Good And Effective Leadership Manifestation

Keywords: leadership manifestation,effective leadership,leadership case summary

INTRODUCTION

Leadership is exhibited in almost all stages of life. Everybody in one stage of his or her life has been faced with situations where leadership skills had to be demonstrated. Right from individual families and homes to organisations, institutions and governmental bodies, leadership skills are very much demonstrated. Irrespective of whether one possesses substantial leadership traits or not, there is an inherent need to succeed in a given task. Good leadership is not based on just leading people but it also comes along with different responsibilities and based on how it’s handled, justifies one as being either a good leader or a bad leader. Effective leadership skills can never be practiced without followers; they are the people who are led to either a success or failure in a particular project. Attitudes of followers are greatly subjected to leadership traits displayed by the leaders and this is backed by the statement made by Hackman and Johnson (2004) that “followers prosper under effective leaders and suffers under ineffective leaders”. (Hackman & Johnson, 2000)

2.0. CASE STUDY 1

2.1. Case Summary

Joey was previously involved in aviation and believes that, his narration is in a similar fashion to what course aims to achieve by better equipping us for the life of engineers in our chosen industries. Evidence of this has been during the 10th week of course when we discussed CRM (Crew Resource Management). Even though he was not personally involved in this scenario, he believes it’s an excellent situation to analyse. His case is a classic example of how leadership/teamwork manifestation by the pilots, cabin crew and air traffic controllers and use of teamwork to execute a safe outcome for all concerned when a US Airbus A320 in flight had issues with both of its engines in January last year. As the routine flight was climbing out of the New York area, one by one a flock of birds flew into the path of the aircraft and stopped both the jet engines on the aircraft. The captain (the leader of the aircraft) calmly analysed the situation and he knew that he only had a short time to take a concrete decision. The initial decision taken by the leader was to go back to the airport they came from to try and land there with no engines at all, upon a conversation with his co-pilot (subordinate) it was decided that this would be a very unlikely outcome for success. A further discussion with his other worker gave the suggestion of the possibility of landing in a sighted river close to their spot.

2.2 Leadership manifestation

The leadership skill in this situation was demonstrated considering the amount of pressure that the crews were under when the crisis started. “On January 15, 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 took off from New York’s LaGuardia airport for Charlotte, North Carolina. Shortly after takeoff, the plane went through a flock of geese at 3,000 feet and both engines were knocked out. Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger later said that he felt an “adrenaline rush” right to his core. As his heart rate increased, he forced himself to ignore the physical symptoms and face the situation.” (Cross, 2009) This situation was well handled by the crew following these 6 steps that they received during training to try and resolve a crisis.

Step 1: “The best defense is a good offence” (Cross, 2009): Establish training exercises for the possible crisis, US airways had done this with the crew and so they would have been well prepared for the crisis. The commanding pilot was also a very knowledgeable person on crisis management and knew how to formulate a backup plan in stressful situations as evidence by this statement from him in a post accident interview; “One way of looking at this might be that, for 42 years, I’ve been making small regular deposits in this bank of experience: education and training,” said US Airways Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger. “And on January 15, the balance was sufficient so that I could make a very large withdrawal.” (Couric K 2009)

Step 2: “Tell me now” (Cross, 2009): Communicate to known company a protocol that is what the cockpit crew did when they had the failure. Even though the emergency happened at a low altitude they still had to rigidly follow company’s procedures to try and evaluation the aircraft systems and the situation itself

Step 3: “Rally the team” (Cross, 2009): Communicate with the other team members on both the best and worst possible outcomes for the situation. The US air 1549 flight crew discussed all possible alternatives in the approach they would take to try and solve the problem

Step 4: “Isolate and contain the problem” (Cross, 2009): Once the crew identified their plan of attack, they isolated the problem by using the best known knowledge at the time and went through checklists to try and remedy the situation and start the engines so they might be able to get out of the situation. “US Airways also focused on the ABCs – Assess what the situation is and/or threats are, Balance available barriers using policies, procedures and flows, checklists, automation, external resources, human factors, and knowledge of aircraft handling, Communicate effectively and understand callouts, and Standard operating procedures.” (Sullenberger C, 2009)

Step 5: “Fix it” (Cross, 2009): After the accident, the industry and airlines are trying to remedy the situation of bird strikes for the future and also better crew training for water ditching

Step 6: “Train all team members” (Cross, 2009): Remedial action after the accident and the subsequent findings have suggested better precautions and training to try and prevent an occurrence like this happening again.

