Introduction
Leadership refers to the act of influencing people socially in order to accomplish certain goals or objectives. As such, individual enlists the support of others in order to achieve certain premeditated results.
Additionally, leadership can be described as an act of organizing people and using their individual efforts to accomplish certain goals or tasks. Leadership is the most important factor in achievement of organizational success.
A leader may or may not have authority over juniors but his or her services are important in guiding employees. Effcetive and successful leaders possess certain attributes that enable them guide organizations to success.
These include intelligence, vision, knowledge and skills, good behavior, compassion, positive values and ideals, honesty, and trust. One of the most important aspects of leadership is the style of leadership a leader chooses to adopt.
Behavior determines type and effectiveness of leadership style. Leadership styles include authoritarian, democratic, affiliative, and free reign leadership styles.
Democratic leadership
This leadership style is characterized by delegation of responsibilities and focus on teamwork. Leaders who adopt this style value the benefit of delegating leadership responsibilities to juniors. In addition, they encourage teamwork for achievement of better results.
However, they possess authority to make decisions that affect their teams. Democratic leaders involve all members in the decision making process and promote equality among members.
In addition, they encourage open discussions, debates, sharing of ideas and knowledge, and training to empower employees. They recognize need for participation of all members in execution of organizational tasks and achievement of goals.
Members have freedom to make decisions and develop personal plans that fit their goal-achievement strategy. However, there is need for guidance from the leader on effective ways to achieve organizational goals. Democratic leaders are sincere and honest in their actions.
They base their actions and decisions on ethics and reason. As such, they display confidence, which is necessary for employee motivation. Democratic leaders promote innovation and creativity by giving employees freedom to make decisions that affect them and the organization.
Freedom enables employees develop creative strategies and plans of achieving goals and objective. Moreover, democratic leaders are open minded and open to change. They value the importance of embracing change.
Research has found out that democratic leadership results in high productivity, high employee performance, and creativity in an organization. It is a very effective leadership style adopted by many leaders around the world.
Authoritarian
This leadership style focuses on controlling employees by ensuring strict adherence to organizational policies and rules. Authoritarian leaders believe in employee supervision as a way of enhancing performance and productivity.
As such, they monitor employees closely to ensure that they adhere to organizational rules at all times. This style is common in the military where soldiers take orders from their commanders without questioning. Authoritarian leaders are usually critics who rarely value employees’ efforts.
It is an ineffective leadership style because it leads to job dissatisfaction and creates an environment of cynicism at the workplace. As a result, it demoralizes employees and reduces their productivity and performance.
However, research has shown that the style is effective during times of crisis when prompt action is needed. Good leaders rarely use this style because it undermines the importance of employees to an organization.
Authoritarian leaders rarely involve employees in decision-making process and do not give employees freedom to make personal decisions. It is an ineffective leadership style.
Free-reign leadership style
This style involves delegation of roles and tasks to employee. The leader gives employees freedom to make decisions that they deem good for themselves and the organization.
However, if a leader withdraws too much, employees misuse the freedom, which may result in low productivity and inefficiency. Leaders who adopt this style give employees freedom to determine how they work in order to achieve goals.
As such, a leader provides necessary resources to employees and gives them freedom to utilize them as they wish in order to achieve organizational goals. The leader only gives directions or assistance when requested by an employee.
The style is useful when dealing with trustworthy, responsible, highly skilled, knowledgeable, and skilled employees. It is also useful when external professionals are hired to complete certain tasks. However, the style should not be used when dealing with insecure and irresponsible employees.
Affiliative leadership
This leadership style strives to create harmony and unity among employees in an organization. Affiliative leaders encourage teamwork and sharing among employees. In addition, they prioritize needs of employees and ensure that employees are always satisfied.
This style is used when leaders want to improve organizational communication, motivate employees, increase performance and productivity, and rebuild trust.
It is not recommendable to use this style exclusively because poor performance by individual employees might go unnoticed since it lays emphasis on teamwork.
Transformational leadership
This type of leadership focuses on changing the thinking of employees in order to bring change. Transformational leaders challenge and inspire followers to do nonconventional things.
