Leadership
Cultural Dimensions of Leadership
February 12, 2025
It is rightly said that if you get a good boss, you are the luckiest employee and if your boss does not support you, God can only save you! Leaders are appointed to provide a direction to the team members and also motivate them to deliver their level best.
Is there any employee who admits that he does not work hard in office? Infact no one. Then why do you think very few people really make it big and get the opportunity of managing individuals? Remember, being a leader is not everyone’s cup of tea.
Management plays an essential role in not only recruiting the right person as a team leader but also overcoming the challenges faced in leadership. Management needs to understand the importance of a leader.
Do we need a boss just for the sake of it? Do not ask the wrong person to manage a team. This would not only demotivate the other individuals but also spoil the office environment. It is the responsibility of the human resource department and of course the top management to ensure that the right person gets the opportunity to lead a team.
If you are hiring an individual from outside, make sure you do check his credibility, past achievements, experience, educational qualification and most importantly his/her background before rolling out the appointment letter.
Disaster is bound to happen if a person with no experience or for that matter a criminal background is hired as a team leader. Neither your employees would respect such a person nor bother to listen him/her. No matter of strictness, team meetings, stringent policies would help if the responsibility of managing people is on the shoulders of a wrong person.
Management needs to be extra careful in situations where existing employees are being promoted to lead a time. The challenge is in fact more in such cases. It is not that difficult for employees to accept someone who is completely new to them rather than reporting to someone who was their colleague at some point of time and now their reporting authority. Promotions should be linked to individual concerned’s track record, past performances, behavioural skills, attitude and so on.
Employees would never accept someone as their leader who has never performed but is management’s favourite. Trust me, in due course of time , you would face severe problems which would not only lead to good employees quitting and moving ahead but also unsatisfied employees who are there with the organization just to kill time and money.
Management also needs to give space to all the team leaders. Every individual has his/her own style of working. Do not interfere much. You need to give some time to an individual to perform and prove himself/herself. How can you expect a person to perform extraordinarily in just one month? Even the best of employee would not be able to deliver in a very short period. A boss needs one to two months to understand his employees and another one month to make them work and also extract the best out of them.
Give them some freedom and authority. There are organizations where leaders are appointed just to prepare reports, excels and handle the grievances of their team members. For every small approval, they need to discuss with the top management. Trust me, this way managers feel handicapped. Let them take decisions on their own.
Management needs to trust and have faith in leaders, vertical heads, team managers and so on. If you do not trust them, then you should not appoint them at the first place.
In case of issues, discuss with the leaders first rather than directly interacting with the team members. No one would like and accept it. Give them budgets, deadlines, well defined roles and responsibilities and a good team and let them work in their own way. You would definitely see the difference in a short span of time.