Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) is an organization that is situated in Kentucky in the United States of America. The organization begun from a humble setting but with time it has managed to establish many branches in the US and beyond boarders. The success of this organization is owed to the effective leadership manifested in its leaders. This paper will focus on the concepts of leadership that have contributed to the prowess of this organization.
KFC is one of the most outstanding chains of fast food joints. It deals with foods that are made from chicken and other table birds. The organization has many branches that are under the leadership of specific people. The headquarters of this organization are very keen when it comes to selecting branch managers because it is not any one that can be a leader.
Besides, KFC has been able to embrace gender equality in its levels of management. This has enabled the firm to be more diverse in its employee selection. Foti and Hauenstein (2007) explain that most people feel that leadership cannot be acquired through learning because they think that leadership is an inborn quality for some people or gender. To some extent this is true but then it does not mean that those who were not born to be leaders cannot make good leaders.
All that matters while selecting leaders are their qualities because everyone would want to become a leader but then if they do not have the qualities that are required they cannot guide others. According to Tihemore (2003), some people are only interested in leadership because of the material gain that is associated with it, such as good pay and other incentives.
What they forget is that when one becomes a leader it is not enjoyable as people make it sound because a leader bears most responsibilities and in case things go wrong the leader continues to be blamed even after he or she has quit from that position. For instance, President George Bush will continue to be blamed for the recession that took place during his regime and there is nothing he can do to justify himself.
The behavior of a leader is very important because it can influence his/her performance and that of his/her juniors. In the case of KFC the leaders who head the branches and departments are people who exhibit high degree of honesty and loyalty. This is a crucial element to KFC, considering that this organization has a secret recipe that should never be revealed to anyone.
This means that if the recipe was revealed to a leader who is not loyal to this organization, he/she would share it with the competitors which could cause the organization to loose many of its customers. Furthermore, the behavior of a leader should be reflected in his/her juniors because one can never preach water and drink wine. A leader should be the role model of his/her subjects because that is what commands respect towards him/her.
Yukl (2006) argues that a good leader should be brave and stand strong even when things are not working as expected. This implies that when tough decisions have to be made the leader has to stand on his ground even when everybody else thinks that his/her strategy will not succeed in achieving the organization’s mission. By taking a firm stand the juniors will be in a position to believe in him/her.
KFC has food outlets in different locations and this means that each branch faces different challenges hence the leaders of these branches must be dynamic in their thoughts so that they are able to overcome the challenges before them.
If the leaders of teams lose focus during difficult situations the teams will be demoralized and loose confidence because they feel that if the leader is not able to withstand challenges they are not exceptional. This further suggests that the leader should be on the frontline in implementing decisions instead of leading from behind the scenes.
The attitude of a leader also constitutes to effective leadership because it is what makes him/her to the extra mile in doing extra-ordinary things for the sake of the organization. Positive thinking is very crucial to a leader because unless he/she looks at issues from a positive perspective he/she may not commit himself to fulfilling the goal of the organization.
Since the branches of KFC are not located in one central location it is the positive attitude of the leaders in their respective branches that will make them to motivate and encourage their juniors. Positive attitude entails working hard towards perfection as if the organization belongs to you or its success depends on your efforts (Yulk, 2006).
Likewise, leadership skills are very essential in leadership and they involve the ability to communicate effectively with the entire workforce of the organization. At KFC decisions are made at both the headquarters and at the branch level and the effectiveness in implementation rely on the communication abilities of the managers who are in charge of the various outlets. For communication to bear any fruits the leader should establish working relationships with the juniors.
George (2006) states that a reputable leader knows how to present his/her information and therefore a leader must identify the approaches to employ in order to deliver the message. Communication enhances collaboration between the branch managers and their respective staff, thus enhancing leadership attitude.
This is because the manager can not accomplish the tasks assigned to him/her without the assistance of the junior staff and every one else under his/her leadership. For instance, the branch manager of KFC should interact with the cashiers and the cleaners plus the other members of staff so that they can come up with ideas of achieving better results.
Furthermore, being knowledgeable is a desirable quality of a leader. This is because if the person who is supposed to lead the others is not experienced or in other words knowledgeable he/she may not deliver the required results.
Since KFC operates in the fast food industry the persons that are appointed to head its departments and branches should be knowledgeable in this field. For instance, a leader who is knowledgeable in food technology would be best suited in becoming the head cook or pastry chef. Knowledgeable leaders are able to conform to industry standards that are supposed to be adhered by an organization.
In conclusion, a leader should never ignore counsel from juniors because even if they are not educated than him/her they may know a thing or two about an issue. In addition, a leader should be humble while interacting with his/her juniors because that is what will make them respect him/her.
However, a leader should set limits of his/her interactions without having to sound arrogant. Being arrogance will create a communication barrier between the leader and his/her juniors and thus if there are any tasks that requires combined efforts they may not be accomplished because the juniors may use that opportunity to sabotage the efforts of their leader.
References
Foti, R.J., & Hauenstein, N.M.A. (2007). Pattern and Variable Approaches in Leadership Emergence and Effectiveness. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92: 347-355
George, J.M. (2006). Leader Positive Mood and Group Performance: The Case of Customer Service. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 25(9):778-794.
Tihemore, J. (2003). Leadership at all Levels. Canada: Boskwa Publishing.
Yukl, G.A. (2006). Leadership in Organizations. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice-Hall.