Leadership paper

Leadership paper

   Leadership is one of the essential components that contribute to organizational success. Avery (2005), defines leadership as the quality of being able to mobilize people, or employees towards achieving a common set goal, for the advantage of the company and all stakeholders. Katz (2015), also defines leadership as the ability of an individual to influence and guide others towards a particular direction that is advantageous to them, or that will enable them to achieve specific critical set objectives. The leader, therefore, should possess a clear focus towards issues, maintain the utmost integrity, be a good team player, be courageous, and also have the utmost humility. They should also be able to make reliable and appropriate decisions without fear. These qualities enable leaders to be able to handle challenging tasks that may come up during their leadership tenures.

Leadership works in a sophisticated way; in that, the chosen leader is tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that those that he is leading can go in the same direction as him (Alimo and Alban, 2005). With the sole aim of ensuring that the set goals have been achieved. Therefore, the leader is responsible for ensuring that other people are motivated enough and can work together as a team. The leader, therefore, has to ensure that he formulates strategies that can boost the morale of the employees so that they can be able to work in harmony towards achieving the stipulated goals.

In leadership, one has to establish authority by making decisions that are thought out and that aim at providing the best solutions to any challenges that may arise. The people being led will then begin having faith in the competencies of the leader. As a result, the trickle-down effect of that will be, the people being led will strive to work in harmony with the leader and do as he directs them. They will also assist in coming up with additional solutions to any of the problems that may come up during that process.

Z Energies is a New Zealand-based fuel and petrol distributor that has various branded stations in more than two hundred locations all over the country. The company is made up of some of the former assets of Chevron New Zealand and Shell New Zealand. The company boasts of a twenty-five percent stake in Loyalty New Zealand, which is responsible for running Fly Buys. The company also owns a 15.4 percent stake in New Zealand’s oil refinery. The company is also listed in the Australian and New Zealand stock exchanges.

The Chief Executive Officer of Z Energies is Mr. Mike Bennetts. He is an internationally experienced leader with a lot of skills and experience related to the energy sector- specifically, business segmentation, supplying, and trading. He has also been exposed to diverse fields such as Information Communication Technology, finance, marketing, and sales. This is because he has had a fruitful career over the years and has worked in several multi-national companies.

He achieved a regional executive position in one of the world’s leading companies and was on their international development program. His greatest achievement, however, is being the chief executive officer of Z Energies company that deals in selling fuel. Some of his desirable skills include proper leadership qualities, excellent communication skills, strategic analysis, problem-solving skills, and strong bargaining skills.

He uses a democratic leadership style. In this style, the opinions of junior employees are considered during decision making, and every person is viewed as an asset to the company who needs to be heard and treated fairly (Northouse, 2007). The employees are also given a chance to exercise their creativity in coming up with better solutions to different problems. As of 2019, Z company had 2656 employees in total, with males being about seventy-five percent of the total employee population and forty percent of them being female employees. The employees are from diverse cultures and races but have been incorporated by the company policies and can interact with each other effectively.

Some achievements of the chief executive officer during his tenure in the company include: the company was able to acquire Caltex company, which was also a company that dealt with the selling of fuel. The company also won the Deloitte Top 200 Awards in the year 2016, under the leadership of Mike Bennetts. The company has also been recording good profit margins over the years, making it a significant player in the energy sector, both in New Zealand and even in other parts of the world.

The company motivates its employees mainly by creating a good working environment and also by offering competitive wages. The excellent working environment has been created by promoting the relationship between employees and management. A dispute resolution committee was formed and was tasked with the primary responsibility of handling any disputes that may arise in the company among employees. The employees are also given protective gear, and plenty of fire extinguishers have been availed to them because of their continuous exposure to fuel that is highly flammable. The company also offers its employees fair wages that can enable them to live in good conditions, thus contributing to their motivation.

The marketing manager is also one of the essential people in this company. He is tasked with the responsibility of overseeing the implementation of the marketing strategies of the organization (Mumford and Zaccaro, 2000). He is also in charge of developing those marketing strategies that will ensure maximum sales are realized and that the company can retain its customers in the long run. The marketing manager also coordinates marketing campaigns, sales activities, and developing the company’s marketing budget.

The marketing manager uses a strategic leadership style. This involves making decisions that enhance the organization’s long-term success while at the same time maintaining the company’s short-term financial stability. The manager has stimulated an increase in sales by creating a rapport with the employees. This makes the employees more cooperative and enthusiastic about working in the company.

The manager has also developed a complaints handling unit where any complaints from the customers due to the quality of services provided to them by the employees, any general queries, or issues that may arise are reported. This has made the customers more comfortable while accessing services from this company because they are assured of the best services. Vigorous advertising strategies have also been developed to make the company known to the target customers.

To increase sales, the manager also ensures that the customer care services offered to customers are top-of-the art. Excellent customer care relations enable customers to have a sense of belonging when interacting with the company. That, therefore, creates a spirit of loyalty in the company’s products and services. The company is then able to make more sales as a result of increased customer loyalty.

The company has a diverse customer base situated in New Zealand. Most of the customers are citizens of New Zealand, although people from other cultures such as immigrants and tourists also form part of its clientele. People from both genders who own cars, are the customers to Z Energies Company. The employees are motivated by encouraging them to have a friendly competition. This enables them to work harder and maintain integrity in their work. The employees who become the best are then rewarded. The company also provides training opportunities for employees. That enables them to acquire more work-related skills while at the same time, boosting their motivation levels.

Maori based cultural leadership values play a critical role in Z Energies company. These fundamental values include Taria te Wa and Kaitiakitanga, Whakaiti, Ko tau rourou, and manaakitanga. Whakaiti refers to the ability of the leader to enable other employees to be able to develop in their career paths. Z Energies company insists on the importance of leaders to have humility and ensure that they bring all employees on board to work as a team. Ko tau rourou emphasizes on the theme of generosity while manaakitanga emphasized on caring for people. The company implements that by ensuring that the leaders have developed corporate social responsibility goals that it has to take part in.

Taria te Wa emphasizes the importance of patience and long term thinking. The leaders have to treat the organization as a going concern that will be in existence to the unforeseeable future. Therefore, the decisions that they make should be geared to ensure that the company remains relevant in the future years. They are also encouraged to stay patient for results on new projects or investments that they might have decided to start.

These leadership values have proved useful and effective because the leaders who are chosen in the company have a base from which they should make their decisions. They are also tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that the company is run diligently and that all the employees are accorded equal career-growth opportunities (Kemp and Bader, 2017). This has enabled the company to record steady profit margins over the years.

References:

Alimo-Metcalfe, B., Alban-Metcalfe, J. (2005). Leadership: Time for a New Direction?

Leadership, 1 (1), 51-71.

Avery, G. C. (2005). Understanding Leadership. London: Sage Publications

Katz, R. L. (2015). Skills of an effective administrator. Harvard Business Review, 33 (1), 33-42

Mumford, M.D., Zaccaro, S.J., Connelly, M.S., Marks, M.A. (2000). Leadership skills: conclusions and future directions. Leadership Quarterly, 11 (1), 155-70

Northouse, P. G. (2007). Leadership: theory and practice. 4th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Zaccaro, S. J., Kemp, C., & Bader, P. (2017). Leader traits and attributes. In J. Antonakis, A. T. Cianciolo, & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.). The nature of leadership (pp. 101-124). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.