6 Key Components to Effective Leadership

by Steve Earley | February 5th, 2015

Much has been written about developing and practicing effective leadership skills.
Books by Jim Collins, Stephen Covey, Dale Carnegie, Jack Welch and Lee Iacocca, to
name just a few, have addressed this topic from several perspectives. Thousands of
articles have also delved into this subject. What this blog suggests is that there are a
few skills/traits that are common in the most effective leaders of any organization.

#1 Honesty and Integrity

Great leaders create an organizational culture built on these two core values and hold
all employees accountable to them. Without honesty and integrity as fundamental
cornerstones of an organization, they will rarely succeed long term. And creating such a
culture starts at the top of the organization. Everyone watches the leader and takes their
cues as to what is acceptable behavior.

Effective leaders must also be trustworthy. They are recognized for always telling the
truth and for practicing the highest standards of ethical conduct. Subordinates believe
them and do not feel that their leader has hidden agendas. Good leaders readily admit
their mistakes. Although difficult to do, this shows they are honest and can be trusted.

Great leaders show they have the best interests of the company in mind rather than
their own personal gain, by making good on their commitments. They hold themselves
accountable for their actions and decisions, and encourage their employees to do
likewise.

Transparency is also important, even when there is bad news to share. Employees
know when things are not going well. Trying to put a positive spin without
acknowledging the organization’s difficulties will cost the leader his or her credibility.
Sharing both the bad and the good creates deeper trust and respect.

#2 Outstanding Self Awareness

A leader must understand their own strengths and weaknesses. All of us have faults
and instinctive behaviors that produce unintended results and/or consequences. It is
critical for a leader to really know themselves, admit their shortcomings and ask
for their help in addressing them. This demonstrates humility and humanizes the
leader. No one is perfect and if a leader acts like they are, they will lose credibility and
trust. In the worst case they will be seen as arrogant and intimidating.

Great leaders seek and welcome feedback and dissenting opinions. They encourage
different perspectives and challenge conventional thinking. They create healthy
discussions and debates, but also know when to move the conversations forward. And
they are able to maintain their composure in difficult/stressful situations.

Effective leaders practice servant style leadership, trusting subordinates to do their jobs
and providing them the necessary resources and guidance that allows them to do their
jobs successfully and efficiently. Obviously different situations may require different
management styles. An authoritative style may be necessary in some situations,
especially during a crisis. But more often, a servant leadership style that demonstrates
that leaders are there to help rather than simply telling others what to do, produces far
better results.

Great leaders demonstrate empathy, show humility and genuinely care about others.
Taking time to listen to associates and their ideas, learning something personal about
subordinates and their families and asking for their opinions are wonderful examples of
how to do this well.

Finally, getting 360 degree feedback from your team about your leadership strengths
and weaknesses is essential to creating good self awareness.

#3 Vision

Outstanding leaders see the whole picture and do not get too focused on specific tasks
or initiatives. They have deep knowledge of related industries/organizations and are
seen as strategic thinkers. They often have strong networks and consistently identify
important trends early in their life cycle. They are very good at communicating a vision
of the future and getting organizational buy-in.

Strong leaders know their target customers, understand the organization's value
proposition and also, its competitive weaknesses. They focus on enhancing core
competencies of the organization and developing the skills and capabilities that will
enhance their value proposition.
They are excellent at establishing clear goals and objectives for the organization, and
for their direct subordinates. Importantly, they are also able to provide clear and
convincing rationale that supports their vision of the future.

#4 Courage

To have courage requires confidence. The best leaders are very confident in
themselves and their ideas, which allows them to be decisive. But, they must be able to
exude that confidence without conveying arrogance or intimidation!

Great leaders have the ability to make tough decisions and are willing to take risks,
even when conventional wisdom would dictate otherwise. They must be willing to stand
alone if they believe in their convictions. This is directly related to their visionary skills,
strategic thinking and their self confidence.

They are also able to recognize when they need the expertise or knowledge of others
and are not afraid to admit it.

#5 Communication Skills

Great leaders do not have to be great orators or exceptional writers. What is required is
thatthey are inspirational and persuasive. They can speak and write to the
audience’s level, focusing on the WIFM (“What’s in it for me”). They communicate in a
way that generates buy-in and willing followers. Because if you can’t succeed in doing
those two things, you cannot effectively lead.

