Developing Leadership & Management Skills Assignment Sample

Developing Leadership & Management Skills

Introduction - Developing Leadership & Management Skills

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The paper discusses the different concepts of leadership and management and analyses their outcomes. It further differentiates between the management of operations and the leadership style of organisations. It evaluates different approaches of leaders and managers for the development of an organisation. Organisations tend to be more efficient with effective management and an improvement in leadership (Madhuri, 2019). It further discusses the role of the learning and development function in promoting the development of leadership and management. It identifies several programmes which initiate the development and progress of leadership and management. It recognises several programmes that help with leadership development in an organisation. 

The paper sheds light on the recognition of an organisation and how it is influenced by the leadership style. It analyses the working of an organisation concerning its operations and management. It highlights the different roles concerning the management and critically evaluates their significance. It differentiates the ideas of management and states the different leadership approaches in different organisations. It evaluates the different approaches that are followed in organisations and analyses their outcome based on the organisation’s profitability. 

1.1 Range of meanings of the concepts of leadership and management. 

An organization is subdued to its leaders and managers for an increase in profitability. Several concepts of leadership initiated the significance of adopting skills, knowledge and ethical values (Helming et al. 2019). Leadership generally means a process that influences a person to achieve an objective that is beneficial to the organisation. There are mainly six concepts of leadership that help an organisation to progress in the industry. However, three of these concepts will be discussed. The first style of leadership is visionary which indicates influencing people towards a vision to achieve a better outcome in the future. The second style is affiliative which means to create an emotional and harmonic bond in the workplace to increase the productivity of the employees (Gazi, 2020). A harmonic and peaceful workplace increases the productivity of their employees which eventually generates more revenue for the organisation.

Several leaders follow this style to run their business so that they can create a healthy atmosphere in the workplace and recruit high-quality talents. The third style is commanding which means to demand immediate results. This style is not followed largely by organisations as it puts the leader to advantage and the employees at a disadvantage. The organisations prefer their employees to be at an advantage in the workplace and contribute equally. This style of leadership is highly known for its impartial distribution of power in the workplace. Leadership can be referred to me as the capacity which influences or inspires an individual or a group of people to achieve a common goal. Leadership encourages and influences people to achieve what they desire. Trait theory of leadership is mainly based on successful and unsuccessful leaders and it is used to predict the effectiveness of such leaderships.

There are mainly five concepts of management that an organisation adopts to run its operations efficiently. However, only three of them will be discussed in brief. The first concept can be studied as management as a discipline that indicates the basis of management in an organisation (Gazi, 2020). Management is the base of an organisation that decides the operations of a company. The second concept is management as a process which indicates the management of operations and employees in the workplace as a process. It grows and advances with time and manpower.

The third concept is management as a group which means the management of employees in the workplace (Helming et al. 2019). Several organisations consider that managing employees increases productivity, however, others believe that productivity increases with the management of operations. Management can be regarded as the process that includes organising and coordinating activities to achieve a common goal. The behavioural theory of management focuses on how productivity can be managed and how work motivation can be understood. It helps in understanding expectations, interests and group dynamics of the workplace which in turn helps in increasing productivity.

1.2 Distinctions between leadership and management. 

To justify the differences between leadership and management, the distinctions must be discussed. Both the terms are related to each other concerning the operations of an organisation; however, their functions and roles differ from each other. The first distinction is their roles, management refers to direct employees in their work, and leadership is about asking or enquiring about the issues in the workplace (Shaturaev and Bekimbetova, 2021). They differ in their responsibilities; management is responsible for all the ideas and productivity in the workplace. On the contrary, leadership only refers to awarding or adapting good ideas. They both are responsible for the conduct of the business, however, only a manager is concerned about the environment of the workplace. It can be said that a leader only initiates to achieve good ideas and in revenue generation. However, a manager delegates all the other responsibilities. 

A leader is responsible to bring changes in the workplace and a manager is responsible for managing or adjusting to that change. A manager holds authority in the workplace to hire or fire an employee from their job roles. However, a leader motivates its employees to increase productivity and contribute more to the revenue of an organisation (Connolly et al. 2019). In a project or a job role, a manager tells or directs employees on the proceedings of the job. A leader shows the proceedings of the work in practice to instigate its employees. A manager exercises the power given by his superior whereas a leader develops power in the workplace. The difference between a manager and a leader is accurately long, however, it can be implied that a manager delegates the power or authority that has been given to him with his position. However, a leader creates his position and delegates his powers in the organisation.

