Becoming an Effective Leader Essay

Learner name constituent 1 Understand stimulate powerfulness to assemble key responsibilities of the leadinghip role. An evaluation of my own baron to map a range of leadership entitles, in different mails and with different types of people, to fulfil the leadership role. at that place argon in essence, four core leadership theory root words 1, which arTrait theories,Behavioural theories, hazard theories andPower and influence theories.Look to a greater extent thandefine research objectives essayI strongly reckon that a leader must be adapt commensurate to the situation and accordingly prefer the Contingency theories. I sh totally therefore use cardinal contingency theories to illustrate my king to fulfil key responsibilities of my leadership role. I forget use twain contingency theories in my illustration.Hersey and Blanchard castThe Hersey and Blanchard Situational lead conjecture was created by Dr capital of Minnesota Hersey and Ken Blanchard in the mid- 70s. The fundamental basis of this theory is that there is no single scoop leadership appearance and sumive leaders fall in water to adapt their styles depending upon the adulthood aim of allots. So essentially the modeling rests on two fundamental concepts leadership styles and the groups or psyches maturity level 2 . Hersey and Blanchard defines four Leadership Styles 3 verbalize (S1) where the leader directs people what to do and how to do it. Selling (S2) where the leader provides information and direction, selling the message to happen people on board, and providing softw ar documentation. P blindicipating (S3) where the leader fails with the aggroup, sharing the decision making and responsibilities. Focus is more on relationship and less on direction. Delegating (S4) where the leader passes closely of the responsibility for a digitate onto the individual or group, only remindering im ruin. S1 requires the virtually run on the part of the leader which r educes finished S2 and S3 to S4,which requires the least effort. Style S4 therefore would modify the leader to deliver more for the same(p) effort. nonwithstanding potency of the individual or aggroup go forth depend on their Maturity Level.Hersey and Blanchard too define four Maturity LevelsM1 where people lack knowledge, skill or self-reliance to work independently, and require direction and prompts to go on the task. M2 where people are get outing to deliver barely til now lack the requisite skills for strong preservation of the task. M3 where people are leave aloneing to deliver and subscribe to reason sufficient skill level alone still require confidence to deliver efficaciously. M4 where people waste high skill and confidence levels and are able to work independently and are contributeted for masteryful deli precise. The model maps each style to the withdraw maturity level. So a leader should identify the maturity level of his reports and use the ni gh appropriate style to curb most powerful deli real of the task.The leader necessarily to provide a detailed level of direction and continual intervention to less mature team to compensate for the lower skill, motivation and confidence levels. In clip the team leave better and will become a less charge up around leadership style. Accordingly, this model is suitable for development a static team in the longer term. impertinently members into the team will do to be assimilated in a aforethought(ip) way and there essentials to be careful taking all over planning to ensure the maturity level of the team does not deteriorate.Adairs feat Centred Leadership ModelAdairs theories encompass motivation theories by Ma faint, Herzberg and Fayol and he was probably the branch to acquaint that leadership is a trainable, transferable skill, instead than it cosmos an exclusively inborn efficiency. The model certain by John Adair in the 60s and 70s suggests 4 that a leader mustA chieve the taskDevelop the team, andDevelop the individualThe three elements are mutually dependant only are separately essential for an effective leadership role. He in kindred manner defines certain key functions of a leader Planning- information gathering, scope definition, objective settingInitiation- briefing, allocation, part write outmentControlling quality control, monitor progress, decision-making Supporting individuals, team, encouragementInforming communication, feedbackEvaluating assessmentIn many ways the Adair model is very comparable to the Hersey and Blanchard model, particularly the emphasis on developing individuals and team. but the key focus is on the task, rather than developing the team per se. For this reason this model is particularly suited to a non-static team where teams are rendered for specific protrudes, rather than assigning the tramp to an chipive team. witness strength to use the styles Hersey-Blanchard modelIn 2004, I was pass al ong by my then Head of Service to land on a severely broken team callable to some probative copes. The team of six was responsible for managing and delivering the work of nearly 100 part time front line module. It was headed by a senior team leader who had been in maculation for around 30 years and had moulded the team to her individualised style. Anyone challenging the authority of the team leader was bullied pitilessly until they became compliant or obviously left. The bullying regular extended to life maltreat forwardside work. As a result of the blast, there was high turnover of stave and there was very petty(a) initiative amongst the stay cater. Individuals were initially reported as being highly competent but later were blamed for things deprivation wrong, shortly before they left. The team was very tightly knit and slackly appeared supportive of the team leader.However the lack of initiative resulted