Leadership Principles for Effectiveness

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Introduction

Different leaders can shape a company in a plethora of ways. The process of becoming a leader does not imply that all people with authority are going to act in the same way when they are met with a problem or an important decision. The personality of a person can shape him or her into a leader that is unique and successful at the same time. However, while one’s personal characteristics play a significant role in this development, a person should not forget that leadership has its principles and values.

Currently, there are many approaches to being a leader. Antonakis and Day (2017), for instance, outline seven major schools of leadership, which offer a different perspective on the nature of having authority. Such approaches as authentic leadership highlight the necessity of authenticity, integrity, and personal responsibility. On the other hand, shared leadership, while not ignoring the attributes mentioned above, points out such values as communication and group motivation. The entrepreneurial approach places the identity of a leader at the forefront, and servant leadership compares leaders to teachers.

Therefore, it may be hard for one person to pinpoint the primary attributes and values of leadership without voicing some vague ideas taken from various schools of thought. The multitude of philosophies and beliefs may be hard to summarize and efficiently use in one’s practice. However, it is possible to formulate the principles that a person can implement in his or her individual way of leading. These core values should remain universal while being compatible with the leader’s personal skills and capabilities. This paper aims to state and explain four major leadership principles that can become a solid foundation for one’s leadership style, including authenticity, self-motivation, responsibility, and delegation of authority.

The Leader Has to Be Authentic in Order to Create Goals and Objectives that Are Consistent with the Organization and Its Workers

The concept of authenticity is a complex combination of the leader’s personal characteristics and his or her ability for self-improvement. According to Lawton and Páez (2015), authenticity is one of the core components of authentic leadership. The authors explain that an authentic leader is self-aware and in tune with his or her beliefs and values. Moreover, such a person is able to control oneself and be coherent in the implementation of personal views into the structure and processes of a company. Furthermore, one’s authenticity depends on such aspects as transparency and balance.

The former characteristic implies that the leader is not attempting to hide his or her motivations and clearly defines the goals of the company and its principal future considerations. The second trait deals with the ability to make balanced decisions about the leader’s role in the business. It is crucial for a leader to process the information that she or she gathers every day from many sources, and doing so in a balanced manner can improve the outcomes of one’s final decisions.

While the idea of authenticity includes many smaller traits that could be considered obvious or integral to some people, it should not be undermined in its significance. The issue of not being self-aware, for example, can result in various problems for a company and its chief person with authority as well. The inability of a leader to create an environment that corresponds with his or her character and embrace the company’s goals as his or her own may pose a threat to the company’s image and damage the relationship between the employees and the leader. Northouse (2015) notes that leaders who act accordingly to their words can encourage their employees to follow their example and allow them to express their individual strengths as well.

On the other hand, one’s lack of transparency can create a distance between the company’s intentions and its employees’ understanding of them. The characteristics that define authenticity should be evaluated by a person in detail in order to comprehend this principle.

Nature of Motivation

It is necessary to note that all factors that drive the company and its workers forward can be divided into two main categories according to the nature of their motivation (Daft, 2014). The first group of factors relies on fear and constructs a leadership style that does not inspire personal growth, enforcing rules and regulations instead. The second kind is based on love-driven factors, which, while being less authoritative, provide a basis for connection and collaboration. According to this classification, authenticity falls under the second category as it fosters an open environment and strengthens the personal relationships of the company.

However, authenticity as a principle can also make a leader more authoritative as well. While not using fear, this concept utilizes the feeling of respect as one of the drivers for strengthening the position of the leader. Thus, authenticity can foster future growth and place the attention on the leader, highlighting the connection between the company and its employees at the same time.

In Order to Inspire His or Her Employees, the Leader Needs to Be Self-Motivated and Passionate about the Progress and Success of the Project

Passion for Progress

Companies usually need some motivation in order to move forward and continue to increase not only their profits but also their ability to stay relevant to consumers. Here, the leader should become the central driving force behind the company’s development while not enforcing change as part of a particular regime. The need to inspire employees comes from the requirement to keep the business profitable. Thus, many scholars outline passion as one of the main characteristics that can help leaders to influence other workers and provide a viable reason for improvement.

