Introduction
People management refers to the process that is involved in managing people in a given organization where the people management approach addresses issues that touch on the people (employee) .An organizations employees are the organization’s most valued assets because they individually or collectively contribute to the success of the organization. Managing people can be viewed as both an academic theory and a business practice that addresses the theoretical and practical techniques of managing a workforce.
The employees’ performance and attitude greatly influences the success or failure of an organization which then poses a challenge to the organization’s managers to effectively manage the workforce. The concept of people management covers an organization’s tasks of recruitment, management, support and direction of the employees with the managers offering leadership in organizations coupled with their major role in people management. Managers are usually faced with a demand to focus on hiring the right people as well as ensuring they get the best out of the employees.
The key to an organization’s success is to unlock the people’s potential and talent and effective leadership that encourages effective employee behavior at work. Leadership can be defined as the ability to influence ,motivate and to inspire other people in the workforce in order to accomplish specific objectives that have been set in the organization.
The essential X-factor in leadership refers to a person’s willingness, desire and will power to be an effective leader in a given organization. Effective leaders are as a result of never ending process of development that encompasses education, self-study, training, experience and coaching. For one to succeed in leadership the individual beliefs, values, ethics, character, knowledge and skills influence the leader’s success in his or her undertakings towards achieving goals and objectives .It is worth noting that , the above-mentioned factors determine the nature of leadership behavior in an organization management and their influence is crucial in organizational effectiveness.
In people management, the leader’s behavior contributes greatly to the essential x-factor where the behavior of the leaders affects the well being of the organization and also shapes the leaders. The employee’s tendency to follow a respectful leader, one who gives them a clear sense of direction and a strong vision for the future, is a clear indication of how a leader’s behavior can influence effective leadership also viewed as the x-factor. In this paper, the leader’s behavior will be analyzed and evaluated as one of the a people management element that greatly contributes to the essential x -factor.
Discussion
The leadership behavior displayed by an organization’s top managers determine how effective the leaders are in inspiring and motivating the workers to achieve the set objectives and goals in the organization where the various concepts and ideas that are used affect the behavior of leaders. In this paper, leader’s behaviour and will be analyzed and evaluated with a greater emphasis on how it contributes to the x-factor. In addition, the paper will discuss how leaders influence and contribute organizational effectiveness which is an indication of effective leadership. In leadership behaviour, various aspects of the behaviour will be analyzed independently to clearly show how behaviour contribute to effective leadership qualities(x-factor)
Leadership behavior in Situational leadership
The effective leadership results from behaviour of the organization’s top managers, which can be acquired through a Situational Leadership model. Situational leadership(SL) theories are interrelated with the manager’s behavior in the place work and this model continues to be applied by many managers remaining highly popular in those who practice it. This leadership theory advocates for the use of different leadership styles in different situations by the managers when the need to do so arises. In addition, it promotes flexibility of the leaders to adapt their leading styles to match the situation they are in at any given time. The Hersey and Blanchard Model, “Situational leader”, is a good example of a model that has been effective in good leadership in many organizations. (Hersey et al, 1996). This model is recognized for its role in allowing leaders to analyze the needs of a situation and then later adopting the most appropriate style of addressing the situation.
Two fundamental concepts comprise the model; the leadership style and the developmental level. Leadership styles are classified into four behavior groups, where leaders are able to direct, coach, support and delegate workers. The four levels of development are based on two major factors , competence and commitment of workers with the leadership style expected to correspond to the development levels of the employees where the leaders are required to adapt to the employees development. The leadership behaviour in this case, is expected to ensure that the leaders employ leadership styles that go hand in hand with the employee’s development levels. This kind of leadership encourages the growth of the workers and at the same time promote the effective leadership necessary in developing the x-factor in management .Situational Leadership is simple to understand and is applicable in most working environments which has made it a very important concept that influences leaders’ behavior in their endeavor to become effective leaders.
A research carried out in Australia on Situational Leadership showed the popularity of this model with many organizations’ managers in relation to effective leadership (Avery G.C. 2001). Situational leadership is easy to use and very effective compared to the other management tools which has made it a very popular model like earlier stated. In addition, another advantage of the model is that managers gain confidence in their roles as leaders enabling them to undertake their leadership roles more seriously and easy to implement the organization’s activities.
Situational Leadership is very instrumental in staff management, counseling, team development, performance appraisals initiating new staff as well as in resolving of conflicts. A situational leadership culture influences the behaviour of leaders to present and future organization’s issues which consequently encourage effective leadership and supports an organization structure. This culture is created and strengthened by offering training courses to the staff, which in turn provides user support, encourages network and reinforces the manager’s commitment to effective leadership. Organization’s managers through situational leadership behavior are able to realize their dreams and fulfill their desire and become effective leader.
