Northouse
(2015) indicated that leadership is a process and leaders affect and are affected
by followers. Northouse further discussed that leadership involves influence.
Think about a leader you have worked for, whom you have influenced. In what
ways did you influence the leader? How did the relationship develop? What was
one important way in which you were impacted by your relationship with that
leader?
It
can be argued whether or not leadership is trait driven or process driven
whereas trait is more inherent in nature and process is more comprehensive in
nature. This conceptual theory can argue
that leaders are born and not made and conversely it could be said that leaders
are made and not born. No matter what
side of this argument one falls on, all leaders affect and affected by their
followers. Northouse (2015) discuss the
tenets and psychology of leadership relative to influence. “Leadership is about one person impressing
his or her will upon a group of individuals to accomplish a shared, purposeful
and meaningful goal. It is also proposed
that leaders are affected by their followers, therefore, they must work congruently
to achieve common goals.
I
have always believed that skills are leadership both inherent and learned
behaviors; however, some of my experience with leaders suggest that it is more
inherent than a learned process. I
recall working for a leader who primarily focused on metrics and team
performance in regards to quality, schedule, hours per unit (HPU), and
realization percentage. This became a
problem which led to a catastrophic outcome.
The manager would conduct a meeting with his supervisors and would share
how dissatisfied he was with the team performance and if things do not change
with individuals performance “we” supervisors have two choices, (1) be
reprimanded or (2) submit a disciplinary report on people who failed to
perform. In an effort to influence him
to reconsider his approach by challenging this inanity and thoughtless tactic,
I was met with more of the lead with a hammer type narrative. I decided not to manage my team in the manner
which I was directed and this led to the opposite of "the carrot and a
stick" situation for me, it was more like an uncertain relationship and a
consequence.
In
an effort to influence my manager, I scheduled a meeting with him to discuss
what I believe is the reason why the team performance was suffering. I was able to influence my manager to provide
more training for the team, create a platform for two-way communication, and
agree to allow team members to work the necessary overtime to complete
out-of-station work. After two weeks of
training, open communication and overtime hours, our team metrics and
performance improved by nearly 30%. Our
relationship returned and he found a certain level of trust my decision making
in conjunction with respect.
I
learned that we both were striving for the same results and exemplified a
passion to succeed. In identifying the
conflict between what upper management wants and what the team members need I
was able to bridge the gap. This
situation of conflict resolution, supportive communication, and team building
enforce my belief that I am more congruent with a transformational style
leader. My first approach falls on the
side of the Theory Y leader which is more of a servant leadership approach that
is optimistic and positive which furthers my belief that I am more of a leader
with strong inherent leadership traits with a subset of learned behaviors. Showing the team, they are the priority above
all personal ambitions does not take away personal value, but add value to all
team members. Unselfish acts of putting
the team first lead to trust, which leads to loyalty, and loyalty leads to
employees performing at their best result in a positive business outcome.
Reference:
Northouse,
& Guy, P. (2016). Leadership. Theory and Practice (7th ed.). Los Angeles;
London: SAGE.
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