Management and Leadership

Effective Management and Leadership

The most powerful and successful business organizations have understood the importance of a key attribute in their achievements and accomplishments. This is the importance and significance of efficient management and leadership. Empirical and theoretical studies have found evidence that the prevailing notion about leadership and management was masked in air of secrecy (Mulec, 2006: Pg 67). Such an attitude has persisted until recently when research has found that a set of competencies and skills are essential for effective management and leadership. Leadership requires the maximum utilization of innate and intrinsic potential. Business leaders must be dynamic and proactive with their ability to inspire confidence in their followers. They must have a clear vision and mission statement in order to achieve business and organizational goals. They should make everyone part of the organizational process. Leaders focus on the broad aspects of acquiring operational excellence. The democratic system of leadership calls for respecting the initiative and feedback of employees. The ability to enhance the productivity and output of the business organization has been identified as a major competency of leadership. The advantages of such an approach are that the leaders can distribute and allocate tasks to different team members. Each team member will work towards the achievement and accomplishment of the major business goal. Empirical and theoretical studies have identified transformational leadership as being effective and efficient as opposed to other leadership styles (Trevino, Hartman & Brown, 2000: Pg 129). Transformational leadership seeks to apply innovation and creativity in order to achieve business and organizational goals. It also seeks to provide an honest and simple appraisal and performance of the employees. Management is another important skill which must be present in order to achieve business and organizational goals. The basic competency of managers is their ability to engage in systematic and methodical planning. This involves identifying barriers to progress and setting targets. A target oriented approach helps management to achieve business and organizational goals. Another important competency for managers is that of organization (Watson, 2001: Pg 386). They must systematically understand the various work processes and requirements. Each task should be divided and distributed to the work force. Further managers are successful by their ability to delegate and receive reports from employees. This is a multi level approach which seeks to achieve business and organizational goals. Management must be able to use strategic management in order to create vision and direction for the guidance of the organization. They must be able to understand the external and internal factors that affect the performance and success of business organizations. They must be able to apply innovation and creativity in order to resolve problems. Effective management also requires a system of checks and controls to monitor the work process (Watson, 2001: Pg 386). This provides the managers with real time information about the success or failure of any business process.

From the list of skills that you have generated, select three personal skills and three professional skills a manager needs to be effective in their role (support with personal examples where you can). Explain how these skills contribute to meeting both organisational and personal goals. Discuss what methods you can use to improve both your personal as well as professional skills.

Personal and Professional Skills

Managers need to have different personal and professional skills in order to accomplish the goals and objectives of the business organization. They must be able to successfully implement these skills for resolving business problems (Wilson & Holton, 2003: Pg 123). Further managers should seek to integrate and coordinate various skills to produce optimum solutions. At the basic level, management should have clear idea and vision about the organizational goals. This is necessary because it identifies and recognizes the external and internal factors affecting the business organization. As a manager, I sought to improve our market access to China. This was done through a systematic audit and analysis of the business environment. Managers should also be able to inspire confidence and trust amongst their employees. This is done by directly linking employee growth with the organizational growth. The ability to motivate and inspire team members is now considered a vital component of effective management (Wilson & Holton, 2003: Pg 124). At the professional level, managers should be able to work with teams. They should apply intuition and critical thinking skills in order to achieve business and organizational goals. Finally the management must have superior levels of planning, organization, and coordination (Wilson & Holton, 2003: Pg 126).

Accomplishing Organizational and Personal Goals

Managers must seek to work with teams by motivating and inspiring them. Such a process helps to create an atmosphere of collaboration and cooperation. It also can resolve potential conflicts in the work place. It also leads to exchange of information. Further the tasks are divided in order to prevent some employees from being overburdened. Advice and initiative from employees should be appreciated in order to promote efficiency and effectiveness (Wilson, Lenssen, & Hind, 2006: Pg 134). Management must also empower employees to apply innovation and creativity in resolving business and organizational problems. A multi level approach in management helps to resolve business problems. It also assists in maintaining the competitive edge of the business organization.

Improvement of Personal and Professional Skills

Management development is a crucial and significant element of the entire business process. This is because managers are the agents of change and dynamism in the business organization. The improvement of personal and professional skills requires the constant application of intuition and critical problem solving skills. Managers should frequently use a number of techniques like brainstorming, analogizing, and discussions in order to improve their skills (Wilson, Lenssen, & Hind, 2006: Pg 135). Analogizing refers to the use of personal experiences in solving business problems. A practical and scenario based approach will assist the management in boosting and upgrading their skills. This is a multi level approach that seeks to optimize the various competencies of business managers.

