BUMGT5970 Leadership

Introduction

Personal model of leadership deals with healthy approaches that are utilized by individuals and are mostly initiated by successful businesspersons who desire to become exceptional leaders. The capability that good leaders possess involves influencing others with their personal traits as well as personal leadership model (Doz & Kosonen, 2010). Aptitude to persuade and guide individuals does not only aid to provide the individual outlook about the business however also give insights about existence. The behavior of a leader is not only considered to be imperative but also is regarded as the core value of the leader. According to Mayer, Kuenzi, Greenbaum, Bardes and Salvador (2009), a manager will not be able to tackle the employees if they do not possess positive leadership qualities. In other words, a competent leader has the ability to regulate an organization. The following report aims at analyzing the concept of servant leadership that is considered to eb an important aspect of personal leadership development plan.

Main organizing idea or issue in your leadership model

The personal leadership model deals with the leadership model that involves amalgamation of individuals. The model is used to influence as well as provide direction to both a company and their team members. According to Van Dierendonck (2011), the procedure that deals with the development as well as utilization of positive leadership aspects is termed as personal leadership model.   

Idea/Issues in the Servant Leadership Model

Servant leadership is regarded as one of the most powerful leadership approach that suggests that acting more like a servant will be profitable for an organization. The idea or issue that requires to involved in a servant leadership are as follows:

Vision: It is imperative for a leader to involve an intuitive vision, as they possess distinct criteria to develop their vision. As a result, the leaders are required to include some detachment level from their employees. This will make it easier for them to resolve issues, brainstorm ideas as well as head a business (Spears, 2010).

Motivating: It is required to motivate the employees rather than demotivating them. This will persuade them to create positive results thus increasing productivity. Servant leadership mostly demotivates employees that dissuade them to put extra effort to create quality work.

Relationships: It is imperious for a leader to create a positive relationship with their team associates. They should communicate with the team members in such a way that will help to maintain teamwork as well as respect (Parris & Peachey, 2013).

Important Traits of an effective Leader

The most imperative aspect of an effective leader is to recognize strongest skills or traits of each team member. As a result, they require to be focused that will help to eradicate distractions from the area of work. Another imperative trait is to remain passionate about their work that will help to raise the level of enthusiasm (Schafer, 2010). Sculpting the approach that is required to be possessed by each individual, is one of the most effectual methods to guide the team toward a successful destination. Successful leaders require to have the ability of changing consistent with the circumstances. Empowerment is also regarded as the imperative trait of an effective leader that makes it easier for each individual to trust his or her judgment (Judge, Piccolo & Kosalka, 2009).

Core values of servant leadership and assumptions

According to Jaramillo, Grisaffe, Chonko and Roberts (2009), servant leadership persuades individuals to serve others however, by remaining concentrated to accomplish results in accordance with the value of a company. The core values of a servant leadership will reflect on both external and internal aspects of an individual.

Leadership: Steers other individuals towards a positive result

Decisive: Possess the ability to settle difficult decisions based on what is correct and what is not

Interconnectedness: It deals with group accomplishment with the help of individual effort

Initiative: Becomes familiar with and does what requires to be done before an individual is asked to do it.

The assumptions are follows:

1. Assuming what an individual desire to do properly

2. Assuming the fact that individuals will make mistake

3. Assuming that individuals have the probability to perform well

4. Assuming that it is required to motivate individuals

Position your PML within the content of your workplace or industry

At present, I have been working as a leader in XYZ Pvt. Ltd. where I am responsible for administrating a group of 40 team members. The place where I have been working initiates me to possess servant leadership traits. This in turn has helped me to enjoy particular benefits that are as follows:

1. With the help of this leadership trait, I have been able to provide first priority to the employees. In other words, the requirement of the leaders is first kept in mind that persuades them to give their best in the workplace.

2. The decision-making approach is also persuaded that provides a sense of ownership as well as responsibility.       

3. Shared responsibility is also encouraged that in turn provides an ownership sense among the team members that raises the overall productivity.

The servant leadership model also requires to be improved in some areas. In other words, since the employees are provided with the first priority, it makes them feel that the leader will tackle all the issues. The leaders also lack a widespread sense o vision as they are more attached to the employees.

