Leading others
This chapter presents literature that is classified as Leading others. The existing research that is presented in this chapter is related to leadership gaps and what organizations can do in order to facilitate and enhance the gaps. Leading others imply everything related to interaction and communication between leaders and other employees. Leading others contains five sub-chapters in this research: communication, leading employees, coaching, inspiring commitment and employee development. Leading employees has in turn one sub-chapter: initiating structure and consideration.
3.2.1 Communication
Gilley (2005) argues communication is a crucial aspect during organizational changes as employee acceptance and participation in change depends on their personal opinion about the benefits that the change brings. Employees weigh for-arguments against counterarguments of change in order to form an opinion about the personal advantages and disadvantages that the change brings (Knowles & Linn, 2004). Employees commit in what they believe in. Therefore, it is leaders responsibility to explain and convince employees why a change is needed or why a decision is made. Employee acceptance and participation are decisive for successful implementations. Failing to engage employees can result in an unsuccessful implementation that can affect the organization and relationships within the organization but also the company's customers and reputation (Benedict, 2007).
Communication during organizational changes concerns leaders to mediate relevant information about change to subordinates; why change is needed and what the benefits are (Green, 2004; Rousseau & Tijoriwala, 1999). Furthermore, it include to inform about expected impacts on the organization; what, how and why something or someone is impacted by the change. This includes being able to clarify the change’s impact on each specific employee (Creasey & Hiatt, 2012). Communication also involves gathering feedback and listening to employees concerns and questions regarding the change and provide answers to their questions. In addition, it includes informing about subordinates’ new expectations and performance targets.
However, Creasey & Hiatt (2012) argues that leaders usually have shortcomings in some or several of these skills. It is not unusual that leaders do not know what, how and when to communicate essential information regarding the change to subordinates. Leaders lack to inform or are unclear about change details to impacted employees and lack listen to employees concerns and answer their questions. There are several reasons why leaders do not always manage to answer employees' questions such as leaders lack understanding regarding the change or pure ignorance or refusing.
3.2.2 Leading employees
Leaders with good abilities in leading employees have knowledge about how to effectively delegate responsibility and recruit talented people to their team (Heskett, 2007). This requires that leaders have the knowledge and tools needed to lead subordinates effectively, like for instance the ADKAR model which is a tool that contains theory and knowledge about how organizations and leaders ought manage organizational changes. Leslie (2015) argues that most companies and organizations have leadership deficiencies in leading employees.
It is also important that leaders understand how to use this knowledge and tools based on their role, which is the organization's responsibility to ensure. Assuming that leaders have been informed of and understood that, they should be assessed on their skills in managing subordinates. Furthermore, it is appropriate to develop internal groups and forums where leaders can exchange: experiences, mistakes and what they learned related to lead employees. It is also appropriate that organizations create a work environment that encourages feedback, and develops guidelines for how feedback should be exchanged (Schwartz, 2011).
However, there are mainly two ways to lead employees. These are presented in the sub-chapter below.
Initiating structure and Consideration
There are mainly two independent dimensions of effective leadership that received increased attention concerning how subordinates are affected by leaders behavior, which is consideration and leaders initiating structure (Chance & Chance, 2009). These two dimensions have been evolved by investigation of several industries such as insurance, manufacturing and railroad.
Initiating structure concerns behaviors that are task-oriented (or related) and involves to what degree leaders control subordinates; it includes clarify the role and responsibilities of employees by helping to coordinate, plan, encourage to perform better, provide feedback, solve problems. (Dubinsky et al., 1988). Task-oriented leaders also take into account the relational aspects but prioritize organizational structure and processes to achieve results.
As leader is clear on initiating structure, employees feel less ambiguity in their role and what is expected from them, which contributes to increased commitment to the organization, increased job satisfaction and increased job performance (June, 2011; Srikanth & Jomon, 2013; Dubinsky et al., 1988). Srikanth and Jomon (2013) argue that role ambiguity leads to staff interpret work tasks and requirements, which contributes to varied standards and performance depending on how the individual interprets responsibilities. This contributes to reduce overall performance within the company.
Consideration is about behaviors that are relationship-oriented (also called people-oriented (Engen et al., 2001; Turner & Müller, 2005; Yiing & Ahmad, 2009)) and concerns to which extent leaders are personable, understandable and care about employees’ well being. Common actions associated with consideration is such as accommodating, friendly, listening, observing, coaching and supports subordinates (Tabernero et al., 2009; Gary et al., 2002). It includes a transparent form of communication and praise employees for their contributions. These kinds of leaders are still considering tasks to achieve results but they emphasize human relation.
