“Course of a ship in the sea” is one of the definitions that has been given to “land,” an old word from the northern region that gives rise to the term “lead.” And if that meaning is taken to the business world today, the sea is exceptionally rough, unpredictable, and constantly changing. For this reason, the captain’s role and his skills are becoming more relevant today so that companies can come to fruition.
Within a world revolutionized by technology advancing by leaps and bounds, the importance of leadership is fundamental, especially in micro, small and medium-sized companies, especially when compared to stable situations and predictable market dynamics. Currently, the demands of the clients, the pace of production, and the tastes of consumers vary from one week to the next, so within the organizations, there must be malleability to face this context.
In this sense, the role of the leader is not only important when guiding the company, but he must also direct his efforts towards another aspect of leadership: influencing his collaborators. One of the challenges that leaders face is ensuring that their employees can drive a proactive attitude that leads to achieving the company’s objectives.
Another conceptualization of leadership is the ability to influence third parties and see from a business perspective, which means that employees align themselves professionally with the mission and vision of the organization.
And to achieve this level of influence on collaborators, business leaders must focus on the human development of their team, which involves self-motivation, self-awareness, self-discipline, values, and full awareness of these learning processes.
Within the business strategy, it is also imperative to create the continuous learning of its individuals, which is a success factor in organizational development. When there is no evolution in the employees’ skills, the company is exposed to paralysis that will affect the value that its collaborators can contribute to the business.
In the current context of constant change, of rough tides, the paralysis of work teams prevents them from adapting to the new situations of change that companies face daily.
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Emotional Leadership
In recent years, one of the changes that have occurred in the human capital departments of organizations is to give more and more value to soft skills within their employees, which also applies to the business leader.
Suppose a manager wants to influence his collaborators positively. In that case, managing skills such as effective communication, rapport, self-discipline, creativity, willingness to change, sensitivity, sensory memory, and constant learning, to name a few, are aspects of intelligence that the business leader must manage to promote among his employees.
It should be noted that two issues must be separated within the leader’s business strategy: business management and leadership. The first refers to having the organization’s activities carried out by third parties, that is, knowing how to delegate. At the same time, leadership is part of the manager’s job, a job that focuses on guiding and teaching.
Given this context, the role of the leader cannot be focused only on efficiency and achievement of growth goals. Still, it must become a neuro-leader who knows how to focus on the people who guide the methods to sustainable competitiveness, the thinking of the talented, and reinventing themselves for emotional benefit.
Today’s business leaders must understand that one of the improvement engines is to value all dimensions of human capital. All this bearing in mind that, beyond making decisions about business management, you must also be a coach and facilitator capable of guiding and encouraging your work team.
Leadership Theories
Although skills and knowledge can be learned, the reality is that many aspects that affect a person’s leadership capacity are related to their personality. Even though the context of each company influences the possibilities that a person has to develop their leadership skills, the organizational culture can be a limitation in the leader’s development.
Knowing the theories of leadership can help organizations to understand what type of leader would best adapt to its nature and needs and therefore increase the chances of evolution and success of the company.
Trait Theory
Within the theory of traits, the psychological basis is based on the assumption that the leader’s behavior is determined by generalized traits, that is, qualities of the person that are manifested in different contexts.
These generalized traits go through their physical structure and aspects of personality, such as whether they are extroverts or introverts. These physical or behavioral traits generate different responses between each of the individuals, responses that are generated by their behavior patterns.
Likewise, it maintains that the business leader develops a personal power that he manages subtly, which results in the commitment of subordinates. In addition, successful leaders can recognize when a specific behavior is required and are flexible enough to adapt that behavior to changing conditions.
Within the leadership theory of traits, there are two other aspects: managerial motivation and the exercise of power. In the case of the latter, the power of the business leader derives from his power (power to reward, coercion, legitimate power, power of experience, power of reference) and power relative to his position in the company.
