Leadership Matrix and Decision Making - Assignment Example

 Leadership Matrix and Decision Making Introduction Leadership, in any form, is about doing the right things rather doing the things right. Leadership is a practice and is about principles. Part of the reason it has become so important in recent years is that the business world has become more competitive and more volatile. Functions may be different, fields may be different; coping with complexity and coping with change shape the characteristic activities of management and leadership. So looking at the nature and complexity in the function, decision making plays a vital role when it comes to leadership. Assessment of leadership through decision making ability is a complex and sensitive activity, which can be done through appropriate questioning and drawing leaders’ view points and plans of action in different scenarios. Following is a set of questions with all possible answers/options that different leaders may choose with respect to areas requiring critical decision making such as delegation of authority, involving group members in decision making process, and focus on driving results. 1. Most of your tasks can be delegated to your subordinates a. Strongly Agree b. Disagree c. Partially Agree 2. Sometimes you should involve your people in decisions which are closely related to their area of work a. Strongly Agree b. Disagree c. Always 3. While monitoring the results obtained from the changes you have executed, you consider both formal and informal results. a. Strongly Agree b. Disagree c. Only Formal results 4. Your decision making process and/or negotiation should focus on creating a win-win situation to all stakeholders a. Strongly Agree b. Disagree c. Does not matter as long as the task is being accomplished 5. Your decision making process considers all potentially strong, persuasive interpretations of the ethical obligations of a given situation. a. Strongly Agree b. Disagree c. Depends upon the situation. Responses Strongly Agree Disagree Others 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 5 x Based on these questions and the matrix, leaders scoring highest on option-a (strongly agree) can be termed as effective decision makers. These leaders possess good people management skills; they motivate people through involvement in decision making process; they create accountability for decisions made. These leaders maintain integrity and set the right example to the group members by doing the right thing. Servant leadership is more of service than of leadership itself. Such leaders are committed to people through their work, and fully accept their responsibility and accountability for their job. These leaders tend to be highly transparent in their views, possess great willingness to learn, and possess high sense of honesty and integrity. These leaders value the differences that may exist and work in collaboration with the group. These leaders work proactively towards their vision. Servant leaders possess the insight and ability to make important decisions, allocate resources and decision making authority by empowering others to act for the betterment of people and the organization. Their focus on relationships helps them gain better understanding of their people, which in turn ensures appropriate empowerment. These leaders are self motivated, and they bring lot of emotions in their surroundings to build a strong team for the organization. Servant leaders believe in inclusive working style, i.e. they involve other members of the group in critical areas of work such as decision making, empowerment, recognition, communication etc. These leaders are often faced with ethical obligations, to which they ensure other members’ opinions are considered before arriving at any specific decision. These leaders closely work with their people and monitor the progress of work and how the decisions are implemented at the ground level. Managers in servant leadership role are often confronted with situations or problems related to specific individuals, but can potentially impact the entire group. In such situations, managers tend to believe that the entire group views a situation from a perspective same as theirs; this kind of thinking will not help in bringing people together to accomplish common goals. Apart from differences such as individuals’ background, culture, education and experience, their leadership styles contribute a great deal to the different perspectives that may arise from a specific dilemma or situation. These situations cause ethical challenges to managers that require managers to establish the right dialogue among the group members in order to understand their view points on the dilemma (Badaracco, 1997; 99). Although many scholars may argue on this approach, its application by different leaders remains a question; for example, an authoritative leader would not believe in taking group members’ opinions in critical decision making whereas a democratic leader would do, and a laissez-faire leader would rest complete decision making authority over the group with no monitoring. In each case, the result obtained would be different. When decisions are made in confluence, it increases ownership towards decisions taken in confluence. This will help the leader to bring people together, and also working towards one common goal with high commitment. It also enhances teamwork and yields promising results (Bagley, 2003). In this interview with the business manager and the principal of the South Dakota School District, Ms CeCe Hass expressed her opinions on how to improve their services to the betterment of children requiring special attention and also explained challenges they faced in terms of ethical issues with finance and resources. The manager’s decision to focus on students that required special attention in order to bring them to the level of other normal students laid emphasis on the importance of service to the society. Due to the financial limitations, satisfying services to these children was a challenge for the manager because important aspects such as teacher training and educational resources were getting omitted due to budget constraints. The manager was well aware of general fund allocation in the spheres of health care, property taxes, utility expenses, transportation etc. Transportation being an expense and inevitable requirement, the manager emphasized on providing this service free to students in order to ensure they regularly attend school. Hence, transportation was given importance which in turn contributed to shortage of funds for providing other required services to the students. Creating a vision can help leaders in shaping norms, providing direction and orientation, defining problems and creating solutions (Awamleh & Gardner, 1999). In terms of educating the members of the group on expectations and delivery, professional training and instructional practice was provided. The manager ensured all information regarding decisions taken at the top level was appropriately cascaded through the right channel to all the group members. The manager also focused on building healthy relationship with agencies that help in inculcating leadership at all levels and groups of staff that work for the organization. The manager’s explanation on handling conflicts with colleagues related to critical decision making indicated a demonstration of inclusive style of leadership that provided opportunities to all members of the group to express their view point and opinions. The manager’s involvement and commitment towards the betterment of education to students requiring special attention demonstrated high integrity and empathy. Conclusion The overall concept of decision making in leadership role, along with the interview with Ms. Hass exemplifies the critical role played by a servant leader; this role can be effective only through involvement, commitment, integrity and empathy. Ethical commitment to the responsibilities as well as decisions taken influence the effectiveness of results achieved. Relationship building in servant leadership role provides ample opportunity to appropriately empower group members, thereby sharing responsibilities and enhancing motivation. References Awamleh, R., & Gardner, W. L. (1999, Fall). Perceptions of leader charisma and effectiveness: The effects of vision content, delivery, and organizational performance. Leadership Quarterly, 10(3), 345-373. Badaracco, J.L. (April, 1997). The Discipline of Building Character. Harvard Business Review on Leadership. U.S.A: Harvard Business School Press, p. 89-113 Bagley, C. E. (2003, February). The ethical leader's decision tree. Harvard Business Review, 81(2), 18-19. Read More