Leadership and Management Issues - Assignment Example

? 21 October Q a) Leadership and management are two different terms, although they are often used interchangeably. Owing to the similarity of the nature of job, leadership is frequently confused with management. The fundamental factor that makes a difference between the leadership and management is authority. A leader has the authority to make independent decision, while a manager follows the decision of the senior. A leader is all in all while a manager is obliged to comply with the instructions of the senior. A leader establishes the target himself while a manager is not authorized to establish the target. Rest of the work of a leader and a manager is the same. Both plan and control the work of the subordinates. A leader is also a manager but a manager is not a leader. A leader is not able to achieve his target unless he has robust management skills. A manager can be thought of as a leader in his own little capacity. He also takes decisions but his decisions are directed at organizing the subordinates in a way that is conducive for the achievement of the senior’s targets. b) I would consider it a great compliment if I am recognized by someone as a good manager or a good leader. Both are equally difficult skills. Some say that leadership is easier as compared to manager because the individual has the freedom to take independent decision. Nevertheless, this does not come without added responsibility. If a leader becomes successful, the whole team takes the credit. On the other hand, if the leader fails to achieve his target, the whole blame rests with him. Therefore, a leader assumes complete risk for the work. In comparison to the leader, the manager assumes very little risk. A manager is one of the team members in the hierarchy of the organization structure that a leader has. He is answerable to the leader for the compliance of the work quality, progress and cost as per the quality plan, project work schedule and the cost schedule he was originally provided by the leader. There can be a lot of excuses if any of these doesn’t comply with the original schedule owing to the hidden risks i.e. weather risk, political crises and financial crises etc. Nonetheless, management in itself is no less than an art. To make things go as per the schedule, a manager needs to have robust organizing skills. Yes, I can be both a manager and a leader as long as I have good risk identification and mitigation skills. c) Leadership has no relation to gender. A woman can be as good a leader as a man. Both men and women have their own strengths and weaknesses. Even within a particular gender, people greatly vary in their qualities. One woman may be a very good leader while another may not be so. Likewise, some men make very good leaders while others do not. All that matters is the extent to which an individual is foresighted, frugal and dominating, and both men and women can have these qualities in them. Q. 2 a) Emotional intelligence is an individual’s ability to monitor his/her own emotions as well as those of the subordinates or any group of people. People born with high emotional intelligence are more articulate in their manner and know how to deal others without offending them. In everyday life, we encounter a lot of situations which we don’t like being in. We have numerous options to deal with the complications, some of which help us achieve our targets without making anyone feel hurt while others lead us to our targets on the cost of our relationships with others. The behaviors we are required to exhibit in order to make things go smoothly vary from one situation to another. Sometimes, a mere smile on the face solves the problem. In other times, the smile won’t do. It has to be something else. People with high emotional intelligence know what behavior works best in a certain setting. Emotional intelligence has five dimensions namely “self-awareness, self-management, self-motivation, empathy and social skills” (InfoBarrel). There are numerous tests that measure the emotional intelligence including self report, others’ report and the ability tests. Emotional tests provide the respondent with a number of options to choose from. The test asks the respondent how he/she behaves, feels or deals with things in a certain setting. The respondent chooses one from a number of options. The answers are compared with the expected behaviors of people with high emotional intelligence as depicted by the literature. Online emotional intelligence tests have provided the managers with a very cost-effective and quick means of measuring their and their subordinates’ emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence can be developed through psychological counseling along with study of emotional intelligence books. Emotional intelligence books educate the people on what behaviors bring out the best results in a certain setting. Having read the book, people are able to execute similar behaviors in similar settings in the real life. Consulting a psychologist is a bit costlier, yet it also brings objective results. The psychologist helps the individual identify his/her weaknesses and counsels him so that he/she may be able to optimize on his/her skills and enhance his/her emotional intelligence. b) Yes, better leaders perceive and leverage emotions more accurately. Interpersonal conflicts were the biggest problem in the organization that I worked in as long as the old general manager was in charge. The new general manager targeted the root-cause of the conflicts. Using his emotional intelligence, he identified cultural diversity as the fundamental cause of the conflicts, and made the employees execute such practices that were conducive for the improvement of their relationships with their peers. Such practices included teamwork and group think. c) The biggest problem of the ineffective leaders is that they pay attention to issues that are not as significant or important as the ones that really require their attention, but are not given that. In other words, lack of emotional intelligence makes the leaders ineffective because they are not able to understand the psychology of