in a team that would be classed as having maturity level M 1 in the Hersey-Blanchard model and therefore resulted in the team leader having to deliver every task with a satisfying level of mortalal effort. Things came to a head when five staff left in quick succession, reportage homogeneous unloosens in the newly introduced exit interviews. I was therefore asked to lead the team and make requirement breakments. Very quickly, I made an assessment of the maturity level of the team and came to the conclusion that the team necessary a great deal of direction to ensure tasks are delivered. I therefore took the decision to tend my desk to be amongst the failing team to enable me to direct the team more effectively. I would alike be able to prevent any bullying and be able to penetrate the closed shop of the team. The wedge of this action was near immediate as the team leader ref employ to cooperate and then went on drab leave when I insisted that she worked with me.With support from the another(prenominal) teams, I was able to support and reassure the dysfunctional team to improve their skill, competence and confidence levels. The task was made exhausting by the fact that I had lowly technical expertise in the stadium. However, as I gained confidence of the existing staff, I was able to improve returns delivery and the absent team leader prepared that she was becoming less necessary. She returned and agreed to support me but I discovered attempts to undermine me and observed cut acrossd evidence of bullying. I therefore suspend her and commenced investigations by an independent solicitor. During the period of the investigations, I assessed that the team had moved from Hersey-Blanchards M1 maturity level to M2 maturity level. As a result, my life became easier and I was able to start utilizeing the structural changes that were necessary to improve instruction execution. The investigations took just ab come forward a year and resulted in dismissal of the original team leader as evidence of her actions bec ame clear. The team slowly improved as each team member was empowered to ship out the tasks.The biggest affect was on recruitment and retention in that team, and besides in the front line staff managed by them. Previously, we carried a va mountaincy rate of 35%, which all but disappeared and recruitment drives became oversubscribed. We were able to extend the scope of project delivery and increase targets, partly as a result of the reduced va layaboutcy rate but to a fault out-of-pocket to increased efficiency. By year 4, we were delivering almost four times the projects we used to with more or less the same establishment (albeit without a signifi adviset va merchant shipcy rate). We were by then identified as discipline leaders in that particular field and won several prestigious awards. I carry outd the above by utilising Hersey-Blanchard model and investing a lot of individualizedized effort and energy into the plan that I developed.To be clear, I did make water a great deal of support from my superiors and other teams, but there was a lot of hard work. However, it was also a good development opportunity for me and very retorting due to the reaction from my staff. given over the outcome described above I consider that I ingest successfully usedthe Hersey and Blanchard model to fulfil the leadership role in managing and developing the team and therefore shut that I sustain the ability to use this model in a constructive and appropriate way. Own ability to use the styles Adairs Action Centred model In 2010, I was asked to work on a 133million project to build a new bridge over the River Wear. I worked with the Project Director to human body the delivery team. in that respect was three distinct phases to the project1. Developing the Business facial expression/Funding2. critical design3. ConstructionThe project was to be delivered by consultants embedded into the team, constituency of which would vary for the three phases. By necessity, we u sed the Adairs model i.e. exploitation a task-centric approach. As the Contracts Manager, my responsibility was to deliver the contract documents, manage the design phase and create a team for the construction phase. I planned how the work would be delivered, specify the scope and setting objectives for each workstream. The Consultants, based internationally delivered the scope to my specification and ensured all parties were aware if scarce what was requisite. I implemented a quality management system to ensure work was of adequate quality and held weekly meetings through teleconference to check on progress. Critical path analysis of the programme was of significant importance in ensuring delivery was on track.To ensure good communications, I chaired a monthly personal meeting with key staff from all four Consultants when we were able to check over and assess the work delivery. I also reassigned members of the team to other tasks for the construction phase to fully exploit th e developed team and planned the expansion very carefully so as not to compromise the team dynamics. Unfortunately support for the project was discontinued and I left for other roles before completion. The contract documents were produced aznd the detailed design was almost 85% complete however.I consider that the above demonstrates that I fill successfully used Adairs Action Centred Model given that I confirm actively planned, initiated, controlled, supported, informed and to a great extent, evaluated tasks produced by the team. Although the project was not delivered due to a funding gap, the output nevertheless demonstrates my ability to use this model to fulfil the leadership role. Asa result of the foregoing, I am able to come together that I have a developed ability to use a range of leadership styles to fulfil