To lead is to put all the energy in you, to boost the talent of your employees. around a team where the leader is the main goal is to solve problems in an exemplary way ...
The role of the leader in a crisis situation is to ensure that the problem is understood, that a solution is identified along with risks and impacts, and that the organization executes that solution. The specific role will depend on the maturity of the organization; however in most cases, the leader will be more directive, will oversee critical decisions that need to be made, etc. They will be held accountable by their board or the shareholders so accountability is not far from their mind. I question whether the role of others is to ask who is responsible. In a crisis situation, the focus is not to find blame but to understand what's happening and to execute a solution, ensure the proper communications are in place, to assure customers that any risks are being effectively managed, etc. Once the crisis is over, a review process will usually be activated that will determine how the problem happened, who was accountable for what, etc. This is all part of preventing a future occurrence. Bottom line, it's difficult to reduce the role of leadership to a single question without over simplifying what is actually happening.
Obviously one has to work with subordinates. Is tactfully really the way even if the problems needs to be directly confronted? It is more important to use their capabilities honestly and respectfully to resolve problems.
Thank you very much for your reply. I agree with everything you say. The point of the simple question in this case was not to get a simple answer but to stimulate a debate. How can we help leaders to be able to react appropriately and what guidance should be given to them? This is the area I would like to go into more deeply.
The first is the leader who likes to know the problems to solve and is the successful leader, while the second is a totalitarian leader who does not like to hear anyone object.
В теории «Пути и целей» Р. Хауса, для трудовой мотивации сотрудников, автор теории предлагает руководителям следовать трем рекомендациям:
1. Определите, чего именно подчиненные ожидают от работы (какие значимые потребности или личные цели они преследуют).
2. Вознаграждайте подчиненных за работу на высоком уровне или за достижение поставленных перед ними целей желательными для них результатами.
3. Удостоверьтесь, что подчиненные убеждены, что могут добиться поставленных целей и работать на высоком уровне (показав подчиненным способы, пути достижения целей).
Если следовать 3-ей рекомендации, тогда оба вопроса, в зависимости от конкретных условий выполнения работы, могут быть целесообразными.
Кроме того, все может зависеть от степени зрелости и мотивированности коллектива. Если эти качества коллектива высокие, тогда вопрос "Кто несет ответственность?" целесообразен. Если степень развития недостаточная, тогда такой вопрос руководителя характеризует его как человека с недостаточным уровнем профессиональных и (или) управленческих компетенций.
I agree with you completely. A good leader has to be democratic and listen to and learn from the opinions and experiences of others. Autocrats do not need a team of people at all, just servants!
You are right in my opinion. If the team become defensive their willingness to give opinions and input towards a solution disappear. Survival becomes their number one priority and the rest is left to the boss!
Always, but especially in time of crisis, leader must be capable to engage his closest followers, who are individually smarter then him in their domains. In that way, he will not only, successfully resolve problems, but show that he is smarter than all of them.
The role of a leader in times of crisis and the importance of leadership in difficult times is depends on the Quality of the Leaders. There are huge theory about Quality of Leader and leadership type in management’s tools/ books. But as per my angels actual meaning of leader is Guru (mentor). Gurus never jump on the problem but give direction to solve it, asked number of possible ways, which are team member try or not. When we are in a dark room nothing is visible but within a moment we put on the switch, every things is visible immediately, the flood of light suddenly and darkness will be disappeared. In other hand if we observed the changing from darkness of night to daylight we find lot of Rays from the horizon before actually Sun rise and softly, slowly- slowly the brightness around us increases and everything become visible to us. Guru’s role is providing direction of rays i.e. light to the problem and team should be solved the problem. In Indian culture we have a montra that गुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णु र्गुरुर्देवो महेश्वरः I [GururBrahma GururVishnu GururDevo Maheshwaraha] गुरु साक्षात परब्रह्मा तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः II [Guru Saakshaat ParaBrahma Tasmai Sri Gurave Namaha]. Meaning in English : Guru is the Creator (Brahma), Guru is the Preserver(Vishnu), GuruDeva is Destroyer (Maheshwara) Guru is the absolute (singular) Lord himself, Salutations to that Sri Guru. So leader can do anything, only we as a team member salute him. Leader means that who can lay down his head during crisis, he become Great creator or destroyer, sacrifice his life for the betterment of humankinds i.e. his team or party. The real meanings of leadership are sacrifices and sacrifice, selflessness, only on the interest of mankind & environment.
Good leaders analyze the problem, listen to people, think about solutions and implement them without looking for credit or glory but having the citizens' concerns and welfare foremost in their minds. Others do not take responsibility for their actions and will be looking for people to blame for failures or bad outcomes because they are driven often by self-interest.
Dear Radoica, your first comment is the rightest one, leaders fail in various ways all of which boil down to nurturing yesmenism and missing/suppressing/ignoring the phronesis (Greek for practical wisdom) of deputies/followers acquired by practicing their specialized jobs and having specialized education and know-how. Srini does not solve this problem by saying "listen to people"; deputies and other subordinates try to help by expressing candid views only if they trust the leader would admit his knowledge gaps in their specialization and try to learn their phronesis that led them to the alternative view. See attachments.
It depends on whether the culture itself is primarily collaborative or authoritarian. If collaborative, the leader will engage the members in exploration of a problem to get to its root cause(s) and then engage the members in determining solutions and building their commitment to the solutions because they have been involved from the beginning. If authoritarian, the leader will have the tendency to seek out a person or group considered responsible for the problem and blame him/them and impose consequences and direct corrections.
I think you are absolutely right. It is not enough to listen if what you hear is only what people think you want to hear. A leader has to be sure that they receive the honest and potentially useful contributions from colleagues, who speak knowing they will actually be listenened to and appreciated. I will carefully read your attachments and I am sure that they will be very useful and interesting.
Unfortunately for those under authoritarian leadership you are totally right in your assessment. How such a culture can be recognized and changed is always a great challenge.
I agree with Nirmala. Good leaders are good listeners, they will listen to the problem, prioritize the problem without any biases, and seek experts' help to resolve the same.
They avoid quick fixes and don't arrived at conclusion or jumped into a solution without proper analysis of the problem.
Last but not the least, they will not take credit for resolving a problem.