Introduction
Organizations should always strive to apply best leadership practices. However, this also applies to individual leaders such as supervisors. The application of best practices in leadership should be encouraged at all levels of organizational structure (Wheatley, 2006) . The following paper seeks to explore best leadership practices in relation to planning, measuring, motivating people, managing change and information, designing jobs, and encouraging relationships. The paper will also highlight ineffective practices and the importance of best leadership practices in organizational growth.
Overview; Effective Leadership Practices
The role of good leadership in any organization cannot be understated. Leaders are instrumental in ensuring that organizations meet their objectives at the right time. In almost all, areas of operations, good leadership must be portrayed and exercised to guarantee success (Wheatley, 2006). For example, in the decision-making process, it is the role of good leaders based on the positions they hold in an institution to ensure that all stakeholders are involved. The decision-making process should be inclusive enough from the planning stage. Inclusivity as a leadership culture in the planning stage of any project or initiative in an organization determines the level of resistance or lack of it throughout the implementation. On this basis, it is prudent to ensure that the views of other people especially those who will be directly or indirectly affected by the proposed decision are considered.
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On the other hand, measuring of performance is critically important especially in gauging both individual and organizational achievement. In this note, it is unfortunate that during performance appraisal and measurement, employees at low levels in many organizations are left behind.; they are only informed about the outcome without being consulted in the process. Consequently, the poor relationship between the management and employees is developed. However, with the application of good leadership, employees need to be involved in any process that will affect them. In fact, it is not conceivable how the performance of individuals is conducted without even trying to understand the reasons behind poor performance. Application of poor leadership during and after performance appraisal process has been noted as one of the failures that many organizations make (Wheatley, 2006). Numerous studies have shown that close to fifty percent of organizations do not involve employees or their representatives in the process of meaning their own achievement. However, many organizations prefer only involving their employees after performance appraisal has taken place. Managers and other leaders in organizations need to understand the significant role played by employees in improving their personal and organizational performance through being involved.
The part played by motivation in boosting the morale of employees cannot be underestimated (Wheatley, 2006). Motivation is the process of inspiring employees in meeting specific objectives. However, it is unclear why many organizations fail to recognize the great danger to their operations and activities if they fail to ensure that their employees are motivated. As leaders in all positions including supervisors, motivating employees makes them feel respected, cared for and loved in an organization. In this way, they are always ready to give their very best to achieve both personal and sectional or organizational goals. Therefore, organizations and their leadership should have motivational strategies already in place such as the provision of incentives to employees among others. As a supervisor, the best one can do is to apply personal skills such as communicating well with workers and providing them with the necessary support they need to achieve their targets.
In the management of change and information, it is pivotal to remember that change is unavoidable (Wheatley, 2006) . Therefore, organizations have to come up with strategies on how to manage change resistance within workplaces. At the same time, proper communication channels should be well established to make sure that people understand the process they need to follow when seeking information or when giving it to other departments, units, or individuals within an organization. At the supervisor level, some of the key issues in managing change include involving employees in the process of introducing change before any proposal is implemented. Further, a supervisor should apply communication skills when dealing with those to be affected by the change, thus reducing conflicts and resistance.
As is the case with most of the processes in an organization, designing jobs should as well be inclusive (Wheatley, 2006). The process of designing jobs is a collective responsibility that calls for input from various stakeholders. Leaders should ensure that in the process, opinions are brought in to come up with clear job designs. However, the failure of job design processes is mostly pegged on the fact that most organizations ignore the role played by key stakeholder’s especially the subordinate staff. At personal levels, supervisors should be wise enough to involve their subjects in the process of discussing the requirements of their tasks and responsibilities.
Finally, the creation of relationships is healthy for any organization since they help in developing a cordial and cohesive environment to work in. Indeed, relationships are built upon creation of teams and groups that enhance collaboration and sharing of ideas. In most cases, supervisors are left to group their teams provided the set goals are achieved. Therefore, it is important to create relationships that are geared to achieving both personal and organizational objectives. In the following section, the role of transformational leaders will be highlighted.
The Theory of Transformational Leadership and Best Practices
In the current business environment, there is increased competition in almost every sector or industry (Wheatley, 2006) . On this basis, organizations are working hard to ensure that they not only harness their internal strengths but also come up with strategies to bring change in their operations. The need for quick and effective services is part of the current realm of delivery of products and services. Therefore, it is clear that change in every aspect of business operations is unavoidable. The unrelenting need to have transformational change with the aim of providing better services than the competitors is on the highest level.
At the same time, a new understanding of the process required in bringing change is emerging as one of the new ways of conducting business activities. The complexity and chaos in business operations have necessitated the persistent desire to work differently and provide uniqueness for both potential and existing customers. On this end, society and businesses need to be rethought in relation to the rapid transformative change by using new insights of hidden order in the chaos of complex adaptive dynamic systems. Therefore, it is clear that the role of transformational leadership theory cannot be ignored in the current business environment.
According to the transformational theory of leadership, a leader is expected to apply his efforts on how to make other people better (Wheatley, 2006). Employees in an organization are the most critical asset or resources that the business cannot afford to ignore. Developing employees and making them better in what they do can go a long way in helping an organization meet its goals. As leaders in the current business world, it is important to apply transformational leadership practices in one’s organization as well as when serving team members. On this note, the following section seeks to provide best practices that a supervisor can apply as a transformational leader and in relation to planning, measuring, motivating people, managing change and information, designing jobs, and encouraging relationships in an organization.
