small business management 4000words

Observation

Through 1 week of thorough observation of my leader at his office in Biopolis, I have identified his leadership styles, behaviours, traits, skills and power & influence tactics which I will be elaborating further.

Leadership Styles

During my observation period, I have observed that Mr Toh adopts a mixture of directive leadership, participative and autocratic leadership style. When it comes to setting sales target for the distributors in his region, he was very firm on the sales target that each of them should reach every quarter which is a directive style. On the other hand, he actively encourages his subordinates to participate in the discussion as a group to strategize a plan to achieve their goals set by Mr Toh which points to participative style. Although he entrusts that his distributors to complete the task given, I’ve observed that those who have failed to reach the targets got their exclusive license cancelled which relates to an autocratic style of leadership.

Behaviours

During one of my observations in the office, I had the privilege to join Mr Toh for business lunch with his distributors in Singapore, I have noticed he displays both relationship and task-oriented behaviour as during lunch. During lunch, he was discussing in detail regarding targets for the current quarter, monitoring the current progress with them and clarify any doubts the distributors have. Such behaviour helps increase overall quality especially being in the sales line (Havig et al., 2011). However, he also praises them and gave advices on how to improve sales. He paid for lunch which I personally see it as a form of recognition of their efforts for the company. All this point towards Mr Toh displaying behaviours of task and relationship orientated.

Traits

From my observation, I can infer that Mr Toh possesses many general personality traits that makes up an effective leader. To characterize his set of traits, it would be internal locus of control, energy level & self-tolerance and passion which are made up of both general personality and task related traits that defines an effective leader.

I attended one of their meetings and observed where Mr Toh had to terminate one of his distributors and they were giving lots of excuses for their failure such as bad economy and luck that cause them to fail to which Mr Toh finds it unacceptable and ridiculous. As he firmly believes that one has control over their success and failure with their decisions made and should not push the blame it on external factors.

Although I did not travel with Mr Toh, based on the conversations we had during the observation period he mentions that he has a hectic working schedule which sometimes requires him to work long and odd working hours. As it is a sales job, he faces unreasonable demands from customers time to time. Therefore, I can infer that he has high energy level and self-tolerance which allows him to perform and function under intense pressure.

Passion is essential to any organisation success, it begins with core principles and goals (Weigel & Jones, 2015). My first meeting with Mr Toh where he was explaining the company’s products to me, I can feel that he is very passionate about the products he sells and he has done a lot of research to boost his knowledge so that he has lots of things to talk about when he is promoting his products to his potential customers. I observed that it’s not just about sales that Mr Toh does. He keeps in touch with his customers and provides aftersales service which is outside of his job scope. His willingness to going the extra mile for his customers has proven he is very passionate.

Skills

Based on Mr Toh’s educational background and past work experience, it is quite clear that Mr Toh has the exact technical skills that fits his job profile. Both his degree and masters in Bioengineering were obtained from Nanyang Technological University and he has many years of experience in the field of life sciences. I’ve observed that when he is communicating with his customers, he can handle their application questions very well. Internally within the company, he’s also able to assist with training of new employees and helping them to understand the technical aspects of the products.

In my observation, I have noticed that new employees like to approach Mr Toh regarding questions about their work and he does not hesitate to answer their queries and explains in depth to clarify their doubts. It shows that he is very approachable and have great interpersonal skills.

Power and Influence Tactics

Influence is the power to change or strengthen others’ mental outlook, views and manner of conduct. Influence and power are interlinked, understanding the five bases of power and influence are fundamental to influence others (Matsushima, 2013). However, Mr Toh does not possess all five powers based on observation.

Legitimate power is granted to him as the distribution sales manager of the region, for this reason distributors will have to follow the targets and decisions he has made. As observed, he has the rights to set deadlines for projects and they must comply. His legitimate power also extends out to coercive power as he has the right to terminate any underperforming distributors. On the other hand, the technical skills that he possesses gives him the expert power over his customers as he can understand their needs through their conversations. His eight years’ experience in the field of life science also contributes to his expert power.

Through my observation, Mr Toh leads by example through joining customer visits with his employees and distributor agents. This is something he could have leave it to his employees to carry out but instead he believes that by joining them, it will not only boost their morale and confidence but also increase this chances for closing the deal.

Interview

As a distributions sales manager, Mr Toh travel overseas frequently to oversee operations. He has a very tight schedule and I am delighted that he spared some valuable time to let me do an interview with him to have a broader understanding of his leadership perspectives. I am very thankful for the opportunity given and honoured to interview him.

Leadership styles, Behaviour and Traits

Based on my interview with him, Mr Toh describes himself as a workaholic who constantly buries himself with work to do as he need to oversee sales operation within Southeast Asia which is not easy to ensure sales target are met. He personally prefers a more participative leadership whereby he believes input from team member is valued as he believe that encouraging team cohesiveness such as discussing in groups will enhance overall performance. Generally, it builds positive relationship between colleagues which is important in an organisation. (Somech, 2005) further supports as it illustrated a positive relation between participative leadership and workers innovation.

