Running Head: Leadership A Support Communication and Motivation

Leadership: A Support Communication and Motivation Pranayi Ghorpade BUS600: 1129 Management Communications with Technology Tools Week 6 Dr. Barbara-Leigh Tonelli January 22, 2012

Pranayi Ghorpade Week 6 Assignment: Leadership A Support Communication and Motivation

Introduction Leadership plays one of the vital roles in any organization. Emerging successful organizations are true examples of the strong leadership foundation. The term, leadership has the management scope and their communications has a tremendous effect on the performance of the employees. Eventually, this further gets identified as a strong leadership foundation to manage organization communications effectively. An effective leader is an inspiring person who focuses strategically (Richmond, 2011), analyze problems and honor customer commitments on time. Many people believe that leaders are born to be strong and influential. Good leaders are made, not born. However, anyone can be a strong leader as long as determination, openmindedness, and optimism are learned and developed. If you have the desire and willpower, you can become an effective leader. Good leaders develop through a never ending process of selfstudy, education, training, and experience (Jago, 1982). To inspire your workers into higher levels of teamwork, there are certain things you must be, know, and, do. These do not come naturally, but are acquired through continual work and study. Good leaders are continually working and studying to improve their leadership skills; they are not resting on their laurels. Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. This definition is similar to Northouse's (2007) definition Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal. In most of the organizations, the influence of managers is most clearly seen in the leader role. Formal authority vests them with a great potential power. Leadership determines, in large part, how much power they will realize (ORourke, 2010, p4). Although your position as a manager, supervisor, lead, etc. gives you the authority to accomplish certain tasks and objectives

Pranayi Ghorpade Week 6 Assignment: Leadership A Support Communication and Motivation

in the organization, this power does not make you a leader, it simply makes you the boss. Being a boss is not the same as being a leader. Bosses inherit subordinates. Leaders earn followers. The positive news is that people want to be led. They look for someone who inspires them and who believes in who they are and what they do. Leadership differs in that it makes the followers want to achieve high goals, rather than simply bossing people around. A person who is willing to work hard to accomplish her goals in the face of challenges would, indeed, make a great leader. In his book, Cases in Leadership, Rowe (2007) highlights this concept of assigned leadership by ones position and then displaying emergent leadership by influencing people to do great things.

Problem Statement and Application The success of any project is completely tied up with the leadership decisions. A project cannot be initiated unless the senior management agrees to the business need of the new project, product or, the service. The success criteria are verified, and the influence and objectives of the project stakeholders are reviewed. Mostly clear descriptions of the project objectives are documented including the reasons why a specific project is the best alternative to satisfy the business need. This documentation is thoroughly reviewed by the senior leadership and then a decision is made as to whether the project should be continued, delayed or discontinued. Only when the leadership is satisfied, the budget is approved and the contract is signed. I have been managing project management activities from past 6 years now, I discovered that no matter you keep striving hard to meet your project deadlines, you really need to have Leadership support to meet client expectations and stay ahead of schedule. I have observed a strong connection between the project delivery and the leadership communication. Its a driving factor that helps you take decisions and deliver successful projects.

Pranayi Ghorpade Week 6 Assignment: Leadership A Support Communication and Motivation

Working as a Project Manager, I noticed a considerable difference between a manager and a leader. Leaders do not do everyones work; in fact they delegate and empower others to do their work. If you are like many leaders, you became a leader because you are good at getting things done. You are probably willing to work hard for long hours in the interest of making things happen. Now, your focus has to shift to getting things done through and with other people rather than doing it yourself. This change in focus is a common struggle and a point of frustration for many new leaders. Since you already know how to get things done on your own, you might get frustrated with people who do not get things done as quickly or to the same quality that you could do them. You might feel the pressure to take over a task so that you can just get it done. Rather than coach someone else on how to do it properly. Maybe you hold onto tasks that you enjoy doing rather than giving them to someone else. Or, you might feel stressed by the constant interactions, communications, and work necessary to get things done through others. You might simply feel better when you do it yourself. In such cases, resist the urge to hold onto tasks or to take them away from the people on your team. Instead, focus on developing your skills at connecting with, inspiring, and coaching others. Because we recognize this part of the transition, it can be difficult for many people. An effective leader creates a sense of shared ownership. When you see a leader as part of the team, you feel being identified and team feels supported in their communications due to the leadership support (Eikenberry, 2011). According to the recent survey findings done by Weisman Success Resources (2011), the performance of a strong leader depends on their effective communications with their teams and 70 percent leaders reported their success is directly linked with their employees productivity and on time project delivery. On the other hand, 50 percent of those unsuccessful leaders also found the effective team communication within an organization is a key factor.

