Leadership Choice and Justification

A leader is someone who has the capacity, skills, and expertise to guide others. Leaders can be found in schools, society, homes, companies, and a variety of other settings. A place with more than two individuals usually has a leader who oversees everything and guides the others. Leaders are not for everyone since they must exhibit certain attributes in order to be successful. The review in this article is on a leader I know who has been trending on social media for his wonderful efforts. Dr. Edward Wayne is the manager of Cash Net Insurance Company based in California. He has been the manager since 2008 and has provided the best qualities ever. His employees find it interesting to work with him. Actually, he has received various requests for other big companies to go and work for them.

Purpose and Relevance of Leadership

How the Leader Models Leadership

Now what makes this man a good leader and what makes his leadership skills be admired by many? Well after interviewing him and gathering information from his employees, I hereby have the leadership qualities portrayed by this man. As a leader, he models leadership in several ways and that’s why he has so far been rated the best manager since the insurance company was founded in 1989 (Kouzes et al., 2012). He has all the confidence to venture into all types of business opportunities. Some may be risky but it takes a lot of courage and confidence to guide his employees through such situations. For instance, some insurance policies signed by the company may be risky and unproductive but Wayne advices his employees that patience is the main key in every business. The leadership qualities that he instills in other employees include hard work, commitment, innovation, foresight and stewardship.

Reflects their Definition of Leadership

The leadership style that best describes Dr.Wayne is servant leadership. Some of the top characteristics that he has that reflect servant leadership include; commitment to the growth of employees; community building; stewardship; foresight; awareness; conceptualization; empathy and good listening skills. He has been trusted in enabling the performance of Cash Net Insurance Company for almost three decades. As the manager, he is dedicated to ensure that the company gains competitive advantage and establishes the best brand through offering exceptional services to its clients, motivating and respecting all employees and offering services to the community. He loves working and serving even the employees that are subject to him. Since he knows that the vision cannot be achieved without the input of employees he often motivates them to follow his example by showing commitment, working hard and initiating innovative activities.

How the Leadership Strengths Apply in the Workplace and Community

How the Leader Seeks Shared Vision

This leader has the power to try and venture into new inventions that are quite helpful to the company. Also, he is a very hardworking leader and this motivates his employees. Having received several awards, his employees strive and wish that they will be like him some days to come (Zhu et al., 2009). Finally, Dr. Wayne has all the respects and has positive attitudes towards all his employees no matter the case. He understands every situation and guides employees appropriately if something goes wrong. The manager is a man of ventures and keeps trying new things every day. He keeps learning new ideas and techniques from the seminars that he attends. In return, he ensures that an improvement is done by his employees whether it’s the way they relate or the way they provide services to their clients. Though it may difficult to try and instill a vision, he first tries to apply it and if it succeeds he passes the knowledge to the employees (Gallos, 2008). This entails guiding, training and advising his employees on the importance of a new vision introduced in the company.

How the Leader Inspires a Shared Vision

The strategy used by this leader in instilling a sense of shared vision is pragmatic as guided by the demands of the vision. First if the nature of the vision requires employees to be involved in certain roles and responsibilities then they are trained for their roles. This is a very good strategy as it enables the employees to be aware of their roles and goals. Furthermore, providing guidance and advice to the employees further instills a sense of shared vision and shared responsibility. The strategy is best as it involves all the concerned stakeholders.

Dr. Wayne is a big risk taker and many people refer to him as the “gambler.” He takes advantage of every opportunity that emerges in the market by clearly surveying and screening it carefully. This is accompanied with a lot of research in which he includes his employees to help. Unlike other organizations, this manager is open minded and optimistic and therefore allows the employees to present any new idea that can help the company move forward (Kouzes et al, 2012). When an innovation is brought forward by one of the employees, the manager takes key interest to understand the importance behind it. Eventually he introduces the policy in the workplace and other employees are informed on how it functions. By so doing, he never leaves such actions unrewarded. An employee with a new functional idea receives a certain commission and this motivates the other employees to act. No one can just relax and wait as others receive awards for good work done. Generally, the office is quite busy with employees trying to research on new inventions that can help the company maneuver the stiff market competition.

