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HumanRelations
MGMT611
VU
Lesson
17
BECOMING
A LEADER-1
Quotations
Thetruly
successful person is essentially a
dissenter and is always
dissatisfied with the status
quo.
Everything
is always impossible before it
works.That is what entrepreneurs
areall about--doing
what
people
have told them is
impossible.
Leadership
and leader
Leadershipplays
significant role in managingand
leading workers' behaviorsand
expectations. It is
considered
to be the job of a leader to give
direction to the employees and getting
the maximum output.
Bass(1990),
in the handbook of leadershipbroadly
defines leadership in the following
words as cited by
Komin(1994),
...an
interaction between two or
more members of a group
thatoften involves a structuring of the
situation
and
the perceptions and expectations of the
members. Leaders are agents
of change, persons
whoseacts
affect
other people more than
otherpeople's acts affect
them.Leadership occurs when
onegroup member
modifies
the motivation or competence of others
in the group.
Leadershipis the
process of bringing
aboutpositive changes
andinfluencing others to
achieve
organizational
goals. Change and influence
are the key words. People
tend to be influenced by a person of
high--butnot
unreasonable--self-confidence. Leaders should be a
good follower as well.
Assessingleadership
role
Leadership
abilities can be assessed
andmeasured through the instrument given
below.
Indicate
the extent to which you
agreewith each of the
followingstatement.
Use
a 1-5 scale: 1=disagree strongly;
2=disagree; 3=neutral;
4=agree;5=agree strongly
Sr
Dimension
DS
D N A AS
1
It is enjoyable having people count on me
for ideas and 1
2345
suggestions.
2
It would be accurate to
saythat I have inspired
otherpeople. 1
2345
3
It is good practice to ask people
provocative questions about
1
2345
theirwork.
4
It is easy for me to
complementothers.
1
2345
5
I like to cheer up people
evenwhen my own spirits
aredown. 1
2345
6
What my team accomplishes is
more important than my
1
2345
personalglory.
7
Many people imitate my ideas.
1
2
3
4
5
8
Building team spirit is
important to me.
1
2
3
4
5
9
I would enjoy coaching
othermembers of the
team.
1
2
3
4
5
10
It is important to me to recognize
othersfor their 1
2
3
4
5
accomplishments.
11
I would enjoy entertaining visitors to my
firmeven if it 1
2345
interferedwith
my completing a report.
12
It would be fun for me to
represent my team at gatherings
1
2345
outside
my department.
13
The problems of my
teammatesare my problems
too.
1
2345
14
Resolving conflict is an activity I
enjoy.
1
2345
15
I would cooperate with another
unit in the organization even 1
2345
if
I disagreed with the
positiontaken by its
members.
16
I am an idea generator on the
job.
1
2345
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HumanRelations
MGMT611
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17
It is fun for me to
bargainwhenever I have the
opportunity. 1
2345
18
Team members listen to me when I
speak.
1
2345
19
People have asked to me to
assume the leadership of an 1
2345
activityseveral
times in my life.
20
I have always been a
convincing person.
1
2345
Totalscore
.........................
Scoring
and interpretation: Calculateyour
total score by adding the numbers ticked.
A tentative
interpretation
of the scoring is as follows:
90-100High
readiness for the leadership
role
60-89
Moderate readiness for the
leadership role
40-59
Some uneasiness with the
leadership role
<39
Lowreadiness
for carrying out the
leadership role
Source:DuBrin,Andrew
J. `Human Relations: Careerand
Personal Success',Pearson
Prentice Hall,2005.
Effectiveleadership:
Effectiveleadership
at the top of organizations is necessary
for prosperity andeven survival.
Yetleadership
is
also needed at
lowerlevels.
A
team leader is a person
whofacilitates and guides
the efforts of a small
groupthat is given
someauthority
to
govern itself.
An
organization does not exist in a
vacuum but is embedded in a
societal/ cultural environment and
the
latter
exerts its pervasive influence on the
organizational actors-employees
andmanagers alike- in terms
of
what
they bring with them to the
workplace, like patterns of
values, beliefs and social
relationship
behavioural
patterns.
(Komin,1994).
Every
organization has its culture
andthat culture expects
roles of the employees /managers
according to
their
culture.
Character
Attributes of Leaders:
Peoplemust
have these attributes to be a leader. If
these attributes arenot
found in a person,he/she can
be
a
manager but not a
leader.
1.
Integrity
2.
Honesty
3.
Loyalty
4.
Selflessness
5.
Compassion
6.
Competency
7.
Respectfulness
8.
