matter
how critical and harmful the fact may be. He does
not misrepresent any fact.
It is essential to note that leadership is all about values, and it is impossible to be a leader if you
lack the awareness and concern for your own personal values. Leadership has a moral and ethical
aspect. These ethics define leadership. Leaders can use the above-mentioned traits as yardsticks
for influencing their own behavior.

REFERENCES

http://www.managementstudyguide.com/leadership-ethics.htm

:http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5537-how-to-be-ethical-leader.html#sthash.fxgGKJ8K.dpuf

http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5537-how-to-be-ethical-leader.html
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Leader as relationship builder

Leadership is the art of creating followers. It is a way of being and behaving that involves
cultivating relationships, accurately reading people, understanding their needs, listening to their
input, negotiating mutually beneficial agreements, and building cohesive teams and strategic
partnerships. Relationship Builders often operate more quietly and behind the scenes. They don’t
crave the spotlight and are often more concerned with empowering employees, building
consensus, and fostering team spirit than crusading for an idea or a product. Relationship

Builders (RB) are the “heart” of every organization. They are the ones
people come to when they “need to talk,”
whether about a business problem, a difficult
relationship, the political dynamics at the office,
career decisions, or personal crises. Leaders
with RB skills and qualities are accessible and
inspire loyalty and trust. Their openness and
sensitivity create a comfortable, supportive,
“family” feeling on the speech. Relationship
Builders are equally gifted leaders who succeed
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by forging a personal connection with followers,

winning their respect as well as their affection,
and drawing them into a loyal, harmonious, cohesive
unit when internal conflicts arise, when the company faces lean times financially, when an un
popular initiative comes down from above or leadership takes a new direction and people are
having a hard time adjusting, it is often Relationship Builders who possess the leadership style to

overcome the crisis and not lose valuable employees. Good listeners, they will meet
with the doubting and disgruntled and allow them to voice their
concerns, then patiently explain the reason for the change and how it
will be good for the entire organization and everyone in it. They have an
innate gift for reading people, responding to their needs and fears, and
getting their buying. A big part of the magic of the Relationship Builder
is that, in the impersonal world of business, they are personal. To them,
you are not a “human resource,” a number or an asset, but an individual.
RB’s genuinely care about others. They don’t resent spending time
cultivating relationships. They actually look forward to it. They soothe,
harmonize, mediate, and in general serve as the glue that holds the
organization together and allows it to move forward.

The leader who excels at relationship building has an increasingly crucial role to
play in today’s interconnected and rapidly shifting international marketplace. With
a diverse workforce to manage, expectations on the part of increasing numbers of
people that their jobs be sources of meaning as well as livelihood, and a complex
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web of relationships with vendors, customers, regulators and the media to navigate,
the job of the leader has more to do with relationships than ever before.

REFERENCES

http://www.hagbergconsulting.com/articles/Relationship_Builder.pdf

Empowering People to Meet Higher Needs

Many leaders are shifting from efforts to control behavior through carrot-and-stick approaches to
providing people with the power, information, and authority that enables them to find greater intrinsic
satisfaction with their work. Empowerment refers to power sharing, the delegation of power or authority
to subordinates in the organization.

Empowerment provides strong motivation because

it meets the higher needs of individuals. Research
indicates that individuals have a need for self-
efficacy, which is the capacity to produce results or
outcomes, to feel they are effective. Most people
come into an organization with the desire to do a
good job, and empowerment enables leaders to
release the motivation already there. Increased
responsibility motivates most people to strive to do
their best.
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In addition, leaders greatly benefit from the expanded capabilities that employee participation
brings to the organization. This enables them to devote more attention to vision and the big
picture. It also takes the pressure off leaders when subordinates are able to respond better and

more quickly to the markets they serve. Frontline employees often have a
better understanding than do leaders on how to improve a
work process, satisfy a customer, or solve a production
problem. To empower followers, leaders provide them
with an understanding of how their jobs are important to
the organization’s mission and performance, thereby
giving them a direction within which to act freely.

Elements of Empowerment
Five elements must be in place before employees can be truly empowered to perform their jobs
effectively: information, knowledge, discretion, meaning, and rewards.

1. Employees receive information about company

performance. In companies where employees are fully empowered, no

information is secret.

2. Employees receive knowledge and skills to

contribute to company goals. Companies train people to have the
knowledge and skills they need to personally contribute to company performance.
Knowledge and skills lead to feelings of competency—the belief that one is capable of
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accomplishing one’s job successfully.

3. Employees have the power to make substantive decisions.

Many of today’s most competitive companies give employees the power to influence
work procedures and organizational direction through quality circles and self-directed
work teams.

4. Employees understand the meaning and impact of their

jobs. Empowered employees consider their jobs important and meaningful, see

themselves as capable and influential, and recognize the impact their work has on
customers, other stakeholders, and the organization’s success. Understanding the
connection between one’s day-to-day activities and the overall vision for the organization
gives people a sense of direction, allowing them to fit their actions to the vision and
influence the outcome of their work.

