Am I a good Leader?

My leadership brand.

I am a strong believer of the Semco model of leadership which has been developed by Recardo Semler , Brazil. It believes in empowering employees with freedom of choice in the workplace. It believes that a democratic workplace keeps people happy, and when the people are happy , the best out of them is produced. This model  has received the 2016 winner of the case centre  award and the company has shown consistent growth  of 27%  over the past three decades. This model includes a people centred strategy by which the organisation balances the needs of the short term with those of the long term as well as balancing financial capital with human potential. These type of strategies have proven to achieve the vision and goals of the company  through people. This model believes that the more freedom an individual has over the job, the higher the productivity and bigger the rewards reaped by the firm for which they work. The democratic model has proved to be successful in many different companies of different sectors like Manufacturing, Hotels ,education and all of them have theses businesses have unbelievable consistent  growths in the markets which have made them the market leaders of their sector. Analysing the model with the Mckinsey’s 7s we see that change in the stronger elements like strategy, Systems and structure to allow more people friendliness has made it easier on the softer elements like staff, skills and style to be the most efficient  in case of any change in any circumstances and the shared values between the employee and the organisation are massive.(Stockport 2010)

Relevance to my career

This leadership style apparently works for a manufacturing unit where productivity and quality is  necessary . The career I am looking forward to is  manufacturing and distribution. So in a field like that quality and productivity is extremely necessary and to get that with the least expenses would be one of the important goals of my organisation.

My current strengths and development needs.

I have been a good team leader in the past, by leading from the front and leading by example is what I practice. I have realised my strengths and weaknesses from the simulation activity called ‘Race to the pole’ and the feedback I received from my coach after thorough evaluation of my performance during the activity. I have realised that I am a  good leader by  understanding the needs of my colleagues, understanding their strengths and weakness is a critical feature before allocating some work , understand what they are best at and to get the best out of them. Development needs lie in the area of being a team player when I am expected to follow and support teamwork by being a team player. Leading from behind is a skill which I lack .Motivating colleagues during critical situations is somewhere a development should be seen.

My development plan.

More focus on being a democratic team leader where necessary and development on mutual decisions  with more patience and respect that every individual has a unique point of view to situations. Self evaluation by requesting a friend to take a video of my presentations during the next term of course. That would help me analyse my behaviour towards the team as well as the body language expressed during presentations hence catching flaws in presentation skills while facing the crowd.  I believe in striving to better than what I am today to what I will be in the future and the only competition I have is myself. I am also keen on receiving honest feedback’s from my team mates by allowing them the permission to comment on my performance in the team so that I understand how I am perceived by my people. By these technique’s access to the Blind area and the Hidden area of the Johari’s window can be achieved. (Mullins 2016)

I hope my development plan works out for me as well as my team mates during the course. I am glad to be in an environment where progress is achieved by helping each other and communication between colleagues is consistent.

 

References

Mullins, L. and Christy, G. (2016). Management and organisational behaviour. Harlow, England: Pearson.

Stockport, G. (2010). Semco: cultural transformation and strategic leadership. International Journal of Technology Marketing, 5(1), p.67.

 

 

 

 

 

Braise yourselves Br-exit is here!

The UK leaving the EU union could result to many scenarios. Some of the consequences would be change – in lives, people, allies, strategies, businesses, etc. But how is it going to affect an organisation based in the UK? A good or a bad way?

Let’s have a look at that with an example.

HSBC on Br-exit

HSBC is one of UK’s top 4 banks and is widely spread over Europe with it’s headquarters in London.  With HSBC operating throughout the European union from it’s headquarters in UK is not going to work out post Br-exit. Hence the impact of Br-exit on HSBC is evidently strong.

Currently HSBC is going through a Role culture where empowerment of employees is one of their key values . The key values include dependable, open to different ideas and cultures, connected to customers, communities and each other, these values show existence of a process culture with a little tweak of innovation where the drawback of a process culture is avoided by welcoming fresh ideas and feedback from employees.

