A641.1.3.RB – What is Great Leadership
Yukl, G. (2012) described leadership as the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what and how things are accomplished. “It is the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to achieve shared objectives” (p. 7). It is of utmost importance to discuss various ways of how leadership is defined to analyze and assess the effectiveness and different approaches to leadership. Yukl (2012) indicated that leadership has many diverse modes of denotation at various individuals where behavioral scientists and practitioners believed that leadership is a vital phenomenon that it can be defined variously. Definitions of leadership are mostly reflecting the assumption that involves a process whereby intentional influence is exerted over other individuals in guiding, structuring, and facilitating activities and relationships in a group or organization (Yukl, 2012).
Leadership needs to provide their workforce opportunities to accomplish more challenging tasks than what they usually do where it may eventually result in the sense of more considerable accomplishment and more desirable goals. According to McKee, et al. (2008), a resonant leader knows how to listen and intently hear the people surrounds them, and they inspire trust and commitment. Our EVP for HR is an excellent example of this type of a leader. We have five HR Directors and one Senior HR Manager in our Central Florida Division – North Region. She had learned how to appropriately and more efficiently delegate different tasks and responsibilities (from reviewing and revising job descriptions to company policies) to the 6 HR Leaders based on the strength(s) of that specific HR Business Partner. She is in-tuned of her leadership team’s strengths and weaknesses.
Our EVP for HR does not only delegate tasks without providing us her full support in our decision makings but also giving us the autonomy to make those difficult but needs to get made decisions. With her 100% support and back-up, she builds our confidence, and she always reminds us not to be afraid of committing errors. When an error occurs, she encourages us to get the HR Business Partners consultation to correct the mistake. Our access to information and different resources to accomplish and be successful in our position are unlimited. She shares with us the empowerment she receives from our CEO and COO. She knows who she is and very confident of who she has become through the guidance of her past and present mentors. She is the reason why I am very contented as a strategic leader in my current position.
On the other hand, back in 2010, during my employment at one of the University in Daytona Beach, Florida, the position of Benefits Manager in Human Resources Management opened. My background in Human Resources Management gave me the confidence to approach our Chief Finance Officer to ask for a chance to join the team. The Director of HR reported directly to him, and she was a former Assistant VP for Student Affairs, who was very familiar with my dedication, work ethic, and passion for assisting anyone in need who comes into my office. To make a long story short, I was offered the position of Benefits Manager. Fast forward, the Director of HR was released from her job due to reasons that only the University President and Cabinet members knew, and I was promoted to the Assistant Director of Human Resources Management and lead the team, reporting to the VP of HRM/University Legal Counsel. It was during this time, our CFO passed away, and an era of upheaval at the University had begun as the VP of Student Affairs, my former supervisor was also on his way out.
I was very open with the VP of Student Affairs about my aspirations to lead the HRM department of the University. I was astounded with his last words to me before he left. He said that the Executive Team would never give me the position of Director of HRM due to the color of my skin. Until this day, I do not believe that he realized the effect of his words in my personal life and career. The months had passed, and I was very passionate and determined to prove him wrong. I worked harder, always being the first person to come to work and the last person to leave the office. I assessed and negotiated the University’s benefits program to make it more affordable and fit our employees’ needs. In the duration of my HR leadership, the University never received an EEOC claim or lawsuit due to discrimination or unlawful employment practices.
In the last quarter of 2013, I realized that the VP’s last words to me were embedded in my mind and heart. I was beginning to observe that the VP of HRM never had my back. I was performing her work, i.e., creating reports, attending Cabinet meetings, representing the University in Court proceedings, etc. While she would retract the decision(s), I made, making the rest of the staff confused and conflicted about who to follow. My morale and values were at an all-time low, and I started to detest going to work. At that moment, I made the decision that it was time to go. The relationship was supposedly a two-way street, but giving the University my heart and soul was useless. My passion for working for the University to assist students, faculty, staff, and stakeholders were gone, and the financial reward for being employed with the organization seemed insignificant.
Understanding how of a powerful change agent we are, we can positively change not only our work environment but the global society as a whole. Our work environment of today is culturally competent, but that does not mean that as leaders, we cannot be honest to admit that we do not have the answer or resolution to every question or situation. It is necessary to own up to the mistakes we commit. Self-awareness is to our advantage as a leader.
In summary, a great leader is someone who conditions, selects and influences a follower or followers with different abilities and skills and who aligns the follower or followers’ mission and goals to the organization's goals and mission. A great leader, validates his/her commitments to the values of a) showing humility, b) displaying mercy and belief to the actions of his/her follower(s), and c) controlled discipline. A great leader creates and sustains peace in the organization – not lack of conflict but a place where peace grows in the entire duration of a leader-follower relationship (Winston & Patterson, 2006).
References:
McKee, A., Boyatzis, R., and Johnston, F. (2008). Becoming a Resonant Leader (8th ed.).
Harvard Business Press.
Posazhennikov, A. (2017). What is Great Leadership [Video File]. Retrieved from:
Winston, B. and Patterson, K. (2006). An Integrative Definitions of Leadership.
International Journal of Leadership Studies. Retrieved from:
Yukl, G. (2012), Leadership in the organization (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice
Hall
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