Lead and Influence Samples for Students †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Lead and Influence. Answer: Narrative Leadership is the ability of an individual to guide and influence a group of people to direct their work towards achieving a common goal (Cummings Worley 2014). I worked in Kantar Media, as a Team Leader from April 2014 to October 2016, which required me to take certain decisions to ensure smooth flow of activities in the organization. Kantar Media is the Data Investment Management division of WPP, one of the worlds most sought after, information, insight and consultancy groups. A team consists of people, with different backgrounds and cultures having different levels of understanding. Accordingly, the instructions need to be specific, so that there is no misunderstanding on the part of the team members. Kantar Media takes pride in delivering high quality data and services to help clients focus on formulating strategies in an efficient and effective manner (Kaufer Carley, 2012). Any deviation from the plans formulated will surely lead to problems and enhance the chances of the quality getting compromised. I had to manage a team of 75 people, having expertise in different domains. A problem arose when, while processing advertisements, certain members had completely misinterpreted the requirements, resulting in different outcomes. Obviously, where hefty amounts are invested by the end clients, mistakes prove to be costly (Lian Tui, 2012). I had informed the client about the problems which certain team members had in understanding the requirement, despite giv ing them proper training. I assured the client, there would not be repetition of the blunders committed and make sure the quality of work is upheld. This sense of responsibility drew appreciation from the client and hence they ensured full assistance to the ones facing problems, through training sessions, to understand their positions better (Nongo Ikyanyon, 2012). Accordingly, I had a one-on-one session with each member of the team and subsequently training sessions was arranged through skype, to clear all the doubts and increase their efficiencies. The problem was triggered through the emails received from the client, regarding the errors committed by some of my team members. I had to take a prompt decision as the companys pride was at stake and the situation demanded me to look at the larger picture and not get concerned about the relationship with the team members. In any crisis situation, taking a decision would surely present a dilemma to the protagonist. He needed to do the balancing act of maintaining the image of the company in front of the clients and also make sure, that the steps initiated by him, do not lead to differences between him and his team members. For some of the stakeholders, the situation had triggered a negative reaction, where they seemed to contemplate on lowering their stakes in the company but from a broader perspective, the actions had helped to uphold the reputation and image of the organization. Analysis The two leadership theories taken into consideration to analyze the protagonists actions are: Fiedlers Contingency Theory The general rule suggests that leaders do not follow any set pattern for leading and are more likely to express their leadership, when they feel that their team members would act according to the instructions delivered. The style followed depends on the internal and external environments faced by a leader. Leadership by following contingency theory will be effective only when the leaders take the maximum control of any situation (Northouse, 2015). In this case, the team leader had to take prompt action as per the need of the hour to save the image of the organization. Problems may arise but the important thing is to see how a leader reacts to the problems. Behavioral Theory Behavioral theory considers that the capabilities of the leader can be learned from different situations, than being inherent in an individual. This fits fine with the kind of actions taken by the leader, where he has acquired the quality of being proactive and understand the needs of particular situations. The good points about the leadership behavior portrayed, can be summarized by saying that the leader had control over the situation, which enabled a free flow of communication between the team members and the client to bridge the gap of understanding the duties and responsibilities. This ensured that the efficiencies of the employees reached a new level (Samad, 2015). The bad aspects of the leadership style is that, the decisions taken by a team leader, without consulting with the project manager may seem to give a feeling, as if he is disrespecting the position of project manager. Moreover, consulting with the team members is not considered as a viable option by the leader because the situation demanded prompt action without wasting much time but the members might feel offended for not being involved for discussion before the team leader had progressed towards the desired action (Schaubroeck et.al., 2012). The team members might compare the contingency style of leadership with the autocratic leadership style, interpret the leaders action negatively. The decision taken by the team leader in the scenario discussed was a good one. The reason is, crisis situations not only need careful analysis but along with it, prompt action is a must. Real essence of a leader comes out in times of distress (Tannenbaum, Weschler Massarik, 2013). The real challenge for a leader arises when things do not go according to the set plans and procedures. In this situation, main motive behind the leaders action is to save the image of the organization and also provide the client with much needed clarity on the efficiencies of the employees. The external environment is the image of the organization, in front of the client. Mistakes committed by the team members require a leader to take note and make the necessary adjustments to take full control over the situation. Internal environment refers to the impact which decisions of the leader, has on the team members and others related to the project. Acceptance of the problem and the proactive steps taken to rectify them had raised the organizations image in front of the stakeholders. The actions made them believe that Kantar Media can bail themselves out of any kind of trouble by maintaining transparency So, the purpose of a leader is not only to lead but also influence the members responsible for the smooth functioning of an organization. A leader can only be successful in his role, when he has the ability to foresee and take appropriate actions for maintaining the image and reputation of the company, in case of any distress. He has to look at the larger picture and act accordingly, without getting concerned about, how his team members would react or whether his relationship with the team members would be affected. References Cummings, T. G., Worley, C. G. (2014).Organization development and change. Cengage learning. Kaufer, D. S., Carley, K. M. (2012).Communication at a distance: The influence of print on sociocultural organization and change. Routledge. Lian, L. K., Tui, L. G. (2012). Leadership styles and organizational citizenship behavior: The mediating effect of subordinates' competence and downward influence tactics.The Journal of Applied Business and Economics,13(2), 59. Nongo, E. S., Ikyanyon, D. N. (2012). The influence of corporate culture on employee commitment to the organization.International Journal of Business and Management,7(22), 21. Northouse, P. G. (2015).Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications. Samad, S. (2012). The influence of innovation and transformational leadership on organizational performance.Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences,57, 486-493. Schaubroeck, J. M., Hannah, S. T., Avolio, B. J., Kozlowski, S. W., Lord, R. G., Trevio, L. K., ... Peng, A. C. (2012). Embedding ethical leadership within and across organization levels.Academy ofManagement Journal,55(5), 1053-1078. Tannenbaum, R., Weschler, I., Massarik, F. (2013).Leadership and organization. Routledge.