In carrying out one’s tasks and responsibilities, transformational supervisors and leaders should be empathetic as is the case with servant leadership (Wheatley, 2006). The objective of being empathetic in transformational leadership is to try and understand the perspectives and intentions of others. A transformational leader can show empathy by temporarily putting aside personal viewpoints and valuing other people’s opinions as well as approaching issues with an open mind (Van, 2016). In terms healing, it is important to underscore the importance of wholesomeness, wellbeing and general health of others, which calls for mental and physical support. The first concern for any transformational leader should be to ensure that members of the team have the necessary resources, support, and knowledge in carrying out their work as well as helping them in their engagements.
Although it is prudent to ensure that an employee is motivated at all times, it must be emphasized that a transformational supervisor should exercise internal motivation and self-management. Critical to remember is that transformational leaders always try as much as possible to find motivation from within as well as using it to drive employees towards achieving objectives and goals (Murgatroyd, 2017). In fact, it is difficult to motivate others if one has not motivated himself or herself as a leader. One way in which a supervisor can motivate himself is through loving what he does such as the creation of teams for achieving specific goals.
However, as a transformational leader, it would be important to show ability in making difficult decisions. For example, in the process of managing change after a given decision has been reached, the basis on which resistance is being propagated may not be reasonable. In such situations, supervisors may decide to take disciplinary action against those employees who may be making “things” difficult with no reasonable complaints. In this way, one will be showing his followers that a transformational leader can only transform the lives of those who are willing. However, it is important to note that the process of making difficult decisions can be easier if a leader aligns any decision with clearly defined goals, values, vision, and objectives.
Further, it is the responsibility of a transformational supervisor to show that he or she is organization conscious (Scott, 2012). Notably, as a transformational supervisor and a leader, one shares the collective conscious of the organization. In this way, one should understand what action needs to be taken in evoking change, spurring innovation and making decisions that will lead to growth. For example, in the process of designing and delegating jobs to individuals, a transformational leader should ensure that the main objective is to bring change at both individual and organizational levels. Although the above observation is correct, it is important that transformational leaders adapt to change and be flexible enough to incorporate a new idea that is intended to bring a difference. In doing so, one must not forget that transformational leaders are expected to continually respond to changing business environment.
Transformational leaders should apply the aspect of conceptualization. Conceptualization refers to one’s ability to analyze issues and finding the way forward (Van, 2016). Together with foresight, conceptualization plays an instrumental role in showing one’s ability to predict what may happen based on the prevailing situations and analysis. In this way, a servant leader is able to lead the team members on the most appropriate direction under the stewardship, which is about taking responsibility for performance and actions of the team and roles of each member. However, one must be committed to the development and growth of people and build a cohesive team.
Well-structured communication strategies should be applied to transformational leaders. As a transformative individual, it is critical to understand that communication plays an instrumental role in any organization (Van, 2016). Therefore, one needs to employ necessary communication skills such as simple issues as appreciating one’s contribution when talking which shows some level of care for their needs or demands. As part of good communication skills, listening is a virtue that is critically important as well (Van, 2016). Especially when one is solving an issue, a transformational leader should give others attention. Listening not only helps in understanding the extent of needs but also the best applicable solutions to problems. In this way, one can intervene and provide changes that are transformative.
Ineffective Practices That Leaders Should Avoid
Poor leadership has primarily contributed the failure of most organizations. One of the ineffective practices is encouraging poor relationships within a workplace. As a supervisor who works in a team, having unhealthy relationships with team members can only translate into poor results which affect not only those one supervises but also the general performance of the supervisor. Cumulatively, this also affects the performance of the entire organization and meeting of key milestones.
Poor application of communication skills such as not listening to other employees is dangerous. Poor style of communication means that the intended information may not have been well interpreted, received and understood by the targeted audience or recipients. The result is that a supervisor will create conflict on why instructions were not followed, which may lead to poor relationships and disharmony in service delivery.
Another ineffective practice applied by some leaders is the aspect of “micromanaging.” The role of supervisors is not to follow workers everywhere at the workstation. Notably, it is unfortunate that some supervisors think that their task is to ensure that they watch every move made by workers. In fact, this kind of ‘supervision” affects the concentration and performance of an individual worker. As a leader, it is not also recommended to only focus on the task and ignore individuals (Tammy, 2014). Although it is right to ensure that the assigned work is achieved, most supervisors forget that individual workers should be helped and supported in achieving their objectives. At the same time, workers may have personal issues such as health concerns. Therefore, failure to focus on individuals could harm one’s leadership practice. However, this does not mean employees should be followed every step they make.
Importance and Implications of the Above Leadership Practices
One of the main benefits of applying best leadership practices outlined above is that there is always the creation and development of innovation within organizations. The current business enterprise requires innovative minds and ideas that intend to bring positive change and bridge an existing gap. Encouraging transformational leadership also enhances personal development. Some people argue that transnational leadership benefits the followers alone. However, it is important to note that a transformational leader grows his skills as he or she helps others in an organization. Different enterprises have faced industrial strikes that harm their growth largely due to poor leadership. The continued conflicts between organizational management and their employees can be reduced by applying transformational leadership practices outlined above.
Conclusion
In respect to the above discussion, it is clear that the application of best practices in leadership should be encouraged at all levels of organizational structure. The current business environment requires innovative minds that help in making changes in the way enterprises operate. The objective is bridging the gap that exists in the market. At the same time, bringing innovative ways of “doing things” helps organizations to become more competitive in their areas of specialization. In this way, transformational leadership needs to be practiced by individual employees and their organizations.
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