The present day corporate World has become more competitive for both the hiring teams and the hires. You have confidence in your leadership and managerial skills-experience that you have gained over the past 10 years. You have been revamping your LinkedIn profile to catch the attention of recruiters or prospective employers within your industry. Fortunately, an emerging industry leader notices your skill sets which also match their ideal candidate’s qualifications and headhunts you to take up the role. Your JD requires you to lead all the teams in the organization which are made up of players with diverse backgrounds(6 teams with a total of 90 people).
On your first day of work you notice that the team lacks motivation but for you to achieve the organization’s set targets you need a united and a motivated team. How do you become an effective team leader with active team players?
What is Leadership? We all have our own definition of leadership but most people in the business world define it as; The ability of an individual or a group of
people to motivate, influence, and guide their followers or members of an entity.
This involves formulating a clear vision, setting achievable goals, sound decision making and equiping followers with relevant knowledge and tools necessary to attain the set goals.
Who is a Leader? James Mwangi, Patrick Njoroge, Tom Mboya, Manu Chandaria, Pope Francis…
You mention these names and three key things cross your mind i.e Visionary Decisions, Strategy and Followership. Leaders are found in most aspects of society, be it politics, religion or business. Therefore,
A Leader is one who sees opportunities and rally followers towards a given vision, embodies values and creates an environment within which the vision can be achieved.
Leadership styles you may use in the above scenario are:
Participative or Democratic Leadership-“For-all.”
All views matter
Transformational Leadership-“Keep up”
Create a vision and use inspiration to achieve it. Change agents
Charismatic Leadership-“Hallo effect”
Connect with people on a deep level
Laissez-faire Delegative Leadership-“Just do it”
Gives others the freedom to make decisions
Authoritative or Visionary Leadership-“Follow me.”
Takes full control in goal setting & processes
Coaching Leaadership-“What else can we try?”
Brings the best out of their teams-support, collaborate & guide
Autocratic Leadership-“Do as I say.”
This style employs a top-down approach
Affiliate or Servant Leadership-“People first.”
People > Services > Profits
Bureaucratic Leadership-“Follow the ladder”
Relies on a clear chain of command.
Transactional Leadership-“quid pro quo”
Rewards are used as motivational factors.
By Ambrose Milayi CEO, Polam Holdings Ltd
