Profile in Leadership - Assignment Example

Teacher’s No. Profile in Leadership For the purpose of this assignment, the person selected is a family member whosename is Matt Anderson. Matt is my cousin’s husband and has done certifications in hotel management with five years of working experience in Starbucks having previously worked for different restaurants. Matt has always been a source of inspiration for me as he is always energetic and ready to help others. I have seen him participating in family events or social gatherings and most of the time; he is the one who manages these events. Matt is a fine family man, a loving father, loyal husband and a successful professional. For me leadership is a way of living and it’s hidden in small acts with big results. In order to act like a leader, one does not need a designation or role assigned to him as someone may act as a leader in petite situations. Currently, he is working as a restaurant manager in one of Starbucks branches. I have seen him dealing with his staff and observing him makes me realize that he is a highly effective leader. I have also taken feedback about him from his staff and they all declare him as an effective leader and a great motivator using various means to satisfy and keep the team on track. In domestic life, he is always supportive and helping. One of his strengths is his negotiation and conflict management skills; he is well-respected in his friend’s circle, therefore he is often asked for help in managing difficult situations. The purpose of selecting him for this interview is to identify what kind of leader he is, how he perceives himself in a leading role, how others perceive him, what are his strengths and weaknesses in this role and what makes him an effective leader. Also, analyzing his leadership skills with the help of leadership theories was another main objective of this interview. Prior to this meeting, the objective of this interview was shared with him and his consent was taken. I have gone through various contemporary leadership theories and situational leadership theory appears most accurate to me. Situational leadership requires that leaders and managers should alter or adapt their leadership styles according to the skill level or development style of the follower. According to this theory, followers have four development styles according to which leadership styles are required to be amended. Competence and motivation of the follower act as the main criteria for selection of respective leadership styles. Hersey and Blanchard (1996) presented situational leadership theory that provided a correlation between respective leadership style and skill level of the follower. According to this theory, there are four leadership styles. First one is telling or directing. Such leadership style is used when the follower lacks competence and is not willing or motivated. In such case where relationship between leader and follower is quite weak, appropriate leadership would require the leader or manager to provide directions with strict task focus. This leadership style requires that the leader maintain necessary distance with the follower as effort to strengthen relationship would lead to further confusion. Another leadership style is selling or coaching, such leadership style is appropriate in a situation where follower has a reasonable degree of commitment and competence. In such situation, the leaders are expected to focus on relationship building as well as high task focus. Since the follower has a reasonable knowledge of the job required to be done, therefore strict directions would result in further demotivation. Therefore, leader needs to develop relationship through effective listening and providing appropriate guidance when required. These two leadership styles are mainly dependent on the leader, his competence and relationship building skills. Third leadership style is participating and supporting. In this case, follower is exceptionally competent and skilled but lacks motivation to perform tasks. In such cases, leader is not required to provide directions to the follower or micro manage him/ her. Instead, leaders and managers are required to motivate followers through effective listening skills and praising. Last leadership style is delegating or observing. In such scenarios, the follower is skilled as well as motivated. Therefore, there is potentially no requirement for strict directions and supervision. Followers at this level do not require frequent motivational sessions or praises however due recognition is always important. These two leadership styles are follower-led in nature. Main rationale for selecting this theory is applicability as well as reasonable understanding. Although everyone has their respective leadership style but not all leadership styles would be appropriate according to the situation. Therefore, dependent on the recipient and situation, leadership styles are required to be changed or adapted. During this interview, I asked him about his professional career and personal life. While asking questions related to these two areas, I asked him about his best and worst experiences in the leadership role. According to him, his best experience was involved heading a team of young volunteers for local hospital. The purpose of this program was to support the healthcare staff, train these volunteers regarding social work and raise funds for hospital’s free clinic and Matt was leading it. It was a bright group of young and highly motivated people mostly from his community. Therefore, he knew them rather well and created a substantially strong relationship based on respect and trust. Some of them were college students and knew how to contact corporate clients. Matt only shared his contacts with them, kept a reasonable degree of supervision and assigned respective targets to them. They