Introduction
One of the significant relationships in the post-bureaucratic era is that of effective communication management and leadership practices. There are several styles of leadership that is practiced in the post-bureaucratic era. This era believes in providing greater independence and having trust and reliance upon employees. Leaders believe that employees should be empowered to work and engage them in the decision-making process so as to garner optimum levels of performance that finally leads to organizational success.
One of the pivotal functions played by leadership is to engage in effective communication tools so as to influence, motivate and direct followers to attain desired objectives and move towards the vision and mission of the organization. Post technological breakthrough there has been increased awareness, creativity and innovation and hence employees do not prefer autocratic leaders who direct and dictate them. Employees prefer the participative leadership style which helps in enhancing motivation and job satisfaction levels. Other than these, there are several communication and leadership styles which leaders resort to depending on the situation. Periods of change management see leaders engaging in transformational style so as to effectively lead and ensure a smooth transition into new processes and systems. On the other hand, certain organizations are best suited to have a leader who can lead by means of examples. The tenet of corporate social responsibility is also inculcated by an excellent leader to his followers especially in organizations that are mainly devised to serve the society. These may be non-governmental firms and also healthcare organizations (Raelin, 2011).
It is, however, surprising, that despite having a strong interpersonal link between leadership styles and effective communication management, there has been very limited scholarly research conducted in this area. This paper will try to analyse the diverse leadership practices and the manner in which they contribute to effectively manage communication in a post-bureaucratic era.
Communication styles and leadership practices
Scholars have mostly associated leadership practices with two main styles of communication, namely, dominance and friendliness. In this concept, modern organizations focus upon effective communication styles to bring about knowledge management and knowledge sharing among teams. The main challenge in leadership practice is to adapt a communication style that motivates subordinates to engage in effective communication which further supports knowledge learning and sharing.
There are mainly two main leadership styles – the task-oriented leadership style and the people oriented leadership style. The task-oriented leadership style may be somewhat related with autocratic leaders who directs, instructs, supervises and ensures that the task is conducted by the subordinate as per instructions provided by the leader. One of the best real world examples of a task-oriented leader is that of the then Apple CEO, Steve Jobs (Kutsar, Ghose & Kutsar, 2014). This kind of leadership style focuses more on getting the activity done as compared with motivating and employee to do the work excellently.
The people oriented leadership style focuses on motivation and empowerment. In this style, the leader involves the followers to engage in dialogue and discussion. The leader instils values like trust, integrity and transparency in work, and takes decisions after receiving feedbacks and suggestions from the team members. Scholars have further distinguished these two leadership styles into four main types of communication styles – telling, selling, participating and delegating. The autocratic leader believes in telling and directing style of communication. The selling style focuses both on activities as well as people management. In the selling style, the leader explains the task and the decision to subordinates and also provides subordinates an opportunity to raise queries and further explain them. The leader provides directives from time to time and involves two-way communication. The participative leader is one who believes in maintaining high people oriented behavior and low focus on tasks. The participative leader awaits suggestions and feedback from the team instead of providing duties related to accomplishing the activity. The decision is taken mutually by the team and the leader on the basis of the recommendations and ideas given by the team. In the delegating style of leadership, the leader does not focus on relationships or tasks. The implementation of processes, as well as decision making is empowered to the team in the delegating leadership style (Hidayat, 2014).
Academic scholars have further reviewed the relationship between leadership practices and the styles of interpersonal communication. They maintained that the main determinant of effective team performance is related to managing communication and effective practices of leadership (Josserand, Teo & Clegg, 2006). Academic scholars, Josserand, Teo & Clegg (2006) further observed that effective communication tools are used by human – orientated leadership styles. The human oriented or democratic leaders heavily rely on initiative processes and systems by means of effective communication modes. Such leaders believe in holding high esteem for team members by providing them interpersonal warmth and concern. Democratic leaders also allow the team to participate in the decision-making process, encourage them to provide suggestions, appreciate their achievements and point out their shortcomings.
Managing communication in the post-bureaucratic era
Leadership engages in building a shared vision and mission and the most important criteria for successful leadership lies in communicating the vision and mission to employees. The creation of an organizational culture based on two-way communication, trust and commitment can be effectively conducted by participative or democratic leaders. Such leaders believe in listening to the opinion of the team members and engage them in the decision-making process.
There have been several academic works linking transformational and charismatic leadership styles with that of effective communication that mainly targets expert skills of content and oration by leaders (Men, 2014). Prior academic research have linked charismatic leadership practices with that of inspirational style of oratory that has significantly impacted followers. Moreover, scholars have further observed that there is a favorable relationship of training imparted by charismatic leaders on the performance and attitudes of the followers (Men, 2014).
The traditional leadership theories examined the trait and behavioral aspects of leadership. However, in the modern era, leadership practices have evolved and has given rise to the practice view or “leadership as a practice”. In other words, this leadership style is also referred to as the democratic style of leadership and entails in effectively engaging in discussion and dialogues as effective modes of communication. Such kind of leadership style is highly useful especially in the conditions of change management. Most employees have a negative perspective towards change, and the refusal to accept change is one of the significant barriers faced by organizations. The democratic leadership style is based on effective discussions and negotiations. It can help in changing the mind-set of employees towards embracing change. Hence, it leads to a smooth transition to the changed processes and policies in a particular firm. Leadership practices in a democratic setting ensure that the basic objectives and requirements of the organization is fulfilled and at the same time effective communication management ensures that employees are empowered to perform their activities and tasks effectively. A perfect balance has to be drawn by leaders to ensure that effective communication helps in attaining objectives and not lead to failure in employee performance (Raelin, 2012).