5. Employees are rewarded based on company

performance. Studies have revealed the important role of fair reward and

recognition systems in supporting empowerment. By affirming that employees are

progressing toward goals, rewards help to keep motivation high. Leaders are careful to
examine and redesign reward systems to support empowerment and teamwork.
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How Leaders Instill Inspiration in the People

They Lead

• The inspirational leader feels passionate about

the vision and mission of the organization. He or
she is also able to share that passion in a way
that enables others to feel passionate, too.
Shared passion makes organizations soar in the
accomplishment of their mission and vision.
Sometimes leaders have to help their staff
,connect the dots by explaining the big picture to
all. Communicating the big picture regularly will
help reinforce the reason your organization
exists.
• The inspirational leader listens to the people in her organization. Talking to people about
your passion is not enough. Leader must allow the ideas and thoughts of your staff to
help form the vision and mission, or minimally, the goals and action plan. No one is ever
one hundred percent supportive of a direction they had no part in formulating. People
need to see their ideas incorporated, or understand why they were not.
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• To experience inspiration, people also need to feel

included. Inclusion goes beyond the listening and
feedback. For real inclusion, people need to feel
intimately connected to the actions and process
that are leading to the accomplishment of the
goals or the decision.

• Important to inspiration is the integrity of the person leading. Yes, vision and passion are
important, but employees should trust the leader to feel inspired. They must believe in the
integrity and see it played out in decisions and customer and employee treatment.

• Finally, an inspirational leader gives people

what they want within his capabilities
The inspirational leader also understands
that, while money is a motivator, so
are praise, recognition, rewards, a thank
you and noticing an individual’s contribution
to a successful endeavor. Speaking directly to
a contributing employee about the value that
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their work provides for the organization is a

key source of inspiration for the recipient.

Leader as Innovator

Innovative leaders are creative visionaries who have big ideas and, most importantly, can
motivate people around them to turn those ideas into reality.

An innovative leader does not even need to be the person who creates the idea behind an
innovation. Often, she simply recognizes a great idea, perhaps devised by a subordinate and
envisions the path that leads to that idea’s becoming a reality. Indeed, I would argue that creative
genius is less important in an innovative leader than is the ability to form a vision around an idea
or set of ideas. And once she has formed that vision, she needs to be able to share with
employees, suppliers and business partners the vision as well as enthusiasm for turning that
vision into a reality.

Characteristics of innovative leaders

- needs a powerful imagination and excellent communications skills.

- needs to have confidence in her team and their ability to work together to achieve that dream.

- needs to be able to communicate her vision and generate enthusiasm for it.

Her team needs to be able to see the vision themselves and be willing to invest their own time
and resources into making it happen. Innovative leaders know that leadership by demand is far
less effective at encouraging creativity and innovation than is leadership through motivation and
inspiration.
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Ideally, team members will also be making creative contributions to the project. After all,

innovative projects are almost never comprised of a single idea. Although they may
have got their start from a solo idea, in the end they are the
result of dozens or more ideas, ideas on improving the
original concept, ideas on how to implement it, ideas to solve
problems as the concept is developed and so on.
Willing to kill when necessary

An innovate leader needs to recognize when her project is not working and be willing to kill it,
no matter how much emotional investment she has put into it. She knows that if the project will
not generate sufficient value to warrant continued development, she would do better to invest her
energy, resources and time in a new innovative project. This is something many people find
difficult to do with pet projects.

Relevant expertise

Lastly, it is worth noting that innovative leaders are people who have an expertise relevant to
their innovative projects. When accountants or financial experts are put in charge of car
companies, they are seldom innovative leaders. They understand the finances behind the
products, but not the products. When engineers or car designers, on the other hand, oversee car
companies, they have the knowledge and experience necessary to become innovative leaders for
their companies. Of course, that does not guarantee they will be innovative leaders! The vision
and motivation are also critical.

Distinctive behaviors of innovation leaders.

Display excellent strategic vision. The most effective innovation leaders could vividly describe
their vision of the future.
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Have a strong customer focus. What was merely interesting to the customer became fascinating to
these individuals. They sought to get inside the customer’s mind. They networked with clients
and asked incessant questions about their needs and wants.

Create a climate of reciprocal trust. Innovation often requires some level of risk. Not all
innovative ideas are successful. These highly innovative leaders initiated warm, collaborative
relationships with the innovators who worked for them. They made themselves highly accessible.
Colleagues knew that their leader would cover their backs and not throw them under the bus if
something went wrong. People were never punished for honest mistakes.

Display fearless loyalty to doing what’s right for the organization and customer . Pleasing the boss
or some other higher level executive always took a back seat to doing the right thing for the
project or the company.

Put their faith in a culture that magnifies upward communication . These leaders believed that the
best and most innovative ideas bubbled up from underneath. They strived to create a culture that
uncorked good ideas from the first level of the organization. They were often described as
projecting optimism, full of energy, and always receptive to new ideas. Grimness was replaced
with kidding and laughter.

Are persuasive. These individuals were highly effective in getting others to accept good ideas.
They did not push or force their ideas onto their teams. Instead, they presented ideas with
enthusiasm and conviction, and the team willingly followed.

Excel at setting stretch goals. These goals required people to go far beyond just working harder.
These goals required that they find new ways to achieve a high goal.

Emphasize speed. These leaders believed that speed scraped the barnacles off the hull of the boat.
Experiments and rapid prototypes were preferred to lengthy studies by large committees.

Are candid in their communication. These leaders were described as providing honest, and at
times even sometimes blunt, feedback. Subordinates felt they could always count on straight
answers from their leader.
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Inspire and motivate through action. For innovation to exist the leader have to feel inspired. This
comes from a clear sense of purpose and meaning in the work.

REFERENCES

https://hbr.org/2014/12/research-10-traits-of-innovative-leaders