7. Leadership Style

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Section 1:

1.1 Analyze how to learn from past experience of leading individuals and

teams in variety of organizational situations

Researchers have found that learning from past experience has a tremendous impact on the

decision making capability of individuals. Learning from experience develops the circuitry in our

brains and helps us make decisions and carry out proper actions in complex organizational

situations.

Taking decision based on past experiences that are worthwhile plays an imperative role for the

leadership skills of administrative managers. Dr Zoe Kourtzi, lead researcher of the University of

Birmingham, said: "What we have found is that learning from past experience actually rewires our

brains so that we can categorize the things we are looking at, and respond appropriately to them in

any context.

According to the research conducted by Eraut (2000), it is found that most of the learning from past

experiences was informal learning within the workplace itself. This learning process is mainly

acquired from of consultation and collaboration both within and outside of the workgroup and the

characteristics of the work itself.

Newly recruited and less-experienced employees directly learn from their peers, supervisors,

mentors or leaders. Daily work processes and responsibilities such as group participation, working

alongside, tackling challenging tasks, and working with clients also facilitate the learning process of

individuals.


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1.2 Develop active listening skills in order to interpret messages from

others in a variety of situations

Listening can be defined as the capability of interpreting messages accurately. It takes a lot of

attentiveness and willpower to be an active listener. Active listening does not only mean hearing

the words consciously, but also understanding the complete message what is being said. Managers

can develop active listening skills by following ways:

Pay attention: By giving full concentration,trying not to lose focus (i.e. side conversations) or

become distracted (i.e. distracting thoughts, noise) when listening to others (Johnson, 2011),

looking directly to the speaker, maintaining eye contact, observing his or her body language, and

taking important notes if needed.

Acknowledgement: Nodding head, using body language and other signs (i.e. smile or other facial

expressions) to let the speaker know that the messages are being acknowledged.

Provide feedback: Responding with sincerity and openness, stating necessary opinions, asking

questions to clarify certain points, and allowing the speaker to respond back.


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1.3 Communicate, using the context and medium which meet the needs and

expectations of the audience and the organization

Both internal communication process (i.e. communication within the business) and external

communication (i.e. communication outside the business) processes are needed to be carried out

successfully by administrative managers.

Managers use electronic mail, company websites, and company databases for internal

communication. Further, they make face-to-face interactions or oral communication with both

internal and external audiences (i.e. oral or verbal communication with subordinates and colleagues

in typical work environment, dealing directly with customers, etc). Managers also use

memorandum as a tool for internal communication. Staff magazines, notices and posters on staff

notice boards also work as a useful means of internal communications.

For external communication, manager use written letters and advertising materials (i.e. leaflets,

brochures, and posters). They also use oral communication (i.e. phone calls and face-to-face

interactions) as a means of external communication.


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1.4 Demonstrate how to build effective working relationships with peers

and superiors

Some useful suggestions to build effective work relationship with peers and superiors are:

Making a good first impression at introduction Treating peers and superiors with respect and using the golden rule. Giving them proper recognition. Providing adequate support when needed.

Sharing credit for assistance and contribution.

Responding to challenges and showing them a positive and helping attitude in solving criticalproblem.

Building a friendly image to foster good relationship with individuals Demonstrating fairness through a past track of record of being fair. When negotiating with peers and superiors, always try to offer win-win situations. Being open towards constructive discussions Trying to socialize with peers and superiors Being a good listener Always showing respect to their point of views. Appreciating their opinions. Asking for forgiveness if any mistake is made. Not blaming other for personal or organizational failures Keeping commitments


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1.5 Analyze critically stress management techniques appropriate to

realistic leadership situations

Based on different leadership situations, leaders apply different types of stress management

techniques.

Maintain humorous environment:Laughter stimulates the exertion of useful chemicals in human

brain that helps us feel energized. Therefore, being distracted from work by something humorous

can definitely bring a change in employees mindset and thus can reduce stress.

Give systematic breaks: When the employees are severely stressed and pressurized by the work

environment, leaders can plan to give some systematic breaks. It will help employees to feel a

short-term relief from the stress.