They develop a vision of what they expect to achieve and share it with followers in order to harmonize organizational and employees’ goals. Transformational leaders possess three main traits that define their type of leadership. They are charismatic, visionary, and open-minded.
One strategy used by transformational leaders to inspire followers is to act and behave like role models who employees emulate. They act and behave in ways that motivate employees to adopt similar behaviors and ways of doing things.
They are creative and innovative, and strive to cultivate similar values in their followers.
On the other hand, they encourage followers to develop attitudes that promote accountability and commitment. Many leaders combine aspects of both democratic and transformational leadership styles.
Good work environment
Good leaders are made in effective work environments that enhance performance and productivity.
Characteristics of environments that create good leaders include proper communication, open sharing of information, knowledge, and ideas, trust and honesty, collaboration between employees, and mutual respect.
In addition, good leaders are made in environments that have a clear vision and mission, clear goals and objectives, and fair treatment of all members.
An effective work environment should have committed employees who maintain consistency in achieving goals and objectives. Other qualities of an environment than makes good leaders include fairness, good time management, respect, perseverance, and motivation.
Good employees create good leaders because in such a work environment, leaders are not under pressure or stress from employees.
How women can be good leaders
One way that women can use to become good leaders is through adoption of good leadership styles. Good leaders are characterized by good leadership styles that guide employees in ways that promotes good communication and relationship between management and employees.
For example, women should avoid adopting leadership styles such as authoritarian leadership styles. Instead, they should adopt effective styles such as transformational and democratic leadership styles. Therefore, women should strive to lead and not command.
Second, women should aim for effective communication at the workplace. Good leaders enhance proper communication by offering positive feedback and encouraging unity among employees.
Third, women should overcome common myths that are associated with women leadership. Many people believe that women cannot handle leadership roles that men handle.
In order to become good leaders, women should realize that such myths only serve to degrade and demean their abilities and potential.
Fourth, women should practice more empathy and compassion towards their followers. Women are more emotional than men are. Therefore, they should use their emotional nature to their advantage by connecting with their followers at personal levels.
This is necessary for development of effective relationships between them and their juniors. Good relationships foster trust and honesty in the workplace. Trust and honesty increase productivity and employee performance.
Emiritization in banks
Emiritization refers to an employment policy practiced in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that facilitates employment of UAE citizens in companies and businesses. The policy has improved level of employment of UAE nationals.
Emiritization in banks involves employment of UAE national in banks as accountants and clerks. Before the policy was enacted, banks used to hire people from foreign countries. The Abu Dhabi government encourages institutions to hire UAE nationals by offering subsidies.
Many sectors were employing foreigners because many Emiratis did not possess adequate knowledge to enable them work in those sectors. However, with the government improving levels of education, the situation is changing.
Banks are gradually absorbing UAE nationals into their teams of employees. This has improved leadership in UAE banks by embracing change that has been sought for many years.
In addition, it has increased leadership opportunities for women. Despite the conservative nature of many UAE countries, rising levels of education are exposing women to more opportunities in the corporate world.
Recommendations
Leadership involves development of certain traits that enable future leaders to handle and lead people effectively. These include courage, trust, honesty, intelligence, compassion, and creativity.
These qualities are important for anyone who wishes to become a leader. In addition, developing an attitude of accountability and responsibility is important.
Conclusion
The most interesting aspect of leadership from the interview was style of leadership. The style of leadership adopted by a leader determines the level of success achieved in an organization. Leaders adopt various leadership styles.
They include democratic, authoritarian, transformational, and free reign leadership styles. Each of these leadership styles has qualities that characterize leaders who adopt them. for example, democratic leaders are motivational, inspiring, confident, open minded, and creative.
They involve employees in decision-making processes. In olden days, women were considered inferior to men with regards to leadership. However, the situation has changed and women are taking more leadership positions than before.
Women can become good leaders by adopting effective leadership styles, being flexible, accepting challenges, and facilitating creation of an effective work environment. An effective work environment is necessary for creation of good leaders.
Open communication, a clear vision and mission, trust and honesty between colleagues, and clear goals and objectives characterize such an environment.
Emiritization refers to creation of more job opportunities for UAE nationals. It has increased participation of Emiratis in leadership roles especially in banks. In addition, it has given women opportunity to take leadership roles.