Pranayi Ghorpade Week 6 Assignment: Leadership A Support Communication and Motivation

Leadership - Problem Solving Model Performing leadership role is not an easy task and most of the leaders keep struggling to work on increasing their employee performances. To meet this challenge, everyday there are several meetings held and managers, leaders, operation heads are engaged in variety of discussions around this topic to boost employee moral towards work and contribute to their success in the organization. An effective leader may not need this at all. Effective leadership always has a strong vision to be successful and deliver differently without compromising on quality with end to end accurate communications. Susan M. Heathfield (2011), a human resource guide, in her article, Leadership Success Secrets, commented that leaders demoralize their employees when they do not communicate well and do not know what and why are they doing. In my company, each quarter, an employee gathering is addressed by senior leadership. There is global communication sent out for such conference meeting. An executive leader addresses the employee conference for an hour. He ensures and instills the companys vision in the employees such a way that the each employees conscious mind thinks that their performance is linked with the organization growth. Such a leadership communication always permeates the workplace, develops trust and you become open, collaborative, demand excellence and deliver on commitments for the organization growth. Motivation is another key driver for demanding excellence from the employees. When a team leader or a project manager does not have answers to the problems, situations and conflict issues within a team, a leadership encouragement has a halo effect. The example that comes from a strong and focused leadership discussion drive has a positive effect on the motivation of the employees and builds trust between the team and management (ORourke, 2010). While managing a team competently is an important part of leadership, a good leader must also pay

Pranayi Ghorpade Week 6 Assignment: Leadership A Support Communication and Motivation

attention to the individuals within the team. Andolsen (2008), in his paper, The Ingredients of a Good Leader, emphasized leadership motivation is utmost important to keep the team up to speed, ensuring committed deliverables are met and acknowledge both progress and problems judiciously without obstructing the teams effort. True inspiring leaders always develop enough motivation necessary to assist their team and organization through the difficult challenges. According to US Fed News Service, Gen Lorenz (2010) clearly stated, people don't quit their jobs; they quit their bosses and ineffective leadership in the organization. A leader must approach a challenge with an eye toward crafting a solution to meet their organizational needs. A leader must look at each challenge, develop a plan and push for success. As part of their plan, leaders must develop the motivation necessary to assist their organizations through the challenges. After all, a motivated work force can bring a change. I completely agree with the authors statement. People are motivated if they feel they are valued in the organization and this value is demonstrated by the rewards given to them. Most of the employees are motivated by an opportunity to grow, accomplish, and apply their professional skills to meet new challenges. Public recognition of good performance always creates positive reinforcement (PMBOK Guide, 2008). As a manager, a good strategy for me will be to give the team all possible recognition during the tenure of the project rather than after its completion.

Leadership Research on Potential Solutions What makes a person want to follow a leader? People want to be guided by those they respect and who have a clear sense of direction. To gain respect, they must be ethical. A sense of direction is achieved by conveying a strong vision of the future. When a person is deciding if he respects you as a leader, he does not think about your attributes, rather, he observes what you do

Pranayi Ghorpade Week 6 Assignment: Leadership A Support Communication and Motivation

so that he can know who you really are. He uses this observation to tell if you are an honorable and trusted leader or a self-serving person who misuses authority to look good and get promoted. Self-serving leaders are not as effective because their employees only obey them, not follow them. They succeed in many areas because they present a good image to their seniors at the expense of their workers. If you are a leader who can be trusted, then those around you will grow to respect you. To be such a leader, there is a leadership framework solution Be-Know-Do to guide you to come to possible leadership solution. Be a professional who possess good character traits, loyal to organization, takes responsibility and performs selfless service Know yourself, your job, your organization, other people human nature, needs and emotions and the leadership styles for trusted work culture Do implement, supervise, evaluate, motivate, train, coach, and provide direction in terms of goal setting, problem solving, planning and decision making. As per United States Military Army (1983), the above leadership framework solution has been working for them past many years now. Likewise, this concept is modernized with mere change in wordings to meet the global strategy of growing business organizations. Due to the recent developments in the technology of the Internet, the World Wide Web has been made one the most important means of potential communication solution for organizational leaders. The 21st century is known for the advances in technology that we are able to enjoy today. Business Leaders has also taken advantage of what the communication technology can offer by utilizing every means possible to connect with people across the globe. This makes all means of communicating around the world in the 21st century the most innovative in the history of business. Leaders can address their employees at a given time across the world offices for their

