Leadership Research Findings - Practice - and Skills

Question: Discuss about the Leadership Research Findings, Practice, and Skills. Answer: Introduction Leadership is an important factor to make an organization successful. It maximizes the efficiency of an organization and helps it to achieve the organizational goals. A good leader has the potential to influence and drive the team efforts towards the accomplishment of goals, thus, directing the organization in a way that makes it more consistent and rational (Bryman, 2013). Leaders are invaluable when it comes to formulating new strategic plans, communicating with, and motivating employees to enhance dedications towards the organizational goals. Leadership styles: Autocratic form of leadership Bureaucratic form of leadership Laissez-faire leadership style Democratic form of leadership Leadership is an ability to get others to follow willingly. Now, different leadership styles are required for different situations and the leader must have the knowledge regarding the various forms of leaderships. A leader must know what particular leadership style to demonstrate in a particular situation (Bhatti et al., 2012). Background of chosen case study: In Saudi Arabia, there is a growing awareness among the Saudi businesses that the essential ingredient of a successful business is well-trained trainers. This has resulted in a customized Accelerated Leadership program that is organized for Saudi leaders to build and enhance their leadership skills. Most of the construction companies in Saudi Arabia have been facing protests from the workers over unpaid wages. The protestors argued that they owed more than six months worth of unpaid wages. According to recent news report, a number of workers damaged the companys property and attacked the administrative staffs. As per the recent media reports, South and South-East Asian migrant workers employed by the construction company, United Seemac, have not been paid for 20 months. More than 500 workers are unable to seek alternate employment or leave the country because the company has not only refused to issue exit visas but has also refused to renew their work permits. The company has offered repatriation to the workers subject to the condition that they can leave the country but with unpaid dues. The management ignored the needs of the workers; it failed to take necessary steps to provide the workers with appropriate remedies from the dire consequences faced by them and their families. Even resorting to the legal system was of no help as it failed to yield any remedy for the workers. As per the facts and circumstances, it is understood that the construction company/companies follows the autocratic leadership style. It is the classical leadership style where the manager retains the decision-making authority and the staffs neither are consulted nor are permitted to give any input (De et al., 2015). They are supposed to obey orders without any explanations. This leadership approach is not suitable to circumstances where staffs become resentful; where there is absenteeism and work stoppage. The financial crisis the construction companies are going through, at present, must be dealt with good leadership skill (Carmeli Reiter, 2013). In the present scenario, the leaders instead of trying to resolve the problem, the management made it worse. Now, different situations demand for different type of leadership (DuBrin, 2015). To be an effective leader, a person must adapt his or her style to the demand of the situation. The leadership style apt for such situation is the Democratic Leadership style. It involves participation of the staffs in the decision making process and is most effective at times when a complex problem requires lot of inputs to solve. The crisis that the company is facing can only be dealt with if the management and the staffs work on it together and for that, it is pertinent that problems that affect the staff are solved. According to the CEO of Renault, France, the top management level should not force organizational structure, it must come from the bottom level. Democratic form of leadership entails the following: competence, fairness, honesty, creativity, courage and intelligence. Leadership challenges faced by an Organization As per the issue identified, being a leader is in itself a challenge. The challenges faced by a leader in the organization are of three kinds- internal; external and challenges that arise from leadership itself (Haslam et al., 2014). External challenges: In the mentioned organization, various issues like lack of funds, social, economic and political forces have had an adverse effect on the company. If the leader is unable, to handle such constant crisis with an air of calm, the team themselves stress out and the work of the group suffers. The company must take initiative to resolve the issues affecting the workers. Internal challenges: The companys insecurity, impatience, lack of confidence, intolerance is some of the traits that is acting as hindrances to leadership. To accept the present traits and overcome them is an instance of good leadership. Challenges arising from leadership itself: Leadership is mainly difficult during unstable or changing situations. A leader not only motivates the employees but also acts as a mentor, model, fixer of broken things, etc. but the leaders have failed to display the same. The passion and dedication portrayed by leaders motivates people to remain focus during a time of crisis and encourages them to perform at a high level (Northouse, 2015). As the construction company United Seemca followed the autocratic form of leadership it has failed to resolve issues and failed to motivate the staffs as a result of which the company had to face work stoppage. In such a situation the leaders must remain calm and compose and adopt the democratic style of leadership. It is apt for the particular situation. The company faced problems like fund-deficit and is criticized by the public, structural changes and it is the responsibility of the leader to find solutions to such problems and to keep the team stable during such difficult times. In any organization, when the leadership is effective it can be felt throughout the organization (Pamfilie, Petcu Draghici, 2012). The management of the given organization may also adopt the ethical approach of leadership, as it is an essential element of effective management and success of an organization. It involves building good relationships with the employees based on integrity, honesty, justice, equity that is the key to sustainable success of the organization. Conclusion Leadership is considered the most essential element in an effective management of an organization. It is pertinent that leaders of the given organization must maintain an open and appealing relationship with the staffs in order to achieve the organizational goals of the organization. The company must pay at least a part of their outstanding payments to the workers. This will help the workers regain their trust in the company. The leaders of the company must emphasize upon creating an environment that helps the employees to excel. In other words, the key factor for making an organization successful is effective leadership. In order to achieve organizational goal, the leader must exhibit his or her leadership skills to secure high performance of the employees. The leaders in the organization are facing many challenges and their abilities are tested. A competent leader will adapt his or her style to the demands of the different situations. The management of the organization must demonst rate dedication and enthusiasm, outline the common goals of an organization, and inspire the employees to perform better and accomplish the set goals. Reference list Bhatti, N., Maitlo, G. M., Shaikh, N., Hashmi, M. A., Shaikh, F. M. (2012). The impact of autocratic and democratic leadership style on job satisfaction.International Business Research,5(2), 192. Bryman, A. (Ed.). (2013).Leadership and organizations. Routledge. Carmeli, A., Gelbard, R., Reiter?Palmon, R. (2013). Leadership, creative problem?solving capacity, and creative performance: The importance of knowledge sharing.Human Resource Management,52(1), 95-121. De Hoogh, A. H., Greer, L. L., Den Hartog, D. N. (2015). Diabolical dictators or capable commanders? An investigation of the differential effects of autocratic leadership on team performance.The Leadership Quarterly,26(5), 687-701. DuBrin, A. J. (2015).Leadership: Research findings, practice, and skills. Nelson Education. Haslam, S. A., van Knippenberg, D., Platow, M. J., Ellemers, N. (Eds.). (2014).Social identity at work: Developing theory for organizational practice. Psychology Press. Northouse, P. G. (2015).Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications. Pamfilie, R., Petcu, A. J., Draghici, M. (2012). The importance of leadership in driving a strategic Lean Six Sigma management.Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences,58, 187-196.