supportive leadership

supportive leadership

The contemporary business world requires effective leadership in order to enhance profitability and sustainability. Effective leadership grow and develop by nurturing through developmental domains, which ensure effective practices. Leadership entails various roles, behaviour and practices. The key elements in leadership revolve around conceptual, analytical, spiritual and emotional domains (Collins, 2001). The domains have various connections, which foster leadership development. People attain leadership behaviours, based on their different temperament and personality. The theory of supportive leadership fits my temperament and personality. This paper is a detailed explanation of the supportive leadership theory, and an analysis of how the theory will be useful in the future.

            Supportive leadership theory is a term used to refer to a leadership style, which developed in 1970s and 1980s. At this time, businesses started to take a keen interest, not only on the technical aspects of managements, but also on other forms of managements and their classifications (Dionne et al., 2002).  This led to the development of supportive leadership, which mainly focuses on effective and beneficial interpersonal relationships at the work place. Supportive leadership leads to development of managers, who are friendly and considerate toward the people in an organization. Through this, managers are able to create emotional ties with employees. These ties are extremely beneficial for managers in getting the work done and assists in development of loyal employees. Supportive leadership is highly applicable in a situation where the followers have a focus of internal control; their ability is high and do not want autocratic leadership (Lussier, 2010).

            Supportive leadership involved showing concern for the needs of others in the work place, and enables employees to like their leaders. People prefers working under managers, who are considerate, supportive, cooperative and understanding than working with the manager, who are impersonal, cold, hostile and uncooperative. Supportive leadership is essential in the organization as it helps enhance performance and job satisfaction. This due to people preference on working with understanding and supportive leaders.  According to Simmons (2012), to enhance the applicability of supportive leadership there are different behaviors that the leaders should ensure that they are carried out. These supportive behaviors are essential in making employees loyal and encouraging performance, and include:

            Ability of the leader to show positive regard and acceptance for others in the work place. This is essential behavior as it assures the employee that they are respected and valued at the work place. Accepting others enables them to also accept you. This is key for the managers when, they need to get employees to be loyal and to perform organization duties. Leaders using supportive leadership theory are keen on assisting employees to deal with stress and the conflicting personalities of other employees (Muller, Maclean & Biggs, 2009).

            Being polite and considerate is a behavior key to the theory of supportive leadership. Politeness in a place of work enables managers to gain trust and love from the workers. Managers become considerate of what the employees are going through and create time to talk to employees on how they can deal with different stressing situations in a place of work. This enables the workers to prefer working with the particular polite managers, leading to high performance and loyalty (Walters, 2000).

            Supportive leadership theory requires that managers treat people as individuals. In this case, the manager focuses on understanding the needs and the attitudes of every individual. They create ties with the workers at a personal level, which enables them to know the workers at a personal level. This is beneficial, when it comes to solving conflicts between workers in the organization. Employees do not like to be considered as a group, especially when something dreadful has happened in an organization. Supportive leadership helps the manager to understand each individual and their behavior, which can be necessary when making crucial decisions.

            Remembering employee detail, such as names, and being patient with the employee when giving instruction is  behavior of the supportive leadership theory. When employees are addressed by their names, they develop a sense of belonging and feel that the management acknowledges their presence in the organization. This increases loyalty and job satisfaction for the employees. Patience is essential for managers as it enables them to understand the employees better (Naqvi et al., 2011). When employees feel that the managers are patient with them when giving instructions, they also become a patient with the compamy and the management and are willing to work for the company for long.

            Supportive leadership theory is highly concerned with the emotional aspect of the organization (Robertson, 2005). Supportive managers offer support to individuals in an organization, when they are upset or anxious. This is beneficial as it helps stop any conflicts among employees that could escalate in to a major problem. When dealing with this form of hard situation, supportive leaders are to express confidence and high understanding of the individuals affected and the solution.