Personal Skills Audit

Rating Your Management and Leadership Skills

Skill

Very Good

Satisfactory

Needs Improvement

Poor

Not Tested

Teamwork

Requires some enhancement

Resolving Problems

Needs to be proactive and dynamic

Motivate and inspire others

This is the core competency

Planning and preparation

Knowledge of key planning concepts required

Organizing

Unable to effectively and efficiently organize

Coordination

Can coordinate and integrate various work processes

Critical problem solving

Ability to identify problems in a proactive and dynamic manner

Communication skills

Requires knowledge of basic communication skills

Present an analysis of the various personal and professional skills of which you have carried out a self-assessment in the class including an assessment of your learning style. Based on the rating and the results of the self-assessments write a brief overview of your leadership and management skills in terms of strengths and weaknesses.

Analysis of Personal and Professional Skills

My personal skills as a manager involve the use of teamwork and resolving problems in an efficient and effective manner. It also involves the use of smart and prudent strategies that can analyze and audit the business environment. Managers need to have strategies which can assist the organization in achieving its targets (Hickman, 2006: Pg 67). This involves the application of robust and energetic strategies. It also seeks to identify the appropriate actions and thoughts that enable managers to have high levels of perception and awareness about the dynamics of the business organization. Further there should be a management model in the organization that identifies and recognizes the skills required. My personal and professional skills seek to accomplish high levels of transparency and fairness in the business organization. Personal and professional skills should be enhanced and boosted in order to produce superior business outcomes. Managers should be able to generate motivation and stimulus in the work force instead of attempting to discipline and intimidate them. This is the management style of twenty first century that seeks to produce flexible, open, and dynamic business models. This should be the context in which personal and professional skills should be developed and enhanced.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Motivating and inspiring the work force is my core competency in the field of management. This involves providing adequate and competent instructions to the work force regarding the targets and goals. It also seeks to address employee concerns and take feedback from them. Motivation and inspiration are the main attributes that are identified in empirical and theoretical studies about modern management styles (Jung, 2001: Pg 21). It helps to transform rigid and inflexible hierarchies within organizations into dynamic and robust business models. Another core competency is coordination which seeks to interrelate and interlink the various business processes. It seeks to achieve business goals in a prudent and smart manner. Organization of work processes and communication skills need to be boosted and augmented. This is a major weakness of my management skills which needs to be effectively and efficiently remedied. Organization of the work processes is identified as a major competency which seeks to distribute and allocate the work processes. There is a need to upgrade and augment various business and organizational skills in order to achieve efficiency and effectiveness.

Personal Development Plan

Establish your career goals and objectives and the skills required to meet these objectives. Put together a realistic Personal Development Plan to demonstrate how you intend to address the learning and development needs that you have identified. Consider your preferred learning style when establishing learning actions.

Establishment of Career Goals and Objectives

My career goals and objectives are to improve and augment my management and leadership skills. Management should seek to improve productivity and output while reducing the administrative and structural costs (Bass, 2005: Pg 26). It also seeks to identify and recognize the changes in the business and market environment. Developing and boosting skills requires the use of innovative and creative learning methods. Problems and scenarios should be used in order to augment and develop management skills. Further there needs to be significant improvement in communication and organization skills. Managers need to have efficient and effective planning, organization, coordination, and preparation skills. These objectives and goals can be achieved through a systematic and methodical appraisal and audit of the various factors. This calls for the development of team work, interpersonal, monitoring, checking, and evaluation skills. A comprehensive and broad system of checks and balances should exist which would provide managers with real time information. It helps to them to modify or change strategies that are not achieving their targets. Further career goals and objectives should be implemented in a systematic and methodical manner in order to produce superior outcomes. This will also increase the chances of producing better business outcomes. Such a strategy adopts a multi level approach towards the resolution of business problems.