Fairness
9.
Responsibility
10.Decisiveness
11.
Spiritual appreciation
12.Cooperativeness
Traits
and Characteristics of
EffectiveLeaders:
Effectiveleaders
have the "rightstuff,"
meaning that certaininner
qualities contribute to
leadership
effectiveness
in a wide variety of situations.
Personsavoid taking
responsibilities. It is difficult to make
them
learn
the ability of taking responsibility. Technical
skills can be taught but developing the
characteristic of
responsibility
and how to lead others is
difficult. Persons wait
(Davis,67: 302)
indefinitely, forsomeone
else
to
decide, rather than
makedecisions
themselves.
Effectivenessmeansthat
the leader helps
groupmembers accomplish
theirobjectives
withoutneglecting
satisfaction
or morale. Achievement- motivated
personsare the best source
of competent leadership in an
organization
and those persons
withmore achievement
motivationtend to rise the
highest. (Davis, 67)
1.
Emotional
Intelligence:
A
current conception of emotional intelligence is so broad
that it encompasses many traits
and behaviours
related
to leadership effectiveness,
includingself-awareness,
self-management, social awareness,
and
relationshipmanagement.
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HumanRelations
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Self-awareness,
the
ability to understand
yourown emotions, is the
mostessential of the
fouremotional
intelligence
competencies.
Relationshipmanagement
dealswith
a variety of interpersonal skills.
Emotional
intelligence can be developed
throughworking on some of
itscomponents such as learning
to
controlyour
temper, and developing empathy by listening to people
carefully. Empathy means to
put
oneself
in someone's shoes.
2.
Trustworthiness:
Bothleaders
themselves and groupmembers
believe that being honest
and sustaining trust, are
important.
Today'scliché
is that leaderswalk
the talk.
Trustis a
person's confidence in another
individual's intentions
andmotives, and in the
sincerity of that
individual'swords.
Actions should not contradict
words.
It
takes a leader a long time to
build trust, yet one
briefincident of untrustworthy
behaviourcan destroy
it.
3.
StrongWork
Motivation and
HighEnergy:
Leadership
positions are mentally and
physicallydemanding. Strong
motivation is also needed to
acceptthe
heavy
responsibility that being a
supervisorentails.
4.
CognitiveSkills
and Openness to Experience:
Leadersneed
to be mentally sharp. Problem-solving and intellectual
skills are referred to collectively
as
cognitive
skills. A
cognitive skill of major importance is
knowledge
of the business, or
technical competence.
Closelyrelated
to cognitive skills is the personality
characteristic of openness
to experience, a
positive
orientationtoward
learning.
5.
Assertiveness
Assertiveness
is a widely recognized leadership trait.
If you are self-confident, it is easier
to be assertive with
people.Assertiveness
helps leadersperform many
tasks andachieve
goals.
6.
Charisma:
An
important quality forleaders
at all levels is charisma,a type of
charm
and magnetism
thatinspires
others. An effective
leader usually needs
somedegree of this quality,
althoughsome effective
leadersare
notcharismatic.
Here we focus on three of the
many characteristics of charismatic
leaders.
a.
Vision.Effectiveleaders
create a visualimage of
where the organization, or unit, is
headed. Effective
leadersproject
ideas and imagesthat
excite people, and therefore inspire
employees to do
theirbest.
Passion,Enthusiasm,
and Excitement.
Because of their
contagiousexcitement,
charismatic
b.
leadersstimulate
group members.Enthusiasm
helps build good relationships
with team
members,and
excitement
is contagious. The
leadercan express enthusiasm
verbally and nonverbally
throughgestures,
nonsexualtouching,
and so forth.
c.
Sense
of Humor:
Humor
is a component of charisma, and a
contributor to leadership
effectiveness.Humor helps
leaders
influence
people by reducing tension, relieving boredom,
and defusing anger.
Themost effective form
of
humor
is tied to the situation rather
thantelling
rehearsedjokes.
7.
The
Entrepreneurial Spirit:
A
leader should have the ability to
take initiatives
andcalculated risks. Corporate
leaders as well as the
self-
employedcan
display an entrepreneurial spirit.For
example, a team leaderwith
an entrepreneurial spiritwill
searchfor
new activities for the group.
References:
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HumanRelations
MGMT611
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Davis,
K. (1967). Human Relations at
Work: The dynamics of Organizational
behaviour.
Thirdedition.
McGraw-Hill,Inc.
Dubrin,
A.J. (2005). Human
Relations:Career and
Personal Success.Upper
Saddle River,
NewJersey,
07458.
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