Ensure workload balance:To minimize the risk of stress at work environment, leaders need to plan

the workload in a realistic and balanced way. They should also clearly state to the employees about

what sort of performance is expected from them and how the performance will be assessed.

Employee empowerment:Leaders can give the employee a better control over their tasks and

allow them to set smaller objectives (daily or weekly duration) so that they can achieve the goal as

well as meet the deadline in an effective way.

Work environment development: Stress at workplace is often caused by bullying or harassment,

lack of job security, long working hours, office politics and conflicts among employees, etc. leaders

must make t sure that workplace maintains a healthy environment and they should shape the group

behavior in a way that is friendly and focused on productivity.

Commit vacation time and rewards:Organizations often need a large amount of task done within a

quicker time frame. Leaders can convince the employees to take more workload by promising them

vacation or other possible rewards upon successful completion of the tasks.


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1.6 Demonstrate how to build own credibility with individuals and within

teams

To build own credibility with individuals and within teams, leaders must possess following

characteristics: honesty, accountability, loyalty, patient, competence and expertise at the relevant

fields, prompt and precise action making capability, focused to the goals, positive and visionary

aptitude, and above all being respectful to others. They also need to be capable of influencing

other by giving excellent speaking skills, leading through ongoing education, taking risk, and

achieving results that make an impact.

Reference

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (2009, May 15). Past Experience Is

Invaluable For Complex Decision Making, Brain Research Shows. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November

6, 2013, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090513130930.htm

Eraut, M. (2000a), Non-formal learning and tacit knowledge in professional work, British Journal of

Educational Psychology, 70, 113136.

Johnson, S. (2011). 10 tips to get started with peer coaching. Development Crossroads. Retrieved

fromhttp://developmentcrossroads.com/2011/10/10-tips-to-get-started-with-peer-coaching/
http://developmentcrossroads.com/2011/10/10-tips-to-get-started-with-peer-coaching/http://developmentcrossroads.com/2011/10/10-tips-to-get-started-with-peer-coaching/http://developmentcrossroads.com/2011/10/10-tips-to-get-started-with-peer-coaching/


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Section 2

2.1 Provide constructive feedback to individuals and groups

Feedback often conveys directional information to the recipient. It also carries out emotional

weights as well as coercion. Feedback should be given based on the areas that necessitate

improvement. It is a good practice to start with the positive things at first. If the individual is doing it

right, leaders must praise them. It must on contain words that make the employee feel criticized.

Possible improvement alternatives can also be recommended as constructive feedback (Friedman,

2010).

2.2 Design processes for receiving feedback from others

Leaders must define the rules (i.e. written form or letters) for providing feedback. However,

depending on the need of the organizational situations they can also provide and receive verbal

feedback.

Only providing feedback is not enough to complete the feedback process. Leaders must be willing

to listen to the recipients feedbacks too. Moreover, leaders must encourage subordinates to

provide feedbacks. They must grow a willingness and supportive attitude for the workers so that

they approach openness towards receiving constructive criticisms

2.3 Act upon feedback with a positive and receptive attitude

It is the duty of management to inspire the employees to act upon the constructive criticism and

provide constructive feedback back to managers from their end. Managers must approach a

positive and receptive approach for feedback. If they find out an employee is showing reluctance in

receiving or giving proper feedback, they need to help him or her understand the positive impacts

of feedback on the growth of both individuals and organization.


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If the managers find a group of employees not performing up to the standards, rather than acting

upon in a negative way, leaders can emphasize and clearly describe what is actually being expected.

Further, they should consult about the issues with the team members and figure out the reasons

that are working behind the teams lack of performance, and then recommend some key actions to

solve the problem.

2.4 Demonstrate how to delegate tasks and responsibilities

Some steps for successful delegation of responsibilities and tasks are pointed out below:

When handling the specifications of the task, make it as clear and deliberate as possible Select the right individual or group of individuals for delegating the task Assess their ability and training needs. Train them develop their skills if needed. Explain the reasons to the individual or team of why the task has been delegated to them. Discuss the task at hand. Discuss ideas; mutually set goals and objectives Make sure that they understand their responsibilities and are prepared to take the

responsibility.