The advantages of a leadership model

A leadership model makes it easier to motivate and direct employees thus leading towards diversity in the workplace. Although it leads to opposing points, it serves each team associates. This in turn allows for personalized management that is decisive for each team member. This in turn persuades and maintains team cohesiveness (Sendjaya & Pekerti, 2010). It also helps to maintain loyalty in the company as the vision and requirements of the employees are put at the first place.      

Organisational Culture

The leadership in any organization affects the attitude, expectations and the beliefs of the work force. The scenario in case of servant leadership is that the leader would be eager to serve the followers or the subordinates (Liden, Wayne, Liao & Meuser, 2014). In this form of leadership the subordinates are friendly with the leader as unlike traditional leadership there is no scope of bossing. The work performance is enhanced and the subordinates find due motivation in their work. The servant leadership culture helps in the creation of a very friendly environment within an organization (Van Dierendonck, Stam, Boersma, De Windt & Alkema, 2014). The subordinates get due importance and fair treatment based on their performance and productivity. The subordinates feel that they are working for their own organization as they feel a part of the organization and not merely paid employees. The team along with the leader works for the attainment of their organizational goal rather than only doing their own work against their paid salary. The process of decision making to problem resolving, are all taken care of by the leader involving the employees. The employees collectively feel responsible for their work and try to learn from every challenge or problem that they face while working. The leader will find it easier to motivate the employees at the times of crisis because the employees associate well with the organization and feel a part of the family (van Dierendonck & Patterson, 2015). The employees and leader find their personal goals matching with their organizational goals which they try to achieve together.

Achievement through PML

The culture in case of organization which follows servant leadership experiences that the leaders mainly try to use their leadership power or authority to guide the employees in the right direction. The aim of servant leadership is that they try to develop the society and promote the welfare. The society benefits from the servant leadership (van Dierendonck& Patterson,2015). The performance of the organization is made better through the work of the servant leaders and their teams. The power and authority delegation under servant leadership helps in the increase of productivity among employees. The decision making process is more effective in this leadership as the decision is taken collectively by leaders as well as the subordinates. The organizational growth takes places due to the better motivation and performance of the employees who are constantly encouraged for their work by their leaders. The employees feel confident about their own work as they work independently taken much authority at their given job roles. Exchange of knowledge, ideas and experience takes place among the employees. The leaders and employees share trust and positive relationship. The achievement of career goals are enhanced under servant leadership as the employees get due chance to showcase their own talents. Servant leaders promote overall development of the organization.

Difference between Current Leadership Model and Servant Leadership

The type of leadership model which exists in the organization today is that of the path goal theory. However the model of leadership which I have chosen here is servant leadership model. The reasons for selecting the servant leadership model over the path goal leadership model are:

• The employee relationship is much neglected under the path goal model. The main stress here is on the goal of the organization which pressurizes the employees to work till the goal is achieved.
• The servant leadership promotes democracy at work unlike the path goal theory leadership.
• In case of the servant leadership the decision is made by the leader after consulting the employees and so the goals which are set are feasible and achievable by the team along with their leader. In case of path goal theory the leader might choose a goal which is impossible to achieve by the employees. This may lead to organizational failure.
• As in case of the path gal theory the employees are not involved in decision making they find lack of motivation and their performance is also below standard. However in servant leadership the employees exhibit high standard performances.
• A bad leader in path goal theory can lead to the downfall of the entire organization. In servant leadership the leader and his team of subordinates coordinates and collaborate their work and chances of failure are less (Trastek, et.al, 2014).

Therefore, it can be seen that the servant leadership is much better in giving desired organizational outcome than the path goal theory of leadership.

Application of Servant Leadership Model

I am the leader of a leading MNC and according to me the best results of a leadership model is reflected in the outcome and achievement of the organizational goals. For my organization I feel the servant leadership model is apt to apply. The various reasons which made me choose this model are:

• Employee participation

The best part of the servant leadership model is that they help the employees to be a part of the decision making process. In my organization I want all my employees to voice their opinions in case of the organizational decisions. This will motivate them to work better.

• Employee-Leader Relationship

The employees and leader can a positive relationship in this servant leadership model. When I will make my employees trust me and when I will hear their problems they will feel a part of the organization and get more involved in their work.

• Employee Freedom

The employees in my organization will enjoy their independence at work and feel the power of democracy within the organization (Chen, Zhu& Zhou, 2015). They can work freely and take their own decisions and share their views openly.

