Leadership styles at work

Leadership Styles at Work

Leadership Styles at Work
The quality of leader determines the success path of an organization. During past 20 years, extensive research has been done into leadership theories. These theories focus on leaders having extraordinary effects on their followers. All types of leadership styles concentrate on motivating employees (followers), influencing them positively sothat they work in the interest of the organization and contribute more to the goal and objectives of the organization. Different leaders have different leadership style. Not all leaders can deliver with same leadership style. What leadership style a leader is choosing depends on the personal traits of the leader. It also depends on the nature of business, organizational culture and environment.Retail business is very competitive. Retailers are always under competitive pressure, pricing and consumer related issues. Most of the times, retailers have to address immediate issues to survive. In spite of fierce competition and lower profit margin (which is the result of fierce competition), retail has been expanding. The managers (leaders) in retail business have shown strength centered onprocess management, operational skills, flexibility and quick decision making ability. Their focus has been productivity, efficiency and adaptability. Korn/Ferry Institute’s research reveals that managers in retail business lack leadership capability. (Brigitte, Tierney and Johnson, 2008)

As retail business is highly competitive, to create new sales, new creative business ideas have to bedeveloped. A good leader motivates the employees to come up with new creative ideas and implement it successfully. Autocratic, participative and laissez-faire are classic leadership styles. Each leadership style has some advantages associated with it. I prefer participative style of leadership to decide what needs to be done and how it should be done. A participative leader involves other people(peers, subordinates, superiors and other stakeholders) in the process. However, only one type of leadership can not be applied in scenarios. The leadership style changes with situation. Most of the times it is a mix of leadership styles that we follow, only degree varies. My leadership style is closer to participative leadership style. It also consists some characteristics of inspirationalleadership style.

As a leader, I possess some characteristics which will be helpful in User Experience. To succeed in highly competitive environment, I will use my interpersonal skill and ability to communicate effectively to motivate the employees. I will develop a shared mission and culture which is essential for the success of an organization. A leader should be visionary and set goals and objectivesof the organization which should benefit the organization in long term. Instead of always responding to the external pressure, which is very high in retail business, leader should have clear cut plan to achieve long term goals. He should communicate the goals to the employees and let them know how those goals will be achieved. As a participative leader, I will includes other employees in thedecision making process. Creative ideas from employees should be encouraged. When employees are asked to express their view and share ideas, management gets to know what is in the interest of the organization and how to achieve the goals. Participative style of leadership is more appropriate in retail business as in this business; organization needs creativity and innovative ideas. Including employeesin decision making motivates them that helps them to contribute more towards the success of the organization.

In retail business, margin is getting thinner day by day as more and more players are entering the business. In such scenario, focus should be on bottom line. A good leader should have analytical skill so that he can analyze the limited information quickly and take decision so that...