In the concept of leadership each person puts his own specific meaning. The approaches to the formation of the qualities of a leader are also different. According to one of the points of view, a person is endowed with leadership qualities by nature, while others are sure that they need to constantly learn and improve, you just need to know how to become a leader. According to existing experience, it can be argued that leadership is based on processes in the company, when each employee will have the opportunity to show their potential as a leader.Leadership is always working on yourself, as well as the desire to pay employees. Especially if it is work in government agencies. Some government agencies define a government pay scale that applies to their positions. Without considering basic criteria, agencies can choose GS pay levels that will make their positions competitive in the broader labour market.
So What are the Principles of Leadership?
Leadership principles as company management standards
In order to show leadership qualities among employees, the company must have proper working conditions. In particular, the introduction of punishments for the manifestation of the initiative of employees is never supposed, the management will be directly responsible for the mistakes made.
Leadership principles are based on the opposite of repressive governance, which is based on punishment. It is unlikely that employees will be able to show the due enthusiasm if they subconsciously prepare for punishment and repressive methods. Modern management should set a condition for itself – to create appropriate conditions for all aspects of the business, especially for personnel, so that employees can get joy and pleasure from their work.
The abuse of power by management is becoming a problem in many modern companies. However, power should be concentrated not in the hands of one person, but in the overall business process. Each business process must be managed by a specific leader with the necessary resources and skills.
Undoubtedly, thanks to a rigid hierarchy of power (with one leader), it is possible to overcome various extreme situations – including in the event of a fire, clear actions are required. But business should not be compared to a fire, here we will have analytical work to develop the necessary decisions with a certain distribution of roles. The work should be carried out not in critical, but in planned and calm conditions without panic. Among other things, project management helps to achieve this result.
Always when a new task of the company appears, a corresponding project and action plan are created. The leader must volunteer to lead this project. It is hardly a good decision if the appointment of a leader is forced. In leadership organizations, orders are not implied at all – everything is based on agreements. For a better understanding of this issue, let us recall the five postulates of each manager on how to become a leader in a company:
- Make people feel grateful;
- Love them first;
- Lead not at the expense of power, but authority;
- Do not assess their shortcomings, but the potential;
- Give employees the opportunity to feel like they belong to something special.
The principle “love them first” is systemic. It is important for managers to understand how they live and what is important for subordinates, how to show concern for them?
Functional units with a project-based approach to organizing the company’s activities do not lose their authority. Of course, it is impossible to immediately dismiss the chief accountant – you will only face a number of serious problems. However, it is important for specialists in this position to perform several other functions – not only specialized tasks, but also become internal consultants. In this case, the general director can also be an internal consultant. To do this, it is necessary to abandon the role of operational management – now cross-functional project teams will be managed. In total, such a restructuring at all levels of the firm will require about 2 years. And it requires constant participation in this process on the part of the leader himself, investing a lot of his energy and time.
Loneliness
The problem with any CEO is loneliness. Since in his huge team he remains alone with a lack of communication with the team. Therefore, we can recommend visiting various clubs dedicated to communicating with people with similar interests. To avoid intelligence and competition, business leaders from various fields of activity may gather here. Conditions are created for communication and exchange of experience in matters of effective and competent management.
Leadership is not just a process-oriented company. The draft of a new, not yet approved standard, is based on the term “visionary leadership” – directed inward, into the company, but without losing important external reference points (including target audience, partners, market trends, etc.).
How to Become a Leader in a Team and a Real Mentor?
Not all CEOs deserve leadership status in the full sense of this definition. Often there are really highly qualified specialists in this position in a particular field. But narrow knowledge alone cannot be enough to effectively manage the entire company. It is important for a true leader to understand the answers to 3 fundamental questions:
- How can you help employees achieve success? It is important for a competent leader to be able to encourage and inspire employees so that they believe in success and go to it. Deputies should have the right to independently make decisions and have sufficient resources. Do not forget to praise them when you achieve the desired result. And managers must adhere to a similar principle in relation to subordinates. Ask them for information about the best people in your team. Team members need to understand the leader’s willingness to help solve problems and complex issues.
- How to motivate top managers of the company? All the information they need to make decisions should be provided to their top managers. When making a decision, each time you need to be guided by numbers – a prerequisite for a leader. The given direction will predetermine the well-being and success of the company and the team. Therefore, weighted decisions are required from the leader. After all, decisions that are not based on numbers are comparable to driving a vehicle without looking at the dashboard.