Pranayi Ghorpade Week 6 Assignment: Leadership A Support Communication and Motivation

business solutions, organization updates and ensure they keep their workforce aligned with organization vision. The way the companies are expanding their global presence through acquisitions and mergers, there is sheer need to be a multicultural leadership to keep their presence known in the global business environment. Often, such leaders are utilized to communicate potential solutions to their intercultural workforce to meet corporate strategic needs. Daniel Yankelovich (1999) in his article, Magic of Dialogue Executive Excellence stresses the importance of cross cultural leadership communication being only solution to build honest tie-ups with people from different cultures. Research have shown that the solutions coming from the leadership in any organization is all about relationship building, instead of handling business issues concerning strategies, visions and plans (Mercado, 2002). Leadership cannot exist in the absence of dialogue with their teams who agree to be led. Sponsoring ongoing dialogue that invites dissent and disagreement requires skillful confrontation from a leader (ORourke, 2010). When leaders manage communication effectively, their solutions are accepted by the employees, their work relationships get stronger, well informed, and purposeful. Trust levels are higher when both leaders and their teams follow the proven solution in the given organization. This way, they are more engaged and in sync with organization goals and promote ethical work environment.

Leadership Results Decision on a Solution When a problem or situation for decision making solution occurs within an organization, there are typically several alternative social mechanisms available for determining what solution is chosen or decision reached. These alternatives vary in the person or persons participating in the problem-solving and decision-making process, and in the relative amounts of influence that

Pranayi Ghorpade Week 6 Assignment: Leadership A Support Communication and Motivation

each has on the final solution or decision reached. Quite literally, organizations operate by people making decisions (ORourke, 2010). A manager plans, organizes, staffs, leads, and controls her team by executing decisions. The effectiveness and quality of those decisions determine how successful a manager will be. Managers are constantly called upon to make decisions in order to solve problems. Decision making and problem solving are ongoing processes of evaluating situations or problems, considering alternatives, making choices, and following them up with the necessary actions. Sometimes the decision-making process is extremely short, and in other situations, the process can drag on for weeks or even months. The entire decision-making process is dependent upon the right information being available to the right people at the right times. The decision-making process begins when a leader identifies the real problem. One way that a leader can help determines the true problem in a situation is by identifying the problem separately from its symptoms. A successful leader does not just attack symptoms; he works to uncover the factors that cause these symptoms. All leaders want to make the best decisions. Realistically, leaders or managers operate in an environment that normally doesn't provide ideal resources. For example, they may lack the proper budget or may not have the most accurate information or any extra time. So, they must choose the best decision making solution possible with the information, resources, and time available. Time pressures frequently cause a manager to move forward after considering only the first or most obvious answers. However, successful problem solving requires thorough examination of the challenge, and a quick answer may not result in a permanent solution. Effective leaders must be able to approach difficult decisions or situations with the entire continuum at their disposal (Lorenz, 2010). Thus, a manager should think through and

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investigate several alternative solutions to a single problem before making a quick decision. Few of the best known methods for developing alternatives are through brainstorming, nominal group technique, and Delphi technique (PMBOK Guide, 2008). Managers must identify the advantages and disadvantages of each alternative solution before making a final decision. The result of final decision making answer depends on several factors, such as the nature of the task, the abilities of the group members, and the form of interaction. Managers are paid to make decisions, but they are also paid to get results from these decisions. Positive results must follow decisions. Everyone involved with the decision must know his or her role in ensuring a successful outcome. To make certain that employees understand their roles, managers must thoughtfully devise programs, procedures, rules, or policies to help aid them in the problem-solving process. In an interview taken by Pooja Biraia (2010) for the topic, Qualities of Indias Successful People, Chanda Kochor, Managing Director and CEO, ICICI Bank highlights leadership and confidence as her recipe for the success at work. In her own words, she says, If there is a challenge, your shoulder ought to become broader and your back becomes straighter. Confidence is important. Two, you have to be the sponge that absorbs stress. Else, it passes down to the team and they cannot function efficiently.

