A511.4.3RB – Leadership Traits
MSLD 511: Organizational Leadership
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Worldwide: Online Campus
November 11, 2015
Leadership Traits
Managerial motivation
Unfortunately, "a strong minority (21%) of employees
surveyed describe themselves as being very engaged in their jobs; even more
concerning, 8% describe themselves as being completely disengaged (Shedd,
2010)." It is not a surprise that when employees feel engaged it
effectively supports the mission and strategies of the entity. It, therefore,
makes sense that positive managerial motivation will create the environment for
an engaged staff.
When employees perceive that their managers will
"respond with a sense of calm and confidence no matter the situation,
subordinates will focus on their work, rather than concerning themselves with
job security positioning (Yukl, 2013)."
Managerial traits
Managerial traits are learned skill sets and take into
consideration a manager’s personality, temperament, one’s needs, motives, and
values. Personality traits encompass emotional maturity, confidence,
leadership, and ambition. Emotional maturity is demonstrated when
managers do not abuse their power over subordinates, when they are open to
others’ expertise, and when they use their power to the benefit of others.
Emotional mature managers have a "more self-awareness
of strengths and weaknesses, are oriented toward self-improvement, less
self-centered, more stable emotions, less defensive, more likely to be at a
high level of cognitive moral development, and maintain more cooperative
relationships with subordinates, peers and superiors (Yukl, 2013)."
Needs, motives and values are used to guide subordinates
using information and expertise and to encourage ethical and moral behavior. An
essential managerial trait is integrity.
Successful managers display sensitivity and are tactful and
diplomatic in their dialogue. As well, they do not shy away from owning their
weaknesses and mistakes and will model a sense of responsibility by
implementing an action plan to correct those weaknesses and mistakes.
Successful managers will demonstrate their ability to manage as they
successfully lead the team through various issues and obstacles.
Managerial effectiveness
Managerial effectiveness requires consistent high-energy
output and a high degree of stress tolerance while using an assortment of
managerial traits and skills to arrive at successful outcomes.
Effective managers do not deal with issues from
a victim-hood perspective of chance or uncontrollable factors
but, rather, take the position that events can be controlled by their own
actions. These managers demonstrate "strong internal control orientation
and are able to discover, plan, and problem solve (Yukl, 2013)."
Managerial effectiveness requires that "a manager
develop a culture of teamwork and competitiveness in the best interests of the
team, that inspiration, trust and collaboration
are foundation principles of the unit (Llopis, 2012)." This
culture must permeate the entity for successful managerial effectiveness
and the success of the business.
Managerial effectiveness is demonstrated when the manager
motives and celebrates the individual success of each team member and when the
members know that their manager will lead by example.
Ineffective Leadership
Given the above effective managerial traits, ineffective
leadership traits seem obvious: defensiveness about weaknesses and
failures; avoidance of a negative reality; avoidance of responsibility for a
problem, even blaming others; focus on issues, and; inability to take problem
solving action. Ineffective traits that contribute to ineffective
leadership are: personal ambition, even when it compromises others; inability
to be trusted; poor interpersonal skills; manipulative, mean, and insensitive.
From a different perspective, ineffective managers have also proven to be
unrealistic to the point of being overly optimistic, resulting in risky and
perhaps erroneous decision-making. As well, "a manager who is
unapproachable may not be able to unite the team with the attitude and
commitment that an effective manager might (Yukl, 2013)."
A manager who "needs power seeks a position of
authority, making it necessary for that manager to be in sync with the politics
or the entity. To maintain this authority, these managers tend to keep
their subordinates weak and dependent, making them ineffective contributors to
the goals of the business (Yukl, 2013)."
In Conclusion
I would like to believe that I am empathetic when leading my
team. I am a true believer in the education and training of staff as opposed to
discipline without positive management investment. As a leader, I believe in
empowering staff to make decisions, analyze results, map achievements. My
interpersonal relationship with staff is strong, as I enjoy interacting with
them to build working relationships. I find that I am and always have been an
"in-the-trenches" leader and lead by example with commitment and stamina.
I will never ask my staff to take on something that I know I cannot or will not
do.
My strength is in problem-solving and creating a positive
experience from a bad situation. As a result of professional certifications, I
have mastered processes and efficiency. I love to analyze a process and work
with others to collaborate on outcome improvements. Interacting with
staff delivers short-term and long-term results. I have found that with the
improvement of working conditions and processes, teamwork is established, a
sense of pride is evident and responsibility/ownership is found.
My staff tends to come to me for personal matters as well,
which I know is just as important. I work with international employees who are
not familiar, per se, with American cultures and find themselves in very
awkward predicaments. This has led to employee weariness, distraction on the
job, personal frustration and workplace depression, along with a myriad of
other issues. Over time, I have become a reliable source for sound and solid
advice - a confidant. I have helped staff with resume writing for their
offspring, with commonplace legal matters and the interpretation of laws and
resolution, and have just simply listened to cries of personal injustices.
I believe that this helps make me an effective manager in that the staff
knows I am there for them and that I can be trusted to lead.
Being a leader, mentor and manager is more than a job.
It is a lifestyle that one needs to nurture, grow, and learn every day.
Reflection and introspection are key. I also think it is important to not be so
hard on myself when I do make mistakes, as I find I am my hardest judge. I
prefer being a situational leader, one who is motivated and uses essential
tools to make thoughtful and effective decisions. My goal is to
constantly grow and, in the process, ensure my subordinates grow as well.
"The real problem stands in the fact that the effective manager does need to have some traits. Failure to have them will leave to failure for the entire company. The true leader will always be able to inspire trust, delegate responsibility and provide direction. It is so much harder to be an effective manager than what most people believe. Many of the really successful managers from around the world did not have formal training. You need to be sure that you constantly grow. That is, most likely, the most important thing that you need (Tolentino, 2014)."
References:
Llopis, Glen. (2012). Effective Managers Earn Trust Quickly
By Doing 5 Things Well. Forbes. Retrieved from
http://www.forbes.com/sites/glennllopis/2012/07/10/effective-managers-earn-trust-quickly-by-doing-5-things-well/
Shedd, David. (2010). 14 Management Do's and Don'ts to
Motivate Employees. Entrepreneur. Retrieved from
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/217801
Tolentino, Laura. (2014). 6 Important Traits Every Effective
Manager Needs to Have. Careeralism. Retrieved from
http://www.careerealism.com/effective-manager-important-traits/
Yukl, G. (2012). Leadership in organizations (8th ed.).
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. ISBN 13: 978-0132771863.
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