Leadership for Performance Improvement - Essay Example

Leadership for Performance Improvement Personal and Organisational Context It has been said that in order to be effective, one must be affective. This has important implications for the modern day organisation which is run on the basis of a plethora of experiences that comes from various kinds of people who serve various goals. (Silberman, 2006) In order to tie these people up together, there is a need to focus on the fact that any action needs to be affective first in order to be effective. This is where entrepreneurial orientation comes in.

It has been described as a process that integrates personal and organisational goals so as to form a common value base. (Dolasinski et al, 2002) This act in itself will help in garnering better performance standards through better allocation and optimum utilisation of resources. This paper seeks to reveal the effects of this entrepreneurial and leadership orientation on firm and individual performance through motivation. The organisation, in the modern day context, has become a body that is made up of its human resource and the quality that this resource base imbibes into the operational sphere of the organisation.

(Silberman, 2006) The modern day organisation depends to a great extent on the contribution and quality of its human capital. (Enos, 2007) The human capital may be defined as that element of the organisation's operational sphere that is a living, breathing part of the activities that put the innate resources and factors of production into application. This application results in profits arising out of the activities of the human capital and the efficiency with which this resource carries out its tasks.

(Ellis, 2003) This in turn, has a bearing on the achievement of the organisation's goals in the sense that the organisation is structured according to the quality of the HR within it. Also, it shows the principles that are followed by the management in manning the organisation. Leadership traits can be categorised to function on three basic levels that dictate the integrity and effectiveness of a leader in context of enhanced results. These are as follows:PersonalityHuman BehaviourPerformance (Enos, 2007)If we were to look around ourselves, there are millions of examples that make an attempt at essaying the characteristics that make an ordinary person a leader - a hero for a lifetime.

Whether it is in our movies, art or literature - there have been constant portrayals of leaders and their qualities. Such qualities are singled out as the most effective when it comes to possessing a commanding personality, understanding and harnessing the dynamics of human behaviour and finally, as well as performing under high pressure and trying situations. (Ellis, 2003)The extent of demonstration of such traits influences effectiveness and performance of the followers. Therefore, it is imperative for leaders to be dynamic and have a commanding personality.

It is also, equally important for such people to naturally understand human behaviour which in turn improves performance. (Enos, 2007)In order to attain exponential growth in terms of effectiveness, a leader must, first and foremost delegate authority. This has a two fold logic to it. First, it helps the leader tackle his work in a more organised manner, without compromising on the quality he churns out - when a leader has too much on his head, there are more chances that he will stumble. The other side to this is that when a leader manages to delegate authority which leads to the desired output, it shows that he has a commanding disposition and is fit to be a leader.

(Enos, 2007)Further, a leader must give orders in a tone that has underscores of compassion for fellow human beings and will power, in equal measures. This will not only help him gain respect, but also put him in a position where no one will ever be able to refuse him. It is a leader's duty to understand that different people need to be handled and led differently - while some might have a will of their own, there might be others who need constant spoon feeding. Each individual must be paid attention to in the course of giving out orders.

(Ellis, 2003) As a teacher and developer of people, a leader's basic role is that of a negotiator and guiding hand, rolled into one. No teacher has been unsuccessful in teaching something new every single day, when he uses compassion and appeals to the senses and conscience of his pupil. This is essentially true of a leader - who is first and foremost a teacher. In this sense, a leader helps people through change. He carries out this task by making sure that every detail is taken care of while he brings people face to face with the dynamic nature of reality and the environment they thrive in.

A leader weaves people through change - helping them understand, cope and finally embrace change. (Silberman, 2006) In context of understanding human behaviour, leadership has embraced this aspect as the very basis of its body of knowledge. When applied to the organisation's performance, leadership may be defined as the use of opportunity to demonstrate several qualities. (Dolasinski et al, 2002) Here, leadership is a function born out of the combination of responsibility and authority in terms of motivation for performance improvement.

(Ellis, 2003) This can help touch the pulse of leadership, but in different ways. While one approach is all about learning through practice, (Dolasinski et al, 2002) the other takes the more tried and tested path of practice only after learning. (Dolasinski et al, 2002) The teachings in the first approach are more first hand, (Ellis, 2003) while the second approach mainly makes use of hypothetical situations. (Ellis, 2003)Leaders try to motivate people on the basis of knowledge that he has gathered through his experiences.

This shows a person how he or she might be able to make use of opportunities by relating his or her experiences with those of the individual concerned. (Dolasinski et al, 2002) This provides a wider base for application by generalising most of the views that revolve around leadership. In this way, leadership has a more universal appeal. These concepts and theories are tested scientifically and then put down on pen and paper. (Ellis, 2003) Further, these concepts revolve around plunging into the unknown and then experiencing whatever the organisation or life throws at the leader.

(Dolasinski et al, 2002)ReferencesDolasinski, M.J., Williams, A.G., & Hall, K.J. (2002) Training the trainer: Performance based training for today's workplace NJ: Prentice Hall. Ellis, L. (2003) Leading talents, leading teams: Aligning people, passions, and positions for maximum performance NY: Moofy Press. Enos, D (2007) Performance Improvement: Making It happen, NY: CRC Press. Silberman, M. (Ed). (2006) The ASTD 2006 training and performance sourcebook, Alexandria: ASTD