Challenges of Command and Control Leadership

Leadership and Change Leadership is defined as the ability of an individual to influence and guide his or her followers. Therefore, the leader is required to make sound decisions, create and articulate a clear vision, establish goals that are achievable, and provide the followers with the necessary knowledge and tools for them to achieve goals. There are different leadership styles that leaders follow or adhere to. The most common of them being the command and control leadership style.

While it might be the most common leadership style in use today, that does not mean that it is the most effective style of leadership. This kind of leadership style has its roots in the military. In the command and control leadership style, the leader is always in command and they are also in control of the employees. According to Smith et al. (2016) the command and control leadership style is authoritative and makes use of standards, procedures, and output statistics in order to regulate the organization.

The leader is authoritative in nature and this fits well in bureaucratic organizations where privilege and power are vested with the senior management (Woods, 2016). With this leadership style, there is a clear distinction between the employees and the management. Problems of Command and Control Leadership While there are many books and articles that have been written criticizing the effectiveness of the command and control leadership style it is surprising that there are still numerous organizations that have maintained this type of leadership.

The major reason for this is that leaders are not aware of other better ways for leading the employees. This leadership style stifles creativity and limits the flexibility of the employees, which means the employees operate like robots and they only follow the commands of their leaders. Employees are rarely treated with respect and dignity and this is a demotivator (Black and La Venture, 2018). When employees are not respected, they tend to leave the organization for an organization where they will be respected.

Therefore, the organization will keep losing employees and the costs of hiring and training new employees become exorbitant. Results are the main goals for this leadership style. The managers are mainly interested in the results and they do not care so much about the people and the vision of the organization. While it is effective in delivering results, employees are not considered and there is no emotional connection between the management and the employee (Smith et al., 2016).

This makes it hard for employees to offer ideas to the management, even if the ideas lead to increased productivity for the organization. Command and control established power and control over people. While this sounds like a good idea because one does not want people’s behavior to go out of control. However, this is not the best way to lead employees. The idea that leaders know what is best is outdated and the best leaders are now the ones who admit to not knowing everything.

Therefore, there should always be room for change if a leader is to be effective in his or her work. Employees are constrained and they are limited in terms of engagement and commitment. Employees are not able to fully engage with their work with the command and control leadership style. This is because the leader has already set out the employee’s responsibilities and roles and the employee follow the leader (Black and La Venture, 2018).

Communication is inhibited since the leader is not willing to listen to suggestions from the employees. This makes the communication to be one way and it is hard for employees to communicate with the leader. Hierarchy and authority take precedence and the leader controls all the employee does without care of the impact it has on the employees. In case of an issue during the performance of work, employees are not allowed to steer away from the course, they should maintain it until the leader suggests changes.

This can be counterproductive in the manufacturing sector, where a problem can result in huge problems down the line. There are different organizations and each organization has its own challenges. The command and control leadership style is irrelevant in situations where the organization is dealing with complex conditions. This is because there is no simple solution to the problem and there is a need for interaction between the management and the employees.

Complex challenges require collaboration and without this collaboration, the organization will not be able to find solutions to the problems. Therefore, the command and control leadership style will be ineffective in delivering the required outcomes for the organization. This kind of leadership might have worked in the industrial revolution, but it cannot work in the current knowledge economy. There is a need for ideas in order for companies to outshine and outsmart their rivals.

Any leadership style that limits and prevents employee ideas will not lead to optimal results for the organization. Organizations have to be innovative for them to stay in business and this is only possible by giving employees the opportunity to share their ideas. It has been posited that it is not that managers are not aware of the other leadership styles that might be helpful for the organization, it is only that they are afraid of losing control. Today, business leaders are exposed to numerous management theories and best practices.

Therefore, any organization that still holds on to this leadership style is doing that for the managers own best interests. Embracing the contemporary leadership styles like the people-centered approach will allow a manager to relinquish control to the employees. People-Centered Leadership Approach Leadership is a chance to direct human behavior in creativity and productivity areas. There are only two ways for a leader to influence human behavior, one can either inspire it or manipulate it.

It is for this reason that the best leaders have been established to be the ones who inspire their followers. The people-centered leadership approach views leadership as a process of influence that involves working with people in order to accomplish their goals and the organization’s goals (Black and La Venture, 2018). This approach al all about trust building and creating a clear vision of where employees are heading with their work.

The leader should then work hard to support the employees and manage the changes that arise in the performance of work. For a leader to live up to this definition of leadership they must be committed to building strong relationships with their employees. The results of having a strong relationship are that the employees will work extra hard as they do trust and respect their leader. The employees are more forgiving when the leader does make a mistake.

In most instances, this leadership style leads to greater employee motivation and satisfaction because employees feel they are heard and appreciated, which in turn does improve team engagement. This is in direct contrast to the command and control leadership style that focuses on telling the employees what they should and how they should do it. Command and control do not build strong relationships and employees always feel neglected and treated like robots that do not have any emotions (Smith et al., 2016).

This leadership style is surely outdated and in the 21st century, it is irrelevant. A leader should be able to trust that employees know what they do and have given them the vision of the organization and goals, he or she should leave the employees to perform their work. Leaders who genuinely care about their employees will have numerous people willing to work for them as compared to leaders who are only focused on accomplishing their goals.