How the Leader Recognizes the Contributions of Others

This manager may seem to be a busy man but never fails to acknowledge the efforts made by his employees. Since most of the work in the office is paid through commissions, employees struggle to introduce better customers to buy the most effective and expensive insurance policies. All this is due to the fact that their leader is competent with whatever work they do. There are always rewards for the best acting employees and this motivates them to work harder. Apart from rewarding them, he gives out techniques and skills that can be used to interpret a customer demand in order to acquire the policy. Generally, the manager has a clean heart of helping his employees to advance. To make this better, Dr. Wayne believes that his employees are the best and therefore new managers and clerks are just appointed from the crew of employees as the work goes by (Kouzes et al., 2012).

Since the company has opened several branches in North America, Dr. Wayne convinces the board not to hire new managers into the offices. But in return, he offers his best employees to be upgraded. Therefore, people feel that this man acknowledges the work that they do. Also, he takes keen interest on matters affecting his employees. For example, if a conflict or any other matter occurs, he ensures that the dispute is settled immediately. Moreover, the manager has convinced the company board to offer bonuses to their employees at the end of every month in order to motivate them. The manager has also ensured that the working conditions are favorable for every person (Zhu et al., 2009).

Creation of a Spirit of Community

The spirit of community is enhanced through various ways. Firstly, he ensures that the relationship between the employees is good and urges people to keep away from disagreements (Gallos, 2008). The company has to hold a general meeting after six months to discuss matters arising and what can be done to handle some cases of indiscipline. In case of a disagreement, discussion is done by both parties to handle the situation. Also, employees are well monitored since the subordinate team work in one office in which matters are discussed. The manager may decide to issue a difficult task that requires cooperation and discussion for it to be accomplished. During that period, the bond of unity is created and this is the main reason for a good operating staff. Every employee is also involved in decision making matters. His style has been very successful so far as evidenced from the team work expressed by the employees. Employees relate to each other well and have sincere concern for the wellbeing of each other.

This leader defines what a real leader should be. He is always committed to his work and sees the good in people. Every employee in the company believes that leadership has to be perfect for the company to move forward. It is not just a leader but a leader who understands and takes time to interact with his work staff. The staff members understand the market better and therefore the manger has to get in touch with them to listen to what they have to say (Kouzes et al, 2012). Every organization requires a leader due to various reasons. Firstly, team work is very important in any organization. A leader unites people and guides them through difficulties to obtain a required goal. For instance, in an organization, the leader has to keep employees on their toes to obtain the required standards.

Secondly, leadership gives authority which is exercised over the people to guide and control them through some tasks. Also leadership is always essential in every setting and if it is not provided, people feel that they need to nominate someone for the job. In the meantime, informal leadership is developed and may mislead people (Gallos, 2008). The leader in this case exercises his managerial skills as expected and therefore portrays all the required leadership skills. This is because his success is seen and people are comfortable when working with him. These are quality leadership skills in which every leader should embrace. Not only in work places but also in schools, churches or any other setups.

Inspiring and Empowering Others

Besides, the leader is best at empowering other employees more so those employees who appear to be reluctant when working. He does this through ensuring that he communicates his expectations to every employee and describes how taking initiative is significant not only for the progress of the company but also for their personal development. Dr. Wayne is also a role model both in terms of how he conduct himself and through coaching employees. Also this leader always recognize the efforts that the employee make in taking initiative even when they fail. This makes employees feel appreciated and encouraged to try again hoping to succeed. If the efforts by employee is successful he rewards them by say a promotion or monetary token.

References

Gallos, J. V. (2008). Business leadership a Jossey-Bass reader. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. (6th Edition)

Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2012). LPI: Leadership Practices Inventory: Development Planner (Vol. 270). John Wiley & Sons (6th Edition)

Zhu, W., Avolio, B. J., & Walumbwa, F. O. (2009). Moderating role of follower characteristics with transformational leadership and follower work engagement. Group & Organization Management, 34(5), 590-619 (6th Edition)