were well-motivated and were willing to follow Matt; hence the overall venture went rather well. A reasonable amount of charity was raised and these volunteers also helped the staff in the clinic. Effective leadership requires expertise, effective communication skills, commitment, strategic thinking and vision. Matt’s personality includes most of these elements. According to him, his worst experience was in one of Starbucks branches. He was appointed after a previous manager was fired due to performance issues. The branch was already showing losses and the workforce was highly demotivated. As Matt was used to working with trained and pleasant professionals in other Starbucks branches, handling a de-motivated workforce was highly difficult. He invested substantial time and energy in building relationship with the employees, gaining their trust and respect and also directing them to perform the tasks assigned to them while also participating wherever he can. It turned out that they had highly bitter experience with previous manager but due to strict directions and frequent sessions concerning performance and personal issues, the situation slowly became better. However, since the branch was showing losses and Starbucks was showing losses, therefore, this particular branch was closed and most of the employees were let go. For the purpose of this interview, understanding how Matt perceived his leadership skills was important. Also, how others respond to his leadership was also an integral part of these observations. Analysis of his views about himself and others helped in analyzing him with reference to situation leadership theory. Matt is perceived as a supportive, pleasant and responsible person in his social and professional circle. He is knowledgeable and he undertakes roles where he has substantial knowledge or good resources that have necessary expertise. In response to one of question regarding handling difficult employees and other people, he responded that people like to be listened and whenever there is a difficult situation, I listen and act accordingly. These little gestures showed that Matt tries to understand the situation, profile of the follower or another person involved in the scenario and then tries to handle the situation. He further stated that people don’t always require direction; sometimes they require minimum supervision and lots of appreciation. Correlation of his answers to the established concepts of situation leadership theory revealed that Matt was a successful leader among his peers, friends and colleagues because he knew how to develop understanding of situations and people involved. After performing this analysis, he chooses appropriate ways of reacting to the situation. In the examples that he shared, it was clear that he chose to supervise the group of volunteers and not controlling or directing them with unnecessary directions. Secondly, they were motivated enough and shared healthy relationships with Matt. Therefore, Matt chose to give them liberty and occasional feedback and appreciation. In another situation where he was dealing with his subordinates, the employees lacked motivation and necessary skills due to no training, he chose be supportive with close monitoring and developing a trusting relationship with them while training them to perform the job assigned to them. He chose a directing leadership style since it matched the commitment and competence of the employees. Careful analysis of Matt’s leadership style during the interview in light of situational leadership theory showed that this theoretical model has a substantial relativity to real life. It is practical and accurate. Since Matt is considered as an effective and successful leader by those around him, observing and analyzing his leadership traits helped in understanding the classic definition of an effective leader. He is charismatic, visionary, and supportive with exceptional communication skills. Although he did not knew the leadership theories but he was exercising them very well and in routine. This overall exercise helped in developing an understanding that theories have substantial relevance to real life although a person cannot be successful in every situation by using a particular leadership style defined by a theory. Secondly, situational leadership is an appropriate technique of managing people, since every individual is different therefore; they require different treatment as well with changing variables and other environmental factors. Adapting one’s leadership or management style according to the follower and circumstances would ensure that there is a suitable match between the requirements of the leaders and expectations of the followers. Appendix A: Questionnaire of the Interview 1) What is your philosophy about effective leadership? 2) Can you share some examples regarding real life leaders that you have seen, met or worked with and what do you appreciate about them? 3) When encountering a difficult situation in which people are reporting to you, how do you handle the situation and people involved in it? 4) Do you think effective listening and appreciation plays role in motivating the employee? 5) Do you think that all kind of people can be handled while being authoritative? 6) What are worst and best experiences in the leadership role? 7) Do you think that leader must build relationships with his subordinates? 8) In your worst experiences, what you could have done differently to amend the situation? 9) What do you think, is the perception of your subordinates and other people, about you? 10) In your opinion, are you an effective leader? If not, then what will make you an effective leader? Work Cited Hersey, Paul and Kenneth H. Blanchard, ‘Management and Organizational Behavior’. NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1988. Print. Read More