Organizational knowledge in leadership behaviour
Leader’s behavior is significant in the knowledge management which later impact on the performance of the organization ,(Davenport et al,1998). Leadership is a key component in the effective knowledge with top executive leaders being faced with a key role in knowledge management of organization. Information and knowledge maximizes organizational and leadership effectiveness through measures that promote both the knowledge sharing and design knowledge networks.
Leadership behavior towards knowledge in organizations contributes greatly to its success due to the critical role proper knowledge management plays whereby effective leadership is achieved by use of information technology and knowledge management by the leaders to consequently focus on the key internal and external customers. In turn ,the effective leadership and organization is influenced by the way in which processes of knowledge management are handled with the grounded theory being recognized as having generated the key role of leaders in knowledge management that leads to them acquiring leadership and organizational effectiveness.
Knowledge is a critical corporate resource and difficulty in managing it has resulted to it being referred as having a very critical leadership role, (Cleveland, 1985). Leader’s implementation of knowledge management activities can be a positive influence on effective organizational performance. According to the ground theory through a conducted study by Lakshman, (Lakshman. C, 2004), leaders have very key roles in information and knowledge management, which in turn affects the organizational performance. Effective leadership promotes positive organizational performance and leader effectiveness through leadership behavior without forgetting organizational effectiveness. These two work hand in hand for the success of an organization through the x-factor found in the organization’s leaders. The ground theory based on the study done by Lakshman indicates that the processes of knowledge management and customer focused knowledge are very vital importance to essential x-factor. Where the leadership behavior promotes good knowledge management, effective leadership can be achieved while on the other hand poor knowledge management behavior in the concerned leaders undermines the achievement the x-factor and therefore impacts on effective leadership.
Positive leadership behavior
Positive leadership behavior is crucial in removing employee negativity at the place of work and at the same time enabling leaders to acquire the x-factor. Employee negativity makes leadership difficult because of lack of workers commitment and responsibility in their work. Both positive organizational and leadership behavior counteract increasing employee negativity (James. B.A et al, 2007). According to the findings from this study when leaders direct employees in a positive manner they feel that they are empowered and will work to the best of their ability. Coupled with the transformational leadership a feeling of empowerment for the employees reduce the negative attitudes to their work and discourages them to quit.
Transformational leaders adopt positive ways of coordinating and directing the employees. Adoption of this kind of behavior by the leaders within the management ranks accelerate changes that are necessary to reduce employee negativity while at the same time increasing the rate of positive organizational change. Social leadership behavior builds positive relationships among the organizations employees with the positive leadership entailing ; a leaders vision to be implemented, trust, development, sharing of power and willingness to experiment and learn between the leaders and the junior workers. The major components of ethos are incorporated in positive leadership and they include competence, integrity, likeableness and dynamism,( Fiol, M.C. et al, 1985).
Through positive leadership, communication from subordinates is encouraged and employees feel less intimidated when asking for advice or help from their superiors. Problem solving becomes much easier, making effective leadership in an organization something achievable (Michael .O et al, 2001) after the leaders have an x-factor within them.
Leadership behavior in People Management
For effective leadership which results to high performance, productive leadership is required which is achieved by combining both management skills and people management specialist skills, (James B.A. et al, 2007). Organizations that aim at achieving the x-factor in their leaders are committed to the organization’s future performance and growth, and so is their leadership. The top managers due to their commitment to the future achievements create effective people management structures which in turn guide skilled managers to lead the teams in delivering strategic business objectives. In addition, this also to creates psychological contacts at the workplace that result to the good employee relations. Productive leadership works together with the continuous learning and knowledge development for the x-factor and hence its contribution to effective leadership.
A study conducted by the UK by the Chartered Institute of personnel and Development in 2001 (CIPD, 2001). Productive leadership is a very important ingredient in effective leadership. Organizational performance is influenced by positive relationship between productivity and the people management practices. Creation of management structures that crate workers enhances productivity of leaders that is essential in transforming them into effective leaders.
Effective Leadership behavior Development
There has been increasing evidence that leadership influences an organization effectiveness (Bass, B.M 1998), prompting the organization’s focus to be on both the organizational outcomes and improvements in leadership programmes. Leadership development programmes are developed to enhance the quality of leadership in an organization, where high quality leadership leads to effective leadership. Furthermore, effective leaders are moulded by already gained x-factor from the development of leadership abilities and attitudes of the individuals. A person’s leadership effectiveness depends on the individual’s personal characteristics and behavior(Stephen R. et al 4th edition). Both training and reading develop leader’s skills. With three factors affecting their successful leadership development. They include; the individual learner characteristics, quality and nature of the leadership development program and finally behavioral change support from the supervisors.
