BECOMING A LEADER-1:Assessing leadership role, Traits and Characteristics of Effective Leaders

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HumanRelations MGMT611

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

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suggestions.

2 It would be accurate to saythat I have inspired otherpeople. 1

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3 It is good practice to ask people provocative questions about 1

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theirwork.

4 It is easy for me to complementothers.

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5 I like to cheer up people evenwhen my own spirits aredown. 1

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6 What my team accomplishes is more important than my 1

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personalglory.

7 Many people imitate my ideas.

8 Building team spirit is important to me.

9 I would enjoy coaching othermembers of the team.

10 It is important to me to recognize othersfor their 1

accomplishments.

11 I would enjoy entertaining visitors to my firmeven if it 1

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interferedwith my completing a report.

12 It would be fun for me to represent my team at gatherings 1

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outside my department.

13 The problems of my teammatesare my problems too.

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14 Resolving conflict is an activity I enjoy.

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15 I would cooperate with another unit in the organization even 1

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if I disagreed with the positiontaken by its members.

16 I am an idea generator on the job.

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HumanRelations MGMT611

17 It is fun for me to bargainwhenever I have the opportunity. 1

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18 Team members listen to me when I speak.

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19 People have asked to me to assume the leadership of an 1

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activityseveral times in my life.

20 I have always been a convincing person.

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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

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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)

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.

HumanRelations MGMT611

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.

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.

StrongWork Motivation and HighEnergy:

Leadership positions are mentally and physicallydemanding. Strong motivation is also needed to acceptthe

heavy responsibility that being a supervisorentails.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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:

HumanRelations MGMT611

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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