Leadership Behaviours and its Effectiveness

When Colonel Novak assumed the squadron of supplement during Korean War, found the squadron in serious problems, but most of them could be mitigated with good leadership strategies. The soldiers showed compliance with the task, even though it was not enough to solve the problem. The lack of enthusiasm left the squadron in serious trouble and mediocre performance. Was crucial gain Commitment. The term Commitment describes an outcome in which the target person internally agrees with a decision or request from the agent and makes a great effort to carry out the request or implement the decision effectively (Yukl, G., 2010, p.200). Novak showed highly skilled Directive leadership enabling him to change behaviours, giving clear instructions and also helping followers develop abilities and skills. In that particular case, Colonel Novak adopted a 360 degree review and transparency in his relationship with the group, talking personally with each individual and soon he was able to know personally everyone in his squadron, estimating the strength of each individual, making easier the decision of allocating his soldiers according with their abilities and willing. Showing respect and consideration for the individuals, also, assuring that everyone knows clearly what is the task and what was expected for them to deliver, in a motivated and clear path that would allow people to access the leader when they feel necessary. As Vogelgesang stated The creation of a common goal through the sharing of relevant information gives all organizational members something to which they can be loyal. (Vogelgesang, G. R., et al 2009 p.254) Likewise Novak presented Supportive Leadership, once is known that those soldiers were in a stressful complex task, lacking of time and resources, also facing many complaints that may result in low self-esteem. The Colonel worked individually to provide support, instructions and feedback. Listening to them and showing concern, trust and encouraging and enhancing their qualities and emphasising how important their work were for the men in combat, better than just explain, Novak flew towards battle field with his trope to high light this point. In short space of time, his team were able to perform much better than before. The ability of listening can be difficult because some staffs may need more support and instructions than orders, once they know already their work, the challenge for the leader is to

deep understand each individual and motivate him or her to solve that problem which is affecting their performance. Participative Leadership was also identified in this particular case, in order to avoid misunderstandings and confusions, the Leader has to be able to identify trust and empower their subordinates, once the team is trained and focused, goals are clearly identified and agreed for both, leaders and subordinates. The leader has to trust and empower the team in order to make task run smoothly. This trust can be useful once the team has knowledge and expertise which provide ideas and suggestions for improvements. Even though some suggestions cannot be used, listened and respect different views has impact in several points that need to be consider such as: enhance commitment, encourage and support initiative, empower problem solving, develop subordinates self-esteem, reducing bureaucratic controls that demotivates people to participate. In addition to that, Novak for instance worked side-by-side with the squadron in some cases that were shortage of staffs, or high demands to make sure that the task would be completed at the right time. This behaviour has a strong psychological impact for the trope which does not feel inferior and earn the sense of a true team focusing the same goal. Charismatic Leadership is also relevant in this case, as the Colonel had the knowledge to identify how he could approximate himself, becoming trustworthy and then propose to the trope all changes that he identified as crucial for the success of the operation. The most dangerous quality is exactly the crucial for the acceptance of a leader, as he was able to communicate, present the problems and offer a solution, Novak become accepted and the trope followed his lead to the improvement, on the other hand a leader can be an expert and with knowledge and position power lead the group, but it would be hard and could generate arguments. In conclusion there is no doubt that Colonel Novak was high skilled and prepared to that job and performed really well the task. As a leader he used much more his personal power than his position power as a Colonel, showing loyalty to the group, competence in solving task problems and vision, transforming the squadron in just 2 months. The resilience of a team rely strongly in its leader to deliver transformations without being manipulative or arrogant, such actions threatens the performance and damage the confidence compromising the results expected.

References Books Yukl, G. (2010) Leadership in Organizations,7th ed. New Jersey: Pearson, p.132-233. Articles Podsakoff, P. et al. (1983) Leader Expertise as a Moderator of the, Journal of Management, 9(2), p.173-185. Vogelgesang, G. and Lester, P. (2009) Transparency, Organizational Dynamics, 38(4), p.2502-260.