Leadership involves two functions. Namely ,selecting the tight path for the subordinates and to follow and to enthuse or influence them to follow that path willingly. Also,practically every functionary in a hierarchically structured organization discharges these functions to a lesser or greater degree within his own sphere of responsibility. This being the situation there should, in fact, be an abundance of leaders all over. What we have in reality, however, is only an abundance of people in leadership positions. In a structured organization like the police, each rank and, position bestow upon the incumbent a commensurate leadership role. The question that arises therefore, is, whether these people discharge their responsibilities as leaders effectively?
Shortage of real leaders
Effectiveness does not depend upon the amount of hard work you put in. You may be very knowledgeable about rules, regulations and procedures and are perhaps personally very efficient in carrying out the assigned tasks. All this would not mean that you are an effective leader too, for as we have seen earlier, your effectiveness as a leader will depend upon your vision, your initiative and your judgement in identifying the right path and then using all the resourcefulness and drive needed to enthuse your subordinates. However, most people otherwise occupied, are busy managing rather than leading. There is, therefore, an agonizing shortage of dynamic and effective leadership, the sort of leadership that sets an organization apart. Today we find that there is no dearth of people who would like to occupy high posts, especially if there is glamour attached to them, but very few are willing to assume significant leadership roles and get the job done effectively.Leaders are not just born, though some people may possess a propensity to lead well; nor can one become an effective leader just because one is given the role. Leadership is a quality, a sterling attribute that needs to be assiduously cultivated and perfected by persistent practice.
Who Becomes an effective leader-Situational approach
Who becomes an effective leader has been the subject of discussion and intensive research for decades now. Various tbeories have been propounded .But without going into the details of these theories and approaches it may suffice to say that that situational approach to leadership is perhaps the nearest to the solution. The situational approach focusses on observed behaviour and not on inherited or acquired abilities. It also acknowledges that there cannot be a fixed or model leadership style that would be effective in all situations. It recoznises that most people can increase their effectiveness as leaders through education, training and development. The common principle that the situational approach underlines is that tbe leader should be able to behave in a flexible manner, diagnose the leadersbip style appropriate to the situation and apply that style provided the group to be led remains tbe same. If tbe followers are different they must be treated differently. Effectiveness of a leader depends on himself, the followers and the situation. If tbe situation or followers or both change, the leadership style must correspondingly change in order to maintain effectiveness.
Successful vs effective leadership
Before we proceed further to consider leadership styles and how they could be adapted, let us consider the all-important phenomenon of effectiveness. The effectiveness of an organization is directly proportional to the degree of attainment of the goals set for it. Since leadership is essentially concerned with influencing the attitude of the followers, not all leadership behaviour is directed only towards the accomplishment of goals, which is essentially a management function. If it were so, then an organization would attain its goals without the leader being effective though he may be successful. There is a difference between successful and effective leadership which needs explaining.
As a leader, suppose you ask (which is an act of influencing) a junior officer serving under you to do a certain job. Your endeavour will be regarded as successful or unsuccessful to the extent that the officer accomplishes the job. Let us presume that he does the job satisfactorily, meaning thereby that you were successful in getting the job done, but does it mean that you were effective too? Not necessarily, because that depends upon certain other circumstances. If the officer is unhappy doing the job but does it, nevertheless, for fear of punishment that you would unhesitatingly mete out to him by virtue of your position of power over him, then one would say that you have been successful but not effective. But on the other hand, if you are able to obtain
a willing response from him because he respects you and you are able to make him realize that accomplishing the job would be consistent with some personal goal of his, you are being effective. In this situation you enjoy not only a position of power but also personal power. This is effective leadership. Success is a product of individual or group behaviour. Effectiveness, in addition, manifests the mental disposition of an individual or group, and therefore, it is attitudinal in nature. If you are interested only in success then the easier course open to you is to accentuate the authority to punish and reward given to you by virtue of your position in the hierarchy, and combine it with close supervision. However, if you wish to be effective you would depend more on your personal power which would entail only general supervision because the subordinates are willing to do
Ineffective officers
The foregoing analysis would explain why some officers are successful in getting work done only when they are present and almost breathing down the necks of the subordinates, but there is sluggishness all over the moment they leave the place. These are successful but ineffective officers whose influence, derived as it is from the power position, is short lived. On the other hand, the influence of the successful and effective officers tends to remain, leading to good results even when they are not present because they were able to acquaire the willing cooperation of the subordinates. You cannot command the mental and emotional attention and physical effort of the subordinates only on the strength of their sense of discipline and fear of punishment. Even the attraction of a handsome reward may not be able to do the trick. As a word of caution, it may be mentioned here that simply because an officer was ineffective in a given situation with a given group of subordinates, it would be improper to infer that he is ineffective as a leader unless one consistently notices the same subordinate response in different situations over a period of time. In some cases, the change of subordinates by transferring the officer to another unit can bring about improvement in his effectiveness.
