Princes Court Organization: Participative, Laissez-Faire, and Autocratic Leadership Styles - Essay Example

Servant Leadership of the of the Servant Leadership Introduction This study will focus on a leadership philosophy known as servant leadership. There are various forms of leadership styles implemented within an organization. Traditional leadership practices are mostly inclined towards exercising power on subordinates. However, the servant leadership style highlights sharing of power amongst team members. This leadership approach puts team members in the first place and enhances their skill sets. There are certain leadership approaches which are commonly used in organizations, such as participative, laissez-faire and autocratic leadership styles. The authoritarian leadership style denotes a centralized decision making approach where the final decision is taken by the topmost executive. The participative leadership style indicates that employees should be included within the decision making process. Employees are able to influence the decision making approach, and simultaneously the responsibility of team members also increases. The laissez-faire leadership approach is the least observed within an organizational system. There are similarities between servant leadership and participative leadership styles. In the current scenario there is a wide range of firms following the servant leadership approach. The servant leadership style is valued by many organizations so as to strengthen employee relationships. The organization selected for this particular study is Prince’s Court. This is a healthcare provider that aims at providing family-centered and quality healthcare to individuals. The study will summarize the implementation of the service leadership approach within the chosen organizational framework. Discussion 1) Servant Leadership Concept The servant leadership concept suggests the primary role of a leader is to extend support towards team members or to serve them appropriately. This approach does not believe in exercising power over other team members, but distributes power amongst all individuals. It is an ancient philosophy and is closely knitted with the concept of participative leadership approach. A servant leader possesses certain priorities such as enabling, encouraging and supporting subordinates to address specific goals or objectives. This eventually leads to distribution of power and responsibility amongst employees. It can be considered as a participative decision making style, where all team members contribute their opinions or ideas (Mello, 2011). Servant leadership approach is not only confined to employee related behavior but its objective is to alter hierarchical relationship between team members and leaders. The major focus of servant leadership style is on enhancement of satisfaction level and performance of employees. 2) Comparison With Other Leadership Models Servant leadership can be defined as the type of leadership that is engaged in serving the group first and then the principles of leadership. In this type of leadership, the group is assigned the role of an administrator. Servant leadership offers various advantages as compared to other leadership styles. The main differences between both these types of leadership are servant leadership can be effectively applied in the diverse workplace whereas autocratic leadership may result in alienation among its employees. The autocrats implement the control and command style of leadership, whereas the servant leadership practices the collaborative management style. The main differences between them are servant leadership can be applied in all organizations that suit the need and requirements of all members of the group whereas in case of democratic leadership it sometimes fails to meet the requirements of its group members. Under servant leadership the group makes the decision whereas in case of democratic leadership the majority rules. The similarity between autocratic and servant leadership is that both leadership styles focus on achieving the goals set by the entity. Both styles emphasize maintaining discipline in the organization. The main similarities between them are both the leadership styles are based on the holistic understanding of the situation. Both these styles emphasize on retaining its employees in the organization. 3) Organization Description The Prince’s Court Medical Centre is a private medical centre located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The main objective of this concerned medical centre is to provide best health care facilities in Asia. It is engaged in providing comprehensive medical health care facilities by maintaining highest international standards through innovative technology, world class facilities and providing excellent customer services. The health care industry is engaged in providing superior quality services to its patients. The Prince’s Court medical centre is equipped with new and latest medical equipments and technology for offering a wide range of family centered health care services in order to maintain highest international standards. The number of employees working for the concerned health care centre is approximately 550 employees. When the project approaches, the number of employees increases to approximately 750 staff members. The vision of the concerned health care centre is to be considered as the leading health care provider in Asia. To treat all employees with dignity and courtesy and to achieve the financial economic target associated with the project established by the health care centre. 4) Application of servant leadership Prince’s Court Medical Centre is a well-known health care provider located in Asia. High quality standards should be maintained by such firms in order to deliver an expected service level to patients. The values and attributes of the organization can be addressed through implementing a servant leadership mechanism. In the healthcare sector it is essential to consider diverse opinions of employees to upgrade operational performance standards. This organization mainly comprises an autocratic leadership approach where the ultimate decision is taken by the top management. Centralized decision making brings forth disciplinary actions within the organization but restricts employees from sharing their opinions. The leaders of this organization impart training to employees in order to treat individuals with dignity and courtesy (Daft, 2007). Servant leadership can be efficiently applied on the chosen organization by altering the trend of the decision making process. Communication channels need to be improved to apply servant leadership style to Prince’s Court Medical Centre. Assurance is one of the organizational values of the organization. This aspect is associated with gaining trust of stakeholders through improving standards of workplace and personal behavior. Servant leadership can be used as a strategy to build trust amongst key stakeholders. This would serve as a tool to motivate employees and increase their confidence level by providing them more responsibilities. 