Leadership Implementation Strategy Getting the workforce to listen to what you say, read what you write, or look at what you show them isnt easy (ORourke, 2010). How, then, one can persuade the workforce to pay attention to your message and cooperating with you is in their best interest? The answer here is to implement a corporate strategy. Implementing corporate strategy requires a team effort headed by your organization's leadership team. Each person involved in change management has their

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responsibilities, and it is important for the entire organization to understand the role of leadership in strategic implementation to make delegating responsibility more effective. Strategic leadership plays an important role in strategy implementation. Strategic leadership is the process of transforming the organization into a successful entity. Strategic leadership inspires and motivates people in the organization to work together to accomplish organizational objectives. Strategic implementation of any kind of new company policy or program requires participation from all of the departments that will be affected. Management needs to create a structure that identifies various group leaders, the responsibilities of those group leaders and an accountability system that insures that the implementation team meets its timetable for getting the new program or policy in place. Implementing change or any new strategy within a company requires a feeling of urgency on the part of the entire company. It is the job of management to create that urgency by explaining to the staff why the implementation is necessary. Leadership needs to help the employees understand how the company benefits from the new implementation, but it also needs to get the organization to see the setbacks of not making a change. One of the most important corporate communications strategies that you should get a full grasp of involves maintaining business operations and concepts to their simplest levels, as far as communicating them to the members of your team is involved. Given that the members of your staff has very different ways of learning the different concepts thrown their way, you should be able to explain relevant concepts so that the least experienced member of the group can understand it. Just make sure that you do not simplify these concepts in such a way that you would be leaving the important aspects out of the equation (ORourke, 2010).

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Organizations often implement or does their corporate strategy change in phases. The company leadership needs to be able to identify when each phase of a strategic implementation is complete and be ready to transition the company to the next phase. For example, if the company is bringing in a new software program for customer management, then the first phase of the program may be to implement it in the sales department. Management needs to identify when the proper alterations to the software have been made that will allow it to be implemented in other parts of the company. A strategic leader knows when to take calculated risks and excels in decision making. Being able to adapt to marketplace changes and take advantage of new opportunities as they present themselves is an earmark of being a strategic leader. Strategic implementation is critical to a companys success, addressing who, where, when, and how of reaching the desired goals and objectives. It focuses on the entire organization. Implementation occurs after environmental scans, thorough analysis, and identifying strategic issues and goals. Implementation involves assigning individuals to tasks and timelines that will help an organization reach its goals.

Leadership Success Measurement Techniques Leadership is the critical factor in the success of any organization. A key question facing organizations today though is how do you measure and assess leadership potential and skills? How do you know if a person is a leader? More specifically, can this leader/manager deliver the goals of the organization? If employees and customers are happy, those are signs that the companys leadership is communicating the vision and the values correctly and is rewarding them appropriately. Leadership capital is not recorded on the balance sheet. Neither is it

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calculated in any other financial performance measurement. The most critical assets of todays organizations are in the minds and imaginations of its people. Managers measure success in terms of goals met, projects managed, dollars saved and made, and people organized. Many managers use leadership of one type or another to accomplish all of these things (Kathleen, 2009). Usually the cycle of information and resource management continues to be compressed from year to quarter to week to hour to minute in all organizations. As managers, it becomes tempting to quickly make the decisions and allocate resources quickly and effectively. Future growing organizations are now demanding a team of senior executives knowledgeable about both individual processes and overall corporate goals. Now, in the 21st century, the challenge facing companies is how to create these strong executive teams and ensure that they operate to the maximum benefit of the organization. Today, organizations have realized that they need to develop their capacity to exercise leadership. Successful organizations dont wait for leadership to come along. They actively seek out people with leadership potential and expose them to career experiences designed to develop potential. It is built out of the investments made in building peoples capacity to lead, investments in peoples lives. Apparently this does not mean, mere providing leadership training to identified potential, but organizations should facilitate this with careful selection, nurturing and encouragement so that dozens of people can play important leadership roles in a business organization. If we really need to measure success criteria for ethical and successful leadership, then organizations need to decide on the leadership style and behaviors which will equal success in their particular field. Leaders need to suit the complexity of the businesses they run as well as being able to adapt to constant flux and change. Bill Gates, for example, is able to assimilate

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huge amounts of complex and often contradictory data and change direction. Mr. Gates was a relatively late convert to the internet, but his personal belief and mission transformed Microsoft to meet the challenge. The most appropriate leadership style will be dependent on the nature of the business as well as its mission and vision. Successful organizations are those who firstly identify where they are, then measure their current range of skills sets and finally identify the profile and traits of the most suitable leaders to achieve the dream. Leadership today is all about transformation, inspiration and having the will to succeed. Success stems from the selection, measurement and development of the right people to make the dream happen in the organization. Alan Chapman (2006) introduced modern model for management and leadership in the 21st century. It's an interpretation of the 'personality' of good ethical modern management and effective leadership. As such it's not a process or technique - it's an attempt to characterize and measure good modern ethical management and successful leadership. Named as P4 (Purpose, People, Planet, Probity) model, which are the four cornerstones of sustainable success in any modern business venture, and a maxim for today's management and organizational philosophy. According to his model, The aim of all good modern organizations is to reconcile the organizational purpose (whether this be profit for shareholders, or cost-effective services delivery, in the case of public services) with the needs and feelings of people (staff, customers, suppliers, local communities, stakeholders, etc) with proper consideration for the planet - the world we live in (in terms of sustainability, environment, wildlife, natural resources, our heritage, 'fair trade', other cultures and societies, etc) and at all times acting with probity encompassing love, integrity, compassion, honesty, and truth. Probity enables the other potentially conflicting aims to be harmonized so that the mix is sustainable, ethical and successful.

