In the leadership interview, I engaged Mr. Matthews Khan, an operations manager at a local telecommunications firm. The paper will explore the factors that influenced my decision to interview Mr. Khan, his biography, as well as the entire interview process. Further, the article includes an analysis of Mr. Khan's leadership style concerning those outlined in the formal leadership theories. I will also examine the challenges that the manager faces as well as some of the potential solutions to the leader's problems.
The Interview Process
I chose Mr. Khan because he holds one of the most crucial top positions in the telecommunications company, and he has demonstrated exemplary performance for the five years that he has worked for the company. Mr. Khan joined the company when it was facing a critical financial crisis that nearly led to its closure. However, Khan has consistently worked with other managers to bring about change and policies. The employees under his leadership also demonstrate increased motivation levels, and their productivity is outstanding. In the initial contact with Mr. Khan, I visited him in his office to request that I interview, citing my reasons as his exceptional performance as a leader in the organization, which illustrates effective leadership techniques. Mr. Khan agreed for the interview, and we set the date as the following Monday at precisely 8:00 am. I conducted a face-to-face meeting with Mr. Khan, noting down each of his responses so that I could be in a position to evaluate his leadership style and characteristics. He provides a simple definition of the term leadership, like the ability to establish a clear vision about an organization, share the vision with the followers and other leaders, and provide the relevant methods, knowledge, and information to achieve the vision.
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Interview Questions
What role does leadership play for a manager? How have you demonstrated this with your managers?
Tell us about a time when the going got tough. How did you rally the staff and build morale?
All leaders have to deal with conflict situations. Describe a recent disagreement or conflict you had to handle.
What are some of the qualities that you possess that make you regard yourself as an effective leader?
From your perspective, do you believe that leaders are made?
What are some of the weaknesses that you possess in your style of leadership that if addressed appropriately, you would become a better leader?
How do you define leadership, and how would you describe your leadership style?
Do you have a single style of dealing with different situations or are you adaptive in the manner that you use different approaches in handling various cases?
Biographical Summary of the Interviewee
Mr. Khan is the chief operations managers at ABC Telecommunications Company in Louisville, KY. He worked in China Mobile as an operations manager for three years, before relocating to the United States to join ABC. Apart from his extensive experience working in the telecommunications industry, Mr. Khan derives most of his wisdom from his global exposure and his rich academic background. Khan holds a masters degree in strategic management from Harvard and is currently pursuing a doctorate from the same university. He has attended different workshops in leadership and management throughout his career, a factor that has helped in shaping his outstanding direction. He has won many global awards, especially on leadership and management.
Applied Leadership Concepts
According to Khan, leadership plays a vital role in management; he notes that guidance helps in creating an organizational vision and influencing followers to works towards the vision while ensuring minimal resistance. Khan maintains that he had demonstrated the role of leadership in management through the change process that he pioneered on joining the organization when it was on the verge of collapse. During the period, Khan notes that he engaged the organization’s managers in identifying the areas of weaknesses and the factors that were contributing to the failure. After analyzing these factors, he challenged all managers and employees to participate in a decision-making process that focused on identifying potential solutions, which were then implemented throughout one year. The company started recording positive results within this period, as evidenced by higher efficiency in the utilization of organizational resources, improved employee morale, and higher productivity.
Mr. Khan notes that one of his key strengths as a leader is the ability to inspire action and effective communication. He applies effective communication on most occasions, especially when resolving conflicts or urging his followers to embrace particular changes to achieve organizational goals. However, Mr. Khan notes that one of his greatest weaknesses as a leader is the inability to take large punitive measures on the staff whenever they violate company policies. He notes that he tends to give employees so many chances that in some instances, the company has suffered extensive losses due to the gross misconduct of some of the employees.
On the other hand, Mr. Khan describes himself as an adaptive leader since he applies different techniques to different situations. He notes that he believes that no single leadership approach is appropriate for all conditions. In some instances, like when dealing with lazy or difficult employees, he uses the authoritarian approach to ensure that all the tasks are executed and completed effectively. In cases where he is handling self-motivated and highly skilled individuals, he uses the democratic or the laissez-faire approach. However, in the general context, he considers himself a transformational leader owing to his ability to create a vision and successfully influence individuals to follow the vision and achieve organizational goals.
Mr. Khan's leadership style demonstrates a close relationship with the path-goal theory as well as transformational leadership. He recognizes that people are unique and that a single style of leadership cannot befit everyone or all situations. In this context, he applies situational leadership in creating an ideal environment that enables every employee to achieve the organizational goals. He, therefore, uses different approaches to motivate individuals based on their unique characteristics. For instance, he notes that one of the methods that he has found useful in motivating the highly skilled and self-motivated individuals is allowing them to use their creativity to resolve problems rather than dictating to them what they should or not do. However, for the less experienced and somewhat lazy employees, the authoritarian approach works better since the employees are keen to avoid facing any punitive measures. On the other hand, he notes that the majority of employees derive their motivation from the rewards that they stand to gain for the goals accomplished.
Mr. Khan is also a transformative leader as demonstrated by the fact that he managed to turn the company around when he joined successfully and not only prevented it from collapsing but also established grounds for its continued success. He notes that he plays the role of a coach and always endeavors to provide support to his followers as well as his fellow managers. Mr. Khan also demonstrates a key strength in establishing a viable organizational vision and successfully influencing others towards its achievement. He is also consistent at his work and loves appreciating his followers as a form of motivating them, which is a crucial aspect of the transformative leadership style. From the interview, Mr. Khan indicates an excellent value for teamwork; he is a team player in that he values working with other managers and managers, especially when making and implementing crucial decisions, which mainly demonstrates his source of success as a leader.
Conclusions
Mr. Khan demonstrates essential characteristics of effective leadership, including the ability to create an organizational vision, motivate followers, communicate efficiently, embrace teamwork, and influence people towards achieving the set vision. However, it is vital for Khan to ensure a strong work ethic among the employees by providing that they strictly follow all the company guidelines and policies to avoid losses that may emerge from unethical behavior. Further, Mr. Khan should enhance his ability to apply the path-goal theory as well as transformative leadership to overcome the challenges that may arise from working with diverse teams, which is a vital characteristic of the present day working environment.