5) Servant leadership in achieving the vision In context of servant leadership, the leader’s primary role is to serve the people of the organization especially the employees of the organization. Servant leadership as a concept is very old and is sometimes associated with the philosophy by Lao -Tzu. Servant leadership as a concept was also developed by Chanakya the famous writer of the Artha Sashtra. In a servant leadership organization when something is achieved, all the employees of the organization take equal responsibility of the deeds and there is a sense of achievement amongst all the members of the organization (Blanchard, 2003). On the other hand in case, if there is something wrong then all the members of the organization, starting from the leader to the employees take equal responsibility for the same. The vision of the company is to become a leading provider of healthcare in Asia. If the organization incorporates servant leadership then it will have a major impact on the employees of the organization. The employees will obviously feel motivated that the leader of the organization feels and listens to them (Greenleaf and Spears, 2002). The fact that their contribution in the organization is recognized and they are made to feel important by the organization will have a positive impact on the employees and they will obviously work with extra motivation in order to help the company achieve the vision. 6) Implementation of servant leadership Servant leadership should be implemented throughout the organization so as to deliver best possible outcomes. It can be implemented by incorporating necessary skills or knowledge in leaders and team members. As a leader diverse set of opinions needs to be valued. This shall make employees feel that they are being valued by organizational leaders. Leader’s opinion need not be an effective one in all scenarios. Hence it becomes essential to gather diverse set of opinions from team members. This in turn would help in designing innovative strategy so as to retain market position in healthcare industry. Servant leaders should be able to encourage employees in terms of attaining high performance standards (Adair, 2013). Selfless quality is a primary area of concern for all servant leaders. This leadership style can be introduced through conducting regular meetings where issues being faced by employees will be discussed and resolved. On the other hand, employee retention strategies are also formulated by servant leaders. Leaders of Prince Court Cares need to be inclined towards long term goal achievement. Employees can be retained through performance appraisal mechanisms or structuring of individual career path. 7 a) Supporting stakeholders In the servant leadership the main stakeholders who would be benefitted in the organization are the internal stakeholders especially the employees of the organization. Hence it is quite obvious that the employees will be supporters of the implementation of the Servant leadership by the organization (Sipe and Frick, 2009). The employees of the organization will be filling part of the organization. In an organization that is based on the servant leadership concept, the quality which defines the leaders in the organization is characteristics such as listening, empathy etc. These characteristics of the leaders of a servant leadership based organization are based on the fact that the leader understands the employees of the organization. As the concerns of the employees are noticed by the leadership and the leaders take personal care of the employees of the organization it results in the fact that the employees feel motivated and serve the organization with extra dedication. The servant leader tries to understand the way in which the goals of the individual employees fill into the concept of organization goals. The leader of the organization tries to understand the way in which the careers and goals of the employees can be developed. As the leader is committed to the development of the employees of the organization and thinks about their welfare, the employees become committed to development of organization. If the employees feel that the leader and the organization is committed and is concerned about their development it is quite natural that the employees too will give their maximum effort towards the betterment of the organization. 7 b) Opposition to implementation If the organization wants to implement servant leadership one of the first huddle that it will face is the fact that it will involve a change in the organization culture. The major obstacle that would arise in the process of implementation of the servant leadership at the organization is the fact that it will involve a major overhaul of the organization and its culture. The organization in question over here must have a way in which it has been functioning over the years. Their way of functioning over the years has gone to determine the culture of the organization. The way in which the leadership of the organization has managed the workforce has been defined through long years of practice. The major obstacle that will come in the implementation of servant leadership at the organization will be in the form of opposition from the leaders of the organization and the people who are associated with the leadership. These obstacles can be mitigated through the process of illustrating the positive effects that will be derived through the implementation of the model of the leadership. Conclusion It is found through the course of this essay that servant leadership is an age old leadership concept. In the recent years the topic has found new relevance. It is also seen that if this company that is talked about in this essay applies servant leadership then it will in a better position to achieve the goals of the organization. However, there will be some stakeholders who will oppose the implementation of servant leadership and others who will support the same. It is the duty of the organization to emphasize on the benefits of the model in order to successfully implement it. The Prince Court Medical Centre is considered as one of the leading health care centre of Asia and it is located in the heart of the Kuala Lumpur. The organization mainly follows servant leadership style in its organization in order to achieve the goals set by the concerned health care centre. The servant leadership is considered as the best form of leadership as compared to other forms of leadership styles. This type of leadership focuses on the individual needs and requirements of its team members. References Adair, J. (2013). Develop your leadership skills. London: Kogan Page Publishers. Blanchard, K., (2003). Servant leader. NY: Thomas Nelson Inc. Daft, R. (2007). The leadership experience. New York: Cengage Learning. Greenleaf, R. K. and Spears, L. C. (2002). Servant Leadership: A Journey Into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness. NJ: Paulist Press. Leopold, J., Harris, L.and Watson, T. (2005). The strategic managing of human resources. Harlow: Prentice-Hall. Luthans, F. (2005). Organizational behavior. New York: McGraw-Hill. Mello, J. A. (2011). Strategic human resource management. Cincinnati: South Western. Sipe, J. W. and Frick, D. M., (2009). Seven Pillars of Servant Leadership: Practicing the Wisdom of Leading by Serving. NJ: Paulist Press Read More