THE NATURE OF EFFECTIVE EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

             

             In today’s society, there are many instances when effective leadership will be required. This can be accomplished when a specific leader creates conditions that help a group effectively accomplish a specific set of goals and/or objectives. Ensuring effective leadership is important because it can propel and advance most areas within a business or organizational structure. In order to be an effective leader, some major types of behavior that may also be exhibited can include task-oriented behaviors, relation-oriented behaviors, and change-oriented behaviors.

             With this in mind, the main goal of this work will be to analyze effective leadership behavior, after reviewing two specific case studies called “Air Force Supply Squadron” and “Consolidated Products.” This analysis will also be based on the effective leadership behaviors that were exhibited by Colonel Navak in the first case, what that illustrates about effective leadership, and a comparison of the leadership behavior that was presented in both cases. 

Effective Leadership Behaviors That Were Exhibited by Colonel Navak

             After reviewing the case study called “Air Force Supply Squadron” which involved Colonel Navak, there were multiple effective leadership behaviors that were used to improve the overall efficiency of his squadron. The first one was task-oriented behaviors. This is because he organized work activities according to skillset, clarified the expectations of his men, explained the priority of different tasks, set specific goals and standards, explained policies, rules and procedures, monitored the operation and performance and tried to resolve all issues as they arose.

             The second effective leadership behavior that was used is relations-oriented behaviors. This is because he provided support and encouragement, expressed confidence in his men, socialized in a positive manner to build better relationships, recognized accomplishments, provided coaching and mentoring, empowered his men, kept people informed, helped resolved conflicts in a constructive way, and encouraged a higher level of mutual trust and cooperation. While, a third effective leadership behavior that was exhibited is change-oriented behaviors. This was accomplished by monitoring the external environment to detect any threats or opportunities, interpreting events to explain the need for change, encouraging his squadron to view problems and opportunities in a positive way, developing new strategies based on core competencies, encouraging and facilitating collective learning, making changes according to a new vision or strategy, encouraging and facilitating efforts toward major change and keeping his men informed about any progress that was made.

What This Case Illustrates About Effective Leadership

             Once these behaviors were used by Colonel Navak over a period of time, his men [began to see themselves as an essential part of a well-run organization. They began to take pride in their ability to accomplish their mission despite the hardships. Morale and teamwork improved. Before long the squadron became one of the most efficient in Korea] (Yukl. 2013. p. 75).

             Since, this occurred it illustrates and supports the idea that when certain leadership behaviors are used, it can improve overall behavior and efficiency among those in a specified group or setting. I also believe that Colonel Navak may have been considered to be a transformational leader. This is because according to (Robbins & Judge. 2010), transformational leaders are those who “inspire followers to transcend their own self-interests and who are capable of having a profound and extraordinary effect on followers” (p. 309). Furthermore, Colonel Navak’s efforts may also coincide with the Fiedler Contingency Theory. This is because it supports the idea that a leader’s style should be matched with the overall position being undertaken and based on how much control he would have over employees.

Comparing Leadership Behavior That Was Presented in Both Cases

             After reviewing the “Air Force Supply Squadron” and “Consolidated Products” case studies, there were several comparisons associated with leadership behavior. This is because the “Consolidated Products” case study involved a plant manager named Ben Samuels who also initially used task-oriented behaviors, relation-oriented behaviors, and change-oriented behaviors to improve overall efficiency among his employees. Some of these behaviors included building a fitness center for employees, sponsoring yearly picnics and holiday parties for them, avoiding layoffs, getting to know employees by name, visiting and speaking to workers on the floor in a friendly manner, and helping each employee whenever a problem would arise. The reason that he did this is because he believed that if employees are treated with respect and support, they will perform at a higher overall level.

             Even though these positive employer/employee behaviors were exhibited, issues with cost and low production levels became a major issue, so Ben Samuels was replaced by a man named Phil Jones. When this occurred, Phil also exhibited certain leadership behavior associated with task-oriented behaviors. This is because he clarified what was expected, monitored operations and performance, resolved immediate problems that disrupted work, organized tasks to improve efficiency, and explained rules, procedures and policies on a continuous basis. However, he exhibited an extremely low level of leadership behavior that is associated with relations-oriented behaviors and change-oriented behaviors. The result of his leadership skill was a reduction in production cost, an increase in production output, a high turnover rate among supervisors and machine operators, and more negative employee talk about forming a union.

Conclusion

            There are many times when effective leadership will be required to accomplish a specific set of goals and/or objectives. Ensuring effective leadership is important because it can propel and advance most areas within a business or organizational structure. Some major types of behavior that must be present in order to be an effective leader can include task-oriented behaviors, relation-oriented behaviors, and change-oriented behaviors.

             Therefore, the main goal of this work was to analyze effective leadership behavior, after reviewing two specific case studies called “Consolidated Products” and “Air Force Supply Squadron.” This analysis was also based on the effective leadership behaviors that were exhibited by Colonel Navak in the first case, what that illustrates about effective leadership, and a comparison of the leadership behavior that was presented in both cases. The analysis indicated that even though major types of effective leadership behavior may be used there can still be different results due to a variation in individual leader styles.  

References:

Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2010). Essentials of Organizational Behavior (11th Edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ:  Prentice-Hall.

Yukl, G. (2013). Leadership in organizations (8^th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.