An Example of a Good Leader
Moving a company forward and ensuring its strong position in a target market, is a challenging task due to the necessity to motivate employees and foster loyalty to the firm among them. Apart from providing directions and building plans for the future development of a company, a leader must inspire people. As long as a leader sustains the importance of continuous personal and professional progress, as well as corporate organizational responsibility (CSR) and organizational values and ethics, a firm is likely to experience unceasing growth (Dyer, Gregersen, & Christensen, 2009). Therefore, a leader must become a role model that incorporates key qualities that inspire people and encourage them to improve their skills. In retrospect, there were several leaders whom I would like to view as role models, yet one of them stands out specifically. Mr. M. was a manager in a local law company where I used to work part-time. Even though the firm was not doing especially well due to high competition rates, Mr. M managed to keep the enthusiasm levels among the staff members very high by emphasizing our strengths. It would be wrong to state that he did not pay any attention to our weaknesses, however. Quite the contrary, he viewed gaps in our knowledge and skills as the area for further improvement and, thus, inspired us to become better and more efficient. As a result, every single employee focused on how to deliver even better and more impressive results.
The approach that the specified leader used to address and handle conflicts made him stood out especially clear from the rest of the managers and leaders. Mr. M used critical thinking and problem-solving skills to handle conflicts. Moreover, he viewed interpersonal and professional confrontations that occurred among employees not as roadblocks to the delivery of good services but, instead, as the means of gaining new knowledge and experience. As a result, every problem was handled in a way that did not leave any participant bitter about the outcomes but, instead, encouraged them to gain new skills and inspired them to improve their competencies (Grivas & Puccio, 2012).
Furthermore, how Mr. M exerted his influence contributed extensively to the enhancement of creativity within the workplace. For instance, Mr. M focused on communication as one of the keys to successful management of corporate processes and the delivery of high-quality services. As a result, employees started expressing their ideas about improving and enhancing service provision and delivery services significantly. Even though some of the ideas did not apply to the environment of the organization, every staff member gained an opportunity to become the voice of the organization. As a result, people felt valued and developed a loyalty to the company. Moreover, the focus on communication helped identify a successful idea and voice it immediately after it was produced. As a result, the chances to help staff members fulfill their potential to the fullest and contribute to the evolution of the organization were created. The incorporation of the technique known as “freedom and play” (Grivas & Puccio, 2012, p. 240) served an especially important function in keeping people’s motivation consistently high. The use of a stakeholder analysis should also be listed among the techniques deployed by Mr. M to determine the needs of employees and motivate them accordingly (Grivas & Puccio, 2012).
As a leader, Mr. M exhibited a range of characteristics of a good leader. Among the key traits that made him especially efficient, one should mention the ability to question and the skill of observing (Dyer et al., 2009). For instance, Mr. M always focused on the factors that made people working in the corporate environment of our organization to make specific changes. As a result, it often turned out that, to address a particular conflict, it was necessary not only to meet the immediate needs of employees but also to alter a certain aspect of the firm’s functioning. Furthermore, the propensity toward experimenting could be regarded as the quality that made Mr. M’s leadership style especially efficient. Because of the need to keep up the pace with increasingly high requirements for technological quality, he would often introduce slight changes to the communication system, the information security framework, how data management processes occurred, etc. The specified changes allowed improving the quality of services significantly, yet they did not make staff members adjust to new and disruptive technology immediately. As a result, the threat of resistance to change among the target demographic was handled very intelligently as well (Grivas & Puccio, 2012).
Personal Assessment of Leadership Qualities
Although I have not had a chance to become an influential leader so far, I have always wanted to inspire people and guide them toward personal and professional excellence. Even though I feel that I lack certain qualities that a true leader must possess, I believe that I will be able to develop them. Indeed, recent studies indicate that leaders are not born but, rather, made as a result of continuous personal and professional development (Dyer et al., 2009). Thus, the qualities that I lack at present can be fostered as long as I put enough effort into my professional progress.
Based on the set of leadership characteristics listed by Dyer et al. (2009), I have a rather good chance of becoming an efficient leader since I can network and experiment. The significance of efficient communication between the members of a particular team or organization must not be underrated. As long as all participants are updated on the most recent changes made to the corporate processes and the related elements thereof, chances of delivering high-quality services on the deadline will be increased significantly (Dyer et al., 2009). Also, by emphasizing networking, a leader creates an atmosphere of interdisciplinary communication, knowledge sharing, and open dialogue between a company and its employees. As a result, the levels of trust and corporate integrity will rise steeply. Furthermore, staff members will accept the corporate code of ethics more willingly and are unlikely to resist changes brought to their organization (Grivas & Puccio, 2012).
I must admit, though, that I have to seek ways for cultivating innovative thinking in the context of an organization. I am willing to focus on investing in employees’ development, as well as promoting interdisciplinary communication in the corporate environment. However, it is also necessary to prompt their ability to think outside the box. The process of cultivating new thinking requires keeping an eye on the latest innovations in a selected area, which, in my case, is the law. Given the fact that, unlike in other areas, where corporate practices are guided by similar principles, legal organizations must adjust their corporate processes to the regulations and standards of the state in which they operate, it will be excruciatingly difficult to keep the company’s strategies updated once the organization enters the realm of the global market. That being said, I believe that I will be able to inspire staff members and encourage them to develop new skills and acquire new knowledge regularly by enhancing corporate ethics and treating every staff member with respect (Grivas & Puccio, 2012). I believe that possessing the specified dimensions is imperative for a leader since innovative thinking defines a company’s ability to evolve and design new and improved ways of delivering services to target demographics. Combined with networking, questioning, experimenting, and practice, it will produce a positive effect of huge magnitude, propelling a firm to the top of its target market.
Conclusion
Being a leader is often associated with the ability to manage organizational issues and reaching corporate goals, yet it is also closely linked to keeping employees motivated and enthusiastic about their work, thus, sustaining their loyalty to a company. Therefore, when becoming a leader, one must develop the ability to inspire and motivate people. The specified skill will entail a rapid increase in the levels of staff’s proficiency due to the focus on professional development. Furthermore, by setting a distinctly positive role model for the rest of the company members to follow, a leader reinforces the imp[act of corporate values and ethical standards on the decisions made by employees and managers in the context of a firm. Being a leader implies building a culture of continuous improvement and progress, which is why it is essential to invest both in the enhancement of communication tools and the professional growth of staff members. Nevertheless, keeping the communication process consistent, treating every stakeholder with due respect, and valuing their contribution to a company’s growth must be deemed as the crucial steps toward becoming an efficient leader and making an organization successful.
References
Dyer, J. H., Gregersen, H., & Christensen, C. M. (2009). The innovator’s DNA. Harvard Business Review. Web.
Grivas, C., & Puccio, G. J. (2012). The innovative team: Unleashing creative potential for breakthrough results. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.