What comes into mind when we hear the word asset? What are the major things that enhance the growth of organisations -- especially after visions and missions are clear, targets are set, team-members in place and all other things set and ready to go? Most organisations are collapsing whilst others are crawling, even though they have the business plan at their fingertips. Some of them are also blessed with skills in implementing the plan but get stuck halfway. In all these, they forget or overlook and maybe do not look out for the excellent and most useful asset that any organisation can dream of, and that is not just a leader but an excellent one.
The world today is filled with followers, supervisors and managers -- but very few people are real leaders. A good LEADER is basically a book that its readers learn or take instructions from and live by its rules to gain a positive result. Our world and generation is in desperate need of such individuals.
The majority of people when assigned to leadership roles often misunderstand what their real responsibilities are and rather take advantage of their position negatively. However, it is a fact that every group, team or company will excel as long as it has a good leader.
It may be the overall boss, the line managers, the team leader, supervisor or anyone who has people looking up to him/her. Such people always leave landmarks and footprints for people to follow either positively or negatively. A true leader must have a pure understanding of who he is, what he is, and what he can do.
To be successful, you have to prove to your followers that you are worthy of being followed. It must also be noted that it is the same followers who determine how successful a leader is or will be.
There are different types of leaders – like the autocratic leader who gets others to do things by giving them little scope to influence decisions. He uses fear, threats and his/her authority and personality to get things done his/her way.
There is also the democratic leader who seeks to persuade and consider the feelings of persons under his leadership and encourages their participation in decision-making. Studies have shown that the latter style of leadership gives followers greater job-satisfaction and enables them to cooperate better.
The elements of persuasion, compulsion and example should be considered essential when it comes to effective leadership. Anyone who aspires to be a good leader starts from somewhere; their mindsets are different and so are their goals at each stage of their lives.
True leaders need consistent assessment. When it comes to education, some people have the perception that their certificates are all they might need, others think of it as just a stage in life, whilst a few people have genuine reason to satisfy their need for education.
Let us do a simple exercise by answering the following questions: why do our parents go through the toil of providing everything good for us such as education, food, and care? We should know that our parents/government/society in one way or another invest in us. What would be the reason? It is simply for us to become somebody in future.
The next thing you might want to ask yourself is why are we here? For example, whether you are working or schooling. The response is: you would definitely like to be useful to yourself and your society, as well as adding value to yourself. You would also like to make an impact and realise your dreams.
There are a lot of misconception about leadership that needs to be addressed. A large number of people in our corporate world think leadership is all about post, Lordship, competition and cheating, hereditary or inherited, exclusive right of a select few, amongst others. It must be emphasised that anyone can become a leader. “Good leaders are made not born. If you have the desire and willpower, you can become an effective leader.
Good leaders develop through a never-ending process of self-study, education, training, and experience” (Jago, 1982).
The important components of leadership include intellectual stimulation, thus encouraging followers to learn and be creative. But what do we see in most countries today? Most leaders feel at threat of being overtaken by followers, so they are not ready to grow them. Therefore, they become the final say in everything.
Many people laze about without any zeal to complete a task in time. This is mainly because they lack motivation, which is an important tool in leadership style. The ability to inspire and motivate followers naturally unfolds, especially when they have a clear vision of what they want to achieve. Workers who are not motivated mostly do not get the job done in time.
The willingness is not available and they do not put up their best, which results delayed in output. A motivated team is likely to achieve twice as much as a non-motivated team will achieve within the same given period. If they do not trust or lack confidence in their leader, then they will be uninspired.
Individualised consideration is another tool that can be of very good use to a leader. As a useful asset to the company, you must demonstrate a genuine concern for the needs and feelings of followers. In todays' corporate world, many supervisors only concentrate on getting the work done and all they care about is to give the instructions.
Sometimes the line of communication must be open; this helps in knowing the kind of people working under you. You lead through a two-way communication. Much of it should be non-verbal.
You must set yourself as an example that communicates to your people, so you would not ask them to perform anything that you would not be willing to do. What and how you communicate either builds or harms the relationship between you and your subordinates.
In a typical work environment, when assigned a leadership position the majority of individuals ''grow wings''. This is the time for them to show-off their authority in a stylish way. We see subordinates being abused and disrespected. Others view it as free-time -- leaving tasks in the hands of subordinates without any supervision and then go about their own personal businesses.
Such people are not leaders. “Although your position as a manager, supervisor, leader, etc. gives you the authority to accomplish certain tasks and objectives in the organisation (called Assigned Leadership), this power does not make you a leader, it simply makes you the boss” (Rowe, 2007).
Currently, people have a wrong understanding and misconception of what being a BOSS means. The fact that there are managers, supervisors, all around companies does not mean they are leaders.
It is how they carry themselves in the positions they occupy that make them leaders. They can provide basic ideas and excellence by showing others that anything is possible.
According to a study by the Hay Group, a global management consultancy, there are 75 key components of employee satisfaction (Lamb, McKee, 2004). They found that:
• Trust and confidence in top leadership was the single most reliable predictor of employee satisfaction in an organisation.
• Effective communication by leadership in three critical areas was the key to winning organisational trust and confidence:
1. Helping employees understand the company's overall business strategy
2. Helping employees understand how they contribute to achieving key business objectives
3. Sharing information with employees on both how the company is doing and how an employee's own division is doing -- relative to strategic business objectives
So, in a nutshell -- you must be trustworthy and you have to be able to communicate a vision of where the organisation needs to go.
It is a fact that in Ghanaian society today, many people are satisfied with being stagnant or content with what they have. They do not have the interest of adding more value to themselves. Some do not even really know what they are capable of.
There are basic principles of leadership that anyone who terms him/herself as a leader should know. Every leader needs to seek self-improvement, thus, continually strengthening your attributes. This can be achieved by studying yourself, formal classes, reflection, and through interaction with others.
Another way is to be proficient technically as a leader. You must know your job and have a strong familiarity with your employee's task. It is so common in many organisations that people are assigned leadership roles, but in actual sense do not know anything about those positions.
However that position was acquired, whether through lobbying or genuinely, many people fail to accept that it’s a responsibility that has been entrusted into their hands and therefore do not challenge themselves to be efficient and effective. Instead of taking responsibility for their actions, they play the blame and defensive game.
The ''Black man'' mentality will look at the position and be bossy about it instead of making sure he is up to the responsibilities it comes with. You do not want to be incompetent when you have subordinates looking to you.
Decision-making is another key factor that every leader should be able to master. It is required of leaders to use good problem-solving, decision-making, and planning tools. Also, more often than not, a leader sets example for his followers.
They must not only hear the instructions and rules that they are expected to follow, but also see. Be a good role-model for your employees. This enhances team spirit. “We must become the change we want to see” -- Mahatma Gandhi.
The question then is: what makes a leader an excellent corporate asset? This can be answered in so many different ways. , generally, that person must possess attributes like skillfulness, determination, imagination, endurance, memory, perception, knowledge, endurance and courage.
It must be noted that all these qualities cannot be found in one person, but if a particular vacancy has to be filled the strengths of the person who is being appointed should rather be considered -- along with those of the people he/she will be working with. The successful leader that can be a great asset to any organisation can be considered flexible and perceptive as well as being able to act appropriately. Thus in one situation he's permissive and in another he is strong. Anyone can be a leader: can you challenge yourself now? It will be worth it.
By Mercy N. A. Tetteh
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