Discuss the challenges facing leaders today as they navigate through disruptive environments
Leadership challenges have been described as being inevitable in the workplace. An organizational setup, for instance, is made up of people with different ideologies, and they react differently to instructions or guidelines issued by the management.
Honing effectiveness
This is a widely experienced challenge as leaders navigate through disruptive environments. Its characterized by the ability to develop relevant skills such as time management, prioritization of general and specific objectives, strategic thinking, decision making, and also getting up to speed with the job.
Inspiring others
Inspiring tactically describes the act of filling with an animating, quickening, or exact influence on someone. Leaders face an underlooked challenge of motivating and improving the self-confidence of others to ensure that they work smarter in their area of specification and are more satisfied with their jobs.
Developing employees
The challenge of developing others includes mentoring and coaching them. Mentoring is a long-term process based on mutual trust and respect, and it is more focused on creating an informal association between the mentor and mentee. In contrast, coaching is a short-term process based on a formal and more structured approach.
Guiding change
In a disruptive environment, leaders face the challenge of managing, mobilizing, understanding, and leading change. Guiding change involves developing knowhow to mitigate consequences, overcoming resistance to change, and, most importantly, dealing with employee’s reactions to change.
Leading a team
In a disruptive environment, the leader has to deal with the challenge of team building, team development, and team management. Specific leadership challenges may include how to instill pride, how to provide support, how to lead a big team, and also what to do when taking up a new group.
Discuss in detail the level of conflict in any organization or community and strategies to manage conflict
Intrapersonal conflict
This level of conflict occurs within an individual and often involves some form of goal conflict or cognitive conflict. Goal conflict exists for individuals when their behavior will result in outcomes that are mutually exclusive or have compatible elements.
Interpersonal conflict
This type of conflict involves two or more individuals rather than one individual. It occurs mainly due to personality differences, perceptions, clashes of values and interest, power and status differences, and the possibility of the scarcity of resources.
Intragroup conflict
Intergroup conflict occurs through differences among members of the same group.it may occur due to varying perceptions of the members in terms of their experiences, education, and training of members of the group. Intragroup conflicts also have a positive effect as through specialization and division of labor, and workers can perform best and advocate for innovations.
Intergroup conflict
An organization is a collection of individuals and groups. As the situation and requirements demand, the individuals from various groups, the success of the organization depends upon the harmonial relations among all interdependent groups even though some intergroup conflicts in organizations are inevitable.
Intra organizational conflict
Intra organizational conflict is divided into four groups, vertical conflict, horizontal conflict, line staff conflict, and role conflict. An example of vertical conflict is a superior-subordinate conflict that usually arises because superiors attempt to control the subordinates. Horizontal conflict refers to the conflict between employees and departments at the same hierarchical level in an organization. The different personal characteristics between line and staff managers lead to line staff conflict.
Strategies for managing conflicts
Various researchers have identified strategies for dealing with and reducing the impact of behavioral conflict.
- Ignoring the conflict
In certain situations, it’s advisable to take a passive role and avoid conflicts altogether. Parties involved in the dispute may themselves prefer to avoid conflict, especially if they are emotionally upset by the tension and the frustration created by it.
2.Smoothing
Smoothing simply means covering up the conflict by appealing for the need for unity rather than addressing the issue of the conflict itself. Smoothing is a more sensitive approach than avoiding in that as long as the parties agree that not showing conflict has more benefits than showing disputes, the conflict can be avoided
3.compromising
A compromise in the conflict is reached by balancing the demands of the conflicting parties and bargaining in a give and take a position to reach a solution. Compromising is a useful technique, particularly when two parties have relatively equal power; thus, no party can force its viewpoints on the other hence, the only solution is to compromise.
4.forcing
This technique involves domination, where the dominator has the power and authority to enforce his views over the conflicting opposing party. This technique is potentially useful in situations such as the president of a company firing a manager because he is considered a trouble maker and conflict initiator.
5.problem solving
This technique involves confronting the conflict to seek the best solution to the problem. However, this technique is not effective in resolving non-communicative types of conflict, such as those based on differing value systems, where it may even intensify differences and disagreements.
Discuss at least five leadership style with their approaches in leadership and management
According to David Jones, a distinguishes professor of control, and most leaders generally adhere to one or two preferred methods of leadership and management with which they feel comfortable. Various leadership styles are essential for all leaders to have in their toolkit.
- Directive leadership style
This type of style shows that the leader is not a dictator, but he/she is very clear in establishing performance objectives for the organization. By defining the roles of employees, it seeks to distribute tasks according to the skills and experiences of the workers.
2.supportive leadership style
This style shows the importance of the leader being approachable and empathetic. The leader should show concern for employees and treat them with dignity and respect.
3.participative leadership style
A participative leader works hard to buy in by soliciting employee input. The leader should also encourage employee’s involvement in decision making and, more importantly, to ensure that their views have been considered.
4.achievement-oriented style
A leader should stretch goals and encourage continuous improvement of all employees in the organization. He/She should also empower employees and give them autonomy, assuming they will do their personal and teamwork at their best.
5.transformational leadership style
Most leaders aspire to be transformational by leading through vision. This style helps the leaders to have an eye on the future so that they can model and communicate their forward-thinking commitment.