Command and control leaders will manipulate the employees to do what they want, but that will be all that the employees will do (Woods, 2016). However, a leader who genuinely cares about his or her employees will have the employees going an extra mile in order to accomplish the leader’s vision. Loyalty is also influenced by the person-centered leadership approach. Building loyalty amongst the employees allows a leader to have a backing that cannot be achieved if the leader was using the command and control approach.

In the current business environment, a leader must have the loyalty of employees to ensure that the organization does not lose talent to competitors. A people-centered leader recognizes the strengths and achievements of his or her employees and praises them for their accomplishments (Maier et al., 2015). This motivates the employees and pushes them to perform even better. This is the best strategy for managing and leading employees.

When a leader employs the command and control approach, they are stating they know better and they will rarely acknowledge the accomplishments of the employees. This means that employees will be demotivated and they will never go beyond what is required of them. People-centered leadership recognizes the pitfall of this approach and opts to embrace employees for whom they are and gives them a chance to prove and work towards the vision that the leader has crafted for the organization.

The command and control approach assume that the leader is always right and they know what is best for the organization, which is wrong. It has been established that leaders are always eager to learn new things and learning not only occurs in the classroom. Therefore, any leader who pretends they know everything is mistaken and the employees will punish them for this grave mistake by leaving the leader. Transformational Leadership Transformational leadership is the kind of leadership that causes a change in individuals and social systems.

This kind of leadership will create valuable and positive change in the leader’s followers with an aim of transforming followers into leaders. There are a variety of mechanisms that can be used to enhance motivation, performance, and morale of followers. A transformational leader is a role model for the employees. The employees will look up to the leader and aim to be like him or her. This inspires the employees to achieve and please the leader.

In return, the employees will find themselves working hard and going beyond their set roles in order to achieve the vision of the leader. The leader is able to challenge employees to take up greater ownership of their work. With greater ownership, the organization will benefit from the improved performance of the employees as they will now perceive the work as their own and they will try their level best to perform it perfectly. Transformational leaders do encourage followers to outperform themselves.

This way they can manage to achieve the vision of the organization with support from the employees. Transformational leadership pushes for change through example. The leader is charged with articulating the vision of the organization to the followers and leading them through example. The leader is also charged with identifying and understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the followers in order for them to align the followers with tasks that will enhance their performance. This motivates and encourages the employees since they are able to perform according to their abilities.

This is the way to achieving success in the current business world. This differs with the command and control approach, which would have the leader pushing employees to work regardless of their abilities. The employees would have to work as per the leader’s instructions and commands. Controlling the followers to ensure that they follow what the leader has said results in negativity that will eventually lead to reduced performance.

Instead of motivating the employees as transformational leaders do, these leaders will prefer to stifle the employees for them to do as per what he or she says. In change situations, transformational leadership inspires positive change in the followers. Transformational leaders will want for everyone in the group to succeed. It is for this reason that they will attempt to demonstrate to the followers how to do something and they will motivate them at all times. Creativity is encouraged amongst followers.

By exploring new things, the followers are able to learn and they can suggest changes to how something is done within the organization. A leader who offers support and encouragement to the followers fosters positive relationships. This opens the lines of communication and followers can share ideas. The leader will then offer direct recognition of each followers’ contribution. Leadership of Organizational Change It is a fact that each organization will experience change at some point in its operations.

This is quite a common occurrence as compared to the past where business strategies would remain the same for years. With the current business environment and globalization, any business that does not embrace change becomes obsolete. Change is considered to be an inevitable and desirable aspect of a business. Therefore, an organization must have the required leaders to lead the change process. Maier et al.

(2015) posits that business leaders must have leadership styles that are adaptable in order for them to effectively respond to business change coming from external and internal sources. The leaders must also be willing to try out new things and remain open to the potential of risk. This makes the leaders able to embrace new things and to conform to new things as fast as they appear. This makes it easy for the organization to embrace change.

Any leader who is unwilling to be adaptable will force the organization to remain with the same strategy and this can be detrimental for the organization. Command and control leaders do not like change and they prefer to maintain the same status quo. Familiarity is what they like and any sudden changes make them uncomfortable. These leaders are not comfortable with ambiguity, which means they would be unwilling to embrace risk or change. Fluid leaders are comfortable with ambiguity and this makes them the best change champions.

They are able to lead organizations through the change process without fail. Change requires a leader who is not afraid of unfamiliar territory. This will ensure that the leader is open to new inputs and they can lead their followers through the uncharted waters. Risk is not considered a bad thing, they embrace risk and this is what organizations and businesses in the 21st century need. Leadership that is fluid because changes take place with each passing day.

Leaders who recognize that change should not be imposed on the employees, but rather shared will definitely reap the fruits of success. Creativity is considered to be the ability to pull information from different sources and apply this information in new and innovative ways (Avolio et al., 2016). Creative leaders have the ability to manage in times of change as they are open to new inputs from internal and external sources. They are able to use the inputs they receive to assist the organization to chart a successful course.

This differs with the command and control approach where the leader resists any inputs from internal and external sources and prefers to continue working as they normally do. In the current business environment, it is surprising how these leaders are able to lead organizations to success. Implementing change in the organization is harder than should be as the leaders are unwilling to accept the change process. In case the leader is pushing for change, instead.