Important Value of a Good Leader

Question: Discuss some of the important values of a good leader. Answer: Leadership is a position of power where one is entrusted with a team, a group of people or a mission to head. Leadership is an art that is learned and self-developed in human character. Its simply the art of bringing people together towards the achievement of a common goal. A manager is an individual who takes control of a group of tasks and always has a number of people who report to them, Leadershipnow.com. (2016). Leadership and management need to be integrated to come up with desirable success. This report discusses some of the important values of a good leader as well as other attributes that would help a leader build their self-confidence despite the field of leadership. It also touches on how one can be a manager and a leader at the same time. Dr. Wong requires emotional intelligence to deal with her emotional reaction towards the task of being the leader in implementing the new innovation at Greater Western Hospital. This is the ability to monitor ones emotions as well as others, to distinguish between the positive and negative impacts of the emotions and also to use the information as a guide for one's actions and thinking. Its simply the complex process that connects emotions and cognition. Emotional awareness, knowledge, regulation and facilitation are the components of emotional intelligence, all necessary in managing one's emotions as well as those of others. Emotional awareness is the ability to recognize one's emotions as well as distinguishing the discrete from the indiscrete expression of emotions by people. According to a leader needs to arm themselves with tactics such as tailoring their pitch. This means familiarizing themselves with the staffs unique abilities and help in shaping them , Kim, W. and Mauborgne, (2003). According to emotional agility focusses on strengths, weaknesses, emotional intelligence, vision establishment, communication, and credibility. This concept will help Dr. Wong in taking up the assigned task by enabling her to express her emotions as well as accurately understand those of others. Emotional facilitation is another component which will be of help to Dr. Wong as it is the ability to assess an issue from all perspectives both positive and negative. This will help her in pointing out the positives of this innovation not just looking at the negatives because she is not for it. Emotional knowledge, the skill of identifying the likely changes of emotions is necessary for Dr. Wong in her self-assessment as a way of pointing out her stand on the idea of innovation. According to Kouzes, B. and Posner, J. (2012), Dr. Wong should understand how to use her influence courageously to foster liking relationship with all the members of the staff, reciprocating positive activities, prov iding a social proof, commitment, and consistency as well as expressing authority. Finally, Dr. Wong requires emotional regulation which entails the ability to control those emotions that are against what one wants to achieve. She should be able to disconnect from any emotions that will distract her as a leader of this innovation. In motivating Dr. Wong to take up the challenge, its important to remind her of her strengths and capabilities as a leader. Reminding her about what she does best as far as leadership is concerned and pointing out her past achievements will assist her in believing in herself, hence trusting her ability in being the driver of the anticipated change says that motivation can be tapped from taking all pieces of advice from all available sources and forming one concrete decision to move forward with. This includes establishing all the challenges that may probably work against her in leadership such as personality based tendencies and the fear of making the first attempts explains the Joharis window which discusses the four windows and tools of self-awareness. They include the open, blind, hidden and unknown windows of our self-perception. Motivation will also come by assuring her of the full support she will be given by the administration in implementing the innovation. Cultural awareness cuts across organizational structure, background culture and traditions built in the organization. The differences in abilities and cultural awareness help promote efficiency in the organization. Its also important that Dr. Wong is made aware of the many advantages that will come along with change, the most important one being the reduced costs of buying new equipment. She should also be reassured about the safety of the innovation and that it poses no danger to both the patients and the staff. Assuring Dr. Wong of the success of this innovation is important to her motivation. It can be done by proving to her that the hospital has all it requires for the success of the innovation starting from finances to the personnel fit for the process. Successful change can only come by if all the staff members of an organization support it. Its, therefore, necessary that Dr. Wong is equipped with skills on how to overcome resistance to change. One way to overcome resistance is through communication. Before taking any steps toward implementing change, its important that Dr. Wong notifies the members of staff about the steps they are intending to take. Communication will ensure the staff members dont feel left out in the change process. Giving the staff members a feeling that they are being involved in the implementation of the new innovation will reduce the chances of their resistance. The other tactic that Dr. Wong should apply is creating a sense of urgency to the members of the organization. In order to overcome resistance, its important that one creates the sense of urgency of the intended change. According to Halvorson. (2015), the staff members should be convinced about why the innovation needs to be implemented with immediate effect. In the case of Dr. Wong, he should explain how implementing the new innovation will reduce the costs and manpower required for the purchase of new machines. The staff also needs to be convinced on how they will directly benefit from the reduced cost of purchasing machines as a way of motivating them to support the change. Its also necessary that Dr. Wong forms a group