- What example do I set myself for my employees? It’s not easy to always be visible. You need to do everything on time – coming to work, starting and ending meetings. Always maintain correct and polite communication without raising your tone. We need to publicly praise everyone who deserves it. However, criticizing and scolding publicly is prohibited. It is better to inform the employee about the mistakes made behind closed doors, be sure to emphasize your willingness to help in solving the problem and correcting the situation.
When contacting an employee with an existing problem or initiative, you should always be interested in its reasons. After all, discussing proposals without proper justification becomes just a waste of time. Managers need to communicate to employees – the CEO only considers proposals based on the specific data that must be provided. This approach should become the norm in the company – initiatives and words should always be confirmed. However, it is important to understand that justification is not required to solve particular and simple questions. After all, you always need to adhere to common sense. Small issues should be resolved by employees on their own, without wasting the time of the CEO. To do this, they must have the right to make decisions independently, even if the management does not agree.
Indeed, the CEO will face a lot of difficulties in his work – constantly something needs to be decided, approved, answered questions, counted, etc. Shareholders need profit, the board of directors plans to expand the business, employees are not averse to getting higher salaries. And every employee is sure that the CEO should devote his time to him. It takes time and effort to build a great team that will inspire you to work and achieve your goals. It is important that everyone approaching an initiative provides relevant data. You should set an example for others, treat your employees with respect, being a good leader is not easy, but becoming a leader is much more difficult.
The term “managerial leadership” has become an integral part of the theory and practice of modern management. Leadership qualities have also become an obligatory management feature. Depending on the choice of a soft or hard approach to personnel management issues, on managerial qualities, a choice is made in favour of a certain type.
Principles of Hard and Soft Leadership
A soft approach is based on the coincidence of interests of the employee and the company. This principle is supported by the personnel management system – the search and invitation of “own” employees is carried out. New employees will be characterized not only by the necessary skills, knowledge and experience to solve the assigned tasks, but also by suitable personal qualities, on which a positive atmosphere in the team and the effectiveness of business processes can depend. Thanks to such a management system, it is possible to form and maintain effective feedback, with the active use of the method of delegation of authority.
The main focus is on the quality aspects, including the commitment and satisfaction of the company’s employees. We are faced with the task of creating ideal conditions in order to increase the motivation of the team and create conditions that allow each employee to reveal their potential.
For companies, working with this kind of leadership requires leaders with soft leadership qualities – with support for their employees, incentives, and active coaching and teaching roles in the team. A soft leader maintains a slight distance from his followers, therefore, a constant dialogue has been established, the management hears employees. To maintain his leadership, the leader relies on his authority in a certain subject area, personal qualities (openness, decency, consistency) and the unconditional strength of the personality. However, the main condition is that the leader and the followers have the same values.
A hard approach is based on the mismatch of interests between employees and the company. In this situation, no effort, time and resources will be wasted to find “their” employees – those already accepted into the team will work. Therefore, a system that works with strict leadership principles does not focus on employee satisfaction and commitment, but on measurable performance indicators. This management system aims to provide maximum benefit to the company while keeping costs to a minimum.
Such companies need a leader with the qualities of a tough leader – capable of persuading, influencing, and taking responsibility for their decisions. In this case, “sentiment” is given an insignificant role. With tough leadership, a great distance with employees will remain, power and responsibility are focused on the leader, employees unquestionably follow his instructions. Monologues are now replacing dialogues in the company. To succeed in tough leadership, you need a charismatic leader – who gives his employees an irrational self-confidence. A person should not be so charismatic as the ability to take responsibility and competently control resources.
Becoming an Effective Leader: The Most Important Leadership Qualities.
Most Wanted Leadership Skills
Among the most in-demand leadership competencies today, competencies that relate to the principles of hard leadership, in order to solve no longer strategic, but tactical management tasks, prevail. If we talk about the priorities of managers, then they give preference to leadership competencies that previously did not remain especially in demand by companies – mainly related to soft leadership and strategic management.
Naturally, it is much easier to be a tough leader. However, according to the experience of leading companies, it can be confidently asserted that companies headed by leaders who adhere to the principles of support, trust and development, rather than high responsibility and fear, have great competitive advantages.