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Conclusion In conclusion, I understand wearing a leadership hat is not a ball game at all. Each week, you should spare some time with your team, recognizing them and understanding your team expectations from you. Leadership does not come by birth. It comes through several years of experience, self determination and dedication. I would argue that it is not enough to hope that organizations send their identified employees to leadership training once a year. In order to develop leaders a deliberate approach is needed, becoming a leader is not magic. It is important, leaders should be able to motivate the workforce and this can be done simple as using the right words and tone when a leader addresses them. The strong decision making challenge is simply to study the alternatives and choose the best solution for implementing leadership strategy. As long as you strike the right balance between being friendly and being professional in your corporate communications, you should be able to use your relationship with the team members of your business to boost your over-all productivity and efficiency. Another important aspect of leadership is to propagate organizations vision within their employee strength. Where there is no vision, people lose trust and do not perform at their best. A clear vision describes the organizations future desired state. Take for instance, Microsoft's vision of "A personal computer in every home running Microsoft software. This simple vision, yet very powerful phrase can be used throughout the organization hallways, internal web pages, conference rooms to remind everyone of the vision. In a nutshell, one who works hard to fulfill his goals in this competitive world of challenges would, indeed, make an effective leadership impression on his team and of course, become a true leader in his professional career.

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References American Psychological Association. (2011). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author. Andolsen, A. (2008). The Ingredients of a Good Leader. Information Management Journal, 42(6), 41-42,44-46. Retrieved January 21, 2012, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 1601672811). Biraia, Pooja. (2010). Qualities of Indias Successful People. Retrieved from http://www.medimanage.com/my-health-at-work/articles/8-qualities-of-Indias-successfulpeople.aspx Chapman, Alan. (April, 2006). Ethical Leadership and Management Model. Retrieved from http://www.businessballs.com/ethical_management_leadership.htm Eikenberry, K., & Harris, G. (2011). From bud to boss: Secrets to a successful transition to remarkable leadership John Wiley & Sons (US). Retrieved from http://common.books24x7.com/book/id_43208/book.asp Gen. Lorenz. (2010, April 15). Leadership - Motivation. US Fed News Service, Including US State News, para. 8. Retrieved January 21, 2012, from Research Library. (Document ID: 2011915001). Heathfield, Susan M. (2011). Leadership Vision. Leadership Success Secrets. Retrieved from http://humanresources.about.com/od/leadership/a/leader_vision.htm Jago, A. G. (1982). Leadership: Perspectives in theory and research. Management Science, 28(3), 315-336.

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Kathleen, 2009. Measuring Leadership Success Resources for Organization Development. Friesen Group. Retrieved from http://friesengroup.wordpress.com/2009/08/24/measuringleadership-success/ Northouse, G. (2007). Leadership Theory and Practice. (3rd ed.) Thousand Oaks. London. New Delhe, Sage Publications, Inc. ORourke, James S. (2010). Management Communication: A Case-Analysis Approach (4th ed.). Retrieved from http://vitalsource.com/software/bookshelf/edmap-downloads/ Project Management Insitute, (2008). A Guide To The Project Management Body Of Knowledge. PMBOK Guide. (4th ed.). Richmond, R. (2011). Developing a sustainable leadership communication strategy. Strategic Communication Management, 15(8), 10. Retrieved January 21, 2012, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 2511345961). Rowe, W. G. (2007). Cases in Leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications U.S. Army. (October, 1983). Military Leadership (FM 22-100). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Weisman Success Resources Releases Study: 44% of Business Leaders Unhappy with Employee Performance. (2011, November). Wireless News, para 2. Retrieved January 21, 2012, from ProQuest Computing. (Document ID: 2502061191). Yankelovich, Daniel. (1999). Magic of Dialogue - Executive Excellence, 16(12), 18. Retrieved January 21, 2012, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 47663534).