of influential people who are supporting the change that will help her in the task. These people should be fully committed to the change process respected and powerful to initiate and be drivers at their areas. Selecting trustworthy individuals and those with experience in leading teams reduces the chances of resistance since sometimes acceptance of ideas by people will depend on who comes up with them as well as whether the people one trusts are in support of the idea,(Halvorson. (2015). Dr. Wong should also come up with a vision that is good, clear and moving so as to motivate the staff towards embracing the change process. The vision should clearly communicate the foreseen future if the innovation is implemented, in this case, a situation where the hospital staff is able to safeguard the safety of patients and staff with minimized cost, (Gupta 2008). Making the vision clear enough for the staff members to buy it reduces resistance changes. Its also important for Dr. Wong as the catalyst of the change process acts the vision by clearly showing her commitment towards the course. Dr. Wong should also empower actions by getting rid of barriers amongst the members of staff who are against change. She should be in a position to prove to all the staff members that the implementation of the innovation has all the resources required in place proving that the change is viable reduces opposition,(Gupta 2008). The barriers would include resources in terms of human, financial and information, (Halvorson 2015). She should also invite those who had tried changing earlier so as to boost the hope of the members of the staff. Dr. Wong can invite a member of the Narayan a Health Centre to talk about the viability of her information and build confidence among her staff member. Creating short-term wins is also a means of overcoming resistance. Its about coming up with short term goals and ensuring that they are achieved as a way of motivating the staff to keep up with the good work,(Greco2007).. Bassie (2007) Dr. Wong should focus on finding her voice in self-awareness in terms of personal values. She should seek to understand her behavioral and psychological components which would help her as a leader implement changes among the institutions staff. The implementation process can be divided into small bits and the completion of each of them encourage the staff to put more effort to complete the next stage successfully. Changes are no changes if they dont stick. Therefore, Dr. Wong has a duty, not only to impose change but also to make sure that the changes stick. This would be made evident when the staff is able to run with the vision in one accord. Larry Kramer the former leader at CBS digital media confesses fighting resistance to change by using a time tested method, (Landro 2008). Larry listened to all his colleagues about why they objected change after which he asked to be given a fortnight to come up with answers to their objections. It was only after solving the worries of each of his colleague that was able to implement change effectively. In reference to Landro.(2008 ), Jonathan Becher of SAP overcame resistance to change by coming up with mindsets necessary to manage the change process. One of them is to come up with people who believe in their ability to do something. He also remained focused and optimistic in achieving the change despite the number of times he made mistakes,(Landro, L. 2008). Christine has to believe in herself and her ability in being a leader. Believing in oneself is not a one-day activity but a process that takes time. There are some things that Christine needs to adopt to increase her self-confidence and overcome her past experiences which lower her self-esteem. She needs to look at her past achievements. Instead of focusing on the task ahead that she thinks is too hard for her its important that she also thinks of what she has achieved in the past. This will help her realize her potential and be ready to overcome the challenge. She should also think about the things she is good at. Christine probably has a talent which she has to realize and make use of it in building up her confidence to undertake the task. She should also think of her strengths and take comfort in them. Team building, public speaking and problem-solving skills are some of the strengths that will help her gain confidence in herself. She should also come up with valid goals which are easily attainable. This will help her boost her confidence and believe in her ability to achieve bigger goals. According to Landro. (2008) Getting a hobby is as well important in creating ones self-love as people tend to be good at things they are passionate about. Being passionate about something and then doing it best helps one realize that they can also be good on something else if they put the same amount of passion into it. The hobby can be a game such as baseball or a skill like playing instruments. According to Govindarajan.(2007), one can gain self-confidence by talking to someone about it. This must be someone they trust and who believes in them who will help one point out their capabilities and strengths that will make them feel better about themselves, Ibarra, H. (2015). Close friends, family or workmates can be important in building ones self-confidence. Christine should also keep telling herself that she can instead of holding on the negative attitude in her mind which tells her she cannot, which will help her gain confidence in trying something new and remain focused on achieving the goals. Setting aside some time to visit psychologists and councilors will be of great help to Christine and will help her discover the underlying problem and guide her on how to go about it. A psychologist will talk Christine out of her fears and past experiences she might be holding on to, thus hindering her self-confidence. Now that Christine has developed confidence in herself, she needs to believe in her ability as a leader. To begin with, she should be kind to herself where she takes up the task she should not expect that everything goes as expected immediately. She should not have unrealistic expectations about the outcomes of her leadership, bit rather she should expect some resistance and hitches here and there. Having realistic expectations will assist