As leader communicates high degree of consideration, such as leaders listens to employees and letting them participate in decision-making, it contributes to higher job satisfaction and better performances (Bhuiyan, 2010).
Therefore, it is suitable that the leader actively listens, advises and supports employees (Dubinsky et al., 1988). It is rather for leaders to provide constructive feedback to employees than inspecting their work.
There are correlation between leadership behavior and organizational values (Tsai, 2011). Leaders tend to act similar to organizational values. Like for instance leaders within organizations that emphasize initiating structure tends to show more behaviors related to initiating structure and vice versa. Effective leaders possess abilities within both task-oriented (initiating structure) and relationship-oriented (consideration) behaviors (Dubinsky et al., 1988; Chance & Chance, 2009). Chance & Chance (2009) agree with Dubinsky et al (1988) but also emphasizes that leaders’ behavior needs to align with the situation to be effective.
3.2.3 Coaching
Coaching is defined as the process which performance is improved by the development of synergistic relationships between employees and their leaders. This is done through mentoring, counseling, education and confrontation (Gilley & Boughton, 1996). Coaching from leaders creates an increased self-awareness among employees and thereby employees’ strengths are maximized and weaknesses minimized. Hence, employee’s performances are enhanced (Hill, 2004; Whitmore, 1997).
Furthermore, coaching involves leading, motivating, supporting, listening and providing both positive and constructive feedback to employees, which will build trust to employees. In addition, leaders job are f
acilitated by interpersonal characteristics such as reading people and emotional intelligence.
Hudson (1999) argues that coaching enables leaders allowing employees to make mistakes in order to learn from them and thus evolve. Furthermore, he claims that coaching helps employees to become more receptive to renewal and reduced resistance to change, which has a positive effect on organizational changes. Coaching aims to bring out the best in people, inspire employees to become motivated and help employees to become focused on both their own and the company’s future (Hudson, 1999).
However, Creasey & Hiatt (2012) argues that leaders usually have shortcomings in some or several of these skills. Occasionally, leaders lack coaching, supporting, motivating, listening and leading employees throughout organizational changes. Sometimes leaders tend to lack giving employees balanced feedback between positive and constructive. Some leaders tried to bullying or bossing employees, which seemed to be ineffective. Leaders that have been promoted because of their technical skills lack sometimes the ability to lead people. Leaders tend to underestimate the importance of their role in driving the change within their teams. Furthermore they lack interpersonal characteristics such as, trust, reading people, openness and emotional intelligence. In addition, they lack set expectation on employees.
3.2.4 Inspiring commitment
Leaders who pay attention, praises and rewards their subordinates on the basis of their performances, can inspire commitment among subordinates (Keskes, 2013). In order to provide employees with appropriate rewards, it requires an understanding of what motivates employees. Thomas (2009) argues that rewards should be given at fulfillment of significant organizational improvements. Subordinates’ commitment can be further strengthened if leaders clarify organizations’ vision and explain how it is linked to their role in the company (Slack et al., 2010; Martin & Schmidt, 2010). This comprises to clarify subordinates’ role in how it helps to fulfill organizations’ vision. In addition, Damen (2007) argues that commitment from leaders is contagious and affects subordinates positively, resulting in better performance (Damen, 2007). Research has shown that not only commitment but also humans’ emotions in general are contagious, both positive and negative emotions (Fredrickson, 2003). Furthermore, Lyubomirsky et al (2005) suggest that positive emotions are correlated to favorable outcomes (Lyubomirsky et al., 2005). Like well as positive emotions affects favorable outcomes, negative emotions affect unfavorable outcomes (Brown et al., 1997). Leslie (2015) argues that companies in general have deficiencies within this leadership skill.
Organizations can facilitate for leaders by helping to communicate the vision to employees in the company. Furthermore, leaders should be encouraged to increase the expectations of subordinates' performance. Organizations should confirm high-performing subordinates publicly to promote increased commitment.
3.2.5 Employee development
A leader with expertise in develop employees can help subordinates to improve their performance by provide coaching, guidance and encourage good performances (Varney, 1989) (TNS Employee Insight, 2014; Frankovelgia, 2010). Leslie (2015) argues that many companies have deficiencies within employee development.
Organizations can help leaders to develop this skill by encouraging leaders to regularly conduct career conversations with subordinates where their career goals are discussed and designed how they will be achieved. In addition, organizations should develop succession-planning processes, which means to prepare talented employees with training in order to fill key leadership positions within the company when necessary (Baldwin, 2000). This contributes to a more secure future for the company since it becomes less sensitive to pensions or defection of key employees, but it also motivates employees to high-performance to get the chance to be promoted.