Good leaders must always be truthful, even delivering the bad news when appropriate.
But, they generally exude a positive attitude and are seen as optimistic, even in the
most troubling of times.

Even if they do not have a professional background or training in sales, leaders often
exhibit elements of effective selling skills. They have the ability to advance their ideas in
a logical and understandable way to all levels of the organization.

#6 Team Builder

Great leaders must have outstanding team building skills. This requires first and
foremost the ability to attract and retain top talent.
Every great leader knows they cannot do it alone and that having the best talent
enhances the opportunity for success. They know they need to build a team with
complementary skill sets and experiences and constantly look to bring in people that
know more than they do (this is because they are confident).

Importantly, they also understand that a team performs best when its members have
differing personalities and styles, to expand perspectives when problem solving and
avoid getting caught up in “group think.”

A good leader is often more of a facilitator of the team, able to generate healthy
discussions and generate consensus. Great leaders know that if the team believes in,
and is committed to a strategy or plan, the chance of success goes up immensely. The
team becomes passionate about doing what they said they would do. Conversely, when
a team feels that the leader will force them to do what he or she thinks is best,
innovation is lost and there is little passion.

The best leaders are highly organized and trust the team members to do their
respective jobs. The leader becomes a delegator, setting clear expectations and
providing on-going feedback.

Finally, effective leaders regularly and publicly recognize others. They are quick to
accept blame for failures, even when they may have not been directly responsible. And
are just as quick to give others credit for successes rather than themselves.

In Summary

These six fundamental skill sets are found in virtually every individual who has been
recognized as being an outstanding leader. But it is equally important to understand
that few were good at all of these when they started their careers.

Knowing and admitting one’s own strengths and weaknesses is the first step in
developing the requisite skill set to become a more effective leader. Next,
committing and working hard to improve areas of weakness furthers leadership
development. Then finally, asking others for help and feedback is essential to acquiring
all the necessary skills and traits required to become an effective leader.
About the author:

Steve Earley is the CEO of Cross Company, a 100% employee-owned ESOP

headquartered in Greensboro, NC. Their mission is “applying technologies to improve
machine and manufacturing process performance.” Since 1974, Cross has acquired 18
companies and successfully integrated them into their unique ESOP culture. For more
blogs from Steve, please read his Leadership Series. You can contact Steve directly by
e-mail.

Three Components Of Effective

Leadership
July 9, 2013

What exactly is strong leadership? The term is thrown around so much these days that it
has almost lost meaning, but just because it has become a cliché doesn’t mean it’s
useless. On the contrary, an effective leadership team is essential to a successful
nonprofit.

In the Bridgespan Group’s book, “Plan A: How Successful Nonprofits Develop Their
Future Leaders,” Kirk Kramer and Preeta Nayak discussed the elements that make up
what they call “leadership potential.” They cited information from the Corporate
Leadership Council (CLC), which has developed a detailed model of high potential
which Kramer and Navak modified for use in the nonprofit sector. According to CLC,
high potential has three components: Aspiration, ability, and engagement.

Kramer and Navak explained these three components:

 Aspiration: This is a term that captures the intensity of an individual’s desire for things
like results and recognition, advancement, influence, and work-life balance. Employees
with a strong desire for things like these have the high aspirations that mark high-
potential leadership candidates.
 Ability: High-potential individuals display strong ability; that is, the combination of
innate characteristics and learned skills needed to carry out their day-to-day work.
  Engagement: This consists of four elements: Emotional commitment, rational
commitment, discretionary effort, and intent to stay.

Kramer and Navak wrote that while employees who score high in one or two of these
areas can be valuable to a nonprofit, it’s the individuals who can put together the whole
package who have the highest potential to rise to your organization’s key leadership
roles and succeed in them.

The NonProfit Times

 201 Littleton Road, 2nd Floor

Morris Plains, NJ 07950
 Email: info@nptimes.com

What is Leadership? What are components of effective leadership?

Posted by Amitabh Shukla / June 1, 2009

Leadership is about ascertaining a method for people to contribute so that it can result
in a significant achievement. It is a process that enables a person to influence others to
achieve a goal and directs an organization to become rational and consistent. Leaders
carry out these processes by leveraging their leadership traits such as values, ethics
and knowledge.

