Leadership in the Work Environment

The ability to be a successful supervisor does not center on being an expert in the tasks of the company. If one is a supervisor in a bottling company, success will not derive from the number of bottles that are capped, but by orchestrating personnel to be effective in the product line that caps the bottles. As such, the supervisor must pay a firm – yet benevolent – role with employees in order to make the employees as productive as possible within the grand scheme of company goals. When it comes to the personnel who comprise the totality of the workforce, there can be issues that exist that are somewhat hostile. Whether employees are unhappy with co-workers or there is an anger directed towards management, such hostility must be addressed by an effective supervisory leader so as to return to a level of harmony and productivity. So how would I apply my skills to be an effective leader? By using my skills at understanding diversity; and effectively communicating in order to facilitate my leadership role. No work environment will be completely harmonious and it is the supervisor’s responsibility to effectively restore a sense of harmony to the work environment. This will require a great leadership role on the part of the supervisor, but far too often people will assume leadership means being firm or, worse, dictatorial. Such actions may work on a short term basis, but ultimately, such a heavy handed approach will lead to failure. In order to be an effective leader, one needs to temper firmness with a compassion and sensitivity that will greatly allow for stronger bonding between management and employee. This bonding will eventually provide the impetus for  subordinates to follow the guidelines of those in leadership roles and managerial positions. On a baseline level, there needs to be an understanding as to the complexity that can exist within the workforce. Often, that complexity derives from the great diversity of the people who comprise the entirety of the workforce. People come from all walks of life, from a multitude of cultures, ages, backgrounds, etc. Because of this, misunderstanding can result from a lack of understanding of the cultural sensitivities of the individuals. On a baseline level, it is the supervisor’s/manager’s responsibility to become well versed in diversity. There are those critics of diversity training that suggest that such training is a waste of productivity. This is a very knee jerk reaction to the subject that is not entirely based in reality. The reason for this is that the time spent on diversity training will allow the supervisor to understand how to communicate effectively with those under his or her supervision. This ability to communicate on a culturally sensitive level will eliminate a great many problems that may exist in the office environment. By eliminating these problems, productivity is no longer seriously threatened. Of course, there needs to be a solid development of basic communicative school (written and oral) in order to effectively deal with their subordinates. Without solid communicative skills, a supervisor will never be able to effectively present company policies or important issues to employees. In other words, there can be no leadership without effective communicative abilities. How successful could any supervisor be if the ability to supervise was undermined by being ineffective in the role as a company  communicator? More than likely, the supervisor would be very ineffective in even the most minor aspects of the position much less highly complex and sensitive aspects. Consider the following: when a supervisor effectively communicates with subordinates while tempering sensitivity to the employees’ specific needs and concerns, then the employees develops and attitude that will be more willing to follow the guidelines of the supervisor. In other words, leadership becomes effective because faith and trust in the leadership of the supervisor becomes affirmed. Consider the opposite extreme: the frustrated supervisor who uses threats of disciplinary action or verbal belittlement as a means of ‘motivating’ employees. While such tactics may force employees into following the directives that have been put forth, they will do so begrudgingly. In most cases, such employees will be looking to leave such a job as soon as the opportunity permits. While these employees may take orders from a superior, the superior is hardly being an effective leader and CERTAINLY such actions can not be used to smooth over any hostilities that might exist in the workforce. As such, belligerent tactics of this ilk must be avoided at all costs. In summation, in order to be a successful leader and smooth over any issues that may arise in the workforce requires two things: a sensitivity towards the diversity of the workforce and a solid skill in communicative abilities in order to effectively convey the message of leadership. If these areas are lacking, effective leadership will be undermined. If these skills are developed to a significant degree, the ability to be an effective leader will be greatly enhanced. Ultimately, it becomes the choice of the individual whether or not to develop such skills and it will be a true leader will take up the challenge.