Personal Development Plan

Given the rapidly evolving business landscape, it is essential that any personal development plan take into account the new variables and factors affecting management. The personal development plan involves transforming management into a role model that can be successfully emulated by subordinates. It should seek to empower employees by making them owners of the work process. Further management should implement a system of appraisal and evaluation which would assist in streamlining and automating the work process. A personal development plan can be achieved if assessment instruments are used to test and gauge the levels of efficiency and effectiveness. Such instruments would create benchmarks that need to be modified and altered in order to produce superior outcomes. Further the personal development plan should utilize strengths in order to overcome weaknesses and limitations. It should also use appropriate strategic management skills in order to effectively assess the business problems. Communication skills need to be upgraded in order to reduce communication gaps. Further it should also focus on resolving conflicts in teams. Communication skills can assist in the development of competencies that seek to improve interaction and interface with upper management, colleagues, subordinates and customers. It seeks to apply proactive and dynamic approaches in order to achieve business and organizational goals.

Evaluation and Review

Implement your personal development plan and maintain a reflective record on ongoing basis. At the end of the term present an evaluation of the whole learning process including the effectiveness and impact of the learning on your career path as well as the impact of learning styles on personal development

Implementation of Personal Development Plan

The personal development plan should clearly identify and recognize objectives and goals. It should seek to break the objectives into long term, medium term, and short term. Further the goals should be realistic and accurate based upon the strengths. It should seek to utilize these strengths in overcoming limitations and hurdles. After this it is vital to conduct research into the various strategies that can help accomplish these objectives. The barriers and hurdles to progress should be highlighted in order to achieve efficiency and effectiveness (Burns, 2005: Pg 154). Skills should be divided and prioritized in order to achieve maximum results. The skills that are in immediate need of improvement and augmentation should be applied in order to produce superior outcomes. Further there is also the concern that some strategies might not work. In this case, the personal development plan should have contingency plans which can respond to unforeseeable circumstances. An important component of personal development plans is the division of large tasks into small ones. This helps to motivate and stimulate the manager in learning new competencies and skills. Further it also seeks to facilitate and assist in the process of learning and development. The use of a multi level approach will help the manager in achieving efficiency and effectiveness (Kuhnert, 2004: Pg 649). Personal development plans should integrate and utilize creativity and innovation. This calls for the use of critical thinking skills which produce solutions to business and personal issues. Further the personal development plan should take into account the ground realities. The manager should study new literature on management and business. They must also attend short trainings, seminars, and workshops which focus on improvement of vital skills. Further the business environment provides ample ground for the manager to test and upgrade skills. Making extra efforts will enable the managers to develop their business and personal skills. The personal development plan should be smart and prudent to understand the manager limitations and weaknesses. It should seek to adopt a formal and informal method of ensuring that business goals are accomplished and achieved. It should seek to rationalize the various strategies that are used to boost and upgrade the skills and competencies. Any personal development plan can succeed only if the management has motivation and stimulus to perform at optimum levels. Managers should be able to forecast any changes in the business or work environment. They should have contingency plans which can reduce or mitigate adverse circumstances. Also it is essential that a proactive management philosophy be adopted in order to achieve organizational and business objectives.

References:

Mulec, K. (2006), “Positive professional leaders: aspects to consider in leadership development”, Leadership and Organizational Development Journal, Vol. 27 No. 1, pp. 66-81.

Trevino, L.K., Hartman, L.P. and Brown, M. (2000), “Moral person and moral manager: how executives develop a reputation for ethical leadership”, California Management Review, Vol. 42, pp. 128-42.

Watson, T.J. (2001), “Beyond managism: negotiated narratives and critical management education in practice”, British Journal of Management, Vol. 12, pp. 385-96.

Wilson, A. and Holton, V. (2003), Changing Manager Mindsets – Report of the Working Group on the Development of Professional Skills for the Practice of Corporate Social Responsibility, Department of Trade and Industry/The Corporate Responsibility Group, London.

Wilson, A., Lenssen, G. and Hind, P. (2006), Leadership Qualities and Management Competencies for Corporate Responsibility, Ashridge/EABIS, Berkhamsted.

Hickman, Gill Robinson. “Transforming Organizations to Transform Society.” In Kellogg Leadership Studies Project, Transformational Leadership Working Papers, The James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership, 2006.

Jung, Dong I. “Perceptions of Transformational Leadership Among Asian Americans and Caucasian Americans: A Level of Analysis Perspective.” The Journal of Leadership Studies 8, no. 1 (2001): 3-21.

Bass, B. M. (2005). From transactional to transformational leadership: Learning to share the vision. Organizational Dynamics, (Winter): 19-31.

Burns, J. M. (2005). Leadership. New York: Harper & Row

Kuhnert, Karl W. “Transactional and Transformational Leadership: A Constructive/Developmental Analysis.” Academy of Management Review 12, no. 4 (2004): 648-657.