Good leaders are not born. They are made. If a person has the willpower and the ability
to learn, he can become a successful leader. A good leader engages in a continuous
process of education, experience and training. He studies to improve his leadership
skills and does not rest on past glory. One’s position as a manager or supervisor gives
one the authority to handle responsibilities and achieve the desired results making him
the boss. Leadership is different. It inspires the followers, makes them raise the bar and
set themselves higher goals.

There are various theories on leadership. According to the Trait Theory, certain
personality traits may lead people spontaneously into leadership roles. A difficult
situation or a crisis may bring out the latent leadership qualities in a person, which is
referred to as the Great Events Theory. The most widely accepted theory today is the
Transformational Leadership Theory, which states that leadership skills can be
mastered by people who wish to become leaders. When a person respects an individual
as leader, he does not take into account the leader’s attributes but rather valuates his
actions and makes an assessment. This observation helps him learn if he is a
trustworthy leader or a selfish individual.

Serving selflessly and taking everybody along in his stride in developing an organization
makes a person an acceptable leader. In the opinion of the employees, leadership is
that which advances the organizational goals, while taking care of employees’ well
being. People like to be led by those whom they respect. To earn respect, leaders have
to be moral and principled. They can provide a powerful vision of the future with the
sense of proper direction to the followers.

According to experts, there are two very important components of effective

leadership. One is belief and confidence in leadership, which is an indicator of
employee satisfaction in the organization. The second is effective communication by the
leadership in making the employees understand the business strategy, helping them
understand and contribute to the achievement of the organization’s business objectives
and sharing information about the organization with the employees for their benefit and
guidance.

A leader should know what he is, what he knows and what he does. He should
incessantly seek self-improvement. He should be familiar with the tasks and
environment of employees. He should set an example to the rest of the employees.
Inspiring, encouraging and enabling followers to share his vision and improve the
organization’s performance are the tests of successful leadership.

http://www.paggu.com/
Essential Elements of Effective Leadership

11/11/2013 04:48 pm ET | Updated Jan 23, 2014

Effective leadership is essential for any organization and school to be
successful. Great leaders are always critically analyzing ways in which he/she
can improve in order to achieve an array of goals. This is especially the case
in education where strong and bold leadership is needed during this
tumultuous time. To my mind, we all have the capacity to lead. It is through
leadership that we become catalysts for positive change. Once sustainable
change takes hold, we will see the fruits of our labor in the form of
transformed teaching and learning practices amongst learners and in
ourselves. This cannot happen without effective leadership.

In my own experiences and those of the individuals with whom I have

connected through social media, I have witnessed patterns of behavior that, in
my mind, capture effective leadership. Leadership is a combination of art,
science and human nature. For some, it is an innate process; for others, it
evolves and is refined over time. We all have the ability to lead, although
many choose not to lead. There is also no perfect way to lead, as leadership
strategies and practices need to adapt to the various dynamic environments in
which leaders find themselves.

Schools need individuals to establish a collective vision and put it into action
to improve professional practice, whether that leadership comes from
administrators or teachers or a combination of both. Schools cannot be
successful if this does not happen, and the success of our students depends
on how well leaders guide the majority to embrace meaningful change. Below
are 10 essential elements of leadership that I feel can effect change:

Modeling: In my opinion, the best leaders model their expectations for their
employees and peers. The best leaders not only talk the talk, but they also
walk the walk. Don’t ask your employees or colleagues do something that you
are not prepared to do. Better yet, show them what the practice can and
should look like in action.

Not looking for buy-in: Effective leaders should not have to “sell” their
employees and colleagues on a better way of doing things. Intrinsic motivation
is the most powerful force we have to initiate and sustain change. Think about
how you can get people to embrace a new idea, strategy, or initiative. If you
do this, the chances are you will have real results. Start out by simply
removing the words “buy-in” from your vocabulary.

Providing support: Support comes in many forms - financial, time, and

professional learning opportunities. The lack of any (or all) of these should
never be an excuse to not move forward. Support begins with adopting a “no-
excuse” attitude and the resilience to always seek out solutions to the many
problems that arise. Support should also be differentiated. As we have come
to know with our students, a one-size-fits-all approach never works.

