Case study: Authority and leadership Essay

Introduction Question 1: Julie’s advantages and disadvantages of belonging to a group As a leader, it is imperative to understand the personality differences and cultural diversity of the employees. This is one of the main advantages that Julie has as a leader. She will be managing a group of people, whom she knows their strengths and weakness. She understands who amongst the employees can be able to perform particular tasks or not. The second advantage is that she understands what she has to do to motivate the employees, and foster productivity within the institution. Having been with these friends, she understands pretty well their wishes, and how the company can assist in improving their morale. On the other hand, though, the main disadvantage will be the expectation of favours from the friends. For instance, they may want to be treated in a special way, like being given more off days, increase their salaries or reduce the amount of work that they have been performing. This may interfere with their productivity or lead to some conflicts (Allen, & Judd, 2009). Secondly, how to separate friendship and business may be a daunting task. The friends may fail to give her the respect that she deserves as a leader, which negatively affects the effectiveness and discipline within the institution. Question 2: how Julie will establish herself as a legitimate authority Julie will need to define the relationships, both at the workplace and out of the institution. She should let her friends know that she is a leader of the institution, and has a duty to perform and objectives to achieve. This will ensure that her friends respect her at the workplace, and learn how to draw a line and respect the boundaries of their relationships. Secondly, Julie should let her friends know that by respecting her, they will be submitting to the institution that has employed them. Her authority comes direct from the constitution establishing the health institution, and therefore everyone has the duty to obey, and perform their duties. Thirdly, she should treat everyone fairly, regardless of whether they are her friends or not. This will ensure that she is respected as a leader. Case study 2 Question 1: how to motivate oneself in the new position The new position in the workplace leads to a number of challenges. This may emanate from the fact that one is not familiar with the new environments, new systems and the capability to perform the tasks. Under this situation, the level of confidence may be affected, which on the other hand will interfere with performance. However, motivating oneself through positive attitude and thoughts will lead to productivity, and effectiveness (Bowling & Beehr, 2006). One should have the motivation to learn new tactics in the new position in order to become more competent. Question 2: motivation state of HIM staff At the time of assuming the position of director, the majority of the HIM staff had low morale that was affecting their work. This was attributed to the previous leadership that failed to focus on the growth and development of the staff members. The majority of them did not have the right skills to perform their duties, and this continued to affect their competence and motivational level. Question 3: proactive strategies to reduce conflicts From the podcast provided, conflicts are inevitable within an organization, but can be managed to avoid making affecting the normal operations. enhancing communication, and encouraging the employees to express their emotions are some of the proactive means that can be used to mitigate conflict in the workplace (Liu, Spector, & Shi, 2006). The managers should also be weary of the personality differences and cultural diversity, and seek to create harmony. References Allen, J. F., & Judd, B. B. (2009). Participation in decision-making and job satisfaction: Ideal and reality for male and female university faculty in the United States. Human Communication, 10(3), 157–179. Bowling, N. A., & Beehr, T. A. (2006). Workplace harassment from the victim’s perspective: A theoretical model and meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(5), 998-1012. Liu, C., Spector, P. E., & Shi, L. (2007). Cross-National Job Stress: A Quantitative and Qualitative Study. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 28(2), 209-239.