the workers. Consequentially, they are not able to devise such strategies that are acceptable to the employees. This results in non-compliance and trouble. Q. 3 a) Group dynamics is an umbrella terms for the group processes. A group is made up of two or more people that are related to one another sociologically and psychologically. Their interests are mutual and they all struggle to achieve the same target. Owing to their tendency to influence one another, numerous dynamic processes develop in groups which tend to unite the group members. The group dynamics include but are not limited to norms, relations, roles, social influence and belongingness. Just like no society can survive without having its own culture, no group can sustain without an ideology. This ideology is the result of the mutual consensus of the group members. One member comes up with an idea. Others tend to criticize that. The individual who generated the idea originally tends to defend his point of view. If he is successful, he gains the consent of other members of the group and the idea thus becomes an established norm of the group. Groupthink, on the other hand, is the term used for the tendency of a group to make faulty decisions as a result of the group pressure. Groups particularly fall prey to the groupthink when many members come from the same background and the members are insulated from external influence. Lack of patent principles for the decision making also promotes groupthink. Therefore, in order to avoid the groupthink, managers should have a code of ethics in place before the group is assigned a task and the group should be made to comply with the code of ethics. In situations when the code does not offer clear instructions in a certain case, the group must refer to past experiences of other groups. Consulting external members is also a suitable option. b) The biggest challenge of leading a virtual team in an organization is attendance. People tend to come online as per their convenience and may not always be there when their presence is needed. Efficient flow of communication is also difficult to achieve in the virtual work. Quality of sound is affected by the technology adopted to convey the messages. On the other hand, written messages have great tendency to create misconceptions and confusions. Words that read a certain way may not necessarily sound the way as was intended by the sender of the message. To solve these problems, the leader should be very sure about the time that a meeting is to be conducted, and should impose penalties upon those who miss them. High quality equipment should be installed to improve the service. Written exchange of views should be discouraged. c) Group cohesion is the tendency of a group to sustain. Stronger group cohesion increases the group life. In order to create cohesive teams in an organization, the managers should have a strong conflict resolution system in place. One member should play the role of an adjudicator in the group. That group should be chosen through mutual consensus of the group members. In addition to resolving the conflicts, the managers should also take measures to enhance understanding and friendship amongst the members. This can be achieved by providing the members with frequent opportunities of recreation and partying. Q. 6 a The General Manager (GM) of the company that I have worked in is a very charismatic leader. He does not only influence others from his looks, but also impresses them with his articulate manner. At the age of 50, the GM has maintained a body of a 30 year old man. His agility, present-mindedness and the power to dominate all add to his charisma. I agree that such leaders have a tendency to accept and adopt change that is different from that of other leaders. This GM is more of a dictator. What he thinks right at a certain point in time, he just implements it no matter how much that may displease the staff. Nobody stands up and raises a voice because this GM has unusual oratory skills. Nevertheless, this GM makes sure that before implementing any kind of change, he calls a meeting and makes every person aware of the reason a certain action is being taken and the way it would benefit both the organization and the people associated with it. This makes the staff members feel that they know what is happening. Consequentially, they set their minds ready to adjust according to the demands of the GM. This seems to be the only way since the non-compliers are shown the way to the gate. b Management of change resistance requires articulate manner of the manager. In order for a manager to create an environment wherein change is accepted by the subordinates without hesitation, a manager has got to be on either side of the scale. Either he has to be a dictator like the GM I have talked about above, or the manager has to have very strong emotional attachment with the staff members. The latter approach is a bit difficult to achieve because to attain such a relationship with the subordinates, a manager has to give them favors which is often quite difficult. Thus, if I am able to convince the employees through my speech, I would go with the dictatorship, else I shall have to make extra effort to gain the consent of the employees. c As I discussed before, the GM of my company has been quite successful in implementing change. One particular feature that distinguishes this GM from other managers I know is that this GM speaks in a very high tone when he is addressing the staff in some meeting. His pitch is so loud that he almost screams. Yet, that screaming by no means sounds absurd or childish in any way. Instead, he tends to impress upon the staff that he is all in all and what he says has to be done. What makes him all the more appealing to the staff is that fact that although he rags them when its just the staff and him, he protects them when he has a meeting with the outsiders. He has stood for his people in the tough times. From the GM, I have learnt that dictatorship is the easiest and the quickest means of change implementation. Works Cited: InfoBarrel. “Explain Emotional Intelligence and list its five dimensions.” 2011. Web. 21 Oct. 2011. . Read More