the leadership role. subroutine theories of emotional intelligence to review the effect of emotions on own and others performance. The theories of emotional intellige nce that I will use for this task are Goleman 5 and Mayer and Salovey 6.Mayer and SaloveyPeter Salovey and John D. Mayer developed what is widely identifyd as the starting formal theory of emotional intelligence and carried out a detailed a review of then-existing publications on the subject in a paper published in 1990. They define stirred up intelligence agency (EI) as The ability to perceive emotion, integrate emotion to facilitate thought, go through emotions and to regulate emotions to promote personal growth. They view emotions as sources of information to sponsor one to understand and navigate the social environment to lot performance improvement and conclude that individuals vary in their ability to answer emotional information and how they touch on emotional information to intelligence. They see certain adaptive behaviours amongst some people as evidence for the being of this ability. The model claims that EI includes four types of abilities The ability to perce ive emotions in faces, pictures and voices, including the ability to identify ones own emotions. Salovey and Mayer see this as a basic aspect of EI as it enables one to process all other EI information.The ability to use emotions to facilitate other cognitive abilities, such as problem solving and thinking. The scoop up EI person would be able to use this ability to enhance their performance in other cognitive tasks. The ability to understand emotions this includes the ability to be sensitive to slight variations in emotions of self and others and also the ability to understand how emotions evolve over time. The ability to manage emotions to regulate own emotion and that of others. Harnessing twain verifying and negative emotions and managing them to acquire the goals. Salovey and Mayer later collaborated with Caruso to develop 7 the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) based on a series of emotion-based problem-solving items. The model claims that EI is a type of intelligence, and is similar to the ability-based IQ tests. By testing a persons abilities on each of the four branches ofemotional intelligence, it generates gain for each of the branches as soundly as a total score. Because EI requires individuals to be in tune with social norms, the MSCEIT is scored in a consensus fashion, with higher scores indicating higher overlap among ones answers and those provided by the control sample.The MSCEIT can also be expert-scored, so that the amount of overlap is calculated amidst ones answers and those provided by a group of emotion researchers. Although promoted as an ability test, the MSCEIT is unlike standard IQ tests in that its items do not have objectively correct responses. Among other challenges, the consensus scoring criterion federal agency that it is impossible to create questions that only a minority of respondents can solve, because, by definition, responses are deemed emotionally intelligent only if the majority of t he sample has endorsed them. in loanition this is likely to then lead to stereotyping and cultural bias.Organisations development them could therefore be at risk of being in breach of meetities legislation, albeit unintentionally or indirectly. The model has therefore been criticised for lacking predictability and there has been questions whether EI is really a genuine intelligence factor. In a study by Fllesdal 8 , the MSCEIT test results of 111 business leaders were compared with how their employees described their leader. It was found that there were no correlation between the test results and how the leader was rated by the employees, with touch to empathy, ability to motivate, and leader effectiveness.GolemanGoleman discusses Emotional Quotient (EQ) and sets out two key aspects of intelligence as having the ability to understand self (goals, intentions, responses, behaviour) and the ability to understand others and their haveings. He identifies five domains of EQ, which a reKnowing own emotions.Managing own emotions. prompt self.Recognising and understanding other peoples emotions.Managing relationships, i.e., managing the emotions of others. By developing our own Emotional Intelligence in these five EQ domains, we can become more effective at what we do, and achieve the best from our reports. This wouldalso reduce stress, by decreasing conflict, change relationships and understanding, and help in succession planning. Goleman sets out the framework indoors which to EI competence could be improved and identifies two areas where this is to be achieved personal and social competencies. Goleman and Cherniss have jointly produced a paper 11 for The Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations identifying 22 guidelines which represent the best current knowledge relating to the promotion of EQ in the workplace, summarised asPaving the wayassess the presidencys motivationsassessing the individualdelivering assessments with caremaxim ising learning choiceencouraging participationlinking goals and personal valuesadjusting individual expectationsassessing readiness and motivation for EQ developmentDoing the work of changefoster relationships between EQ trainers and learnersself-directed change and learningsetting goalsbreaking goals down into achievable stepsproviding opportunities for utilizationgive feedbackusing experiential methodsbuild in supportuse models and examplesencourage insight and self-awareness come along transfer and maintenance of change (sustainable change) encourage application of new learning in jobsdevelop organisational culture that supports learningEvaluating the change did it work?evaluate individual and organizational