Can You Identify Your Leadership Style?

By examining and exploring the varieties of leadership styles, their advantages and weaknesses, as well as your employees and the given situation, you can decide what is the best leadership style for you. It is important that you adopt a leadership style that you are comfortable with to lead you to future success. Although there are many different leadership styles, there is one trait that is prevalent in every successful leader. That is the ability to bring people together to accomplish a task by -

* involving employees in decision making,

* encouraging two-way communication,

* sharing power, and

* being flexible.

Developing employee commitment and building a resource base of peers, former managers, and, if possible, previous managers of your new organization are very important. The more extensive your network, the easier it will be to handle the new challenges that accompany your efforts with time management, delegation, communication, and motivation.

A Motivated Workplace

The diversity of today's workforce makes motivating employees more challenging than ever. However, if you take time to focus on your employees and their environment, you will create and sustain a cohesive, enthusiastic team that produces at or above the level expected by top management. To build a solid, productive workforce you can -

* hire only fully competent people who already know the job and who do things right all the time. There aren't many such people but you could look around and keep on searching,

* wish for a miracle, or

* take the employees you have and train them to be highly competent.

Of the three choices, doing a good job of training and coaching is the most practical way to have successful and productive employees. Employee motivation is vital to the success of your organization. If you keep your employees' interests, priorities, and goals in mind when you organize tasks, you will achieve your intended goals and will also build a stronger team.

Achievable Goals

An organization cannot succeed without direction. Goal setting gives purpose and direction to the work of an individual employee as well as to a department and organization. Goal setting in an organization can give meaning and relevance to work activities by -

* providing a stimulus for articulating what the individual wants to achieve and what the organization expects from the individual;

* getting people to discuss activities and action rather than personality characteristics; and

* forcing management and employees to look ahead and make plans for the future

The process also allows an organization to check on the attainment of both its short-term and long-term objectives. When properly done, goal setting provides an array of valuable benefits and is a link to coaching, motivation, and communication.

Communicating Clearly

Successful communication is a complex and difficult process. A broad development of awareness, understanding, and hard won new habits is required in order to gradually improve your skills of effective communication. A good communicator always -

* exchanges ideas, feelings, and values;

* uses appropriate language, tone, pitch, and volume;

* gives relevant information;

* uses nonverbal signals to emphasize and support messages;

* solicits feedback; and

* conveys understanding.

Effective communication is a "meeting of meanings." It means getting through to the other person what you mean in a way that he or she understands. The end result is getting the job done correctly and efficiently with the first try so that you, the organization, and the employee are all satisfied.

Problem Solving and Decision Making

Solving problems and making decisions are challenges that managers encounter every day. Effective problem solving and decision making depend on using a method rather than relying on luck - avoid the ready, fire, then aim syndrome. Whether the problem is new or recurring, a systematic approach will have these stages:

* Identify and clarify the problem.

* Seek out the causes of the problem.

* Solicit a variety of potential solutions.

* Select an alternative.

* Plan to implement the solution.

* Use the solution and evaluate the results

You can use this system by yourself or with a group. While working alone may seem more efficient, there are benefits to involving others in the problem-solving and decision-making process: You can get a greater variety of perspectives, use the group dynamic to generate creative ideas, and gain a greater commitment to solving the problem from everyone involved.

Insurmountable Projects, Endless Paperwork, and Constant Interruptions

Time management is a manager's most valuable tool. Instead of thinking about how you can manage, create, and save time, think more about ways to utilize it. Tune is a fixed variable over which you have no control. How you organize yourself is the real key. To help, keep in mind these four principles of time management:

* Time management needs to be simple, organized, and efficient so that it is effective.

* Understand what you are doing and create a plan.

* Ask SMART questions - specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-based.

* Realize and accept that most work is disorganized to begin with.

As a new manager you will soon realize that you cannot accomplish all of your tasks by yourself - you must learn to delegate. Managers who do everything themselves are not leading, they are just working too hard.

Are You an Effective Delegator?

Delegation is a challenging skill for managers to master because it involves effective communication, motivation, goal setting, and leadership. There are three essential components to successful delegation:

* Proper assignment of duties,

* Granting authority to perform, and

* Creating a climate of responsibility.

Unless all three are achieved, the delegation process will not be effective. You must begin by deciding when it is appropriate to delegate. To make your decision easier, clarify the parameters of the delegation for yourself by considering and answering these three questions:

* What is the purpose of this delegation? Knowing if it is to decrease my workload or to develop an employee helps in determining whether or not to delegate a task. Should I delegate this task?

* Can the person effectively complete the task? There is nothing to be gained by assigning a task to someone who does not have the skills and experience to complete the assignment successfully.

* What exactly do I want done? Specify the scope of the assignment.

Effective delegation can save you hundreds of hours of unnecessary work, increase productivity, and provide invaluable training to your associates and employees.

Successful leaders build high performing and profitable organizations. How? With three key elements: knowledge, experience, and insight. Learning how to respond to the seemingly endless, perplexing, and sometimes contradictory demands of your employees, peers, and managers does not happen overnight. It takes time and training. Although, by developing your management skills you will realize enormous benefits in increased productivity, decreased stress, and increased confidence. Your employees will also receive and feel these same benefits, and you may find employee grievances and turnover decrease. Training is the key. By striving for awareness of your employees and your work environment, and with appropriate management development and skills training, you can be a successful leader.

Andrew E. Schwartz is president of A.E. Schwartz & Associates, a comprehensive training organization offering over 40 training programs with workbooks and practical solutions to business problems (617) 926- 9111. The author wishes to thank two associates, Carla Dropo and Peter Di Teresa, for contributing to this article.