A democratic leader ensures optimal engagement in effective communication that entails in clear articulation of concepts, tacitly proposing ideas in conversations and evolving conversations into trial, experimentations and finally putting these ideas into practice. An excellent leader is one who effectively communicates ideas and visions and translates the vision into practice. A democratic leader engages in brainstorming sessions, inquiry and dialogue in order to successfully implement clear communication channels. Such a leadership practice also ensures that there is two-way communication wherein team members are encouraged to participate in discussion and dialogue. Two-way communication helps the leader to unearth gaps in communication thereby facilitating the achievement of predetermined objectives and goals of the team (Vie, 2010).
One of the relatively new practices in leadership is that of servant leadership. Coined by Greenleaf, a servant leader is one who sets examples and thus gains followers. A servant leader is extremely humble and believes in listening to the suggestions of followers. One of the main attributes of a servant leader is to try and determine the willingness of a particular group and then help in clarifying their intentions. This quality of a servant leaded helps in effective engagement in listening as a communication skill. A servant leader should display patience and listen to the opinions and will of the teammates prior to engaging in reflective thinking and propose a solution. The wellbeing and growth of a servant leader entail in effective listening as well as engaging in reflective thinking (Spears, 2010). In this kind of leadership practice, reflective thinking and listening are the most important tenets to effective decision making. A servant leader is one who demonstrates ideas and practices for teams to effectively follow them. The portrayal of distinct work processes engages a servant leader to participate effectively in interpersonal communication. This style of leadership is best suited in non-governmental firm, and healthcare facilities wherein the servant leader seek to attain a balance between diverse stakeholders by engaging in effective communication management (Dierendonck, 2011).
Conclusion
Communication is one of the most effective elements of excellent leadership. An efficient leader believes in building clear communication channels and ensures that communication trickles down smoothly from the highest to the lowest level. The establishment of transparent, interpersonal and two-way communication in an organization helps subordinates to be aware of policies and processes that are required to attain the vision of the company. Communication is essential for all stages of organizational management including policy formulation and implementation, change management practices and the transition of an organizational culture and climate which is in sync with the changed organization. In the post-bureaucratic period, organizations focus more of communication in order to achieve their ultimate goals. The two most favored leadership styles are those of servant leadership and bureaucratic leadership. However, charismatic leaders are those who can get the best out of their pupils by inspiring and motivating them through excellent oratory and communication skills.
References
Clegg, S., Kornberger, M. & Pitsis, T. (2012). Managing & organizations: an introduction to theory and practice. London: Sage Publications.
Dierendonck, D. (2011). Servant leadership: a review and synthesis. Journal of Management, 37(4), 1228 – 1261.
Hidayat, S. (2014). Analysis of the emotional intelligence influences, leadership styles, and interpersonal communication on the decision making by principals of state junior high school in South Jakarta, Indonesia. International Journal of Latest Research in Science and Technology, 3(4), 22 – 30.
Josserand, E., Teo, S. & Clegg, S. (2006). From bureaucratic to post-bureaucratic: the difficulties of transition. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 19(1), 54 – 64.
Men, L.R. (2014). Strategic internal communication: transformational leadership, communication channels, and employee satisfaction. Management Communication Quarterly, 28(2), 264 – 284.
Kutsar, V., Ghose, N. & Kutsar, Y. (2014). Leadership analysis using management tools: Steve Jobs. American International Journal of Contemporary Research, 4(2) 125 – 130.
Raelin, J.A. (2011). From leadership-as-practice to leaderful practice, Leadership, 7(2), 195-211.
Raelin, J.A. (2012). Dialogue and deliberation as expressions of democratic leadership in
participatory organizational change, Journal of Organizational Change Management, 25(1), 7 – 23.
Spears, L.C. (2010). Character and Servant Leadership: Ten Characteristics of Effective, Caring Leaders. The Journal of Virtues and Leadership, 1(1), 25 – 30.
Vie, O.E. (2010). Have post-bureaucratic changes occurred in managerial work? European Management Journal, 28(3), 182 – 194.
Feedback
The feedback is with reference to the first and the second assignment that I received on Management. The second assignment included real life practical examples that were not there is the first assignment. Moreover, I also referred to my textbook Managing and Organizations: An Introduction to Theory and Practice by Clegg, Kornberger & Pitsis. However, I have still failed to put in the readings from the assessment guide. I will try to incorporate readings from the assessment guide in other assignments. This time, I found it difficult, as I could relate the real world example with the scholarly journals and then put down points that helped me in defining more about the topic.
I have tried to follow the given guidelines about citations. This time, I ensured that I read and referred to more peer-reviewed articles and scholarly journals other than my text book. Also, I have tried to incorporate correctly the manner in which the citations need to be put along with the page numbers and the topic. In the current assignment, I have tried to summarize as well as analyze all relevant information on leadership in post-bureaucratic era. In this assignment, I have tried to analyze the leadership styles and behaviors in a post-democratic era including the scholarly works written on this topic. I have discussed various leadership styles, especially servant leadership which is a contemporary topic. Another style which is highly relevant is that of transformational leadership It is highly useful in healthcare settings and highly relevant in real life situations. Thus, in this assignment, I have tried to incorporate more academic works, as well as the textbook, explore real world situations and tried to put in proper citations.