For instance, Burian, Burian, Francis, and Pieffer (2014) include passion and empathy into the list of the primary principles for every successful leader. The authors note that showing one’s passion for the employee or company progress can significantly affect workers and encourage them to continue their efforts.

Self-Motivation

On the other hand, the concept of passion could be interpreted as the motivation of a leader in regards to the business. Burian et al. (2014) state that a passionate leader that is genuinely interested in the company and especially in the completion of its goals and objectives can motivate other teammates to act accordingly. In this situation, self-motivation becomes the main strength of a person as he or she is able to actively participate in the company’s life and contribute his or her own energy before asking others to do the same. In fact, the scope of such motivation can be rather broad as “the leader should be passionate about the business, products or services, people, and the customer” (Burian et al., 2014, p. 8). Thus, one’s ability to motivate him or herself can affect the surrounding persons and result in a group of highly invested individuals.

To evaluate the importance of motivation, one should understand the primary duties of any leader. As DuBois, Hanlon, Koch, Nyatuga, and Kerr (2015) point out, the leader’s role is not only to create or manage the project as a whole but also to guide others on the way to its completion. Therefore, becoming an example of a passionate and engaged worker may help the leader to increase the level of participation from other individuals. In this case, self-motivation and the ability to recognize the passion of other workers create an atmosphere of high productivity with an outlook for the future.

The Leader of a Company Should Recognize that Every Part of the Project Including Its Workers, Processes, Present and Future Goals, and Values Fall Under His or Her Responsibility

Managing a project and all its components is an enormous responsibility. The leader can face the issue of being unable to adequately assess the impact that he or she can have on its development. Thus, one’s recognition of responsibility as an inherent part of being in control should become a principle of effective management. As Daft (2014) notes, leaders can “step up and take responsibility” in order to affect the progress of the company or deal with a pressing issue (p. 181).

This opportunity allows leaders to show the reason behind their authority. However, one’s decision to act in that way should not come out of selfish motives as the person should be able to deal with the consequences of assuming responsibility. The place of authority gives people the power to choose a path for a project and create a plan for the future that other people can follow. Thus, while the success of any project depends on such factors as its participants, the environment, and various circumstances, the role of the leader stays essential to the final outcome.

Every part of the project should receive attention from the leader regardless of its significance. It is the duty of every leader to be knowledgeable about the processes of the organization in order to assess its current and future position. Embracing this obligation can give the leader a chance to examine the state of his or her project and choose the best way to move forward. While some incidents happen out of one’s control, it is vital to remember that the responsibility to mitigate the damage and recover from possible mistakes belongs to the leader. Thus, it is necessary to keep in mind that the leader should first and foremost keep him or herself accountable for the decisions and changes of the project.

Moreover, the success of the communication with one’s employees also becomes a responsibility of a leader. According to Fields, Thompson, and Hawkins (2015), leadership should include one’s personal responsibility for human relationships. The actions of the leader that wants to improve the performance of the employees should rely on this principle.

Social Responsibility

Currently, the concept of responsibility includes many specific duties for leaders. According to Antonakis and Day (2017), while previously the notion of responsibility had a rather narrow meaning, the existing range of circumstances that one should keep in mind when managing a project includes much more details. For instance, one’s social and environmental responsibilities are also vital to the success of any project as moral considerations of contemporary society become more and more apparent. Thus, every leader should establish a clear course of action for the company and be ready to be held accountable for its implementation. This particular part of one’s responsibility deals with the external processes of the company and its interaction with customers and the world in general. Although the significance of internal operations does not decrease, these considerations should not be undermined as well.

