Being a leader is very important in any management position. Not only do should you want to manage your employees, but you should want to inspire and help them grow. According to Gary Yukl, leadership skills can be divided into three separate groups: task orientation, relation orientation, and participative leadership (Yukl, 2003). All three of these categories are very important, and I have personally dealt with managers who have lacked in all three of these categories. Therefore, to become a better manager, I will take what I've learned from them and do things differently.
Task orientation is one of the most important categories in leadership. Task orientation refers to the way a manager handles tasks and puts them in order of importance. In my own experience, I have worked with a manager in the restaurant industry was horrible at doing this. They would handle things that could be dealt with at a later time before talking to a customer who is complaining for instance. When I get into a leadership position, I will be sure to organize my tasks. This would make it possible for goals to be met, customers will be satisfied, and employees will, in turn, feel organized too.
Relation orientation is the way a leader interacts with their employees. Relationship-oriented leaders are focused on supporting and motivating the people on their teams rather than focusing solely on themselves. Communication is a huge part of this category. With an information peer relationship, for instance, low levels of self-disclosure and trust are in effect (Modaff, Butler, & DeWine, 2011). In my experience, I have worked with many managers who have this problem. Working in an atmosphere where this happens, many employees do not feel they can turn to their superior, and therefore do not have a leader.
The category of participative leadership simply is defined as having a manager who is actively working with you to accomplish goals. These goals could be related to the company or even with your own success. When having a manager who lacks in this category, the business can sometimes fail. A leader must be constantly working with their employees to exceed expectations and improve the company. Participation as a leader is one of the most important categories of leadership.
When wanting to become a leader, there are many things you need to consider about yourself. It is possible to do a leadership assessment, which will help you identify what you need to improve on. My goal is to be a manager one day, but not only do I want to be a manager, I also want to be a leader to my employees. Helping my employees to succeed will, in turn, help me succeed. Evaluating the three categories of management will help me to accomplish that.
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