Comparing of the learnt theories to the case study 1

The theories learnt in this course are very relevant to this accident. High risk industries have been littered with tragedies from poor management systems in the past. A good starter for this is the review of CRM from lecture 10 in our course it states that; “CRM is a system to achieve safe and efficient flight operations by optimizing the use of all available resources such as equipments, procedures and people. CRM training focuses on mastering knowledge, skills and attitudes related to communications, situational awareness, problem solving, decision making, and teamwork” (Ljubo V. and Sutherland B, 2010). The paragraphs below outline how the CRM was successfully implemented in the accident;

2.3.1 Leadership: The captain of the aircraft displayed great composure and guidance during the crisis, he used his previous training to avoid the situation from becoming worse. A classic example of great leadership manifestation was when the aircraft was on the water, he checked inside the aircraft to see if there were any stranded people left on the aircraft after every one had left before he left the aircraft. He also directed the rescue crews to approach and rescue people on the wings first before the people on the life rafts. The third positive leadership trait displayed by the co-pilot was when he went back into the sinking aircraft and located more life jackets for the passengers who had none.

2.3.2 Interpersonal communication: This can be broken down further for this section to include; “Communication errors, barriers, cultural influences, listening, coordination” (Ljubo V. and Sutherland B, 2010). The above mentioned traits were performed to a high standard in each area this in my opinion was the reason why the outcome of the flight was so successful.

2.3.3 Decision-making: This area of the accident can be further examined with the following factors; “Risk assessment, risk management techniques, loss of judgement, deviations” (Ljubo V. and Sutherland B, 2010) The aircraft crew did an excellent job in these areas, for example in the “risk of assessment” the crew were thinking about what was going to be the least risk, landing in the river or the airport they came from? Which ties into “risk management” they have made a decision so now they must manage the risk of this decision with the appropriate tools to make the outcome successful.

Lessons learnt from the course

We have learnt that the crew in what could be described as an almost hopeless situation pulled off a miracle to save the crippled aircraft. “Kelly’s Followership Model in CRM” mentioned in the slides makes reference to the “Exemplary Followers: Assertive and not afraid to challenge; essential to safe & efficient ops” (Ljubo V. and Sutherland B, 2010), these are the techniques employed by the crew on the aircraft at all times to ensure a successful outcome to the situation. We have also learnt that a calm head and excellent teamwork are essential to solving any impending crisis. “It was an integral part of this scenario. We didn’t have time to consult all the written guidance, we didn’t have time to complete the appropriate checklist, so Jeff Skiles and I had to work almost intuitively in a very close-knit fashion, without having a chance to verbalize every decision, every part of the situation. By observing each other’s actions and hearing our transmissions and our reports to others, we were able to quickly be on the same page, know what needed to be done and begin to do it.” (Sullenberger C, 2009)

The captain of the aircraft exhibited the big 5 important factors under the personality traits of leadership. The above qualities exhibited by the leader and complimented by the crews superb CRM was the major factor for the successful outcome. Let’s further break these points down into a more detailed analysis of the situation;

2.4.1 Neuroticism (emotional stability): The captain of the flight had no time to channel his energies into anxiety; he said he had to mentally control his emotions so he could use his thoughts to fly the plane instead

2.4.2 Extraversion (sociability): Sullenberger used his teamwork skills to communicate the problem with his co-pilot as to what the best action would be to ensure a safe outcome for the flight

2.4.3 Openness to experience (creative, curious): Sullenberger’s past history as a aviation accident consultant, a glider pilot and a instructor in human dynamics in aviation all helped him to make the right decision needed for a safe outcome.

2.3.4 Agreeableness (trusting & nurturing): This was demonstrated by the fact he let his co-pilot run through the engine relight checklist so he could try and attempt to restore engine power, so in the worst case he would be able to fly the aircraft back to the airport on one engine if they got it restarted.