Since HSBC is undergoing a strong culture which welcomes change and the opportunities it brings, adapting to this change should be a comfortable task as long as the method of adapting this change blends with the culture of this organisation. ( http://www.hsbc.com/our-approach/our-values )

The problem’s arising would be creating another headquarters for the European union and this would lead to new job opportunities in European employment or shift the existing employees working for the EU markets from the UK to the European Headquarters. Especially for businesses working between the European market and the UK markets. Reconstruction of banking procedures for both it’s different consumers now would be a whole new process of  change.

Resistance to change is a major aspect to the situation, despite the potential positive outcomes, change is often resisted at both the individual and the organisational level. Resistance to change or the thought of implications of the change is a common phenomenon tracking back to the history, according to Toffler- Future shock  1970 , Among many there is an uneasy mood – a suspicion that change is out of control. Especially when members have insufficient information about the nature of change. Individual resistance can be seen from employees in terms of selective perception, habit, inconvenience, economic implications, security in the past and fear of the unknown.The employees will have a different perception about working in the UK and their habits according to the UK environment and this change will cause inconvenience and its economic implications. Resistance from the organisation can be seen as maintaining stability, investment in new resources, past contracts or agreements and threat to power or influence. ( Mullins 2016 )

Participation plus involvement method should be adopted since there is lack of information about the exact consequence , where the initiators do not have all the information they need to design the change, and where others have considerable power to resist.( P Kotter 1990 ). This can be treated as a Planned Organisational Change since the Br-exit is a process of 2 years leaving at least 1 year ahead for the company to carefully plan according to the changing environment.

Which means a planned change and improved performance involves a three phase process of behaviour modification.(Lewin 1951)-  Unfreezing- reducing those forces that maintain behaviour in its present form, recognition of the need for change to occur.; Movement- development of new attitudes of behaviour an implementation of change; refreezing- stabilising change at the new level and reinforcement through supporting policies and norms. (Mullins 2016)

The company should follow the 13 point checklist to secure successful and sustainable change accordingly while waiting for clearer instructions from the government for more clarity on the new regulations. ( Chartered Management Institute 2007 )

• Agree on the implementation strategy.
• Agree on time frames.
• Draw up detailed implementation plans.
• Set up a team of change champions.
• Establish a good programme management practices.
• Communicate clearly.
• Ensure participation and help to minimise stress.
• Personalise the case for change.
• Be prepared for conflict and manage it effectively.
• Motivate your employees.
• Develop skills.
• Maintain momentum.
• Monitor and evaluate.                          (Mullins 2016)

What do we learn?

• Learning outcomes from this problem solving experience has enabled critical thinking to global solutions for businesses by the relation between role of leadership and managing change.
• Change is constant and so organisation should perform a culture which welcomes change and the opportunities it creates.
• The method of managing change should blend with the culture of the organisation.
• Managing change can be difficult but being prepared for all the scenarios can avoid reversion.
• Understanding that people actually love change but they have to be careful about the pace of change. The most common reason for resistance is the fear that they might lose out on things. How to overcome resistance with the techniques to manage change.                 ( Cunningham 2005 )

References

Cunningham, I., Bennett, B. and Dawes, G. (2000). Self managed learning in action. Aldershot, Hampshire, England: Gower.

HSBC.com. (2017). Our values | HSBC Holdings plc. [online] Available at: http://www.hsbc.com/our-approach/our-values [Accessed 14 Dec. 2017].

Kotter, J. (1997). Leading change: A conversation with John P. Kotter. Strategy & Leadership, 25(1), pp.18-23.

Lewin, K. and Cartwright, D. (1951). Field theory in social science. New York: Harper & Bros.

Mullins, L. and Christy, G. (2016). Management and organisational behaviour. Harlow, England: Pearson.

Toffler, A. (1971). Future shock. Toronto: Bantam.

Yukl, G. (2013). Leadership in organizations. Upper Saddle River (NJ) [etc.]: Pearson.

 

Contemporary Leadership styles

Old leadership style?

The major leadership models are Autocratic, Democratic and the Laissez-Faire model. Is the process of leading too old for the current generation? A generation where the employees are more knowledgeable than yesterday , where information is all around the

place. This type of environment may not have existed in the early 20th Century. We are living in a world where so much has changed , the way people think has changed, then would the same leadership style work in an organisation?

