Abstract
Leadership is a very crucial element in any organization. Leadership entails the process of socially influencing people to respond in a certain manner to achieve predetermined goals and objectives. The paper focuses on my leadership styles. My leadership style at Gogo involves fostering a clear path for understanding my followers and the different skills I engage daily through enhancing an effective management of my leadership skills. I have come up with a relationship building approach with my followers to help enhance a working relationship that will steer Gogo Company to greater heights. It discusses my leadership style, focusing on my strengths and the areas that I should improve. Some of my leadership strengths include communication, listening, and coaching. Some of areas I need to improve include conflict resolving skills, negotiation skills, following skills, and politic networking skills.
My Leadership Style
Leadership may be defined as the process of socially influencing people to follow ones’ way. It can also be taken as a group of people who are influenced by a common goal to achieve a collective gain together. Leadership is very important in an organization as it helps the organization to utilize its resources under the guidance of a leader. Leadership and management work in close relations as seek to improve the working environment in an organization. Management involves getting people together to achieve common objectives with the use of appropriate methods and tools. In management, a leader uses available resources plus human resource to achieve a common goal. Management comprises of organizing, staffing, leading, planning, controlling and directing different resources in an organization so as to achieve the set target. A leader helps to organize a group of people to accomplish a common goal. A leader is an influential person who has a set charisma that people can relate with and thus guide them to achieve a common objective (Zaccaro & Klimoski, 2001). My leadership style at Gogo involves fostering a clear path for understanding my followers and the different skills I engage daily through enhancing an effective management of my leadership skills. I have come up with a relationship building approach with my followers to help enhance a working relationship that will steer Gogo Company to greater heights. This paper seeks to expound on my strong leadership skills and the areas of my style that I seek to improve.
Communication
My leadership style revolves around a number of strong qualities that I possess that are meant to help me become an effective leader. Some of these qualities include communication. Whereas communication is a vital tool that a leader ought to have so as to be in a position to pass on a desired message to his or her subordinates. Communication can be defined as the exchange of information or ideas from one person to the other. Communication allows for flow of information and ideas across a medium through which we have the sender and the receiver of the information. A good leader should be able to communicate properly to the intended person and the receiver of the message should be in a position to understand the meaning of the message. Effective communication occurs if the receiver of the message understands the true meaning of the information or idea being passed to him or her (Worth, 2009). As I strive to become an effective leader in our organization I am obliged to follow some guidelines that will help me to express myself in front of people. I must be in a position to understand my listeners as this will help me to communicate well with them and what communication process to use to pass on my message.
According to the relationship theory of leadership, communication process is said to involve three major steps which include; thought, encoding and decoding. A thought is the first idea, information or a concept that exist in the mind of the sender. Encoding process involves sending the message to the intended receiver or listener while decoding is the interpretation of the message by the receiver. It’s thus very important for leaders to understand the communication process as it will help in leading other people to follow a certain desired path as derived by the leader (Iqbal, 2011). Working at Gogo has helped me to interact with various people across the country and this has helped me become a better leader. I am able to use the right communication skills to express myself with other employees and this has improved the working relationship at the company.
Listening
Listening involves the process by which a person is able to receive a message sent by a sender through the word of mouth or even the body language and understand the true meaning of the message. Active listening is a strong communication tool that is emphasized by two or more people when passing a message across a medium of communication. Working at Gogo organization has really helped improve my listening skills through interactions like group meetings where I am able to gauge how my listeners understand the message am trying to pass across. Active listening is of great help more so in an organization where different hierarchies of leadership are present (Lewis & American Association of School Administrators, 1993). Listening improves communication between two or more people through creating a common ground where one person expresses his or her ideas to a group of people and later allows the group to internalize the message passed through discussions.
Listening is a skill that I have continually strived to improve as I discharge my leadership duties in the organization. Through listening I am in a position to understand what my followers need and require in their operations and this has helped create a good working relationship with my team members. The interactions we have at the organizations continue to improve daily as they express their ideas and information through discussion. Listening forms a major part of my leadership style at the organizations as am able to understand the needs of my listener by the reaction they make towards my ideas and concepts. A leader should express transformation in the group they lead coupled with good virtues that other employees can follow and learn from. There are a number of leadership theories that have been discussed by different scholars in the world today. Some of these theories are of great help to current managers as they offer some insight to better their leadership skills and expertise. An example is trait theory which helps to understand how different personalities of individuals may equip leaders with the required skills (Zaccaro & Klimoski, 2001).
