General Management

EASTERN AND SOUTHERN AFRICAN MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE

EMBA

GM501: GENERAL MANAGEMENT

TERM PROJECT

CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION:

The world is experiencing an economic revolution unlike any since the dawn of the industrial revolution and good leadership is particularly crucial now. In order to enhance your effectiveness, you need to be able to measure and quantify your leadership style.

1.1 What is leadership?

While there is vast disagreement over what exactly leadership is, but whatever it is, it seems to make a substantial difference to organizations. Leadership is typically offered as a solution for most of the problems we have.

Leadership in organization has a different and more meaningful definition. Leadership is all about taking people to places they would not go alone or on their own. It is defined as the process of influencing people or team members to work towards common objectives, principles and values. A person is said to have an influence on others when they are willing to carry out his/her wishes and accept his/her advice or guidance. Leadership is influencing people to get things done to a standard and quality above their norm and doing it willingly.

1.2 What makes good leadership? The fact is that there are many factors/qualities that contribute to good leadership. Anyone can be a good leader; however some have greater leadership potential than others, many researchers have concluded that individuals can learn and practice certain technical skills that make them good leaders. Good leadership enables people to work together well and realize their potential. Good leadership develops through a never ending process of self study, education, training and experience. Effective communication, empathy, authority, and social skills can be taught and combined with individual personality to make good leadership.

2.0 Several factors that constitute good leadership:

 Motivation

The key to holding the team together is motivation. Motivation can be considered as the amount of effort an individual is willing to put into their work. Therefore, it is important to ensure that any team is highly motivated towards their work. A lack of motivation in any member of a team can have a negative affect, reducing the group's effectiveness and possibly leading to the demotivation of others. The first step in creating an atmosphere that will motivate employees is expressing appreciation. Research shows that people often leave an employer because they have not received the recognition they want or feedback on how they are doing. People want to feel involved in their jobs and important to the success of their companies. Leaders can motivate employees by asking them to set their own job goals and suggest better ways to do things. Good leadership consists of motivating people to their highest level by offering them opportunities not obligations.

 Communication

Good leaders must be able to speak effectively in public and in most cases; they must have good writing skills. Communication is a key to being a good leader. Communications is much more than being a good speaker. Good leaders must have the ability to communicate a vision effectively to others. Lay out organization's goals and principles in a mission statement and keep sharing vision with employees. Effective communication goes up and down the organization. Employees want to hear their leaders' ideas and plans. Effective communication wins organization trust and confidence. Good leaders keep their people informed.

 Having vision:

Is the ability to translate the vision into reality. All good leaders should have the capacity to create a compelling vision, one that takes people to a new place. Good leaders must be very forward thinking and be able to see the organization not only moving forward but already there. Good leaders should know where the business is going.

 Delegation

A good leader utilizes other people's talents to achieve the desired goals. Often this occurs through the delegations of tasks and authority to talented supporters. This requires that a good leader be perceptive in recognizing his/her own talents and limitations and those of his/her supporters. Delegating is a critical skill for good leaders

 Decision making

One of the most important tasks of a good leader is to make decisions. Good leadership requires the decisions to be both sound and practical and it should not be in the monopoly of top management alone.

 Technical proficiency

Good leaders must know their job and have a solid familiarity with their employees' jobs. A good leader should possess a thorough knowledge of the theory and practice of his/her job. Besides he/she should be quite familiar with the jobs done at different work points in his/her department.

 Facilitate change

Good leadership is the mechanism to influence people about the need for change. Dynamic leadership is the foundation stone of organizational change and development. "In a world of change and uncertainty, the business leader becomes a vital element in the very process of change itself". Good leader should know how to plan ahead, find best strategies, decide and implement, agree targets and objectives, monitor and control progress, evaluate performance, carry out appraisal and target-setting interviews.

 Coordination

Leadership helps to unify individual efforts. Leadership is the cohesive force which holds the group intact, the force that transforms chaos into order, the electric current that energizes human action. A good leader fosters mutual understanding and team spirit among his followers. He/She creates a community of interests of the subordinates. He/She resolves internal conflicts by serving as arbitrator and mediator between