Clearly state the expected level of output and explain the way their performance will bemeasured.

Examine if all required resources of the task are made available to them Let them know if there is anything of special priorities and how they can deal with that. Set a realistic deadline for the task submission. Provide them with adequate support when they are carrying out the responsibilities or

accomplishing the tasks.

Keep regular communication, follow up and monitor progress Evaluate and then provide feedback on results Recognize and reward them upon successful completion of the task.


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2.5 Demonstrate how to build effective work teams

The most important step of team building is to approach the right leadership style. Then, it is a must

to formulate team building plan, which includes:

Establishing teams values, objectives and goals Setting ground rules for them Developing team skills and empowering members by providing training and learning

facilities

Delegate tasks and responsibilities to the team Being precise and clear when making communications Helping them to clearly understand what they are intended to accomplish Facilitating communication between team members Inspiring them to share ideas and information Making the team members feel that each of them are playing an important role Inspiring brainstorming, idea-generation through team discussion Counting on each members ideas and opinions

2.6 Demonstrate how to build highly performing executive teams

Defining the goals of the executive teams: (i.e. developing strategic and operating plans) Determining who is responsible for what and how the plan is to be executed (i.e. assigning

roles and responsibilities)

Defining how they should interact with each other, who reports to whom, and the way ofinformation circulation (i.e. determining the type of work relationship among members)

Applying managerial concepts to promote efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity Arranging regular meetings and encouraging active participation to develop collaboration,

cooperation and coordination

Finally, developing understanding, integrity, and trust for establishing better teamrelationship


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2.7 Agree and draw up development plans for individuals and teams

Providing learning opportunities at workplace that match to the specific knowledge and skillrequirements of competency standards

Working to develop the workplace environment to make it sure that the learning deliverymethods are suitable to the goals and objectives

Ensuring appropriate coaching and mentoring assistance are provided to help individual andteams achieve competencies

Providing individuals and teams with supportive resources that boost up their learningprocess (Watanabe, 2011)

2.8 Design strategies for developing informal coaching skills

Deciding the characteristics of leadership to foster the development of informal coachingskills

Arranging short or long, one-to-one or within a group, and open-ended conversations Try different approaches, e.g., book review, problem-solving, professional development

strategies, etc. (Walling, n.d.)

During a conversation manager will ask questions and listen to see what team members cancome up with.

Being responsive to the informal learners and evaluating their responses Appreciating contribution and providing feedback

2.9 Design strategies for empowering others

Clearly specify the vision, communicate it in every possible way within the organization, andeducate the employees about organization, its objectives, operational processes,

achievements, and limitations.

To utilize workers personal values, sense of self-determination, self-sufficiency, anddistinctiveness


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To support the employees in recognizing their personal values, emotions, and views to helpthem better recognize their potential

To utilize their distinctiveness not only to benefit the workplace but also to empowerthemselves (Plas, 1996)

References

Friedman, S. (2010). How to cultivate a peer coaching network. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved

fromhttp://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/02/cultivate_your_coaching_networ.html

Watanabe, T. (2011). 10 Peer Coaching Tips in 10 Minutes at ISTE. wwwatanabe. Retrieved from

http://wwwatanabe.blogspot.com/2011/06/10-peer-coaching-tips-in-10-minutes-at.html

Walling, T. (n.d.). The Power of Peer Coaching. Retrieved from

http://leaderbreakthru.com/_mediafiles/10TipsPeerCoaching.pdf

Plas, J.M. (1996). Person-Centered eadership, An American approach to participatory management.

Thousand Oaks: Sage.
http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/02/cultivate_your_coaching_networ.htmlhttp://wwwatanabe.blogspot.com/2011/06/10-peer-coaching-tips-in-10-minutes-at.htmlhttp://leaderbreakthru.com/_mediafiles/10TipsPeerCoaching.pdfhttp://leaderbreakthru.com/_mediafiles/10TipsPeerCoaching.pdfhttp://wwwatanabe.blogspot.com/2011/06/10-peer-coaching-tips-in-10-minutes-at.htmlhttp://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/02/cultivate_your_coaching_networ.html


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Section 3

3.1 Share organisational values, vision and mission with others

Administrative managers must clearly define organizational mission, vision, values and goals. They

must clearly communicate the mission, vision, goals to everyone involved with the business.