• Employees made responsible

The employees in my organization will be made responsible for their own work and decisions which they take. With independence comes responsibility which will make my employees serious at their work.

I personally prefer applying servant leadership in my organization for better achievement of goals.

Recommendations

In my MNC, the path goal model of leadership had been applied so far which made the employees over burdened with their work. I feel that in today’s world the subordinates also have their own stand to take and their opinions to voice. Therefore the leadership should be such that the employees get enough opportunities to work freely without much pressure from their leaders. The recognition of their performance and their hard work is important. The employees need to feel trusted and important for the organization (CH Chan &Mak, 2014). When the employees work just for their remuneration they feel lack of motivation to perform better. But in case of servant leadership they get encouraged to show better performance as they are treated better when more productive. If servant leadership is applied better relationships will be built between the leaders and employees and they will also take better collaborated decisions. The organizational culture for work will improve along with better outcome.

Conclusion

There were three leadership models under PML among which I have chosen servant leadership as I realized it major benefits over the other types. The servant leaders encourage their employees to work better. The employees take part in decision making and are ready to face challenging tasks at work in order to perform better. The employees are more productive under this leadership as they not only work for their salary but work for the achievement of their organizational goals which are the same as their personal career goals. Recognition for better performance by the leaders, bestowing trust and responsibility on employees and considering the employees as an important part of the organization’s existence makes the employees more productive. The servant leadership model promotes better and healthy work culture in any organization.

References

CH Chan, S., & Mak, W. M. (2014).The impact of servant leadership and subordinates' organizational tenure on trust in leader and attitudes. Personnel Review, 43(2), 272-287.

Chen, Z., Zhu, J., & Zhou, M. (2015). How does a servant leader fuel the service fire? A multilevel model of servant leadership, individual self identity, group competition climate, and customer service performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100(2), 511.

Doz, Y. L., & Kosonen, M. (2010). Embedding strategic agility: A leadership agenda for accelerating business model renewal. Long Range Planning, 43(2-3), 370-382.

Jaramillo, F., Grisaffe, D. B., Chonko, L. B., & Roberts, J. A. (2009). Examining the impact of servant leadership on salesperson’s turnover intention. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 29(4), 351-365.

Judge, T. A., Piccolo, R. F., & Kosalka, T. (2009). The bright and dark sides of leader traits: A review and theoretical extension of the leader trait paradigm. The Leadership Quarterly, 20(6), 855-875.

Liden, R. C., Wayne, S. J., Liao, C., & Meuser, J. D. (2014). Servant leadership and serving culture: Influence on individual and unit performance. Academy of Management Journal, 57(5), 1434-1452.

Mayer, D. M., Kuenzi, M., Greenbaum, R., Bardes, M., & Salvador, R. B. (2009). How low does ethical leadership flow? Test of a trickle-down model. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 108(1), 1-13.

Parris, D. L., & Peachey, J. W. (2013). A systematic literature review of servant leadership theory in organizational contexts. Journal of Business Ethics, 113(3), 377-393.

Schafer, J. A. (2010). Effective leaders and leadership in policing: traits, assessment, development, and expansion. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 33(4), 644-663.

Sendjaya, S., & Pekerti, A. (2010). Servant leadership as antecedent of trust in organizations. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 31(7), 643-663.

Spears, L. C. (2010). Character and servant leadership: Ten characteristics of effective, caring leaders. The Journal of Virtues & Leadership, 1(1), 25-30.

Trastek, V. F., Hamilton, N. W., & Niles, E. E. (2014, March). Leadership models in health care—a case for servant leadership. In Mayo Clinic Proceedings (Vol. 89, No. 3, pp. 374-381).Elsevier.

Van Dierendonck, D. (2011). Servant leadership: A review and synthesis. Journal of Management, 37(4), 1228-1261.

Van Dierendonck, D., Stam, D., Boersma, P., De Windt, N., & Alkema, J. (2014).Same difference? Exploring the differential mechanisms linking servant leadership and transformational leadership to follower outcomes. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(3), 544-562.

vanDierendonck, D., & Patterson, K. (2015). Compassionate love as a cornerstone of servant leadership: An integration of previous theorizing and research. Journal of Business Ethics, 128(1), 119-131.