2.3.5 Conscientiousness (organised & dependable): He demonstrated this due to his past employment as a instructor pilot in US airways, which consisted of duties such as testing pilots skills in the simulator and in the aircraft. He was also widely recognised by his peers as an excellent pilot and faithful servant of the aviation industry.

“Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.” (Ljubo V. and Sutherland, 2010)

“The successful outcome was achieved by the actions of many. Lives were saved due to the experience of a well trained crew” (Sullenberger C, 2009). The above two quotes sum up perfectly the Captain and crew of US air flight 1549 in a nutshell.

Improvements to Case Study 1 based on learnt theories

In light of the accident on the Hudson River, the industry has learnt that they must keep up to date with aircrew training and cabin crew training and the training must be based on one of the most impressive training improvements, “Recommendations for new engine certification procedures, emergency checklists, aircraft equipage and pilot training” (Croft J 2010).

From a leadership point of view the US Government regulator for aviation (FAA) and Airbus, were each criticized for not mandating ditching training in the flight simulator, tougher engine bird strike certification, proper pilot checklists. From a cabin crew point of view deficiencies existed in briefing of passengers and also lack of standardization of equipment in the US airways fleet (some aircraft had life rafts some did not) at the time FAA did not mandate use of life raft on non overwater flights.

Apart from the Government leadership issues one of the positives from a leadership point of view was that, the captain turned on the mini jet engine so he could maintain control over the aircraft in the final minutes of the flight. However the negatives of the leadership where he failed to press the ditching button to close the valves so water would not flood the aircraft (but this is a limitation of the human mind in reaction to a rare and stressful situation).

Another finding is the fact that, the industry was ill prepared to know how to ditch in water. From a communication and leadership point of view, the question asks “What should be done differently as a result of this learning”. In my research and opinion from this accident backed up with our theory from the course, they perform a magnificent job of handling the situation from a classic leadership and communication text book point of view and could in the future be a excellent case to study for future generations of leaders in the World.

3.0. CASE STUDY 2

3.1. Case summary:

The second case study is of Awais Safder who led his team to complete a task in limited time by convincing the labor force to work over time during winter. This was very crucial for the reputation of the company he worked for since the client requested the project be built on a tighter time schedule. In order successfully meet the target; he placed leadership responsibilities on his sub-ordinates. They did not have to complete it for themselves but for the sake of company. Saving of time was of course saving of money. He did not just finish it on limited time but also saved on cost. “Leaders are people who can create significant change in both followers and organisation which they are associated.” (Iain Hay,2010)

In a project, whoever is the leader must possess a number of characteristics to guarantee progress. To handle such pressure at an early stage of his career was mentally challenging. He was the sole structural site engineer on the building site. He did not only show inspirational skills in propelling the labor force to achieve this task, but also exhibited excellent leadership.

3.2. Leadership Manifestation

The leadership manifested in this case was transformational leadership. The leadership traits Awais adopted in that case was focusing on being analytical, devoted, diligent, interactive and sincere, factors that a successful leader must adapt to if he anticipates progressive results. Sometimes however, depending upon the diversity of situations, there may be trade-on and trade-off characteristics in the need for each of the traits. He exhibited sound emotional stability in dealing with problems contemplatively towards the outcome of the project. Leadership skills perceived in solving the problems occurred during the execution of the task. He considered all ideas in addition to further improve his relationship with the followers and having sufficient skill to persuade followers even in case of disagreement. He made them realise that they had to complete this task for the sake of their company’s reputation. He listened to their issues, noted their problems and promised them extra remuneration for their extended hours on the site. He also invited supervisors and foremen with whom he initially discussed the procedure of executing the activities and idea of extended hours at work for them. He then discussed the whole situation with Project Manager and explained to him how he was going to complete each activity and assured him of prompt progress on the project. He assured him that if these extra hours of construction were agreed upon, he would negotiate with the steel fixers to help boost moral on the construction site.

