The more I read about leadership, the more I internalize the data. I use to see how leadership impacted my life and how that affected the workflow around us, but it has become much more to me. The trait approach fits into the wide idea of leaders naturally possessing the skills for leadership, plus there is a lot of research to back it up (Northouse, 2016). Identifying trait approaches can help me to identify my own strengths and weaknesses, which will give me the opportunity to grow in my leadership skills.
My current supervisor moved up into the position of leadership after four years of being part of the team. She is a kind and soft spoken person who has great organizational skills. There is a disconnect with the team overall and the workflow of each individual. We have coworkers who are overworked and frustrated, while others are sitting back watching movies on their computers. It is an imbalance of work, but the majority has no voice when they talk to the supervisor. She implements the sociability trait but only with the people she has previously worked alongside. The older team members openly argue with her or deny doing important tasks and she does not have the confidence or ability to guide the team in a new direction. We have one very disruptive and manipulative coworker who is given special privileges and leadership roles because the supervisor favors this employee. She has stated that she feels like a mother to this coworker and hopes that giving her more responsibility will turn her around. The two of them talk every morning about their personal life and they both have cried, openly in the office to each other, over the stresses of family and work. Nothing has changed in the past two years with our hostile working environment and our supervisor admits that she can no longer support the team, so she is retiring. A leader being sociable is a great way to connect with the team but there also needs to be a buffer of respect and the confidence to encourage all to follow the departmental goals.
In working with my current supervisor, I see that being sociable can be a great tool in connecting with the team, but they must also respect her leadership. I believe that it is important for the team members to be engaged and apart of the change, instead of change just happening to them. It would help to ease the resistance of the older employees. Communication is a big factor too in setting achievable goals and the supervisor’s role of leadership is to guide the team with confidence and determination. I believe it is important to see the value in each person and bring out their positive traits. I have been working on my ability to become more extroverted and confident in my leadership roles. It has also come to my attention that my goals of leadership may not be found in this one job.
Reference:
Northouse, P. G. (2015). Leadership: Theory and Practice (7th ed.). (pp. 18-42) Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Inc.
Nicole Laborante Phoenix says
I think you highlighted a big problem with your supervisor within the first paragraph of your post. You described your manager as “a kind woman, with great organizational skills”. These attributes are surely helpful in a role of leadership but in my opinion they are the least important when understanding leaders. It seems as though you agree with me that these attributes pale in comparison to the ones needed to guide your team. I agree with you that there needs to be a firmness and certain level of respect within your work environment for your manager.
Northouse offers excellent insight on how the relationship between the leader and the follower can contribute to a poor work environment. Rather than focusing on the greater good of the organization it becomes a popularity contest. “Leaders, find the affirmation of followers hard to resist. The result is often a mutual admiration society that encourages leaders to take actions that shore up their image rather than serve the needs of the organization”(Northouse, 2016, p. 12). This can be seen in the example you provided of your manager favoring one employee and describing herself as a “mother” figure to her. Her sociable traits over power her more rational and assertive traits to lead the business and not her personal relationships with her staff.
References
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Introduction: Chapter 1. In M. Stanley, A. Rickard, L. Larson, & M. Masson (Eds.), Leadership: Theory and Practice (7th ed., pp. 1-18). Retrieved from https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781483317540/cfi/6/10%5B;vnd.vst.idref=s9781483398013.i24%5D