In any group of two or more persons, the leader (supervisor/manager, etc.) is the influential person who is heading toward a goal and helping a group reach this goal, Fig. 1-3-6. The leader is doing something in relation to others in a work group or in an organization. The nature of that activity varies according to the type of work, the kind of workers in the group, and the nature of the leader. Therefore, leadership is constantly changing due to dynamic, moving, or shifting forces that influence what the leader does and how it is done.
Fig. 1-3-6 A leader must use the talents of everyone in the group to produce a successful end product. (US Armed Forces Training Manual)
WHAT LEADERSHIP IS
Leadership is a combination of persuasion, compulsion, and example that encourages other people to work towards an end enthusiastically, and to the limit of their ability. The manager belongs to one of the world’s scarcest species: the leader. Everyone on the leader’s staff has a practical stake of the most concrete kind in the quality of the leadership. Guiding a group to an understanding of a complex problem and getting its cooperation in working it out, is one of the highest and most rewarding forms of management.
The most important person in relation to the employee is that employee’s supervisor. Supervisor’s have the responsibility to train, motivate, and provide the proper leadership to employees in their department.
Leadership Qualities
Competent supervisors/managers are custodians of the firm’s interests. They have technical qualifications, a broad intellectual outlook, a high sense of honor, and appreciation and understanding of human relationships. They must be clever and superior people, Fig. 1-3-7.
1.Those who have the mental and moral strength required for good leadership have sincere tolerance of other people’s race, color, creed, nationality, and habits.
▪They do not tolerate in themselves such traits as grouchiness, impatience, unpredictable outbursts, arrogance, favoritism, or inconsistency.
2.One of the critical qualifications for leadership is the ability to take substantial risks with reasonable self-control.
▪Managers cannot be submissive, depending upon others to lead them by the hand, or slow, waiting for the whiplash of authority to spur them to action.
3.Supervisors are flexible, examining and re-examining the performance of the department in the light of changing conditions.
▪They understand the essentials, decide what is required and how it will be done, and then see that the workers have a complete understanding of the job.
Fig. 1-3-7 A few of the qualities required for good leadership. (Kelmar Associates)
4.This demands poise, wisdom, agility of mind, courage, energy, determination, and the ability to keep going under frustration and disappointment.
THE ART OF MANAGEMENT
Managers must have constructive imaginations governed by an orderly mind-viewing the possibilities, analyzing the difficulties, and controlling the execution. They are both dreamers to plot a new path and drummers to get the staff marching on it.
Managers must be organizers; good organization is the heart of a successful business operation. It means distributing duties or functions among individual employees in such a way as to operate at high efficiency. It is the manager’s duty to see any difference between a worker’s potential productivity and his/her performance, and to see that the gap is made smaller.
The supervisor who takes an inefficient branch or department and makes it run effectively experiences a big emotional reward. If you accept a position as manager/supervisor, you have accepted responsibility for the successful operation of the branch or department. You have position, prestige, and authority, but also will also be accountable for those under you.
HANDLING PEOPLE
If businesses fail because of poor management, why do managers fail? It is not because of technical ability, but mostly because of lack of skill in working with human beings. The functions of managers are involved with the understanding of the people who work with them. It is at this point that administrative intelligence meets its greatest challenge and earns its greatest rewards.
Four key rules to guide the leader:
▪Treat the employees as human beings.
▪Harness their desires.
▪Teach them how.
▪Criticize constructively
These add up to something big; they show the desire to have all employees reach their greatest potential self-development.
The successful manager has learned to transform power over people into power with people. The challenge is to makes the workers want to do the right thing in the right way for the good of the company. In order for this to be successful, a supervisor must have patience with the inefficiency of those who are trying.
HELP WORKERS TO MAKE GOOD
The attitude toward the staff is the most powerful influence that can be brought into play in controlling their attitude toward you and their jobs. Whenever leaders fail to win the affections of those who are under their command, it can be assured that the fault is mainly in the leader.
1.A great deal can be told about a supervisor by observing those who work in the department.
▪Are they happy in their jobs? Are they ready with a smile? Are they free of job tension? Do they appear to be happy working in this department?
2.Part of the manager’s strategy is giving proper recognition to individual achievements. They praise loudly where others can hear, and blame softly in private.
▪They do not praise without rhyme or reason, or lay it on with a shovel.
3.Keep in mind that all people have hidden abilities. Every so often give workers some job slightly over their head, one at which you know they can succeed with reasonable effort.
4.Be the sort of manager who wants all workers to make good, who helps them make good, and who rejoices when they succeed. The happy worker will be a very productive worker.
5.The manager needs the support of the others in the management group. It is important to avoid intradepartmental jealousies that prevent effective cooperation; talk with other supervisors, not about them.
Give praise and recognition when deserved where others can hear; blame softly in private to avoid humiliation.
SOMETHING ABOUT STATUS
Satisfaction in your work will consist of good supervision directed toward the good of the company and not in having a title.
▪Supervision can be done without showing your authority or developing a superiority complex. Wear the title lightly, but make sure that they know you also have a job to do.
▪How democratic should manager be? They should associate with the workers sometimes, and show courtesy and friendliness, while maintaining the dignity of their position.
▪A good supervisor will allow others to share the limelight, and will delegate responsibility to them.
•Some supervisors make the mistake of thinking that the job will not be done right unless they do it themselves. The failure to assign duties prevents staff from growing.
•Delegation comes easiest to the person who has a strong sense of the end result, sees the objective clearly, and strives to reach it through others while giving a clear lead and firm guidance.
DIALOGUE