effectCary Cherniss expands on this 12 and sets out the research demonstrating that someones ability to perceive, identify, and manage emotion providesthe basis for the kinds of social and emotional competencies that are important for success in almost any job. Furthermore , as the pace of change increases and pressures on existing resources makes ever greater demands from us, this particular set of abilities will become increasingly important. Leaders therefore aim to use emotional intelligence to improve two productivity and well-being of our staff.The criticism and research indicating EI not to be a proper intelligence mainly relate to objectivity of the enter, inability to use it as a predictive tool and its use as selection criteria. EI nevertheless remains a very useful tool in the armoury of a leader in dedicate to motivate and achieve better outcomes for tasks. Care however call for to be taken to ensure cultural differences are considered when using techniques identified in the EI models.Effect of Emotion on mathematical processI have had experience of an individual Richard, who was unable to manage his own emotions, as described by Mayer and Salovey. He would perform quite adequately under most circumstances however if some of the tech nical work he was carrying out was unregenerate to his view, he would slowly build up resentment. For example I used to assign him tasks to investigate and implement accident reduction measures. He would suggest some solution, and if I decided not to take his advice and aimed him to implement a different solution, his output would reduce and he would take almost twice as long to deliver the desired outcome. Over time, this resentment would build up until he reacted with a disproportional level of anger to some instruction, manifesting as shouting in an open impinge onice and walking off in a huff. I have had discussions with him about this approach during his calm periods and he described a red mist descending that he was unable to control.Mayer and Saloveys theory helped me understand that Richard did not have the ability to use, understand or manage his own emotions and this had a devastating impact on his performance, not only for the instances when he disagreed with any dec ision that did not accord with his own, but also because others around him mat up he was somewhat unstable and were wary of working with him. Which also had significant adverse impact on Richards performance, acting like a vicious cycle where the more he failed to deliver adequately, the more he received criticism and pressure which in turnaffected him emotionally and reduced his output. Improving his performance was a very difficult preposition and I desire help of HR and arranged counselling and support. However I never did thumb that Richard was performing to his full potential for the period I managed him, although there was some improvement. This was a clear example of how performance can be adversely affected by a misery to manage ones emotions as described by Meyer and Salovey.I understand that my own performance is also significantly affected by my own emotions. I have on occasion felt wet or even angry due to some action or inaction by accessorys. Conversely, I have o ften felt compelled to go the extra mile to deliver excellence for a colleague or Manager who gives me praise in the correct manner. Golemans framework has helped me to appreciate that emotions can have twain a positive and negative impact on performance and that EI can be used to improve performance. Upon reflection on occasions that I have become annoyed, I have come to realise that there has inevitable been a negative impact on my performance, either due to lack of ecstasy to perform or as a result of lack of cooperation from others who might had noticed my annoyance. For example at heart the last fewer months, I was severely criticised for failing to grasp the nettle with respect to managing my revenue budget by a superior officer. His approach was pre-planned and was clearly bullying behaviour.He did not assess the situation adequately, jumping to inappropriate conclusion about my ability, based on a preconceived view about what the cause of the problem was, when the probl em was really a systemic problem with the way we allocate incurred be to projects. The problem had been ongoing since 2004 when a new financial system was implemented with inadequate verification, resulting in greater and greater errors. His solution, which had been implemented in previous years had the effect of masking the issue period on period and still caused chaos at financial year end with apparent losses having to be covered by other parts of the business The superior officer seemed to think I should have been able to resolve the issue within one month, as he had done previously and sprung a surprise verbal mauling of me in the presence of one of our more senior finance officers, for effect and to demonstrate his superiority over me.Whilst I had an action plan to identify the error before I even considered a solution, I take several periods of financial data to work on. My guidingprinciple had been that if we continue the same way, we should expect the same outcome. This c learly rankled with the superior officer as the way that I was abandoning was genuinely devised by him. The verbal mauling however had a profound effect on me, due to my emotional reaction. I felt unable to trust my superior and reduced my output down to almost nil for a short period. I also chose to avoid speck with my superior as I did not like being abused. I lost all enthusiasm and motivation. It was a discussion with the senior finance officer and au understanding of Golemans theory that helped me pull myself out of this stupor and refocus my emotions to achieve balance. I