Learning from failure: Everyone fails. That is life. The key point, however, is
that failure is one of the greatest learning tools we have. We don’t like it, but it
should be embraced. If leaders are afraid to fail, then nothing will ever
change. Leadership is all about risks and rewards. With every risk there is the
potential for failure looming around the corner. Learning from our experiences
— including our failures — empowers leaders to be fearless change agents.
Admitting when we have failed actually inspires others.

Transparency: Leaders’ decisions and actions are not challenged as much if

those leaders are transparent. Effective leaders use transparency to assist
with the embracement of change. This is accomplished through a combination
of communication, shared decision-making, consensus, debate, and social
media. In the end, all stakeholders should know why and how a leader made
a particular decision and how that decision impacts the system. Transparent
leaders to not micromanage, give credit to others when initiatives succeed,
and take the blame things fail.

Flexibility: Stubbornness and rigidity are clear indicators of a top-down

approach to leadership. This almost always builds resentment and animosity
towards change. Leaders who are flexible listen to other points of view, bend
when necessary, and are not afraid to change course if things are not going
well.

Resilience: Leadership is fraught with challenges on a daily basis. There will

always be people second-guessing, undermining, and ignoring decisions that
are made. Effective leadership requires something between having empathy
and having a thick skin. This results in resilience. Without resilience, one’s
ability to lead effectively will be severely diminished.

Never passing the buck: If you are — or want to be — a leader, you must
always remember that there is no passing the buck. When final decisions
have to be made, they must be made with confidence, clarity, and
decisiveness.

Obviously the elements above do not comprise an exhaustive list, but rather a
reflection based on experience and observation. What do you think are the
essential principles of effective leadership to move organizations and schools
forward?

Follow Eric Sheninger on Twitter: www.twitter.com/E_Sheninger

Theories of effective leadership include the trait, contingency, behavioral, and full-range
theories.

Source: Boundless. “Four Theories of Leadership.” Boundless Management. Boundless, 26

May. 2016. Retrieved 14 Sep. 2016
from https://www.boundless.com/management/textbooks/boundless-management-
textbook/leadership-9/defining-leadership-68/four-theories-of-leadership-344-7580/

For a number of years, researchers have examined leadership to discover how successful
leaders are created. Experts have proposed several theories, including the trait, behavioral,
contingency, and full-range models of leadership.

The Trait Theory of Leadership

The search for the characteristics or traits of effective leaders has been central to the study of
leadership. Underlying this research is the assumption that leadership capabilities are rooted in
characteristics possessed by individuals. Research in the field of trait theory has shown
significant positive relationships between effective leadership and personality traits such as
intelligence, extroversion, conscientiousness, self-efficacy, and openness to experience. These
findings also show that individuals emerge as leaders across a variety of situations and tasks.
The Contingency Theory of Leadership
Stogdill and Mann found that while some traits were common across a number of studies, the
overall evidence suggested that persons who are leaders in one situation may not necessarily
be leaders in other situations. According to this approach, called contingency theory, no single
psychological profile or set of enduring traits links directly to effective leadership. Instead, the
interaction between those individual traits and the prevailing conditions is what creates effective
leadership. In other words, contingency theory proposes that effective leadership is contingent
on factors independent of an individual leader. As such, the theory predicts that effective leaders
are those whose personal traits match the needs of the situation in which they find themselves.
Fiedler's contingency model of leadership focuses on the interaction of leadership style and the
situation (later called situational control). He identified three relevant aspects of the situation: the
quality of the leader's relationships with others, how well structured their tasks were, and the
leader's amount of formal authority.
The Behavioral Theory of Leadership
In response to the early criticisms of the trait approach, theorists began to research leadership
as a set of behaviors. They evaluated what successful leaders did, developed a taxonomy of
actions, and identified broad patterns that indicated different leadership styles. Behavioral
theory also incorporates B.F. Skinner's theory of behavior modification, which takes into account
the effect of reward and punishment on changing behavior. An example of this theory in action is
a manager or leader who motivates desired behavior by scolding employees who arrive late to
meetings and showing appreciation when they are early or on time.
 B.F. Skinner
The father of behavioral theory showed the connection between behaviors and
reward and punishment. Today, management often incorporates his findings.