In this case, power accumulates based on the decisions and interactions that the leader has with his team. To the extent that collaborators perceive these interactions and decisions as positive, the greater the power that grows around the figure of their leader.
While in direct motivation, the leader requires a high degree of managerial motivation to manage processes by employees. There are six characteristics within this aspect: positive attitude towards the authority figure, the desire to compete with peers, exercise power, be actively dogmatic, stand out in the group, and willingness to carry out administrative functions.
Therefore, the business leader must be interested in his staff, know how to handle situations, and show interest in their ideas and concepts. Once these aspects are handled, you can have the necessary knowledge for decision-making, problem-solving and promoting the much-needed innovation demanded by modern times while strengthening your position as a leader.
Behavioral Theory
As its name implies, this leadership theory focuses on the individual’s behavior and how their actions can influence the work group’s performance.
Within behavioral theory, there are two that stand out; the first one is the situational theory developed by Fred Fiedler, and the second one is the path and goal theory.
In both cases, the approach considers that leaderships are more effective depending on the factors with which they are interrelated, including the types of work carried out by the leader, the size of the group, and the degree of cooperation required between the members of the group. Cluster.
Situational Theory
In this case, it is assumed that the “correct” behavior of the business leader depends on whether the situation they face is favorable for them. Three circumstances determine this:
- Leader-member relationships: Measured by the quality of the relationships between the group leader and each of its members, specifically in aspects such as how well accepted he is and how much trust he has.
- Task structure: It refers to the level of established procedures at the time of performing the tasks, that is, if said procedures are clear, with predetermined goals and correction processes within them.
- Position power is the degree of authority that the leader has that allows the group members to adhere to him and accept his direction and leadership.
Path and Goal Theory
Developed by Robert House and Gary Dessler, this leadership theory determines that the leader’s role is to specify the tasks to be carried out by his collaborators, remove obstacles to achieving those goals, and expand the opportunities for those goals to be achieved.
In this case, the business leader’s effectiveness will be determined by the clarity of the trajectory-goal relationships, so their behavior must be based on the willingness to help their subordinates and their relationship with that help.
Theory of The Integrative Model of Leadership
In this theory, three variables are integrated around the leader: the context in which he works, the subordinates, and the leader himself. Within this model, the leader must be not only highly competent in performing his duties but also be able to reward his collaborators’ excellent work and be a representative figure before his superiors to influence them. And obtain the necessary support to achieve the company’s objectives.
In this model, it is necessary to consider the work environment, the group of influence within which the business leader is managed, and the conditions of the organizational climate.
Leadership Gene Theory
Leaders and managers are not the same, and it is the premise of Cyril Levicki. While managers or administrators are those who get tasks done by others, the business leader must balance the interests of many people, as well as being visionaries and judges.
Another difference between managers and leaders is that the first hierarchically has a person in charge who can take responsibility, someone who makes the final decision. At the same time, the leader takes full responsibility for the results of the work.
Under this premise, there are two types of leaders. Nominal ones are those who are thrust into a position where authentic leadership is required, but they can’t provide it. And second are the strategic leaders, who combine strategic vision, objective judgment, and entrepreneurial skills to create profits.
The characteristics that a person with a leadership gene brings together are independence with sound judgment; unique signs such as dignity, good manners, respect, good relations with bad managers, quick mastery of new tasks, and being ready for new promotions; as well as the willingness and desire to learn new things related to any aspect of work, and a satisfying and austere private life; In short, everyone wants to be your friend.
Relationship or Transformational Theory
As previously mentioned, one of the main tasks of the leader is to make the members of the organization under his sphere of influence deeply align with the organization’s objectives. Relationship or transformational leadership theory is the realization of this premise since transformational leadership combines the group’s interest with the interest of each individual who is part of it.
For this, the transformational leader seeks to gain the trust of all individuals through a relationship of inspiration and cooperation.
Also Read: Leadership Principles For Business Results