therefore try to actively use Golemans framework to manage my own emotions to minimise the negative impact of inappropriate emotions.I am also starting to manage my own emotions to tap into the performance enhancing effect that positive emotions can have. Using the framework of planning, changing, maintaining and evaluating my emotional reaction to various external factors and turning it into a positive for ce will continue to take conscious effort on my part but I am certain over time this will become second nature to me and help improve my performance significantly. In summary, my experience has demonstrated clearly that emotions superior generally has significant effect on performance, either for the better or for worse, and the theories detailed above can help in understanding and managing this. With practice, these theories can help me tap into the beneficial potential of EI for myself and my reports.Review own ability to set direction and say this to others In order to set direction and communicate this effectively, I follow a four step process, to clarify simply what is desired, to understand the ask and motivation of my staff, to select the appropriate method of communication and in conclusion to monitor and evaluate my effectiveness in order to improve. To clarify my objectives, I would direct to understand simply what we are seeking to achieve. For example, in a recent situation, we were concerned that we could be exposed to litigation due to the way we manage our trade waste. Essentially, we were failing to manage hazardous waste in the manner prescribe by Environment Agency (EA) regulations. Some staff were very concerned as there is a personal liability and wanted to seek external contractors at inflated prices to discharge the duties on our behalf.Instead, I requested an officer to look into the technical process involved and then armed with the report, I sought the help of EA. It transpires that we are not directly in breach but one of our contractors may have moved our waste to an unlicensed location, without our knowledge. I established that we are unable to transfer risk simply by engaging contractors and needed to develop a management plan to deal with the waste in the short, medium and long term. In discussion with EA, I established that they would support us and allow us a period to set our house in order. We are now in the process of writing the plan, after having clarified exactly what our objectives had to be. Any form of communication will most unbelievable to be effective if it doesnt ring chord with the audience. The audience will not care of the success or otherwise of any task if they dont have a threaten in the outcome. An effective leader must be able to engage the audience in such a way that each person has a vested personal interest in the success of any sham which will spur them to go that extra mile to ensure success.This could be something as simple a personal pride in a job well done or a warring streak to do a better job than someone else. In one of my depots, there is exactly such a situation involving two of my best Construction Managers. They are very good friends who take delight in outflanking each other and achieve further better output than any similar team in the Council or externally. This did not happen by chance but was the culmination of slow work with both officers over a peri od, using humour and camaraderie to instil a golden sense of competition. In the example above, I also actively sought the appropriate government agency of communication, i.e. using interpersonal skills and utilising humour, to set the parameters of the objectives I was seeking to achieve. The method I decided to use would not have been at all effective if I wrote an email or memorandum as my aim was far too subtle to communicate via a written medium. However, in cases where compliance with health and safety regulations are concerned for example, I consider it necessary to send out formal instructions to ensure staff complied.Such action would make it clear exactly what was required without any ambiguity. Apart from communicating the requirement, this would also provide me with an auditable trail if any staff member was found not to comply which would also be one of my key objectives. Using a more formal means of communication when I generally prefer informal means, also has theef fect of underlining the legal obligation we have to my staff, who then take it more seriously. The ability to set direction and communication is closely linked to motivation theory and persuasive skills. The model I find most aligns with my style is Monroes Motivated sequence 13. Alan Monroe developed this technique in the 30s and identifies that in order to persuade or sell any concept, idea or product, ones approach should include five separate steps Attention relate something that will make the audience take notice. This could be anything shocking or enticing to the target, such as a statistic, an image or a thought. So in the case with managing our hazardous waste for example, I highlighted that failure to properly manage the waste could result in criminal prosecution, which had the desired effect of bringing this issue to fore in the mind of my staff.Need link the heydayic under discussion to the needs to the audience, the premise being that the need will motivate the desire d action. This aspect is particularly important because it is unlikely that most people will take action unless they are directly affected by the impact. For the example of the two construction Managers in competition with each other, I used techniques I observed in the officious telephone sales and replicated the principles. I created a view in the mind of both staff that they needed to outperform each other for the sake of personal