Coaching
Coaching forms a major part of my daily activity at the organization through which i am able to train new and existing individuals of the goals and objectives of the organization. Through my experience in the firm I have been able to train new clients who join the firm through mentorship programs initiated by our department head. These kinds of training help new clients to integrate well with the organizations activities as we strive to achieve our organization objectives. Coaching has improved my leadership skills over the years where I am able to pass on skills and expertise advice to new and already existing clients in the organization. An effective leader should be able to facilitate new information to followers so as to help the organization move forward as a complete unit (Bacharach, 2006). Gogo company has initiated different structures that are headed by different individuals and each structure is given a specific target that is to be met and thus each unit operates to achieve this target. Through proper leadership styles, these organizations goals are met when people work as a team. Through my daily activities I encounter different situations that require a delicate execution of my duty as a leader through mentoring new followers. It’s through such programs that the organization has been able to grow and expand over the years to our current state.
As a leader I need to be an agent of change in the organization and this can be improved by mentoring other followers through expert advice and information of the organization processes. Leadership dictates that I should lead by example so that other followers advocate for the new changes that shape our organization. It’s through coaching that new information and collective ideas will be implemented in our organization and given the steps that I have taken as a leader in this firm I am sure the firm will strive to more achievements and goals.
Areas to improve
As a leader am faced with different situations daily that require a delicate execution of my duty and this has not been easy as I carry on my responsibility. There are some areas in my leadership style that I need to improve so as to become an effective leader in our organization. Through the different training sessions that I have attended I have come to appreciate the role that leaders perform and the different skills they need to possess to discharge their duties to the organization and fellow employees. Through evaluation I have come up with areas in my leadership skills that I need to improve so as to discharge my duties up to the best of my ability. Some of these qualities include following, negotiating, networking politics and conflict skills.
Following skills
Following involves emulating a certain person or concept that he or she derives in an organization setting. As I discharge my duties and responsibilities I find myself torn between what concept to adopt and the best way to utilize the information that I have gathered from my fellow employees. Leadership dictates that a leader should be able to delegate his or her duties so as to create a new breed of leaders and be able to learn from others (Iqbal, 2011).
Negotiating skills
Negotiating is an area that I need to improve to help me become an effective leader. Negotiating forms part of my responsibility and this is facilitated by strong communication skills that I possess. Negotiating normally involves finding the right kind if information concerning a particular topic and how well to express these findings in an interactive forum that may include potential clients and business suppliers (Bacharach, 2006). I seek to improve my negotiating skills to meet the new demands of the market and the organization needs.
Networking politics
Networking skills involve create an interchange of information between different people and groups in an organization. Networking helps to foster an integrated group that is free to share information and ideas across a common platform where employees are able to express their ideas and concepts across (Williams, 1997). Being in a position to listen to your followers help to motivate these followers and they are able to bring a new concept to the group.
Conflict skills
Conflicts in organizations are common occurrences that may be of great importance or create a bad working relationship among employees. As a leader I am faced with different situations that arise as people interact which brings about conflicts that arise from differences in opinions. These conflict situations require a delicate solution that should be geared towards resolving the conflict and mending any bad blood that may arise among followers in an organization setting. People in organizations always quarrel and these quarrels may break out to un-controlled conflicts if they are not resolved (Rahim & International Association for Conflict Management, 1990). As a leader I am obliged to resolve them in due time so as to prevent a worst case scenario that may erupt among different departments and cripple the organizations operations. Conflicts skills are vital tools that I always engaged when a conflict arises where I am able to use my leadership role to resolve the conflict and set a good precedent at Gogo Company. Through my strong communication skills I am able to resolve these conflicts and help mend the relationship among my team members and this has improved our working relationship at Gogo. Over the years I have been able to use my conflict skills to resolve arguments that arise at the company and foster a working environment that is favorable to all employees at different levels.
Conclusion
A leader in any organization must possess strong leadership skills that will steer the organization to greater achievement in the sectors the organization operates in. At Gogo we have come up with a clear objective in regard to our organization future which can only be achieved if we engage all stakeholders in the organization. It’s through leadership that some of these objectives and goals will be achieved. Daily am faced with a new challenge on how to use my leadership skills to influence the leadership style of the company and manage the human resource to achieve the desired work ethics in the organizations. I am motivated to continue discharging my duties due to the cooperation is receive from my followers and the strong network we have managed to create over the years to steer this organization to greater height.
References
Bacharach, M. (2006). Beyond individual choice: Teams and frames in game theory. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Iqbal, T. (2011). The impact of leadership styles on organizational effectiveness: Analytical study of selected organizations in IT sector in Karachi. Munich: Grin Verlag.
Lewis, A., & American Association of School Administrators. (1993). Leadership styles. Arlington, Va: American Association of School Administrators.
Rahim, M. A., & International Association for Conflict Management. (1990). Theory and research in conflict management. New York: Praeger.
Williams, D. (1997). Communication skills in practice: A practical guide for health professionals. London: J. Kingsley Publishers.
Worth, R. (2009). Communication skills. New York: Ferguson.
Zaccaro, S. J., & Klimoski, R. J. (2001). The nature of organizational leadership: Understanding the performance imperatives confronting today's leaders. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
