Leadership is often mistaken for bossing people around and utilizing power to get what you want. We forget it is much more than that and become excited with a new job promotion or the ability to do what we want in the workplace. In addition, many “leaders” sometimes become crazy with power and completely forget they are also in charge of the ethical code concerning the company they work for. It is important for leaders to convey a sense of leadership and motivation, but to also show employees how to act ethically in the workplace in order to be a successful leader. In order to find out what a leader does in the workplace, I interviewed Ms. Jones, Manager of a local bank, and was pleasantly surprised to find she understood being a leader takes more than knowing where your reserved parking spot is now.
How do you define leadership?
A: Leadership is complex. Leaders must lead instead of micromanage. I like to let my employees do their own thing if they are able so they can learn to do that at all. It allows them to understand they can take control of smaller issues, and become self-starters, which frees me up for bigger issues.
When asked how she would define leadership, Ms. Jones stated it was more complex that some people realized, because a leader was expected to oversee not only the issues of employees, but also the issues of the entire company. Moreover, a leader was expected in her opinion, to lead rather than micromanage. Ms. Jones does not think it is progressive of a leader, or that it does any good for employees to hover over them to ensure that a job is done correctly. Instead she prefers to give instructions, however brief or in depth she believes is necessary for the situation, and then allows employees to complete tasks in their own way. As such, she thinks this promotes herself as a leader who can be turned to for more than just work-related issues, which she also believes is important, but also allows for an environment wherein employees become self-starters. According to Choudhary, author of Impact of Transformational and Servant Leadership on Organizational Performance, this approach can allow employees to maintain a higher level of motivation in the workplace (2013).
What is the greatest leadership challenge you have ever faced and what did you do?
A: At a previous job, I was an assistant manager. I was left in charge of the employees for two weeks while the manager was at a seminar and it became known that two of the employees were stealing supplies, and one was sexually harassing customers. Of course both were unacceptable and a meeting with Human Resources was held. The employees were terminated. The challenge was what followed. Many of the employees assumed because our manager was gone and I was the only one left in charge that they could still steal. Nobody, fortunately, attempted to sexually harass anybody, but theft is a crime and unethical in the workplace. I had to work very hard every second of the day both in my actions and in my communication to show the employees this would not be tolerated and was not acceptable.
Ms. Jones demonstrated that she was a proper leader who, even when the “head” leader was unavailable, was fit to oversee the employees. Typical to many workplace situations, she saw that the employees followed suit when peers had acted poorly. Even though they had been caught and punished, they had gotten away with it for a while, and this was enough for the remaining employees to motivate them. They began to act out even more when they began to think Ms. Jones had no official authority over them, despite the fact several employees had been let go in the absence of their manager. While many others may have waited for the manager to return, or turned the situation over to HR, Ms. Jones handled the situation by continuing to set an example for the individuals working there, held meetings conducted with HR to explain why theft in the workplace was wrong, as well as what ethical conduct entailed, and set up rewards system for employees who obeyed the rules until it was no longer an issue.
How would you describe your communication style, and please explain a situation when interpersonal communication contributed to your success?
A: I would describe my communication style as straight-forward, but courteous. It does not pay to beat around the bush in business. However, I am not mean to my employees. There is also room for kindness. I am nice to them and still maintain their respect. It is only when they are completely disrespecting me that I consider myself to be very stern, but I have to be. In one situation, again at a previous bank where I was also the manager, an employee seemed as though he was on the verge of a violent breakdown. It was the end of the day and customers had left the building. Fortunately only employees were there to witness it. He was lashing out at everybody. I walked out of my office and he seemed strangely blind to my presence which I thought was odd, because the door was in his line of site. So I asked him in, and it turned out he had been bullied for quite some time by other tellers. I calmly asked him for his side of the story and he calmly told me. When I calmly asked the other tellers, they were very aggressive and denied it all. HR was called in, of course, but we were able to avoid firing anybody, and the teller never had an outburst again. Instead he came and talked to me.
Lashing out in the workplace is obviously a violation that should be avoided at all costs, but Ms. Jones clearly does not like to judge a book by its cover and rather than immediately fire the young man she spoke about, she understand something more must be wrong, and questioned him about it. She was straightforward about it, but she did not interrogate him. Feeling heard in the workplace for the first time, the teller was happy just to have somebody notice his presence without bullying him; he proceeded to tell Ms. Jones what had happened. He was not waiting for a hug or somebody to coddle him, only somebody to ask, and really listen. The other tellers, however, wanted a manager who ignore what had been going on and did not want Ms. Jones to use her usual, straightforward style of interpersonal communication because it meant they could not lie. Despite their desires, Ms. Jones managed to avoid further issues with a young man who otherwise would have thought to be violent and unhinged, while uncovering the real unethical issue in the workplace.
My point of view of leadership is synonymous with Ms. Jones. She does not micromanage her employees, and attempts to foster an environment where they are able to adapt to new situations and lead themselves, while knowing she is there for help. Employees also understand she is completely in control, should the situation call for it, and do not try to undermine her. She attempts to set an example for employees based in leadership, motivation, and ethics, creating a workspace that is adept to all situations, happy, and most importantly, ethically sound. In doing so, she has managed to create a more effectively run company that does not face the ethical disputes that confront other companies, making her an active leader I would be proud to emulate one day.
In sum, Ms. Jones attempts to lead her employees while letting them also lead themselves. She does so effectively. Ms. Jones sets an example for her employees through her personal actions, as well as verbal communication. She is known as a strong, kind leader, but enforces a strong code employees do not try to tamper with. I agree with the strategies I am aware of and believe she is fully capable of continuing to build an ethically sound company.
References
Bello, S. (2012). Impact of Ethical Leadership on Employee Job Performance. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 228-233.
Choudhary, A. A. (2013). Impact of Transformational and Servant Leadership on Organizational Performance: A Comparative Analysis. Journal of Business Ethics, 433-440.
Zhu, Y., Sun, L.-Y., & Leung, A. S. (2014). Corporate social responsibility, firm reputation, and firm performance: The role of ethical leadership. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 925-947.
Leadership Profile
Samantha Jones, age 43
Works for Wells Fargo bank as a manager