her to appreciate the small achievements she makes. Christine should not give in to any self-doubts. The fact that she has been selected to lead this change process alone means she is capable and fit for it. It already means that people believes in her and should, therefore, prove them right. As a leader, she should also build confidence in her team by sharing information and encouraging communication which will build up trust, Neck, C. and Houghton, J. (2006). She should also come up with clear objectives and a good plan having involved the staff. She should also focus on achieving early success so as to inspire for more performance by ensuring the right people are assigned the right roles in implementing the innovation. Since every individual has strengths and weaknesses, its important that Christine takes every opportunity to optimize on her strengths and minimize her weaknesses. She should grab every opportunity she has to improve on her weaknesses without letting them affect her confidence. Things she is good at on the other hand should help appreciate herself the more. She should build trust by showing interest and concern to her fellow colleagues, get rid of barriers that may stagnate the success of the organization and also communicate both negative and positive i nformation regularly so as to avoid surprises and to build confidence among the staff. According to Halvorson. (2015), as a leader, she should point out the specific goals and objectives to the staff. This will help her be flexible and confident in handling the unanticipated obstacles which may come on the way. On the same time, taking every emerging opportunity and mobilizing every resource of the organization towards the success of the change. She should also be aware of her responsibilities to keep people connected in achieving the goals so as to avoid getting lost or losing the momentum. So confidence in leadership is gained by coming to terms with the reality that one is going to fail occasionally. Everyone fails once in a while and leaders are not exceptional. Its pointless to have a mindset of succeeding every day, Schueller, S. (2012). However, to reduce these chances, a leader should gather as much information as possible about the tasks they are undertaking. This will give them experience about people that have done it before and this should help them follow their gut and undertake what they feel is right. Demonstrating courage and confidence even when much of it does not exist as well helps in building a leaders confidence. In times of crisis, a leader needs to demonstrate courage in her ability to come up with a solution which assures them and the subordinates confidence. As a leader, she should be aware of her duty to change the organization's culture so as to achieve higher performances. This will be possible by coming up with a clear strategy which will incorporate the staff which will make them feel as part and parcel of the project and hence the staff will acquire a sense of ownership and even work harder. As a leader she should also ensure that everyone is assigned a duty according to their abilities as it will ensure self-confidence and maximize the effectiveness of the workers, at the same time recognizing and giving feedback to the staff so as to energize and encourage them to continue working towards the right direction, Furnham, A. and Crump, J. (2015). Christine should bear in mind that its not her duty to know everything that pertains her role. She should, therefore, be able to utilize the other peoples talents and skills in making her work better explains that this will ensure things are done in a better way and thus, boost her confidenc e. She should also learn to be optimistic in undertaking her activities. Its not unfamiliar to achieve just what one expects from an undertaking. In reference to Ashford, S. and Detert, J. (2015), during the transition period, motivation is an essential element that a leader should work on. Christine should avoid initial activities which can probably lead to failure rather she should encourage short term goals which will be easily achieved that this will lead to institutions motivation, leaders credibility as well as being confident towards the staff members. According to Ashford, S. and Detert, J. (2015), bridging the gap between management and leadership requires diagnostic instruments such as understanding the nature of the difference and the personality type of the staff members. To enable Christine not only be the manager she is but also a leader as well, there are skills she needs to acquire. She has to be an effective listener. To be a leader one has to put into account the complaints and suggestions of the people under them and never should they assume their decisions as final like managers. According to Quinn (2015), leadership and management gaps are caused by lack of knowledge of the skills and lack of practice to enact the skills acquired. She should make everyone appreciate themselves like part of the solution. Of importance, she should model positive behavior worth being copied by her subordinates. Being a leader comes along with leading a life that depicts qualities of a leader. Its important as a leader to let people know that one believes their abilities as it will help them work harder towards the achievement of the set goals. Making people proud of their contribution inspires them to continually improve thus increasing their productivity, Schueller, S. (2012). In conclusion, a leader should be true to their course. They should be ready to find themselves pulled in different directions where they are needed to respond to different situations and people, thus they should work on building confidence to those who look up to them. Leadership requires a recipe that must include characters like self-esteem, self-motivation, self-awareness as well as believing in ones abilities to pursue and achieve success. This has been evident tin all the leaders that embraced change and succeeded. They were self-confident and believed that they were the true instruments of successful change. Leadership and managing change can be overwhelming, however, with self or intrinsic motivation, successful change is inevitable. References Cuddy, A. 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