Administrative managers have to have a clear understanding about all business processes of the

organizations they are working for. They need to be able to identify the core reasons where the

organization is heading forward to and where it was supposed to be. If the administrative managers

do not have a clear understanding of the values, goals and mission of the organization and they do

not have the ability to make it clear to others who are directly or indirectly involved with the

organization, it would be impossible for others to help the administrative managers to reach to the

destination. They should also interconnect and interlinked the businesss mission, vision, values,

and goals strongly into those of each individual so that in achieving individual goals visions, business

goals visions are also achieved.

After defining and communicating the organizational values, vision and mission properly withothers, managers should deploy more time for each individuals involved with the organization to

make it sure that every single of them has accepted the mission and has built a strong feeling that

the mission also plays an important role for them. It is the also important to help them have a clear

understanding of what sort of contribution is expected from them, how their effort can contribute

to the achievement of missions, and how their performance will measured.

Identifying and communicating organizational values among employees are another major

responsibility of administrative managers. Core organizational values form employees particular set

of attitudes and behaviors when they work within the organizational environment. It also helps

them in prioritizing and ordering things when conflict arises in making decisions based on the

organizational importance.


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3.2 Set goals for individuals and teams in realistic organizational situations

Goals are relatively broader statement, so take much time to reach. Goals are often seen to be

overwhelming if not clearly road-mapped. Administrative managers must be able to set individual

goals in such a way that does not only seem to be a proper reflection of the organizational goals,

but also even more realistic part of organizational goals that are set based on organizational

situations. When setting realistic goals for individuals and teams, managers must make it sure that

they are stated to-the-point, easily measureable, and, of course, attainable in a timely manner. To

be perfectly effective, goals for individuals and teams must be represented in a written form as

written goals not only leave no room for confusion and misunderstanding, but also serve as a

reminder for the employees. Further, managers must be able to quantify the output and examine

the timeliness of goal accomplishments so that they can assess the overall progress if the business

processes in terms of its forwardness to achieving goals.

Researchers found that goals have a better impact on the overall performance of the employees if

they are well-maintained, focused, established based on priorities, and, last but not the least, able

to produce superior job satisfaction. Managers should continuously review and reevaluate the goals

and call for changes as the situations of the organization changes over time. Failure to set different

goals according to the changed organizational situations not only hampers the progress of the

organization but also may crate monotonousness among employees.


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Demonstrate how to resolve conflicts and solve problems in organizational

situations

Varney (1989) opined that conflict is the most occurring problem for most of the groups that are

serving within a big company, even after repeated training sessions on how to solve conflict and

how to diminish the harmful impact on group members. Some common causes of conflict in the

organizational context are- inadequate or unavailability of resources (finance, equipment, facilities,

etc), dissimilar attitudes, values among workers, interpretation and perception, disagreement about

needs, goals, priorities and interests, barriers to communication, poor organizational structure, lack

of group work, lack of precision in describing roles and responsibilities, etc. Conflict can happen for

several reasons and generally falls into three categories: communication factors, structural factorsand personal factors (Varney, 1989). Five effective strategies for dealing with conflicts are: Direct

Approach, Bargaining, Enforcement, Retreat, and De-emphasis. (Nelson, 1995)

Direct Approach:It focuses on the top level managers based on the current conflicting issues. It is a

good practice to face conflicts directly and analyze the situation objectively. Many scholars suggest

not using criticisms. However, if needed, managers must use constructive criticism.

Bargaining: According to most of the scholars, bargaining is the most effective technique for dealing

with conflicts. This is because, in the bargaining technique, both of the parties get an opportunity to

talk about their issues and point of views. This helps the team leaders to clearly identify the

problem and then come up with an idea for conflict resolution.