3.3. Comparing the learnt theories to the case study

The under listed paragraphs gives a vivid illustration on how Awais’ leadership approaches were analyzed based on the theories learnt in class

3.3.1. Transformational Approach: Standing on the statement made by Hackman and Johnsons, “The new leader is one who commits people to action, who converts followers into leaders, and who may convert leaders into agents of change” (Hackman & Johnson, 2009). His leadership skills was highly portrayed on how he encouraged his followers on the construction site to become leaders is a typical examples. A further example of this can be viewed from the following notes on transformational leadership. The transformational leadership characteristics from his case of study are as follows.

3.3.1.1. Creative: He exhibited creativity at different levels of the task. Since he was the sole engineer at the construction site, he had to come up with different alternatives to execute the given task at a specified time with the steel fixers especially during the winter when at night the temperature fell to -4° C.

3.3.1.2. Interactive: He took into account the fact that manpower plays a vital role in the progress of any task. In order to achieve the required goals from them, he was very concerned about their personal issues. He used to go on construction site, watched steel fixers, appreciated their hard work, stayed with them and made some jokes to make their working environment friendlier. Whenever I told them how the company had always taken care of them and provided them with many facilities in the past, they always gave a strong and positive response. To them, it was a give and take affair that is, once their basic needs are attended to, they on their part will do their best in achieving the company’s goal. This is also a classic example of how McGregor’s theory Y is put into play.

3.4. Lessons learnt from the course

The lesson learnt from the course further equipped him with better tools to manage a situation like this in a more comprehensive approach in the future. Looking at the course we can use many outstanding theories to better equip us for greater management skills in the future. A further examination of the strategies to his scenario on the construction site are done using Wallas’ four steps for creative problem solving

3.4.1 Preparation: In his scenario, he acknowledged the problem and tried to weight up the problems with the possible solutions. The best solution he came up with was able to satisfy both the management and employees.

3.4.2 Incubation: After reviewing the situation, his team sat down and deliberated on other alternative solutions to the problem at hand.

3.4.3 Illumination: After the two meeting with his followers, he made it a point to personally deliberate on the issue and the proposed solutions to see the possibly of coming up with a whole different approach based on his knowledge and expertise in that particular issue.

3.4.4 Verification: He would go back to the original people he had a meeting with and discuss again the problems and solutions of the construction site and then finalise with his team on the best solution they should opt for.

3.5. Improvements to Case Study 2 based on learnt theories

From the study of this course, we realised that his leadership at the time was sufficient but he could personally improve on it now based on the theories he’s learnt from the course. The productive engineer should possess abilities skillful enough to express, recognize problems and understand cultures and atmosphere. Leadership attributes can be further developed by more knowledge and experience. Based on the theories, characteristics of a good engineering leader must comprise of intuitiveness, inspiration, effective communication, individual prosperity and contemplation to function in multi cultural and multi disciplinary teamwork. By following these traits, we can portray our organisation as one with essential technical particulars and leadership dexterities. Even though the target of the project was met, they virtually worked under pressure which will results in the followers strength and capabilities being over stretched and in turn affected productivity. Working under pressure in that adverse weather conditions did not really portray good leadership concern and care for subordinates. Increasing the human resources so that work will be completed in due time with more hands would be a better option than to unnecessarily pressurise the workers with loads of remunerations. Casual workers can thus be hired if the company’s resources were not enough to permanent employees.

4.0. CASE STUDY 3

4.1. Case Summary

The third case is a task of sensitising all employees of a mine to acquire ISO 14001 EMS Certification. ISO 14001 Environmental Management System is the outcome of a successful assessment of a company by an independent third party to ensure that working operations are carried out in an environmentally friendly manner such that there is a minimum impact on the environment. The ISO 14001 certification for AngloGold Ashanti, Obuasi Mine’s Environmental Management System was carried out as evidence to stakeholders of the company’s compliance with the national and international environmental management standards. In this regard, the management of the mine had an essential role to play in developing organisational awareness creation, sensitisation and education by explaining the concepts ISO 14001 to the entire staff and demonstrating their commitments to it before an internal audit by a independent external certification body takes place.