Leadership is about influencing people and creating a vision that can be implemented in the coming years. Management is all about ensuring and administering the daily tasks in the workplace (Pretorius et al., 2018). Managing a workplace requires plans, skills, knowledge and the ability to direct, however, it takes a vision, creativity and innovation to become a leader. Leadership is all about influencing people to achieve higher goals or to influence companies to adopt strategies for a progressive future. However, management requires potential and creativity to bring a change and to manage the daily activities of an organisation. The roles of a manager and leader are justified with their differences. In the current world, the need for leaders and managers are significantly high and their contribution is equally appreciated. They both contribute equally to the revenue generation of an organisation and initiate its growth in the market. 

2.1 Range of approaches for developing leaders and managers. 

Leaders and managers are developed through several approaches; however, only four approaches will be discussed in brief. The first approach is coaching or mentoring programs, these programs help an individual to learn and understand more about leadership and management and recognise their significance (Sousa and Rocha, 2019). It helps them to reflect on their behaviours and observe themselves during any occurrence of risk or personal intimacy. It helps them to create value, desire and to envision their personal growth in the upcoming years. It helps them to recognise their talent and acknowledge their skills to pursue their interest. The second approach is development/assessment centres, they help an individual to adopt a more realistic perspective and learn about their own strengths and weaknesses in the persons of business or management. It also develops their ability to become a leader or a manager in the future.

The third approach is job rotation, acknowledging or participating in a work environment helps an individual to grasp the concept of business and management early. It helps in building the needed skills and knowledge and further working on them. These skills provide them with the confidence and encourage them to pursue their careers in management or as a leader (Wei et al. 2019). Through these programs, the participants learn to acknowledge their fear and control their behaviour during the emergence of any risk or crisis. It helps them to differentiate between various segments of business and guide them to success. The fourth approach is shadowing which means being trained in the workplace by another to gain knowledge, understanding and experience. It helps them to address any faults or mistakes that they have made during the program. It helps them to recognise their talent and their abilities in the field of business.

These four approaches are also entitled to encouragement and motivation. The individuals are encouraged and motivated to achieve their goals and to recognize their talents. Several companies host programs where individuals or potential business students are invited to participate. It encourages them and gives them a platform to express themselves through their skills and knowledge. It helps them to initiate and evaluate their abilities as a leader and as a manager. It guides them to choose the right career for them. From these programs, several companies hire or even sponsor various students for their education and for pursuing their careers. These programs help students and potential businessmen to celebrate their careers and improve their skills (Lemoine et al. 2019). It helps students to recognise their interests and abilities in business and also in other fields.

2.2 Role of L&D functions in leadership and management development.

The importance of L&D means Learning and Development functions that are used in leadership strategy. The researchers work on this strategy and they try to find out the several phases of their work on the trends and current priorities. They give their efforts on how this strategy functions to meet the needs of the organization. One of the primary responsibilities of this strategy is to develop a management system that supports other important business priorities (Brassey et al. 2019). This strategy has five areas to help the organization and these are:

• Attract and retain talent 

The learning traditionally always focused on the improvement of productivity. In recent times learning also has some contribution to employability. Last few years it has been seen that employment has changed from one company for a lifetime to a specific model where workers stay only as long as they get value to those enterprises. Workers are balanced on their professional and personal growth and development and one key thing is that people list opportunities for their development and learning are the top criteria for entering an organization. However, a lack of the L&D strategy can lead to being the main reason for leaving the company (Adame et al. 2021).

• Develop people capabilities

To retain the value of L&D, the investment of Human capital is important. The value of the capital is decreased when the knowledge is to be outdated or may be forgotten, this happens rapidly in today's system. The people develop their experiences by new learning and related work in the workplaces. The companies who invest their money in the next advanced generation then get an impressive return. The companies who invest their money to develop leaders at the time of significant transformations are 2.5 times more likely to meet their targets of performance.

• Create a values-based culture

The strategy of L&D helps the company to increase the values-based culture and also build a sense of community. As the workplaces of many companies increase their work virtually and are dispersed globally. The high standard always shows the interest in working for value-based culture and to be sustainable that contributes to the welfare of the society.

• Build an employer brand

The main important asset for the company is their brand, this brand helps to develop the success of the company in the financial strength and market, also deciding the position of the company and products and services. The strategy of L&D helps the company to boost its reputation of the company and increase its brand value of them. In a large and reputed segment, the employers are preparing to retire and they also work hard to compete for the shrinking pool of talent (Le Blanc et al. 2021). 

