Strategies & Leadership in an Organization-Free-Sample for Students

Question: Critically analyse the relationship between traits, motives and effectiveness of leaders. Answer: Introduction The success of a firm or company is highly dependent on the type of leadership that exists in the organization. As such, if the leader is competent and astute then the chances of the company or organization succeeding are high. To be an effective leader entails a lot of things. One has to have certain traits and also be directed by some motives. A critical examination of these factors reveals that there is a link between the motives, traits and the effectiveness of leaders or those who give direction to the organizations. Discussion The manner in which a leader behaves greatly determines how other people within the organization perceive them. A leader should have traits that are consistent with the firms objectives. DuBrin (2015) classifies leadership traits under two broad categories, the general traits, and the task related traits. Some of the general traits that good leaders must have include self-confidence, assertiveness, enthusiasm and a good sense of humor. As for the task related traits, things like flexibility and emotional intelligence are important for the achievement of goals that have been set by the organization. These traits need to be seen by the subordinates so that they may develop a lot of trust and respect for him or her. The motives of leaders vary. Some of the most common motives of leadership include to have power either for self-gain or to protect the organization, to infuse the organization with a stronger drive to work and to achieve specific goals that may not be done by other people (Luria, Berson, 2013). Effective leadership should be driven by leaders who do not have ulterior motives for the organization (Schuh, Zhang Tian,2013). In addition, they should not be thoughtful of only themselves and therefore only benefit themselves. A leaders motive should be determined by peers whenever a decision is to be or has been made. There is a close relationship between a leaders motives, traits and his or her effectiveness. Generally, when the motives of a leader are sinister it is very easy to tell by just a close examination of their characters (Northouse,2015). It is common, for example, for a leader who wants to gain power for selfish gains to start behaving in a secretive manner. This would be in an attempt to keep their goals from being known by those who may offer strong opposition, or to avoid a challenge of any sort. In a similar way, some character traits reveal that a leader lacks ulterior motives and that he or she is committed towards the achievement of the organizations goals. When for example the leader becomes flexible, it shows their willingness to accommodate new ideas and to compromise for the good of the company. There is, however, a possibility that good traits do not always mean that a leader is effective. Similarly, some traits associated with bad leadership do not always hold (Holt Marques, 2012). Steve Jobs, the founder of apple was not always the humble, listening or compromising type of person even though he was one of the greatest C.E.Os, achieving so much during his tenure as the company's boss. He was known for being dictatorial in his dealings especially when he had the intuition that he was right. This put him on a collision course with a lot of workers most of whom thought he was very arrogant (Allio, 2012). During one of the meetings with VSL company, a chip manufacturing firm he became abusive and made threats when he felt like they were slow in delivery, prompting them to change their methods. He was not only fond of speaking his mind no matter how outrageous his words were, but also terminated contacts when he felt they did not meet his quality (Isacson, 2013). Despite this, he still turned out to the greatest Apple has ever had, with a good number of leaders emulating his style. One common trait that has been associated with most of the wealthy successful leaders is humility. It is common for some bosses to even act it out since many people like to be associated with simple leaders whose degree of humility is very high (Cronin Genovese,2015). This trait of being simple has been seen in leaders such as Jack Ma and Bill Gates. It is very common to find pictures comparing how Gates adorns very simple clothes, despite having been the C.E.O of one of the most profitable companies, alongside leaders and sportsmen who spend a lot in designer shoes and expensive watches. Jack Ma just like Bill Gates is also portrayed as one of the most humble people despite his status, with good intentions for his company and those that he helps. This means that a good proportion of the population associate humble leaders with goodwill not only in the workplace but also outside their workplaces. A leader must have a passion for what he or she engages in. The success of projects is highly dependent on how passionate the leader is and how this is transferred to the subordinates. An example of a project that came out to be successful as a result of the passionate leader is the Talent Management System of the IBM. The project, something that had never been tried before was to cost quite a lot of money to implement hence its failure to materialize could have resulted in a lot of losses (Sparrow, Hird Cooper, 2015). Randy McDonald, the HR in charge at the inception of this project was however un-waivered by the obstacles that he had to go through in order to meet his goal. His passion for this project led to the creation of an unrivaled talent management system that is now being adopted by other organizations including those that do not deal with computer hardware or software (Reiche, Mendenhall Stahl, 2016). From his determination, it is clear that those who exhibit this trait always have the by the motive of achieving what may not seem realistic at first. The chances of a passionate leader succeeding in comparison to those who do not have this trait are very high hence it is important for effective leadership. Effectiveness in leadership relies on the leader's ability to establish a culture in which specific traits are common to all the organization's staff. There needs to be collective trustworthiness if the organization is to survive without getting involved in scandals that may pit certain groups against one another. The leader should always act in such a way that he or she is transparent and no questions can be raised about their motives for doing certain tasks or making some decisions. Not only should the leader show this, but should also inspire this trait in those who work as subordinates or occupy executive positions. Whenever there is widespread trust, it is possible for those with evil or self-centred motives to think twice before taking any action especially if it may break the trust bestowed on them by others. An organization with an established culture of this sort is full of individuals who would value their reputation. Hence effectiveness in leadership is highly dependent on trust. Visionary people are usually associated with high level of effectiveness. It is rare to find a person who is visionary deviating from the organization's overall goal meaning that they are always driven by positive motives such as the socialized power motive (Goleman, Boyatzis McKee,2013).Most of the time people of this sort actually strive to discover new methods of solving problems that exist within the company or identify new activities that their peers can engage in for the benefit of all. Having a strong vision enables people within an organization to identify new gaps in the market and also potential causes of failure for the organization (M.Taylor, Cornelius Colvin, 2014). In case this trait lacks in a majority of the employees, a single person can still steer the organization to greater heights provided he or she is visionary. Thus the more visionary a leader is, the higher the probability that he or she will be driven by positive motives and also the higher the chances that they will be very effective when it comes to running the organization. Conclusion To sum up, there is a very close link between the motives, traits, and effectiveness of a leader.It is always easy to predict why a person is interested in the leadership role based on their traits. There are some traits that are commonly associated with good leaders and these traits are always shown by those who gain leadership positions with good motives. Importantly, there are some traits that may not always mean that a leader is effective. Sometimes leaders who are uncompromising may appear arrogant but still manage to perform way better than those who seem to have all some of the characters associated with good leaders. A good example is Steve Jobs, a man whom many thoughts was arrogant only to turn out to be an uncompromising individual once his mind was made up. Effective leaders should strive to be visionary, humble and be driven by motives that may lead to the achievement of the organization's goals. References Allio, R. J. (2012). 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