The project was a collaborative effort by the entire staff of the mine, but the responsibility of training, awareness creation and sensitisation section of the project was duly handled over to Matilda to adequately manage all resources and logistics to ensure that all employees on the mine are satisfactorily sensitised on the concepts and procedures involved in the certification process. The attainment of the certification to a large extend depended on the understanding of the employees on the concepts of ISO 14001. It was a delicate task involving a whole complex situation considering the capacity of employees and size of the mine with a workforce of over seven thousand employees. It was a great input into her career and her leadership potentials.

4.2. Leadership Manifestation

Leading the team on this project was a very bold step in her career as an environmental officer and the challenges faced toughened her for greater works ahead in her life. She manifested a good leadership skill by not ruling her team, but co-ordinating with them to embark on the project. She encouraged her subordinates to make concrete decisions and sorted their opinions on how the sensitisation program was to be run in their respective departments.

She decided to train her immediate followers on how to properly organise their department. She believed in the fact that, training them will increase their competence level and make them more responsible. She agreed with the philosophy of John D. Rockefeller quoted in Hackman and Johnson, 2000 as “Good leadership consists of showing average people how to do the work of superior people” (Hackman & Johnson, 2000). The training needs of the followers were based on their level of experience and responsibilities. All training materials, methods and means of evaluation took into account their abilities, literacy, nature of risk associated with their operations and their individual responsibilities.

After having decided on the best methods of sensitisation with her followers, she deduced some objectives to get them started and to keep them in the right framework. These were to maintain ISO14001 EMS’s Standard in the training Program, to develop better employee education and training on the importance of ISO 14001, Improve communication with stakeholders/interested parties and to verify the conformance of the training efforts to regulatory or organisational requirements

A great Leadership skill was manifested in solving the problems faced during the execution of the projects. Her ability to adapt to immediate corrective actions in solving them and getting the task completed made her very competent. Her display of good emotional stability in addressing the issues and taking into consideration the different characters and levels of intelligence contributed immensely to the success of the project. Coming down to the social levels of the followers and making them comfortable despite their social standings was a factor that took all inferiority out of the followers and eliminated all barriers to her position as a the youngest female leader. The challenge of working out of office hours to duly complete the task within the set time before the internal audit added so much to her credibility as a leader since she was perceived as a leader who leads by example and was very passionate with her duties.

4.3 Comparing the learnt theories to case study 3

A critical analysis of the case study based on the theories leant reflects the leadership skills manifested in Matilda’s case as a combination of most of the leadership approaches. An illustration on how her approaches was analysed based on the theories are discussed below

4.3.1 Trait Approach

4.3.1.1. Interpersonal Factors – She was not limited by her gender or age but maintained a good composure and displayed extreme confidence in leading followers who were much older than her with some having higher academic attainments and work experiences than she had.

4.3.1.2. Cognitive Factors – Her approaches to handling the challenges and solving problems associated with the project displayed her level of intelligence in her field of study and career. She tactfully handled the issues with due consideration to the followers’ view points and not unnecessarily discriminating. This attribute was greatly admired by her followers.

4.3.1.3. Personality:

Neuroticism (Emotional Stability) – Preparation of the training materials with due considerations to the competence and intelligence levels of the followers by eliminating all inferiorities and superiorities was a great way of displaying emotional stability which was a key factor in the program.

Extraversion (Sociability): Her socialising approaches with the followers in meeting at clubs or restaurants after office hours, discussing other family and personal life issues broke every tension and gave the followers the edge of contributing their entire quota without feeling intimidated.

Openness to experience (Creativity): The different sensitising training materials and approaches such as the use of videos, seminars, gift vouchers, floats, debates and awards of certificates of competence etcâ€¦ was a very creative approach which helped to adequately send the message across without necessarily bombarding them with endless boring literature.

Agreeableness (Trusting): She trusted her followers as being competent enough to lead their respective departments and this was based on the fact that they were adequately trained in all the systems and procedures involved and equally up to the task.

Conscientiousness (Organised): The outlined objective established by the leader to keep them in the right framework and to ensure their program followed a guided path displayed her skills as being a well organised leader. Project charters were also used to evaluate the progress of the program.