pride. I knew they were good friends and by various means encouraged the friendly argument, taking care to ensure that this remains friendly and does not become counter-productive. They both feel that they have to outdo each other and their performance continues to exceed expectations. Satisfaction set out how the audience will be able to satisfy that need that has been established. It is important that the effort to achieve the need is presented as the easiest or least painful option.Once I created the need for both my Construction Mangers to outper form each other, I have continued to provide them with the means and resources to achieve this, both by providing support, conclusion the funding and also creating temporary positions and approving acting up honorariums for their reports. So they both have the means to easily deliver their need and not delivering when they are able to is now much the more difficult option from a personal pride perspective, as they will have to explain in my regular joint performance monitoring. Visualisation set out how life would be like if the target were to commit to action.Using the example of the Hazardous waste issue, I painted a picture of what the situation would be like if we were able to turn the usable material. There is a process whereby the hazardous waste can be encapsulated in asphalt using a cold process (a hot process would blowhole volatile compounds which would not be acceptable). Encapsulation would render the material inert and this could then be used to construct new roads.T he marginal comprise of converting this hazardous material into useful product is less than 35% of the cost of purchasing new product but there is a large capital investment (c 500k) required for the plant. Nevertheless, I outlined a business case supported by the demand that will be generated by a new road due to be constructed in 2015. I therefore helped my staff visualise the savings we could make and the asset we would have after the new road is constructed, giving us even more savings in the long term. I have therefore got their active cooperation to achieve my vision and have managed to turn what was initially a institutionalise and cost, to an opportunity by using the most effective communication and set direction. Action finally, once the stage is set, the audience need to be shown how they could act to achieve all the positive benefits of doing the thing that is being promoted. In the case of the hazardous waste, business case is now being detailed with the aim of a capi tal investment in the next few months. I am managing the project and my staff are in detailed negotiations with various suppliers and industry experts to enable the vision to turn into reality.Currently we are negotiating land purchase to site the plant and storage requirements. As with every other process, it is important then to review and evaluate previous actions to enable the leader to ensure improvement in the future. For both the issues detailed above, I have my own evaluation processes established. For the competition between the Construction Managers, I am aware thing could get too far and friendly competitor could quickly degenerate. I have therefore got regular meetings with both staff, jointly and individually for me to monitor, evaluate and review my actions. I am aware no one likes to be manipulated and things could backfire on me if they felt I was in any way underhand or devious.So, I informed both staff of my actions in a jovial and convivial way and the communicat ion style I have used has been effective in both accepting and even embracing my manipulation. For the management of Hazardous waste issue, I have also putin a small review group who monitor and evaluate the progress and we discuss the need to change our approach as we become aware of new developments in the field. Given the above, it is my view that I have a well-established and positive ability to set direction and communicate this effectively to others. Review own ability to motivate, delegate and empower othersA leader must be able to delegate tasks effectively in order to achieve more than what he could on his own. Along with that, he must be able to motivate and empower others in order to ensure his management burden is optimised to enable him to manage more resources. That is the essence of leadership. Without this ability, he is merely a depository for tasks and does not add value to his organisation. In brief, motivation is the process of finding out what makes your staff t ick and demonstrate they can meet that need by delivering for you. In this respect there is much in common with style of communication described above and this is due to the fact that effective communication must take make is desirous for the recipient to deliver the task communicated. Monores Motivated era, as the name suggests, is a motivational theory but there are a number of other theories, detailing much the same process, albeit in a different way.The two I will focus on are Maslows Need Hierarchy and Equity theory. Maslow describes a hierarchy of needs of each individual, which forms a pyramid, also cognise as Maslows Pyramid of needs. At the base of the pyramid is the basic Physiological needs we all have (i.e. access to air, food water etc.). Then comes the need for Safety (shelter, security), above that comes Social needs or Love/Belonging needs (company, acceptance, friendship etc.). Above that comes the Esteem needs (Recognition from others) and on top of the pyramid i s Self-Actualisation (self-fulfilment, morality, creativity). Diagram below shows this pyramidFig 1. Maslows Hierarchy of Needs14In essence, what Maslow suggests is that people will need to satisfy their more basic needs before they can begin to satisfy a higher level need. In order to motivate