Each of the multiple leadership strategies emphasizes various aspects of planning, goal-setting, organizing, and decision-making, as all of these activities are vital for establishing a highly efficient working process. Companies and organizations of all types rely on leadership as the cornerstone of their success. Leaders are expected to clarify all the tasks for followers, efficiently organize teams, and ensure great overall performance in a way that does not undermine employees’ willingness to contribute.
I work as an Accounts Payable and Payroll Coordinator for the Alabama Department of Mental Health agency. It is hard to undermine the importance of leadership in such an institution, which seeks to promote the health and well-being of Alabamians with mental illnesses, developmental disabilities, and substance use disorders. The core values which the organization manifests are honesty, respect, selflessness, communication, dedication, integrity, and collaboration. Our mission is to serve, empower, and support those in need. Coordination is central to our efficient work, as all the tasks are to be performed according to the original plan since the organization cannot risk the health and comfort of the people we are responsible for. Disruption of a minor chain of our everyday activities can result in a tragedy.
Modern employees should study the company’s activities and realize their efficiencies and inefficiencies. Sharing information has become instrumental in running the organization successfully. Thus, followers are expected to perform their tasks wisely and share their vision of what happens on other levels of the organization’s operations. Moreover, employees often provide the most appropriate solutions to the problems which undermine their performance. Therefore, most companies nowadays tend to shift to servant leadership and numerous strategies that center around the importance of shortening the distance between bosses and employees. Such an approach encourages collaboration and allows for much faster decision-making due to the ease with which information is shared.
Numerous qualities are attributed to a good leader. Wikaningrum and Yuniawan (2018) consider that “leaders must share and respond to information on time, pay attention to others’ points of view, communicate clearly and concisely to all levels of the organization” (p. 138). Delivery styles are also changing rapidly in the 21st century, as clarity and trust are now generally considered to be more important than hierarchy and strict discipline. What is more, employees perform better when they “witness servant leaders seeking to develop the followers to help the followers achieve their full potential” (Davis, 2017, p. 194). Explaining to every worker the importance of his/her work emphasizes responsibility as one of the main motivating factors. Moreover, Millennials, who now constitute a large part of the nation’s workforce, value independence, flexibility, the ability to contribute to the public good and innovate.
Leadership can be further enhanced in our organization by promoting various new ways of interacting. Although most discussions should be held in meetings, numerous other opportunities can help us exchange opinions and promote ideas that may improve productivity. Moreover, our leaders try to find innovative options when it comes to motivating employees. An enthusiastic and caring leader can find a way to encourage his/her colleagues other than a pay rise. What is more, our organization values the skills its employees acquire and appreciates their desire to grow professionally within the organization. Thus, the company tries to promote some of its employees who finish training programs instead of hiring new people for top positions. This practice improves the working climate and creates servant leaders, which are much needed in our organization.
Due to the increasing importance of each employee’s role, leadership in most organizations has already undergone certain changes. Employees’ motivation and desire to make an impact by proposing innovative means of addressing current issues are valued by employers. Motivating and educating subordinates has become instrumental in building teams of high-performers. Therefore, each organization should adopt a more strategic approach that emphasizes the importance of leadership and styles of communication.
References
Davis, C. J. (2017). Servant leadership and followership: Examining the impact on workplace behavior. Springer.
Wikaningrum, T., & Yuniawan, A. (2018). The relationships among leadership styles, communication skills, and employee satisfaction: A study on equal employment opportunity in leadership. Journal of Business and Retail Management Research, 13(1), 138–147.