What Mr Toh mentioned in the interview tallies with what I have observed during the observation period however, only to a certain extent. He portrays signs of directive and autocratic style as well, proving that one leader does not simply adopt a single leadership style but Mr Toh mentioned that it is not necessary to switch leadership styles to adapt to different situations as employees might find it hard to follow if he does not have a consistent style of leadership, which might create a tense work environment he wants to avoid. Consistency is important to him but if faced with a tricky situation he mentioned that an autocratic style may be necessary to make a fast decision. Nonetheless he said that a leader should be flexible and switch or combine leadership styles if faced with tricky situations.

In the interview Mr Toh said that his first job had a major influence on him as he had a boss who was willing to let him take on responsibilities on the work he does. He recalled vividly as part of his personal experience which helped him grow to be a better leader. As he was greatly influenced by his first boss, Mr Toh describes himself as a more task orientated person because getting the job done is of utmost importance. Even though he says that he is task orientated, in my observation he displayed relationship orientated behaviours whereby he praises his subordinates for performing well. His statements given from the interview are aligned with my observations.

Research have shown that there are many correlations between traits and leadership but there are no certain sets of traits that identifies an ideal leader (Benson, 2006). Mr Toh believes that being firm, confidence and not afraid to make mistakes are important attributes for an effective leadership. He mentions that these three traits are learnt through past experiences from his leaders. Also, his job requires him to make important decisions time to time therefore he must be firm and confident with his decisions and lead his distributors well. He explained that the only way to learn is not fear any setbacks, people fall and pick themselves up and carry on. Most importantly is to not give up and learning from your mistakes as spoken from Mr Toh. I was not able to observe Mr Toh with such perseverance, something which I have overlooked but was able to infer through his answers from the interview. Through comparisons from my observation Mr Toh possesses multiple traits that I feel are effective in leadership.

Skills

Many leadership skills are on the rise as requirements for efficient leadership in modern times (Taormina, 2010). One of the leadership skills Mr Toh thinks is essential is having great interpersonal skills as it is important for leading. He further elaborated it is relevant because one needs to communicate and interact with the team. Also, in the sales line communication is very important, especially when interacting with potential customers. He applies his leadership skill in managing his employees by letting them take part in the decision-making process, make them feel their opinions are valued. Together with the employees he will have detailed consultation so that Mr Toh can make his decisions. By doing so employees have more chances to interact together and can built on positive relationships within the organisation. His statement aligns with my observation as he was very approachable and does not hesitate to assist his employees if they require any. However, I feel that he was being humble as during my observation I discovered he possesses technical skills in which Mr Toh has excellent product knowledge and his work experience further compliment his skills.

Power and Influence tactics

With 8 years of working experience, Mr Toh has overcome many obstacles at work which has shaped who he is today. His experience made him understood that having the right mentality is needed towards work, he stated that many young adults nowadays are not motivated at work. When asked about his views on reward power, he mentions that it can keep employees motivated as he believe it can boost employee morale and makes them feel valued. Mr Toh says that the best way to lead a team is to lead by example. Without it, it is very hard to lead them and have them follow his lead. Therefore, it is important lead by example as a leader so that employees can view him as a role model and follow suit. In comparison to my observation of Mr Toh, it was not observed that he has displayed any form of reward power during the observation period however his statement regarding leading by examples aligns with what I’ve observed before.

Personal Views

Taking risks can result in a positive outcome, Mr Toh sees himself as a risk taker as he mentioned one must take certain risk to have gains. However, he mentioned that too much risk might kill the game plan too, proper risk evaluation should be done as preventive measures. On his thoughts on whether leadership are born or can be nurtured, he feels that leadership can nurtured through self-experience of life. He believes that anyone can be a leader if they are willing to learn even if they do not have the natural qualities of a leader. Books about leadership and management course are easily available to buy or sign up for therefore there are no excuses. Studies further supports Mr Toh’s statements as reality teaches leadership through trial and error, success and failure (Kerfoot, 1998). Learning to seek experiences where you can work to learn leadership is crucial to growth as a leader (Kerfoot, 1998). Mr Toh said that there are bound to be failures but reflecting and learning from it will help improve personal character and leadership.

Self-Reflection and Improvement

The term leadership are viewed differently depending on individual understanding. People without leadership experience or little knowledge will have problem figuring out. I never thought that being an efficient leader requires lots of factors as being a leader to me was very simple. All a leader must do is making sure everything is smooth and nothing goes wrong which I am wrong. Through my observation and interview of Mr Toh I’ve come to realised it is not easy to be a leader, not to mention an effective leader. I have learned a lot from Mr Toh as he helped widen my perspective on my views on leadership. Learning to be a leader proves to be a difficult path as one must face many hardships and overcome them to grow. Mr Toh taught me that a leader must have great self-awareness, making sure he sets a role model for his employees to follow.