them, it would be necessary to demonstrate how they could satisfy their needs at the appropriate level on the pyramid by achieving the goal. In a work situation, appropriate compensation will help satisfy thelower order needs on the pyramid and little motivational benefit could be derived from focussing of satisfying the Physiological and Safety needs of staff. In order to motivate staff, it will be necessary to demonstrate how achieving the organisational goal or the task at hand will help meet one of the higher level needs on the pyramid (i.e. the need for social acceptance, of increased esteem or of self-actualisation). To do this effectively, it will be necessary for a leader to identify where on the pyramid the reports needs are. Generally the personal circumstances and ambition of the individual will determine which of his needs have already been satisfied and which need should the leader demonstrate as being achievable. The legality theory postulates that if people perceive injustice, they will try to equalise the situation and eliminate that inequity.It is a social comparison of an individuals perception that drives an individual. They compare themselves against others and make an assessment whether the reward they are achieving for the effort they are expending is similar to the reward others get for the effort they expend. So individuals make a broad assessment of their own perceived reward/effort ratio and compare it to the perceived reward/effort ratio of others. Individual are generally satisfied when the two ratios are generally equal. However, this leads to two different scenarios when it is not Underpayment inequity when an individual feels they are u nderpaid for the effort they put in compared to another. The impact of this would be either the individual reduce their effort, productivity or quality of their work to match their perception of what the comparator produces. Overpayment inequity when an individual feels they are actually overpaid for he work they produce, in which case they expend more effort in an attempt to increase outputs or improve the quality of their work.The situation most often manifests itself when staff compare their pay grades, but other rewards, such as praise, mentoring, training etc. could also be used in their comparison. Leaders need to be acutely aware of the situation as a perceived Underpayment inequity can have a devastating impact on productivity and also on the ability to retain staff, unless managed adequately. On the other hand, a perception of Overpayment inequity, although can seem to have benefits, can lead to an overly stressful situation for the individual concerned as they may feel th eir post will be made redundant or reduced in grade. Own ability tomotivate Monroes Sequence and Maslows Hierarchy I have had cause to use both the theories above in motivating my staff.In the example given previously where I set two Construction Managers in friendly competition with each other I used Monroes Sequence to develop the strategy. In determining the need, I used Maslows Hierarchy to understand the most effective way to approach this. I understood the two individuals were already highly effective and motivated individuals and general discussions with them led me to believe that both would be seeking to satisfy their need to greater esteem. I therefore developed a strategy where I would enable both of them to achieve greater self-esteem whilst improving their outputs and performance. The most gratifying thing is that even though both now are aware of my manipulation, the rivalry continues and is still paying dividends.Own ability to motivate Equity TheoryI am shortly de aling with a situation where my Construction Managers are rewarded at Band 9, which is the same as my standard Surveyors (QSs). However, I would assess that the Construction Managers (CMs) achieve several times more value from their work. They also carry greater responsibility and much greater workload. This has come about as a result of implementing equal pay legislation using a very ineffective evaluation model. The model tries to find equity between too many different types of work and fails miserably in the case of construction activities. There is also the issue of required qualifications of each group and my ability to recruit to these positions. I am currently reassessing the workload of the QSs and trying to make it more equitable by rebalancing workload.However in the meantime, I have asked the CMs to identify workstreams that may be suitable to be reallocated. I have also given the CMs more access to me and have more frequent contact with them, ostensibly to address work issues, but also as a form of reward as there is a tendency for staff to seek some form of approval and praise from their leaders. I am aware though that the QSs might be excessively stressed and I will have to reassure them. In the short-term this approach has proven to be effective in maintaining esprit de corps and motivation and has prevented from loss of staff. I will however need to deliver the implied promise to equalise the burden on both these groups. Asa result of the above I am able to conclude that I have a well-developed ability to motivate staff, based on the relevant theories outlined.Delegation and authorityDelegation and empowerment is the act of transferring responsibility to subordinates for delivering a task and ensuring they have the authority, resources and the means of achieving the desired outcomes. good delegation and empowerment will result in several key benefits A leader can achieve more than he could individuallyWorkforce will be more involved and feel empowered which will have a positive effect on productivity, and have a stake in outcomes Delivery will be more efficientDevelop subordinates