The Full-Range Theory of Leadership

The full-range theory of leadership is a component of transformational leadership, which enhances
motivation and morale by connecting the employee's sense of identity to a project and the
collective identity of the organization. The four major components of the theory, which cover the
full range of essential qualities of a good leader, are:
 Individualized consideration: the degree to which the leader attends to each follower's concerns and needs
and acts as a mentor or coach
 Intellectual stimulation: the degree to which the leader challenges assumptions, takes risks, and solicits
followers' ideas
 Inspirational motivation: the degree to which the leader articulates a vision that is appealing and inspiring
to followers
 Idealized influence: the degree to which the leader provides a role model for high ethical behavior, instills
pride, and gains respect and trust

Source: Boundless. “Four Theories of Leadership.” Boundless Management. Boundless, 26

May. 2016. Retrieved 14 Sep. 2016
from https://www.boundless.com/management/textbooks/boundless-management-
textbook/leadership-9/defining-leadership-68/four-theories-of-leadership-344-7580/

Key Leadership Theories by eba

The Four Core Theory Groups
Let's look at each of the four core groups of theory, and explore some of the
tools and models that apply with each. (Keep in mind that there are many
other theories out there.)

1. Trait Theories – What Type of Person Makes a Good

Leader?
Trait theories argue that effective leaders share a number of common
personality characteristics, or "traits."

Early trait theories said that leadership is an innate, instinctive quality that you
do or don't have. Thankfully, we've moved on from this idea, and we're
learning more about what we can do to develop leadership qualities within
ourselves and others.

Trait theories help us identify traits and qualities (for example, integrity,
empathy, assertiveness, good decision-making skills, and likability) that are
helpful when leading others.

However, none of these traits, nor any specific combination of them, will
guarantee success as a leader.

Traits are external behaviors that emerge from the things going on within our
minds – and it's these internal beliefs and processes that are important for
effective leadership.

We explore some of the traits and skills that you need to be a good leader in
our articles What a Real Leader Knows , Level 5 Leadership , and What is
Leadership?

2. Behavioral Theories – What Does a Good Leader

Do?
Behavioral theories focus on how leaders behave. For instance, do leaders
dictate what needs to be done and expect cooperation? Or do they involve
their teams in decision-making to encourage acceptance and support?
In the 1930s, Kurt Lewin developed a framework based on a leader's
behavior. He argued that there are three types of leaders:

1. Autocratic leaders make decisions without consulting their teams. This style of
leadership is considered appropriate when decisions need to be made quickly,
when there's no need for input, and when team agreement isn't necessary for a
successful outcome.
2. Democratic leaders allow the team to provide input before making a decision,
although the degree of input can vary from leader to leader. This style is important
when team agreement matters, but it can be difficult to manage when there are lots
of different perspectives and ideas.
3. Laissez-faire leaders don't interfere; they allow people within the team to make
many of the decisions. This works well when the team is highly capable, is
motivated, and doesn't need close supervision. However, this behavior can arise
because the leader is lazy or distracted; and this is where this style of leadership
can fail.
Clearly, how leaders behave affects their performance. Researchers have
realized, though, that many of these leadership behaviors are appropriate at
different times. The best leaders are those who can use many different
behavioral styles, and choose the right style for each situation.

Our article "Laissez Faire" versus Micromanagement looks at how you can
find the right balance between autocratic and laissez-faire styles of leadership,
while our article on the Blake-Mouton Managerial Grid helps you decide
how to behave as a leader, depending on your concerns for people and for
production.

3. Contingency Theories – How Does the Situation

Influence Good Leadership?
The realization that there is no one correct type of leader led to theories that
the best leadership style depends on the situation. These theories try to
predict which style is best in which circumstance.

For instance, when you need to make quick decisions, which style is best?
When you need the full support of your team, is there a more effective way
to lead? Should a leader be more people-oriented or task-oriented? These
are all questions that contingency leadership theories try to address.

Popular contingency-based models include House's Path-Goal Theory

andFiedler's Contingency Model .
You can also use the Leadership Process Model to understand how
your situation affects other factors that are important for effective
leadership, and how, in turn, these affect your leadership.

4. Power and Influence Theories – What is the

Source of the Leader's Power?
Power and influence theories of leadership take an entirely different
approach – these are based on the different ways that leaders use power
and influence to get things done, and they look at the leadership styles that
emerge as a result.