Leadership development programmes are crucial in promoting growth of the leaders in their skills where the programmes provide leaders with various views and perspectives on leadership enabling development of discretionary aspects of leadership behavior (Ruth J.B. 2004). This acquired behavior increase the performance of the management ,depending on the level held by the individual in an organization. Though development of leadership programs is a challenge to some, the programs are very beneficial in encouraging growth of the x-factor in leaders as well as the effectiveness of work in the leaders.
The leader development efforts assist individual leaders to handle high level of complexity at the place of work (Day. D .V et al, 2004). Effectiveness of leaders is influenced by how the leaders construct meaning out of particular situations. A vertical approach to effectiveness of leaders tries to identify the most effective leaders, how they should be selected and promoted, or even their development for a particular leadership position (Lauren S.H. et al, 2008). This is based on a study that was conducted to establish the relationship between Leadership Development Level(LDL) and leader effectiveness. Leaders at the highest development levels were found to be the most effective in complex organizational environments. Leaders are able to produce effective solutions due to their developed ability to know themselves, their followers and their environment at the highest levels. Higher-level managers in development may possess a better self-understanding of their roles in comparison to lower-level trainees. This development promote the development of the x-factor in leaders through improved performance in the leadership skills.
Leadership development promote good managing performance, retaining and cultivating of talent, inspiring commitment and encouraging teamwork; which are predicted by the development levels of the leaders. In addition, development programs promote effective leadership because the leaders acquire their source of understanding from within. Leaders who undergo development programs acquire a strong ability to overcome challenges and obstacles in order to bring changes in the organization for better performance. These leaders are able to deal with conflicts more comfortably as well as handle the workers resistance to change much more effectively making them effective change agents.
Research has indicated that leaders through high development levels have succeeded in generating situations that promote effective leadership. The resultant situations include the organizational transformations improved profitability, market share and reputation. Leadership development has encouraged leader’s growth in their capacity to attend to immediate and pressing issues without being overwhelmed by the issues; coupled with their vision for the long-term goals. In conclusion, leadership development programs enhance the building of the x-factor in the organization’s to management which then translates to leadership behavior that leads to effective leadership.
Shared Leadership Behavior
Shared leadership is based on responsibility and allows its members in an organization to participate in the organization’s performance shared leadership creates an empowering environment at the place of work, just like the decentralization of leadership does (Doherty, C .et al 2000). Four concepts of shared leadership are; accountability, partnership, equity and ownership. An organization that adopts shared leadership encourages respect for the other people’s skills and encourages encouragement and sharing of knowledge in decision-making.
Increased participation in decision-making is achieved through sharing leadership that develops collaborative human relations. Further more, the worker’s sense of commitment is strengthened which increases their productivity with the quality of service that workers offer together with their morale is enhanced by effective operational practices through shared leadership.
As a model, shared leadership exists in relationships that incorporate appreciation, encouragement, respect, trust and fellow-workers’ support. Effective leadership translates to effect management, which in turn is as a result of shared responsibility through leadership in an organization. Partnership and social interaction involve workers in decision-making and in administrative tasks.
Shared leadership can be approached in two ways. One way is by sharing the manger’s job description and responsibilities, while the second one is through sharing of experience, knowledge, ignorance, appreciation and trust. In both aspects, the essence of sharing is based on the will to negotiate as well as to offer ones ability wholeheartedly. It is worth noting that shared leadership influence behavior that encourage to the x-factor in the leaders. However there is no definite way to build shared leadership but the way to build it depends on the needs of the organization.
Conclusion
The essential x-factor in leadership aims at developing effective leadership in an organization with the x-factor shaping the leader’s personal characteristics and behavior, effective leader’s personal characteristics and behavior. Effective leaders are expected to be able to interact with employees and organization’s inside and outside individuals to build x-factor that is essentials in leadership. This creates the demand for leaders to gain the support of many people in order to achieve the set objectives that leads to development of unique understanding of the people.
Leaders with their basic knowledge of human behavior can reshape their personal leadership model to suit the x-factor. The never-ending development process of leaders is greatly influenced by the leadership behavior in a given organization. Aspects of leadership behavior that contribute to the x-factor include; situational leadership, knowledge management, positive leadership, shared leadership and people management to increase productivity.
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