Chapter 10: Leadership, Supervision, and Command Presence (SGT/2015) Flashcards
What is Leadership
-influencing, directing, guiding, and controlling
others. It is an art.
-When others obey because of fear, they are
yielding
-An authority pushes workers while a leader
stimulates and motivates workers
Define Resistance to Leadership TNG
-many supervisors perform leadership tasks in the
traditional, stereotyped fashion
-some supervisors resist b/c of para-military environment:
I lead, you follow
Define Developing Leadership Ability
-it is not inherited
-formal authority does not make a person a leader
-the best leaders make their jobs appear easy b/c they have
the fewest problems
The Autocratic Leader
- highly authoritative
- makes decisions without worker’s input
- workers know where they stand b/c he is by the book
- he directs, commands, and controls his workers
- he rules through fear, intimidation, and threat
- usually effective in emergency and no-time decision making situations
The Democratic Leader
- seeks ideas and suggestions from workers
- he treats workers as associates in a joint venture
- increases their feeling of responsibility
- sense of achievement, recognition, and personal growth
- most important, increases commitment to organization - purely democratic leadership works poorly in emergency situations
- will be popular and respected
Free-rein Leader
- plays down his role and exercises minimum control
- he does not interfere with workers, permits a laissez-faire operation
- lack of supervision is as harmful as excessive amount of supervision
- this type does not work well. He eventually looses control of workers
Selecting a Leadership Style
all types of leadership will work if conditions are favorable
What is Command Presence and Leadership
-individual has complete command of his mental and physical faculties and emotions
-outward appearance the person had ability and qualifications to take command of any
situation
-the leader’s attitude permeates a group. If he displays anxiety, the group will.
Elements of Leadership
- a high level of discipline is perhaps the best mark of good leadership
- ordinarily, if good leadership is present so is high morale
Leadership Ethics
- leaders must strictly adhere to high standards
- leader must avoid all appearances of evil
Psychology of Leadership
- must understand what motivates workers
- should use autocratic style sparingly
Motivating Employees
-application of incentives which encourages a certain positive pattern of behavior
-workers are stimulated best when they are provided with positive incentives that satisfy
individual needs
-motivators are different for different people. Motivators over time may lose their appeal
-money and material incentives are vastly overrated
-better motivators are: praise, recognition, etc.
-negative motivators (fear, coercion, intimidation, and punishment) should be avoided unless
when positive motivators have failed
-punishment must be used reasonably and fairly
-leader can try to eliminate motivation barriers:
-avoid heavy-handed practices that impose unfair demands on workers
-improve communications so workers understand his goals, direction, etc.
-make the added effort to improve morale
-avoid courses of action that cause strife, confusion, anxiety, mistrust
-give workers a feeling of trust
-reward workers for their excellence
-provide training
-pay, commendations, formal promotions, working conditions don’t necessarily improve performance, but they do often prevent morale from deteriorating
Situational Analysis and Self-Appraisal
- supervisor should constantly look at his own strengths and weaknesses
- workers can’t be treated like figures in a formula
Leadership Characteristics
-friendly, never a pessimistic or negative attitude, sincere, remembering a person’s birthday
or birth of a child
-enthusiasm for the job, zeal to do the right thing
-ambition, within reason. Never take credit for someone else’s work.
-Physical stamina. High frustration tolerance.
-has a sense of direction with clear goals. Takes personal responsibility. Doesn’t break
promises.
-intelligent. Has imagination and humor. Makes objective observations. Has vision and
insight.
-technical skills.
-faith. Has faith in himself and workers.
-verbal aptitude. He is persuasive and tactful.
-courtesy.
-modesty
Human Relations and Leadership
-there are times when you have to be critical of workers. If you don’t, they won’t know what you
expect from them
The Manner of the Leader
-body language gives away the thoughts of an individual
The Language of the Leader
- what a leader says give a clue to his mental state
- speech should be positive and direct, not uncertain, negative, or apologetic
- don’t talk down to others
Commending and Praising Others
- praise given sincerely will induce continued good performance
- frequent complaint of workers is criticism comes regularly, but praise seldom
- giving praise when it is not merited looses value
Reprimanding and Criticizing
- many supervisors do not give criticism when it is due
- often supervisor is afraid of repercussions from social group
- should never loose temper when reprimanding worker
- inform worker in private about unacceptable behavior
Knowledge of Subordinates
- should learn as much as you can about your workers
- once supervisors gain worker’s confidence, they will go to him for help
The Marginal Employee
- causes dissatisfaction with other workers
- production and morale eventually suffer
- special counseling and recognition will sometimes motivate the disgruntled employee
- sometimes the only other solution is transfer or termination
Giving Orders
-interpretations of orders
-what the person actually said, what he thinks he said, and what the recipient thinks he said
-why orders fail:
-poor selection of words, giving orders in haphazard way, giving too many orders, and
neglecting to follow-up
-Direct Commands
-emergency situations
-given to workers who don’t want to follow SOG
-should be simple and direct
-Requests
-most orders should be frames as requests
-most workers view the request as an order
-cooperation is obtained through requests than by commands
-Implied or Suggestive Orders
-good for workers who are reliable and assume responsibility
-often abstract and deprive the supervisor of follow-up
-since they are open to interpretation, they are usually unenforceable
-Request for Volunteers
-supervisor should not ask for volunteers if he is skirting his own responsibilities
-Communicating Orders
-positive orders are more likely than negative
-verbal orders are good for simple tasks
-written orders are good for complex tasks
-Following Up Orders
-supervisor surrenders his authority little by little when he fails to follow up his orders
Decision Making
- a wrong decision is sometimes better than no decision at all
- indecisiveness is easily perceived
- decision making process:
- awareness of a real problem
- facts must be obtained
- evaluate and analyze data
- alternative approaches leading to logical conclusion should be decided
- decision selected from solutions – pros and cons weighed
- communicate decision to those who will carry it out
Drawing Conclusions
- don’t jump to conclusions
- supervisor’s judgment should be more right than wrong
- the cause of poor behavior may not be readily apparent on the surface
Moderation in Supervision
- inexperienced supervisors often over-supervise
- arises from their failure to delegate
- must train workers to do the job, then let them do it
- new supervisors can still be friends with old worker friends, but the relationship has changed
Setting an Example
respected leader will be imitated
Avoidance of Gender Bias Harassment
-most common acts: unjust favoritism, improper advances, discourteous language, unfair evals, demotions, salary reductions, discharge, any act creating a hostile work environment
Symptoms of Leadership Failure
- selfishness, suspicion, envy, failure to give credit, hypercriticism are all causes of failure
- leadership fails more often b/c it is not provided when needed and b/c techniques are flawed
- leadership has failed if:
- discipline is low
- standards of conduct are low
- organization has disloyalty, mistrust, and self-interest
- failures will result in: reduced productivity, low morale
- a worker who has produced well does not mean he will be a good supervisor
- he may not manage people well
- can’t delegate
- can’t coordinate activities of others
- can’t follow up with worker’s performance
- can’t take remedial action