Perhaps the best-known of these theories is French and Raven's Five

Forms of Power . This model highlights three types of positional power
– legitimate, reward, and coercive – and two sources of personal power –
expert and referent (your personal appeal and charm). The model suggests
that using personal power is the better alternative, and that you should
work on building expert power (the power that comes with being a real
expert in the job) because this is the most legitimate source of personal
power.
Another leadership style that uses power and influence is transactional
leadership . This approach assumes that people do things for reward and
for no other reason. Therefore, it focuses on designing tasks and reward
structures. While this may not be the most appealing leadership strategy in
terms of building relationships and developing a highly motivating work
environment, it often works, and leaders in most organizations use it on a
daily basis to get things done.
Similarly, leading by example is another highly effective way of
influencing your team.

Effective Leadership Styles

As we mentioned above, transformational leadership is often the best
leadership style to use in business.
Transformational leaders show integrity, and they know how to develop a
robust and inspiring vision of the future. They motivate people to achieve
this vision, they manage its delivery, and they build ever stronger and more
successful teams.

However, you'll often need to adapt your style to fit a specific group or
situation, and this is why it's useful to gain a thorough understanding of
other styles. Our article onLeadership Styles takes a deeper look at the
different styles that you can use.

Key Points
Over time, several core theories about leadership have emerged. These
theories fall into four main categories:

1. Trait theories.
2. Behavioral theories.
3. Contingency theories.
4. Power and influence theories.
"Transformational leadership," is the most effective style to use in most
business situations. However, you can become a more effective leader by
learning about these core leadership theories, and understanding the tools
and models associated with each one.
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Leadership
Elements of Good Leadership

THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION SKILLS, TEAMWORK, MOTIVATION AND

COACHING SKILLS

There are four important elements a good leader needs to consider. Communication skills,
teamwork, motivation and coaching skills are all extremely important in what makes a good
leader.

Communication Skills

There is little doubt among numerous academics that effective communication is a crucial
component of effective leadership. Leaders must be able to communicate to their followers in
order to persuade them and convey their vision of what is to be achieved and inspire to initiate
and facilitate change (Dubrin et al, 2006). Communication not only involves direct speech, but
also non verbal communication. Non verbal communication includes things such as body
language, stance, presentation, dress, facial expressions and posture (Preston, 2005). Studies
have shown that if there is a conflict between the verbal message (the words) and non verbal
message (your body language) the non verbal message is more likely to prevail (Preston,
2005). Successful leaders are aware of this fact and use their non verbal communication skills
to enhance their interaction with others.

Successful leaders have the following components embedded in their speeches, or

presentations, in some form or another.

 Credible information- by providing evidence or examples to support the information

presented, to make it believable
 A core message that is aimed at the needs of the audience- something that will allow the
audience to connect, understand what is happening, and how it could be made better.
This is a crucial aspect of motivation, as it arouses desire.
 An emphasis on the benefits or advantages- that will occur as a result of their
leadership.
 Appropriate delivery methods- Successful leaders are able to convey their passion for a
situation to their audience through appropriate communication skills by recognising the
appropriate presentation styles for different situations. (For example some situations
may require a charismatic speaker, while others may require an authoritarian style
 speaker). This also includes the use of an appropriate linguistic style. Linguistics is about
speaking patterns, “the amount of directness, pacing, pausing and word choice…”
(Dubrin et al, 2006, p 371).
(Dubrin et al, 2006, p. 371)

For example consider one of the most well known speeches of all time - Martin Luther Kings
speech “I have a dream…”. The delivery and communication of this speech was what made it
such a success. King was able to create a clear vision (that is what he wanted to achieve) and
offer practical solutions to the current situation to make his vision a reality. He was then able to
justify to the audience, why it needed to be achieved through the use of credible information.

To view this speech please

visit:http://www.youtube.com/watchv=Hb3VQ4BZHLI&mode=related&search=

If a leader is not communicating and interacting effectively with the audience, then it is highly
unlikely that they will be able to convey their desired message. Consequently, the leader is then
unable to create a vision, something for the people to strive for, and people will loose their
motivation and trust, making leadership almost impossible. For example consider political
leaders and the importance of their communication skills. Their speeches and public
announcements are used as a tool of reassurance for society, to reinforce their vision and
ensure that it can still be met. Some claim that the former Prime Minister of Canada; Kim
Campbell (from June – October 1993) term was so short lived due to a number of ‘political
blunders’. It was claimed that she lost her ability to connect with the people, after several flaws
in her public political arguments, which took a pessimistic stance on issues very important to the
lives of the voters. (Jordan, 1993 p.4). Her errors and poor communication consequently lead to
the people of Canada loosing their faith in her visions, and leadership abilities, and they voted
her out.
 Kim Campbell

