Business Leadership - Essay Example

Business Leadership BY YOU YOUR ACADEMIC ORGANISATION HERE HERE HERE Business Leadership Introduction The expectationsof today’s organisational leaders include dynamic personality aspects which maintain the ability to persuade others to conform to a specific principle or idea. It appears that a blend of good communication skills, honesty and integrity, being visionary and forward-looking, as well as motivational and inspiring are the most substantial attributes which I will require after graduation. These competencies and attributes speak toward a contemporary leader who not only affects the behaviour of others, but makes positive changes in staff personal and organisational development. How is this accomplished? By motivating others to succeed, directing them on the path toward goal-attainment, and using positive personality attributes to mould an environment of trust and cooperation. This paper describes the specific leadership skills necessary to achieve success after graduation as well as an in-depth discussion on how to best develop these skills in the next four to five years. Skills Analysis Good communication skills includes sending the appropriate message, to the correct audience, in such a fashion that others will be inspired to listen. One expert in leadership suggests that “if you don’t believe in it, no one else will” (Forster, 2009, 323). This suggests a leader who maintains high volumes of outward self-confidence and uses an effective scan of the audience in order to choose the best methodology for getting others to believe in your own personal or business-related vision. Ralph Nader, a high-profile consumer advocate in the United States, who is actively involved in political affairs for the betterment of citizens, offers that “the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers” (Ruperalia, 2007). Having quality communication skills, especially in the business environment, will engage others to listen to new ideas and be flexible in the face of developing business situations. Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft Corporation and one of the world’s most high-profile billionaires, offers that he is “a great believer in any tool that enhances communication has profound effects in terms of how people can learn from each other” (Bagyura, 2007, 20). Gates has been actively involved in community and charity work on an international level for many years since the inception of Microsoft and uses his quality communication skills in public meetings, annual reports, and live news broadcasts. Gates’ suggestions offer that good communication skills are also about having an active listening posture where the audience is also being heard and their thoughts critically examined prior to making a response. Realizing that others have much to offer to business and decision-making is part of communications and can provide the leader with a great deal of learning in the process. It will also be necessary for me to be honest and full of integrity as these “are two of the most cherished qualities of leaders that people will follow willingly” (Forster, 468). This suggests that as a future business leader, I will have to remain focused on ethical behaviour and discuss the implications of ethical leadership to others whilst acting in a method that is congruent with what is being preached. For example, a leader has a follower and these followers are looking for a superior and confident leader who is both trustworthy and knowledgeable. Failure to abide by the same ethical policy that you expect workers to abide by would be unrealistic and would appear to be a violation of trust and relationship-building. This is a business risk, therefore it is a superior competency for future leadership and decision-making positions. Hewlett-Packard, as one example, is a company which maintains very high integrity when dealing with customers, having developed a form of customer relationship management whereby clients can access the HP intranet to interact with HP support staff (Forster, 392). Though this situation does not fall into ethical decision-making, it does instill a sense of loyalty and the ability to create mutually-cooperative partnerships which benefit both businesses. This is so much more than the role of just a manager as it inspires other to build positive business relationships and can be a benchmark of positive customer service, integrity, and ethical programming. I will also require a forward-looking philosophy where future activities are constantly planned out, especially in terms of building emotional and professional competencies in others, and then building momentum in others to achieve long-term goals. One professional offers that “visionary leadership calls for searching solutions which transcend the common adversarial approaches” (Sparsh MIC, 2008). By this, the author is attempting to suggest that a forward-looking leader explores alternative opportunities for achieving growth, as a proactive leader rather than a reactive leader. This type of leader takes initiative and consistently reinforces what they believe in (Sparsh MIC). Oprah Winfrey is a visionary and forward-looking leader who recently established a school for under-privileged girls in Africa. Ms. Winfrey’s television presence has given her considerable authority in business decision-making and she has significant experience in dealing with human relations issues, thus making her an authority on leadership capabilities. McLaughlin (2001) offers that Oprah Winfrey managers to make her guests, on her television talk show, believe in themselves and consider opportunities to contribute to a better society. This is visionary leadership in the modern business world today as a quality leader thinks toward the needs of the future and develops others to prepare as leaders themselves. Ms. Winfrey’s girls’ school in Africa is in this preparatory stage currently, moulding tomorrow’s leaders with unique insights, communication skills, and the ethical guidelines to contribute to a better global tomorrow. I must also consider how best to motivate others and inspire them to achieve their fullest potential and the needs of the organisation. When motivation levels are reduced in the organisation, employees are unhappy and under-performing which can lead to higher absenteeism and lower productivity (Forster, 168). This is quite important for personal leadership development as it becomes necessary to consider methods which make others energetic and cooperative. This can be accomplished by having the aforementioned strong personality which is dynamic and respectful to the needs of others. “Followers abhor cowards and love leaders with bravery” (Secretan, 2009, 18). If the leader is unsure about how to properly socialise or how best to reach a wide variety of diverse audiences, it is likely the inherent need to follow dynamic and courageous managers will impact relationship-building among peers and subordinates. Confidence must, again, be reinforced for its importance in long-term career planning. However, two experts in leadership philosophy offer that “a leader must go through multiple paradigm shifts where they see things in a totally different light as put a finger on the source of strength-the inner self” (Sichone and Zambia, 2004, 16). This suggests that quality competencies for motivating