PAPER PRESENTATION ON LEADERSHIP MANAGEMENT SYNDROME: DIAGNOSING THE TRUE REFLECTION IN OUR SOCIETY BY DR. ABAYOMI OJEKUNLE

What is Leadership?

Have you ever wondered what the magic is behind a successful organization? In this lesson, we will uncover the importance of good leadership and the role it plays in the success of an organization. Leadership is the action of leading people in an organization towards achieving goals. Leaders do this by influencing employee behaviors in several ways. A leader sets a clear vision for the organization, motivates employees, guides employees through the work process and builds morale.

Leadership positions can be attained through the followings:

Elective Leadership

Religious Leadership

Corporate Leadership

Traditional Leadership

Leadership Must Possess SMS Orientation:

Setting A Clear Vision: It means influencing employees to understand and accept the future state of the organization. A unit of young soldiers may not believe in a particular mission ordered by their commanding officer. A good leader will influence the soldiers to perform their duties by explaining the vision and the importance of their role in the outcome. The soldiers will be more apt to follow. When guiding followers or employees, it is important to define their roles in the work process and provide them with tools needed to perform and participate in their efforts along the way.

Motivating Followers: It means to find out enough about the needs and wants of employees, giving them what they need and providing praise for a job well done. Being far from home is lonely for a young soldier. A good leader knows this and will communicate with his unit to learn more about their needs and wants. It may be as simple as giving the soldiers a sweet treat for their efforts.

Setbacks Identification: When guiding followers or employees, it is important to identify future occurrences that will affect performances and also hinder productivity. Some military maneuvers are difficult. Often, orders are to perform tasks that involve intricate details, like explaining how to dig a tunnel past enemy lines. A good leader will explain the tasks, provide the digging tools, direct the work and be available to assist the soldiers if they run into a problem.

A Leader’s Role

A Leader’s role in an organization can be formally assigned by his or her position, like manager or departmental  head  and it can also be formally assumed by an employee who possess  a certain charisma that attracts others to follow. 

There is no leader without at least one follower, that’s obvious. Yet the modern leadership industry  is built on the proposition that leaders have a great task to perform  and then make followers to have a buy-in.

Good leadership must be equipped with countless courses, workshops, books, and articles that  are available. Everyone wants to understand leader that are charismatic in nature. Most of the limited research and writing on subordinates has tended to either explain their behavior in the context of leaders’ development rather than followers’ or mistakenly assume that followers are amorphous, all one and the same. As a result, we hardly notice, for example, that some followers who tag along mindlessly are altogether different from those who are deeply devoted.

It’s long overdue for leaders to acknowledge the importance of understanding their followers better. In these next pages, I explore the evolving dynamic between leaders and followers and offer a new typology for determining and appreciating the differences among subordinates. These distinctions have critical implications for how leaders should lead and managers should manage.

A Level Playing Field

Followers can be defined by their behaviors, doing what others wants them to do. But for the purposes of this presentation and to avoid confusing what followers do with who they are. I define followers according to their rank: They are low in the hierarchy and have less power, authority and influence than their superiors. They generally go along to get along, particularly with those in higher positions. In the workplace, they may comply so as not to put money or stature at risk. In the community, they may comply to preserve collective stability and security or simply because it’s the easiest thing to do.

FEEDBACK IN LEADERSHIP

There is such a thing as a healthy feedback culture where leaders and team members are open to and provide continuous feedback to one another in a way that promotes engagement and maximizes performance. Feedback from and for leaders is an integral part in leadership growth and building a strong and productive team. When and how to provide feedback is the gray area that often leaves leaders scratching their heads or attempting to avoid the process altogether. Thankfully, leadership feedback is an area with a good amount of prior studies, thus providing tools to assist leaders in this critically important facet of leadership.

Why focus on feedbacks as Leaders?

“Feedback is the Breakfast of Champions” – is how leadership expert puts it. Feedback on results is one of the biggest motivators for individuals; it keeps people going. Talk about some powerful words! Motivators and drivers of motivation are key to performance. While some individuals will put their best foot forward because it is the right thing to do, many are seeking something in return. It may be a positive performance evaluation while looking for a raise or a simple ‘thank you’.

These benefits are seen secondary to the fact that “feedback” demonstrates that individuals are paying attention and noticing the effort put forth. Feedback demonstrates caring for another individual and appreciating their contributions. Ultimately, feedback (when given appropriately) results in individuals feeling more engaged, appreciated, fulfilled, and healthier overall. Furthermore, a feedback-rich culture is a hallmark sign of a high performing organization.

Types of Feedback and Response:

Simply put, feedback can be viewed through two separate lenses: praise and criticism. Both are extremely important and necessary for improvement and growth. Without praise, individuals can fail to receive the required appreciation and motivation to continue moving forward. Similarly, without criticism, growth and improvement would cease to be seen.

It is important to note that the feedback must be accepted and the recipient must respond if the feedback is to be utilized and be considered effective. An important factor that will determine if the feedback is accepted is the source of the feedback and how well that source is trusted. It can be derived that as trust of a source decreases, the effectiveness of the feedback process decreases. It is also possible for a recipient to accept feedback, but for not change to be seen in performance. The desire to act is related to the perceived importance of the feedback and the anticipated results from a change due to a response.

1.Praise Versus Criticism Feedback:

The balance of positive and negative comments can be essential to producing an effective response from providing feedback. Too much focus only on the positive and sometimes the negative can be overlooked or perceived as unnecessary. Too much focus only on the negative, and the individual may feel undervalued or underappreciated which may result in further lack of productivity desire for improvement.

2.Executive Feedback:

A unique category to consider when discussing feedback is the top executives of a company. While it is often easy to provide praise to the boss (although sometimes this can be viewed as a negative, i.e. to fawn or brown-nose), it can be quite difficult to feel comfortable providing criticism to the individual who is responsible for your employment. Typically, a top executive will achieve their current position through years of highly successful performance. These individuals may not see the benefit or need to change and, in fact, may feel that change will dampen their success. However, in the event that change is necessary and inevitable to continue with success, there needs to be a way to provide feedback in an effective manner. Depending on the type of feedback needed, current barriers in the way of providing necessary feedback, and the available resources (time and money).

What is your leadership style?  I prefer to follow the old adage of “lead by example.” I love to teach and demonstrate to help others grow. My style of leadership is one of high expectations, just as I would expect my “followers” to have high expectations of me. I do not shy away from confrontation, but when necessary, it is done with the utmost respect, and the response I typically receive is of similar respect.

. I have greatly improved my ability to delegate over the years, but I am also not opposed to stepping in when necessary. At the end of the day, I take full responsibility for the situations I control, and while I will “allow” others to learn from their own mistakes.  

TO BE CONTINUED