Shortage of real leaders
Effectiveness does not depend upon the amount of hard work you put in. You may be very knowledgeable about rules, regulations and procedures and are perhaps personally very efficient in carrying out the assigned tasks. All this would not mean that you are an effective leader too, for as we have seen earlier, your effectiveness as a leader will depend upon your vision, your initiative and your judgement in identifying the right path and then using all the resourcefulness and drive needed to enthuse your subordinates. However, most people otherwise occupied, are busy managing rather than leading. There is, therefore, an agonizing shortage of dynamic and effective leadership, the sort of leadership that sets an organization apart. Today we find that there is no dearth of people who would like to occupy high posts, especially if there is glamour attached to them, but very few are willing to assume significant leadership roles and get the job done effectively.Leaders are not just born, though some people may possess a propensity to lead well; nor can one become an effective leader just because one is given the role. Leadership is a quality, a sterling attribute that needs to be assiduously cultivated and perfected by persistent practice.
Who Becomes an effective leader-Situational approach
Who becomes an effective leader has been the subject of discussion and intensive research for decades now. Various tbeories have been propounded .But without going into the details of these theories and approaches it may suffice to say that that situational approach to leadership is perhaps the nearest to the solution. The situational approach focusses on observed behaviour and not on inherited or acquired abilities. It also acknowledges that there cannot be a fixed or model leadership style that would be effective in all situations. It recoznises that most people can increase their effectiveness as leaders through education, training and development. The common principle that the situational approach underlines is that tbe leader should be able to behave in a flexible manner, diagnose the leadersbip style appropriate to the situation and apply that style provided the group to be led remains tbe same. If tbe followers are different they must be treated differently. Effectiveness of a leader depends on himself, the followers and the situation. If tbe situation or followers or both change, the leadership style must correspondingly change in order to maintain effectiveness.
Successful vs effective leadership
Before we proceed further to consider leadership styles and how they could be adapted, let us consider the all-important phenomenon of effectiveness. The effectiveness of an organization is directly proportional to the degree of attainment of the goals set for it. Since leadership is essentially concerned with influencing the attitude of the followers, not all leadership behaviour is directed only towards the accomplishment of goals, which is essentially a management function. If it were so, then an organization would attain its goals without the leader being effective though he may be successful. There is a difference between successful and effective leadership which needs explaining.
As a leader, suppose you ask (which is an act of influencing) a junior officer serving under you to do a certain job. Your endeavour will be regarded as successful or unsuccessful to the extent that the officer accomplishes the job. Let us presume that he does the job satisfactorily, meaning thereby that you were successful in getting the job done, but does it mean that you were effective too? Not necessarily, because that depends upon certain other circumstances. If the officer is unhappy doing the job but does it, nevertheless, for fear of punishment that you would unhesitatingly mete out to him by virtue of your position of power over him, then one would say that you have been successful but not effective. But on the other hand, if you are able to obtain
a willing response from him because he respects you and you are able to make him realize that accomplishing the job would be consistent with some personal goal of his, you are being effective. In this situation you enjoy not only a position of power but also personal power. This is effective leadership. Success is a product of individual or group behaviour. Effectiveness, in addition, manifests the mental disposition of an individual or group, and therefore, it is attitudinal in nature. If you are interested only in success then the easier course open to you is to accentuate the authority to punish and reward given to you by virtue of your position in the hierarchy, and combine it with close supervision. However, if you wish to be effective you would depend more on your personal power which would entail only general supervision because the subordinates are willing to do
Ineffective officers
The foregoing analysis would explain why some officers are successful in getting work done only when they are present and almost breathing down the necks of the subordinates, but there is sluggishness all over the moment they leave the place. These are successful but ineffective officers whose influence, derived as it is from the power position, is short lived. On the other hand, the influence of the successful and effective officers tends to remain, leading to good results even when they are not present because they were able to acquaire the willing cooperation of the subordinates. You cannot command the mental and emotional attention and physical effort of the subordinates only on the strength of their sense of discipline and fear of punishment. Even the attraction of a handsome reward may not be able to do the trick. As a word of caution, it may be mentioned here that simply because an officer was ineffective in a given situation with a given group of subordinates, it would be improper to infer that he is ineffective as a leader unless one consistently notices the same subordinate response in different situations over a period of time. In some cases, the change of subordinates by transferring the officer to another unit can bring about improvement in his effectiveness.
To be continued..
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