Teamwork and leadership

An important function of a leader is building a team. First it is important to understand what a

team and teamwork is, to understand where a leader fits into the equation. A team can be
defined as ”a group whose individual efforts result in a performance that is greater than the sum
of the individual’s contribution.” (Robbins, Millett & Waters-Marsh, 2004, p 280) This is
differentiated from teamwork as teamwork focuses more on understanding and committing to
group goals. (Dubrin, Daglish & Miller, 2006, p.264) There are a few differences that can be
established between a team and a group. These include: that teams have shared leadership
role but groups have a solo leader; teams have mutual and individual accountability and a group
only has individual accountability; team members produce collective work whereas groups tend
to produce work individually; and lastly a team generally have open ended discussion and make
decisions together whereas groups are told what to do by the leader and do not have as much
input.

Working in teams is not always successful. Hackman (1999) argues there are a number of
mistakes that managers and leaders can make when using teams:

1. Using a team for work that is done better by individuals

2. Calling the performing a unit a ‘team’ but managing members as individuals. Not building
the team.
3. Failure to clarify where decision-making power lies.
4. Dismantling the current organisational structures so that the team will be empowered to
accomplish its tasks.
5. Specifying what they want the team to do, but not providing adequate resources and
support.
 6. Assuming that team members have all the necessary skills to work well as a team.
(Dubrin et al., 2006, 269-270)

The leader’s role in the team-based organisation

A leader’s role changes when interacting in a team. The stages a team experiences are defined
by Tuckerman (1965) as forming, conforming, storming and performing. During the forming
stage of a team an effective leader is to establish introductions and answer questions, clarify the
goals, rules and expectations of the team. In the conforming stage of the team an effective
leader is to provide feedback to its team members and facilitate roles and articulate the team
vision. During the storming stage of a team the leader needs to focus on the team processes,
reinforce the vision and identify the common threats to the team. During the performing stage a
leader needs to advance the quality of culture in the team, and to provide ongoing feedback on
team performance. The diagram below shows that as the team grows the leader’s skills must
change in order for the team to be effective.

The main roles a leader needs to play in a team include:

 Build trust and inspiring teamwork,

 Coach team members to achieve increased performance,
 Facilitate and support the decisions,
 Expand the teams capabilities ,
 Create the teams identity,
  Anticipate and influence change,
 Inspire team members towards increased level of performance,
 Enable and empower groups members to do work, and
 Encourage team members to eliminate low value works.
(Dubrin et al., 2006, p.271-272)

It is important to understand that the role of a leader needs to change in order to achieve
teamwork. Throughout the different stages of a team the leaders role changes and in order for
the team to be effective the leader needs to change their role as shown in the diagram. Anyone
who has ever been or worked in a team can understand this change. If you have ever been in a
sporting team the captain’s role changes throughout the season. For example at the beginning
of the season new techniques are learnt and the mission of the team is enforced by the captain.
However towards the end of the season a captain would be reiterating those techniques and
mission of the team.

The importance of motivation to a leader

Good leaders are usually outstanding motivators. There are four major areas of motivation that
are important to a leader. These include:

- expectancy theory,

- behaviour modification,

- recognition, and

- goal setting.

Expectancy theory

The expectancy theory is “based on the premise that the amount of effort people expand
depends on how much reward they expect to get in return.” (Dubrin et al., 2006, p. 296) It
basically says that if a person is given a choice they will pick the assignment or job that they can
handle the best and that will benefit them the most. There are three major components of the
expectancy theory: valence, instrumentality and expectancy. Valence is the worth or
attractiveness of outcomes; so what the person gets out of it. This is important to a leader as
they can motivate people to work harder towards what they get out of it. Instrumentality is the
probability assigned by the individuals that performance will lead to certain outcomes. For
example if a person works overtime they are aware they will receive overtime pay. Finally,
expectancy is the probability assigned by the individual that effort will lead to correct
performance of the task. The expectancy theory has many implications for leaders and
managers with respect to motivating others.

