LAUTECH OPEN AND DISTANCE LEARNING CENTRE TMA FOR

GST 224 (ASSIGNMENT)

1. The following are the major skills a leader must possess to enhances effective leadership;

• Ability to motivate others; an effective leader must be able to encourage contributions from the entire

organization, navigating the specific motivators of each individual or group to push the right buttons

and inspire employees at every level to achieve not only their personal best but the best for the

organization as a whole.

• Risk-taking; he must be willing to break conventions and develop new products and services to

establish marketplace dominance (and possibly even create a unique market).

• Planning; an effective leader must have the ability to orchestrate a high-level plan that drives

everyone toward the unified goal

• Effective communication skills that relies on active listening; far more than just being able to speak

and write persuasively, leadership communication skills incite others to work toward the stated goal

in line with the path the leader has chosen.

• Commitment, resolve and perseverance; has to do with driving every aspect of the organization

toward a singular unified purpose

• Other skills required to successfully achieve the set goals; bringing a unique knowledge set to the

table or acquiring it personally, through employees or other subordinates.

2. Answers

• Leader

A leader must have an honest understanding of who he is, what he knows, and what he can do. Note that it is the

followers, not the leader or someone else who determines if the leader is successful. If they do not trust, or lack

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confidence in their leader, then they will be uninspired. To be successful, a leader has to convince his followers

that he is worthy of being followed.

• Followers

Different people require different styles of leadership, hence a leader must come to know his employers well.

For example, a new hire requires more supervision than an experienced employee does. A person who lacks

motivation requires a different approach than one with a high degree of motivation. The fundamental starting

point is having a good understanding of human nature, such as needs, emotions, and motivation, then the

followers can be effectively led.

• Communication

You lead through two-way communication. Much of it is nonverbal. For instance, an example is set when a

leader communicates to his people that he would not ask them to perform anything that he would not be willing

to do. What and how a leader communicate either builds or harms the relationship between him and his

employees.

• Situation

All situations are different. What you do in one situation will not always work in another.

You must use his judgment to decide the best course of action and the leadership style needed for each situation.

For example, an employee may need to be confronted for inappropriate behaviour, but if the confrontation is too

late or too early, too harsh or too weak, then the results may prove ineffective. Also note that the situation

normally has a greater effect on a leader's action than his or her traits. This is because while traits may have an

impressive stability over a period of time, they have little consistency across situations.

3. Integrity in leadership can be demonstrated by concentrating on these areas

• Sincerity; a sincere leader is one who is truthful; honest about his limitations and owns up to his

mistakes. He accepts responsibilities for his commitments and strives to meet them.

• Consistency; a consistent leader tries as much as possible to treat his team members equally. He

works harder, and has greater rules and expectations for himself than for his employees

• Substance; a leader with substance is one who cares for the development of his employees and gives

credit to whom it is due to. He keeps private employee information private and does what is best for

the team.

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4. Rules of Leadership

According to Dewett’s, to successfully lead a group of people, a leader must make every effort to go by these

rules. He must;

1) Reduce ambiguity

This revolves around effective communication. A leader should learn to communicate in a manner that reduces

ambiguity experienced by others i.e uncertainty about what has happened, what might happen next, or how to

proceed. Sharing information widely is a fundamental part of building positive relationships and increasing

productivity, while hoarding it due to autocratic tendencies, or for political reasons tends to do just the opposite.

2) Be fair

To be fair, a leader must treat his employees the same by; creating a positive and productive work environment

for everyone as well as make decision processes and resource allocations transparent to all. He must also treat

them differently by; examining individual and group performance honestly and regularly as well as recognizing

and rewarding people based on performance. When this is done, employees are encouraged to increase their

morale which apparently leads to an increase in productivity

3) Stay positive

A leaders’ general mental state always have a profound impact on what he accomplishes and also a huge

influence on those he leads and interact with. Positive emotions comes in various forms, from happiness to

gratitude and thankfulness to a positive anticipation and eagerness towards work. These emotions are contagious

and more importantly can help improve creative thinking, reduce defensiveness and relieve stress.

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