4.3.2. Situational Approach: The situational approach was duly adopted by Matilda considering the fact that contextual intelligence was very much implemented. The impact of past environmental practices were considered leading to the adaptation of current trends in making concrete commitments to the future trends. The situational approach also recognised and adapted two factors under the Fiedler’s contingency model. That is the “task structure and team relationship” (Hackman & Johnson, 2000). The task structure in her case was based on the fact that, all the sensitisation program was subjected to specific procedures, agreed upon outcomes and a comprehensive evaluation of the processes and outcomes. The interpersonal relationship among the team can be classified as a good one as there was harmony in the decision making process and the avoidance of all personal issues that had the potential of marring the established relationship.

4.3.3. Transformational Approach: The leader’s interactive nature of communicating with the followers on every detail that needed to be done and on the progress is a proper demonstration of the transformational leadership approach. The act of empowering the followers by adequately training them to become highly competent and encouraging them to participate and be involve in the decision making was an approach that greatly paid off in the project. With due consideration of the workforce of over 7000 people to be sensitised, there was no way of accomplishing the goal if followers were not trained to take up the responsibilities of sensitising the workers and contractors in their respective departments

Lessons learnt from the course

This course clarifies the fact that every leader’s competence and skills are greatly based on the attitude of the followers and the outcome of the specific task being handled. Irrespective of the fact that most people are of the opinions that great leaders are born, this case of leadership skill is a proper demonstration of the fact that leaders are made and not born. This is supported with the statement made by Vince Lombardi in Hackman and Johnson, (2000) that, “Leaders are made, not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile” (Hackman & Johnson, 2000) This course boldly outlines the fact that every individual has a hidden leadership skills that is exhibited based on the situations we find ourselves in. The general knowledge was that, leadership is only exhibited when one is saddled with some specific task but the course has explained the fact that, leadership roles are played in all walks of life and among all categories of people with little or no consideration to gender, race, ability, stature, age, cultural or ethical barriers. Once the behaviours of the followers are greatly manipulated to yield productive results, leadership is displayed.

One important lesson learnt from course is that, we sell ourselves any time we are faced with the situation of communicating our skills and knowledge to a second party. Communication, coupled with confidence is thus a very key factor in determining great leadership potential. Her duties as the team leader would definitely not have been possible if she lacked these two vital factors.

Some other important lessons learnt in the course are the fact that, leaders must exercise great care when leading people because the success and failures of an endeavor greatly depends on them. Strict leadership skills displayed in the Autocratic leadership type yields very little results. But democratic leadership type yields great results. Leaders who totally ignore the emotions of the followers are certainly not heading for success but failure! All aspects of human life directly affect productivity, hence a slave shop leadership attitude with no space for social issues is definitely a wrong approach to leadership. This approach was very well demonstrated in Matilda’s approach in relating to her followers.

Improvements to Case Study 3 based on learnt theories

A critical consideration of the case points to fact that there are still some issues that needed to be handled more tactically. The fact that training materials were prepared based on the intelligence levels of the followers may have made those with low intelligent quotients felt some degree of inferiority and the latter superior and more competent. All training materials should have been the same since it was all communicating the same message in the long ran.

The timing was initially taken for granted with the team feeling there was so much time. This resulted in running under the schedule and hence the need to work overtime to catch up with the audit time. This approach was inevitably going to cost the company. The project must be tacked with enough vigor right from the onset.

Another issue was on the allocation of funds. Most of the capital was mishandled and there was so much capital invested in the project. The team took advantage of the fact that, the project was a core issue to management and spent unnecessarily. If one of the aims of attaining the certification was to reduce cost in the company, then that definitely failed. A detailed budget should have been prepared and all followers encouraged operating within the budget.

Conclusion

Each case analysed gave a proper demonstration of how good and effective leadership manifestation by the parties involved. In every situation there was room for improvements in each of them. The course, Engineering Communication is not perceived by this group as one of the university’s courses to enable students successfully pass through the system but trains us on how to effectively act as good leaders or even followers in our respective careers.

It has also changed our perception on handling managerial issues, in that we have realised that it does not really pay to be bossy, but we as a group gain a lot more when we work in collaboration and togetherness. Nevertheless, right punitive action must be given to subordinates who will just not contribute their quotas in the participation of a given project

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