The Three Basic Functions of Leadership
There is no consensus of view on the functions of leadership. This is due to the fact that description of functions depends on the general concept of leadership. Leadership roles are related to goal accomplishment and to the maintenance and reinforcement of a group. Functions in a given category are instrumental in achieving a given goal or goals of the group (Kekomuller, 2012). The three basic functions of leadership, therefore, are: setting goals, organizing and initiating appropriate actions. In setting goals, a leader is supposed to carry out a creative role of coming up with goals and policies to win over the subordinates to work with enthusiasm and confidence. In organizing, the leadership is expected to establish and mould the organization on scientific lines by assigning duties suitable to individual capabilities with the view to make the various constituents of the organization to work sensitively towards the accomplishment of enterprise goals. Lastly, the leader is expected to initiate action in all matters that are of interest to the organization. The leadership should not solely depend on others when making decisions. It should come up with new ideas and the judgments of the leadership should reflect original thoughts. The three functions call for proper co-ordination in the organization. The leader should therefore be able to reconcile the interests of workers with that of the organization. This helps in ensuring voluntary co-operation in achieving a common objective (Vignettes, 2010).
Sources of Influence
The first source of influence in leadership is personal motivation. Influence from personal motivation can promote behaviour change. This is because the leader wants it for himself and therefore the influence forces him to commit to the idea of transformation. A leader should therefore help workers to adapt to the sustainable behaviour he or she wants. The second source of influence in leadership is personal ability. It is advisable to establish an environment that promotes personal involvement in sustainability. However, a leader should also help workers by equipping them with new skills. Participation in seminars is not effectual if there are no means for practicing what one has acquired (Julio & Garth, 2010).
The third source of influence in leadership is social ability. A large group provides collective answers to questions on general world information, spatial reasoning, and so on. These aggregated answers are usually better than those from individuals in the same group. They are therefore helpful in choosing between alternatives and coming up with new alternatives. They are also useful to a leader when vetting his/her tactics. Social ability promotes collaboration which in turn leads to the development of more solutions than can be achieved by a leader on his/her own. The fourth source of influence in leadership is structural motivation. This includes non-human factors that influence the behaviour of individuals as well as organizations. One may be astounded to know that most of the conventional reward systems like bonuses do not necessarily lead to behaviour change. This is due to the fact that the reward systems mainly concentrate on results rather than behaviour. A good reward system should mean something to employees as human and at the same time insist on the key drivers of personal motivation. That is autonomy, purpose and mastery (Julio & Garth, 2010).
The fifth source of influence is structural ability. Physical environment has a slight but substantial impact on the way people work. Altering things to accomplish the behaviour we want is among the easiest practices to put into practice. Things are considerably easier to transform than people. A leader should therefore use his environment to his advantage. That is, he should make the behaviour he prefers easy and the behaviour he dislikes difficult (Cramer, 2013).
General Styles of Leadership
Laissez- Fair
In this style, a leader is short of direct supervision of workers. The leader also does not provide regular feedback to his subordinates. This form of leadership is usually employed in organizations with highly experienced employees who require little supervision. The problem with this style is that not all employees are experienced. It therefore limits the input of employees requiring supervision (Julio & Garth, 2010).
Autocratic
This style of leadership permits leaders to make decisions without consulting others. The leaders, therefore, have total authority and enforce their will on employees. No person disputes the decisions made by autocratic leaders. This leadership style is beneficial to employees who need close supervision. Experienced employees who flourish in group operations hate this style of leadership (Julio & Garth, 2010).
Participative
This is also termed as democratic style of leadership. This style takes the input of team members into consideration. However, the final decision is made by the overall leader. Participative leadership promotes the morale of employees as they are involved in making decisions. The style is, however, restrained when there is limited time for making decisions (Julio & Garth, 2010).
Transactional
Leaders using this leadership style receive specific tasks to do and avail rewards or punishment to employees on the basis of performance outcome. The leader and the team members lay out predetermined goals and the workers accept to follow the guideline provided by the leader to achieve the set goals (Julio & Garth, 2010).
Transformational
This leadership style relies on extensive communication from leaders to achieve goals. Leaders motivate their workers and improve output and efficiency via communication as well as high visibility. This style needs the participation of leaders to accomplish goals. The leaders concentrate on the main tasks and delegate small tasks to employees to meet goals (Julio & Garth, 2010).
Environmental Factors That Constrain a Police Leader
Environmental factors that constrain a police leader include but not limited to organizational direction and the strength of his workers. For the organizational direction, the leadership style influences the organization culture. The positive or the unconstructive nature, the extent of family ties, communication efficiency and so on, are cultural implications that are brought about by the leadership style being used. Employees’ strength is also an important environmental factor that can constrain a police leader. Motivated, diligent, and skilled employees normally produce good results. A police leader should therefore devise ways to motivate his workers in order to achieve good results (Sosik & Dionne, 2009).
References
Cramer, S. (2013). Leadership. Retrieved from https://www.uwosh.edu/facstaff/cramer/new- folder/Leadership701.pdf
Julio, J. R., & Garth, S.(2010). Leadership styles and incentives. Management Science, 39(11), pp.1299-1381
Kokemuller, N. (2012). What Are Internal & External Environmental Factors That Affect Business? Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/internal-external- environmental-factors-affect-business-69474.html
Njala, (2013). Leadership and management. Retrieved from
http://njala.edu.sl/files/publications/om_10_leadership_management.pdf
Sosik, J.J., & Dionne, D.S.(2009). Leadership Styles and Deming's Behavior Factors. Journal of Business and Psychologym, 11(4), pp.447-462
Vignettes, (2010). Functions of leaders and managers. Retrieved from
http://www.vignettestraining.com/galleries/trainers/download/LD_5s.pdf