Enforcement of Team Rules: When all other techniques are applied and proved to be failed in

solving the conflict, enforcement is the final option to go for; however, many scholars suggest that

managers must try their best to avoid using this enforcement method as it can create hard feelings

among employees and management.

Retreat: It helps managers to prevent minor conflicting incidents that might turn into a real

problem. Leaders apply this method by simply avoiding smaller conflicts or working around it so

individuals get enough time to cool off.


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De-emphasis: It is another form of bargaining method where the leaders put an even greater

emphasis on the areas of agreement and guide the conflicting individuals/groups towards a mutual

agreement. When two conflicting individuals find that there are much better scopes for agreement,chances are more they can get themselves out of conflicts.

3.4 Design strategies for improving creativity in organisations

To emphasis on the importance of creativity and innovation in organizations, West & Farr (1990)

commented that The importance of new ideas cannot be overstated. Ideas and their

manifestations as practices and products are the core of social change. The strategies for

improving creativity can be designed as it is discussed below:

Creating a flexible work environment

One simple yet effective way to foster creativity in organization is to develop a flexible, employee

friendly and open work environment that persuades employees to think outside of the box. When I

worked as a part time online researcher in ABC Company, it provided its workers with snacks after

every two hours and 20 minutes time-off after every three hours. Organizations should develop

an environment where the employees do not feel overwhelmed by too much work pressure and are

encouraged to communicate and share their ideas, opinions, and views. They should also be given a

scope for their personal development.

Facilitate networking

Research shows that those organizations are more likely to perform better whose employees have

the opportunity to invest time for their personal growth and development. For example, Google

allows its developers to work on their personal project one full day in a week. Helping employees

by providing them with adequate training and education about new trends and development

processes will result superior proficiency and efficiency. This can also be accomplished by

facilitating the employees to be introduced with other forward thinking professionals who can offer

a different perspective and way of critical thinking.


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Encourage Diversity

In order to avoid groupthink so that different set of creative ideas can be generated from a

homogenized team, it is essential to develop a workplace system where the team members can

embrace diversity. It also helps homogenized teams to utilize the strengths of individual members.

It will also intrinsically motivate the team members to solve critical problems and come up with

more creative ideas.

Provide excitement and fun

Boredom and cold workplace environment are two major reasons that prevent employees from

being creative. Its natural that people tend to concentrate less on things that they dont feel

comfortable with. Developing a playful and fun culture within the organization makes employees

more engaged, motivated, and passionate about their jobs and thus facilitate creativity or idea

generation. For example, Zappos provides its workers with a positive, fun, and zany workplace

environment, which all accelerates employee performance.

3.5 Design processes for diagnosing problems related to performance

Answering some key questions can help diagnose performance related problem:

How the work system is causing individuals or teams to fail? Does the individual or team understand what sorts of outcomes are expected? Does the individual or team have the required competence for accomplishing the task? Is the individual or team practicing effective work management? Has an effective feedback system been established? Are the members of the team deploying their best efforts? If not, what can motivate them? Does the individual or team understand how their contribution fits into the bigger system of

works within the organization?

Does the individual or team know what factors constitute success for the organization? Does the individual or team is properly recognized and rewarded for their performance? Does the individual feel valued and important for the task she is accomplishing?


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3.6 Design strategies for addressing issues which affect performance

In order to prevent issues that affect performance, these steps written below should be taken into

account:

Develop a better work system that support employee performance by fostering botheffectiveness and efficiency

Help individuals understand what sorts of outcomes are expected from them If an individual or a team does not have the required competence for accomplishing the

task, additional training facilities should be provided.

They need to be taught all the techniques of practicing effective work management An effective feedback system needs to be established Proper recognition should be given and reward should be awarded to the deserving

individuals to keep them motivated to perform better.

Reference

Varney, G. H. (1989). Building productive teams: An action guide and resource book. San Francisco,

CA: Josey-Bass, Inc

Nelson, M. (1995). Interpersonal team leadership skills. Hospital Material Management Quarterly,

16 (4), 5363

M.A. West & J.L. Farr (1990). Innovation and creativity at work: Psychological and organizational

strategies. Chichester: Wiley, 3-13.

Documents

7. Leadership Style