Goal theory

Goal setting is a basic process that is directly or indirectly part of all major theories of work
motivation. A goal is simply something that someone is trying to accomplish. Goal setting is
accepted by leaders and mangers as a means to improve performance. Goal setting can work
more effectively and achieve higher performance if individuals are given specific goals. It is
important therefore that the leader discusses the goals with the group members and that group
members are involved in the goal setting process so that they are more accepting of the goals.
Goals can be used to evaluate performance and can be linked to feedback and rewards. Goal
setting is widely practised by leaders and managers.

Behaviour modification and motivational skills

Behaviour modification attempts to change behaviour by manipulating rewards and punishment.

Behaviour that leads to a positive consequence for the individual tends to be repeated, there is
why it is important to reward positive behaviour. There are certain behaviour modification
strategies that a leader can adopt to motivate people. These include positive reinforcement so
rewarding the right response, negative reinforcement so punishing bad behaviour, and many
others. Any rules for behaviour modification should be administered by the HR department of a
company if they are going to affect the whole company. An important role of a leader as part of
this is the application of positive reinforcement. Behaviour modification is an important element
for leaders to award positive behaviour and discourage negative behaviour.

Recognition to motivate others

Recognition programs are aimed at rewarding and motivating employees. An example of how a
business/manager/leader is able to show an employee that they have been recognised for their
efforts is giving them an ‘employee of the month’ award. Recognition is obviously therefore
praise or positive reinforcement for an action. It is important to understand that this is a form of
motivation as a normal human need to crave recognition. Recognition can come in three forms:
oral, written and material reward. Recognition is a good strategy for leaders to implement to
motivate their employees as they are low cost or no cost, yet they are powerful as they work
well to motivate employees.

Coaching Skills

Coaching skills; “a way of enabling others to act and build on their strengths” is an asset to any
leader, and essential for those leaders who have direct contact with other people on a regular
basis (Dubrin et al, 2006, p. 313). It can be used to increase performance, motivation,
enthusiasm and the overall effort of people, to give them the support and inspiration that they
may require to succeed. An example of a good leader that possesses such coaching skills is Sir
Alex Ferguson of Manchester United, a football team in England(pictured below). He is their
manager/coach and is responsible for enhancing the players strengths and increasing their
performance. He embodies how a good leader uses coaching skills to better the team and be a
great leader.

Unlike management, which has a firm focus on control, coaching based more so about
encouragement and support for other people, to help them achieve desired gaols or outcomes.
It requires time, effort, dedication and most importantly a common trust between both parties.
Coaching is an interactive process which requires both the faith of the learner (to trust the
coach’s judgements and suggestions) and the leader (to believe that the learner will be
successful as a result of their advice and suggestions) Therefore effective leaders recognise
that coaching is a two way street, which depends on both the efforts of the leader and the team,
it is not an independent process (Dubrin et al, 2006).
 Sir Alex Ferguson

As discussed, communication skills, teamwork, motivation and coaching skills are extremely
important elements to a leader. All of these are skills 'good leaders' possess however it depends
on the situation as to when they should be implemented. It is also important to acknowledge that
without good communication, teamwork, motivation or coaching skills a leaders ability to lead
should be questioned.

OTHER USEFUL WEBSITES:

"Motivation and Leadership" - http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadmot.html

"Leadership Styles - Motivation and Leadership Styles" - http://www.motivation-

tools.com/workplace/leadership_styles.htm

"Motivation and Leadership" - http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/theory/theory--motivation-

leadership--265.php
REFERERNCES

Dubrin, A, Daglish, C & Miller, P. (2006). Leadership. (2nd ed). Queensland: John

Wiley & Sons Australia

Jordan, B. (1993). The tories say goodby – charisma needs substance.

Commonweal. 120 (20) p. 4 – 5. Retrieved April 1, 2007 from http://0-

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Preston, P. (2005). Nonverbal communication; do you really say what you mean.

Journal of Healthcare Management . 50 (2), p. 83 – 87. Retrieved May, 2005

from http://0proquest.umi.com.library.ecu.edu.au/pqdweb?did=827066141&sid=4&Fmt
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Robbins, S., Millett, B., & Waters-Marsh, T. (2004). Organisational

Behaviour. Frenchs Forest: Pearson Education Australia/Prentice Hall.