Let’s have a look at that.

The old approach

The moment we think about the leaders in an organisation it is usually thought about people who are on top of the corporate ladder, having great authority and someone who has been looked up to in a company. According to Alice H. Eagly et al  (Gender and leadership style 1990) the general leadership style is mainly differentiated by genders which is an inter personally style for women and a task oriented style for men.This is called as gender stereotype differentiation in leadership styles where it is believed that a different leadership style is performed by women and a different by men. Some authors with extensive leadership experience have written books on management and leadership stating the similar stereotypes . So Autocratic! 

For example, Loden (1985) said that there is a masculine mode of management which includes competency, hierarchical authority, high control for the leader, with unemotional and analytic problem solving.  He argues that women tend to behave in an alternative feminine leadership style characterised by cooperativeness, collaboration of managers , lower control for the leader and problem solving is based on intuition, empathy as well as rationality.

The new approach

Leadership can be performed by everyone , even at the bottom level of the hierarchy. According to Uhl-bein et al ( Complexity leadership theory) She argues that the shift from the 20th to the 21st Century has led to drastic changes in the way people work , it has been described as the shift from the Industrial era to the Knowledge era. The current era has been described as the knowledge era because knowledge  has increased and its sharing too is consistent and can be taken as a commodity. Hence the Democratic model. It has been argued that revolution of technology and globalisation of businesses has led to a more complex, competitive and ever changing business environment.

The leadership systems proposed focus on more complex adaptive systems (CAS) where the systems consists of an administrative system consisting of all traditional elements of leadership like bureaucracy and hierarchy. This is mixed with adaptive and enable systems which focus more on the learning and adapting process which would enable more innovation and creativity in problem solving.

Conclusion

Current leaders who have been used to following the trends from the past are facing difficulties with adaptation of technology revolution and globalisation. It has been difficult for them to understand their followers likes and dislikes and what can make them work in a much more efficient way.

For example in CEO’s from the Asian countries like Chinese CEO’s find it difficult to adapt to western leadership styles for expanding their business internationally since they are bound to use traditional methods and hence a survey made on Chinese CEO’s shows that the major challenges faced are talent management , organisational climate and innovation.(Hay 2007; East meets West)

But look at Mr. Antonio ( CEO of Lloyd’s bank) has been such a role model for the organisation and has indeed proven the best results for the company. The major challenge he is facing today is developing managerial effectiveness and driving for change. He has to adapt to the new trends in technology and understand the  need of having information about employees  and their needs in this knowledge based era.It needs to be understood that adding value to the work will definitely avoid corruption. Belbin’s team roles can be allocated to suit the best role for an individual.

Research shows no differentiation on leadership styles due to gender orientation, it is the situation in what an individual is set to handle things and the readiness to perform a  given task, relations and change.Women should be encouraged and are seen to be taking bolder steps in companies to move forward in their careers by first self disclosure and asking for feedback by colleagues to uncover the hidden and blind areas of the  Johari’s window to attain self disclosure. especially in Asian , African and middle east countries , women must be strongly encouraged to perform leadership roles.(E.Reuben 2017)

Leadership in today’s fast paced changing business environment requires adaption of new strategies along with some level of bureaucracy because at the end of the day they do need to report to someone . Most importantly if you have to deal and lead the people of the future generation then you must  know what draws the best results out of them.

 

References

Eagly, A. and Johnson, B. (1990). Gender and leadership style: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 108(2), pp.233-256.

Loden, M. (1985). Feminine leadership or How to succeed in business without being one of the boys. New York: Times Books.

Moore, S. and Cope, J. (2012). Gender differences in occupational leadership styles. [Greenville, N.C.]: East Carolina University.

Mullins, L. and Christy, G. (2016). Management and organisational behaviour. Harlow, England: Pearson.

Uhl-Bien, M., Marion, R. and McKelvey, B. (2007). Complexity Leadership Theory: Shifting leadership from the industrial age to the knowledge era. The Leadership Quarterly, 18(4), pp.298-318.