others is to constantly reexamine the success of existing methods to motivate others and adjust them along with adjusting the self to find the inner confidence necessary to lead successfully. Warren Buffett is a quality example of motivational leadership. Buffett earned his first $10,000 (USD) in a poker game, and swiftly turned this money into a business empire. Today, his motivational speeches allow others to consider how best to incorporate a blend of humanistic leadership with a go-getter attitude designed to tackle any future problem. Many shareholders listen to Buffett’s advice as he is able to persuade others to conform to his agenda; a significant strength in leadership today. Plan of action for future development Being visionary and forward-looking will require additional development in the next 4-5 years which will be accomplished by constantly examining the external environment and looking for opportunities for personal and professional growth. Vision is not only about having a plan of action for future success, it is about a “complex cluster of skills and competencies including active listening, how to appeal to hearts and minds, and the ability to build a relationship” (Forster, 61). Envisioning followers becoming leaders and taking the initiative to make this happen will involve research into available literature which theorises leadership vision to create a personal model of training and development. Because visionaries are “always focused on the horizon and not only the task at hand” (Sparch MIC), this suggests learning to be flexible and adjustable in a variety of situations both personal and professional. Developing quality communication skills will also require considering the motivational needs of others, such as self-esteem development and belonging, and consider my choice of words carefully based on the receiving audience. There seems to be times where a good leader must be assertive and challenge workers with difficult scenarios and at other times be more of a mentor and a compassionate trainer. Therefore, to develop this skill, I will take an observational research approach to social situations and try to analyse the social nuances between group members and individuals. Being a leader is about being dynamic and having a likable and respectful personality, therefore knowing when to be critical and when to be supportive will require additional development. However, having this observational approach will strongly assist in relationship-building competencies for long-term benefit to myself and the organisation. Further development into motivation will also require additional research into the vast literature available on the subject to further understand how to lead the Generation Y worker into a new, cooperative organisation. Sichone and Zambia again highlight that motivating others is an entire process of self development, compared as a metaphor to the process of sowing and reaping crops, where patience is the largest element for developing a desired outcome. It takes a considerable amount of time for a plant seed to germinate and such germination in followers will require a fair time for the process of development and training to occur to make them competent leaders. This will require a motivational leader, like myself, to consider adopting a more patient and thoughtful attitude toward the process of leadership. Others, it would seem, are not going to be properly motivated to conform to my personal or professional vision until they trust my judgment and that I will be looking out for their best interests and self-development capabilities. Trust would seem to imply building patience for long-term gain and social harmony. As part of motivational leadership development, I must also recognise that many people are not going to be motivated until they are rewarded sufficiently for their contributions to the long-term goal or personal vision (Forster, 416). This would tie in closely with good communications skills as well because people seem to be motivated by praise for consistent performance and appreciate being recognized, publicly, for their contributions to meeting goals. I must remember that as a well-developed leader, but one which could always use improvement, I am not necessarily in need of these responses to validate my position and vision so I often do not think of offering these types of verbal rewards. For future development, in the next 4-5 years, I will consider verbal recognition for contribution and self-growth and maturity attainment to inspire others to remain focused on becoming the maximum potential they can achieve. This might also suggest that I should focus on team-building exercises, as part of a research literature examination, to look for tested business studies which illustrate tips for motivating others by verbal reward and recognition. Conclusion Clearly, leadership is a complex conglomerate of competencies and attributes, some of which appear to be learned and some inherent based on personality construct. However, there is evidence that followers can be transformed into leaders so long as they have the commitment of a leader to ensure they are well-supported and developed to achieve the pinnacle of their skills and abilities. Much like Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, and many other international leaders, the goal is to use quality communication skills to build relationships, project these values of group involvement and community respect, and act in a manner which is congruent to the philosophy being sold to colleagues or subordinates. The value of quality leadership would seem to be the ability to think of the here and now when appropriate, create value for the future, and let followers take control in decision-making by developing their personal talents to achieve long-term organisational goals and vision. Remember, the goal of leadership is to “persuade others to do what you want them to do because they wanted to do it” (Ziglar, 2008). This takes development and skill. References Bagyura, Susan. (2007). “The Visionary Leader: How to inspire success from the top-down”. Retrieved 7 Apr 2009 from http://d.scribd.com/docs/25p1shydjgbw0jfkuizt.pdf. Forster, Nick. (2009). Maximum Performance: A Practical Guide to Leading and Managing People at Work, 2nd ed. Dubai, United Arab Emirates. McLaughlin, Corinne. (2001). “Visionary Leadership”. The Center for Visionary Leadership. Retrieved 5Apr 2009 from http://www.visionarylead.org/articles/vislead.htm. Ruparelia, Sital. (2007). “Seven Tips to Becoming an Inspirational Leader”. Retrieved 6 Apr 2009 from http://articleknowledgebase.com/business/7-tips-to-becoming-an-inspirational-leader.html. Secretan, Lance. (2009). “Moral Courage”. Leadership Excellence, Provo. 26(1): 18. Sichone, Billy C. and Zambia, Mongu. (2004). “The rare jewel of effective leadership. A guide for potential and established dynamic leaders”. 2nd ed. Retrieved 5 Apr 2009 from http://d.scribd.com/docs/plvluh8r0q4s2cpbvok.pdf. Sparsh MIC. (2008). “Visionary Leadership”. Retrieved 7 Apr 2009 from http://www.easyarticles.com/article-268614.htm. Ziglar, Zig. “Motivation, Manipulation & Leadership: Something to SMILE about: Encouragement and Inspiration for Life’s Ups and Downs”. Powerpoint presentation. Gorge Go Further. Retrieved 4 Apr 2009 from http://d.scribd./com/docs/16v15xkex4sldz04klmm.ppt. Read More