•  Motivate and engage employees

When the employees get more new opportunities to develop and learn new competencies, they get motivated to engage themselves in the workplace. The lifelong contribution in learning helps to be happy in the office environment and employees take challenges to show their skills that satisfy the current needs of the organization.

3.1 Indicators of success for development programs

The leader is an important asset for a company so the leadership helps the company to get success and beat their competitors. For a successful LMD program, link with the strategy of the organization and participate in performances. The indicators of success are SMART goals:

The indicators that satisfy a success for leadership and management are;

• They are self-aware

Self-Awareness is the first criteria to be successful in leadership development. This awareness involves a strong combination of IQ and EQ. These are both the skills of a leader to run a company successfully (Boda et al.2021). 

• They translate learning into action

People usually like to know and learn new trends; it is quite different to hear something and implement this learning into workplaces. The new and innovative things help to perform various work that gives results for the team, organization, and industry leadership program.

• They have the drive to succeed

Motivation always gives a positive result to achieve and meet a high standard of the company. The opportunities develop the optimization and confidence of the workers. These indicators described the quality of a leader that constantly delivers a standard quality result (Hammad et al. 2020).

•  They can read the workplace

This is a sixth sense that helps people to know how and when a new innovative idea is to be introduced in the organization to maintain the optimism of that institution. This helps to build an understanding of the culture and relationship of the organization. The leaders make a positive and effective plan that helps in the organization's growth.

• Understanding organizational values

The leaders should always maintain the value and specific goals of the organization. The leader should always maintain the skills and quality of the team members and select the effective sectors where they should give their best.

The first indicator of success is Individual performance evidence which means the progress or an increase in productivity of individual performance with evidence which states that the leadership for management is effective. The second indicator is effective succession which implies that an increase in efficiency is evidence of good leadership or management. The third indicator is key employee retention which indicates that when a manager or an organisation is successful in retaining its employees, it shows the success of the manager or the leader itself. The fourth indicator is participant satisfaction which signifies when a leader or a manager is good at the job, they increase the satisfaction of participation of employees and which eventually leads to the growth of the organisation.

3.2 Methods to development programs

The company invests in the training of leadership and management programs because it gives an enormous return. A well-organized leadership development program enhanced productivity, increased engagement of employees, and made better decisions for the organization (Sauphayana, 2021). 

• Every company maintains and develops a leadership program that suits their unique culture and needs, some basic methods that ensure the success of leadership.
• The leader should know the process, content, methodology which should be the best for the organization. Participants should understand the relationship, confidentiality, roles, and responsibilities before commencing the program (Wong and Berntzen, 2019).
• Always give focus on the training and skills without focusing on the behaviours and effective personal development. Self-awareness, diagnostics, evolving accountability, and support group in a critical situation, are all these skills that are to be developed through this program.
• Design of programs to be more flexible than encouraging every participant to engage themselves dynamically. The developmental assignment jobs are the most effective forms for leader development.
• One of the most necessary components of this developmental program is the 360-degree feedback approach. These approaches help the leaders to maximize the opportunities of learning from their current project work.
• Leadership coaching enhances the effectiveness of the leader and also makes effectiveness among team members and the organization. Using the self-detected learning the leaders always teach themselves innovative skills through the selection of development areas, and identify the resources (Vogel et al. 2021).
• The leadership model has three elements combine to develop strong experience; assessment, support, and challenges. The second part illustrates that the development process has different types of developmental experiences and the ability to learn from them.

The Kirkpatrick model has four levels, reaction, learning, behaviour and result. The first level is a reaction that measures whether the training is engaging for the learners. The second level is learning which measures if the knowledge and skills required are acquired. The third level is behaviour which is considered to be crucial as it measures if participants are actually learning and how they are applying such learning. The last level is the result which indicates measuring the direct results of the first three levels. This model helps in analysing and understanding how the program helps an individual to progress and develop their skills and knowledge to become leaders and managers. It acknowledges the needs of an individual and offers programs based on them.

Conclusion

This paper is all about the skills and strategies that satisfy the goal of leadership. Three leadership styles are discussed in this work and the L&D strategies are important and how this model is used to develop a successful leader and management program. The leader is an asset for a company, so a high-standard company should have a well-trained leader who maintains the company's goal. In this paper, different leadership approaches are discussed and the indicators that indicate to be a good leadership and management development program. This paper also elaborates on the indicators that help the leader to develop their characteristics and help the organization

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