The Delegation of Authority and Responsibility Makes Employees More Engaged and the Leader More Respectable

While it is essential for the leader to assume responsibility for the business’ progress and development, he or she cannot base this belief on being the only skilled and capable person on the team. In this case, one should remember the principle of delegation of authority and responsibility. The ability of the leader to assign appropriate tasks to other members of the team and give more responsibility to them may significantly affect the performance of workers and influence their morale. According to Sharma and Kirkman (2015), this principle is a part of empowering leadership, which outlines the improvement of employees as one of the main forces behind companies’ growth. This approach implies that a leader should not be afraid to give more power to employees as it may yield positive results, including not only profit but also better performance and stronger interpersonal relations.

Possible Complications

The ability to delegate authority has a number of complications connected to:

The personality of the leader.
- Low self-confidence.
- Inability to trust others.
- Excessive control.
- Distancing and remoteness.
- Criticalness.
The characteristics of employees.
- Insufficient skills.
- Lack of engagement.
- Low levels of self-organization.
- Lack of ambitions.

It may be hard for some individuals to give more power to other people as some see it as a lack of leadership capabilities. However, scholars conclude that the action of power delegation may show opposite results and bring many positive outcomes (Sharma & Kirkman, 2015). For instance, the ability of workers to have more authority over their actions may encourage them to make more thought-out decisions than they would otherwise. Furthermore, the weight of responsibility can impact the employee’s view of the company and increase their engagement and retention.

Other complications may include one’s uncertainty in the team’s skills. This barrier can be overcome with communication and trust and can further affect the relationship between the teammates as leaders learn to rely on their co-workers and the latter respond with better performance (Dinh et al., 2014). The process of creating a strong team of individuals that have skills and can take responsibility for their actions can be founded on proper authority delegation.

Conclusion

The basic principles described above present a structure of beliefs and values that leaders can develop in order to become more efficient. These principles are:

Authenticity: It is vital to note that the role of the leader in the company should not be limited to the concept of absolute authority. The authenticity of a leader can significantly impact the morale of workers and create a unique image for the business. By being transparent and open, one can encourage others to do the same.
Passion and self-motivation: Successful leaders should be able to inspire their workers and stir the project in the right direction with respect and passion. Self-motivation is as essential to the leader as his or her ability to motivate others.
Responsibility: One’s power to make decisions should be accompanied by moral and societal obligations.
Delegation: The ability to empower one’s workers and give them more authority to perform tasks for the project can yield excellent results. Workers who feel that they are respected and skilled enough to be in a position with responsibilities are encouraged to continuously improve and grow professionally and personally.

References

Antonakis, J., & Day, D. V. (Eds.). (2017). The nature of leadership (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Burian, P. E., Burian, P. S., Francis, R., & Pieffer, M. A. (2014). Principles driven leadership: Thoughts, observations and conceptual model. International Journal of Management & Information Systems, 18(1), 1-10.

Daft, R. L. (2014). The leadership experience (6th ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.

Dinh, J. E., Lord, R. G., Gardner, W. L., Meuser, J. D., Liden, R. C., & Hu, J. (2014). Leadership theory and research in the new millennium: Current theoretical trends and changing perspectives. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(1), 36-62.

DuBois, M., Hanlon, J., Koch, J., Nyatuga, B., & Kerr, N. (2015). Leadership styles of effective project managers: Techniques and traits to lead high performance teams. Journal of Economic Development, Management, IT, Finance, and Marketing, 7(1), 30-46.

Fields, J. W., Thompson, K. C., & Hawkins, J. R. (2015). Servant leadership: Teaching the helping professional. Journal of Leadership Education, 14(4), 92-105.

Lawton, A., & Páez, I. (2015). Developing a framework for ethical leadership. Journal of Business Ethics, 130(3), 639-649.

Northouse, P. G. (2015). Leadership: Theory and practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Sharma, P. N., & Kirkman, B. L. (2015). Leveraging leaders: A literature review and future lines of inquiry for empowering leadership research. Group & Organization Management, 40(2), 193-237.

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