(Phillips, 1996) forth guideline advises the leader to give his followers all the support he can, and act on the presumption that they will do the best they can with what he gives them. (Phillips, 1996) This means that by getting involved in the employees' problems and trying to solve them, the manager will give an example of commitment that will be followed by the employees in regard to solving the company's problems.
The fifth guideline is efficient as it establishes the dominating power of the leader. "Try not to feel insecure or threatened by your followers" (Phillips, 1996) as they will not follow an undetermined person with a weak character.
3. Leadership powers
Leadership in Organizations defines five distinct powers detained by the leader: 1. Reward
2. Coercive
3. Legitimate
4. Expert
5. Referent. (Yukl, 2006)
The reward power can be easily used by a good manager to improve the quality of the leadership act. The reward system has proven its beneficial effects throughout the business history. Its benefits are given by the strong motivational effect it has upon employees. Presented with the opportunity of having their work rewarded, the personnel will go to extreme lengths to overcome their limits.
The coercive power can be used to improve the quality of the management implemented by first pointing out the leaders' possibility to use corrective measures in guiding the actions of their employees. Then, this power can also be applied to managers, by pointing out their mistakes and by their correction.
The legitimate power allows managers to assume more responsibilities within a department and...
(Yukl, 2006) for instance, during a human resource crisis within the organization, the leader could get more involved in the activities of the HR department. This would increase his awareness of the existent problems and would also pressure the workers in that department towards increasing their efforts in order to resolve the problems.
The referent power can be used to improve the management by the power of example. Since the manager is the company's image in its internal and external actions, employees are likely to behave according to their leader's behaviour.
Bibliography
Yukl, G. (2006). Leadership in organizations 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc. ISBN-10: 0131494848. ISBN-13: 978-0131494848
Phillips, D.T. (1996). Lincoln on Leadership; Executive Strategies for Tough Times. New York: Warner Books, Inc. ISBN-10: 0446394599. ISBN-13: 978-0446394598.
National Business Research Institute, 2006, http://www.nbrii.com/Employee_Surveys/Employee_Performance.html, last accessed on October 16, 2007
Lincoln on Leadership, 2007, at&T Worldnet, http://home.att.net/~coachthee/Archives/Lincoln.html, last accessed on October 16, 2007
Review of Leadership in Organizations, 2003, National College for School Leadership, http://209.85.129.104/search?q=cache:2lDD_9WWjQkJ:www.ncsl.org.uk/media/F7B/97/randd-leaders-business-yukl.pdf+Leadership+in+organizations+Yukl&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&client=firefox-a, last accessed on October 16, 2007
Legitimate Power, Integrated Publishing, http://www.tpub.com/content/advancement/14144/css/14144_68.htm, last accessed on October 16, 2006