Self-belief is crucial to a leader as you need to believe in everything you do, employees and ideas. Also, being a leader comes with vast experience. Leadership is not born but nurtured, successful leaders such as founder of Alibaba Ma Yun is a perfect example. He faced many obstacles when he was young but he never gave up as he learnt from his mistakes and improve on himself which he formed Alibaba and is one of the most rich and successful entrepreneurs in China. He is an ideal role model for everyone to follow, his never give up attitude and personal self-beliefs brought him success.

Personally, I would follow Mr Toh’s influence tactics on improving my leadership skills through leading by example. I would also heed his advice and read up on self-improvement books regarding leadership to find out I can learn more. I will adopt the reflective leadership style which includes self-awareness, mindfulness and personal wisdom which will be an upgrade of my leadership skills (Castelli, 2016).

Although Mr Toh may be a leader with great expertise in his industry, there are still room for improvement for him to hone his leadership skills. I feel that Mr Toh can slightly empower his employees with more power so that employees can make their own decision regarding about sales as studies have proven behavioural and psychological empowerment has a positive effect on the job satisfaction levels of employees (Pelit, Yüksel and Yalcin, 2011). By doing so it would improve the performance of employees and the organisation.

Conclusion

Leadership plays a vital role in success of organizations. Each leader leads differently with their leadership styles which is what makes it unique, the effectiveness relies greatly on their leadership skills and styles (Hussain & Hassan, 2016). Although leadership can be nurtured and learnt theoretically, the most effective way would be experimenting different leadership styles in different situations to have a better understanding to what it truly meant.

Through the evaluation of my observation, interview and reflection I can conclude that a true leader does not restrict themselves to specific styles but they act in accordance to the situation they are in. Being a versatile leader is essential towards leadership, there are no right or wrong regarding leadership styles. Most importantly are how leaders being able to adapt and broaden their style base on the situation faced (Chapman, Johnson and Kilner, 2014). Leaders with such versatility will be much more effective in leading within an organisations.

References

Benson, M.J. 2006, New explorations in the field of leadership research: A walk on the dark side of personality and implications for leadership (in)effectiveness, University of Minnesota.

Castelli, P. (2016). Reflective leadership review: a framework for improving organisational performance. Journal of Management Development, [online] 35(2), pp.217-236. Available at: https://search-proquest-com.libproxy.sim.edu.sg/docview/1767544220/88F2AA874027461EPQ/1?accountid=28657 [Accessed 14 Sep. 2017].

Chapman, A., Johnson, D. and Kilner, K. (2014). Leadership styles used by senior medical leaders. Leadership in Health Services, [online] 27(4), pp.283-298. Available at: https://search-proquest-com.libproxy.sim.edu.sg/docview/1635067544/D705E24688344571PQ/3?accountid=28657 [Accessed 14 Sep. 2017].

Havig, A., Skogstad, A., Kjekshus, L. and Romøren, T. (2011). Leadership, staffing and quality of care in nursing homes. BMC Health Services Research, [online] 11(1). Available at: https://search-proquest-com.libproxy.sim.edu.sg/docview/926417646/abstract/6CB8DCCAF2DB4D6BPQ/1?accountid=28657 [Accessed 10 Sep. 2017].

Hussain, M. & Hassan, H. (2016). The leadership styles dilemma in the business world. International Journal of Organizational Leadership, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 411-425.

Kerfoot, K. (1998). Management Is Taught, Leadership Is Learned. Plastic Surgical Nursing, [online] 18(2), pp.108-109. Available at: https://search-proquest-com.libproxy.sim.edu.sg/docview/236929076/E9512B3F66E47F9PQ/24?accountid=28657 [Accessed 12 Sep. 2017].

Matsushima, R.F. (2013). How to Improve Your Ability to Influence Others. Contract Management, 53(3), pp. 8.

Pelit, E., Yüksel Öztürk & Yalçin Arslantürk 2011, "The effects of employee empowerment on employee job satisfaction", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 23, no. 6, pp. 784-802.

Somech, A. (2005). Directive Versus Participative Leadership: Two Complementary Approaches to Managing School Effectiveness. Educational Administration Quarterly, [online] 41(5), pp.777-800. Available at: https://search-proquest-com.libproxy.sim.edu.sg/docview/62148585/7C4C6A1EF94A46FFPQ/4?accountid=28657 [Accessed 10 Sep. 2017].

Taormina, R.J. 2010, "The Art of Leadership: An Evolutionary Perspective", International Journal of Arts Management, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 41-55,78.

Weigel, K. & Jones, R. (2015). From the Field: Learning Leaders. Journal for Leadership and Instruction, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 44-48.

Appendix

Interview Questions

Background

Front & back of name card

Name of chosen leader: Mr Jimmy Toh

Age: 33

Education: Nanyang Technological University, Masters of Engineering

Position: Distribution Sales Manager, SEA & South Korea

Company: NanoString Technologies