            Providing help with work when necessary is a key behavior under the theory of supportive leadership. In some cases, organizations experience an increase in level of the task to be completed. Supportive leadership calls for the leader to take the initiative and assist the workers with completing tasks (Chaudhry & Shah, 2011). This is highly beneficial in bridging the gap between the management and the employee as the workers feel that the manager shares their duties. When this happens, employees are able to highly appreciate their managers and become loyal to them and the company.

            The theory of supportive leadership is highly useful in organizations and I can apply it in the future to run or manage organization operations. A good example of how I can apply supportive leadership in the future is through solving a conflict in the work place. In a hypothetical situation where a worker is not able, to meet the deadline of allocated tasks. Using supportive leadership theory, the first thing will be to understand why the employee did not meet the set target. Through this, I will identify what the employees is going through and to show my understanding, I will create a means of assisting the employee to meet the target. This can be done through encouraging members of the group to support each other and assist their member in meeting the deadline.

            I can also apply supportive leadership theory in the future, when dealing with employee motivation in the work place. A good example happens when employees are demotivated in the work place. Supportive leadership calls for the manager to be willing to help others with their personal problems. In this case, I will apply the theory in understanding the principal cause of the demotivation and encourage the employees. In this, I will focus on being polite to the people and shows them that I understand their feelings and cause for demotivation. This is because they will highly prefer to work with a manager, who understands and respects them. When this happens, the workers will feel understood and will focus on improving their performance.

            In conclusion, leadership is an essential aspect of an organization, because without the right kind of leadership, the performance will be low. Supportive leadership is involved showing concern for the needs of others in the work place and enables employees to like their leaders. People prefers working under managers, who are considerate, supportive, cooperative and understanding than working with a manager, who are impersonal, cold, hostile and uncooperative (Rasch, 2011). Supportive leadership is essential in the organization as it helps enhance performance and job satisfaction. Application of the supportive leadership theory keeps workers esteem high, enhances performance and increase organization output.

References

Chaudhry, M., & Shah, N. (2011). Impact of Supportive Leadership and Organizational Learning   Culture as A Moderator on The Relationship of Psychological Empowerment and            Organizational Commitment. Journal Of Business Strategies (1993-5765), 5(1), 39-50.

Collins, J. (2001). The Triumph of Humanity and Firse Resolve: On Leadership Book, Level 5       leadership, Harvard business school publisher, (pp. 115-137).

Dionne, S., Yammarino, F., Atwater, L., & James, L. (2002). Neutralizing substitutes for     leadership theory: leadership effects and common-source bias. The Journal Of Applied             Psychology, 87(3), 454-464.

Lussier, R. (2010). Leadership : theory, application, skill development. Australia:     SouthWestern/Cengage Learning.

Muller, J., Maclean, R., & Biggs, H. (2009). The impact of a supportive leadership program in a     policing organisation from the participants' perspective. Work, 32(1), 69-79.   doi:10.3233/WOR-2009-0817

Naqvi, S., Hashmi, M., Raza, S., Zeeshan, A., & Shaikh, F. M. (2011). Impact of Supportive          Leadership and Organizational Learning Culture as a Moderator on the Relationship of Psychological Empowerment and Organizational Commitment. Australian Journal of    Business & Management Research, 1(8), 65-71.

Rasch, J. (2011). Darstellung und Reflektion von Supportive Leadership Am Beispiel von    Coaching und Mentoring. München: GRIN Verlag GmbH.

Robertson, D. (2005). CAN YOU FEEL THE FORCE?. Training Magazine, 9-4.
Simmons, B. L. (2012, September 24). Nine Supportive Leadership Behaviors | Bret L. Simmons   - Positive Organizational Behavior. Bret L. Simmons - Positive Organizational Behavior.        Retrieved December 2, 2012, from http://www.bretlsimmons.com/2010-09/nine-       supportive-leadership-behaviors/

Walters, J. (2000). The art of supportive leadership: a practical handbook for people in positions    of responsibility. Nevada City, CA: Crystal Clarity.