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Leadership quality is considered high by 48% of leaders in their current organizations, up from 34% in 2011. That is quite a spike!
Is leadership that impactful on the workforce? It seems so because leadership has the power to sway the workforce. So how do you analyze the current leadership in your organization? How impactful is it in workplace dynamics? You'll discover the answers here.
In an organization, it is quite interesting to observe how employees interact with each other. Just by merely observing the same, we can grasp the underlying factors at play and the type of culture the company upholds. This interaction and involvement of employees with one another is known as workforce dynamics.
So what does leadership have to do with workplace dynamics? Only everything!
A leader is the cumulative of their team members. The way team members interact with each other can be seen as a reflection of the leader as well. From this, we can infer that effective leadership and workplace dynamics are inseparable from one another. But most importantly, the way a leader chooses to deal with everyday problems of an organization and the level of understanding they exhibit during tough situations can make or break the workplace dynamics.
A leader with high emotional intelligence has the ability to not only assess their team but also assess themselves impartially. They also have a high level of social awareness and are excellent in relationship management. Combine all these factors and you get someone who is level-headed and creates a positive environment for the employees to work in. This is how effective leadership controls the workforce dynamics.
The Workforce is a complex and fluid entity in itself. It takes the right mindset and efficient use of leadership to maintain the workforce in a positive light. Let us explore the extent of impact leadership has on the workforce:
1. Employees are happy and satisfied
Even when a company is going through a rough patch, good leadership can make the sailing a lot more smoother. Effective leadership motivates and encourages employees to bring out their best selves. And in the long run, this form of leadership recognizes and rewards commentable performances as well. It makes the employees happy and satisfied. As an obvious result, the retention rate of employees increases, bringing down employee turnover percentages.
You may also like: The unseen costs of employee turnover and how to mitigate them
2. Creates a positive work environment
A leader who has values such as honesty, transparency, and integrity transfers the same to their workforce as well. Now, this can be a conscious or unconscious process, but whatever the leader does, the employees pick up.
Positive leadership in the workplace inevitably leads to a positive work environment as well. On the other hand, an irritable and ill-tempered leader transmits the same irritability to the rest of the team as well.
3. There is more scope for innovation
We have seen a drastic shift in leadership styles over the past few decades. Leaders have gone from choosing extreme styles like autocracy to choosing many more effective styles like transformational leadership. In this form of leadership, employees have a chance to show their innovative and creative side to the management without the fear of being reprimanded. The workforce becomes more flexible, which gives them an opportunity to bring out more innovations and novel thinking styles.
4. Customers are happy as well
The relationship between customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction is directly proportional. More often than not, customers contact employees directly and do most of the conversation with them. No matter how stringent of training you give your employees, if they are dissatisfied, it will show. Good leadership makes sure that employee grievances are listened to, and good work is recognized. It makes the employees super happy, which makes them more dedicated to the work they do. At the end of the day, it makes customers happy as well.
5. A spike in productivity
The ability of good leadership to counteract a bad day must not be discounted. A good leader can spin an unproductive and gloomy day into a productive one with almost zero effort. Clear communication and the right expectations make it easy for employees to understand what is expected of them. It helps increase the efficiency of with they do, which ultimately increases productivity.
Being a leader is no easy feat. And being an effective one is an even harder thing to achieve. Each leader has their own style of maintaining the workforce and getting things done. But there are some common traits that every effective leader shares. Some of them are as follows:
1. Accountability
Courtney Lynch once said leaders inspire accountability with their skill to accept responsibility before they place blame. The way a leader approaches and deals with mistakes speaks a lot about them as a person and the leadership style they adopt. An effective leader has the right headspace to take accountability of things that go sideways and does not play the blame game. It is an attitude that places the leader above the rest of the team, instilling a sense of trust and camaraderie among the team members.
2. Clear and crisp communication
Everyone can communicate. But communicating messages in a crisp and clear manner is a characteristic seen in effective leaders alone. In other words, the ability to communicate clearly makes a leader effective. Messages and information move across the workforce with ease, and there is no room for miscommunication or confusion. It increases productivity and efficiency in which tasks are done.
3. Places trust on employees
It is not easy to trust someone. This is especially true in an organizational setting. A leader must know their workforce inside out to reach a level of better understanding. Only then can they place their trust in their workforce. Delegating tasks and refraining from micromanagement are all signs of trust. A leader who trusts their team gets the trust back from employees. And a team built on trust delivers optimal results. So one of the prominent characteristics of an effective leader is the trust they place in their team.
This may also interest you: Top 10 qualities of a good manager.
4. Puts the team’s ability to best use
Every member of a team brings a different set of abilities to the table. Each employee has their own set of skills and areas where they can work best. Only an effective leader can identify the right skills of their team members and put them to use in the right place. For example, an employee might not be good at research but might have an excellent knack for making Excel sheets and evaluating them. Rather than making them feel bad for their poor research skills, a good leader gives the team members a chance to make the most of their Excel sheet expertise.
5. Remains truthful
The truthfulness of a leader can be understood and interpreted in multiple ways. A leader can be truthful to their team members and can remain truthful to the organization. Either way, an effective leader refrains from manipulating the organizational goals for quicker results or misuses the employee skillset. A truthful leader maintains transparency in their workforce as well. Every decision and reason behind the same is clearly communicated with the team, which assists in building better workforce dynamics.
6. Thinks critically
A leader must make several decisions on a daily basis. More often than not, these decisions impact the very future of the team and even the company as a whole. Because of this reason, critical thinking is one skill that an effective leader always possesses. The ability to evaluate all options methodically without being swayed by emotions and considering the pros and cons of each alternative helps in reaching the right solution. This system of thoughts helps a leader make the right decision for their team time and time again.
7. Motivates team
I know this is an obvious one, but it is also quite an important one, which makes it difficult to skip. At the end of the day, motivation is the single most important factor that makes or breaks the mindset of a workforce. A good leader has the ability to spin any gloomy situation into a bright one by instilling motivation and determination in the employees. This ability of a leader to sway the emotions of employees to a positive scale is what makes them effective.
If you found this blog helpful, and you're new to a leadership role, we highly recommend reading these resources.
A cinematic approach to team leadership backed by six years of experience.
The Leaders' Guide to fostering a positive organizational culture.
Where Management Falls Short, Leadership Saves The Day
Management and leadership are two entirely different things. Managers get things done through the means of control, while leaders influence their employees to be and do better. Even though management has been proven effective, leadership always stands a step ahead. Organizations that devote their time, energy, and money to developing good leaders see long-term benefits such as a more effective workforce and a better working environment.