which will help with succession planning Although a leader may make his subordinates accountable for their actions, the leader will continue to be accountable for the completion of the task to his own superiors. There are therefore risks involved in assign and often a leader will find it difficult to let go of projects that are full to them. There will therefore be a tendency on the part of the leader to use the excuse of accountability to avoid delegating. I have had direct experience of this when some years agone a newly appointed Director decided that he would personally sign all earn emanating from one particular service area. This is because that service area was primarily customer facing and was engaged in managing an ever decreasing ability to deliver due to funding cuts. The team, which I was part of, therefore continually had to s ay no and this caused political difficulties for the Director. Instead of managing expectations, he decided to stop delegating. The result was he had very little time for the task of signing letters, let alone anything else.After some years of this, we had a situation where thousands of service requests remained unanswered, some over four years old. Despite our pleadings, he refused to delegate the work and eventually more senior people reorganised the Department, making the Director redundant. As a result of the above, I have learned that I must delegate in a timely manner. To manage the risks outlined above, I always ensure my subordinates are motivated, have adequate resources and the ability to deliver. I alsomaintain the constant vigil, both from a project/programme management perspective and also from a financial perspective, ensuring regular monitoring and identifying barriers to work with my staff to ensure delivery. As a result of this approach I have so far, this financia l year, successfully delivered some 14million worth of projects, making some 3.5million income, of which 300,000 is surplus.We are on course to deliver the full 19million programme and make a surplus of some 850,000 over an income of 5.4million. Compared to the position two years ago when the service made losses of some 900,000, my position is a much improved one. The single most skill that has enabled me to achieve such turnaround is my ability to delegate and empower my staff. I am therefore highly confident that I have a well-developed ability to delegate and empower others. Produce a Personal Development Plan to improve own ability to lead. In spite of the above, and perhaps as a result, I feel I will need to constantly develop myself. It is my contention that day-and-night learning will enable us to achieve continuous improvement.Key issues for me are Reviewing the above, I feel I have not yet mastered the art of managing my own and others emotions to achieve performance impro vement. I need to understand better the workings of local anaesthetic governing to identify areas where my leadership skills need to be improved. In conjunction with the above, I believe I need to improve my ability to set direction and communicate.Emotional IntelligenceIn completing this assignment, this is one area where I have learned the most. I had been aware of issues surrounding cultural bias in psychometric testing because of my personal interest in equalities issues. The work researching Emotional Intelligence has cast the issue that with issue of equalities. It seems to me that any process designed to value conformity with the majority (which the concept of Emotional Intelligence doubtlessly is), is doomed to discriminate minority groups or those with a different cultural approach. However I recognise that EI remains a very useful tool in the armoury of any leader want to improve performance. Actions Complete this ILM course by December 2014 and seek funding for further ing my education to MBA level approachDirect funded centrally, no cost to serviceIndirect 1 day per fortnight cost to be absorbed by service overheadallowance for training and development Leadership Issues in Local GovernmentThis is particularly relevant to my field and it is necessary for me to keep abreast of the developing issues surrounding Leadership in Local Government. Several journals are dedicated to latest developments in the sector, including The MJ and The Economist to a lesser extent. Actions Seek out a mentor within the industry by December 2014. Continue to read relevant periodicals ongoing. CostDirect no cost to serviceIndirect carried out in personal time, no cost to service. Set direction and communicatingI have a reasonably well developed personal communicating style, and my written communication is also of reasonable quality. The area I most need to work on is my communication to groups. Actions Use the opportunity provided by my Chairmanship of North East Performance Improvement Network to practice and develop my ability to direct and communicate to groups.CostDirect no cost to serviceIndirect As part of normal day to day duties, travel and time costs covered by capital projects Review and monitorI will review my achievement against these objectives on a six-monthly basis to effect improvement and amend aims and objectives as necessary.CostDirect no cost to serviceIndirect 2 hours every fortnight, cost to be absorbed by service overhead allowance for training and development.Bibliography1 Core Leadership Theories, MindTools (2013). unattached at http//www.mindtools.com/pages/article/leadership-theories.htm (accessed 22/10/2013). 2 Situational Leadership Theory, Wikipedia (2013). Available at http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situational_leadership_theory (accessed 04/11/2013). 3 The Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory, MindTools (2013). 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